Solution: Leaves ... or cleaves - NYT Crossword

I’ve always loved that the word “cleave” is an autoantonym, which can mean both “SPLITS” and its opposite, “sticks to.” That doesn’t actually bear on this clue, though, which is about how SPLITS can be mean either “Leaves … or cleaves.” The ellipsis in the middle of this clue is a signal to solvers that the clue actually contains two possible definitions of the entry, and that there is something noteworthy about the relationship between those two definitions. In this case, it seems the noteworthy thing is that one (leaves) is embedded in the other (cleaves).