S | L | E | I | G | H | A | L | A | R | M | S | |||
H | O | T | S | E | A | T | B | U | R | E | A | U | ||
A | C | H | I | L | L | E | S | C | R | A | M | I | N | |
M | A | I | A | O | L | E | S | E | M | I | T | S | ||
E | T | C | H | G | E | T | T | O | N | A | E | |||
D | E | S | H | E | S | T | A | R | T | E | D | I | T | |
C | I | N | C | I | N | N | A | T | U | S | ||||
C | A | R | B | O | N | D | A | T | E | S | ||||
M | A | K | E | U | P | G | A | M | E | S | ||||
P | O | W | E | R | L | I | F | T | E | R | T | B | H | |
A | M | C | B | U | R | E | N | L | I | R | A | |||
S | C | A | L | E | M | E | A | T | I | R | O | N | ||
S | A | W | Y | E | R | E | S | I | G | N | I | N | G | |
E | V | E | R | L | Y | E | N | T | E | N | T | E | ||
R | E | D | E | Y | E | G | I | N | G | E | R |
S | I | R | A | C | R | E | S | W | A | N | E | S | ||
I | C | I | C | H | A | N | T | E | B | I | L | L | ||
T | Y | P | O | M | A | N | I | A | B | U | C | K | O | |
S | H | E | K | E | L | A | R | C | A | D | E | |||
K | O | N | G | A | R | C | T | O | P | H | I | L | E | |
I | T | S | O | N | M | E | S | P | A | D | A | Y | ||
A | E | S | O | P | B | E | B | E | ||||||
P | A | N | T | O | P | H | O | B | I | A | ||||
G | U | A | C | D | I | A | N | E | ||||||
U | N | W | I | S | E | S | A | L | E | T | A | G | ||
M | A | N | D | U | C | A | T | E | S | T | O | G | O | |
S | T | R | O | D | E | P | L | A | T | E | D | |||
O | C | H | R | E | M | E | T | R | O | L | O | G | Y | |
S | P | O | I | L | I | N | S | E | T | R | A | E | ||
S | A | P | P | Y | T | Y | K | E | S | O | P | S |
Jim here, sitting in for Jeff Chen who is dealing with a flurry of transcription errors.
We sometimes see complicated words in clues that we have to parse into likely component parts to divine their meanings. For example, "Suffering from nyctophobia" means AFRAID OF THE DARK.
Today's puzzle flips that around — we get the complicated word in the answer — and then there's the new twist that your usual parsing strategy might lead you astray.
ARCTOPHILE is obviously a lover of ARCTO. Arcto means "north" or "arctic", but arktós is also a Greek word for "bear."
The theme answers might feel made up, but they're all in your dictionary. I know some TYPOMANIAcs. The publishing business is tough to break into. PANTOPHOBIA is no longer in vogue. Medical professionals prefer generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder. MANDUCATES is perhaps more obvious, but the clue is funny. METROLOGY isn't even a debut answer. You probably remember it from that 1943 crossword.
The OK GO answer is more than reason enough to watch this amazing video. No tricks, no wires, no green screen:
M | A | G | I | C | S | H | O | P | S | T | A | M | P | |
A | M | E | R | I | C | A | N | O | P | O | P | U | P | |
R | I | S | K | T | A | K | E | R | A | M | I | S | S | |
A | R | T | S | I | N | E | S | S | C | A | S | T | ||
C | I | A | E | T | C | E | T | H | N | O | ||||
A | T | L | A | S | M | E | H | C | O | L | O | R | ||
S | E | T | T | E | R | P | E | T | A | B | Y | T | E | |
H | V | A | C | S | O | D | A | |||||||
W | H | A | L | E | P | O | D | Y | E | S | M | A | N | |
E | A | T | E | N | D | U | H | T | E | A | S | E | ||
B | I | T | I | T | P | S | A | L | I | M | ||||
L | U | S | H | I | T | W | A | S | N | T | M | E | ||
L | I | N | U | S | E | P | I | C | P | O | E | M | S | |
E | N | E | R | O | C | A | N | T | U | N | S | E | E | |
O | G | D | E | N | E | N | G | I | N | E | E | R | S |
S | H | I | V | E | R | M | E | T | I | M | B | E | R | S |
H | O | T | E | L | C | A | L | I | F | O | R | N | I | A |
E | T | H | N | I | C | R | E | L | A | T | I | O | N | S |
E | T | A | T | O | R | A | L | H | A | R | K | S | ||
P | O | P | L | Y | N | T | E | R | M | S | ||||
P | I | C | A | O | D | O | R | S | ||||||
S | T | E | P | H | D | R | U | G | S | S | A | X | ||
F | U | N | S | I | Z | E | D | A | D | J | O | K | E | |
O | T | S | L | E | V | I | S | A | Q | U | A | S | ||
N | I | K | O | N | R | Y | A | N | ||||||
G | L | O | V | E | G | T | A | D | R | E | ||||
W | H | I | N | E | A | R | O | D | S | W | A | B | ||
H | A | T | E | R | S | G | O | N | N | A | H | A | T | E |
I | N | E | E | D | A | H | U | G | E | F | A | V | O | R |
G | A | R | D | E | N | A | P | A | R | T | M | E | N | T |