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