Wednesday, July 2, 2025, Dan Caprera

Very nice theme today.

PUBTRIVIA - Did you know?! The most common bar name in the U.K. is The Red Lion
GRAPHICDETAIL - Did you know?! The oldest known porno movie is the 1907 short film "El Satario"
FUNFACT - Did you know?! Engaging in leisure activities has been shown to reduce stress levels by over 30%
RAWDATA - Did you know?! Before mastering fire, cave men ate uncooked meat for the first million years of human existence
BANKSTATEMENT - Did you know?! America's first chartered money supplier opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 1782
HARDTRUTH - Did you know?! Diamonds are 58 times more resistant to pressure than rubies or sapphires?

So much text! I feel like I may have crossed the "free use" line...

It's fun to imagine the discussions in the NYT Games office as they were trying to come up with a way to say "bank" without saying "bank." "Chartered money supplier..." Makes me wonder what "chartered" means...

Anywhoo, it was fun wasn't it? And absolutely packed with theme. And still there was room for more amusement - "Creator of a lot of buzz in the music scene" (KAZOO) (Hah!), "One who gives a hoot" (OWL) (guffaw.), and "Room for growth?" (WOMB). 

And speaking of PUBTRIVIA, "Official currency of Ecuador and Guam" (USD) and "Cabinet department since 1913" (LABOR) might be worth stashing away.

A fine Wednesday.

- Horace

Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Adam Aaronson and Michael Garbus

Fun and clever theme today, and it's especially nice that HORSERADISH and CRABAPPLE are right on top of each other. I guess, come to think of it, that no fill word has to cross more than two theme words anywhere, but still it's cool that the top two worked out that way.

Speaking of stacked entries, I also like STOMACH (Handle, as a tough piece of information) and PIRANHA (Omnivorous fish of the Amazon) together. Both are interesting enough on their own.  

"There might be a fork in it" was an amusing clue for ROAD, and it was fun to know NOCAP ("Dead serious," in modern lingo) thanks to my nephew Scott. (Hi Scott!) 

This was a fun Tuesday.

- Horace 

Monday, June 30, 2025, Dena R. Verkuil and Andrea Carla Michaels

I am not familiar with BYEFELICIA ("I'm done with you") as a phrase, but I am familiar with the other three. And I guess YOUTALKINTOME (Classic Robert De Niro line in "Taxi Driver" ... ) is hinting that the four expressions are spoken? Or maybe the "me" at the end signifies that they are all addressed to a particular name? Who knows? It's Monday, and if I hadn't made the mistake of guessing AcES for "Certain draft picks?" instead of the "better-with-the-Down-answer" ALES, I would have been finished in about three minutes. As it is, I had to hunt around for the typo.

Anywhooo, there's some quality fill in here. CATPERSON, of course, and GUARANTEE is nice. "A milk drinker may have one" (MUSTACHE) is gross. I was never a big fan of that ad campaign. Wipe your damn mouth off. 

"Carping" is a really oblique clue for FLAK, don't you think? And I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "HOLY camoly!" But let's end on a good one - I loved TWISTY (Serpentine). :)

- Horace 

Sunday, June 29, 2025, Mike Hobin

ALL-IN-CLUE-SIVE

Today's theme features seven long entries that contain both clue and answer. One must get enough crosses to figure them out. Not my favorite type of theme, but somewhat clever. NINETIMESOUTOFTEN is probably my favorite, and MOUSEERADICATOR is also good. More forced-seeming were PACIFISTSRENOUNCEMENT and CASTAREALLYLONGLOOK. But, I mean, they're fine.

UNSHUT (Ajar, say) was bold. DANSK (Copenhagen language, to locals) was interesting. "Eight more than a dozen" (SCORE) was fun. But I have never once worried about the APPETITES of dinner guests.  

- Horace 

Saturday, June 28, 2025, Jesse Guzman

Tough puzzle today with less than satisfying payoff. The "Mario universe" is alien to me, so BOWSER and KOOPATROOPA needed to be filled in almost entirely by crosses. Sometimes this happens, and it's not a big deal, but often, when I don't know a word and it is slowly filled in, there is a realization and and understanding that I have been tricked. This happened with OCARINAS (Light winds), for example. But having game characters slowly filled in isn't the same.

"Deer stalking aid?" for SANTATRACKER seems a little disingenuous. And "They focus on subjects of interest" (CAMERALENSES) was just weird. I know that clues are meant to be indirect, but sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. At least for me. "Layer of gold?" (GOOSE) was better. And ooh, "Crushing, in a way" (MOONY) was very good. 

DAWDLED (Killed time) is a good word. KABLOOEY (Shot) was excellent. 

Tough Saturday, and I suppose that's what I'm looking for on a Saturday.

- Horace 

Friday, June 27, 2025, Carolyn Davies Lynch

Learned a few things today - that SISEPUEDE is the Motto of the United Farm Workers of America. It was Dolores Huerta who, in response to those who said No, no se puede ("No, it can't be done") when asked if it was possible for the Latino farm workers to stand up to the Arizona government, countered Si, se puede!

I also learned that LITHUANIA was the first nation to restore its independence from the Soviet Union. And that "Hypocorism" means "nickname." It's from the Greek.

