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The age-old debate of whether Star Wars or Star Trek is the better space-based franchise has finally been answered in a New York Times crossword puzzle answer. First airing in 1966, eleven years before  Star Wars: A New Hope , Star Trek introduced audiences to Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, and a host of other crew members aboard the USS Enterprise. The original series aired for three years but has since been rebooted and revived in several different forms, including, most recently, the trilogy of films starring Chris Pine.

Arguably more fantasy than science fiction, the Star Wars franchise has become one of the most reliable entertainment properties of all time. In addition to 12 feature films, the Star Wars universe has also seen success with its TV shows, including The Clone Wars , The Mandalorian , and most recently,  The Book of Boba Fett . Although in many ways, Star Wars and Star Trek are very different franchises with different strengths, fans have debated which one is superior for the better part of forty years now.

Related: Strange New Worlds Release Date Revives Star Trek Vs Star Wars Feud

However, a user named Matt on Twitter pointed out a new answer from The New York Times crossword puzzle that may have finally answered the age-old Star Wars vs. Star Trek debate. According to the crossword, both franchises are the best. With the clue asking for " the better of two sci-fi franchises ," both Star Wars and Star Trek can be inputted into the puzzle as correct answers. Check out the clever crossword puzzle answer below:

The beauty of the crossword answer is that both Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans can feel validated in thinking they have the better franchise. Although the surrounding answers will change depending on which franchise is inputted into the space, the puzzle will still work. Interestingly, suppose Star Trek is inputted as the best sci-fi franchise. In that case, the clue and answer for 71 Down becomes "It's a trap!" an iconic line uttered by Admiral Ackbar in the final film in the original trilogy,  Star Wars: Return of the Jedi .

Ultimately, the crossword puzzle answer reinforces the notion that both Star Wars and Star Trek are excellent in their own ways. While Star Wars is the more popular franchise, at least in terms of box office success, Star Trek has a similarly passionate fan base , and another feature film is reportedly in the works at Paramount. Whether one is better than the other will always come down to personal taste, and, just like the classic chocolate vs. vanilla argument, there is no correct answer. Both franchises have given fans stories and characters that have remained relevant and iconic decades after they first premiered, which should be celebrated by fans instead of debated.

More: Discovery S4 Continues One Of Abrams' Star Wars Additions To Star Trek

Source: Matt / Twitter

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The NYT Crossword Asks Players To Choose Between Star Wars And Star Trek

The paper's iconic crossword has played off the notorious rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek fans.

By Hayley Williams on February 7, 2022 at 10:02PM PST

The New York Times' iconic crossword seemed set to stoke nerd rivalries on Sunday when its central theme clue asked players to name "the better of two sci-fi franchises" with the first word "STAR." In a tricky bit of wordplay, however, the puzzle and its surrounding word clues work no matter whether you choose to insert "STAR WARS" or "STAR TREK."

The clever crossword was pointed out by Twitter user @matttomic, who posted a screenshot of the crossword's central theme set with both "WARS" and "TREK" filled in.

Fun little trick in the Sunday New York Times crossword yesterday: the central theme clue was "The better of two sci-fi franchises", and regardless of whether you put Star Wars or Star Trek, the crossing clues worked pic.twitter.com/NS4LDxwxxl — ℳatt (@matttomic) February 7, 2022

The clever wordplay didn't stop with the central grid. As another Twitter user pointed out, a number of other clues in the crossword relied on puzzlers knowing that the clue in 70-across referred to both Star Wars and Star Trek.

A number of matched puzzles elsewhere in the grid asked for answers from both franchises--for example "major role" at both 38-across and 99-across required players to know both "HAN SOLO" and "MR SPOCK." Other themed clues asked for the franchises' "good side," and a "memorable quote."

The nerd-themed crossword was designed by Stephen McCarthy, who said in his constructor's notes that "I am a fan of both 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek,' so it’s nice to be able to highlight both (not to mention the friendly rivalry between the two fandoms) in one puzzle." As you might expect, McCarthy said that fitting both WARS and TREK into the same part of the puzzle was the most difficult part of constructing the crossword, while also adding that he tried to make the grid as a whole look a little like a spiral galaxy.

