Saturday, July 11, 2026, Jim Quinlan

I found today's puzzle to be an easier solve than yesterday's. I have often wondered how our friends at the NYT determine which puzzles should go on which days. I expect that Fridays and Saturdays should be the most challenging to figure out as they are both themeless, and so you don't have a simple metric like how difficult the theme is to help you out. There is also the dial of how tricky the cluing is, which can take the same grid from straightforward to infernally mind-twisting, which we see in the final puzzle at the ACPT, with its three levels of clues.

But then, at the same time, I enter into solving Saturday's puzzle with the mindset that the clues are going to be misleading and surprising. So I might be undermining the editors' classification through putting on my "Saturday clue" solving hat (metaphorically. I don't actually have such a hat. Just to be perfectly clear).

With all that out of the way, I still think this was easier than yesterday. 1D: Features of many M. Night Shyamalan films (PLOTTWISTS) is really a gimme, as is at least the start of 2D: Home to Pearl Harbor (OAHUHAWAII) - I initially had OAHUisland, but it wasn't hard to correct. 4D gave me 12D. 

JOSS statue - the word comes from the Portuguese "deos" 

I like the clue at 5A: Eschews English, say (SKIPCLASS) - a very nice non-QMC. But LEGALLIMIT was also straightforward. 

I suppose that my "Saturday clue" solving hat (again I don't actually own one. Really) helped with 28D: Some ports, for short (USBS). 48A: Metaphorical beginning or ending (ASHES) is a good clue, if depressing. I also chuckled at 58A: What's kraken? (SEAMONSTER), but then I have a calendar of just Dad jokes, so that's me.

Well, I've finished a week of blogging, so IGUESSTHATSTHAT. Time to put away my "Saturday clue" solving hat and turn the reviewing duties over to Philbo.

- Colum

Friday, July 10, 2026, Willa Angel Chen Miller

An almost perfectly symmetric grid on this Friday themeless, with six 15-letter grid-spanning answers. The solve was delightful, with some challenges happening for this solver in the lower middle section, but the rest moving smoothly along.

I amusingly had made an assumption when reading the clue at 14A: Hot shot producer (ESPRESSOMACHINE) that it would start with EStRogen____. I put in 17A: What late-night partying might lead to (NOISECOMPLAINTS), and had a fair amount moving down the right side before I saw that 5D: Short Instgram video (REEL) couldn't start with RoE_. I literally had StILLEDTHEB___ before I figured out my mistake!

A similar issue happened in the northeast of the grid, where I put in gEe at 20A: "Jeepers!" (EEK). I still think my answer is more apt. Apt! When I finally figured out 13D: Typewriter settings (DESKS) - cute - and 9A: Intro course? (SALAD) - should have gotten that earlier - LINEOFREASONING came into sight.

Diego RIVERA murals in Detroit

My final challenge came with 54A: "It hasn't happened to me, but ... wow!" (ICANONLYIMAGINE), where I had ICANjustIMAGINE. The actual answer here beats mine, for sure. I figured it out with THEYRE. I remember that video! But I'm not going to post it here due to how annoying it is. On the other hand, FANINTERFERENCE is an amusing clue and answer.

I love love love 45D: Proceed with a game plan (HUNT). Oh, man, that's a great non-QMC. So clever!

- Colum

Thursday, July 9, 2026, Brad Wiegmann and Nat Wiegmann

The "i" button on my iPad app tells me that upon completion, an animation will show up. It did not on my device, and if it didn't on yours, you might be uncertain what the theme was actually about. Thank goodness then, that there are dedicated bloggers who take the time to figure these things out for you! 

The revealer is at 38A: Renounced ... or a phonetic hint to reading the answers to the starred clues (FORGONE). What you need to do in each of the indicated answers is to remove the four instances of a repeated letter, and the remaining letters in order will spell the actual response to the clue. Thus, 17A: *Honeybunch (STUTTGART) has 4 Ts. Removing them will leave "sugar," the answer to the clue. The other three are:

25A: *Afternoon socials (TELLALLS) - "teas."

49A: *Worms or flies, often (BASSISTS) - "bait."

60A: *____ Beach, Calif. (APIASAMOA) - "Pismo." This one is particularly impressive, utilizing the capital of the Oceania country to hide the answer.

I know that there are algorithms that will do this work for you, but the concept is still human born. You have to come up with the idea, formulate your query, and then find examples that will fit into a grid in symmetric fashion. We're a long way from AI doing this sort of thing on its own, folks!

IGUANODON

Some may CAVIL at the fact that there are answers in the grid longer than the theme answers, such as 21A: Back-to-basics regimen (PALEODIET) (nice non-QMC!) or 54A: Right now (ASWESPEAK), but that doesn't bother me.

