Saturday, August 2, 2025, Robert Logan

0:09:27
Mini: 1:57 (possibly my longest ever)
Connections: Purple, Green, Blue, Yellow
Wordle: One yellow first guess, finished in six
Strands: Complete, no clues. 

This was a fun one. Four grid-spanning Down answers pinning the sides, and a couple of diagonal channels running through the middle. So there was a good mix of open and closed space to work through. 

BATTED (Like baseballs and some eyelashes) was a pretty easy start for a Saturday, and off of that quickly came BADJOKES (Groaners), ADROPINTHEOCEAN (The most infinitesimal amount), and THENEXTBIGTHING (Silicon Valley's holy grail). The next three short ones took me longer. I never studied Spanish, so even what should have been a simple form of the verb "to be" (ERES ("You are," in Spain)) took lots of crosses. The shortest answer in that opening section got the best clue: "Key for getting rid of your work, in brief?" (DEL). Nice.

Another great clue was "Eyebrow makeup" (HAIRS). First, I was surprised that there was such a thing, then I kept wondering what, specifically, eyebrow makeup was called. But no. It's what they are made of. Derp.

"Way in" (ENTRANCE) was good. As was "It's most beautiful when broken" (GEODE). "More of this?" (THESE) was cute, and "Verb that appears the same when rotated 180º" (SWIMS) is almost right, but not quite.

Overall, a breezy Saturday for what is looking like a perfect day in the Northeast. Now it's time to get outside!

- Horace 

 

Friday, August 1, 2025, Abigail Martin

0:06:06

This played smooth and quick. I don't think I've ever heard IFTAR (Evening meal during Ramadan) before, and although APPA (Dad, in Korean) rang a distant bell, it didn't come without all the crosses. ORLESS (Sale sign words) and NAIL (Hit hard) were not obvious, but pretty much everything else seemed straightforward. "Offerings from a truck or cart" (STREETFOOD), "Oatmeal, e.g." (HOTCEREAL), "Literally, 'grilled meat'" (CARNEASADA)... 

Just a couple of funny clues today: "Phish-monger?" (SCAMARTIST), "Ay, there's the rub!" (MASSAGE), and did anybody else want SPIDEySENSE instead of SPIDERSENSE for "Intuitive ability in the Marvel Universe"?

- Horace 

Thursday, July 31, 2025, Alexander Liebeskind

Everybody loves a rebus, n'est-ce pas? Well, I sure do. Our house, however, has been visited more than usual this year by ants, so the theme was a little cringy. I like to think Mr. Liebeskind is on my side, though, and that fill like EVIL and SNOTS are theme-adjacent. And is it weird that MICE are also included? ...

And I don't usually talk about the photos I include, but is it a coincidence that VERA Farmiga's name is so close to "formiga?," which is portuguese for ant, and "formica" the genus name? 

I like how many ants were crammed in, and how they work in both the Across and Down answers. It just seems like constructing a puzzle like this would be fun, but also a lot of work. Congrats on a job well done.

- Horace 

Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Thomas Byrne and Daniel Bodily

Crossworders are obsessed with Oreos. Today's theme pays tribute to DOUBLESTUFOREOS, by making four little sideways-stuffed cookies of black squares. And there's a related grid-spanner running down the middle - CHOCOLATECOATED. 

In the fill - OUTGROWTH (Supplementary result), AMORTIZES (Writes off over time), OPACITY (Murkiness), and AFTEREFFECT (Consequence) were refreshing in their unusualness. And I always like little trivia and vocab lessons, like "God rejected by Daphne in myth" (APOLLO) and "Sigmatism" (LISP). 

I don't love unchecked letters, and it would have been more APT to have the stuffing elements on top of each other rather than beside each other, but I understand the limitations, and the fill didn't suffer too terribly, so, it's a fine Wednesday. 

Onward to the Turn!

- Horace 

Tuesday, July 29, 2025, Peter Gorman

Have you heard of BENDOREGON? No? Neither had I. Sometimes I think constructors like to set little challenges for themselves like this - to try to fit all the letters of "Oregon" into cramped spaces and then find fill that works. The contorted state name appears seven times, highlighted by circles. Impressive.

