New York Times crossword April 29 / Constructed by Tracy Gray

We’ve really been taken back to school recently with these crosswords. Earlier this month, you needed to remember high school chemistry to solve the puzzle. This week, it’s elementary school math — fractions, to be specific. But you probably figured that out from the title.

The "Infractions" aren't violations but literal representations of fractions.

Clever constructor Tracy Gray came up with theme answers that use visual representation of fractions to form common phrases. Take 94 Across, which references one of my favorite Philly movies: “With 103 Across, 1999 Shyamalan thriller.” The two-part entry becomes THE ONE SENSE for 94 Across, with the word SIX underneath (103 Across) the ONE. ONE over SIX, of course, is a sixth, yielding the answer “The Sixth Sense.”

Others: “With 26-Across, like grandchildren” (23 Across) is entered as ONE GENERATION over THREE, creating the phrase “third generation.” “With 44-Across, execute, in a way” (33 Across) is DRAW AND ONE over FOUR, yielding “draw and quarter.” “With 50-Across, euphoric” (45 Across) is IN ONE HEAVEN over SEVEN, for “in seventh heaven.” “With 77-Across, high-end retail chain” (71 Across) is SAKS ONE AVENUE over FIVE, for “Saks Fifth Avenue.” “With 112-Across, compromise” (105 Across) is MEET ONE WAY over TWO, for “meet halfway.” And “With 127-Across, classical work that’s the source of the European Union’s anthem” (122 Across) is BEETHOVEN’S ONE over NINE, for “Beethoven’s Ninth.”

Ewww Dept.: “Jobs for dentists” are ABSCESSES (49 Down).

Mad Men Dept.: “Product with the old ad catchphrase, ‘Mother, please, I’d rather do it myself!’” (51 Across) is the pain-reliever ANACIN. The clue references an ad in which a woman with a headache yells at her mother as she’s trying to make dinner. I tried to find a YouTube clip, but only came up with commercials like this one from the same campaign.

Nice to Meet You Dept.: Never heard of TITOV (“Gherman ___, cosmonaut who was the second human to orbit the earth,” 48 Down), ARVO (“Sacred music composer ___ Part,” 65 Across) or a CASUIST (“Student of morality,” 13 Across).

For Fun Dept.: “Fine word for libraries?” is OVERDUE (22 Across). “Flips” is GOES GAGA (5 Across).

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times crossword April 22 / Constructed by Paula Gamache and Ed Stein

Well, I guess after last week’s awesome puzzle, this week’s crossword was bound to be a letdown. It was amusing, but generally meh. The key was to take the title literally; theme answers were common phrases that “let go of” the word “of.” In 23 Across, for instance, the clue “Diet?” yields BATTLE THE BULGE.

Others: LAND PLENTY (“Be very successful at fishing?” 31 Across), BOOK THE DEAD (“Do a clerk’s work at a morgue?” 37 Across), CAST THOUSANDS (“Throw large bank notes around?” 50 Across), MILK HUMAN KINDNESS (“Take advantage of good Samaritans?” 67 Across), DOCTOR LETTERS (“Forge some personal notes?” 86 Across), BEST FRIENDS (“Outdo one’s buddies?” 94 Across), POUND FLESH (“Be a sadistic masseuse?” 103 Across) and ORDER THE GARTER (“Send for a special bridal accessory?” 118 Across).

Doubled Up Dept.: “Cloudless” was used as a clue twice, to yield FAIR (75 Across) and CLEAR (98 Across). So was “Slowly,” for the musical terms ADAGIO (101 Down) and LARGO (104 Down). The puzzle also featured both HARHAR (“Phony laugh,” 8 Across) and TARTAR (“___ sauce,” 95 Down).

Cross Words Dept.: The abbreviation BRONC (“It may be broken on a ranch,” 81 Across) happened to cross with RONCO (“Veg-O-Matic maker,” 82 Down).

Greek Mythology Dept.: “Spiderwoman?” (1 Across) referred not to an obscure Marvel Comics character but to ARACHNE, the root of the word arachnid. I loved Greek myths as a kid; in this one, the goddess Athena was jealous of the weaving skills of an arrogant mortal named Arachne. So Athena decided Arachne could spend the rest of her life weaving — webs, that is — and turned her into a spider.

