For me, food is like a miracle from God and cooking is a form of art. How you blend raw ingredients and turn them into a delicious meal is something that I would definitely call art. You might be surprised to see that I started the NYT Crossword analysis Feb 9 by dropping some comments about food.
Crosswords are not food and I know it, but there is a “foodie” twist in the NYT Crossword of Feb 9. We have three chicken-based foods in today’s puzzle that you may have already found. However, if you haven’t seen them yet, I’m here to decipher all the theme clues.
Theme of NYT Crossword of Feb 9
At the very beginning of the analysis, let me review the revealer at 55-Across: Question to a scaredy-cat … to which the final parts of 20-, 32- and 42-Across would answer “Yes!” This clue solves to AREYOUCHICKEN (Are You Chicken). As stated in the question, the final parts of the mentioned clues would answer “yes” to this question. So let’s go and check them.
20-Across (Main drag through Sin City) is about the most famous city-based corridor in the world where luxury and nightlife combine: LASVEGASSTRIP (Las Vegas Strip). Keep “Strip” in mind and mix it with chicken. Now I am hungry!
32-Across (Valuable bit in a prospector’s pan) solves to GOLDNUGGET (Gold Nugget). On the other hand, 42-Across (Hockey player who typically plays the entire game) is GOALTENDER (Goal Tender).
As you can see, the final phrases of all three clues are foods with chicken: Chicken Strip, Chicken Nugget and Chicken Tender. Therefore, it is obvious that all of them would answer “yes” to the “Are you chicken?” question!
Facts of the NYT Crossword of Feb 9
Today’s puzzle has 15 rows and 15 columns. There are no rebus squares in it and the letters F, J, Q, X, and Z are missing from the grid. All answers to theme clues are unique and have never appeared in previous crosswords.
Did this “Chicken” theme give you a boost, or did the GOAL TENDER block your progress? Let me know your fastest Monday solve time in the comments!
If you need the answers for daily crossword puzzles like the NYT Crossword or the NYT Mini, make sure to check Daze Puzzle every day to find the solutions you need in record time.
