Saturday, October 31, 2026, Erik Agard and Brendan Emmett Quigley

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you're all getting your spook on. We are planning on seeing our daughter perform in a dance show called "Bloodbath" tonight. The name is on point, but we'll see how scary it is.

But what wasn't spooky was the crossword puzzle. I had high hopes for this week that we'd have multiple themes or themelesses dedicated to the season. Instead, it was only two. I see this as a failure of imagination. 

But I jest! We continue our run of high-powered collaborations with a themeless by Mr. Agard and Mr. Quigley. And it's a high quality product! We start with 1A: Couldn't get any higher? (RATESATEN). Only Nigel Tufnel's amplifiers go higher (Spinal Tap reference alert). 7D: El Niño feature (TILDE) did not fool me for a second, but that's because I had my Saturday solving hat firmly in place.

Senegalese TWISTS

The trio of middle long answers are excellent. Let's start with the remarkable looking rap group name WRECKXNEFFECT. This was a rap duo from Harlem. Their most popular hit, "Rump shaker" went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. KEEPHOPEALIVE is lovely, but I particularly like 35A: Store with expensive items (TREASURETROVE) - "store" here meaning not "shop" but "collection." 

The two long down answers are also very good. 3D: That's a good one! (TOTALSWEETHEART) is a great example of the exclamation point type clue, where the demonstrative pronoun refers to the answer. 12D: "There's no doubt who's going to win" (ITSNOTEVENCLOSE) is a nice colloquialism.

It's been a fun non-spooky week! I'm handing off to Phil (I think).

- Colum

Friday, October 30, 2026, Robyn Weintraub and Rafael Musa

A Friday Robyn puzzle? With Rafael Musa as well? Yes, please!

Longtime readers of HAFDTNYTCPFCAWCCFP know how much we appreciate Ms. Weintraub's offerings, and today's puzzle certainly does not disappoint. Look at 1D: First name that contains four of the first five letters of the alphabet (CALEB) and then at 2D: Macronutrient group? (AEIOU). Amazing! 

Almost every clue or answer has something to recommend it. 5D: Pieces of writing from the French for "try" (ESSAYS) elevates a standard piece of crosswordese. 18A: Aid in evaluating some calls (SLOWMOTION) is ludicrous in its careful description.

10D: Common fix for a prolbem? (AUTOCORRECT) might have slipped your notice! But the word "problem" was misspelled in the clue. 

40A: Result of keeping a lid on too long? (HATHEAD) - hah!

SHIVA

I love the way SMARTTVS and VNECK look in the grid. Such a great combo of multiple consonants.

Add to all of this the fun long answers we are used to from these constructors, such as BACKSOSOON, KEEPSHONEST, and it's a good solve. 

Almost enough for me to overlook the fact that we're not even trying to be spooky any more. Wonder whether they'll finally break down for Saturday's puzzle?

- Colum

Thursday, October 29, 2026, Sam Ezersky

Apparently not everyone got the memo when it comes to the overarching theme of this Halloweek, I guess. There's nothing remotely spooky about today's puzzle! Unless you think an EXDA shouldn't be in politics, I guess.

Instead, we get an amusing reparsing of phrases where the first word or words can be reinterpreted as verbal hesitation. Thus, the classic comparison of two people who can never get along is instead discussing two paint bases (LIKEOILANDWATER). I particularly liked 55A: It's ... (what am I trying to say?) ... it's what my dentist uses (YOUKNOWTHEDRILL). I chuckled at this one.

I'm not convinced by the use of giant commas in the grid to help us see what's going on. Are they necessary? They certainly helped me see how to solve some of the answers by showing me where word breaks in the phrases occurred. But I could have solved the puzzle without them, and maybe have found the "aha!" moments on my own. Your mileage may vary, I expect. Also, I think the NYT likes putting in visual elements now to spice up the grid, so it's become a trademark.

SALMAN Rushdie

Some fun clues today. 25D: She has a lot of young followers (MOTHERDUCK) is a nice example of this style of direct referent clue. 48A: Paper you can trip on? (LSDTAB) took so many crosses before I understood what we were looking for. But how about 57A: Cause of dog bites (LICE) - no question mark here at all! I love that the clue changes the meaning to ways in which dogs are bit.

It's a fun theme and a strong grid. Keep up the good work, Sam! You might have a future in puzzling. Now we just have to get you to accept more acceptable words in the Spelling Bee.

- Colum

Wednesday, October 27, 2026, Daniel Grinberg

Call me late to the party, but I'm now noticing a theme unifying this week's puzzles. It might have something to do with the word I saw in the Connections the other day: "Halloweek."

Today we get a theme of SCAREQUOTES - not the indicators of irony, but actual movie quotes from horror films. I've seen three of the four: HERESJOHNNY is such a classic, with Jack Nicholson peeking through the bathroom door he's taken an axe to. ITSALIVEITSALIVE from Frankenstein (or Young Frankenstein, to name a less scary version). BEAFRAIDBE / VERYAFRAID is from The Fly, a movie I did not enjoy watching when it came out in the 1980s.

The final quote is from Saw, which I hear is a good movie, but I do not enjoy torture scenes, so I have never approached it. Nonetheless, IWANTTOPLAYAGAME is classic.

Bonus theme material: OSCAR Isaac as Victor Frankenstein

The grid is supersized today, a massive 16 x 16, in order to fit the two long theme answers. For all of that grid, we don't get many tricksy clues. Two of them have a slightly blue quality, with 22A: Top choices? (BRAS) and 4D: One chasing the big bucks? (DOE).

Nice shout out to constant crossword friend, ABBA, acknowledging the delay between albums. Will we have more Halloween themed puzzles before week's end? I'd bet the answer is likely yes.

- Colum

Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Jeff Chen and Bharati Hemmady

Getting going a little earlier this morning! Today's puzzle confused me, unusually for a Tuesday. It took me quite a while of staring at the theme answers to understand what was going on.

Our revealer is FLYBYNIGHT, and we're told it's a hint to the ends of the theme answers. Usually, this means the final word, but in this case it refers to the ending letters. At the ends of each answer is hidden a nocturnal flyer. First, in MOCKCOMBAT, there is a bat; then in WOOLLYMAMMOTH, we find a moth. There's an owl in PROBOWL, and most amusingly in BAITANDSWITCH we find a witch!

That's a cute twist at the end, and fitting for the season.

The great and lamented lost Catherine OHARA

11D: Words said with reservation? (SAVETHEDATE) - nice question-mark clue. I chuckled as I entered the answer. And speaking of chuckling, 25D: "Laughing" birds from Down Under (KOOKABURRAS) is a great long answer. I had never heard of ANKE Huber, so I second-guessed myself for an instant, but there was only one possible letter to go in there.

Lastly, 67A: Biology class? (GENUS) is very nice.

Hope your Tuesday goes well.

- Colum

Monday, October 26, 2026, Kevin Christian and Andrew Carla Michaels

Late post today because we were out late last night at a show - an all-lesbian Radiohead cover band called Labiahead! They were absolutely brilliant, performing two entire albums of intense challenging incredible music. But I got back way too late to do the puzzle and write the review.

Today's Monday puzzle offers four theme answer phrases with the letters S-H-O-T in order, spread out. The revealer is SCATTERSHOT, a literal description of the process. I had thought that there might be another layer after the first one (SQUASHCOURT) where you take a shot by hitting the ball around. I suppose JUSTTHISONETIME is similar to taking a single shot, but the other two (SMASHMOUTH and PSYCHEDOUT) don't follow the concept, sadly.

TALIA Shire

Do you ever get surprised that an answer will take up as many letters in the grid as it does? I had that experience with DISTINCT. Somehow the eight letters available seemed way too many for the answer.

The other thing I noted today was the sudden ubiquity of the answer HYENA. These things feel like they go in cycles for me. I'll notice one entry making appearances regularly for a while, then another answer will catch my attention. I'm not sure why that is.

LITHUANIA, POESY, HYMN - some very fun answers today. Overall a smooth and fun Monday.

- Colum

Sunday, October 25, 2026, Dylan Schiff and John Kugelman

RELATIVELY SPEAKING

Hola, all our loyal readers! After a week suffering from the actual influenza, I'm happy to have my health mostly back, and the opportunity to review more New York Times crossword puzzles! Kudos to Frances for another fine week of pun-filled reviews.

Today's theme takes phrases of two words where the first word ends in -ER and pretends that those words are actually comparative adjectives. Reclue in humorous ways, and wackiness, as they say, ensues. These are, in fact, silly in lovely ways.

Take 24A: Peridot vis-à-vis jade? (OLIVERSTONE) - one stone is more olive than the other, you see! Just the idea of "oliver" as an adjective makes me chuckle. I suppose that's partly because one of my dogs has that name for himself.

I also laughed at 63A: Zipper up vis-à-vis zipper down (SHUTTERFLY) and 111A: "OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!" vis-à-vis "good job i guess"? (HYPERTEXT). 

I am not convinced by BOMBERJACKET (is a blazer supposed to be more dope than a windbreaker? I think that depends on the windbreaker). 

