UNDERSTANDING CROSSWORD THEMES
Most New York Times crosswords feature a theme (Friday and Saturday puzzles are generally themeless). Crossword constructors devise many creative new ideas for puzzles, but often they call upon several basic theme varieties. The more common types of themes include the following:
CATEGORIES—The theme entries are phrases or words that have something in common. These might include colloquial phrases that mean the same thing, phrases that can all be defined by the same clue, phrases that start or end with a related set of words, puns that change a word’s pronunciation so that all the theme entries have related puns, and more.
COMMEMORATIVE—These themes may mark a notable person’s birthday, the anniversary of an important event, a holiday or current events. A commemorative crossword may also honor a celebrity who has recently passed away.
GIMMICKS—Gimmicks include twists on the usual conventions of crosswords. They may have rebus squares (see below), the theme entries may run backwards or upwards, certain squares may be left blank, or some words may extend outside the grid. In The New York Times, you’ll generally see gimmicks on Thursdays and Sundays more than the other days of the week.
letter restriction—A puzzle with a letter-restriction gimmick uses only certain letters of the alphabet—e.g., the only vowel used is E, the letter B is absent from the grid (and clues), only the letters from the left side of a standard keyboard are used, or only the letters in a certain phrase (e.g., CHRISTMAS CAROL) are used.
pattern matching—Theme phrases may share a certain letter pattern. A puzzle with a FIND THE LOST DOGS theme included WATER OVER THE BRIDGE, which has a hidden dog name (ROVER) embedded within it; several other dog names were hidden in the other entries. Other pattern-matching themes may contain the same hidden word or letters in each theme entry. Another pattern-matching puzzle contained famous people whose initials were also academic degrees (e.g., PHIL DONAHUE for Ph.D.).
QUOTE/QUIP—A quotation or joke is broken into symmetrical pieces; the author’s name may also appear in the theme.
REBUS—In a crossword with a rebus gimmick, rebus squares contain a picture (face, square, etc.), multiple letters (such as the word UP), numerals (sometimes using the letters in the number’s name, such as ONE) or symbols (#, +) instead of the standard single letter.
WORD transformation—This variety of theme may rely on anagramming, word reversals, or adding, removing or changing a letter (or letters) to create theme entries.