Favorite clue: "Mount with four faces that all face southeast" (RUSHMORE). Nice. "Permanent location?" (SALON) is also nice. Does anyone say "permanent" anymore? 

I don't love "prior to now" for AGO. Just seems weird. "Some fins" (DORSALS) is bad in a different way.  

BOP (Catchy song, in modern lingo) and "What's touch and go?" (TAG) were fun, "Quiet sound?" (SHH) too ... and who knew Erik Estrada was a POLICEMAN in real life?  

- Horace 

Monday, July 28, 2025, Brian Callahan

OPENSEAS (Clear sailing areas ... or, homophonically, a feature of 16-, 23-, 39-, and 52-Across (and every clue in this puzzle!)). That's right, every clue and every theme answer starts with the letter C. It's a stunt puzzle, and I have learned to just let this kind of puzzle be. They don't always give me the best solving experience, but I take them as they come now, and appreciate them as I can.

I liked EASYTIGER ("Calm down there, buddy") and CHALUPAS (Concoctions with masa, cheese, lettuce and salsa). Will we ever be able to hear that word again without thinking "Drop the chalupa" in our heads? I doubt it.

Did not like - the singular SCAD (Copious amount). 

 - Horace 

Saturday, July 26, 2025, Adam Levav

I think "Playful in tone" for ARCH is pretty loose. I want more mischief and sauciness. The R of ARCH was the last letter I put in, but I still finished in under 8 minutes, so I guess it didn't hold me up all that much.

 Liked: BUSHELS (Lots and lots), UNSUNG (Underappreciated), and CURTSY (Alternative to a bow). Didn't love: ASAMI ("Same here!"), PGS (Dictionaries have many of these: Abbr.), SEES (Peeps at). 

I don't know, this was fine. After yesterday it just felt a little anticlimactic.

- Horace  

Friday, July 25, 2025, Fritz Juhnke

This was an excellent puzzle. It is filled with excellent entries - DOPESLAP, ACTNORMAL, DATAPOINT (One of many in a trend line), ATOMICAGE (Period satirized in "Dr. Strangelove"), AHAMOMENT (Flash point?), REGNANT (Like Queen Elizabeth, but not Queen Camilla), NOCANDO ("Your request is denied"). So much EPICNESS! 

I feel like I almost don't want to say any more about this one so that you can enjoy doing it yourself. I've already said too much!

- Horace 

Thursday, July 24, 2025, Ginny Too

With the very first clue "Beat at chess," I suspected a rebus or something, because "checkmate" didn't fit into the five allotted squares, but it was that old trick, the verb that doesn't add "ed" in the past tense used to clue one that does (MATED). Those get me a lot. 

The trick, like the act of birding itself, is quite tame, if a little hard to describe. So they go out with binoculars and they just look for birds? Wait no, I mean... bird names are the answers, and the clues are amusing, imagined spoken words. As in:

"Nice of you to show up" (COMMONSNIPE)
"Hey, England, happy Fourth of July!" (AMERICANCROW)
"Say 'goodnight' Alexa." "Goodnight Alexa" (AMAZONPARROT)
and
"Bottom-of-the-barrel barrel prices! Buy today!" (COOPERSHAWK) 

In other news, OBELI († symbols, on manuscripts) went right in thanks to my classical Latin study. (Is that too much of an AMERICANCROW?) And I learned that ITERATES means the same thing as "reiterates" from crossword puzzles. ("Inflammable means flammable?! What a country!")

And is it by design that there is a CAT sitting directly in the middle of this bird-filled grid? I doubt it.

- Horace 

Wednesday, July 23, 2025, Joseph Gangi

Today it's "This, not that," and an obvious repudiation of the Oxford Comma. For example: "A, B and C, but not X, Y and Z" (MUSICNOTES) and "X, Y and Z, but not A, B and C" (GENERATIONS). Fun, right? The cleverest one, I thought, was "He and I, but not she and you" (CHEMICALSYMBOLS). 