A couple of very nice QMCs on the long downs at 8D: Sketchy activities? (ARTLESSONS) and 28D: Show that ends in disarray? (STRIPTEASE). Very nice, and a great start to The Turn!

- Colum

Wednesday, July 8, 2026, Mason Hyunjin Lee

Today is the first day this week that I actually paid attention to my advice from Sunday. I took a little extra time to see what the theme was, and then tried to figure out the theme answers rather than just fill them in from crosses in order to get the best possible time. Turns out (at least today) that solving this way is still quick!

The theme answers are all clued with a single word whose first letter you have two options for, which can then be interpreted in a phrase of the form "blank or blank." For example (because my explanation looks pretty darned thorny in hindsight), 17A: [C/P]ause (MAKEORBREAK) is "cause" (make) or "pause" (break). The other three are just as clever:

27A: [L/C]ure (TRICKORTREAT)

46A: [M/H]inds (HEADSORTAILS)

62A: [Z/R]est (LIFEORDEATH)

I am really impressed by this theme. The only one I have any (minor) complaint about is "rest" being "death," but it's acceptable.

Mia HAMM, World Cup winner (unlike the USMNT)

Otherwise, I like how AISLOP looks in the grid (but not in real life). I smiled at 43D: First in a race? (ADAM). And TODO crossing AGENDA was a nice touch.

- Colum

Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Brad Lively

Well, I'll tell you what it's not right now, here in Albany, and that's WARMANDFUZZY. More like cool and rainy. Although I can't complain. At least I don't have to be in Italy, like some.

The theme takes that concept and interprets it literally with two word phrases where the first word is warm, and the second fuzzy, as in 20A: *Surfer girls, in old lingo (BEACHBUNNIES). The other three are HOTDOGS, SUNBEAR, and FIREFOX. The first is apt, given the contest that happens annually on July 4th. Congratulations to Miki Sudo!

Who knew the AVOCADO tree could self-pollinate? I learn something new with many NYT puzzles with the trivia clues they utilize. Another example is 52D: Number of years that George Washington lived in the White House (ZERO) - that's because it wasn't completed until 1800. Let's not think about the current grotesque expansion.

Has anyone heard of a CATIO? I can imagine what it is, but a picture is worth a thousand words so here goes:

Good clue for 30D: Start a long drive, in a way (TEEOFF). 

- Colum

Monday, July 6, 2026, Alex Eaton-Salners

It's nice to stop and appreciate the theme, but it's also fun to get the full "aha" moment by not paying too close attention. I saw the circled letters today, but I didn't bother to see what they represented until I had completed the entire grid.

The revealer is 56A: Sections of a choir ... as hinted at by this puzzle's circled letters (VOICEPARTS). In each of the long answers is one of the standard chorus voices: alto, bass, soprano, tenor, all in order but split into "parts" by scattering their letters across the answer. The theme would have been better had the parts been in order from high to low as you move down the grid, but that's a tough ask when the highest part has seven letters! I very much appreciate finding soprano inside of STOPDROPANDROLL.

Chappell ROAN

There are some lovely long down answers, including three place names (GALAPAGOS, COPENHAGEN, and TEHRANIRAN). I would like to go to two of those three places. And even the third, but not in the current climate, I'm afraid. I have been to the ALAMO, but not ANGOLA.

It's been rather HUMID around here, not like Italy, where some are. 

- Colum

Sunday , July 5, 2026, Rich Katz

BOXED SETS

Hey, folks. I'm back for another week of blogging. Kudos to Horace for writing two weeks while on a challenging slog through Italy! I'm sure we all have a lot of sympathy for his plight.

I've been really enjoying solving the puzzle lately. I've decided to take pressure off of myself and not worry about solve times, and simply enjoy the process. It's a very different approach from, for example, solving at the ACPT. Mondays and Tuesdays still go by very quickly, often too quickly to appreciate the theme during the solve, but still, being in the moment is worth it!

Today's puzzle has a really fun theme. Each theme answer is presented using the mathematical symbols for a set, and has three items in it. The relationship of these items to each other can be interpreted using a common phrase. For example, 23A: {Elijah, Ruth, Natalie} is BABEINTHEWOODS, referring to Babe Ruth between Elijah and Natalie Woods. 

They're all really well done, not a LAME one in the BEVY of answers. I particularly liked HONORAMONGTHIEVES (with Oscar referring to the Academy Awards), and POWERBEHINDTHETHRONE (AC/DC after the water closet - Hah!). 

Perhaps my favorite clue today was 32D: Flatter feet? (ODE). How to make this bit of crosswordese fresh again? With an outrageous pun, that's how. It will always win me over.

I also enjoyed 89D: You won't actually die of it (BOREDOM). 

Otherwise this was an enjoyable Sunday grid, and a lovely time spent with the puzzle. See you tomorrow!

- Colum