As for the Jungian syzygy of ANIMA vs. Animus, I wonder about the utility of labeling things as "feminine" or "masculine." Can't we just call each other "human" and work together? It's all so sad sometimes.

- Horace 

Thursday, June 26, 2025, Simeon Seigel

The good thing about most crossword puzzles is that even when there is a trick like this, where the entries must be interpreted in a certain way to make sense with the clues, they will still be recognizable entries. SORESPOTS, for example, is an entry that looks fine per se, but in order for it to correspond to the clue "Sees / Espies," it must be read as "'S' or 'E' Spots." This strikes me as just the kind of thing that my friend Rob likes to complain about - as if wordplay were some kind of offensive or tedious thing. But he will never read this review, and so I can say that he is an idiot for thinking that. :) (Hi Rob!)

So anyway, because of this feature of most puzzles, I was able to complete the grid without fully realizing what was going on. Once I was finished, though, and could unlock the rest of my brain (I don't really know what goes on up there while I'm solving, but it's definitely shutting down certain processing centers), I could figure it out. And then once I did, I started thinking "Who comes up with this stuff?" And "Is Rob right?" :)

I liked the cluing on PATENTEE (Bell for the telephone, for one) and STEEPLE (Bell location, often). I'm not familiar with the PALOMA (Cocktail of tequila, lime juice and grapefruit soda) but I would not turn it down if someone bought one for me. Oh, and what the heck is a SAMLET (Baby fish with pink, coho and sockeye varieties)! Since when is that a word? (And don't even start with "parr.")

- Horace 

Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Ben Zimmer and Zach Sherwin

A surprise Wednesday rebus perfect for finishing off the heat wave. CENTRALAC is something that I have never had. This morning at 6:45 or so, in fact, the thermometer in our house was at 85 when I looked at it. We will leave the windows open until around 8:00, then close everything down so it doesn't get any hotter. 

I enjoyed learning the term "California SOBER," and I went for RAGtAG instead of RAGBAG for "Miscellaneous collection." I guess the former is more of a pejorative for people, whereas the latter is, as here, for things. At least that's my ten-second research assessment.

If you haven't heard MAM[AC]CASS sing "Dream a Little Dream of Me," it's worth a listen. 

Good cluing today. "Bill promoting science education" (NYE) was an excellent example of a hidden capital, "Wear on earth?" (ERODE) was clever, and "A person's soul mate, with 'the'" was an excellent way to spice up ONE.

- Horace 

Tuesday, June 24, 2025, Ingrid Steffensen

Kind of a rebus-y Tuesday theme today. Old-school rebus, I mean, where you have to play with the words on the page. DOCKSDOCKS weirdly works with the first half of the clue, "A couple of places to secure boats ..." but you have to think of it as a "pair o' docks" for it to work with "a logical contradiction" (paradox). Fun! The other three work the same way, and then there's a little revealer at 54-Down, "Law firm aides, informally ... " (PARAS).  

In other news, it's always fun to be reminded of The Waste Land (APRIL (T.S. Eliot's (and the I.R.S.'s) "cruellest month")), and I love how "What's the USE?" is in the very center of the grid. A message for our times? Or mere coincidence...

Speaking of escapism, OPERAFAN reminds me that I haven't seen an opera in a while. Doing so might keep me from letting the news ENRAGE me to the point that I become a RIOTER.  

Ugh. I've got to stop caring. 

YEA (Word said in passing?) was clever, and ASSAI (Very, in music) was some deep notation trivia.

Fun Tuesday.

- Horace 

Monday, June 23, 2025, Zhouqin Burnikel

The theme today is a type of clue we decided to call a FIC, or a False Imperative Clue. To wit:

"Can it!" (DILLPICKLE)
"Zip it!" (SLEEPINGBAG)"
"Shut it!" (BEDROOMDOOR)
"Button it!" (DRESSSHIRT)

All four mean the English equivalent of ta gueule!, or, be quiet. Very nice.

Interesting inclusion of Steven Vincent BENÉT, of "John Brown's Body" fame. It's a funny thing that it became so famous with that first line: "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave." 

SEAL (Stamp for a notary public) was timely for me, as I just used the services of a mobile notary public this past weekend. And I will never forget that the capital of Samoa is APIA. It's classic crosswordese, and at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament a few years ago I met someone who had lived there for a while. Apt!

OK, I gotta run. IHADABLAST. 

- Horace 

Sunday, June 22, 2025, Ruth Bloomfield and Hannah Margolin

BRINGING A PLUS ONE

One letter has been added to each wedding-related theme answer, and the result has been clued to fit the new meaning. As in,

SHAVETHEDATE - Make a partner's beard presentable for all the photos?
WEDDINGDURESS - Cause of many headaches while planning the big day?
and
GRIFTREGISTRY - Tool for a couple who intend to return everything and keep the money?

It's nice that they were able to do this with so many typical wedding things. My favorite is one of the shortest - CASHBARD (Poet hired to write the couple's vows in flowery verse?)

