Robert S. Gard’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Exit Stage Left”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar terms whose beginning letters spell out synonyms for the imperative “Move!” The revealer is OPENING MOVE (59a, [Queen’s gambit, e.g., and a hint to each circled imperative]).
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Exit Stage Left” · Robert S. Gard · Wed., 1.22.25
- 17a. [Data display with two axes] SCATTERPLOT.
- 26a. [Have a court date, perhaps?] SHOOT HOOPS.
- 39a. [Breakfast burrito component] SCRAMBLED EGGS. We also would have accepted the clue [Working title for the song that eventually became “Yesterday”].
- 51a. [“Blessed are the poor in spirit…” and others] BEATITUDES.
Solid theme with a good revealer and title. I don’t mind that the last one is two words; in fact, it’s a nice little twist at the end to keep things interesting.
Check out those stacks of 11s in the corners: RADIO SIGNAL, TRESPASSERS, LEISURE SUIT, and DANCE BATTLE. Plus there’s STEPS UP and CABOOSE as well. Very nice. But they come at a little bit of a cost with crosswordese like RTS, ESAU, SIL, ETE, and whatever ARBS is. It’s a trade-off and a judgement call, but I felt ARBS wasn’t worth it.
Other goodies in the grid: “GO TEAM GO!,” ANTEATER, and OAKLAND.
Clue of note: 42d. [Last car]. CABOOSE. I don’t think this hasn’t been the case for many years. Maybe “traditionally” could’ve been thrown in at the end.
3.5 stars.
Landon Horton’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 1/22/25 – no. 0122
Hooboy, this one played easy, even with the theme entries not being real things, just the outcomes of a wordplay gambit. I filled in the first six Acrosses and raced through the Down crossings.
The MIXED DOUBLES revealer is 51A. [Tennis format … or a description of some of the letters in 20-, 31- and 38-Across]. Three BUxxY words (not including bully or adjective buzzy) trade places (or trade their doubled letters) in three phrases:
- 20A. [Jay Gatsby, to Nick Carraway?], PLAYBOY BUDDY. The base phrase is Playboy bunny.
- 31A. [Mare/hare pair?], HORSE AND BUNNY. Horse and buggy.
- 38A. [Horse-drawn party vehicle?], DRINKING BUGGY. Amish party bus? Drinking buddy.
I like the theme, and it’s always fun to speed-run a crossword when the rows and columns align right.
Fave fill: BREAK THE ICE, GRUDGES, CONEY ISLAND. I’m not sure about PUB GRUB; I went with PUB FOOD first.
Four stars from me.
Brian Callahan’s Universal crossword, “The Chemistry is Off” — pannonica’s write-up
Universal • 1/22/25 • Wed • “The Chemistry is Off” • Callahan • solution • 20250122
Some structural rearrangements today.
- 54aR [2018 cyberpunk Netflix series based on a 2002 novel … and what you’ll find in three of this puzzle’s answers] ALTERED CARBON. Quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that the premise is a world in which consciousness can be transferred to different bodies, which isn’t exactly an new idea. Also, Netflix is in the news today because they’ve raised their subscription prices. I’m wondering if they’ll see defections.
- 19a. [Sushi roll ingredient commonly made from Alaskan pollock] IMITATION CRAB.
- 26a. [Spherical falltime treat] POPCORN BALL.
- 47a. [City dweller in Western wear] URBAN COWBOY.
The theme as it works is fine, but I wonder whether the revealer—and thus the raison for the theme—is prominent enough to justify it all.
- 7d [Sushi seaweed] NORI, crossing the sushi-based theme answer at 19-across.
- 8d [“That makes me happy!”] I’M SO GLAD.
- 33a [Burgoo or rubaboo] STEW. Hard of the first; the second is new to me. Both are North American in origin.
- 48d [Person issuing court orders, in brief?] NBA REF. Nice clue.
- 17a [Unpleasant smells] ODORS. {obligatory comment}
- Row 11: 50a [Rushed] HECTIC, 52a [Bottom] BUM (thinking of bum rush), 53a [Total jerk] ASS.
- 60a [Totally defeated, in gamer lingo] REKT, a shortened and easier-to-type phonetic spelling of wrecked.
- 65a [Word after “play” or “rest”] AREA. The clue primes you for something musical.
Parker Higgins’ LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary
Today’s puzzle by Parker Higgins is certainly a grand concept; FOILEDAGAIN is the revealer and I think the idea is the three theme answers are supposed to be saying it: a BAKEDPOTATO as it has another layer of foiled placed over it; an OLYMPICFENCER as they are touched with a foil; and a MAINCHARACTER who is remarking on the appearance of a narrative foil?? I think? The last one is a tad confusing to me.
I got myself the stuckest in the bottom around FOILEDAGAIN, because I put tETraS in instead of BETTAS as [Aquarium fighters]. The former are decidedly less aggressive though. OBITPAGES felt like a bit of a gotcha, as you want to enter OBITUARIES, which is only one letter too long…
Gareth
Amie Walker’s AV Club Classic crossword, “AV Classic Themeless #80”–Amy’s recap
AV Club Classic crossword solution, 1/22/25 – “AV Classic Themeless #80”
Quite short on time, so–
Fave fill: EAT THE RICH, WHALE WATCHER, CHOSEN FAMILY, HULLABALOO, ONION RINGS, JUST FOR FUN, PAWN SHOP, MEGAFAUNA, SCHMALTZ (nice to have GOLEM crossing this), the “HAND HEARTS” gesture.
New to me: CHAOS MAGIC as the type of magical superpower the Scarlet Witch of “WandaVision” has.
3.75 stars from me.
