Rainbow Connection

Jump to: Tricky Clues | Today’s Theme

SUNDAY PUZZLE — Will Shortz, in his print introduction to this grid, writes: “Adam Wagner, of Oakland, Calif., is a creative lead at Patreon, the crowdfunding site for content creators. In 2019 he won a $10,000 grand prize as a contestant on the Game Show Network’s ‘Best Ever Trivia Show.’ This clever crossword, which is Adam’s 22nd for The Times, doesn’t focus on trivia, but the clues for 29-, 82-, 83-, 92- and 107-Across will all test your knowledge.”

Trivia aside, today’s puzzle has a delightful, colorful theme that merits a full going-over when you’re done to appreciate the craft it took to make it work. Its presentation might be subtle, but that just emphasizes the delicacy within.

Today’s Theme

I hope solvers notice the grid’s seven vertical stripes of seven colors; they make slightly thicker barriers between squares in 2- and 3-Down, 16- and 17-Down, 49- and 50-Down, 57- and 40-Down, 58- and 42-Down, 93- and 94-Down and 53- and 99-Down. The stripes display all the hues in the rainbow (ROY G BIV, in that order) which jibes with the puzzle’s endearing title, “Rainbow Connection.” They are also of particular different lengths, which is important, as is a revealer entry at 113-Across that perfectly expresses the trick.

I had many, many inklings about what was going on in this theme, but I needed incontrovertible evidence before it clicked in the top right corner of the grid, where an orange line runs down the entire length between 16- and 17-Down, which are both six squares. 16-Down, [Longtime host Robert of NPR’s “All Things Considered”], is Robert SIEGEL; 17-Down, [Tries], solves to HAS A GO.

18-Down comes into play here, too: The [Approximate weight of a subcompact car or a medium-size giraffe] is ONE TON, important for confirmation when looking at the Across entries that run through these three Down entries. For example, 16-Across, [N.Y.C. neighborhood where the Cronut was invented] solves to SHO in this puzzle; it should be SOHO, of course, because where else? One row down is 22-Across: The [Neighbor of Pakistan] here seems to be IAN, but the factual answer is definitely IRAN. Then, at 26-Across, [Move gingerly] appears to solve to ESE, rather than EASE. 30-Across, [Winged pest], looks to be GAT instead of GNAT; 35-Across, [Expecting, informally], is PREGO in the grid when it should be PREGGO. The last entry to cross the orange line is at 42-Across, [Armada vessel]; in the grid, it’s GALLON, but we know this is really a GALLEON.

Take note of these letters that don’t fit in the grid: the first “O” in SOHO, the “R” in IRAN, the “A” in EASE, the “N” in GNAT, the “G” in PREGGO and the “E” in GALLEON. They’re all supposed to go right where that ORANGE line is in the puzzle.