In other news, I enjoyed the negativity of NONE (Survey option) and "What's broken for a record?" (LAW). And I guess you could add INTER (Lay low?) to that list. Strange C/APs include "Much" for FAR and "Little nobodies" for TWERPS. And we haven't seen ONER (Real lulu) in ages, so that was a nice throwback. And to have it cross EELER is extra fun. 

I always appreciate quotes from Shakespeare, and today we got two: "'OWOE is me, to hvae seen what I have seen': Ophelia" and "'DENY thy father and refuse thy name': Juliet."

Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

- Horace 

Saturday, June 21, 2025, Christina Iverson and Doug Peterson

Knowing BOBSLED (Olympics event in which Germany is the traditional powerhouse) and then guessing BARBIEDREAMHOUSE (Crib for a doll) off of it really started things off well today, but putting in Strewn for "Scattered" (SPARSE), slowed things right back down again. Heh. That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. You just have to LETITGO.

I had four siblings, but I never felt any SIBLINGRIVALRY (Fuel for a family feud). And isn't it funny how the diphthongs in "fuel" and "feud" are pronounced exactly the same but spelled differently? 

Another thing about me is that I loved putting KARO syrup on my pancakes when I was little. The clear one. It just looked so cool. Also when I was little, we sat at a "kids table" during big holiday meals, and some grown-up would come around and fill up our water glasses. Or milk glasses... or whatever we were drinking. And for some reason, if one of us thought we might get skipped, we would call out "Magic pour-er-er." But it would sound more like "magic pour-euh-euh." And my sister and I and my cousin still say it to this day when we want a refill. Wow. That's the kind of thing that goes through my mind when I see POURER (Sommelier, e.g.) in the grid.

So that's my review. I really enjoyed this one.

- Horace 

Friday, June 20, 2025, Adrianne Baik

Triple stacks today, all common enough. Not a "one" in sight. Here's the ranking:

WORDONTHESTREET  
HATERSGONNAHATE
ROYALOPERAHOUSE
EVERYVOTECOUNTS
THATANSWERSTHAT
ONINTIMATETERMS

"Part of many a car's dashboard" (CDSLOT) seems a tad dated, and this from someone who has both a CDSLOT and a cassette player in his car. TROMP (Trudge) is fun. "Its first sale was a flamingo-print zip pouch for $8" (ETSY) was some interesting trivia. As was "Queen Elizabeth owned over 30 of them" (CORGIS), but it makes me wonder what the exact number was. 

I guessed AYEayecapn for "Mate's reply" (AYECAPTAIN), and tried SpOOKed for "In a state" (SHOOKUP), but things righted themselves fairly quickly.

Overall, a quick, decent Friday.

- Horace 

Thursday, June 19, 2025, Hannah Slovut-Einertson

Took me a while to finally parse the "answers" as "this TO that," but once I did, the right side fell into place tidily. 

Surprising to find Chelsea PERETTI instead of Chelsea Handler today. We recently finished watching "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and her role was a little controversial in this household. And perhaps on the network, too, as she left the show a little past the mid-way point, I think. 

PARADEREST (Silent marching band position) was a deep cut. STALER (More likely to be marked down, say) was a little sad. And I never have thought of APSES as "Sites for mosaics in cathedrals, often." I will keep an eye out the next time I visit one. And what the heck is a TOETAP exercise?

Nice to see Richard SERRA in the grid. 

- Horace

Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Eli Cotham

Well, I never played THEFLOORISLAVA, nor have I ever been anywhere where anyone played it, so this theme is not for me. 

When I do count the clock that tells the time, 

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night; 

When I behold the violet past prime, 

And sable curls all silver’d o’er with white;

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves 

Which ERST from heat did canopy the herd,

And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves 

Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard, 

Then of thy beauty do I question make, 

That thou among the wastes of time must go,

Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake

And die as fast as they see others grow; 

   And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defence

   Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence. 

ATOB (Short first step) caught me by surprise, and I liked three of the Downs starting on the top edge of the puzzle. NOCANDO ("Impossible!") was fun, BACCHUS (Wine god of myth) is always welcome at my house, and EYESORE (House with a long-unmowed lawn, e.g.) was good. But I have never been a fan of April Fools' Day jokes (IGOTYOU), and GLUMMER (Not so happy) is not so good.

It feels a little weird to see APU in the puzzle so often when he has been silenced in the TV show, and there hasn't been an SST flight in over twenty years.

- Horace 

Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Tarun Krishnamurthy

Today's theme relies on the inferior candy REESES PIECES, and finds the word REESES into three longer entries:

HERECOMESTHESUN
RENEDESCARTES
PRESSESTHEFLESH

Neat. 

As long-time readers of this blog know, I prefer themeless puzzles, and sometimes I question the whole idea of themes. I know, I'm just being ornery. Themes can be surprising and fun...

Anywhooo, I didn't know that a TEMPEST was primarily a "Windstorm often accompanied by rain." I thought it was just a general storm. And I kind of liked the familiarity of TENPAST (A sixth of the way through the hour). Interesting non-duplication with ILE (Suffix with percent) and ISLE (Tahiti, e.g.).  

- Horace 

Monday, June 16, 2025, Jill Rafaloff and Michelle Sontarp

It's a cuteness overload this morning, with a grid filled with BABY animals - kitten, joey, puppy, calf, and chick. And, of course, that old crossword babies ETUI and SKAT. It's been quite a while since I have seen either in the wild.

