Kareem Ayas’s New York Times crossword, “All Things Change” — Nate’s write-up
01.05.2025 Sunday New York Times Crossword
19A (into 20D): HAIR EX(TEN)SIONS [They might be sewn in at a beauty parlor]
101A: TURN ON A DIME [Pivot without warning … or a hint to entering 19-Across]
– Turning at the TEN rebus (dime) in 19A allows you to finish its answer.
32A: BUY GET (ONE) FREE [Common sales promotion]
62A: TAKE A PENNY, LEAVE A PENNY [Sign on a tray at a cash register … or a hint to entering 32-Across]
– As its entered in the grid, 32A is missing a ONE, so you need to take another ONE (penny) in addition to leaving the (ONE) rebus (penny) that’s already there in order to complete the full phrase.
54A: TR(EVI F)OUNTAIN [Landmark featured in “Roman Holiday”]
78A: NICKELBACK [Band with the 2001 #1 hit “How You Remind Me” … or a hint to entering 54-Across]
– Once FIVE (nickel) is sent backwards, we get a (EVIF) rebus, which is what we need to correctly spell the answer to 54A.
98A: NO QUARTER [Mercilessly harsh treatment, in an expression … or a hint to entering 117-Across]
117A: PERCENT [1/4]
– Since the answer to 117A should ideally be TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT, no TWENTY-FIVE (quarter) leaves it as just PERCENT. Tricky! (This one had me scratching my head, as I’d never heard the phase NO QUARTER. Urban Dictionary seems to back up the meaning used in the clue, so TIL! The Urban Dictionary entries seem to imply that this is a phrase more commonly used in online gaming, so maybe it’s just outside my realm of knowledge? Gamers, let us know in the comments!)
What I appreciated about this puzzle was how each bit of change was dealt with differently, based on its respective revealer phrase. It kept the puzzle from being boring or predictable, which I feel like you need in a Sunday-sized grid. My sense is that the reaction to this puzzle will hinge on how folks feel about the NO QUARTER / PERCENT theme pair, but it seems fair in retrospect.
How did this puzzle go for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section – and have a great weekend! I hope 2025 is off to a wonderful start for you.
Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Objectively Speaking”—Jim’s review
I believe this puzzle marks the first in the Jared Goudsmit era of editorship for the Sunday Universal. But it doesn’t look like Jeff Chen as gone very far since he co-authored this grid.
Theme clues are all familiar two-word phrases that end in “manager” and with first words that change meaning. Theme answers are actual devices that would punnily manage the items in question.
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Objectively Speaking” · Sam Koperwas and Jeff Chen · 1.5.25
- 22a. [*Branch manager?] PRUNING SHEARS.
- 38a. [*Case manager?] BAGGAGE CAROUSEL.
- 49a. [*Line manager?] FISHING REEL.
- 66a. [*Middle manager?] SHAPEWEAR.
- 87a. [*File manager?] MANICURE KIT.
- 93a. [*Plant manager?] SPRINKLER SYSTEM.
- 115a. [*Program manager?] REMOTE CONTROL.
Very nice example of a classic crossword theme. Nothing too flashy or bizarre or groundbreaking, but very solid over-the-plate stuff that still manages to keep the solver’s interest throughout. None of the puns are tortured or off-the-wall, just comfortable dad-joke material. Good stuff, guys!
Further, both constructors have been around enough to know how to fill a grid with enjoyable fill, such as: LASER CUTTER, SUPER SOAKER, SODA POP, HORATIO, “GEE, THANKS,” TOSS-UPS, GOULASH, MILKSOP, TANLINE, DESK SETS, and K STREET. The Clash’s “Rock the CASBAH” at 1a gives us a fun start to the grid (assuming you’re familiar with the song).
Clue of note: 30a. [GeoGuessr player’s question]. WHERE. Never heard of the game, but you can check it out here. Unfortunately it looks like there’s no free or trial version.