While known for its witty crosswords, the New York Times has just acquired another popular word game , Wordle, which has recently taken social media by storm in its free-to-play form. While the game's creator Josh Wardle has said the game will "initially" remain free-to-play, it's expected that Wordle will eventually come under the NYT's subscription model.

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New York Times Crossword Puzzle Pits Star Wars vs Star Trek - And They Both Win

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One of Star Wars' Best Villains Ruined His Chance to Wipe Out the Sith

Hayden christensen was already familiar with the world between worlds before star wars return, james cameron reveals venom plans and concept art for unmade spider-man film.

Fans of both  Star Trek and Star Wars  might receive a pleasant surprise while playing  The  New York Times'  Sunday crossword.The crossword was shared by Twitter user @mattomic, who pointed out that the central theme clue of The New York Times ' Feb. 6 crossword asked players to determine "the better of two sci-fi franchises." While the first word given in the answer for 70 Across was "Star," if fans decided to put down "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" as their final answer, it would have worked either way. RELATED: Paramount+ Exec Teases Even More Star Trek Projects, Offers Section 31 Update

However, a reference to the age-old debate of Star Wars vs. Star Trek wasn't the only clever sci-fi reference featured in the crossword. The answer to 71 Down became "It's a trap!," a reference to an iconic line from Admiral Ackbar in 1983's  Star Wars: Return of the Jedi , the third film in the original trilogy. The puzzle itself was titled "Sci-Fi Showdown," and included even more references to characters from both properties, including Spock and Han Solo.

This Sunday puzzle was designed with an overall science fiction theme by Stephen McCarthy, who has designed three puzzles for The New York Times so far. In his Constructor Notes, shared by NYT , McCarthy noted that, after having grown up with both the Star Wars prequel trilogy starring Hayden Christensen and Star Trek: The Next Generation , he is "a fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek , so it's nice to be able to highlight both (not to mention the friendly rivalry between the two fandoms) in one puzzle."

McCarthy continued, "[crossword puzzle editor for NYT  Will Shortz] noted that the middle of the puzzle was the hardest bit to construct due to the constraints of making both WARS and TREK work in the down answers and getting those to work nicely together. I would have liked the grid pattern in the middle to be a bit less broken up, but oh, well! I tried to make the grid look a bit like a spiral galaxy to reflect the theme … wonder how many people will notice."

Starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise, Star Trek first premiered in 1966 and, though it originally only aired for three seasons, spawned countless reboots, spinoffs and movies, as well as a modern film trilogy starring Chris Pine as James Kirk. Eleven years after Star Trek aired its first episode, Star Wars: A New Hope would premiere in theaters in 1977.

KEEP READING:  Sebastian Stan Is Up for Granting Star Wars Fans' Wish as Luke Skywalker

Source: Twitter , The New York Times

The New York Times crossword pokes fun at longtime Star Wars/Star Trek feud

By meg dowell | feb 8, 2022.

For decades, Star Wars and Star Trek fans have (mostly) jokingly remained at odds with one another. Two fictional space franchises couldn’t possibly co-exist! Now, thanks to a recent  New York Times  Sunday crossword puzzle, Star Wars and Star Trek fans have been forced on equal turf … for now.

A Twitter user called attention to the clever trick not long after it was published. The puzzle was set up so that no matter which franchise you chose — War or Trek — you would have been able to solve the clue.

Fun little trick in the Sunday New York Times crossword yesterday: the central theme clue was "The better of two sci-fi franchises", and regardless of whether you put Star Wars or Star Trek, the crossing clues worked pic.twitter.com/NS4LDxwxxl — ℳatt (@matttomic) February 7, 2022

If players entered Star Wars as their answer, the other formed words would have been “wrap,” “waist,” “payers,” and “leased.” Star Trek would have given “trap,” “wrist,” “payees,” and “leaked.”

Star Wars and Star Trek have both been around for decades and, while technically ‘set in space” during a different era of time than we’re currently living in, they’re quite different and unnecessary to seriously compare. Star Wars has produced more movies than shows where Star Trek’s total franchise-wide episode count continues to exceed a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars takes place in the past and is often more fantasy than science fiction, while Star Trek is set in a fanatical future that leans heavier into the sci-fi genre.

However, both franchises have featured now-iconic actors that are still so widely known for their so-called “space adventures.” Both also share a similar core message: In the battle between good versus evil, one way or another, good will always prevail. It may all be fake and in space, but there are always lessons to take from both sets of ongoing stories.

Leave it to  The New York Times to remind us that all fictional universes matter, except Star Wars totally has better music. MTFBWY!

Related Story. RUMOR: A Star Wars: Lost Stars series could be in development for Disney+. light

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Sci-Fi Showdown

Galactic forces collide in this far-out Stephen McCarthy puzzle.

By Caitlin Lovinger

SUNDAY PUZZLE — This is Stephen McCarthy’s third extravagant Sunday puzzle for The Times in less than a year, a trend interrupted by one Thursday last December. He’s such a prolific themed constructor, he must be one of those makers who dreams in themes.

Mr. McCarthy is originally from Vancouver Island, British Columbia (you might remember his “Maple Leaf” Sunday grid ), and is now a Ph.D. student studying transportation modeling in Stockholm. Today’s puzzle makes me wonder if teleportation devices and airspeeders appear in those models.

Today’s theme involves two huge science fiction franchises and, as the puzzle’s print introduction notes, it is a “quantum” puzzle, with two correct solutions. One or both will delight the science fiction buffs out there.

Tricky Clues

Because of the nature and arrangement of the theme, the filler entries in this puzzle are a tiny bit shorter and more numerous than average. I don’t think this makes the grid easy, but it does look it a little bit, with fewer large, unbroken swaths of white boxes. There are still some hard clues and lovely surprises. For example, constructors often clue an alphabetical run of letters with their preceding or following letter, so I expected “m-n-o-p” to be the “Q preceder?,” rather than L.G.B.T. (That question mark indicates the presence of wordplay, but I still did not make the connection.) ROAR (“sound of a jaguar”) above PURR (“sound of a Jaguar”) is great: A British car and a big cat can both purr and roar, can’t they?

30A. I’m fond of this expression, which can mean a lot of things. “Scoundrel” is among them, whether used fondly or disdainfully. It’s all in the delivery, you smart little SO AND SO.

50A. This makes perfect sense once you’ve gotten it — an 8 looks just like a SNOWMAN, or at least its headless base and torso. I don’t know much about golf, but I do know that the pros don’t talk much about hittin’ a SNOWMAN, because eight strokes at one hole is terrible and indicates that your swing and luck are running ice-cold, i.e., you’re a little frosty .

69A. No shade on the Science section of The Times, but some of the most fascinating factoids pop up in the crossword puzzle. I’d never thought about volcanoes in a desert before — I imagine them on islands, usually tropical — but Emi Koussi is a volcano of northern Chad, in the SAHARA.

92A. This is one of two cosmetic companies in this puzzle, both debuts, both somewhere in my various skin care and makeup holdings. BIORÉ makes sticky strips that trap what’s hiding in your pores , and NARS makes a racy line of blushes .

95A. The capital “T” on the “Telegram” in this clue indicates branding: The Telegram app lets you send IMS, or instant messages. (If you cut the term “instant” a bit of slack, so do telegrams, which can still be delivered in some places .)

12D. Speaking of questions marks and wordplay, “Waste of an election?” doesn’t refer to all those local political officials who run unopposed term after term. Instead, the answer is CHADS (no relation to the North African nation), tiny specks of paper that are punched out of a ballot before it moves into a counting machine. Anyone who remembers the suspense of hanging, pregnant, dimpled and swinging-door chads in 2000 probably shuddered a little when they understood this pun.