Hilary Duff as Lizzie MCGUIRE

In other unknown areas of knowledge, what are UVTATTOOS? Looking them up, this seems like a pretty niche thing. How often will you be showing your tattoos under UV light? In my world, never. That's how often. But I also don't have any tattoos, so I'm probably not one to talk.

Also, who knew NEWTS had gone on at least six different space missions? Nice clue to spice up our frequent crossword puzzle visitors (at least "eft" has gone the way of the "dodo").

18D: Cover letters, say? (TEACH) required all of the crosses to get. What an unexpected twist the clue takes! 

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the chutzpah of crossing SIGN and SEGNO, as well as UHNO and OHOK. It's rare that a Sunday puzzle can SATISFY, but this one's pretty good.

- Colum

Saturday, October 24, 2026, Robert Logan

In a reversal of the usual order of things, I completed today's puzzle in half the time of yesterday's. Maybe the shape of the puzzle meant that everything was in my wheelhouse. :) I was able to drop in PEACENICKS and HYDROPONICS, 1A and 10A respectively, which made almost all the Down answers across the top immediately gettable - all that is, except for 3D: "Butter up?" Even with the AR start and an answer of only five letters, I was not able to predict the outcome. It was in the stars that I would eventually discover the answer was ARIES, but I did not immediately understand *why* it was the answer. In time, the answer to this particular Question Mark Clue (QMC) resolved from a series of letters to the image of ARIES as a ram, an animal that could be considered a "butter," which, as a constellation appears up in the heavens. Ha! That's some MENSA level work.

Another fun QMC was "Tip of Baja?" for PESO, a nice twist on clues relating to local currencies. I enjoyed  two other QMCs, "Singer who had us at 'Hello'?" (ADELE), and "Drawings of various states?"  for LOTTOS. 

In the non-QMC category, "Perfect place to be" for EDEN and its companion, "Perfect places to be" for UTOPIAS were spot on. Another fun pairing was 7D: INEPT ("Like Inspector Clouseau, despite all of his successes" and 5D: EPT ("Opposite of 7-Down, humorously"). I especially liked the clue/answer pairs "Likes and dislikes, collectively" for TASTE, and AWARE for "Witting." 

With a PILEON/PYLON of three-letter answers, clueing makes a difference, and in this category, standouts were "Attribution word" for PER, the ambiguous "Connection letters" for DSL, the self-referential "Crossword clue type" for PUN, and "Basic logic gate" for AND. Nerd much? :)

The only thing that RAMONEs to be mentioned is the round of fine long answers including ROYALPAIN, SLEEPDEPRIVED, and NONLINEAR. All in all, a virtually STAINLESS end-of-the-week puzzle.

~Frannie.

Friday, October 23, 2026, Katie Hoody

Katie Hoody appears to be able to generate excellent puzzles with the regularity of a METRONOME :). I wish I could say I SPED through the grid, but according to the app I solve on, I completed the puzzle two minutes slower than my average. I was held up at the end by a Natick, at the cross between 2D: "Emma ___, protagonist of 'A Woman of Substance'" and 18A: "American court org." I had to run the alphabet on that square and wait to hear the completion jingle, which didn't happen until I got to the letter T, finally revealing HARTE and USTA. 

My lack of knowledge of American court org acronyms aside, the rest was NITRO. There were several super dupers including "Annual appraisal statement" (WHATAYEAR) - ha! - "Boundaries between areas with different amounts of coverage" (TANLINES), "Kind of joint associated with smoking, informally" (BBQ), "They can help one get a leg up, informally" (QUADS), and "Track event won by the fastest four legs" (HORSERACE) and if you told me that the constructor did not know that relayRACE also fit perfectly in that spot, I would say, ITSALLALIE. :)

QMCs took a back seat to the above today, but there were still two good ones : "What all the buzz is about?" (WASPNEST) and "Cellphone hot line?" (SEXT). I also enjoyed the economy of the C/AP "A.M. cupfuls" for OJS. CHIEF for "Most imporant" was admirable in that the answer didn't end in a guessable EST.

It was a nice call back to THOSE days with "Three-time Olympic figure skating champion" Sonja HENIE. I also enjoyed the accurate and amusing DATINGTIP "'Let go of unrealistic expectations, e.g." Ha. Fill-wise,  my expectations were met with CLAD, SLANTRHYME, AFTERGLOW, and NIXES. 

Besides the Natick mentioned above, my only other trouble spot was parsing the clever-but-confusing-to-me clue "With whom one pools pounds for quarters" for FLATMATE. It put a real spanner in the works, but I was chuffed when I figured it out. :) 

~Frannie.