Solid, fun puzzle. 3.5 stars.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “If I Wrote the Dictionary” — Matt’s write-up
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, 1/5/2025, “If I Wrote the Dictionary”
After a few weeks of metas, we’ve got a more typical grid this week from Evan, with a theme style that’s one of my favorites. Rather than transforming common phrases into something funny and cluing those wacky terms, our theme today reparses and redefines regular words:
- 23a [•(n.) the study of disc jockeys] RADIOLOGY
- 25a [•(n.) the heart and soul of skater Lysacek, or actress Rachel Wood, or politician Bayh, etc.] EVANESCENCE
- 44a [•(n.) the land of beaver projects] DAMNATION
- 48a [•(adj.) pertaining to celestial bodies like Pluto after 2006] EXPLANATORY
- 68a [•(n.) one destroying the non-thematic words in a crossword] FILIBUSTER
- 71a [•(adj.) unfit to be staged as a dramatic musical production] INOPERABLE
- 94a [•(n.) a seductive vampire] NECROMANCER
- 96a [•(v.) to build a surface in a kitchen or a store] ENCOUNTER
- 116a [•(n.) a computerized image of an audition CD] DEMOGRAPHIC
- 120a [•Like nine words in this puzzle, or what their first letters spell out] REDEFINED
I really enjoyed this as both a theme concept and as a particular set. My favorites are DAMNATION and INOPERABLE, but they were all a bit unexpected. It reminds me of Merl Reagle’s “The Gods Must Be Crazy” puzzle, though admittedly it doesn’t take much to remind me of that one. And of course, it’s got that final Evan twist in that the theme entries themselves spell the revealer.
Edit afterwards: I see in the comments that this was a tribute puzzle to Merl on his birthday. So kudos to Evan for nailing the tone such that I recognized the homage without knowing it was deliberate.
Other highlights: [“Darn it!”] and related clues are usually a sticking point for me – is it DRAT, DARN, or DAMN? At least yesterday, including in this puzzle, I saw it four separate times and they were all DRAT. It would be neat if that became less uncertain // nice wordplay on the dual meaning of “centers” in basketball in the clue for ARENAS // a bit of math trivia in [Figures formed by rays] ANGLES // learned something new at EDSEL – the car’s release date was called “E Day” // I love “King Lear” and it’s always a nice clue for REGAN, but I’ll also give a hearty round of applause the first time I see this entry clued to Olympic champion swimmer Regan Smith, who set three different world records at a short-course meet last month // [People with glasses who look down on others with glasses?] for WINE SNOBS
NYT: Solving online I had entered the numerals 1, 5, 10 and it said I had a mistake. Baffling that they don’t anticipate multiple ways people might enter things.
I’ve heard the phrase “give no quarter” before. NO QUARTER sounded strange by itself.
Perhaps the numerals didn’t work because the nickel had to be entered backwards in the rebus (I think – I didn’t try it as “FIVE” but expect it wouldn’t work). The rebus was “EVIF”.
But it’s FAB FIVE in the down, so it should work.
I entered it as FIVE and it was accepted.
Right, I just think it should have been programmed to accept “5” as well.
NO QUARTER as idiomatic worked for me. The clue I’m not as clear about. It might have meant dropping QUARTER, but then adding it didn’t produce a phrase, much less one meaning 1/4 (the clue). I thought of it as asking to subtract 1/4 from the clue, giving zero, not percent. I tried dividing 1/4 by 1/4, but that gives 1. So how you get PERCENT never was clear to me.
I also pondered variations in how or whether to extend the theme to the down crossing. TEN runs backward, as promised going across, but not going down, while still demanding the rebus of TEN. Others varied more still. (Oh, and one of four doesn’t get a rebus square.) But somehow it ended up entertaining as Sunday puzzles get, and I liked the thought that the themers in effect ran through the kinds of theme treatments in puzzles.
Ten didn’t run backward on the across; rather, it “turned” on the dime downward, as the answer was HAIR EXTENSIONS.
Sorry. I meant FIVE.
NO QUARTER worked for me. An occasional gamer (NERFED was a gimme), I instead associated it with the Led Zeppelin song of the same name. Per Wikipedia, Led Zeppelin got the name from “the military practice of showing no mercy,” fitting the clue here.
This was a fun puzzle, and I found the theme clever, helpful and thankfully easy to crack. Great clue for SPIRIT [Gin or djinn, e.g.]
The phrase No Quarter puzzled me since hearing it in a Nils Lofgren song, so I spent some time researching it a few years ago. In ancient warfare, quarter meant housing prisoners, or giving them living quarters. But, if the battle command is to kill all enemies, you don’t take prisoners, so, No Quarter. Similarly, this clue evaded me even after solving the puzzle. Thank for explaining the 1/4 – percent connection!
Monica, try listening to the song and not hearing “No mercy, Cole Porter!” Cracks me up every time…
WAPO: Well, if 25 Across doesn’t also apply to the qualities of your Sunday puzzles, then I’ll be damned. Thanks, Evan, for another lovely creation and for reminding us to think about the great Merl.
David
Thank you, David. :)
I came here precisely to get clarification on the “no quarter” “per cent” connection and I still don’t really get it! Otherwise a fun puzzle!
Same here. The clue is simply ‘1/4’ so if you take away the quarter you’ve got nothing at all.
