Emmy-Winning Ward: A Clue That Might Just Make You Say “Oh, That’s It!”
Crossword puzzles are a delightful way to exercise your brain, but sometimes those tricky clues leave you stumped. This week’s puzzle threw a real curveball with a clue that sent me down a rabbit hole of television history. The clue?
“Emmy-winning Ward.”
At first glance, it seemed simple enough. Surely, there was a well-known actor who played a character named Ward on a popular sitcom and won an Emmy. But as I began my search, I realized it wasn’t quite as straightforward.
The “Emmy-winning Ward” clue was a double whammy of sorts, demanding both knowledge of a specific character AND the actor who portrayed them. It was like deciphering a cryptic message, each word holding a piece of the puzzle.
I started with the obvious. “Ward” immediately conjured up the iconic character from the classic sitcom “Leave It to Beaver.” But did the actor who played Ward Cleaver, Hugh Beaumont, win an Emmy? My initial excitement waned as I discovered he had not.
Undeterred, I continued my search, turning my attention to other sitcoms with a prominent “Ward” character. Perhaps it was “The Partridge Family” or “Family Ties”? Alas, neither led to an Emmy-winning actor.
The clock was ticking, and I needed to find a way to crack this clue. Maybe the clue was a red herring, and the answer wasn’t a traditional sitcom character at all. Perhaps it was a historical figure with the last name “Ward”?
I began researching historical figures with the last name “Ward,” but none seemed to have a connection to television or awards. The puzzle seemed to be taunting me, its answer hidden in plain sight, yet frustratingly out of reach.
Just as I was about to give up, a sudden realization hit me. The clue wasn’t focusing on a single character, but rather a specific
type
of character. What if “Ward” was a common name for a type of character on television?
With this new perspective, I returned to my initial list of possibilities. “Leave It to Beaver” was a show about a family, and Ward Cleaver was the patriarch. Could the clue be hinting at a father figure, a “Ward” in the sense of a guardian or head of the family?
The answer was right there, staring me in the face all along. The “Emmy-winning Ward” wasn’t an individual, but rather a
role
, a recurring archetype in television history. And the actor who brought that role to life, the one who truly embodied the essence of “Ward,” was a true legend.
Do you think you can solve this clue? Let me know in the comments below!
Available Answers:
SELA.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: NY Times Crossword 6 Aug 24, Tuesday