Hannah Slovut-Einertson’s USA Today Crossword, “Even Distribution” — Emily’s write-up
One for you and one for me!
USA Today, January 22, 2025, “Even Distribution” by Hannah Slovut-Einertson
Theme: each themer is contained within EVEN, split at various points
Themers:
- 16a. [“…for the rest of time!”], EVERAGAIN
- 36a. [Toy that comes from cake mix], EASYBAKEOVEN
- 56a. [“Snow White” villian], EVILQUEEN
A variety of themers in this set of EVERAGAIN, EASYBAKEOVEN, and EVILQUEEN. The first took me a few crossings but the second and third filled more easily for me.
Favorite fill: LEGOSET, ANYA, ROYGBIV, RADIO, and BAO
Stumpers: AGESANDAGES (new to me), AKA (I enjoy Pink but didn’t know her full name), and PUGH (also new to me)
Today’s puzzle was not a smooth solve for me. I found the cluing a bit tricker along with some of the fill. The grid felt a bit choppier but that could be due to the my difficulty with it today and not the design itself. What did you all think? I still found it a fun solve, albeit longer for me than usual, with a great theme.
3.5 stars
~Emily
I’m sorry, I entered a rating under Universal in error. I did not solve that puzzle and the rating needs to be removed. I apologize for the extra work.
Can you tell me what rating you put in?
I put 3.5. It was the first one. Thanks Dave.
agreed on the NYT difficulty level. and solid fill too. I do wish constructors would retire EGOT. And REN and Stimpy is now 30 years old. can’t we go with Kylo REN of Star Wars instead? at least that’s this century. 3.5 stars for me. ELE on the other hand is a word perfectly suited for crosswords that you never see; although i’m not a fan of the letter names as words (WYE, AITCH, ZEE etc.) learning a bit of a foreign language at the same time makes it interesting for me!
Fast Wednesday; not quite record time, but in the ballpark. I enjoyed the theme answers and the fill as well.
What’s the issue with EGOT?
The mini has a misspelling at 3D (“restauraNteur”).
That spelling is weird but accepted (and maybe even preferred):
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restauranteur
(Read the entry and not just the URL.)
Well, that’s my TIL for today :-)
I see no indication at your link that the spelling with an “n” is preferred. Every example given uses the normal spelling. There’s an article attached that declares it’s an excuse to add the “n” but it just gives the history of the word with some depth. It was certainly a mistake at the Times.
No, that spelling (“restauranteur”) is an error, pure and simple.
Merriam-Webster does itself no favors by promoting it.
Dan,
So many pronouncements in comments on this blog about what is absolutely right and absolutely wrong (generally without supporting evidence)! I’d appreciate it if you would post your credentials here, so that I can have a better sense of whether you actually know what you’re talking about or are just yelling at us kids, “Get off my lawn!”
We know that usage prescriptions are out of date and that everything is ephemeral now, and therefore proofreaders keep getting fired. New York Times editorials don’t care about correct conjugations, and anything goes. Lots of people crave the spelling “restauranteur,” so M-W declares it an acceptable variant. Proofreaders and editors know that variants are not what we publish, unless they are on a house word list for a particular reason. If a word is not on a list, you use the first spelling, which “restauranteur” is not. Just look at the examples M-W gives in Eric’s link, and at the excellent Culinary Institute article PJ provides. I’m surprised at Eric and Gary, usually so smart and savvy. I have good credentials but don’t care to share them right now, because they would not prove whether I’m right or wrong, in my opinion. I’ve had bosses that didn’t know much–so what? The puzzle department at the Times has had errors before. If we’re lucky, someone might apologize a month later. The Times doesn’t intentionally choose variants for its clues unless there’s a reason. For instance, for this particular clue, would a Sopranos cast member say “restauranteur”? In that case, there would usually be quotation marks in the clue. Yay Michael and Dan. Dallas, it’s not a TYL.
I have to agree. I’d be defending RESTAURANTEUR as an entry. but not in a clue. Fill gains sparkle by sometimes using the language we speak but rarely write. But clues are editorial content and I can’t believe the Times style guide would approve.
@Lois,
I have no particular expertise in language or linguistics other than having spoken and read the English language for 67 years or so. I sometimes comment here regarding words, spelling and usage – but generally either qualify those comments as “my opinion” or provide some sort of third-party support.
In my experience, @Dan is prone to make definitive pronouncements (see above) and will brook no dissent, rarely (if ever) providing third-party support. This leads me to believe that Dan believes himself to an authority – and that may be true. But if he wants me to accept his pronouncements, I need to know whence his authority.
Is Dan an editor or former editor at OED or M-W or some other language reference publication? Is he a renown professor of English or linguistics at a prestigious university? Or is he just yelling at me to get off his lawn?
“I’m surprised at Eric and Gary, usually so smart and savvy.”
Thanks for the compliment. I posted the Merriam-Webster link before looking at the puzzle and assumed that Michael’s complaint was that they had left the N out, not that they had put it in. I would personally spell “restaurauteur” without the N, and I agree there doesn’t seem to be any reason to use the N spelling in that clue.
Love “restaurauteur.” I wanna grow up to be one of those.
A little history – https://www.ciachef.edu/blog/what-happened-to-the-n-in-restaurateur/
It seems restaurateur predates restaurant
Benjamin Dreyer: “It’s not ‘restauranteur,’ and the floor is not open to debate.”
Not that I solve the Universal, but thanks. Somehow, though I normally obsess over song credits, I didn’t remember or never registered that “I’m So Glad” was from Skip James. I remembered only Cream.
+1
LAT: I’m not sure I fully understand the third theme answer? I get how the revealer applies to the first two.
From Wikipedia:
In any narrative, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character, typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist