Jump to: Tricky Clues | Today’s Theme
SUNDAY PUZZLE — Will Shortz, in his print introduction to this grid, writes: “Zachary David Levy is an assistant professor of neurosurgery and emergency medicine at Hofstra’s Zucker School of Medicine on Long Island. This is his sixth crossword for The Times, and first Sunday. Jeff Chen, of Seattle, is a writer and longtime crossword contributor. Zachary initially submitted a smaller version of this puzzle with three theme entries for the daily paper — but the theme idea felt better suited for a Sunday with more examples. He enlisted Jeff to help.”
Today’s Theme
İçerik Tablosu
This puzzle’s title is a big cherry on top, and I wish I could report that “pundit,” as in “Political Pun-ditry,” has the same root as “pun.” It does not. “Pundit” comes from a Hindi word for “learned scholar”; “pun” just appeared out of nowhere, apparently. It might be short for “puntiglio,” Italian for “trivial objection,” but I unfortunately can’t find any definitive etymology for you punctilious types (no puntiglio intended).
There are eight entries in this theme, at 21-, 30-, 40-, 62-, 71-, 94-, 105- and 120-Across. Each is clued in italics by the setup of a joke, and the entry provides the punchline. Each entry is a government-adjacent term, some ordinary, some buzzwords, and each is used in a punny fashion.
I broke into the theme at 40-Across, mainly because it involved a term that came to mind when I saw the puzzle’s title. “The veterinarian specialized in mending …” is completed as LAME DUCK BILLS. (“Lame duck” is evocative, isn’t it? It’s originally from a British insult for bankrupt businessmen.) Another phrase that was on the tip of my tongue filled in 71-Across: “The groundskeeper spent years studying” is GRASS ROOTS MOVEMENT. This term may stem from a speech by a member of the Bull Moose Party, Senator Albert J. Beveridge, in 1912.
The rest of the theme set is a bit tougher, I think. I solved them backward, with plenty of crossing letters, but each one makes a very cute one-liner when read with its clue. My favorites are at the top and bottom of the grid. The clue for 21-Across made me giggle — “The club’s bouncer earned a living …” ALONG PARTY LINES — and 120-Across got a guffaw: The bawdy pun surprised me, but them’s politics! “The paid escort was fined for … AN ACT OF CONGRESS.
Tricky Clues
1A. A “Whiskered bottom-dweller,” you say? Sounds almost like an insult lobbed at President Ulysses S. Grant by his opponents, but this solves to MUDCAT, a type of catfish.
53A. Never has this city slicker ever heard the term in this clue, “Event that might have ‘mutton busting.'” I first thought of sheep standup comedy — maybe a ram in wolf’s clothing making his audience bust up baaing — but the answer here is a RODEO, where little kids do the busting. Still funny, but less so for the mutton.
127A. “Place of birth, education, work history, etc.” stumped me for a moment; it’s BIODATA, which has been in two prior Times puzzles. This entry always sounds like a medical term to me, but “bio” is biographical, not biometric or biological.
3D. “‘Just happen to’ mention some famous people” solves to DROP NAMES, which is funny as a down entry and is a debut.
13D. This “Musical feature in ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Peter and the Wolf'” refers to a particular wind instrument: an OBOE SOLO. (This clue made me think of the theme’s DU