For Fun Dept.: “They’re mushed” are ESKIMO DOGS (44 Down). “#2 in a prosecutor’s off.” is ASST DA (102 Across). And in perhaps a nice coincidence with the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day, “Faddish 1970s footwear” are EARTH SHOES (39 Down). Have to admit I couldn’t mentally picture them — I was young in the ’70s — but here’s what they’ve morphed into today. (UPDATE: This post has been corrected to reflect that it’s the 42nd, not 40th, anniversary of Earth Day.)

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times crossword April 15 / Constructed by Kevin G. Der

Holy crap, what an awesome puzzle! But I hope you remember high school chemistry — without it, you’ll be sunk.

At first glance, the crossword appeared to be football-themed — a rectangular shape titled “Grid Iron.” My first thought was that Will Shortz is totally off his rocker. I mean, he ran a Titanic-themed puzzle (“100 Years Ago”) on March 11, a whole month before the anniversary. Does he not have a calendar?

But I should not have doubted him. This terrific crossword from constructor Kevin G. Der was a three-fer that included a massive grid (about 300 clues!), a connect-the-dots and a hidden phrase. Did I mention you also had to know the chemical symbol for iron (FE)?

This crossword had all kinds of bonus puzzles inside.

As everyone knows by now, this weekend was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the TITANIC (56 Down, to which all theme clues refer). (I even contributed to the hype with this story from Philadelphia.) You might also know that the 1997 movie of the same name was re-released in 3-D. It tells the tragic story of the LUXURY LINER (152 Across) that departed from SOUTHAMPTON (29 Across) on April 10, 1912, en route to New York. But the ship hit an ICEBERG (60 Down) and sank off the coast of Newfoundland, killing more than 1,500 people.

The film stars Kate WINSLET (125 Across) and Leonardo DICAPRIO (128 Across), birthed the ever-present Celine Dion theme song MY HEART WILL GO ON (35- and 37 Across), and went on to win ELEVEN ACADEMY AWARDS (141 Across). Its most famous line is I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD (33 Across).

Today’s puzzle also came with a unique shape, eight shaded squares and a blurb about 12 other “special” squares. Those special squares were where you had to squeeze the letters FE — the “iron” in the title — into a single box. When you connected all 12 FEs, you got the shape of the Titanic; the shaded squares represent the smokestacks.

On top of all that, the blurb instructed you to find the mirror-image squares of all the FEs in order to spell out another name for the Titanic. Those letters yield SHIP OF DREAMS.

Philly Shout-Out Dept.: “‘Love Train’ singers, with ‘the’” are O’JAYS (10 Across). The group is part of the heart and soul of TSOP – The Sound of Philadelphia – created at Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records, just a few blocks from my house. I’ll also give a Philly-area shout-out to the AMISH (“Some buggy drivers,” 139 Across).

Junior High Flashback Dept.: Last month, I went to my first bat mitzvah in about 25 years. I heard ADONAI (“Literally, ‘my Lord’,” 92 Across) quite frequently, but not so much “Shalom ____” ALEICHEM (“Hebrew greeting,” 92 Down). (Also, back in the mid-’80s, I was always a guest of the honoree, wondering who all those nameless adults were; this time, I was one of those nameless adults.)

Clues of Note Dept.: “Winner of a 1970s-’80s war” is VHS (87 Across), which beat out Betamax in the market for that now-defunct device known as a VCR (video cassette recorder, for the youngsters out there). “Saverin who co-founded Facebook” is EDUARDO (53 Down), played by Andrew Garfield in the terrific movie “The Social Network.” I don’t know anyone who uses the verb form of “liaison,” so I’m going to deduct points for LIAISES (“Acts the middleman,” 103 Down). And “Golfs, e.g., briefly” are VWS (87 Down), for Volkswagens. My old Golf served me well for eight years and 146,000 miles.

Missing Link Dept.: As you can see from the one empty square, I could not for the life of me figure out the last letter in 56 Across (“Silence indicator”), which crosses with 44 Down (“Small-runway aircraft, briefly”). Help?

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times crossword April 8 / Constructed by Daniel A. Finan

You really had to read between the lines, or within the circles, to figure out this fun and clever puzzle. The rebus-like theme uses circled letters to literally hide answers “in” the entry — thus the title, “In-nuendos.” (I’ll have to underline and bold the circled letters here.) For instance, 101 Across — “Golf ace” — yields the answer THE LONELIEST NUMBER. The circled letters spell HOLE, while another word for “the loneliest number” is “one.” Thus a “Golf ace” is a HOLE in “one.”

