A few helpful words for solvers of The Nation's current crossword.
Joshua Kosman and Henri PicciottoA few helpful words for solvers of The Nation’s puzzle #3232. We will put hints for beginners further down, so that intermediate and advanced solvers can avoid looking at them.
Hints for everyone:
This puzzle contains possibly unfamiliar entries at 1A, 12A, 18A and 23A.
1A: You can probably guess the word’s ending.
18A and 1D: Each of these clues contains a word that is a verb in the surface reading, but a noun as the definition, or part of the definition.
26A: “Finally, Martha” and “above-average” each supply a single letter. “Washington” supplies two.
7D: This clue references a long-ago movie actor, but it should be solvable even if you haven’t heard of him.
Hints for beginners:
9A, 23A, 1D, 14D, and 24D are charades. 5D is also a charade, but it is clued as a whole phrase.
6A: What item is proverbially sharp?
25A: Think Roman numerals.
22D: “Exalting,” in a down clue, can indicate a reversal.
Need more hints? Just ask!
Joshua Kosman and Henri PicciottoJoshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto are The Nation’s puzzlers. To read more about Kosman, click here. To read more about Picciotto, click here. Kosman and Picciotto explain what they’re up to in “Solving The Nation’s Cryptic Crosswords” (also available as a PDF). Check out The Nation’s Current Issue page each week for the latest puzzle.