Interesting clue for EPEES (Swords whose points were once dipped in dye before a duel), and kind of a loopy clue for LOOPY (Like cursive handwriting, typically). I mean, I guess that's true, but I never think of it that way for some reason. And it was also interesting to posit the invention of the HOE in a clue (Groundbreaking invention for ancient farmers?). 

OFFDUTY (Not working, as a police officer) and INLIMBO (Left hanging between two stages) were nice. POPSICLE (Treat on a stick that you lick) was fun. 

A fine Monday.

- Horace

Saturday, June 14, 2025, Barbara Lin

Tough Saturday! That upper right corner took me forever! On the bright side, it’s nice to now know about the existence of the TENREC (Hedgehog-like mammal of Madagascar). There are no CROCKER grocery stores near me, and I was not turned on to TVSET (Wall hanging, maybe). Finally VENEER came to me somehow, and that broke it open.

In other areas, GALUMPHED (Moved clumsily) was fun. And “Go out in the winter?” (HIBERNATE) was clever. “Fly-by-night” (REDEYE) was cute. 

It was interesting to learn that HYACINTHS were “Flowers in the same family as asparagus and agave.” And come to think of it, I have never really thought about what the SPLEEN did. When I think of SPLEEN, I think of Charles Baudelaire. “Quand le ciel bas et lourd…” and all that.

And speaking of a low, heavy sky, that's what it looks like here in Portland. Hopefully, it's pouring rain in Washington. Happy protesting, all.

- Horace 

Friday, June 13, 2025, Evan Mulvihill

Quite the start today, with HOTPANTS and SASHAY. Let's cut right to the tape:

After that we have the trickily-worded "Light shower?" (APERTURE), and the adorable SEAOTTER (Aquatic eater of shellfish). Not bad. Not bad at all.

The central stagger-stack starts mildly with COMESOUTAHEAD (Ultimately succeeds), then ultimately succeeds with the fun and modern GOESBEASTMODE (Runs wild, in gamer-speak), and the Big Lebowski-evoking WHITERUSSIANS (Cocktails that might make for poor nightcaps). 

COINPURSE (What might be pinched for pennies) is fun, UNICORNS (Majorly successful business start-ups) is nice, and things finish salty in the South with AGEGAP (Feature of a May-December romance).

Solid Friday.

- Horace 

Thursday, June 12, 2025, Daniel Bodily

Hakeem OLAJUWON came into the N.B.A. just around the time I stopped watching professional basketball. The Celtics had just won their 16th championship, and I was headed off to college. So I vaguely remember hearing about the QUADRUPLEDOUBLE achieved in 1990, but until today, I didn't actually know that it meant recording ten in four of these five stats: points; assists; rebounds; blocks; or steals. OLAJUWON, back on that late March day in 1990, got 18 points, 10 assists, 16 rebounds, and 11 blocks. Meh.

As far as this puzzle goes, I got the feeling there might be a double-letter rebus when I hit "'Weeping' giant" (WI[LL]OW), and then all the other rebuses fell into place. To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I hit the revealer and realized that there would be no more of them. 

"Farmer's squeeze?" (UDDER) was amusing, and there were a few literary entries - OWEN Wister and EDNA Ferber - but overall, this was sport-heavy.

- Horace 

Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen

The MISSISSIPPI river runs down the middle of the grid, just like it runs down the middle of the country, dividing the country in half. The circled letters represent states that are separated by the river, and they are placed accurately from north to south. Pretty cool. The only downside, I guess, is that the clue for TERRE Haute, Ind. had to appear west of the river. :P DENALI, on the other hand, is accurate. 

PLAGIARISMS (Copyright wrongs) is an odd construction, but I understand that finding a word with both LA and MS must have been challenging. And as with so many early week puzzles, a lot is done in service to a theme. Here, the theme merits it, and so we tolerate the odd EKED and TTOP, and the somewhat outdated term SIAMESETWIN. 

- Horace

 

Tuesday, June 10, 2025, Zachary David Levy

It's all about the cell service these days, but who actually wants to make a GOODCALL? And when I saw GOODCALL for the first time and then looked up and saw "service" at the end of STREAMINGSERVICE I thought the theme might be a reference to tennis. I didn't see the French Open final, because I was away in a place with no TV and very few bars, but I was able to read about it after the fact. Quite a good match.

Anywhooo, this one was nice. PLOTZED (Was verklempt) will always make me think of Mike Myers, for better or for worse. And BREXIT seems a positively mild form of isolationism and xenophobia compared to what we see every day in this so-called country... sigh.

I've never heard of "Steak DIANE (dish flambéed tableside), but if I never do again it will be too soon. My brother went on and on this weekend about how his favorite thing to do is to slowly eat a rare steak with a glass of red wine. Gross.

It seemed weird to clue REARTIRE with "It helps give a car traction." I mean, sure, it does, but so do the front tires. The vast majority of compact, mid-size, and full size cars are sold with front wheel drive.

- Horace

Monday, June 9, 2025, Aimee Lucido

This one made me smile. The last words in each theme answer are LASTBUTNOTLEAST. Only the last word in the revealer is that. And there's something satisfying about the "but not" part, because it is! HEH.

"Pond honker" (GOOSE) got a chuckle. And you know what? I shared an art studio with a woman whose last name was SITAR, but until this very moment, I had not thought of her name as being the same as this "Instrument used in Hindustani classical music." Perhaps because the first vowel is pronounced so differently - "ee" instead of "ih." 

Anywayyyyy....  I will never remember that GOBAG (It's often packed during the final few weeks of pregnancy) is a thing. And the pregnancy angle threw me off even more. And I hadn't heard that the rating for PSYCHO was changed so long after the fact. Interesting.

OK, last comment - "Stretches of baking days?" (HEATWAVES) was good!

- Horace 

Sunday, June 8, 2025, John Kugelman

MEETING THEIR MATCH

Seems like a long way to go for these animal pairs. Eel and Rat, Ass and Elk, Ant and Dog... Would these things attract one another? What about Doe and Stag? Mare and Stallion? Sure, it would have been harder, but as it is, well, I don't know.

I have never run into the work BORK used to mean "Break, slangily." I looked it up and found that to some it means to obstruct, defame, or villify, surely stemming from the confirmation hearings of Robert Bork. Perhaps they mean "break" in the sense of "ruin the chances of," or something like that...

I liked FIXITINPOST (Deal with a problem later, as a filmmaker). And the plural seems a bit gratuitous in FRENCHOPENS, but it is timely. STEERTO (Point in the direction of) and LEDTO (Yielded) are a little duplicative. 

I like GLAMAZON (Tall, chic woman) as a word, and GOBANANAS (Lose it) is fun. And wouldn't it be nice if we had more use for the word RATIONAL these days? 

- Horace 

Saturday, June 7, 2025, Blake Slonecker

There are TSTORMS predicted today on the southern coast of Maine where I am today, but tomorrow promises to be sunny. Right now I am at a cafe that offers free wifi and I have to finish this review before my 93-year-old dad decides it's time to go home.

So let's see... this one is held together by eight - count 'em - eight grid spanners intersecting in the corners. The most surprising to me was ARMAGEDDONCHESS (Board game variant used as a last-resort tiebreaker). Like chess-boxing the other day, this is a new concept to me. Is it something that happens in actual chess? Or is it a different thing entirely? Ordinarily, I'd look it up, but the clock is ticking here. 

Things I liked: MAKEAFRESHSTART (Leave everything behind); RENEWEDINTEREST (What a retrospective aims to produce); "Annoyance in the middle of a season, perhaps" (SPOILER) surprised me; "Takes the field" (MOWS) was cute, as was "Leaves aside?" (PILE). "Change seats?" though, for SOFAS, might have been trying a little too hard.

My difficulty today came from guessing BEAsT for "Doozy" (BEAUT), which made SOURSON (Stops digging) difficult to see.

Overall, though, a fine Saturday. Played a lot easier than yesterday for me, but sometimes you'll have that.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.

- Horace 

Friday, June 6, 2025, Adrian Johnson

Egad this was a hard one! That lower left corner nearly did me in! And really, a lot of it was not in my wheelhouse at all.

ENCASE (Keep from being touched, in a way) made me chuckle, because one of my friends is the head of a library, and we used to joke about him making lucite cases to enclose all the stacks so no one could access the books. Not really all that funny out of context. Or maybe even in context...

I wanted ARTSzone for "Cultural draw of Shanghai's M50 district" (ARTSCENE), but DEVILRY (Some Halloween mischief) made that pretty much impossible. I tried "tee" for "Culture center?," but it was LAB. And who knew a "Flavor enhancer in many pho recipes" was BONEMARROW? Remind me not to eat any more pho...

UPANDLEAVE (Split without warning) was what I did toward the end of the party last night. And SLOPPYKISS (Overly warm welcome, maybe), while slightly amusing, seems unlikely. I mean, who does that?
 

- Horace 

Thursday, June 5, 2025, Timothy Gaetz

In today's offering we need to keep in mind that there are NOIFSANDSORBUTS in any of the theme answers. So to "*Confirm to be true" is not to "verify" but VERY, "*Armed thieves" are not "bandits" but BITS, and "*Someone who knows how the sausage gets made?" is not a "butcher" but, simply, CHER. Come to think of it, she might also know. 

Clues like "Companionship?" (ARK) and "L'il belly" (TUM) seemed of a slightly different style, and I welcome them. There was a nice pairing of "Supporting" (FOR) and "Not supporting" (ANTI), and it still managed to get in some solid crosswordese with ATRA and OSLO.

Overall, I liked it. I didn't count to check whether there were equal numbers of words without if, and, and but, but it hardly matters. 

Nice Thursday.

- Horace 

Wednesday, June 4, 2025, Danna Rosenberg

There were a few things that I disliked in this one. OSAKAN (Resident of Japan's third-largest city) is reaching. Isn't every documentary an OPDOC? And BACKATYOU (Remark that may immediately follow an insult or a compliment) is something I've only heard used in a positive way. 

And that NW corner is just so ... ugh. AJAR, ALAMO, TINCT, ATIT, TEL...