Didn't the MAKO clue (Fast-swimming shark) make you wonder about the speed of other fish? Well wonder no more. According to the BBC's Science Focus magazine, the fastest swimmer is the black marlin, which can reach speeds of 129 kilometers per hour. That's 80 miles per hour for those unfortunate enough to have been brought up using the imperial system. Hah... "imperial." So fitting. Anyway, the mako shark swims at a mere 74 kph. Doesn't even reach highway speeds. SAD. But it could still out pace a HYENA - they top out at around 60 kph.

Speaking of speed, I enjoyed the duet of "Ground transportation option" clues (BUS and TAXI), and I did not know that ISUZU was named for a river. Interesting!

- Horace 

 

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2025, Jeremy Newton

CUTE ice cream cone theme today, with a cone getting filled up with a triple scoop of ice cream by the end. And perhaps the theme continues with two Down answers referring to the ice cream - ILOVEYOUSOMUCH and GOESCUCKOOOVER. That last, with it's triple Os, is quite clever. And ok, maybe EATME is also thematic? And its symmetrical counterpart SEWED? Because whenever I sassed "So!?" to my mom, she would say "Sew buttons on ice cream and see if it melts!" 

In other news, it is interesting to learn that the River Thames either ends or starts in ESSEX County. It's absurd that I don't know which end that would be, but then, I watched a British game show recently where the contestants were shown a map of the United States, and they had to show where various things were. When given "Cape Canaveral," at least two of the four put it smack-dab in the middle of Texas.  

Couple of colloquialisms - SCUSEME and NOPROB - made it a little trickier, and I never expect TEAMUSA when given a clue like "Powerhouse competitors in women's Olympic gymnastics." I should, of course, by now, but do I?

 - Horace

Monday, July 21, 2025, Katy Steinmetz and Rich Katz

A slightly odd theme of GOTTACATCHEMALL today, with four things some people try to catch. The only one that I try to catch with any regularity is SPELLINGERRORS. Had I the occasion to try to catch TOUCHDOWNPASSES I would certainly try to do so, but THEEVENINGNEWS is something that I actively avoid. And AIRPORTSHUTTLES, well, yes, it's good if you don't miss them.

  

Sometimes a theme makes me think too much about the very nature of crossword puzzle themes. How they have come to have this fairly rigid format of being the longest entries, and how there are only a certain number of them. Four or five, usually. And how nothing else in the grid can have anything to do with them. Of course, these rules are broken occasionally, but for the most part, they hold. I've really got to try to create a puzzle someday...

Anywhoo... nice how BUTT and TUSH intersect, likewise TOUCHDOWNPASSES and PUNT. And CRANE intersects with Strands today. :) 

"What two toddlers should learn to do" (SHARE) could just as well have been "... two adults..." or "... two countries..." Sigh.  

- Horace 

Sunday, July 20, 2025, Michael Schlossberg

TEN POINT SPREAD

The "ten points" here refer to the ten theme clues, all using the format "____ point," and all needing to be thought of in a way other than the normal way. Clever. Here's my favorite three:

Fine point? - SPEEDTRAP  
Flash point? - PHOTOBOOTH
Low point? - DAIRYFARM

See? Clever! 

Some of them were so opaque to me without crosses that it played like a themeless with several unclued answers. But then I started to get the hang of them, and, well, it went a little easier. But there were some tricky clues in the fill, too, so it did play tougher than a usual Sunday.

Other highlights included "One working near home" (UMPIRE) (should probably have seen this one sooner), "Bring up the rear?" (MOON) (guffaw), "Chinese symbol of hope and prosperity" (KITE) (did not know that!), and "One of 24 in Yankee Stadium." I guessed "flag" at first for this, because I know they've won a lot but I don't know how many, but no, it was ACRE - another thing that I know exists but I don't know a lot about. Sigh.

"Common lampshade shade" (OCHRE) was weird, and MEETER (Airport sign carrier) was weak, but other than that, this was a pretty nice Sunday.