Thursday, October 22, 2026, David J. Kahn

OMg, what a clever puzzle today. I didn't really notice the asterisks on some clues until I reached the third one and realized I was leaving a lot of white space behind me. I switched to the Downs and then hopscotched around, ending with almost the whole right side empty, including the revealer, because there was so much I didn't know in the lower right corner, I didn't know the "Region that produces Riesling wine" (SAAR), and I couldn't immediately figure out the ambiguous "First out" (ORIGINAL), not to mention the one mis-matchbox for this solver, "Item in a miniature collector's collection" (MODELCAR). I fancy myself something of a miniature collector and I don't have a single model car, so it took me a while to come up with that one. Also, as our dear Readers know, I am always at something of a loss when it comes to sports clues ("Team with the most Super Bowl wins in the 1970s" (STEELERS) :(). However, even when I did finally get the revealer ("'Forget it!' ... or a phonetic hint to aligning seven answers in this puzzle with their starred clues") I didn't get it. I ended up solving the entire puzzle without knowing why "*Trendy" was ALAMODOME or "*Subs" was HOMEROOMS. I closed the puzzle, and closed my eyes. Not looking at the spelling of the revealer answer helped me with the phonetic element because, about ten minutes later, the solution came to me. One needs to read NOCHANCE as "no chants," which, as far as the theme answers are concerned indicates that one needs to remove the OMs from each to get an answer that matches the clue. So, for the two mentioned above, the "real" or aligned answers are ALAMODE and HEROS, the latter containing two chantses being especially cool. Additionally excellent that the answers with the OMs make completely legitimate entries. And, plus, too, I loved the careful and accurate description of the revealer. It tells you what you need to know without giving it away. 

My one aforementioned non-matchbox not withstanding, there were a bunch of clues where my first guess was the right answer. I mention it not because that makes me a good puzzle solver but because I felt I was on the right wavelength for once. In particular, I enjoyed "Something passed at a charity event" for HAT, NIT for "Small grouse," and "Display, with 'out'" (TROT).

Also fun were the several mini puzzles within the puzzle like "What makes her hear?" (ANA [the letter A]), - ha! - "Island capital that's an anagram for a word meaning 'steamy baths'" (NASSAU [saunas]), and the QMC "Tops of palaces?" (TIARAS). 

Only a few clue/answer pairs HANOI'd me, to wit "Nursery cry" (WAH), HIRER for "ZipRecruiter client," and IMPISH for "Bratty," the former being possibly cute or funny, the latter never so, but maybe that's me.

I'm not sure I've done the puzzle justice with this rambling review, but I thought it was great and great fun.

~Frannie.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Rebecca Goldstein

One could describe today's theme answers as descriptive report card entries. The idea is to replace the class name and letter grade in the clue with a common two-word phrase that expresses an equivalent idea. For example,"Driver's Ed: B" is lined up with PARKINGFINE. I give the idea itself high marks, but for this solver, both PARKINGFINE and especially MOVINGAVERAGE ("Gym: B+"), are not such common phrases. When I am the perpetrator of malparkage, I usually get a ticket, not a parking fine. And I'm not even sure what a MOVINGAVERAGE is. And furthermore, is a B+ average? I would have thought that would be a C, but I am old and largely out of touch with modern life. Although, come to think of it, I have heard tell of grade inflation at universities in the past year, so maybe that explains it. The third theme answer, BUILDINGSUPER ("Wood shop: A"), is quite good, but they saved the best for last with PASTPERFECT ("History: A+). 

Several other answers over the course of the puzzle played a little off to me. For example, we always called a "Teacher's pet, say, in slang" a suckUP, not a KISSUP, but maybe you can put "suck" in an NYT puzzle, or, maybe it's just a regional/temporal variation. Also, the adjective ACED for "Like a tennis player who didn't even swing, maybe" seemed awkward, "Mono-" for UNI was utilitarian, and the "Nutrition sources" for DIETS, uninspired. I also thought that LAIDBARE was a bit extreme for its clue "Made public." Again, I plead my ERA. 

On the plus side, "Tender bend-er" for BUMKNEE was amusing, "First and last" for FULLNAME was nicely ambiguous and "Alt tab?" for LSD was excellent. KNOTTY, KAPUT, and TOUGHNUT were fun fill. To sum up, I  had a little bit of a tassel at commencement, but I also applaud the diploma-tic effort.

