NY Times Crossword
June 26, 2019
Zhouqin Burnikel

Each word in Column I can be paired up with a word or phrase in Column II according to a certain pattern. Which words match up with each other and what's the pattern? The first answer below gives the pairs, and the second answer reveals the (very ingenious) pattern.

        I                                II
HEBREWS          APPRAISER
SHERIFFS           COFFEE MAKER
WEAVER             JAZZ GUITARIST
IRATE                  TRUE BELIEVERS

Answers:

The words are paired up as follows:

HEBREWS - COFFEE MAKER
SHERIFFS - JAZZ GUITARIST
WEAVER - TRUE BELIEVERS
IRATE - APPRAISER

The pattern:

Break each of the words in Column I into two parts:

HE BREWS - COFFEE MAKER
SHE RIFFS - JAZZ GUITARIST
WE AVER - TRUE BELIEVERS
I RATE - APPRAISER

Note: The cleverness of this theme is far more striking in the original puzzle - as you build the answers letter-by-letter.