“Give no quarter” is an old and pretty common expression, in my experience. Nothing to do with gaming.
I think the idea is that you’re taking QUARTER (TWENTY-FIVE) away from the answer “TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT” leaving “PERCENT” in the answer. For all of the others, you were manipulating ONE, FIVE, or TEN in some way. It makes sense to me, but is definitely the hardest to grasp.
When I first saw the puzzle with the circles and read the theme, I figured it had to be about pocket change, and as I was filling it in I wondered where the quarter was. Pretty fun and fast puzzle; I just got tripped up on the clue for ROCK as “Queen realm” meaning the band.
NYT: I have no complaints about the theme, but LAGS as a plural noun is some rough fill. Gamers just say LAG, no matter how much. Otherwise a fine puzzle.
Could be multiple instances, right?
It’s still just “lag”, the way multiple gusts of wind are still just “wind”, not “winds”.
I don’t get why this is so bothersome. I’d be equally comfortable with “GPU lag and network latency are two lags” or “GPU lag and network latency are two components of lag.”
Would you really jump down the throat of someone who said it the first way?
Yes, LAGS is absolutely fine as a plural noun.
But it’s an odd clue, maybe?
When I saw 39-Across [Made less effective, in gamer slang], I thought to ask my 15-yr-old, who came up with “NERFED” in less than 2 seconds.
After later asking abour [Agonizing occurrences in online games] though? No guess, whatsoever. (And was pretty “meh” after hearing it was LAGS, too. Not “wrong” just “huh.”)
The clue aims at being “fresh”, but maybe/arguably neurons aren’t quite wired that way (yet) for gamers to actually think in terms of all the “lags” they and their friends have had? (Maybe?)
I’m not an online gamer, which is possibly why it seemed fine to me. (One hypothesis, anyway!)
I don’t know gaming, but time LAGS have been around for a lot longer than computer games.
It’s a bit different since LAG in a game is not a constant thing. It’s a term encompassing all slowdown experienced while playing, taken together. I only mention it because of how the word was clued, specifically referring to gaming.
+1 (based on convo w/ my 15-yr-old, above…)
While I was reading the WaPo on my tablet this morning, I saw that Evan had, as usual, written a short piece about it. Normally, the story shows a blank grid, but this time it was filled in. I tried not to look but couldn’t help noticing a few words. Another sign of declining standards at a once-great newspaper.
As for the puzzle — I know Merl Reagle was greatly loved in the crossword community, but I always found his sense of humor excruciating and Evan’s puzzle reminds me why.
This was a tribute puzzle to a legendary constructor who inspired a ton of other constructors (including me, though I only had limited personal interaction with him) for his birthday. Would it really have been so hard to just say something like “This wasn’t my favorite puzzle of Evan’s but I hope others enjoyed it” instead of saying something personally nasty about how you found Merl’s humor “excruciating”?
In the days when WaPo published Reagle’s puzzles, I would chime in regularly, and no doubt annoyingly, that I didn’t care for his puns and wordplay. So I’m continuing the tradition.
In any case, this is a site for reviewing crossword puzzles, where people offer their opinions. I don’t see any stipulation that only positive opinions are allowed.
Evan specifically said he’d be fine with a negative review, only with a wording that doesn’t come off as speaking ill of the dead.
No one’s saying only positive opinions are allowed. The suggestion I gave you (“This wasn’t my favorite puzzle of Evan’s but I hope others enjoyed it”) isn’t 100% positive but isn’t needlessly mean-spirited, either. Again, this puzzle is meant to pay tribute to Merl for his birthday; it’s really okay to avoid writing something cruel about him for even just one day.
You sound like you would be fun to be around.
You’re right, I am a barrel of laughs. With like-minded people. References provided on request. Or not.
IMO “Give No Quarter” is more of statement or command. “No Quarter” by itself is more of a battle cry. Very acceptable. For some reason I’m recalling in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with the cry “No Quarter!”
NYT: I loved it. I thought it was rich, complex, entertaining, clever and never felt like a slog (a common pitfall of Sunday puzzles).
And some of the cluing was fabulous– Like Gin or Djin for SPIRIT.
I had my stumbles and questions…but to me, it was one of the most fun Sundays in recent memory.
WAPO: Absolutely beautiful, both as a tribute and as a solving experience. Like Merl, Evan so obviously cares about his solvers and this puzzle, for me, is so indicative of that. I totally loved the solve…and the memories. Thank you, Evan!
NYT had two great Sundays in a row, and I’m very pleasantly surprised by that. Maybe 2025 will be the year of the Sunday puzzle!