Sharaga and Peterson Debut 7-Part Marketing-Villainy Crossword in Sunday Times

Q: Why did editors force this acclaimed Sunday crossword to be streamlined, and what clever puns were left out?

Editors streamlined the Sunday crossword because the original, larger version had more theme entries than the published 21-by-21 grid could comfortably support, and the editors could not settle on a complete final set that worked cleanly. According to the background material, the puzzle was reduced to a tighter version to improve flow and keep the theme consistent and accessible. What survived were seven polished “sales pitch” rewrites of damaged cars, including OFF-ROAD VEHICLE for a car in a ditch, NEW SHOCKS for one struck by lightning, LOW EMISSIONS for a car with a tailpipe dragging, and BUCKET SEATS for a car with a leaky roof. The published puzzle ran that joke through 110-Across, where REAR-WHEEL DRIVE was another of the retained entries. What appears to have been left out were additional puns from the earlier, fuller concept—extra wrecked-car euphemisms that did not make the final cut once the editors compressed the theme set. The publicly available material does not provide a verified full list of those discarded entries, but it makes clear that the puzzle originally contained more theme answers and was pared back because the editors preferred a cleaner, more unified Sunday solve over a more crowded one. In short, the acclaimed puzzle was trimmed for editorial cohesion, not because the idea was weak; if anything, the reduction helped preserve the sharpest puns and made the finished version more elegant.

Q: Could the clever wordplay used to mask wrecked cars in this puzzle reveal a deeper truth about modern advertising tactics?

Yes. The joke in “Going for a Spin” works because it mirrors a real advertising habit: turning defects into appealing language. Sharaga and Peterson’s theme answers — “OFF-ROAD VEHICLE” for a car in a ditch, “NEW SHOCKS” for one struck by lightning, “LOW EMISSIONS” for a dragging tailpipe, “BUCKET SEATS” for a leaky roof — parody the same linguistic move advertisers often use in the real world. Marketing and media studies have long noted the use of euphemism, vague adjectives and “spin” to soften problems or create an illusion of advantage. Familiar examples include “pre-owned” instead of “used,” “fixer-upper” or “deferred maintenance” instead of dilapidated, and broad claims like “new,” “improved,” or “eco-friendly” that sound positive while revealing little. That is what makes the crossword’s humor land. It does not just invent absurd car-sales language; it exaggerates a technique audiences already recognize. In advertising, especially for products that are hard to distinguish from competitors, language often does the work of differentiation. Researchers and consumer watchdogs have shown how this can slide into puffery or even greenwashing when positive framing outruns the facts. The puzzle is not an exposé, and there is no evidence it was making a formal critique. But its central gag does point to a deeper truth: modern advertising often succeeds by reframing reality, not changing it. The title, “Going for a Spin,” captures that neatly.

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 1

Seven themed entries drive Sunday’s “Going for a Spin,” a New York Times crossword marking Ralph Sharaga’s first Times puzzle, made with veteran constructor Doug Peterson.
22-, 39-, 44-, 67-, 82-, 91- and 110-Across turn a wrecked car into ad copy, with clues about a ditch, lightning strike, dragging tailpipe and leaky roof recast through wordplay.
Examples include OFF-ROAD VEHICLE for a mud-spattered car, NEW SHOCKS for one just hit by lightning, LOW EMISSIONS for a tailpipe scraping the ground and BUCKET SEATS for a leaky roof.
Will Shortz says Sharaga, a mostly retired comedy writer and longtime Jets podcaster, is also making his Los Angeles Times crossword debut the same day.