98D. We see this term frequently in the crossword but so rarely everywhere else that it is always a surprise to have a MASER rather than a “laser” associated with atomic clocks. The terms are close in meaning and are both acronyms, differing in only their first letter: M icrowave/ L ight A mplification by S timulation E mission of R adiation.

Today’s Theme

There are three pairs of entries in the theme set today. Each pair shares a clue — at 25- and 115-Across (“good side”), 38- and 99-Across (“major role”) and 3- and 17-Down (“memorable quote”) — and all of those clues also refer to 70-Across. This is the location of the puzzle’s revealer, the entry that serves as a theme puzzle’s punchline; in this case, it’s a visual representation of the puzzle’s title, “Sci-Fi Showdown.”

I can’t imagine a solver getting one or two of these and not knowing their source, but you never know. I got the “major role” entries first — HAN SOLO and MR SPOCK — and was off to the hover-bike races.

More than that, I got a case of the warm fuzzies. It’s only human, right?

Mr. McCarthy is clever to include the two forces for good as an added challenge — Leia and Luke’s group isn’t on the tip of my tongue, nor is the multiplanetary union that Captain Kirk and his cohort protect. Mr. McCarthy is also smart to notice (and lucky to have) a couple of universally known catchphrases that are 21 letters long. One is a memorable introduction , and the other is just what you want to hear when you’re stuck in a tough crossword corner.

Notice that all of these theme entries orbit the central revealer at 70-Across, an eight-letter entry whose first half is simply STAR. Its last four squares are interesting, however.

Trekkies, you’ll find TRAP, WRIST, PAYEES and LEAKED at 71-, 67-, 47- and 35-Down, making your crosses. Star Wars fans, you’ll get different entries that fit the same clues. “It’s a T RAP” can also be “it’s a W RAP”; a “body part that precedes ‘band’” can be a W R IST or a W A IST; “ones involved in a transaction” can be PAYE E S or PAYE R S; and “let out, in a way,” can be LEA K ED or LEA S ED. Much like the universe, this grid is big enough for wookiees, klingons and those who love the several decades of incarnations of both STAR WARS and STAR TREK. I’m dating myself when I say I barely know who Mr. McCarthy is talking about in his notes below, and there are even newer chapters of both sagas, and probably more in the works for the future.

Constructor Notes

I am a fan of both “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” so it’s nice to be able to highlight both (not to mention the friendly rivalry between the two fandoms) in one puzzle. I grew up with the second iterations of both franchises (Episodes 1-3/The Next Generation) and had a crush on both Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker and Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher when I was a teenager, so I couldn’t decide which franchise I liked better! Will Shortz noted that the middle of the puzzle was the hardest bit to construct due to the constraints of making both WARS and TREK work in the down answers and getting those to work nicely together. I would have liked the grid pattern in the middle to be a bit less broken up, but oh, well! I tried to make the grid look a bit like a spiral galaxy to reflect the theme … wonder how many people will notice.

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Sneaky NY Times Crossword Breaks Star Wars, Star Trek Fans’ Brains

The clever puzzle simply asks: “The better of two sci-fi franchises.” Depending on your preference, the answer is either Star Wars or Star Trek. The double entendre was highlighted in Wordplay, the Times ’ crossword column along with a note about the choice from puzzle constructor Stephen McCarthy.

“I am a fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek , so it’s nice to be able to highlight both (not to mention the friendly rivalry between the two fandoms) in one puzzle,” McCarthy says in the column.

Fun little trick in the Sunday New York Times crossword yesterday: the central theme clue was “The better of two sci-fi franchises”, and regardless of whether you put Star Wars or Star Trek, the crossing clues worked pic.twitter.com/NS4LDxwxxl — ℳatt (@matttomic) February 7, 2022

The puzzle is pretty sneaky when you look at it. The starting word for 70 Across must be “star.” But the remaining four letters are more of a mystery, with both “Trek” and “Wars” fitting. Going the Star Trek route spells out “trap,” wrist,” “payees,” and “leaked” in the intersecting clues For Star Wars , the answers could be “wrap,” waist,” “payers,” and “leased.” No matter how you slice it, both answers work here.

