{"id":2257,"date":"2026-02-18T06:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2026-02-18T06:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:36:20","slug":"nyt-crossword-analysis-feb-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/nyt-crossword-analysis-feb-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT Crossword Analysis (Feb 18, 2026): A Visual Language!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many crossword lovers, wordplay is one of the best techniques to add some spice to the grid. But there is a question: what if wordplay doesn\u2019t have any words to play with? If you think that is impossible, then I have strong evidence which proves otherwise. What is my evidence? The NYT Crossword of Feb 18!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before starting the NYT Crossword analysis Feb 18, I should warn you: if you are not fond of emojis (which I think is impossible nowadays), then you will have a hard time decoding the theme clues. So join me in today\u2019s analysis of the crossword to review all the theme clues!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYT Crossword Analysis Feb 18: Theme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The theme clues of the grid come at 21-, 39-, and 57-Across. All these groups of emojis represent an idiom which you may use in your everyday conversation. But in visual format, it is a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NYT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

21-Across clue (\ud83d\udd58\u23f3\u23f0<\/a><\/strong>) is a bunch of clocks which solves to SIGNSOFTHETIMES<\/strong> (Signs of the Times). 39-Across (\ud83e\udd19\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4b<\/strong>) presents us with some emoji hands. This was a bit hard for me since I didn\u2019t want to get help from crossing entries and tried to reach the “Aha!” moment all by myself. However, I gave up finally and solved the other entries to get the answer, which is SYMBOLICGESTURES<\/strong> (Symbolic Gestures).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

57-Across (\ud83d\udcac\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\ud83d\uddef\ufe0f<\/a><\/strong>) is the last theme clue and also the easiest one. No, I am not that smart; I was tired of deep thinking and followed the words of the crossing entries to find the answer, FIGURESOFSPEECH<\/strong> (Figures of Speech).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of emojis in the NYT Crossword of Feb 18 shows how the way of communication has changed throughout the past years, especially since the emergence of different messengers and social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tricky Clues of NYT Crossword of Feb 18<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

20A – <\/strong>Aran, heroine of Nintendo\u2019s Metroid (SAMUS).<\/strong> If you\u2019re a gamer, this filled itself in at light speed. If not, \u201cSamus\u201d looks like someone fell asleep on the keyboard. The clue expects you to know Samus Aran, the armored bounty hunter from Metroid (classic midweek pop-culture trivia).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31A – <\/strong>Reservoir producer<\/a> (DAM).<\/strong> Sneaky wording! You might picture a factory that bottles water, but the clue means something that creates a reservoir. Build a dam and the water backs up into a reservoir. A tidy little “cause and effect” clue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

34A – <\/strong>Bounty (GOBS).<\/strong> \u201cBounty\u201d often means a reward (like a prize) or generosity, but here it means \u201ca whole lot.\u201d If you have gobs of something, you\u2019ve got plenty. The fun is realizing the clue wants slang for abundance, not pirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45A – <\/strong>Trident-shaped letter<\/a> (PSI).<\/strong> The Greek letter \u03c8 literally looks like a tiny trident. So the clue is basically: \u201cWhich letter resembles Poseidon\u2019s fork?\u201d If you remember your Greek alphabet shapes, this one feels very satisfying to drop in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts of NYT Crossword of Feb 18<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This crossword grid measures 15 rows by 16 columns and contains no rebus squares. The puzzle uses 21 of the 26 letters in the alphabet, with J, Q, V, X and Z absent from the fill. The grid follows standard rotational symmetry, which means it appears the same when rotated 180 degrees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many crossword lovers, wordplay is one of the best techniques to add some spice to the grid. But there is a question: what if wordplay doesn\u2019t have any words to play with? If you think that is impossible, then I have strong evidence which proves otherwise. What is my evidence? The NYT Crossword of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crossword-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2257"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2263,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2257\/revisions\/2263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dazepuzzle.com\/mag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}