Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “We’re Golden” — at least, hiding in the long answers. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 2/4/25
Hello lovelies! Grab your cheesecake because this week Matt is celebrating those four lovely Florida ladies, the Golden Girls!
- 17a. [Easter egg found within a subway system?] METRO SECRET (ROSE)
- 26a. [Herb specifically designated for a tomato sauce?] POMODORO THYME (DOROTHY)
- 43a. [Atypically sunny weather at the highest peak of the Alps?] MONT BLANC HEAT (BLANCHE)
- 57a. [Short break from reading fables?] AESOP HIATUS (SOPHIA)
Other things:
- 22a. [Bashful coworker?] HAPPY. It’s referencing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- 38d. [“It ___ laugh”] IS TO. This is a calque of the French “c’est à rire.”
Until next week!
Justin Werfel’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up
Took me a minute to parse the revealer, which is more interesting than I first thought. The puzzle was fun to solve and the fill was smooth, so I’ll take it.
Each of the theme answers has circles.
- 17a [Serialized daytime dramas] are SOAP OPERAS.
- 26a [“Anything could happen”] is ALL BETS ARE OFF.
- 43a [Writer and illustrator of Caldecott Medal winner “A Snowy Day”] is EZRA JACK KEATS.
And the revealer: 58a [“Road narrows” sign, or when read as three words, an apt description of what 17-, 26-, and 43-Across do] is MERGE AHEAD. The three words, I presume, are MERGE A HEAD. Each set of circles has the head of something. At first I thought that meant the “heads” were “merged” into the phrases. Once I typed them out, I realized that each “head” spans two words and therefore has to be “merged.” Now that’s interesting.
One comment on fill: 18a [Hurdles for would-be doctors] are ORALS. This is a fun clue and a little trickier than I’d expect on a Tuesday. Doctors like me take the MCATS, which would also fit. PhD doctors like my husband take ORALS.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that I can effectively blog with my iPad (we’re traveling and I didn’t bring my laptop).
Glenn Cook’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Parliamentary Procedure”—Jim’s review
Our theme is based on the HOUSE OF / COMMONS (68a, [With 69-Across, half of Parliament, and a hint to the circled words]), that legislative body of the UK and Canada which is comprised of elected MPs (Members of Parliament). Groups of circled letters spell out words that can follow COMMON in other phrases, and the circled letters form the rough shape of a HOUSE (more like a tent, but close enough). The COMMON words are COLD, GOOD, SENSE, and AREA.
Nice theme. I solved the puzzle as a themeless and enjoyed my aha moment at the end. Nothing too complicated here, but solid all around, and grid art is usually fun, as is the case here. Looking forward to a HOUSE OF LORDS theme someday.
In the fill, I may have vaguely been aware of the word CORIOLIS [Effect resulting from the Earth’s rotation], but I’ve certainly never heard of FRISKET [Hand press part that holds the paper], so I balked where the two crossed. Thankfully, the only letter that made realistic sense was the R, which turned out to be correct. The rest of the grid is filled smoothly with highlights GOES NUTS, LIP BALM, ICE FLOE, and REAPERS.
Clue of note: 7a. [ROTC driller]. SGT. This isn’t correct, unless things changed since I went through the program. The ones doing the drilling are senior cadets (or midshipmen for the Navy) instructing the younger ones. An ROTC staff only has a few officers and NCOs, and their jobs are more administrative or actual classroom instruction.
3.25 stars.
Adam Aaronson’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap
Lovely theme! Pairs of 5-letter words that differ only in the reversal of the last 2 letters are combined into a goofy phrase clued accordingly. The revealer is BACKFLIPS, [Gymnastic feats … or what the two halves of the answers to 17-, 25-, 49- and 58-Across do?].
- 17A. [Noiseless?], QUITE QUIET.
- 25A. [Earth from heaven?], ANGEL ANGLE.
- 49A. [“There are ways to leave”?], EXITS EXIST.
- 58A. [Spite over an incomplete mobile payment?], VENMO VENOM. I’m guessing this was the seed for the theme.
