Saturday, May 17, 2025

LAT 3:19 (Stella) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Newsday 16:19 (pannonica) [4.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:29 (Amy) [3.78 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Ryan Judge’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 5/17/25 – no. 0517

Oh! Diagonal symmetry rather than rotational. I didn’t notice till after I solved and looked for the grid partner to KIM’S CONVENIENCE (never saw it, hear good things about it) and it wasn’t at the bottom.

Fave fill: FLYING SOUTH (in North America, the birds are still migrating north), underwear that RIDES UP, GHASTLY, SPILL THE TEA, LINE DANCE, SAME-DAY DELIVERY, BANANA SPLIT (tricky clue, [Something to take in from a boat] did not have me thinking of boat-shaped dishes), MINI-MART (genius that this crosses KIM’S CONVENIENCE), KLEENEX, and “SO THAT’S THAT.”

Star science is not my bag, so I guessed RED DWARF first for 22A.
[The sun, e.g., in about five billion years], RED GIANT.

Corporate trivia I didn’t know: 38D. [Chain whose name came from a Boston hotel whose sign was too expensive to remove], SHERATON.

It’s time to watch a movie, so good night! Four stars from me.

Rich Feely’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 5/17/25 by Rich Feely

I liked this puzzle! It played harder than some other recent LAT Saturdays, which is a welcome “gentle challenge,” as the specs say:

• 1A [Toss] I knew better than to write THROW in here, and it took a little while before I had enough crossings to know that it was SCRAP.
• I liked the top stack of TOUCH GRASS and ELITE EIGHT.
• 34A [Happy accident] is A FEATURE, NOT A BUG. On the one hand, I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to get this answer, given how often I use this phrase out loud. However, I’m not sure that “Happy accident” is what it actually means? Sometimes, I guess, but I thought the phrase really means “this is an intentionally included good thing, not a mistake” and I’ve got some backup, if nothing official.
• 40A [Time for curls] is ARM DAY. I didn’t see this clue while solving, but you won’t be surprised to know that I like both the clue and the entry. (But please don’t skip LEG DAY. You can’t spell LEGENDARY without LEG DAY!)
• 45A [Sheep sounds] for BAAS is so easy that it feels out of step with the rest of the puzzle.
• 52A [Uninterested in the party scene, perhaps] is APOLITICAL, and the clue did fool me into thinking the answer would be some word related to being introverted.
• 56A [Texter’s “Hey, boo”] is GHOST EMOJI. Boy, do I feel old not knowing that that’s how that emoji is used.
• 10D [Folks who tend to give things away] is a fun clue for TATTLE-TALES.
• 27D I also liked [Journey in a relocation] for ONE-WAY TRIP.
• 32D [Timothée Chalamet epic set on a desert planet] is DUNE, also feeling too easy as clued for this puzzle.
• 35D [In the minority?] for UNDERAGE, on the other hand, was just right.

Geoff Brown’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Incendiary Language” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 5/17/25 • Sat • “Incendiary Language” • Brown • solution • 20250517

The theme is items and concepts associated with firefighting, and the gimmick is that the clues offer a wacky spin on them.

• 22a. [Firefighter’s term for the quickest RSVP to the Firefighters Ball?] FIRST RESPONDER. (119a [RSVP turndown] REGRETS, 109d [Red Cross class, briefly] CPR.)
• 28a. [Firefighter’s term for lengthy gabfests about the meaning of existence?] JAWS OF LIFE.
• 31a. [Firefighter’s term for a twisted calf caused by too-tight compression socks?] HOSE WRENCH.
• 50a. [Firefighter’s term for the secret to rising in the ranks?] ELEVATOR KEY.
• 64a. [Firefighter’s term for the person in charge of ice cream toppers?] SPRINKLER HEAD.
• 81a. [Firefighter’s term for a person shouting “Cannonball”?] WATER BOMBER.
• 97a. [Firefighter’s term for the section of the firehouse cordoned off for polishing?] BUFFER ZONE.
• 109a. [Firefighter’s term for a carefully measured dig?] CONTROLLED BURN.

These are fine. Some are more tortured than others, but what are you going to do.

• 1d [Battle of Britain org.] RAF. 34a [“Top Gun” org.] USN.
• 4d [“Who’s there?” reply] IT’S US. Small switch from the expected IT’S ME.
  