HALFASS (Done without much care, informally) should probably be half-assed, but who would notice? 

And so we are made to MAKELEMONADE from the lemons found hidden in the theme answers. Here's one thing I liked - learning that the OPAH is the "Only known warm-blooded fish." They do not maintain a constant temperature, like humans, but are able to maintain a body temperature slightly above whatever water they are in. Additionally, they keep the temperature of their brains and eyes at a temperature slightly above that of the rest of their body. Weird and interesting.

- Horace 

Tuesday, June 3, 2025, Boaz Moser

Hmmm.... would you have been happier if the bedding strata had been positioned accurately? With the cushion on the bottom, the sheet in the middle, and the cover on the top? I would have been. But as it is, all three "light" theme answers contain elements of a traditional bed, so it works as a theme.

It's odd that three of the longer, non-theme answers are things that would not benefit sound sleep at all -ARMAGEDDON, PANICROOM, and OSCARSNUB. And I can add to that "Mean" STREETS, a DOGPARK with its CHORUS of barks, and the noise and excitement of an ACTIONHERO movie. Am I taking this too far? Yes, definitely. 

I did appreciate that both ASSES and HELL were included in the grid. LOLS.

- Horace

Monday, June 2, 2025, Anthony V. Grubb

04:52

Interesting theme today of expressions that include an article of clothing. 

EATMYSHORTS
PUTASOCKINIT
SUITYOURSELF

Each, a CLOTHESLINE, as it were. Not bad.

I was not familiar with KIRBY (Pink Nintendo character from Planet Popstar), and I was not expecting COHABIT (Live together) to be missing the "ate" at the end, but the crosses were fair. 

We saw a production of "The Odyssey" recently, so CIRCE (Greek sorceress who took the phrase "men are pigs" literally) went right in. And do you think there is an unwritten challenge in the crossword world to come up with new clues for things like "Erie" and OREOS? Well, today's clue for the latter "It's nearly impossible to split their creme equally, per M.I.T." was a new one. So congrats there.

So what else... "'Explosive' expletive" (FBOMB) was fun. I chuckled at "Like the name Parker, for a valet" (APT). And little trivia bits like "Only U.S. state whose capital has a three-word name" (UTAH) are always welcome. Solid Monday.

- Horace
 

Sunday, June 1, 2025, Sam Brody

MAKING ARRANGEMENTS

The title says it all, as usual. The clues for the theme entries must be arranged - anagrammed - into new words, and that new word and a modifier meaning "arranged" will form the answer. As in:

LEGAL NICETY - GENETICALLYENGINEERED
RESIST - TWISTEDSISTER
and
ROYAL PERMIT - TEMPORARILYOUTOFORDER

It's a common idea, and it's done well here.

"Aid-de-camp?" was a cute QMC for TENTPEG, and "What you will" was an excellent non-QMC for ESTATE. Also cute: "Desirable formation for ducks" (ROW). Heh. 

Fun Sunday.

- Horace

Saturday, May 31, 2025, Adam Aaronson and Ricky Cruz

26:34

Of course, when I have to leave the house before 6:00am the Saturday puzzle is a bear. 

I liked the start of the Downs - KIBOSH (Nix), but I don't often think of it as a stand-alone verb. It's always "put the KIBOSH on" something, not "KIBOSH" it. But maybe that's just me.

"Underline?" was an amusing - and tricky! - clue for SEWER. See also: "Leaves the rest?" (AWAKENS); and "Minor key?" (ISLET). Good QMCs, all.

The idea of a CHESSBOXER was new to me, and the Wikipedia page strikes me as something that could have been put together as a gag to support this entry. But then, there seems to be a 12-year-old video by the Wu Tang Clan called "The Mystery of Chessboxin'," with 59 million views, so... maybe it's real? 

In other news, the other side of the partnership with LAY, the "Chip maker in a 1961 merger" was the Frito company. And speaking of words that start with F and end with O, the "Most populous California city with a one-word name" for (FRESNO) was very clever. 

So much in here... who knew there was ALOE juice? Or that CAPTCHA stood for "Completely Automated Public TURINGTEST to tell Computers and Humans Apart?" And how about ALLEYOOP (Two-person shot)? So good.

I gotta run, but this was a helluva Saturday puzzle. I hope you enjoyed it too.

Ya EBOY,
- Horace

 

Friday, May 30, 2025, Rafael Musa

10:00

This one went right along. Everything seemed kind of straightforward. Not DUH, exactly, but because it was a Friday, and because of the clue (DUH) I guessed GOL (Shout during a Real Madrid penalty shootout), then GAYBAR (Establishment that might host a drag brunch) seemed obvious, and SWEARJAR (Something that's filled with bad words), too, went right in. That kind of thing. The answers were more complex, or more unusual, in a way, but they were not exactly challenging. Like ROCKBAND (The White Stripes or Deep Purple), for example, RESALE (Thrift store transaction), and even the grid-spanner DRIVERSLICENSES (Things checked at checkpoints).

My favorite answer was SLAMDUNK (Sure thing). And "She's a believer" (NUN) was the best clue.

