Oscar season is upon us and so are our version of the awards for crossword puzzles, the ORCAS. Check out the nominated puzzles and vote for your favorites here on this page. Voting closes on Monday, February 17th with winners announced in a livestream a week later.
Rich Katz and Jeff Chen’s New York Times crossword, “What’s It All About?”–Dave’s recap
Dave here again, subbing for Nate this week. Nate will be off blogging duty for weeks or months after losing his home to the California wildfires. There’s a GoFundMe raising money to help Nate and Ben rebuild their lives in the aftermath.
NYT Crossword Solution – Sunday, February 9, 2025
A pretty straightforward theme in today’s NYT: take two word phrases where the second word begins with RE- and clue it as something referring to the word that remains after removing RE. Let’s see if craziness ensues….
- 23A: [TV’s “Search for the Titanic,” for one?] – SPECIAL RE:QUEST
- 35A: [Instructions for slaying Dracula?] – MANUAL RE:COUNT
- 51A: [Broadway offering titled with dots and dashes?] – SHOW RE:MORSE – missed opportunity here for a shout-out to Robert Morse who starred on Broadway in the play “Tru.”
- 70A: [TED Talk about neuropsychology?] – SPEECH RE:COGNITION
- 86A: [U-Haul ad?] – SPOT RE:MOVER
- 101A: [Email thread with a “Donate now!” message?] – CHAIN RE:ACTION – “chain” on its own is a bit awkward with the email identifier but close enough
- And the best for last…116A: [Giddiness at completing this crossword puzzle?] – HIGH RE:SOLUTION
Some random notes:
- For 33D, I had [Living ___] WILL for WAGE
- Very long clue at 12D [Something that if you cut a hole in it, actually has fewer holes] for NET
- Guessed the wrong champagne at 29A: ASTI for MOET
- Very cute clue for 18A’s NOAH – [Head of a noted animal rescue project]
- I just had 67A’s ALOO GOBI earlier this week!
- Nice seeing the full name of 30D ERNO RUBIK
- Had NAPE before EDEN at 77D [Adam’s apple location]
- Un peu de français avec LES près ÊTRE
- 44D DEERSKIN for MOLESKIN
- And a timely clue for 43D “Like THAT,” as Kendrik Lamar won the Grammy for Song of the Year for “Not Like Us” (he must like the word like in song titles!)
I’ll leave you with the great Dionne Warwick singing “Alfie”: