Wednesday, 10/11

NYS 6:51
NYT 4:11
CS 2:59

If you don't always do the mid-week Sun crosswords, I recommend Todd McClary's Wednesday one. Spoilers down yonder, after the cut.

The NYT puzzle by Jack McInturff marks the second time this week that an NYT crossword has…included the word AURAE, clued this time as [Sensations before migraines]. My favorite clues were [It's slippery when wet] for EEL and [Promise to a cook?] for OLEO. The theme, which I was a bit slow to catch onto, involves reversing the last word of a phrase.

Wonderful Sun puzzle by Todd! It's a 15x16 crossword entitled "Portmanteaumorphosis," with two 15- and one 16-letter theme entry combining two portmanteau words (including one word I didn't know but should have. Terrific fill—plenty of Scrabbly letters, some fantastic 8-letter entries (they are, in fact, DAMN GOOD). And fresh clues that made me work to complete the puzzle (though maybe the puzzle wasn't as hard as my relative time would suggest—I did the puzzle after putting my son to bed, and I am powerless to resist the siren song of flannel sheets). Clues I'd like to single out include [Due to a higher power] for OTTO, [Scout gathering?] for INFO, and [Closing report?] for SLAM.