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September 18, 2026 
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| Mathieu Labrecque |
The Letter M
A couple of weeks ago, we ran a puzzle by Mac Motz with an unusual feature: Every single clue started with an M, but also had another word in it that started with an M. The revealer was found at 1-Across: M AND M’S, with the clue [“Melts in your mouth” candies … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme]. We used bold M’s for the clues to make those letters stand out a little more. It would have been a shame for this amazing feature to be missed! Besides the M’s in the clues, each of the longer theme entries in the grid was a two-word phrase where each part started with an M, like MAGIC MARKERS and MICKEY MANTLE.
We’ve run puzzles before where the first word of every clue started with a certain letter, like this “HAPPY B-DAY” puzzle by MaryEllen Uthlaut and this tribute to the letter H by Bruce Haight and Peter Collins. More recently, Brian Callahan made an OPEN SEAS puzzle, where every clue started with the letter C. Mac’s puzzle, though, was the first one we’ve run with two key words in the clues starting with the same letter.
This kind of puzzle is one of my favorites to edit. Having a constraint like this when writing clues makes me think of the game Taboo, where you can’t say certain words. It forces you to come up with words you might not think to use — as you might imagine, not every answer can be clued very easily with two words that start with M. We also want to avoid relying too heavily on the same few words and try not to repeat common words like “many” or “much.” Mac and the editors had to get pretty creative here. Below are a few of my favorite clue/answer pairings from the puzzle.
- TOM = [Male meower]
- DOPE = [“Mega cool!,” in modern lingo]
- KEEP IN = [Maintain, as movie footage]
- AL GORE = [Main man for Bill Clinton, 1993-2001]
- PORCH = [Many a mailbox locale]
- PAD = [Mattress or memo follower]
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| Grid by Ryan Mathiason/Clues written by Christina Iverson |
For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read the Wordplay column.
Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email.
Easy vs. Hard
In today’s daily Friday puzzle, 26-Across has the clue [Country club?]. For Easy Mode, I went with a straightforward clue, but one that might teach you something you didn’t know: [Organization with the motto “Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet”].
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P.S. The answer to Easy vs. Hard is UNITED NATIONS.
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