Monday, October 12, 2026, Zhouqin Burnikel

0:03:37

Here we are a few weeks into the fall season, and the puzzle gives us a positively summery theme. Four things that can be found OUTONALIMB: Leaf, Nest, Swing, and Bird. Oh sure, I suppose all these things could still be found on limbs in the fall, but doesn't it feel summery? Maybe even Springy? Anyway, I don't mind. I like it.

I liked seeing ANN Patchett in the grid. I read her most recent book "Whistler" about a month ago and I loved it. Now maybe I'll go back and read "Tom Lake." Another thing I like is SASHIMI, but I haven't had any of it for quite a while now. Maybe, if I ever get any LEISURE time, I'll go out and get some.

Only one QMC today (Is it normal that Monday puzzles don't have as many question mark clues? I suppose it makes sense.) and it's a good one - "Time piece?" (MINUTE). Hah! And the Non-QMC "Sound from the horse's mouth" (NEIGH) was also good. 

Had RANriOt before RANAMOK (Went hog wild), but not too many other slow-downs in this smooth, fun, and clean Monday puzzle. 

- Horace 

Sunday, October 11, 2026, Michael Lieberman

HEART TRANSPLANTS

What a theme today. Eight entries wherein all but two letters are repeated in order as though puzzle phonemes. Or something like that. Let's look at all of them, in order from most normal to most absurd. 

ELICITFELICITY - Spark joy?
LASTINBLASTING - Like the world's worst demolition company?
OVERDIDVERDI - Listened to "Rigoletto" way to many times? (Been there!)
HINDISHINDIG - Diwali or Holi?
KLINGONLINGO - Some "Star Trek" slang?
LOTSAFLOTSAM - A whole bunch of ocean detritus?
EARCANALARCANA - Secrets known only to E.N.T.s?
PAPERCUTAPERCU - "A sharp edge recalls a splinter's bite" or "The forest's final revenge is whisper-thin," e.g.?

That last one is some grade-A puzzle nerdery. Love it.

In other nerdery, we have the fine QMC "Anti-matter?" (POINTLESS). Hah. And being a nerd, I find it fun that we have TAPIN and TAPIR, ERIE and ELIE, and ETTA and ATTA in the puzzle. It's almost like bonus theme material! Speaking of, I like how REDDIT got dragged into the theme, too, with its clue "'The heart of the internet,' per its tagline."

In other fun fill, we have both the AEGEAN and the ADRIATIC, the fun word POMADES (Some hair products), a Massachusetts shout-out (ESSEX), and our old friend REN. :)

This begins one more week of reviews for me. I hope you'll come back.

- Horace 

 

 

Saturday, October 10, 2026, David Levinson Wilk

0:13:09

Quick start today with "Artist whose first two initials stand for "Maurits Cornelis" (ESCHER), then ESTOP (Legally prohibit) running down off of that. I errantly guessed "cascading" for "In free fall" (CASCADING), which slowed me down a bit (OHWELL), but TRAGIC (Like Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear) and OATH (Part of a swearing-in ceremony) got me back on track. 

I had not heard the name BOOGIEDOWNBRONX (Hip-hop's birthplace, colloquially), but I'm glad to know it now. And on the other hand, some entries, like NHLREF (Sports figure who traditionally wears an orange armband, in brief), EPCOT (Walt Disney initially designed it as a utopian city), and TRUCKSTOP (Refueling spot) seemed fairly straightforward. 

I enjoyed the raciness of THIRSTED (Was hot (for)) and "Played by oneself" (HADASOLO). And in tamer material, "Determine the going price" (SETBAIL) got a laugh, I smiled at the clue "Likely gonna" for APTTO, and OHHELLNO ("Not today, Satan!") was fun.

 I enjoyed it. How about you? AREYOUIN?