Fave fill: IONIQS crossing EQUINOX, NIQAB, THE DUDE, VAPE PEN.
I don’t have much to say about the puzzle, but I do like it. Four stars from me.
Elizabeth C. Gorski’s Cr♥ssw♥rd Nation puzzle (Week 714), “Why Not! “—Ade’s take

Crossword Nation puzzle solution, Week 714: “Why Not!”
Hello there, everyone! Hope all is well with you as we make our way through Super Bowl week!
The whys definitely have it in this grid, as each of the theme answers are puns in which the only difference in spelling between the first and second word is the addition of the letter “Y” to one of the words.
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- KYOTO KOTO (17A: [Plucked instrument made in Japan’s former capital city??])
- PAPAL PAYPAL (24A: [The Vatican’s online purchasing option?])
- NEO NEYO (38A: [Modern “So Sick” singer?])
- MAO MAYO (40A: [Chairman’s deli spread?])
- FLYING FLING (47A: [Brief affair in the air?])
- CAGEY CAGE (60A: [Shrewd actor Nicolas?])
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In a puzzle where the themes were just one letter off from repeating words, it’s fitting that we also have homophones as well with CENT (27D: [Euro fraction]) and SENT (57D: [Dispatched]). Unless you are the vain sort, having an earworm resulting from the CARLY SIMON entry isn’t such a bad thing at all (9D: [“You’re So Vain” singer]). Given everything going on in the past few days and what orders are or aren’t being enacted, definitely fitting to see both ALLIES (31A: [Friends in battle]) and ELON in the puzzle, though I definitely am glad that the latter refers to the school that used to be nicknamed the Fightin’ Christians (64A: [University near Greensboro]). (Elon’s sports teams are now nicknamed the Phoenix, by the way.) If you can have your Fighting Irish, we can have our Fightin’ Christians, I always say!
“Sports will make you smarter” moment of the day: MCCOY (8A: [“Star Trek” doctor]) – We lost one of the legendary voices in NBA history late last year, when Al McCoy passed away at the age of 91 in September. McCoy was the radio voice of the Phoenix Suns from 1972 to 2023, and was on the mic for all three of the Suns’ NBA Finals appearances in 1976, 1993 and 2021. McCoy was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, via the Curt Gowdy Media Award, in 2007.
Thank you so much for the time, everybody! Have a wonderful and safe rest of your day and, as always, keep solving!
Take care!
Ade/AOK
*Debut Alert!* Dan Zarin’s Universal Crossword, “Come Fly With Me” (ed. David Steinberg) — Matt F’s Review

Universal Solution 02.04.2025
Congrats to Dan on their crossword debut! We’re throwing it back to the early-aughts with this one. Everyone from that era can probably recall this song that inspired the puzzle:
- 57A: [Nelly Furtado’s 2002 Grammy winner … or a clue to 19-, 28- or 46-Acros] = I’M LIKE A BIRD
Do you ever find it amusing how many human descriptors are pulled from animals around us? This puzzle presents three such examples that are specifically derived from bird species:
- 19A: [Vocal advocate of limiting government spending] = DEFICIT HAWK
- 28A: [Ace attorney] = LEGAL EAGLE
- 46A: [Goofball] = SILLY GOOSE
Nice theme set here, with a punchy revealer. I can see the appeal! We also have some interesting 9’s throughout comprising the bonus fill: two double 9 stacks each intersecting a 9-letter down answer – impressive! Tops for me were PICKMEUPS, PARTIEDON, LABYRINTH, and MINUTEMEN. Clues were smooth throughout, and I appreciated the subtle hint from 39A using “radiuses” instead of “radii” in the clue, which let me know the answer would also not use the Latin plural (the answer being ULNAS instead of “ulnae”). I was unfamiliar with “planters punch” (38A) – not much of a RUM drinker – but it sounds delicious!