- Horace 

Saturday, July 19, 2025, Erik Agard

So, what do you think? Was yesterday's Wordle connected with today's puzzle? I don't see how it couldn't have been. 

We've got six grid-spanners today and a mini-theme of FREEDOMRIDES and CORETTASCOTT King. It played tough, but fair.

It was fun that TITILLATE (What R-rated photos may do) and STMATTHEW (Biblical tax collector) were connected symmetrically. And I take issue with the idea of an IMPOSSIBLECOLOR. I read a tiny bit about it and I think that if you can see something people call "Stygian blue" as an after effect of another action then it is not impossible. Likewise I think it is easy enough to imagine, and even create, a reddish-green. Harrumph!

"Case study org.?" (TSA) was cute. And FINN (Suomi speaker) makes me think of being half Finnish, and how things would be quite different for me today were that half, say, Moroccan or Mexican. Why? Why should it be so? We are all just humans, – mon semblable, – mon FRERE!

- Horace 

Friday, July 18, 2025, Kelly Morenus

Fairly chunky grid and lots of trickery adds up to a lovely, tough, Friday. Let's talk about it.

I'm just going to start with my favorite clue - "Congressional record?" First I thought of minutes, notes, even MEMOS (Staff notes), but no, it's SEXTAPE. Beautiful. In other areas, it gets a bit expansive - "Down" isn't just eat, it's INGEST, and "Humdingers" aren't lulus or oners, they're CORKERS. Nice.

The quote clue was high-quality too - "'____ is the most convenient time to tax rich people': David Lloyd George" (DEATH). Hah! 

"Shepherd's warning" (GROWL) (shepherd dog, not shepherd with a crook) is very good, "Receiving end?" (GEE) is classic literalism ("receiving" ends with a GEE), and perhaps the trickiest of all, "Explicit subject for her?" (ANTECEDENT) is pure high school English class. The pronoun HER needs an explicit subject to refer back to. Yowza.

Oh, and "Mixing board" (PALETTE) is not about audio recording, it's about painting!  

Really fun, really good Friday.

- Horace 

Thursday, July 17, 2025, Sam Brody

MATRYOSHKADOLLS. I'm pretty sure I've heard this name before, but do I have it on the tip of my tongue? No. 

The trick of nesting the clues and answers is cute, and I like that all the theme answers are standing tall, like the dolls. Let's break one down - 

(Bucks' (lady's (roadside stopover) title) mates) - DOMAINNAMES (do (ma (inn) am) es)

See! Nothing to it. :)

I liked reading 31 and 33 Down as "I see" and "I sit." Don't know why, just did.

Favorite clues: "Top tier" (ATTIC), "It has its ups and downs" (SEESAW), and "Manner of speaking" (ACCENT). Nice.

- Horace
 

Wednesday, July 16, 2025, Jasin Cekinmez

It's mid-week, and time for a TEABREAK. Four teas are hidden in longer entries, each with a break partway through the word. This is definitely a theme that required shaded squares. I had never heard of "mate" tea, but one of the reasons I enjoy crossword puzzles is that they frequently introduce me to people and things I had not yet run into. The other three - oolong, boba, and assam - were familiar.

BSMETER (Detector of absurdity, in slang) and BADASSES (People you do not want to mess with) were a tad surprising. HEATERS (They radiate warmth) was amusing in its straightforwardness. 

Paired clues like "See 11-Down" and "Chance to get 8-Across" always get my dander up, and when I see "Like Detroit vis-à-vis 29-Across" in the same puzzle, well, I don't like it.

- Horace 

Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Daniel Britt

DELTABURKE and DANNYBONADUCE are real throwback references, aren't they? I can't picture either one of them, but their names are floating around in my memory. DREWBARRYMORE, on the other hand, I can picture. I can picture her in E.T. and in Charlie's Angels. She's always been a favorite. And then there's DAVIDBOWIE. He's got to be the most famous of the four, right? And maybe he's the most likely to have introduced himself by saying IMDB. But probably not. 

Philbo would be sad that I did not immediately know that OTTAWA lay on the banks of the Rideau River. Sigh. I probably know more about SATURN than I do about Canada. 