It’s fine that both answers complete the puzzle, but I’m calling bullshit. There’s only one correct answer for this, and that’s Star Wars . I won’t be convinced otherwise, even if the line in the movie is “It’s a trap” and not “It’s a wrap.”

Folks online are shook by this puzzle, especially after Twitter user matttomic shared a screenshot of the section. Many agreed with me in saying Star Wars is clearly the correct answer . But, of course, there are Trekkies proclaiming Star Trek is the obvious choice between the franchises . There are some random Stargate folks , too, but who even watched that show?

There’s some real wit on display with this puzzle. That’s to be expected. It’s the New York Times , after all, so I applaud McCarthy for building such a dastardly grid. I also appreciate McCarthy for speaking directly to the idea of confirmation bias through this puzzle. It really signals where allegiances lie and will probably be a sticking point in this rivalry forever.

Read More: The Surprisingly Messy Culture Wars Within The New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Meanwhile, the New York Times has been upping its games game lately. In addition to its longstanding and well-known crossword, the NYT also runs other word puzzles Spelling Bee and Letter Boxed , visual games Tiles and Vertex, and a little-known maths game called Sudoku. And just this month, the paper bought online sensation Wordle . Honestly, I’d right-click the game if you’re worried about it being locked behind a paywall.

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5 responses to “Sneaky NY Times Crossword Breaks Star Wars, Star Trek Fans’ Brains”

After opening the article and seeing the second image of the puzzle, I got it, but the one in the header had me really scratching my head as to what the words could be. Somebody writes their I’s and Y’s like an absolute psycho. I’m sitting here like “W (A/R) DST? Wait, maybe it’s a backwards C? Nope, that still don’t make words… and over here we’ve got… PANE (R/E) S… is “PANERS” a word? Seems unlikely…”

also the author’s assetion that star wars is *obviously* better than star trek and that nobody watched stargate (which was super fucking popular and generated spinoffs) tells me they’re the most basic bitch sci-fi fan possible.

Stargate? Was that one of those SW cartoon spin-offs?

*angry noises*

They are equally valid. Starwars has Baby Yoda and BB-8 while Star trek has Tribbles and DOT-23’s

all are adorable

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Helmsman on “Star Trek” NYT Crossword Clue

Helmsman on Star Trek Crossword Clue Answers are listed below. Did you came up with a solution that did not solve the clue? No worries we keep a close eye on all the clues and update them regularly with the correct answers.

HELMSMAN ON STAR TREK NYT

Star Trek NYT Crossword

We solved the clue 'Star Trek' which last appeared on October 11, 2021 in a N.Y.T crossword puzzle and had twelve letters. The one solution we have is shown below. Similar clues are also included in case you ended up here searching only a part of the clue text.

• THEREDCARPET

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• "Star Trek" actress Jeri
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• LA Times Crossword
• December 10 2023

__ Eisley: spaceport in the Star Wars universe

While searching our database we found 1 possible solution for the: __ Eisley: spaceport in the Star Wars universe crossword clue.  This crossword clue was last seen on December 10 2023 LA Times Crossword puzzle . The solution we have for __ Eisley: spaceport in the Star Wars universe has a total of 3 letters.

Share the Answer!

Related clues.

We have found 10 other crossword clues with the same answer.

• Calendar divs.
• Wks. and wks.
• Calendar pgs.
• Info on rap sheets
• Rapper __ Def
• Yr.'s 12
• Jan. and Feb.
• Season trio: Abbr.
• Qtr. components

Related Answers

We have found 0 other crossword answers for this clue.

Other December 10 2023 Puzzle Clues

There are a total of 137 clues in December 10 2023 crossword puzzle.

• Curling surface
• Tapenade e.g.
• Appoint as a rabbi
• Karaoke outing that wont allow Arethas classic song?

If you have already solved this crossword clue and are looking for the main post then head over to LA Times Crossword December 10 2023 Answers

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There are a total of 1 crossword puzzles on our site and 172,764 clues.

The shortest answer in our database is IRA which contains 3 Characters.