~Frannie.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026, David Falkowski

ALLKIDDINGASIDE is literally what we find in the four theme answers WEENIEROAST, SLEIGHRIDE, BRUISEDRIB, SPACENEEDLE. The second word in each (ROAST, RIDE, RIB, NEEDLE) appears to the right side of the two-word nouns. All four, in this context, evoke an element of discomfort, although only "roast" and "needle" carry that element with them intrinsically. Even after I got the revealer, I didn't really get the theme answers until the grid was complete. Also, WEENIEROAST turned out to be my bête noire as I didn't know "Gymnast Suni" LEE, and spelled "weenie" with an interior EI. ERR. 

Other TRIALS for this solver turned out to be ECIG for "Device with an addictive aerosol, for short." Apparently, I don't know much about ecigs. I also struggled to find the parallel between the clue "Laid back" and the answer ATEASE, reading it as a personality trait rather than a position description. I found the correspondence between the clue "Appears to be going down the drain" and the answer SEEMSBAD to be LAX. And, the final issue I'll RAISE is the C/AP "Piece of goalie gear" for LEGPAD, which left me cold. :)

What helped pick up the PACE, though, were clue/answer pairs like "Flattering lines?" for ODE, "Loud speaker, maybe" (ORATOR), "Overlook" for LEDGE, and the fun-to-spell out ROLAIDS, of days gone by ("One way to spell relief, per ads"). FLAY, at 22A, describes some pretty harsh criticism, although, it also makes me think of the hilarious Simpson's Itchy & Scratchy episode, "Flay me to the Moon." Heh. 

~Frannie.

Monday, October 19, 2026, Michele Govier

Today, the SUN, from its place in the top left corner of the puzzle, shines down on three items, an AWNING, a TREE, and a HAT, creating SHADOWBOXES, one row below and one square to the right, that contain "shadows" of the items above within a longer answer: FAWNINGOVER ("Giving excessive praise and flattery"), STREETWEAR ("Urban casual fashion"), and THATSRIGHT ("'You are correct'"). Looking at the grid just now, I thought another approach that might have been cool would be to have corresponding black squares appear under each of the shade-generating items, but maybe that would just be throwing shade.

Overall, the puzzle was a mix of light and dark. Bright spots include the SUN, obviously :), the Question Mark Clue "Made some waves?" (PERMED), and "Floats in the breeze" (WAFTS) - not to mention some fun fill like SERENE, NEAPOLITAN, and the always entertaining OAF. 

OTOH, I thought it played on the easy side, even for a Monday, with an array of gimmes like "Clear, as a chalkboard" for ERASE, "Uses oars" for ROWS, "Month with Mother's Day" (MAY), and, my least favorite kind of clue/answer pair, "180° from SSE" for NNW, where I feel like the clue is equivalent to "enter these letters." Also, what's the deal with SINEW muscling in on every grid of late? Is that a trend, or mere coincidence? I WANDA.

~Frannie.

Sunday, October 18, 2026, Peter Gorman

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF

This was a tough one for me. I understood most of the rebus-y clues for the theme answers only after I solved them. IMABITCONFUSED (Taib? Tbia?) was an understatement! But ITELLYOUWHAT ("What") was my favorite. That's beautiful.

In addition to the theme answers, there were some very clever clues in this one. QMCs "Extended play?" (ENCORE) and "Undercover?" (ABED) were cute, but the real stars were the non-QMCs. "It turns when driven" (SCREW), "Drill" (REHEARSAL), "Smash hit" (HOMER), "They can make a pronounced difference" (UMLAUTS), and "Something in which you might stand for a spell" (BEE) were all very good. And where else but in a crossword can you find OVID rubbing shoulders with Bob ROSS, and Teresa of AVILA standing beside the VEDAS (Sacred Sanskrit texts). 

It was a challenge, but a satisfying one. I hope you enjoyed it too.

Frannie takes over tomorrow, so stay tuned for that! And I'll see you again in a few weeks.

- Horace 

Saturday, October 17, 2026, August Miller

0:22:48

Whoosh! It started well up in the NE when CRANES (Birds whose wings might be folded) (Cute), HELIO (Prefix with -trope), and other Downs made CHEFSTABLE (Award-winning culinary documentary series), and RECIPEBOOK (Where some family secrets may be written) come into focus. And I like to think that the editors were hoping that PAINTJOB (Part of many home improvement projects) would align with the timeline of a certain bathroom renovation that I was talking about a while ago, but no, sadly, it's not there yet thank you very little.

So anyway, then it got tough. I was wondering how I missed the story about the phenomenal athlete who was "Gold medalist in women's soccer and women's team foil (fencing) at 2024's Olympics, in brief," but it wasn't a single person, it was THEUS. It was just one of many general answers today - TECHCEO, CASHAPP, BEERBARS, and SEDERPLATE, to name four.

