a new wrinkle
A new and often unexpected aspect, dimension, innovation, development, or stratagem. If proven to be true, the discovery could signal a new wrinkle in the way we think about the evolutionary process. Their new, and unorthodox, pitcher has brought a new wrinkle to the team's offensive game. Well, this is certainly a new wrinkle—no one foresaw that the experiment would yield a rubber-like substance.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
new wrinkle
A clever device or expedient, a novelty, as in The players added a new wrinkle to victory celebrations by tossing their shirts to the crowd after the game . In the form of simply a wrinkle, this expression dates from the mid-1700s, new being added two centuries later.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
new wrinkle, a
A happy expedient, a novel or different device. The transfer of “wrinkle” from rumpled clothing or age-lined skin took place in the 1800s, but the idea of novelty was added in the United States in the early 1900s. Jazz composer W. C. Handy used it in Father of the Blues (1941): “In addition to twirling their batons, they added the new wrinkle of tossing them back and forth.” This cliché is particularly popular with business journalists.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer