Sunday, August 23, 2026, Jill Singer

SMALL CHANGE

Today we have a tribute to the lowly, no-longer-produced-but-not-yet-demonetized (but has it been demonized?) penny. We've got two entries using two penny rebī apiece, a couple factoids about the penny, four Down answers that make use of said penny rebuses, and a quasi-revealer of PUTINYOURTWOCENTS. I thought the bonus "Where this puzzle's subject was last made for circulation (in November 2025)" answer, USMINT, was a little vague, but I guess fitting Philadelphia into the grid might have caused some issues. 

Having rebus squares in the puzzle, and the fact that they are used in both the Across and Down answers, made me think a little more about the use of a capital I as both an I and as the number 1. Does the crossing of PHASEI (Early stage of a drug trial) and KIDS (Offspring) feel slightly inelegant in this puzzle? And if we're going there, should we also worry about the crossing of ACS (Cooling units, in brief) and CCLEF (Musical staff symbol)? Probably not. I mean, the whole point of this puzzling business is to train our brains to be a little more plastic, isn't it?  

And speaking of clues, is OHFUN really the same as "Sounds like a blast!"? And have you ever heard anyone called NEOS (Modernists, informally)? No. You haven't. And what about "Protected space for women in the Ottoman Empire" (HAREM)? I mean, it's not wrong, but it also kind of is.

They drew from the playing card deck a few times today: ANTEUP (Get in the game?) (Penny ante?); "Deuce topper" (THREE) (Would have preferred "trey" here); and HITME ("I'll take another card"). And it gets a little aggressive in the SE with WISEOFF (Say something fresh) and SASSY (Cheeky).

Not my favorite puzzle ever, but they keep coming every day, so I'm not complaining. Much.

- Horace 

 

 

Saturday, August 22, 2026, Adrian Johnson

Looney Tunes has once again stood me in good stead. "Dish such as Germany's hasenpfeffer" (RABBITSTEW), at 1-Across, was made easier by having seen the animated short "Shishkabugs," in which Yosemite Sam tries to get Bugs Bunny into a large stewpot. As I remember things, Bugs survived. (I hope that doesn't cause you to yell NOSPOILERS!)

In other news, what is up with the box jellyfish having 24 EYES?! The ocean is full of weird things, but DONTSTRESS, only some of the things are deadly enough to put you INEXTREMIS. 

BRETHREN (Fellow fellows) is nice and uncommon. As, for that matter, is BOXPLOT (Analytical graphic that divides data into quartiles). I'm not SOLDON YESNODOUBT ("Absolutely, positively!") being a real thing, and "Anybody home?" is more common to me than ANYONEHOME, but I'll let them pass, because there were lots of fun and tricky clues today. 

"Volume control device?" (EREADER) stumped me twice! Once when I did the puzzle on paper, and then again when I re-did it online (quite a while later) in order to more easily review the clues while writing this review. (It's just the way I work sometimes!) "Tidbits of Greek culture?" (FETACHEESE) was tasty, "Success in another's field, say" (ROADWIN) was cute, and KEEPITPG (Refrain from foul language, say) has that great "ITPG" ending!

Best of the Turn, I'd say. How about you? What'd you think?

- Horace 

p.s. The Midi puzzle today is excellent. Beautiful work Mssrs. Newton and Livengood.

Friday, August 21, 2026, Adryel W. Robles Ojeda

Is a MEATBALLSUB really the same as an Italian hero? Perhaps the question mark in this case means "not exactly right, but we thought it was SODARNCUTE."

I'm done with following major league sports, so LAMELO Ball was unknown to me, and I couldn't even remember RYANCOOGLER's name, so the 2006 Fields medal winner (Terence TAO) was always going to be an "all crosses" answer. I'm not CRASHINGOUT or in a RAGE about it, I'm just giving my side.

Also, I took the time to figure out "La ti do, musically," but I wondered about the key of C being understood like that. Is it always? Should it be? "La ti do" in the key of A, for example, is F#G#A, and how are you going to fit that into a grid? 

JOSTLE (What big crowds do) is a nice word, it's somewhat amusing to learn that there is a spot called OOHAAHPOINT at the Grand Canyon, and the paired clues continue today with "Neighbor of Colo." (NEB) and "Neighbor of Ark." (TEX). 

- Horace 

 

Thursday, August 20, 2026, Hoang-Kim Vu

If you've been doing crosswords for a while, you've come across one where there's something a little off about the clues, and eventually you need to figure out what that is. Well, this is one of those crosswords. The Downs are all normal, but the Across clues must be PUTINREVERSE to work correctly for the answers. Oddly, though, 1-Across "Sound like heaven (HARP) kind of works either way. Maybe that was left intentionally vague to keep us from figuring it out too soon! Oh, and now that I look at it again, I see that "Game of observation for travel" could get one thinking about thinks like "I Spy!," but by the time I got there I had figured out the trick, and knew that SAFARI worked better for the inverted clue - "Travel for observation of game."