Elsewhere, I racked my brain trying to remember the section of the Boy Scouts manual that dealt with "Poison classification," but no, it was a different thing entirely - HAIRMETAL. Hah! And I was also misled by "Tie with string." I wanted so many different verbs, never thinking of a noun until BOLO was forced on me, and even then it took a second to realize they were talking about neckwear. 

We love a good challenge on a Saturday, and this certainly fit the bill!

- Horace 

Friday, October 16, 2026, Adam Shapiro

0:13:20

A wide-open Friday with four fifteens and two thirteens, lots of seven-letter Downs. The black squares make regular and upside-down smiley faces, and they worked in kind of an opposite way for me. I was slow to get a footing in the top, while the bottom went more smoothly.

Where to begin? How about with Britney, and her "2000 hit song with the lyric 'But to lose all my senses / That is just so typically me'" (OOPSIDIDITAGAIN). This is the fifth time that classic has appeared in a NYT crossword. Its stackmate EPISTOLARYNOVEL is appearing for the first time. When I think of such novels, the one that always leaps to mind is "Possession" by A.S. Byatt. I'm not even entirely sure that that book is an EPISTOLARYNOVEL, but letters do factor into it. 

Hey, you know what also fits for the clue "Reality show whose contestants report to the Judge's Table? "Bake Off." Of course, that's not the official name of that show, so TOPCHEF it is.  

Tricky clues abounded: "Flow down the neck" for MANE, "Hot pockets?" for RAVIOLI, "Small sounds" for INLETS, and the very odd "20-20, e.g." for TIEVOTE. And is it okay to have the clues "Rocky openings?" (YOS) and "Indiana Jones or Rocky Balboa, e.g." (ALLAMERICANHERO)? 

 This wasn't exactly smooth, but it was a good Friday challenge. What did you think of it?

- Horace 

Thursday, October 15, 2026, McKay Fritz

0:10:24

It too me so long to understand this trick! I knew something was up with those blanks, and I was happy when I finally got to the revealer because I thought it would help, but even then, the clue "One way to start a race ..." was so oblique that it took me several crosses to realize they didn't want something like "in pole position" or "back in the pack." I know neither of those would have fit, but it's where my head was. And then, as soon as FIREBLANKS became clear, everything made sense immediately. I especially like this trick because when I was first starting to do crossword puzzles I used to think that the "fill in the blank" clues were often the easiest to start with. Today's puzzle turns that idea on its head.  

In addition to the fire theme, which is fire, as the kids say, there are loads of nice entries. OPTIMIZE (Make the most of), AGHAST (Shocked), ECLAIR (Patry whose name is French for "lightning"), SINEW (What's close to the bone?) (nice!), READLIPS (Eavesdrop from afar, maybe), and ORNERY (Cantankerous) are all great entries. 

A solid Thursday, and a great start to the Turn.

- Horace
 

Wednesday, October 14, 2026, Jacob Stulberg

0:06:16

Remember before Zoom? Yeah ... that was great. But now that we have it, we can have a theme like this. One that makes fun of pretty much everyone who has ever used Zoom. At one time or another, we've all heard these lines:

YOUREMUTED
WECANTHEARYOU
TURNYOURMICON

But unfortunately, none of us could probably get away with saying OHFORGETIT. Stupid work.

I made five missteps while solving - AtOn for ALOT (Oodles), culTS for SECTS (Amish, Shakers and others) (What's the difference?), ExES for EKES (Scratches (out)), aciD for ROAD (____ test), and NEedLE for NETTLE (Irk). All of them except the first were corrected during the solve. Luckily, Atlan and Ane looked bad right away when I had to start looking for an error, but this is your annual reminder to check the crosses when you have any doubt! Solving at home, this is a mild irritation, but if I had handed my puzzle in at a tournament, it would have bothered me for a long time. 

Moving on, that central SEX ("A conversation carried out by other means," per Peter Ustinov) really anchors the whole thing. The idea of "conversation" works with the theme, and, well, it's a great quote on its own. 

HAZEL (Tree with edible nuts) is nice because it was my grandmother's name, and it's also a name that's made its way back - we know a very talented young musician/singer named Hazel. The same has not been the case for my grandmother's sister's name, Gladys. And speaking of HAZEL, it's odd to see HAZE not far away in the same grid, isn't it?

