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