WIREMESH (Latticed metal used in construction and fencing) - is that just chain link? And aren't there Gentlemen's clubs that aren't NUDIEBARs? Another thing I know very little about...

This felt like it played hard for me but was over in six and a half minutes, so I guess it's still right in that Tuesday range. How'd you like it?

- Horace 

Monday, July 14, 2025, Christina Iverson

If you know this blog, you know I like goofy, so this play on HARRYSTYLES name is a-ok with me. :) Ms. Iverson gives us four hairy styles at the ends of BASKETWEAVE, PRETZELBUN, THEREDPONY, and MONOBOB. And what's more, it's in sort of a pinwheel shape, going both across and down, which I also enjoy. So thumbs up on theme. Very LIKABLE.

It's Monday, so the fill can't be too fancy, but we get a few more interesting words like COWER (Crouch down in fear), IONIC (Like some chemical bonds), KHAKI (Color for some business casual pants), and ROBUST (Vigorously strong). "We are family!" (KIN) was amusing, and I enjoyed the quaintness of GOSHNO contrasting with NUDE and INHEAT. 

Fun Monday.

- Horace 

Sunday, July 13, 2025, Brandon Koppy

This is one of those tricks where it looks like the puzzle is "wrong," in that there is a complete disconnect between East and West, but then, of course, answers are revealed at the end by revealing hidden letters under the black squares. And these letters, as luck would have it, spell out "the doors." 

While the eight "bonus clues" seem anti-climactic, the hiding of the hidden words is pretty clever in some spots. BEET and OVEN turning into "Beethoven" is nice, and DISHON as two words, combining with RING to make "dishonoring" is pretty good too. The change from HONE and TWOMAN to "honest woman" is marred by the very clue and answer themselves. "New bride, quaintly." Ick.

The other two pieces of theme material are the Doors song BREAKONTHROUGH TOTHEOTHERSIDE and the phrase HOLESIN THEWALL.

Overall, not a bad theme, I just had a few issues with it. But maybe that's just me.

What else? HADLUNCH (Took an hour off mid-day, say) seemed a bit random. INPAWN (Traded for cash) - I am familiar with pawn shops, of course, but "in pawn" isn't something I hear. On the other hand, SCHISM, ECHELON, TADPOLE, TUSHIE, SCOURED, and ATELOCAL - all strong.

- Horace 

Saturday, July 12, 2025, Katie Hoody

WHATABLAST. This is the second time I have seen Ms. Hoody's byline, and it's the second time I will be giving her a rave review. 

Clever cluing was everywhere today: "Skipping music, say" (ABSENT), "Adjunct faculty?" (SIXTHSENSE), "What might be seen around a star" (POSSE), "Spot for newborn care" (NEST), "Period ender" (HORN) (think: hocky game), "Wit's end?" (NESS), and my personal favorite - and the one that took me so, so long to see - "Rush to find a mate?" (SPEEDCHESS). So good.

Then there were the connected "Waste" clues for DEBRIS and BLOW, the interesting trivia clues like "Kind of spider believed to spread to distant areas via railway" (HOBO) and "Its official languages are Chamorro and English" (GUAM). 

ICONOCLAST (Convention challenger) is a lovely entry. LINGO (Terms of a trade) and RIGAMAROLE (Series of hoops and hurdles) are fun. Overall, just a really solid Saturday. WHATABLAST indeed.

- Horace 

Friday, July 11, 2025, James McCarron

I admit it, I prefer themeless puzzles. Sure, sometimes there's a really clever idea, and sometimes those clever ideas are well done, but there's nothing quite so enjoyable than working through a themeless. Clues like "Tales are related about them," that seem so opaque, suddenly bring a smile when enough crosses allow you to see CAMPFIRES. Or "What might come with a twist or two," which gets you thinking about cocktails, but really refers to BALLOONANIMALS. And then there are clues like "Colonial group" are old standbys, but still maybe take the beginning A to remind you that they want ANTS. 

