Merl Reagle, April 12

Even after I solved the first theme clue, I didn’t really understand what Merl was getting at: BOW AND SCRAPE for 112 Across, “To really need some rosin while playing the violin?” I had to solve a couple more before I had the “Aha!” moment — it’s an aural thing.

Try these: 29 Across, “Result of too many orders in the garment district?” THE SEWERS ARE BACKED UP. How do you pronounce SEWERS? Not like those grates in the street; say it again like you’re talking about seamstresses. Same with MINUTE in MINUTE MAID — the answer to 41 Across, “Thumbelina?” She was pretty small, not a fraction of an hour.

Also nice was 87 Across, “Sonogram?”, which yields BABY SHOWER. (Here I’ll give a shout-out to my brother and sister-in-law, who are expecting my niece in August! Can’t wait.) And 84 Across, “‘How They Get Graphite Into Pencils’?”, is for all my talented but beleaguered journalism colleagues: THE LEAD STORY.

Questions or comments? Twitter me @crosswordkathy