Friday, May 15, 2026, Maddy Ziegler

Let's start with the really lovely combination of BANANASEAT above APECOSTUME. A great pair of answers, both fun and interesting, and with an unexpected connection. You know you're going to have a good time with a puzzle that has that pairing, and certainly this puzzle does not disappoint!

All of the long answers here are strong. Several great colloquialisms, such as LETMEATEM (with the bonus here that if you're not careful, it looks like "let meat em"), IMALLEARS, and ITSUPTOYOU. 

SMASHCUT intersects with SEGUE. NEEDLEDROP and SHEEPLE.

I also enjoyed the cluing on 28D: Competitor of the early Chevrolet 490 (MODELT). I was unaware that Chevrolet was that old! In fact, the company was started in 1911, and the car mentioned was first produced in 1915. Its name referred to the price of the auto. The Model T, meanwhile, went for $495.

50D: Food item whose name comes from the Greek for "turn" (GYRO) was another good trivia clue. I put it in without even thinking of the etymology, but in retrospect it should be obvious.

I'm not fully convinced by 7D: Here goes nothing! (VACANTLOT). The exclamation type clue defines its answer by literally explaining it. In this case, I don't exactly see how the lot "goes" at all. Thoughts?

Other than that, it's an outstanding Friday. Seems like I picked a good week to start reviewing again!

- Colum

Thursday, May 14, Simeon Seigel

"Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink."

So goes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. And likewise goes the Thursday puzzle. 

Here water is represented by its chemical formula, correctly displayed in its bent shape in the grid four times, with one O and two Hs, each diagonally displaced. I have read why this is the case, and I have been reminded of the complexity of chemistry. You see, the Oxygen atom still has two pairs of electrons which must take up some space in the space surrounding the nucleus, pushing the Hydrogen atoms into their characteristic locations.

As Tom Lehrer said, "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer."

There are eight answers in the puzzle that either end or start with WATER, but is replaced by the H of the water molecule. Thus, 19A: Prime breeding environment for mosquitoes is STANDINGH, and 20A: Impression on some fancy sheets is HMARK. Nicely done!

1A: Cliff formed by a fault (SCARP) is a tough outset. Close to Albany, we have the Helderberg Escarpment, which typifies this geologic formation.

And how about 4D: September to April, in the oyster industry (RMONTHS)? Challenging corner. 

I liked having ALLA and NAAN clued through their cuisine's menus. ICHING and KITHARA were lovely answers. Overall a fun puzzle. Here's looking forward to our themeless puzzles!

- Colum

Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Brian Keller

What a clever theme! And odd as well, befitting Wednesday, the hump-day red-headed stepchild of the week's crossword puzzles. A theme that is too challenging for Monday and Tuesday, but not tricksy like Thursday.

Today we must press the SHIFTKEY in order for the answers to the starred clues to work. Thus, instead of "equals" for 17A: *Peers, we get PLUSSIGN. Instead of "Slash" for 47A: *Guns N' Roses guitarist, we get QUESTIONMARK. The grid spanning OPENPARENTHESIS is the icing on the cake. I particularly like that Mr. Keller chose to use non-numbers for two of his answers.

SANSA Stark, a boon to Crossword constructors

The Northeast corner is delightful. I entered into with 24A and 30A already in place, and I saw that I had ____MT at 10D. How could that work? In one way only, with DREAMT. Then, 11D: Toothbrush handle? (ORALB) is very good. And how about 19A: Order to relax (ATEASE)? So good how the first word of the clue could be either a noun or a verb, confusing the solver.

With SAKE and a COSMO in the mix, it's a puzzle that helps to take the edge off.

- Colum

Tuesday, May 12, John Ruff

I fell down a rabbit hole after finishing this puzzle. Why does US and UK spelling differ on this particular point - O vs OU? It's a separate question from why British spelling is in general so insane. "Wriothesley" pronounced "Risley." "Auchinleck" pronounced "Affleck." And so on.

This interesting article has some great examples of early inconsistency in the First Folio edition of Shakespeare. It then posits that Samuel Johnson's monumental undertaking of his dictionary standardized spelling in strange ways: why "humour" but also "humorous?" Why "honourable" but also "honorary?" Can you imagine the challenges in creating cryptic crosswords? Or maybe that's the point!

In America, Noah Webster quite properly suggested easy simplifications for the English language, which were adopted. Let's face it. That U is doing nothing helpful.

OGEE, look what I found!

Regardless, today's puzzle has a clever twist on this: OHYOUAREBRITISH, spelling out the circled letters from the other three theme answers. Is it a misdirection that all three cities referenced in the clues have counterparts in the US?

Meanwhile, I could do without STYE as an answer, but I fear that ship has sailed. It's too useful a combination of letters. And I'm sure Mr. Ruff could not have forseen the current issue with Hantavirus when he put OUTBREAKS in the puzzle. 

On the other hand, I love a sackbut, and TROMBONE is another fine instrument. As a Neurologist, I also like seeing ABDUCTORS in the puzzle. It is the lateral rectus muscle that abducts the eye, while the medial rectus adducts it. Useless information is my specialty.

- Colum

Monday, May 11, 2026, Joel Woodford

Well, hello everybody! How exciting to be back. I certainly didn't expect to be writing these blog posts any more, but after the ACPT, and the pleasure of reconnecting with the community of NYT crossword puzzle enthusiasts, it was hard to resist. With a quick glance back, I see my last post was nearly two years ago exactly, on Friday May 24, 2024. 