This review is getting long, but I can't go without mentioning the two long Downs - PEACHYKEEN and WIZARDOFOZ, both good entries. And I should also mention the two clues: "Poe's middle name" and "First word of 'Ode on a Grecian Urn.'" Always good to have poetry represented.

- Horace 

 

Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Gia Bosko

0:04:26

An early week surprise today, with four answers that WRAP around the grid. The clue for 36-Across, for example, is "Shindig for someone settling into a new home," but all that fits into 36-Across is HOUSE. But when we get to 37-Across, we notice there is no clue, and we also notice that WARMING fits in there and finishes that answer perfectly. Each of the four answers that do this has been given a clue beginning with "Shindig," so each answer that wraps around the grid is a party. Fun!

Certainly SIDEQUEST is theme-adjacent today, right? And how about GESTALT (Whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, from the German)? That's a nice entry. And did you think about Spelling Bee when you entered BANDANNA (Cowboy's kerchief), and how that game accepts both the two-N and the one-N spellings? (Well, I guess it's two-N and three-N, but you know what I mean...)

I smiled to see BOUILLON in the grid. I was just talking with our contractor about how our mothers always kept jars of the gold (chicken) and red (beef) foil-wrapped cubes in the cupboard when we were little, and how we would occasionally sneak one out of the jar and eat it as a snack. So saltyyyy.... And in related news, I also enjoyed learning exactly what MILANESE means (Like a dish of veal or chicken dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in butter). Furthermore, it was interesting to hear that there exists a cocktail called a LAVAFLOW (Tropical cocktail with bananas, strawberries, rum and coconut cream). Not my usual libation style, but I'd try one.

 Overall, an interesting Tuesday. Lots of non-early-week answers (HAKA, KAVA, GUV, HORAE (no relation), etc.) and a trick. How'd you like it?

- Horace 

Monday, October 12, 2026, Zhouqin Burnikel

0:03:37

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

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

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

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

- Horace 

Sunday, October 11, 2026, Michael Lieberman

HEART TRANSPLANTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Horace 

 

 

Saturday, October 10, 2026, David Levinson Wilk

0:13:09

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

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

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

 I enjoyed it. How about you? AREYOUIN?

- Horace 

Friday, October 9, 2026, Nam Jin Yoon

0:07:37 

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

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

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

- Horace 

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

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

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

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

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

- Horace 

Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Ben Zimmer

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

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

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

- Horace 

Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Adam Vincent

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

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

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

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

Fun Tuesday. Keep 'em coming. :)

- Horace 

Monday, October 5, 2026, Chase Dittrich

.... To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, THERESTHERUB; ...

                                    - Hamlet, Act III, Scene I 

Ay, indeed! For in that Monday grid what themes will come? Today we get three items that are rubbed: a MASSAGETABLE, SPARERIBS, and a MAGICLAMP. Hah! Pretty nice trio - all so different, yet connected. 

So the theme is solid, and we've got some fun answers in the fill, too. COWHAND, REPLETE, DIRNDL, and CROSSLEGGED are all nice to see. The photographer in me likes seeing the now-nearly-obsolete FSTOP. I therefore LEAPTO the decision that this is a solid Monday puzzle! The only reservation I have is that once again, the puzzle is trolling me - never more will I "Luxuriate in a bathtub" (SOAK) at home. I helped smash up our old tub myself with a sledgehammer. Was it the right decision? That still remains to be seen.

Stay tuned!

- Horace 

Sunday, October 4, 2026, Katherine Bale

10-4

I like to learn something new from a crossword, and today I learned that October fourth is TRUCKERDAY. And why should that be? Because of the famous sign off on a CB radio - "10-4 Good Buddy," of course. Ahh... the Seventies. Good times. 

To commemorate this momentous day, Ms. Bale has created a puzzle using only ten and four-letter answers. It's a remarkable achieveMENT, and it has made for a very pleasing grid. So symmetrical! And believe it or not, it's remarkably clean. So let's get into it.

The clue for the first ten-letter answer is, appropriately, "10-4" (UNDERSTOOD), and it sits symmetrically opposite the revealer. The other Acrosses in that top section are all good: CREAMPUFFS (Profiteroles, by another name), SUITTOATEE (Fit perfectly), and REDUCEDFAT. INDISPOSED (Busy with something else) is solid, TOETHELINE is good. Sure, ABUDHABIAN (Resident of a Mideast capital) is a little unexpected, but I'll allow it. 

Elsewhere, ADAPTORDIE (Maxim about surviving in a rapidly changing world) reminds me of a different approach, "Let go or be dragged." Hah! 