Nest egg letters is the crossword clue of the shortest answer.

The longest answer in our database is SECONDEDITIONADDITION which contains 21 Characters.

Erratum appendix or reader testimonial? is the crossword clue of the longest answer.

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The Acolyte, Clipped, and more new TV this week

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It’s quiet in here — almost too quiet. Consider this the calm before the storm; with June kicking off, we’ll be knee-deep in a treasure trove of new shows , and that pace keeps up, more or less, the whole summer.

Still, there’s a lot of fun stuff to dig into. Clipped , starring Laurence Fishburne, details the events that led to Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban from the NBA; The Acolyte , the latest Disney Plus Star Wars show, is the first time the High Republic era has been on screen . All that and Doctor Who is still going, and Top Chef no longer has Last Chance Kitchen to catch its fallen soldiers. Things are heating up all over the place!

Here’s the best new TV premieres this week.

New shows on Netflix

Sweet tooth season 3.

Genre: Charming fantasy Release date: June 6, with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Jim Mickle Cast: Christian Convey, Nonso Anozie, Stefania LaVie Owen, and more

In Sweet Tooth ’s final season, all your questions — about the hybrids, the “sick,” and (hopefully) Gus’ (Christian Convey) mom — will be answered! And for its third and final season, Sweet Tooth will be going the logical place to bring all these strands together: the Arctic.

Genre: Soapy K-drama Release date: June 7, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Bae Hyun-jin Cast: Lee Chae-min, Roh Jeong-eui, and more

This one made our list of the best K-dramas to watch this summer for a reason : Hierarchy promises to be a juicy revenge romance, following a new girl from a (seemingly) modest background joining an elite private school. This will not shock you given the nature of the story, but... she may have her own agenda, and her own secrets, that will rock the established order of this school.

New shows on Disney Plus

The acolyte.

Genre: High Republic Star Wars Release date: June 4, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Leslye Headland Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Amandla Stenberg, Carrie-Anne Moss, and more

It’s the final days of the High Republic and one Jedi ( Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae) is trying to investigate a series of crimes — and who should he stumble upon but his old Padawan (Amandla Stenberg), and a troupe of more sinister forces.

New shows on Hulu

Genre: Real messy drama Release date: June 4, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Gina Welch Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Ed O’Neill, Jacki Weaver, and more

Maybe you know it from the podcast — The Sterling Affairs , as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 — or maybe you just know it from having followed the chaos. Either way, Clipped is gonna make sure you know it now: the story of Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill), the Clippers boss who got caught saying some racist stuff in a recording and how it rocked the NBA.

New shows on Paramount Plus

Criminal minds: evolution.

Genre: Crime procedural Release date: June 6, with two episodes Cast: Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, and more

The FBI’s most elite profilers are up against their biggest threat yet: investigating the mystery of Gold Star. Plus, a prolific serial killer from their past is getting transferred right into BAU’s backyard, Felicity Huffman will be guest-starring as Dr. Jill Gideon, and there’s speculation that Matthew Gray Gubler will return (he has at least expressed willingness to return).

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What would the great George Balanchine do? L.A. ballet director thinks he has the answers

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Ballerinas stir in the early afternoon light that shines through a fountain and into the studio. A jeté flashes in silhouette, a pirouette vanishes like a whisper. The dance is not there yet, but choreographer Lincoln Jones sees glimmers of grace as he counts to the music and imagines what George Balanchine might have done had he added a fourth act to his famous ballet “Jewels.”

It is provocative to aspire to slip into the mind of one of ballet’s great masters, but Jones, director of American Contemporary Ballet , sees it as a progression in his long devotion to Balanchine’s art. Jones, who rides a BMW motorcycle, aims for a degree of risk in his work. He once had his ballerinas — dressed elegantly as if on the set of “Mad Men” — saunter onto the stage and gather around a pie before falling to their knees like resplendent crows and devouring it.

“That came to me in a single instant,” he said at his studio on South Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles. “They’re walking in heels and it’s supposed to look like a runway walk, but it’s extremely slow until this element comes out that clearly shouldn’t be there and suggests something’s going to happen, and then it happens very fast. It’s the buildup.”