Frannie called out DAZING (Stunning) as feeling forced, and that crossword darling the O.E.D. agrees with her, telling us that there are fewer than 0.01 occurrences of the word per million words in modern written English.

Some days are just days, and some crosswords are just crosswords, but a rose is a rose is a rose.

- Horace

Thursday, May 29, 2025, John Kugelman

Today I finished the puzzle without understanding the theme, as is sometimes possible, and it took me a minute to figure it out! 

The revealer, TEASEUP, is to be taken for what it sounds like "Ts up," and it explains that in the answers to the clues with asterisks, like "*Two sure things," the Ts will be up one row. So 54-Across isn't just DEA, it's DEATHANDTAXES, but the Ts are above the black squares. It's a nice little trick. And who knew Mensa was a constellation? Probably all those Mensa nerds, that's who.

I thought "Insect named for the Virgin Mary" (LADYBUG) was interesting. Wikipedia tells me that it was so named for its color - because Mary was often depicted wearing red in old art. Of course I googled "Mary in old art" and what do you know, she often has a red dress on. She also usually has a blue garment on over the dress, but yeah, red. Interesting.

SNOOPS (Nosy parkers) and AMSCRAY ("Make like a drum and beat it!") is a solid top row. "Certain seasonal workers?" (REINDEER) was cheeky. "ALL hat, no cattle" and "Over-the-top dramatic" (FULLDIVA) were fun. 

Finally, I learned the word "Dissemble" (LIE) from Pinafore, so why not end with a little more G&S -

Though to catch my drift he's striving,
I'll dissemble – I'll dissemble;
When he sees at what I'm driving,
Let him tremble – let him tremble!

Tho' a mystic tone I borrow,
He shall learn the truth with sorrow;
Here today and gone tomorrow.

Yes, I know.
That is so!

- Horace 

Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Peter A. Collins

An impressive grid by one of the Old Masters of the NYTX world, in which circled letters rising and falling in the shape of the Sun's daily arc spell out "sunrise, sunset." As the words dawn and set they cross the entries GOODMORNING and NIGHTYNIGHT, and there's a bonus/revealer/additional element of FIDDLER (Musical featuring the song depicted by this puzzle's circled letters, familiarly). Very nice.

I'm not sure what, if anything, the black squares represent. At first I thought there might be a stylized violinist in the center, but now I just think it's all just normal left-right symmetry blocks. I might make it into a T-Shirt design ... don't all the black squares, taken together, look something like a super hero emblem? (Mr. Wednesday!)... and it makes me wonder if there would be any concern about rights... Probably not. If that's not a transformative use, then I don't know what is. But Mr. Collins - I'll send you one if I ever end up doing it. :)

Anywhooo, where was I? 

I overthought things right at the start, wanting a rebus to fit "bebop" into 1-Down - "Genre for Count Basie or Charlie Parker" (JAZZ). I even took out JIB (Small foresail) briefly! But ZENO (Philosopher known for paradoxes) set me straight again.

I guffawed at "Terse admonition" (DONT), and, honestly, I love the little squares of crosswordese threes in the West and East - ABA/NAV/EYE and TVA/EEG/RTE. I feel it's totally worth it in a puzzle as elegant as this. And besides, you still get nice fill like ACUMEN (Astuteness), POINTA (Starting place), AVERTED (Turned aside), and GURGLED (Sounded like a brook). Doesn't that last one always make you think of Pirates?

When the enterprising burlar's not a-burgling
(Not a-burgling)
When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime –
('Pied in crime,)
He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling –
Brook a-gurgling
And listen to the merry village chime –
Village chime.

Well, it does me. 

- Horace 

 

Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Ginny Too

The HOLYTRINITY is represented today by three theme answers:

WHOLLYOWNED - Like a subsidiary with only one parent
HOLEYCHEESES - Swiss and Jarlsberg
HOLIFESTIVAL - Colorful Hindu celebration

A tidy little Tuesday theme. 

Loved that today started with "Puccini heroine who 'lived for art, lived for love'" (TOSCA). How'd that work out for her?...

BADASSERY (Acts that are tough, rebellious and cool, in slang) was fun, and its symmetrical counterpart IMALLEARS ("Tell me") was nice and colloquial. The clue: "Caaaaaaar, you might say" had me stumped for quite a while (LIMO) (lmao). "Helps out a friend, purr-haps?," on the other hand, wasn't hard, but was a cute clue for CATSITS.

How about "Lines of communication" for CABLES? It could work many ways.

Overall, a decent Tuesday.

- Horace

Monday, May 26, 2025, Ari Halpern

The theme seems a little weak today. It's MOVIEOFTHEWEEK, and there are three movies that have a day in the title. They are out of order (if you follow ISO 8601), and there are only three of them. I know that it's impossible to get all seven in a weekday grid, and so, ok, fine. Also, the clue for hte revealer is "1070s-'80s TV staple ..." but two of the three movies are from 1999 and 2003. Is that weird? Of course, there's the 1976 version of FREAKYFRIDAY too... why not reference that one?

BRAINSTEM (Body part connecting the cerebrum to the spinal cord) and NERDALERT ("Look at this guy spouting useless trivia!" are fun ones. CUSP (One of four on most molars) is a tough one for a Monday. And I tried the perhaps rather too obvious "god" for "Topic for an evangelical preacher" (SIN). Who knew?