Erik Agard’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 2/4/25 • Tues • Agard • solution • 20250205
Okay, I’m ending, or maybe just pausing, my non-writing protest today. It doesn’t mean that I no longer believe current events are life-and-death dangerous, merely that I recognize that even in the worst of times—and these are very bad times indeed—that we need our entertainments, and it’s also unfair to the people who make the crosswords we talk about here. One last thing: amazingly, not enough people are aware of the utter travesty occurring with our government right now because generally speaking the media is failing us.
On to the crossword. This was definitely at least moderately challenging, as advertised. I haven’t seen a Tuesday New Yorker play this hard in maybe ever.
The bottom fifth, with the stacked grid-spanning entries, was a struggle for me to finish. I didn’t know 52a [Criminal-law professor at TV’s Middleton University] ANNALISE KEATING, and the clue for 49a was deliciously tricky: [Perform behind a curtain, perhaps] SING IN THE SHOWER.
54a [Bike-frame part that helps to stabilize the rider] is perfectly descriptive for SEAT STAY, but I can’t say that it’s commonly known. Finally, I was having trouble quickly seeing the full answers for STOW IT, ENERGY, SHOTS, and PEKE (38d, 40d, 44d, 47d) without those crossing entries I’ve just mentioned.
- Up top, the two stacked 15-letter entries were easier. 15a [“Pretty girls wear twenty pearls” organization] ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA, which I didn’t know, but at least I know Greek letters. 17a [“Not sure anything can surprise me after this”] NOW I’VE SEEN IT ALL.
- 24a [Divine being in Hinduism or Buddhism] DEVA, 21d [Sacred text in Hinduism or Buddhism] TANTRA. 24d [ __ Lama] DALAI.
- 30a [Mononymous singer with the 2023 album “Raven”] KELELA. New to me.
- 31a [Immaculately __ (with not a hair out of place)] COIFED. Kind of an odd partial phrase, but it was certainly gettable.
- 34a [Started to feel real] SANK IN. Of course I had SUNK IN first. This clue/entry also relates to my introductory paragraph today.
- 43a [Rush] HASTEN, which was my first instinct but I waited on crossings, which as I’ve already mentioned were recalcitrant in this section.
- 2d [Yoruba creator god] OLORUN. which looks only vaaaaguely familiar.
- 5d [Showing intense displeasure] HAVING A FIT. Okay, I guess so.
- 8d [Spongiforma squarepantsii or Boops boops] SPECIES. The former organism is indeed real, it’s a kind of fungus. The latter is a fish.
- 10d [Hidey-hole for the heinous] LAIR. I like this alliterative clue.
- 14d [Performer who appeared in the three highest-grossing films to date] Zoe SALDAÑA. Not looking them up, but I assume they are MCU and Avatar films.
- 28d [“I got an idea …”] TELL YA WHAT. The clue’s “I got” (rather than “I’ve got” or “I have”) helps signal the slangy ya in the answer.
- 30d [“Ignorance = Fear / Silence = Death” artist Haring] KEITH. The message is sadly newly relevant again.
- 37d [Charcuterie-board selection] is just the generic MEATS. The clue’s “selection” is a little ambiguous, in a good way.
- 42d [Treatments from nail techs] MANIS. Also the genus for Asian pangolins.
- 46d [Natural feature that’s more than four thousand miles long] NILE. See, this clue could have been easier had it disclosed that the feature is a river. When I finally altered my thinking and got the answer, it helped break open that southwest section of the grid.
- 51d [Scoreboard abbreviation for the Kraken, appropriately] SEA. Cute.
Justin Werfel’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up
Took me a minute to parse the revealer, which is more interesting than I first thought. The puzzle was fun to solve and the fill was smooth, so I’ll take it.
Each of the theme answers has circles.
- 17a [Serialized daytime dramas] are SOAP OPERAS.
- 26a [“Anything could happen”] is ALL BETS ARE OFF.
- 43a [Writer and illustrator of Caldecott Medal winner “A Snowy Day”] is EZRA JACK KEATS.