And then there are the answers like "You're warm" where you know what they mean, but you're not sure if it's going to be GETTINGnearER or GETTINGCLOSER.  

It's always nice to get an OGDEN Nash quote "The cow is of the bovine ilk; / One end is moo, the other, milk." I think the first Nash I can remember learning, back when I was under ten, was "If called by a panther / Don't anther." Which I see now comes from a slightly longer poem:

The Panther is like a leopard,

Except it hasn't been peppered.

Should you behold a panther crouch,

Prepare to say Ouch.

Better yet, if called by a panther,

Don't anther.

 

So anyway, I don't have a ton of time this morning, but sitting in this cafe doing this puzzle gave the day an excellent start.

 

- Horace 

Thursday, July 10, 2025, Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick

Today's forced theme is four playing cards interpreted as clues. The ace of spades is used for MASTERGARDENER. That's cute. Then we get TIGERWOODS, who hasn't been the king of clubs for many years now. The queen of hearts is a MATCHMAKER, and then the jack of diamonds is, apparently, JACKIEROBINSON. Hmm.

"Curve that gives one pause?" is a cute clue for COMMA, and likewise "Big race that's no longer around" for DINOSAURS. 

After I got "CO..." at the start of "Urban housing option," I thought there must be a rebus because "condo" wouldn't fit. I guess I'm not much of an urbanite, because COOP didn't come to me for quite some time. Hah.

Is DEUCE bonus material?

- Horace 

Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Desirée Penner and Jeff Sinnock

Kind of an odd, positionally-clued theme today. The top row clues all included the word "top" in them: "Top dog?" (MUTT), "Top hat?" (LID), and "Top gun?" (PISTOL). And the sides all included the word "side" in the clue: "Side dish?" (PLATE), "Side kick?" (PUNT), etc. And likewise at the bottom: "Bottom feeder?" (TROUGH). I thought the weakest were "Bottom line?" for RAY and "Side plank?" for BOARD. What is a "side plank?" Oh wait... unless it's a yoga move... Anyway, EDGES serves as a highlighter, of sorts, in the very center. Nice.

LEVITATE (Get off the ground?) is a fun one. And I didn't realize that D.F.W. taught at POMONA. Someone I know when to POMONA around the time he could have been there. If I ever see her again I'll ask whether or not she had a class with him. 

What else? My brother Rich used to say YOUDIRTYRAT in a bad Cagney voice when I was little. And it's funny that MOOLAH is in again today.

The second and second-to-last lines today strike me as very crosswordy - EPEE ETE OCTOPI and NANANA ATO AGES. 

Happy Wednesday!

- Horace
 

Tuesday, July 8, 2025, Jesse Guzman

OK, this was clever. APLUSWORK explains "a guard," "a barber," "a chef," and "a miner," all hidden within longer theme entries. Brilliant. And all split across two words. Really, it's quite something. APLUSWORK!

And on top of that, we have some nice longer Down entries - TRUTHIS ("To be honest ..."), LESSEREVIL (Better choice, given the options), MAKESPEACE (Lets bygones be bygones) (if only!), and MOHAWKS (Spiky hairdos).  

"Cheddar, dough, bacon or cabbage" for MOOLAH brings to mind that widely circulated Native American quote: "Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." 

Sigh. 

But at least we have bread and circuses. And crosswords.

- Horace 

Monday, July 7, 2025, Daniel Raymon

The theme is STILLONTHETABLE, and on that table are a pitcher, a plate, and a bowl. Interesting. Since I had no idea what was going on as I was solving it, it played almost like a themeless. 

IOBJECT ("That's not fair, Your Honor!") and AMSTEREO (Band for news radio?) look odd, don't they? It's kind of fun when you look back and can't remember what the heck something is. Also, what does that even mean, "Band for news radio?" Well, it might mean that the failed experiment that was AMSTEREO has been repurposed to talk news stations that don't even use the stereo component, but is that a Monday clue? Does anyone who hasn't just spent a few minutes on Wikipedia even realize this? Am I missing something else? Probably...

