The NYT Crossword of Feb 19 is an evil puzzle, full of sin after sin. Don’t take it the wrong way; I am not preaching or criticizing the puzzle. It is literally full of “sins,” but it may not be evil. On the contrary, today’s puzzle is quite interesting because, after several weeks, we finally have a rebus in the grid.
The rebuses are the traditional type where you have to fit more than one letter (in the case of today’s puzzle, 3 letters) into a single square to solve the clue. Without any further ado, let’s get to the NYT Crossword analysis Feb 19 to check out this sinful grid!
By the way, for the music fans out there, the title of today’s analysis (Devil in Disguise) is actually the name of a song by Marino. It felt like the perfect anthem to blast while navigating this ‘sinful’ Thursday grid!
Theme of NYT Crossword of Feb 19
As I mentioned in the introduction, the grid contains several rebuses. The first theme clue comes at 18-Across (Courting disaster, slangily), which features both shaded letters and a rebus. This clue solves to CRUISINFORABRUISIN. The “SIN” is fit into one square, which also crosses 13-Down (Spot to play baccarat), or CASINO.
The next one is at 29-Across: “Uses a shampoo bottle as a microphone, perhaps.” The answer to this clue is SINGSINTHESHOWER. The crossing entry with the rebus (19-Down, or “Talking back to”) solves to SASSING.
A little hint for my fellow solvers: Go for the rebus squares first and fill them in if they share the same letters. By doing so, you will find the answers much more quickly. It is a golden tip! If you haven’t solved the grid yet, try this strategy and witness the miracle.
Finally, we have 48-Across (They may have knowledge of corporate secrets), which is BUSINESSINSIDERS. 39-Down (Varnish ingredient) ends with the rebus and solves to RESIN.
Do you think the theme stops there? If so, you are totally wrong. We have a nice-touch revealer in the puzzle at 60-Across: “Better choice, given the options … or the circled squares vis-à-vis the shaded ones?” Before answering this clue, let’s review the grid once more.
The shaded letters in the puzzle contain the full word SIN across three squares. Meanwhile, the rebus squares pack those same letters into one. So, why three “big” SINs and three “little” sins? The answer lies in the revealer. This is a visual representation of 60-Across: LESSER OF TWO EVILS.
In this punny construction, a “SIN” is an “EVIL.” The rebus square is literally the lesser (smaller) version of the word, taking up only one square instead of three. It’s a brilliant visual gag!
Tricky Clues of NYT Crossword of Feb 19
45D – “I’m at your disposal” (USE ME): The clue sounds polite and formal, like something a servant in a period drama would say. But the answer is just the plainspoken USE ME. The humor is in translating lofty language into everyday speech.
29-Down – “You can request a new one on religious grounds if it contains ‘666’: Abbr.” (SSN): Wild trivia misdirection. You might think of license plates or phone numbers, but it’s actually your Social Security Number. Some people object to “666” (the number of the beast), so the clue leans on that cultural reference. The surprise comes from realizing SSNs can be changed in rare cases.
41-Down – “Card game clarification” (ACESHIGH): This looks straightforward, but the trick is grammatical: it’s not describing a specific card, but clarifying the ranking rule (“Aces High”). The noun “clarification” pushes you toward an explanation rather than the card itself. It’s subtle part-of-speech misdirection.
Facts of NYT Crossword of Feb 19
The grid has 15 rows and 16 columns, with 9 shaded squares, 3 circled cells, and 3 rebus entries. It follows standard rotational symmetry, appearing the same when rotated 180 degrees.