OLDERPIPES (Drawback to a brownstone) is entirely too soon. I believe Colum referenced a certain bathroom renovation, and let's just say older pipes were just one of the problems encountered. I would CUSS but this is a family blog.

TRUCKERDAY itself may be little known and little celebrated, but if this review can do anything to promote and praise this puzzle, then I will be happy.

10-7 Y'all.

- Horace 

Saturday, October 3, 2026, Kameron Austin Collins

We had a lovely night last night celebrating our upcoming 30th wedding anniversary, at Sid Gold's Request Room, a live piano karaoke bar. We were joined by our daughters and Cece's boyfriend, and everybody sang and had a great time! Hope and I got everybody singing along to "Happy Together." Good times!

So things started a little slowly this morning. But I can't blame that for how long it took me to solve Mr. Collins' latest masterpiece. This is a brilliant Saturday NYT Crossword, showing his classic mix of clever clues, innovative answers, and a wealth of reference to Black cultural and historical touchpoints.

1A: Five-note jingle for "The Gift That Grows" (CHCHCHCHIA) is a perfect example. I had to work my way around the puzzle to complete this section, and even after I recognized the pattern, I was still uncertain what I was looking at. The item referenced in the clue is the classic Chia Pet, but the collection of eight consonants in a row is crazy looking in the grid. This sort of answer allows for other fun words like HALCYON and CRIKEY. I also love IRENEPAPAS next to AESOP, a Greek corner.

13D: Something you may be willing to hold? (ESTATESALE) is a loopy clue, riffing on inheritance. I was amused by 18A: To: Abbr. (ATTN), because having the abbreviation be longer than the reference clue word is silly. 

In the Black American experience area, we get a number of answers, such as the SAVOY Ballroom in Harlem, Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal WOMAN," ERMA Franklin, Aretha's sister, UPPERVOLTA (now Burkina Faso in West Africa), and the fact that DIANFOSSEY is buried in Rwanda.

Welp, that's my week done. I think Horace is subbing for Philbo this week, but you'll find out tomorrow!

- Colum

Friday, October 2, 2026, Joe Marquez

Steady does it, was my feeling on finishing today's puzzle. No great bursts of solving, but a even-keeled pace of figuring things out, leading to a solve time just slightly slower than my typical for a themeless. I really enjoyed the easy-going nature of many of the answers today, leading to a grid filled with colloquialisms.

The seeds for this puzzle must have been the two grid-spanning answers, WHENCANYOUSTART and LETMESAYMYPIECE. Two great 15-letter entries, with somewhat opposing tones of voice! Other fun answers in the same style include IFEELGREAT and 14A: Sugar substitute? (SWEETIEPIE). That's a great QMC.

3D: Written posts? (EPILOGUES) evaded me until I had almost all the crosses. The clue is nicely misleading, I wasn't certain where I was being asked to go. 

SOFIA

What are we to make of 23A: Whose fault your mistake might be (NOONES)? Are we being facetious? After all, it's already recognized that the mistake was yours! I chuckled when I put the answer in.

Epictetus is, as is typical, pithy when he says that WEALTH comes from needing little. Hah!

Overall, I found this puzzle to be entertaining and smooth, with good entry into the areas that are more cut off (like the NW and SE sections). 

- Colum

Thursday, October 1, 2026, Jill Singer

Rabbit, rabbit!

Happy October all. And yes, I've managed to do it - solve the puzzle the night before and have the review ready to go first thing. I'm so proud of myself.

Well, you know we all enjoy a good rebus puzzle here at HAFDTNYTCPFCAAPTF (that's getting a little unwieldy even in acronym form). I particularly like it when the squares are unpredictable, adding a little flair to the solving process. Today I figured out only one of the three squares prior to being forced by crosses to get it.

Our revealer comes at 55A: Obstacles ... or a hint to three squares in this puzzle (STUMBLINGBLOCKS). And indeed, in three squares we have a synonym for stumbling! Thus PLEDGEO[FALL]EGIANCE, PAY[SLIP]SERVICE, and MAGNETICS[TRIP]E. I like the first two better than the last one, because the hidden word crosses multiple words from the original phrase. But they're all excellent entries, and you wouldn't get the first one in a standard 15 x 15 grid without the rebus!

Some great clues here on our tricksy Thursday, as well. 16A: Features of gathering clouds? (AEIOU) is outstanding. 38A: It's just a state of mind, to some (AGE) is pretty good advice for most of us, I'm sure. I even get one of my all-time favorite composers mentioned at 41D: French composer who refused the Legion of Honour in 1920 (RAVEL). Apparently he declined all state honors from the French government.

A fun Thursday, if a touch too easy.

- Colum