NYT Crossword Answers: June 8, 2023

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Philip Koski wants us to untangle his puzzle.

By Deb Amlen

Jump to: Today's Theme | Tricky Clues

THURSDAY PUZZLE — There is a certain kind of crossword that hits my sweet spot, and Philip Koski's is one of them. Games within games have always excited me, and I am also a history nerd, so the theme of today's puzzle made me very happy. At the very least, it's interesting to remember (or learn about, if you are just joining us) an organization that is very important to the world of puzzling — and the world at large.

Your mileage may vary: How do you feel about puzzles with meta themes?

Before we proceed, I’d like to draw your attention to a note that is displayed on the puzzle: "When this puzzle is done, reinterpret each set of shaded squares as three words (1,2,1). Then apply the result to 20-, 22-, 54- and 56-Across to see what 34-Across was once tasked to do."

Got that? All right, let's get to work. You may want to use a pad and pen to keep track of this one.

Mr. Koski's puzzle is a nod to BLETCHLEY PARK (34A), the estate that housed the Government Code and Cypher School (also called the GC&CS, or "Golf, Cheese and Chess Society," as some employees called it) during World War II.

The British government hired a number of mathematicians, scientists, cryptographers, chess players and — yay, us! — skilled crossword puzzle solvers to help decode messages that were sent between the Axis powers. The location and what went on there inspired the film "The Imitation Game," about Alan Turing's team breaking the code sent via the Enigma machine used by the Nazis.

BLETCHLEY PARK is now a museum, and you can book a visit here. Also, read Mr. Koski's notes to see some impressive connections between the world of crossword construction and military intelligence.

In this puzzle, there are four four-letter groups of shaded squares and, read by themselves, they don't make much sense. In addition, six squares are circled throughout the grid.

So what are code breakers like us supposed to do? We need a cipher. And Mr. Koski gives us one.

At 15A, the answer to the clue "‘___ the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference’: Robert Frost" is I TOOK. I TOO is shaded. But those four letters can be read differently. We can read them as I TO O, as in "Change each I to an O." Similarly, at 29A, the answer to "Gives props" is PRAISES, and A IS E is shaded. Ditto for 42A's D IS T and 62A's S TO R.

Put ’em together and what have we got? The answer to what was going on at BLETCHLEY PARK. We are being asked to crack the code in the entries with the circled squares, using the ciphers in the shaded squares, as follows.

SACREDLY to SECRETLYDECIDE to DECODEGASMAN to GERMANMASSAGES to MESSAGES

"SECRETLY DECODE GERMAN MESSAGES."

Now that was fun. I didn't even need my decoder ring.

Your thoughts?

18A. "Notes to self?" can be reminders, but if they are musical notes, they can also be SOLOS.

26A. "One who's bound to succeed?" is not just a vote of confidence. As we all know from the HBO show "Succession," to "succeed" someone also means to inherit a predecessor's position. The answer is HEIR.

40A. Now here's a Thursday-level clue: "Device patented in 1970 as an ‘X-Y position indicator for a display system.’" Would you have guessed that the answer was the computer MOUSE?

41A. You can stop looking at your map of Nashville now. In this puzzle, the middle of Nashville is the letter VEE.

63A. The number 50 is your hint here. "Second-smallest of 50: Abbr." refers to the second-smallest of the 50 United States (abbreviated), and the answer is DEL, for Delaware.

35D. This is a clue that needs to be read carefully. "‘Enough!,’ said?" has enough punctuation to fill a grammar book, but it is simply asking for a verbalization (hence the word "said") similar to the exclamation "Enough!" The answer is TMI.

36D. A COLON "goes between chapter and verse" in the Bible.

Crosswords and code-breaking have a long history. The British government famously conducted a crossword contest to secretly screen for Bletchley Park recruits (they picked the top six solvers). U.S. intelligence similarly recruited William Lutwiniak — who would go on to become one of the most prolific crossword constructors of all time — based on his standing as one of the best cryptogram solvers in the country. He served as a cryptanalyst during World War II and for decades thereafter at the National Security Agency.

Other constructors also worked in code breaking and intelligence. Jay Spry, a constructor in the 1960s and ’70s, translated Japanese codes during the war. Roberta Morse, who constructed the first rebus puzzle in The Times, served as a translator for the Office of Strategic Services, which preceded the C.I.A. in World War II. Among more recent constructors, Ed Salners had a career as a U.S. Navy cryptologic officer, and Verna Suit worked at the N.S.A., where Mr. Lutwiniak, by then semi-retired, gave her advice on constructing. Ms. Suit's name anagrams to NSA VIRTUE, but she assured me that was just a coincidence.

The New York Times Crossword has an open submission system, and you can submit your puzzles online.For tips on how to get started, read our series "How to Make a Crossword Puzzle."

Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? We’ve got you covered.

Spoiler alert: Subscribers can take a peek at the answer key.

Trying to get back to the main Gameplay page? You can find it here.

Deb Amlen, the crossword columnist and senior staff editor of Wordplay, believes that everyone can learn to solve the Times crossword. She is the author of the humor book, "It's Not P.M.S., It's You." @debamlen

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