Others: “1997 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones flick” (22 Across) is AFRICAN AMERICAN, for MEN in “black.” “Preventive measure, proverbially” (36 Across) is IT’S TOLD USING A WATCH, for a STITCH in “time” saves nine. “Headstone phrase” (51 Across) is TREATY RESULT, for REST in “peace.” “Lurid 1979 film about John Dillinger’s girlfriend, with ‘The’” (69 Across) is COLOR FOR VALENTINE’S DAY, for LADY in “red.” “‘To be on the safe side …’” (88 Across) is JUDGE’S MATTER, for JUST in “case.” And “One who looks friendly but isn’t” (121 Across) is WOOL FACETIOUSLY, for a WOLF in “sheep’s clothing.”

Athletic Dept.: Lots of sports-related clues in this puzzle. “Athlete wearing a calligraphic ‘D’ logo” is a (Detroit) TIGER (67 Across). “Knicks star Anthony, to fans” is MELO (26 Across). “Golfer with an ‘army’” is ARNIE (Palmer, 21 Across). “Big name in the diamond business,” as in baseball, is ALOU (23 Down). “Home of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame” is WACO (82 Down). “Virginia athlete, informally” is a CAV, for Cavalier (58 Down). “N.B.A. forward Lamar ___” is ODOM (71 Down). And a “Stone-pushing Winter Olympian” is a CURLER (97 Across).

Doubling Up Dept.: “Where skaters skate” was a repeated clue that yielded ON ICE (17 Down) and RINKS (18 Down). “Locale for many a lounge chair” is POOLSIDE (48 Down), while “Lounge lizard’s look” is a LEER (50 Down).

Did You See The End Of Season One? Dept.: Because I’m pretty sure this guy died. “‘Game of Thrones’ protagonist ___ Stark” is, or was, NED (72 Down).

Blast From The Past Dept.: I never actually played PARCHEESI (“The Royal Game of India,” 114 Across) as a kid, but I remember the board game being ever-present on some people’s shelves.

Easter/Passover Dept.: “Bishop’s local” is a DIOCESE (35 Across). “Not kosher” is TREF (90 Down). Also might add in SLAVE (“___ driver,” 113 Across), since we watched the end of the annual broadcast of “The Ten Commandments” on TV last night. And for both religions, “There is ___” A GOD (119 Across).

Philly Shout-Out Dept.: “Letter seen twice in Philadelphia,” at least in its original Greek, is PHI (79 Across).

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.

New York Times crossword April 1 / Constructed by Patrick Merrell

No caddies were required for today’s golf-themed puzzle, as there was no heavy lifting. The easy, punny theme answers were evidently a nod to the upcoming Masters tournament, which was referenced in 19 Across: ”Augusta National Golf Club, for the Masters” – HOME.

The theme answers include: “Golf club repositioning?” – CHANGE OF ADDRESS (22 Across); “Hole in one?” – STROKE OF LUCK (40 Across); “Comment after hitting a tee shot out of bounds?” – BYE BYE BIRDIE (49 Across); “Wedge shot from a worn-out practice range platform?” – A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK (69 Across); “Use one club for all 18 holes?” – PUTTER AROUND (90 Across); “Course not listed in the guidebooks?” – MISSING LINKS (101 Across); and “Woods stowed in the rear of a golf cart?” — that doesn’t mean Tiger — are BACKSEAT DRIVERS (122 Across). Finally, “Duffer’s shots?” are FORE PLAY (14 Down), while “Club thrown in disgust?” is a CAST IRON (88 Down).

Was I the only one disappointed there were no April Fool’s tricks? Or did I miss them completely?

Nineteenth Hole Dept.: Other golf-related terms included EAGLE (“Shoot two under,” 48 Across) and FACT (“There are 336 dimples on a typical golf ball, for instance,” 1 Down).

International Monetary Fund Dept.: “Continental coins” are EUROS (76 Across), while “Swedish coins” are KRONOR (74 Down). “100 kopecks” make a RUBLE (82 Across).

Never Knew That Dept.: “Sport named for a British boarding school” is RUGBY (35 Down). “Insect named for the Virgin Mary” is a LADY BUG (53 Across).

For Fun Dept.: “Object of curiosity on the first day of school” is the NEW KID (103 Down).

Uncovering History Dept.: “Disappearance of 7/2/1937″ (77 Across) is EARHART, as in aviatrix Amelia. Perhaps coincidentally, researchers said just last month that new information might help solve the 75-year-old mystery of what happened to the pioneering pilot and her plane.

Questions or comments? Leave them here, visit my Facebook page or tweet me @crosswordkathy.