And now I have returned to review a Monday pangram. I wondered when I hit the middle western section with that Q and Z, and then the J in the lower western corner. It's rare to make a puzzle with every letter of the alphabet represented that is as smooth as this one is. Congratulations, Mr. Woodford!

The theme is a cute reimagination of OHDEAR (45D: "Goodness me!" ... or a phonetic hint to 17-, 31-, 39-, and 55-Across). In each of these four long answers is hidden the letter O and then a synonym for that four-legged woodland creature. Handy-dandy circles tell the discerning solver where they are.

How useful it is to have memorized all the countries of the world

BILLBOARDCHARTS is the least cromulent of the four, only because of the necessary -S at the end. Otherwise, I do love an HORSDOEUVRE, and DROPINTHEBUCKET is very good.

In the fun clue section of the review, I have to recognize 30A: Take fowl foully (POACH). I also liked the duet of 4A: Animal that ranges around Peru (LLAMA) and 8D: Peruvian mountains (ANDES). The fact they intersect makes it more delicious. We also get MER and EAU in another pairing.

Thanks to all who have come back to read our posts again. It's nice to see the readership bounce back. Happy solving all!

- Colum

Sunday, May 10, 2026, Rachel Fabi and Adam Wagner

COME FULL CIRCLE

A Sunday with a trick! The title and the grid art both hint at the solution, which is to complete the circle - turn those Cs in the italicized answers into Os, and then things start to make sense. For example:

32A Wild cats becomes "wild oats," and is answered by YOUTHFULINDISCRETIONS. Likewise 39D Bic filler is not "ink" or anything like that, because the clue is really "bio filler," which is LIFESTORY. Tricky, but you are clued in that something is going on by the italics, and once it becomes clear what that something is, things get easier. 

That said, I still had some difficulty in the middle, where that central, black square C also needs to become an O, and that is done by way of three rebus squares into which the word "block" is entered. So the answer at 64-Across, which is clued with "Large summer delivery, in past times / N.F.L. linemen, at times" turns out to be ICE[BLOCK]ERS, the two answers being both completed and separated by the creation of a black square. Interesting, and kinda cool. And I love how 65-Down is just clued literally, with what needs to go there. Hah!

Even with all the trickiness, my last square was the A in SICARIO and RAMOS. I knew neither the Emily Blunt thriller nor the Philippine president, but while a U seemed plausible in the thriller name, it seemed less so in the human name.  

I don't know that I've ever heard ADNOUN for an adjective used as a noun, and I didn't remember that East Asian fiddles were ERHUS. And what do we think of the clue "Get ad-libby-dibby while singy-ingy-inging?" (SCAT)? Is it just the ZANIEST clue you've ever seen, or is it CORNIER? Honestly, I think it is corny, and I think "Less freshly funny" isn't the right clue for that word. But what do I know, I'm not the funny one at this blog. :P

OK, I think Colum will start up tomorrow, but I'm really not quite sure. We haven't really gotten this thing ironed out again yet. 

Thanks for reading!

- Horace 

Saturday, May 9, 2026, Katie Hoody

This puzzle was chock full of AHA and OHO moments - not in the fill, but in the solve, which is a favorite feature of mine. I love a twist! When you read a clue and have no idea what the answer might be, or sometimes even what the clue means, then, either you figure out what's going on, or the answer is revealed by other answers in the grid, and then you get it. To quote the mother from the show, Miranda, "Such fun!" 

End-of-the-week puzzles often have C/APs that are not in my wheelhouse ATOLL. When, oh when, will there be a puzzle showcasing the ruling houses of France from the Capetians to the House of Bourbon? I'm guessing I'll probably have to construct that one myself. Anyhoo, just looking at the grid with its multiple long entries and sparse black squares gave me ARIL qualm, especially after yesterday's DNF debacle. Fortunately, though, there were enough clues here and there (ALOO & PANEER FTW!) that helped me make a start. Then, it seemed one answer would LEED to another, and before I knew it, Bob was my uncle.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pomegranate_fruit_-_whole_and_piece_with_arils.jpg

Right out of the gate, at 1A, we get the excellent QMC, "Gold meddlers?" for ALCHEMISTS. Ha! That winner was followed by "One making calls on the fly?" (BIRD), "Weighty subject for some children's books" (BABAR), and "Bath seat?" (ARSE -lol), and "Event at which you hope to get good deals?" (POKERPARTY) - I'm sure Horace can relate to that one. Not to mention 38A: the grid spanning "List of qualifications?" (KINDASORTAMAYBE). Triple ha!

Elsewhere, other cluing challenges awaited. Several clues were open to multiple interpretations, like "You or me, e.g." for MEREMORTAL, "Reached new heights" for GREW, "Like something no money can buy" for FREE, and "No time like the present" (YORE). And in the re-evaluate-your-first-semantic-category category, how about "Portable retirement option" (COT)? Maybe the SLYEST non-QMC C/AP of all was "Setup for an extra point" (ALSO).

Add to all of the above the hilarious "Great find in the candy aisle, by the sound of it" (SKOR) and the delicious "Parlor treat typically served with the first five letters of its name" (STRAWBERRYSHAKE) and you've got a puzzle that's a real delight. 

~Frannie.