No pastries are expected when Jones’ “Sapphires” opens June 6. The piece is his rendering of a dance Balanchine thought about but never realized for “Jewels,” a plotless ballet comprised of three movements that evoke the beauty of precious stones and places significant to the Russian emigré: “Emeralds” for France set to the music of Gabriel Fauré, “Rubies” for America set to Igor Stravinsky, and “Diamonds” for his native imperial Russia with a score by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

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“‘Jewels’ was a walk through the musical geography of Balanchine’s life,” Jennifer Homans wrote in her biography “Mr. B.” The ballet was “a gift to his dancers” and the production, with its gem-studded costumes, was intended as “a play of windows and mirrors, real and reflected, appearances and light.”

When the New York City Ballet premiered “Jewels” in 1967, the New York Times praised it as “a wholehearted spectacle not to be missed.”

As he watched his ballerinas rehearse “Sapphires,” Jones, who grew up in Fullerton and once danced for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York, suggested that a dance, especially one Balanchine might have summoned, should flow like the cadence of a sentence or an unbroken contrail. A precise conspiracy of gesture and timing. Then he stopped the music and told one of his dancers, “Don’t race too quickly.”

Jones is at once affable and intense — a polite slyness radiates off him. He studies his dancers as if breaking down and reconfiguring elements in works that can be both seductive and playful. He is artist and nomad, choreographer and businessman who, in a perpetual search for studio space and favorable leases, has moved his company 10 times since co-founding it here with Theresa Farrell in 2011. Jones took a break from rehearsal the other day to talk about “Sapphires,” Balanchine and how a trip to Disneyland as a child taught him about aesthetics.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

What was the genesis of “Jewels”? What was Balanchine trying to convey?

The idea was supposedly suggested by Claude Arpels of the jewelry firm Van Cleef & Arpels. I think Balanchine was hoping to get funding from him. The ballet worked perfectly in creating a unified idea to give you three things that were very different and to explore what made them the same. If you see “Jewels” live, as you shift from the colors of green, red and diamonds, it has this huge visual impact. Balanchine was so good at drawing out simple elements that could be abstracted into other things.

The “Sapphires” section was never realized. Balanchine, who died in 1983, had reportedly said that the color was too hard to get across onstage. What was difficult about that?

My guess is because of the darkness of blue. For our intimate venue [Jones’ dancers are often only an arm’s length from the audience] it works. But for a larger stage I can see it not popping as much as the other jewels. That was way more than enough to deter him. Balanchine was a very theatrical thinker, but he did it with such limited means. It’s one of the things that makes his art so great — the efficiency with which he creates such impressive effects.

Is it a bit brash for you to imagine what Balanchine might have done? Like a writer taking on an unfinished Hemingway chapter?

Or stupidity. [ Laughs ]

Why are you doing it? Is it an imagining of his influence on you?

Choreography is unusual. Of the classical arts, there is little intellectual history in terms of how to do it. If you study music, you can find a million books on theory. But not in ballet. The best way for me to train was to study a master and try to learn everything I could to [understand] his work. Throughout the 20th century, you were supposed to be born as an artist and invent a new language. I very much disagree with that. I think that you have to master what came before and then maybe you’ll have something to say. The idea of taking a specific world of Balanchine’s and trying to make an extension of it is [like] trying to make a sequel to “Star Wars.” What made “Star Wars,” “Star Wars”? It holds your own work under an intense microscope. How much do you know about one of the most impactful ballets and what will that look like?

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Where do you see Balanchine’s imprint in your work? Where is it the same — and different?

I’m trying to learn from him. Not his vision but his craft. His ballets are effective in ways no one else’s are. Why is that? How is he matching steps to the music? How is he constructing step phrases? If you look at any visual artist’s work, you’ll see they’re attracted to certain lines and line shapes. I’m attracted to a different set of lines than Balanchine is but I don’t want to give up any of the technology that he’s left us. Whenever anybody asks me about Balanchine, I think of what Jack Nicholson said about Stanley Kubrick: “Everyone pretty much acknowledges him as The Man, and I still think that underrates him.” Dancers everywhere love to dance his work. I think he’ll come to be the only choreographer remembered from the 20th century.

