After Words: 3230

After Words: 3230

Notes and commentary on last week’s Nation crossword.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

We expected that ten movies by Hitchcock in a single diagram would be fairly unmissable, so the original version of the puzzle made no explicit mention of what was going on. Imagine our surprise when none of our test-solvers noticed the theme (this is the sort of thing that always seems more obvious to the constructor). So we decided to bring attention to it with the help of a reference in a clue, just to make sure solvers would not miss it. How to do it was not immediately obvious—mentioning Hitchcock explicitly, after all, would make the puzzle too easy. In the end, we settled on the reference in 7D, which mentioned movies without being overly specific.

7D OSCARS Piece of onyx marks awards given to some movies (though only one of the ten shown here) (6)

How did this play out for you? Too blatant? Too subtle? Just right? (Incidentally, Hitch’s Oscar-winning movie was Rebecca.)

Other clues:

1A SECRET AGENT Center-left part of 30, amazingly, reveals a spy (6,5)

We loved this anagram, but STAGE was part of the solution to 30A, so we didn’t want to put “stage” explicitly in the clue. So we referenced 30A’s solution in the clue to 1A, thus emulating our predecessor Frank Lewis who often used this technique.

16A FRENZY Disgraced memoirist outlines New Zealand craze (6)

James Frey is the memoirist in question.

20A LIFEBOAT Rescue gear originally extricated snake caught in elevator (8)

Samuel L. Jackson should star in the remake.

30A STAGE FRIGHT Common source of terror: fiend’s severed head in area to the audience’s left (5,6)
1D STABLE BOY Groom a youngster unlikely to go postal (6,3)

Each of these clues broke a phrase into its constituent words. Let the cryptic purists fret: we got a chuckle out of it, and to us entertainment trumps an over-preoccupation with rules. At least for a few clues per puzzle! —HP

30A is, as you say, anathema to purists, but it’s slightly more legit than you suggest, because both STAGE FRIGHT and STAGE RIGHT have dictionary nature. So it’s something of a container clue, even though STAGE appears in both phrases with the same meaning. —JK

8D ROMNEY Questionable money supports Republican presidential candidate (6)

The clue practically wrote itself.

17D NEON LIGHT Darkness engulfs Libya’s capital after many years—this could vanquish it? (4,5)

Now we’re really in trouble! There is not a clear break between definition and wordplay: the former borrows from the latter. We’d better end this post and get out of here before the cryptic police arrive.

Can we count on you?

In the coming election, the fate of our democracy and fundamental civil rights are on the ballot. The conservative architects of Project 2025 are scheming to institutionalize Donald Trump’s authoritarian vision across all levels of government if he should win.

We’ve already seen events that fill us with both dread and cautious optimism—throughout it all, The Nation has been a bulwark against misinformation and an advocate for bold, principled perspectives. Our dedicated writers have sat down with Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders for interviews, unpacked the shallow right-wing populist appeals of J.D. Vance, and debated the pathway for a Democratic victory in November.

Stories like these and the one you just read are vital at this critical juncture in our country’s history. Now more than ever, we need clear-eyed and deeply reported independent journalism to make sense of the headlines and sort fact from fiction. Donate today and join our 160-year legacy of speaking truth to power and uplifting the voices of grassroots advocates.

Throughout 2024 and what is likely the defining election of our lifetimes, we need your support to continue publishing the insightful journalism you rely on.

Thank you,
The Editors of The Nation

Ad Policy
x