Crossword Fiend | Reviewing the best crosswords in newspapers and on the Web

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Nate Cardin

LAT 11:47 (Kyle) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 10:50 (Nate) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 4 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 6 | 1*: 6 [2.67 avg; 27 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) rate it
Universal (Sunday) untimed (Jim P) 4*: 1 [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Universal 5:11 (Adam S) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 [4.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WaPo 14:53 (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.88 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Evan Birnholz, Faren Roth, Kareem Ayas, Kim Alswager, Mike Graczyk, Zhouqin Burnikel | 41 Comments

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adrian Johnson, Amanda Rafkin, Amie Walker, Amy Ensz, David P. Williams, Gary Larson, Katie Hoody, Mike Graczyk | 24 Comments

Friday, July 24, 2026

Posted on July 23, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.90 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:05 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 6 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.91 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (Jim P) 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today 6:22 (Ben P) 1.5*: 1 [1.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Geoffrey Schorkopf, Kelsey Dixon, Max Schlenker, Naomi Zahavi, Sarah Sinclair, Zhouqin Burnikel | 8 Comments

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Posted on July 23, 2026 by ZDL

BEQ 9:34 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 5:38 (Gareth) rate it
NYT 8:21 (ZDL) 5*: 3 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.96 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:58 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:22 (Ben) rate it
WSJ 17:25 (Jim Q) 5*: 4 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 [4.43 avg; 7 ratings] rate it

Today’s Fireball puzzle is a contest. We will publish a recap after the entry deadline.

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, Damon Gulczynski, Faren Roth, Mike Graczyk, Mike Shenk, Ryan Patrick Smith | 11 Comments

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

AV Club untimed (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.30 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 6:11 (Gareth) rate it
NYT 8:45 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 5 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.42 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:43 (Jim Q) 5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 1.5*: 1 [3.92 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 [3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (tk) rate it
WSJ 7:23 (Adam S) 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 [1.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Bart van Marrienboer, Bart van Merriënboer, Caitlin Reid, James Mattina, Justin Werfel, Rebecca Goldstein, Shannon Rapp, Will Eisenberg | 17 Comments

MGWCC #946

Posted on July 21, 2026 by joon

MGWCC crossword 2:39
meta ~~DNF~~ 3 days 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.29 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 16 Comments

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Eric Hougland

Jonesin’ 4:03 (Erin) rate it
LAT 3:53 (Erin) rate it
NYT 4:30ish (Sophia) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.31 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 4 [2.13 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:20 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today 6:03 (Jeffrey) rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 10:18 (Jim Q) 3.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Aimee Lucido, Daniel Hrynick, Ed Sessa, Emily Biegas, Kenneth Cortes, Kinan Alsheikh, Matt Jones, Sala Wanetick | 19 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, July 17, 2026

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: untimed; Meta: an hour or so 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.92 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Mike Shenk | 12 Comments

Monday, July 20, 2026

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ tk (Eric) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 1:54 (Stella) 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:16 (Sophia) 5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 2 [3.50 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 4:46 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.22 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Dena) 5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 3:48 (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Eric Rollfing, Natan Last, Rena Cohen | 23 Comments

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Posted on July 18, 2026 by Nate Cardin

LAT 8:50 (Kyle) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 10:36 (Nate) 5*: 5 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 [3.78 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:13 (Jim P) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal Untimed (Adam S) 2*: 2 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WaPo 3:23 (Matt G) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adrian Johnson, Alexandra Doumani, Evan Birnholz, Joe Rodini, Michael Lieberman, Rebecca Goldstein | 24 Comments

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Friday, July 24, 2026

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

MGWCC #946

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

WSJ Contest — Friday, July 17, 2026

Monday, July 20, 2026

Sunday, July 19, 2026

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