LENGTHENS (Stretches out) and ESCAPEKEY (Aid for getting out of a computer jam) seemed a little meh, but CIRCA (Around, as in dates) and CAVERN (Stalactite site) were fun.

- Horace

Sunday, May 25, 2025, Dylan Schiff

TRAVEL BUG

If you have been going to the A.C.P.T. for many years, you will understand me when I tell you that this puzzle gave me a little P.T.S.D. from an infamous Puzzle Five that used the idea of recombinant D.N.A. as a theme. In that puzzle, however, there were no helpful, color-coded circles to guide you. Sigh...

But that was then, this is now, and here, the combination of rebuses and WORMHOLES that work in both the Across and Down clues are really quite a lovely achievement, and an unusually complex Sunday theme. Beautiful, really. Not that that Puzzle Five wasn't also beautiful... probably...

I will not give theme examples today, but instead will leave it to you to untangle it all. I am reviewing, after all, not providing answers.

And speaking of reviewing, do I NEEDTO question whether the inclusion of CATHETER (Angioplasty tube) passes the "Sunday Morning Test?" Or is that test now OBSOLETE? And I suppose SODOM is ok because it's biblical... but then we can't just fill the grids with nothing but TREACLE. Gotta elicit a GAH or two with a little OLE POP. 

OK, enough of that. What about EMUOIL (Wellness product derived from an Australian bird)? Who knew?

SOLID puzzle. I DIG it.

- Horace

 

Saturday, May 24, 2025, Gene Louise De Vera

Fifteen extra squares and a mini-theme today in this 16x15 Saturday grid. 

All starts well in the NW with PSYCH (Course on behavior, for short), HEIR (Mary 1, to Henry VIII), PECOS (River that once marked the boundary of the Wild West), and SPAWNPOINT (Location where a video game character starts (or restarts) a level). All solid. And on the other side, there's RIGAMAROLE (Song and dance), which makes me think of a co-worker who likes to call out "rigamaroo."

Having eaten out yesterday (and split the bill) I smiled when I got MYTREAT (Nice thing to hear from one's dining partner). And speaking of money, I enjoyed the slightly anachronistic PURSES (Places for change). I was surprised when I finally got SHAQ (Magic center, familiarly) - Gotta get that brain a little more plastic! And speaking of - I'm not sure I fully understand ALIENQUEEN (Xenomorph who can produce humanoid offspring). Is that just general fantasy, or is it referring to a specific sci-fi book or movie? 

The mini-theme involves CAUTIOUSOPTIMISM (Feeling described as "hoping for the best, but fearing for the worst") and PLEASANTSURPRISE (Positive result of having 18-Across, perhaps). Nice. And there are loads of other solid C/APs today: "Shelters from the heat?" (SAFEHOUSES); "Not recommended" (ILLADVISED); and "Exposed" (OUTED), to name just three.

Solid Saturday.

- Horace

 

Friday, May 23, 2025, Kate Hawkins

Were you as surprised as I was to see KISSEDBUTT (Sucked up) in the grid today? Hah! 

AKEE (Fruit that grows on Jamaican beaches) put the song "Jamaican Farewell" into my head, and it's one of those times that learning something new made another thing that I had long heard as only sound suddenly make sense. This time it was the line "AKEE rice, saltfish are nice are nice, and the rum is fine any time of year." I have sung that many times, but I always just glossed over the first word." 

The top left gave me a lot of trouble at the end of my solve, mostly because I held fast to what I thought was a clever answer to "Dining at Chipotle or Panera, e.g." - hAuTCASUAL. I guess FASTCASUAL must be a thing, but what's "slow casual?" Or is that just "casual?" FASTCASUAL strikes me as a little like festina lente. And speaking of Latin, nice bit of trivia in "Fish bred by Roman nobles" (EELS).

Lots of fun clues in this one. "Watch this space!" (WRIST) took me forever, but I guffawed when I finally got it. And "A lot can be made of these" (ACRES) was cute. "Place for a cabin" (SEMI) was tricky. "Check for pieces, say" (FRISK) was clever.

Finally, always nice to see TOM in the grid. :)

- Horace

Thursday, May 22, 2025, David J. Kahn

This is a complex theme. MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING is the multi-answer revealer, and it explains, in a way, that the word "all" (EVERYTHING) in the theme answers is changed into the currency of the country in brackets in the clue. Let's look at the themers:

*Be brave and proud [Iran] - should be "stand tall," but replace all with rial and you get STANDTRIAL
*How some medications are taken [Jordan] - ORDINARY (dinar)
*Luminous meteor [South Africa] - FIREBRAND (rand)
*Ubiquitously [Korea] - WONOVER (won)
*Ones on your side [Costa Rica] - COLONIES (colón)

See what I mean? Complex. 

Luckily, the rest of the answers were, at least on the left side, for me, pretty straightforward. On the right side we had things like EZER (1990s Israeli president Weizman) and DEDE (Film editor ____ Allen). 

This one was all about the theme, in my opinion, and it was pretty impressive.

- Horace