And the revealer: 58a [“Road narrows” sign, or when read as three words, an apt description of what 17-, 26-, and 43-Across do] is MERGE AHEAD. The three words, I presume, are MERGE A HEAD. Each set of circles has the head of something. At first I thought that meant the “heads” were “merged” into the phrases. Once I typed them out, I realized that each “head” spans two words and therefore has to be “merged.” Now that’s interesting.
One comment on fill: 18a [Hurdles for would-be doctors] are ORALS. This is a fun clue and a little trickier than I’d expect on a Tuesday. Doctors like me take the MCATS, which would also fit. PhD doctors like my husband take ORALS.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that I can effectively blog with my iPad (we’re traveling and I didn’t bring my laptop).
I also liked the NYT puzzle. I found it challenging and it took me almost 9 minutes to finish.
As I driver of an IONIQ, I appreciated the Scrabbly feel of this one as well.
I too liked the theme, but had a tough time with the fill. NIQAB (we all know HIJAB) was tough. OSMENT, JAKE? felt hard for Tuesday.
Liked the clue for GEORGIA!
Same here with HIJAB/NIQAB. Knew JAKE from a Robert Redford line in “The Sting.” Liked the clue for GEORGIA, too – but questioned whether there wouldn’t be a disambiguation for Washington also (haven’t bothered to check).
Hard for a Tuesday. I didn’t recognize K’NEX or IONIQS, thinking I’d made a mistake or two, and I too wanted 1D to be HIJB. Fun theme, though, and a good early-week puzzle.
It’s rare to have a Tuesday NYT that has an interesting theme and colorful fill, and is quite a workout in a good way. Nice change of pace, I liked it.
TNY (no spoilers): ‘Moderately challenging’ by Agard was slightly tougher than ‘challenging’ by Schechtman. Several mystifying names, notably the long one at 52A. But nothing that was impossible to suss out.
Both played as advertised for me. I seem to have gotten better at EA’s puzzles.
I didn’t have much of a clue for 52a and 54a but the downs were more than fair for me. I was momentarily delayed by 39d. It just seemed to easy and straightforward. My biggest obstacle was 14d and its crosses with 24a and 30a.
I loved the clue for 28d. When I read it I noticed the grammar error/informal tone that made the answer gettable for me.
Seemed about right for “Moderately Challenging.” About half yesterday’s solving time.
ANALISE KEATING was completely unknown to me, so that required almost all the crosses before making an educated guess. Otherwise, only a few unknowns, and all had reasonable crosses.
Liked the clue for SING IN THE SHOWER.
Today’s was quite hard enough for me, but then Monday was a tad harder, so pretty much on target. It’s TNY, so the usual unfair spots. This time I’ll spare you.
New Yorker: Thank you, Erik, for 34a.
I hear ya, Lois
NYT: 29d – ON A FAST, really?
I agree. “On a diet” or “fasting.” Not ON A FAST.
I think the phrase is used for a political protest or the like, but not for religious fasts. I should look this up, but I’m lazy about doing that on my phone. Think “on a 30-day fast” or the like.
NYT: This puzzle put me in mind of @Huda’s explanation of “prediction error” a couple of weeks ago. My pleasure was less than expected, due mainly to the high volume of trivia in the fill.
The worst, maybe, was the need to recall the names and distinctive features of 5-letter Islamic garments. Hijab? Niqab? Burka? OK, work it out from the crosses. That alone would have been just a speed bump.
But then came the need to recall enough Spanish, Japanese (twice), and Italian to understand several clues. And the names! Car names, actor’s names (3!), movie character names, TV channel names, Norse god names, airport names (codes).
The theme was clever, but the trivia level seemed very, very deep for a Tuesday, and I can report that my dopamine release was significantly inhibited.
Pannonica:
I am so with you on your view of current affairs. As far as the media calling out or fact checking or just plain utter outrage is the coup de gras. (Good bye truth dying in darkness ala WaPo.) I have given up investing in an administration that is so out of touch with humanity. I pray I survive 4 more yrs. & hope our country can too.
Amen to Pannonica and Brenda Rose! (Hopefully the next 4 years will pass quickly, and that a third term will be ruled against.)