NY Times Crossword
July 23, 2020
Robyn Weintraub

Each clue can be answered with one of the choices below according to a certain pattern. The pattern is hinted at in the last clue.

1. Major source of wheat
2. Swaying just before a disaster
3. Some loud chewers
4. Wedgy
5. Sewer
6. Many wages
7. Wrests
8. Fish frequently caught by newts
9. Some winks
10. Job that involves a lot of sweating
11. AWOL part
12. Own a boat, say
13. Pewter accompanier in the Bible
14. Wads are made to do this
15. Shrewd
16. Certain lawyers
17. In the middle of ________ - a very remote place

CHOICES:
a. America     i. Thomas
b. Prophet      j. Dyes
c. At sea        k. Uh-oh
d. Oles           l. Rip up
e. Sell            m. Sun
f. Sits             n. Era
g. Hens          o. Usher
h. Tense         p. Tuna

EXTRA HINT:
What letter is present in every clue?

Answer to Clue 17:

In the middle of NOWHERE - NO W HERE

Remove the letter W from each clue for the answers to make sense:

1. m - Sun (wheat - heat)
2. k - Uh-Oh (swaying - saying)
3. d - Oles (chewers - cheers)
4. h - Tense (wedgy- edgy)
5. b- Prophet (sewer - seer)
6. n - Era (wages - ages)
7. f - Sits ( wrests - rests)
8. p - Tuna (newts - nets)
9. j - Dyes (winks - inks)
10. o - Usher (sweating - seating)
11. a - America (awol - aol [AOL])
12. c - At sea (own - on)
13. i - Thomas (pewter - Peter)
14. e - Sell (wads - ads)
15. l - Rip up (shrewd - shred)
16. g - Hens (lawyers - layers)

Note from JA: Jeff Chen picked this as Puzzle of the Week (POW). Well-deserved.