Working on the clue “Home of Whistler’s Mother”? Below you’ll find smart hints, cultural context, solver strategy, and a spoiler-safe reveal. We follow standard American crossword conventions—no diacritics, letters only, and reliance on crossings. For daily help and archives, visit Clue of the Day.
Hints (no spoilers)
Reveal the Answer
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The museum is the Musée d’Orsay (Paris). We present the unaccented, space-free entry to match American crossword conventions.
Clue Breakdown & Cultural Context
Editors often clue famous artworks via their institutional home. This narrows ambiguity and gives solvers a stable target. For Paris, several museum names recur in crosswords (LOUVRE, ORANGERIE, POMPIDOU), but the dropped-accent rule and your crossings typically point to one clear answer.
The painting in question—popularly Whistler’s Mother, formally Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1—was created in 1871 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Its austere composition and instantly recognizable silhouette have made it a cultural icon. Museum cluing works well here because the venue is internationally renowned and closely associated with the era covered by its collections.
From a solving perspective, treat foreign-language proper nouns as letters-only entries: remove spaces, apostrophes, and accents. Confirm with crossings in chunks—think “MUSEE” then “DORSAY”—rather than letter-by-letter guessing. This chunking approach accelerates fill and reduces errors caused by diacritics or spacing.
For more daily explanations, archives, and strategy notes, head to Clue of the Day.
Strategy: Lock the Entry with Crossings
When a clue implies a proper noun in another language, rely on crossings to validate each segment. Pencil in the museum segment you’re confident about, scan intersecting downs for confirmation, and remember that American dailies remove diacritics. If a crossing hints at punctuation or an accent, ignore it and prioritize clean A–Z letters.
Practicing this pattern recognition—especially with museums and landmarks—pays dividends on mid-week grids and beyond.