• 45d [Patronage] AEGIS. I tend to think of it as a metaphorical shield, which is slightly closer to the mythological origins of the term.
• 48d [Exactly] SLAP DAB. Doesn’t fare well in an Ngram versus smack dab.
  
• 55d [Surge protection, of a sort] ARK. Quite the stretch; what’s this Stumper clue doing in the WSJ crossword?
• 73d [Bro] DUDE. 99d [Mac] FELLA.
• 80d [Jittery move] START, not SPASM. Fortunately I had enough crossings already in place.
• 87d [Jeweler from Saint Petersburg] FABERGÉ. He was in fact born in Livonia (present-day Estonia) and didn’t arrive in St Petersburg until his apprenticeship as a teenager, per Wikipedia.
• 91d [Museum whose name means “meadow”] PRADO. I didn’t know this yet somehow knew this.
• 111d [Old chestnut, e.g.] NAG.
  
• 1a [It helps with a cellist’s or ace’s pitch] ROSIN. 37a [Pitch] SPIEL.
• 47a [Like an open-necked shirt] TIELESS <side-eye>
• 83a [Curry favor with] TOADY TO. 17d [NBA great Curry] STEPH.
• 85a [Makes flakes] SNOW. Slightly odd cluing; feels as if it’s indicating a person making flakes rather than meteorological phenomena.
• 120a [Badger’s cousin] OTTER. They’re both mustelids.

Lester Ruff’s Newsday crossword, Saturday Stumper — pannonica’s write-up

Newsday • 5/17/25 • Saturday Stumper • Ruff, Newman • solution • 20250517

Jumped around the grid for a bit, eventually completed the northeast-to-southwest swath, then the upper left, and finally the top half of the lower right corner.

• 1a [Put in stitches] SLAY. This being the Stumper, I was justifiably wary of putting in SEWN.
• 14a [The first Harley-Davidson carburetor] TOMATO CAN. Once I had enough letters to guess this entry, the section was as good as completed.
• 16a [Suddenly soft] MUTED. 23a [Almost not] FAINTLY. 47d [Effectively invisible] MINUTE.
• 17a [Made-up confirmation question] ARE WE COOL. Not sure what’s “made-up” about it. Incidentally, I rewatched Pulp Fiction last night—it holds up unevenly. The acting remains very good, the fractured structure is no longer surprising, while the profanity and slurs are even more upsetting and shocking.
• 19a [“Happy” fellow] FELIX. The name derives from Latin for ‘happy’ or ‘lucky’.
• 22a [Il est ignore dans l’alphabetisation] LES. There was a clue like this recently, but for German. It may have been in the Stumper too.
• 29a [Affirmation exclamation] YEA. 65a [Elucidation intro] Y’SEE.
• 32a [Vines do it] CREEP. For quite some time I had CLIMB here, with 33d [Put forward] changed from (the correct, as it turns out) POSIT to BEGIN. Also here, I had HUGE for 39d [Vast] MEGA. It took a little doing to untangle.
• 35a [Emulates orcas or beach bums] CATCHES SOME RAYS. cute
• 42a [Suburb where Mandela lived] SOWETO. “Suburb” makes it sound downright genteel.
• 45a [Unload for little] DUMP, not PAWN.
• 56a [Tough choice metaphor] HORNS of a dilemma. HEDGE was my incorrect placeholder here.
• 64a [Cnet.com called them “tiny but pricey” (2012)] NANOS. Maybe if I’d evaluated the date more closely I’d have figured it out sooner, but as it is I tried IPODS first.
• 9d [On-stage “Thank you”] I’M HONORED. meh.
• 31d [Abt. 33, for Big D] LAT. Apparently Dallas is at roughly 33º North latitude.
• 32d [AI interfaces] CHAT BOXES. Folks, avoid using AI if you can at all help it. They’re very far from 63a [Clean and green] ZERO WASTE.
• 37d [One of the village people] TOWNSMAN. Note the lack of capitalization in the clue.
• 38d [“Jeet __?” (Aussie’s “Had dinner?”] CHET, “did you eat yet?” 43d [“Aussieness” adder in ’24] OED.

Once again, I’ve failed to identify the cryptic-style clue that typically lurks in the Stumper. With any luck, some helpful commenter will let us know about it.