- Horace 

Friday, October 9, 2026, Nam Jin Yoon

0:07:37 

A breezy Friday puzzle to start the week today with a wide range of influences. Latin and Greek play a big part, with PLATO in the SW, AFORTIORI (By an even stronger argument, at law) crossing SIRENSONG (What Odysseus' crew waxed on about?) (Timely!) in the NW, and SISYPHEAN (Extremely difficult and ultimately futile) in the opposite corner. Also down in the SE we have the exotic ELCLASICO (Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga) and KAISER (Kind of roll). 

We've got geography in ORINOCO (World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo) and RELIEFMAP (Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect), nostalgia with NERFBALL (Squishy projectile) and SPIROGRAPH (Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes), gaming in SET (Mahjong grouping) and TOPPAIR (Two aces, say), and a little something for the war buffs with HELLCATS (Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II), Psy-OPS, and RECON. There's even content for the crosswording DOGOWNER in WHIPPETS (Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h.) and HYENAS (Cackling carnivores).

"Accounts for checking?" (ALIBIS) was cute, and it was nice to be reminded of FRESHAIR. Overall, a smooth, maybe-a-little-too-easy Friday. How'd you like it?

- Horace 

Thursday, October 8, 2026, Rachel Grey and John Kugelman

A little rebus wordplay today, with italicized clues needing to be taken in reverse to make sense for the answers. My favorite might be "Trams" for RETROCHIC. Retro "trams," really, making "smart." Or take FLIPOFASWITCH, which is "Paws" flipped. It's a decent trick. 

The full was good too. I had never heard of Meredith VIEIRA or SIVA (Counterpart of Brahma and Vishnu, but it's getting later in the week, and I can't know everything! BALLSY (Audacious, informally) was BALLSY, and HAIRYBACK (Dessert) was unexpected too! 

"Meteor shower?" was a cute clue for TELESCOPE, and "Something inside or outside a wine bar?" was cute for CAB. Is "cute" the right word? I don't know. I'm distracted today. I'm sorry. I will try to get it together for tomorrow's review.

One last thought: A BLUEWALL this fall would UPEND things in Washington, wouldn't it? 

- Horace 

Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Ben Zimmer

Interesting theme today wherein four Down answers are TRIMMED versions of Across answers that they intersect with. So, for example, STURDY (Durable) is SATURDAY (Popular date night) with the As removed. And TREBLE (Knob on an amplifier) is TRUEBLUE (Staunchly loyal) without the Us. Very nice.

In the fill I particularly enjoyed the Downs in the skinny NW and SE corners: SHATTER (Break to pieces), REPROVED (Gently scolded), EASEINTO (Slowly get familiar with), and TOSSOUT (Chuck). The crosses are, naturally, where we find the most crosswordese: SRO, APB, ANO, BTU, etc., but if you do crosswords enough, you know to look past those to where the good stuff is.

This puzzle is mostly theme, and it's a good one.

- Horace 

Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Adam Vincent

I've just about had it with this trolling! Here I am in the middle of a difficult bathroom renovation, and what's 1-Across? "What a leaky faucet has" (DRIP). Harrumph!

But seriously folks, this ACTION FIGURE theme today amused me. We've got four examples of phrases that use a verb and a number: PICKSIX, TAKEFIVE, HANGTEN, and CONNECTFOUR (Strategic disk game played on a vertical board). Speaking of that last one, it might not surprise you to know that when I went through a phase of playing CONNECTFOUR online many years ago, I found that there had been significant work done on its opening theory. Furthermore, it has since been "solved," meaning that white, playing perfectly, can always win. (Spoiler alert: start in the middle.) 

In good fill we include IMPROMPTU (Spur-of-the-moment) (also brings to mind Chopin, which is never a bad thing) and HAYDN (Nice letter combination. Also, music). And "Midnight's opposite" (NOON) was fun, and it reminded me of the quote from Mary-Kate Olsen talking about her sister: "To me, the difference between us is pretty obvious. She thinks the opposite of fire is water, and I think the opposite of fire is no fire." 

I had never really thought about TON being a "Suffix in the names of many U.S. cities," even though the nearest major city to me - Boston - uses it. 

Fun Tuesday. Keep 'em coming. :)

- Horace