City WNW of Tulsa - NYT Crossword Clue

Introduction

Today's clue, "City WNW of Tulsa," is a classic example of a geographical knowledge question. These types of clues are a staple in American crosswords, testing your mental map of the United States. They are direct, with no wordplay involved, making them a refreshing and straightforward challenge.

Clue Analysis

The clue is composed of three key parts:

• "City": This tells us we are looking for the proper name of a municipality.
• "Tulsa": This is our anchor point. We need to know that Tulsa is a major city in Oklahoma.
• "WNW": This is the directional component, meaning "West-Northwest." It precisely guides us from our anchor point to the location of the answer.

So, the task is to identify a city that lies to the west and slightly to the north of Tulsa, within the same state.

Thinking Approaches

There are a few ways a solver might tackle this clue:

1. Direct Geographical Knowledge: If you're familiar with Oklahoma's geography, you might immediately know the answer. You'd mentally place Tulsa in the northeastern part of the state and scan west-northwest to find a prominent city that fits the grid's letter count.

2. Educated Guessing with Crossings: This is the most common approach for those without specific local knowledge. Let's say you have a few letters from crossing words, like E _ I _. You can then think of four-letter cities in that general region. The crossing letters provide the crucial constraints needed to pinpoint the answer.

3. Leveraging "Crosswordese": Experienced solvers build a mental database of common crossword answers. Certain cities, especially those with convenient letter combinations (like lots of vowels), appear frequently. The answer to this clue is one such city. If you're stuck on a four-letter city clue, it can be helpful to run through a mental list of common crossword cities like ERIE, OSLO, OREM, and, of course, the answer itself.

Background Context

The city in question is Enid, Oklahoma. It is the ninth-largest city in the state and serves as the county seat of Garfield County. Historically, Enid has been a significant hub for agriculture, earning it the nickname "Queen Wheat City" of Oklahoma due to its massive grain storage capacity. It is also home to Vance Air Force Base, a key pilot training facility for the U.S. Air Force.

The name "Enid" itself is of Welsh origin, featured in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. It's also a fairly common given name, which sometimes provides an alternative way for constructors to clue this answer.

Conclusion

"City WNW of Tulsa" is a solid, medium-difficulty geography clue. Its solvability hinges on a specific piece of trivia. For those who don't know it offhand, it serves as a great example of how essential the grid's crossing entries are for piecing together an answer. It's a good reminder to brush up on your state capitals and other notable cities!

Hints

1. Hint 1: The city is located in the state of Oklahoma.
2. Hint 2: This city is known as the "Queen Wheat City" of its state.
3. Hint 3: It is the county seat of Garfield County.
4. Hint 4: The city's name is also a female first name and the title of a popular Barenaked Ladies song.