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.

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Source: Twitter, The New York Times