It's All in the Game
◆ · By Bird Lives · Published 2023-11-05T11:03:38.961Z
Meta Prompt
It's good to do this in 25 Across, bad in 18 Across.
If you can’t find any themes or common elements in the grid, there’s always another place to look. . .
. . . the clues.
Do any of them seem convoluted when much simpler ways of cluing the entry are at hand?
Some of the clues have an element in common.
That element has nothing to do with the words or letters in the clues.
It’s an element of crossword cluing.
There are ten of them.
The initial letters of the entries for those clues spell out the answer.
For 25A, the answer is literal; for 18A, it’s more metaphorical.
Checking for previous play data...
Very good one, BL! Can always count on you for some fun wordplay!1A
Shows agreement
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
Across
- 1AShows agreement
- 5AWomen's shoe (not akin to a G-string)
- 11A___ mess
- 12AT.E. Lawrence portrayer
- 13AHard habit to break
- 14A"When you are about to die, a ___ is better than no company at all," Roger Zelazny
- 15APerennial perennially in crosswords
- 17ASigns of things to come
- 18AGame where a mental lapse can be costly
- 20APoetic preposition in "The Star-Spangled Banner"
- 21AForty winks
- 22AWestern treaty gp.
- 25AGame where two very valuable pieces are worth no points
- 27ASir Toby ___ in "Twelfth Night"
- 30A"Survivor" group
- 31A___ and Hardy
- 33A"Checkmate!"
- 34A___-cite-explain paragraph
- 35ASha ___, cover band
- 36AShooting star
- 37ATie the ___
Down
- 1DWWII "code talker" language
- 2D"Aha!"
- 3D"___, My Eyes," Jackson Browne
- 4DMake tea
- 5DSchlep
- 6DPlayed the hand dealt
- 7DHilfiger or Bahama
- 8D"Give me my ___, put on my crown," says Cleopatra in her final speech
- 9DAlda or Arkin
- 10DNon-human family members
- 16DTex-Mex cattleman
- 19DZIP alternative
- 22DAlec in "Star Wars"
- 23D"___ Alligator," 1986 film with Faye Dunaway
- 24DObserved attending
- 25DLoose hillside rocks
- 26DTipping point
- 27DComic book sound effect
- 28DFacility
- 29DPartner of sloth and gluttony
- 32DAbbreviation on a printer menu or a dating app profile