Alex Eaton-Salner’s New York Times crossword, “Shape Up or Ship Out” — Nate’s write-up
11.24.2024 Sunday New York Times Crossword
This week’s Sunday crossword takes inspiration for its two-in-one theme from our title phrase, “Shape Up or Ship Out“:
“Shape Up” – Theme entries can be understood when you continue upward at the circled, upside-down shape at the end of the entry:
25A: LEMON SCONE [Citrusy breakfast treat] (turning up at the upside-down CONE in 8D ENOCH)
26A: BASKETBALL STAR [Sue Bird or Larry Bird] (turning up at the upside-down STAR in 16D RATS)
105A: SEAL OF APPROVAL [Imprimatur] (turning up at the upside-down OVAL in 86D FLAVORS)
110A: COMES ACROSS [Finds] (turning up at the upside-down CROSS in 69D SCISSOR CUTS)
“Ship Out” – Theme entries can be understood when you take out a circled ship from within the entry:
50A: BARKEEPER [Paging device] (BEEPER, once ARK it taken out)
64A: DUBLINER [Nickname] (DUB, once LINER is taken out)
67A: BARGES IN [Sloth, for one] (SIN, once BARGE is taken out)
84A: SUBTRACTS [Swaths of land] (TRACTS, once one SUBTRACTS SUB)
This was a pretty neat double act! Though some of the transformations (STAR, BARGE) weren’t as exciting as I’d have hoped, it felt all-in-all like a solid execution of the phrase-turned-theme and a fun solve. There were a few sections that bedeviled me (around the SUB in SUBTRACTS and around FT MEADE), hence the longer than average solve time, but it otherwise felt like a pretty smooth experience to me.
(Fun fact: CIRCLE is hidden backwards in author MICHAEL CRICHTON’s name! I wonder if that was one of the thematic transformations that fell to the cutting room floor as this puzzle was being developed?)
What did you think of the puzzle? Can you think of any other fun transformations that would’ve fit either half of this puzzle’s theme? Let us know in the comments section below – and have a great weekend!
NYT: The theme seemed a little uneven to me. The “ship out” answers are all legitimate entries with/without the “ship,” but the “shape up” answers are meaningless (except for BASKETBALLS) without the “shape.”
Liked the clues for RETELLS and CHEST BUMP.
Thought the cross of 56-D and 73-A was apropos, because STEADED is certainly ancient.
NYT: I’m 99% positive Merl Reagle (RIP) included a clue/answer combo involving “CIRCLE” being hidden backwards in MICHAEL CRICHTON in one of this Sunday puzzles. Don’t recall if it was the theme, or just a fun bonus thing he threw in (it was Merl!), but I remember it was a fun bit of trivia to discover.