It took me a long time, even after knowing the nursery song "FRERE Jacques" and knowing French, to realize that the first word was actually FRERE. Because in spoken French, FRERE is one syllable, but in the song, it is given two syllables. The same is true for Jacques. But then the next two words are spoken normally (dormez-vous?). Language is weird.

See you tomorrow. 

- Horace 

Sunday, July 6, 2025, Zhou Zhang and Kevin Curry

I filled in everything but the lock in about 13 minutes, but then I couldn't figure out the lock, so I let Frannie look at it. She realized that FOURSQUARE could point to the square with the four in it in the puzzle, and put an X into the second spot. Once that was in, she knew it was EXIT. Then we went back to figuring out why.

Working from the end, DOESNTHAVEACLUE refers to 76-Across, TEE, which has only a dash for a clue, so that's the T. UNDERTHESEA, phonetically, refers to the only C in the grid, and under that letter is an I. For ENDOFTHEROAD, all we could come up with is the "Famed street in Beverly Hills," RODEODRIVE, which ends with an E. And there you have it.

The puzzle starts strong with the MARX quote "The bureaucracy is a circle from which no one can escape," and it's interesting to learn that ELPASO is the "Only major Texas city not in the Central time zone." "Lover of Shakespeare" is a cute clue for ROMEO. Likewise "Fruit picker of old" for EVE. 

I never was a fan of the switch from TAN to blue in M&Ms. TAN is just a better color for food, especially a chocolate food. There, I said it.

- Horace 

Saturday, July 5, 2025, Tracy Bennett

This is just what we want in a Saturday puzzle. Misdirections like "It's a straight shot" (NEATVODKA), "Uniform shade" (CADETBLUE), and "Alley oops" (GUTTERBALL) (think "bowling alley) totally worked on me. And I did not know that QUEERTHEOLOGY was the subject of "Jonathan Loved David" and "Take back the World." Nor did I know that UNCANNYVALLEY was an "Eerie phenomenon when a robot seems too lifelike." A solid challenge.

"Swell" for NIFTY was tricky. RINKYDINK (Small-time) was fun. "Oil smugglers?" (ARTTHIEVES) was cute. ... but I thought that "Keeps greasing that squeaky wheel?" (REOILS) was a little weak. I mean, oil and grease are different things...

But if that's all we have to suffer for a challenging Saturday, then that's fine with me.

- Horace 

Friday, July 4, 2025, Colin Adams

A breezy Friday that has nothing to do with the Fourth of July. Unless, of course, we consider CORPORATE (Like many higher-ups), MUSCLECAR (Mustang, for one), and OXES (Oafs). 

FRUITBAT (A flying fox is actually a type of this) was interesting, "Major for someone who can correctly distinguish between Manet and Monet" (ARTHISTORY) was fun, and the double "Vibe" clues for ATMOSPHERE and MOOD were good. And speaking of the vibe, it's definitely off for me today. Go have a veggie burger and try to think about something other than the state of the country today.

- Horace 

Thursday, July 3, 2025, Adam Wagner

Clever BLINKERS theme today, where two letters in each Across themer and one in each Down blink on and off to make different answers. As in the answer LOVERDONE (Friend or family member / Clichéd) - in the first case, the R blinks out to make "loved one," and in the second the L steps out of the way of "overdone." And in the Downs, the L is involved in IDEAL (Perfect / Concept) and the R is in RANDRY (Was exhausted / Lustful). It's a lot to keep track of, and an impressive feat.

Aside from that, let's see... I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to guess what a "back tire burn" might mean in a drag show. See, I didn't read "drag race" correctly, and didn't get that they meant a literal back tire of a dragster. But I feel like I should write to RuPaul and ask him to turn it into a thing. "Make that back tire burn, girl!"... sigh. The things my mind gets up to.

 

They got me on "City on the Seine." I knew it wouldn't be Paris and it wasn't, but I still put it in and then had to change it to ROUEN. FORREAL. And speaking of France, ENGARDE (Them's fighting words!) was fun. And yesterday we had "saboteurs," today we have MARAUD. Are they trying to start something?

 

- Horace 

 

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