So once the trick is worked out, this plays like a themeless. The long Downs are technically revealers, but they work just fine as regular entries. And there are some fun shorter entries, like DEFRAY (Set off), TROU (Brief in pants), NEIGH (Nags about noise?).

Is it a problem that, after getting crosses leaving "ALA__" I put in ALIbi for "It's worth remembering!" Hah! Also worth remembering, at least during one's school or fighting years, is ALAMO. 

I think of the term "cuss out" more than CUSSAT (Into light), but it's not wrong wrong. SPOTON (Correct thoroughly), on the other hand, was SPOTON.

- Horace 

 

Wednesday, August 19, 2026, Kareem Ayas

Let me not be known as one who BURIESTHELEDE. At least not today. Today's puzzle hides berries in the leading word of the theme answers. Gooseberries, elderberries, strawberries, blackberries, and even burberries (also known as "barberry"). Getting that last one in is a real coup, in my opinion, and might well have been the impetus for this theme in the first place. If I ever meet Mr. Ayas, I will ask him.

In the fill we have some nice moderny things like IMNOTOK (My mood is pretty low), UNSEE (Wipe from one's memory, so to speak), and AVA Max. I like the long Downs: CURRICULUM and LOSTCAUSES, and I like the paired clues "Drop" for LOWER and DIP, and "___ Minor" for ASIA and URSA, but I do not like "'A drop of golden sun,' in song" for RAY. It's "re" she sings, and we must interpret it as the homophone. When it's written as "ray" it takes all the fun out of it.

Finally, I had not heard of BLACKBART before, so I looked him up. Apparently, one of the two authenticated poems he left ran as follows:

I've labored long and hard for bread
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've tread
You fine-haired sons of bitches.

 I also found this:

Upon his release from prison in January 1888, Black Bart was asked by reporters if he planned to resume robbing stagecoaches, and he replied with a smile on his face: "No, gentlemen."  Then another reporter asked if he would write more poetry. He laughed and said: "Now, didn't you hear me say that I am through with crime?" 

 

Nice. 

 

- Horace 

Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Jeremy Venook

Today's MUSICOFTHENIGHT theme collects four SONGS, all having something to do with the night in their title. MOONLIGHTSONATA (Classic Beethoven piano piece) (and a song of a sort), CITYOFSTARS (Academy Award-winning tune from "La La Land"), SWEETDREAMS (1983 Eurythmics hit whose full title includes "(Are Made of This)"), and the revealer/title itself, from "The Phantom of the Opera." That last, by the way, I had never heard of, but luckily, I didn't need a DEUS ex machina to figure it out. 

Doesn't UNICEF (International aid org.) always make you think of Halloween? Do kids still go out with those orange boxes the day before Halloween collecting change? I'm guessing the answer is no, but I wish it weren't.

I loved the clue for ACORNS (Nuts whose shells look like they have little berets). I hadn't ever thought of them in quite that way, but now I won't ever think of them otherwise. Hah! And "What gossipers and tall buildings are full of" (STORIES) was fun. And I can't let this puzzle go without mentioning the cross of LUBE and SEXY, and the added bonus of BITEME.

OK, that's probably enough outta me. See you tomorrow.

- Horace 

Monday, August 17, 2026, Zhouquin Burnikel

To this theme, I say YESANDYES. Ms. Burnikel has found entries in which foreign equivalents of the word "yes" appear twice. Such as:

DAPPERDAN (Well-dressed guy) (Serbian, and others)
LOUIELOUIE (1963 Kingsmen hit with a repetitive title) (French)
JAMJARS (Containers for fruit preserves) (Dutch, and others)
SITEVISITS (On-location inspections) (Spanish, Italian, and sometimes French)

Nice theme. What else? I had MARINARA sauce a couple nights ago at a restaurant, not as a "Sauce for mozzarella sticks," but for arancini. But then I thought about it, and the arancini were filled with mozzarella... and sure they have a little rice, but it's pretty much the same thing. Mozzarella sticks, mozzarella balls... it's all good.

And speaking of food, it was interesting to learn that the HABANERO was named for Havana. It seems obvious once you know it. Like so many things, I suppose. 

And speaking of "not food," since when are people tossing PETALS at newlyweds. I am so old as to have been pelted with rice! And speaking of old, are they still making TROLL dolls?

Lastly, love "Lengthy rants" being called SCREEDS, but don't want to make this into one. See you tomorrow!

- Horace