Your “Sapphires” is set to the music of Austrian American composer Arnold Schoenberg, who fled the Nazis in the 1930s and emigrated to the U.S. Why did you choose Schoenberg?

Balanchine did plan to choreograph it to Schoenberg. It’s the first piece Schoenberg wrote when he moved to Los Angeles. It’s very unique. Many would call him the master of modern [atonal] music — music that for most people does not sound melodic. But Schoenberg said he often longed to write in the old style. The piece is called “Suite for String Orchestra in G Major.” There’s only two recordings of it that I know of. The music references what the Baroque composers were doing — the precursor to the modern symphony. It would be a collection of dances because at the time that’s what you did, you went out and danced. This is explicitly a throwback to that. I thought it was the right time to do it. It’s the 150th anniversary of Schoenberg’s birth. We’ll have a live 16-piece string orchestra.

You’re paying homage to Balanchine, but he is a revered figure . Any trepidation about putting this show on?

Absolutely. You want it to look like him but not a copy of him. I cannot fully channel what he would have done. When you’re imagining what Balanchine would do, your mind is going to what his ballets were. But then are you pulling too close to his steps? You have to go the other direction a little bit.

The core of your work is ballet, but since you came from New York to Los Angeles more than a decade ago you’ve expanded. You write skits. Your dancers sometimes look like they stepped out of Vogue magazine. In your show “Homecoming,” they were dressed as cheerleaders. In your most recent performance, you created a New Orleans jazz club complete with a live band and a stand-up comic. What are you trying to bring to ballet ?

I think it’s more of trying to bring ballet back to its natural state. Ballet has evolved into something that is a bit anachronistic and not ideal for the art. If you go back to the 15th and 16th centuries, ballets were like a party, like combining the Met Gala with a high school prom and a giant party — that’s what it was. That’s why we have dances with the audience after our shows. That participatory element. My goal is to create an experience today that has the depth of [the art of the past] but also the immediacy of what those things had in their own time. Any good performance surprises. I enjoy having elements people aren’t expecting. I like to draw themes out into different mediums, to be immersed in something. When I was a kid going to Disneyland, it was such a huge thing. It was the first time I had ever seen an aesthetically unified world.

Much of your work is cinematic . Why?

I want to use elements from the world that people live in so they can ease into the work, and you’re not immediately presenting a stylistic barrier where they have to get through the barrier to then get into the art. I want it to go straight through. It’s really what I want to see visually.

How difficult is it these days to keep a ballet company running? There’s fundraising, expiring leases and economics balanced against what you want to say artistically .

It used to drive me crazy that I couldn’t spend all my time on art, but I’ve actually learned about art from doing the other stuff. I still do a lot of fundraising myself. [The company’s ballets cost between $90,000 and $250,000, including live musical ensembles, to present.] I oversee the marketing because the company’s creative photos are so incredibly important to me. One of the things that slows us down is that everyone is waiting for answers from me while I’m working on the ballet. Economically, it’s a challenge. Philanthropy has changed over the years. I think a lot of times the goal of art is now seen as education or having a social purpose and a lot of the funding ends up going in that direction. It used to be for funding pure art. My goal is to show people that the funding for the sake of art itself is very valuable.

"Sapphires"

Where: American Contemporary Ballet, 333 S. Hope St., Suite C-150 , Los Angeles When: June 6-29 Tickets: $60-$140 Info: acbdances.com or (213) 304-3408

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Jeffrey Fleishman is a senior writer at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was the foreign and national editor. A 2002 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, Fleishman was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing. A longtime foreign correspondent, he served as bureau chief for The Times in Cairo and Berlin, and was previously based in Rome for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also was a writer on film, art and culture. Fleishman has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a finalist for the Center for Public Integrity’s Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. He is the author of five novels, including “Good Night, Forever” and “Last Dance.”

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