Solution: Discomfiture - NYT Crossword

I love both words in this clue/entry combination. “Discomfiture” is from a 12th-century Old French word for “undo in battle.” Centuries later, however, it was confused with other words and its definition expanded to include “discomfort,” “discouragement” and “distress.” Those meanings jibe fairly well with the solution to “Discomfiture” in the grid, CHAGRIN, which is also Old French, meaning either “vexation” or “rough skin” (which recalls “shagreen,” a type of leather that was popular in Art Deco furnishings and appeared in the Times Crossword a couple of times in the 1960s). I have fondness for words like CHAGRIN that seem like one thing, in this case peppy (cha-cha grin!), but mean the opposite; it’s not quite a contronym, but interesting nonetheless.