BEQ 6:14 (Eric) 
[3.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) 
[4.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 5:20 (Gareth) [4.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 14:38 (ZDL) 
[3.85 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
Universal 8:21 (Eric) [4.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today 5:34 (Emily) rate it
WSJ 8:05 (Jim) [4.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “I Forgot”—Jim’s review
Theme: In the Across answers, all letters T must be mentally removed to match the clues. The Ts are present as normal in the Down entries. The revealer is NOT (64a, [Negating word that, if parsed with a space after the second letter, may help to understand nine Across answers]). That re-parsing is NO T. Speaking of re-parsing, the title should probably be read as “I Forgo T”.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “I Forgot” · Mike Shenk · Thu., 5.29.25
- 15a. [Cattle call?] MOTTO. Moo.
- 16a. [Perfect for planting] ART TABLET. Arable.
- 22a. [Brewpub offering] TATTLE. Ale. This one really messed up my NW corner as I started with BOTTLE (before I knew the theme) then tried to make it BETTER (beer).
- 24a. [Flight-related, in combinations] TATER TOT. Aero.
- 34a. [Handles with skill] FITNESS TEST. Finesses. A lovely find!
- 46a. [Disease spread by bats] RAT BITES. Rabies. Decidedly not a lovely find, but a clever one!
- 48a. [Ready for customers] TOP TEN. Open.
- 55a. [Cane product] STUTTGART. Sugar. Another great find.
- 59a. [Feature of the Argentine flag] STUNT. Sun.
Great theme and masterful execution. At first, I thought the theme had to do with double-Ts (as in MOTTO and the double in ART TABLET). I needed multiple aha moments to get this one done, but had a good time along the way.
In the fill, I’m not such a fan of RETEAR and READOPT, but once I realized the theme density involved with the grid, these didn’t bother me so much. Plus we got nice entries, LIMA BEANS and COLOR WASH. MORNAY [Béchamel-plus-cheese sauce] was another reason that NW corner was a struggle for me.
Clue of note: 32a. [Home page?]. LEASE. I expect most home leases are more than a page long, but it’s fine.
Good puzzle. Four stars.
Gabe Antell-Proulx’s Universal Crossword “Bar Exam” — Eric’s review
Gabe Antell-Proulx’s Universal Crossword “Bar Exam” — 5/29/25
Congratulations to Gabe Antell-Proulx for what appears to be his debut puzzle!
I ignored the punny title and jumped right in, but I immediately noticed that the theme answers (which had circled letters, as shown in red below) didn’t fit their clues:
- 17A [*Was optimistic] HOPSCOTCHED
- 24A [*Wryly humorous] DRUMROLL
- 37A [*Fruit with a narrow top] PER YEAR
- 50A [*Downgraded planet] PLUG INTO Do contemporary 5th-grade science classes (or whenever the solar system is covered) include Pluto as a former planet?
- 58A [Have a whack at something, or an instruction for entering each starred clue’s answer?] TAKE A SHOT AT Because I skipped the title and didn’t pay much attention to what the circled letters spelled, I initially thought this would be TAKE A STAB AT.
This was one of those puzzles where I knew that eventually the mismatch between the theme clues and answers would make sense. Of course, if I’d been paying more attention (or solving more slowly), I’d have noticed things like the circled alcohols or the HOPED in HOPSCOTCHED.
I like that in the theme answers, both the circled letters and the ones that aren’t circled spell actual words.
The fill is generally solid, if not overly exciting:
- 30A [Org. whose flag has 12 stars] THE EU I should have paid more attention to the abbreviation in the clue. THE EU always looks a little weird in a grid. Today I learned that the flag was “[o]riginally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe,” per Wikipedia. (The European Union has 27 members.)
5D [Bowlful with ground beef and green chiles, perhaps] TACO SOUP I first thought this might be TACO SALAD, with a rebus somewhere.- 7D [Infused with alcohol] LACED Nice echo of the theme.
- 10D [Wednesday on television?] ADDAMS We didn’t get past the second or third episode.
- 11D [Takes someone out] GOES ON A DATE That clue is a bit ambiguous, which I like.
- 23D [Bank alternative] CREDIT UNION
Hanh Huynh’s Fireball Crossword, “Made in the Shade” – Jenni’s write-up
This was fun! I needed the revealer to figure out the theme and then had to hunt for one of the answers.
The revealer is 63a [Ill-defined situation…and a hint to five squares in this puzzle] for GRAY AREA. As you can see from Peter’s grid, five squares are gray. And how do you get gray? You mix BLACK and WHITE.
Fireball, May 28, 2025, Hanh Huynh, “Made in the Shade,” solution grid
- 8a [Dark sorcery] is {BLACK} MAGIC crossing 8d [Gloss over the faults of], which is {WHITE} WASH.
- 16a [1966 hit with the lyric “No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue] is PAINT IT {BLACK} and that crosses 17d [Pinot grigio, but not pinot noir], {WHITE} WINE.
- 36a [Frenzied Christmas season event] is {BLACK} FRIDAY crossing 36d [Harmless embellishment] for {WHITE} LIE.
- 40a [Hit sci-fi series with a #CloneClub fan base] is ORPHAN {BLACK} which crosses 26d [Ramos gin fizz ingredient], EGG {WHITE}. This was the one I had to hunt for. I don’t know the show and I filled in EGGS for 26d even though I should know Peter would never let a singular/plural mismatch slip into one of his puzzles.
- 67a [Completely dark] is PITCH {BLACK} and that goes with 55d [Completely pure] for LILY {WHITE}.
As I said, fun! Solid and interesting and different.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: see above re: ORPHAN BLACK. I also did not know that Ernie ELS set a Masters tournament record for the worst start ever in 2016 when he hit a quintuple-bogey on the first hole.
John Kugelman’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Difficulty: Challenging (14m38s)
John Kugelman’s New York Times crossword, 5/29/25
Today’s theme: TEASE UP (Give height, as a hairdo … or a hint for entering the answers to the starred clues)
- CONS/T/ELLA/T/ION
- FLA/T/EAR/T/HER
- DEA/T/HAND/T/AXES
Very slow to figure out what the theme entries were doing, but it’s just as advertised — the tees are all up. Needed every last cross for LUCHADORA and did not know Sacco’s first name was NICOLA, so it was tough going from every angle.
Cracking: FULL DIVA, I actually hate-like this entry, so I tip my cap to you
Slacking: minor quibble with the cluing of ER NURSE (One rushing to a Code Blue, in brief), because we don’t generally call “Code Blue” in the ED, where people suddenly dying is de rigueur and we (the ED staff) are already there. Calling a “Code Blue” is usually reserved for “upstairs” emergencies.
Sidetracking: Tony Hale was the unsung hero of VEEP
Andrew Colin Kirk’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary
In this extra wide puzzle, we get four other long entries starting with a RELIGIOUSLEADER…
- ABBOTtelementary, [Quinta Brunson sitcom set in a school]
- RABBItrun, [First John Updike novel to feature Harry Angstrom]
- LAMAzemethod, [Delivery room breathing technique]
- IMAMazing, [Get a load of me!] Is this a real phrase?
The other answers are there. I think with five entries, the grid is stretched a tad; it’s hard to get excited about RELABELED or ITEMISE; but maybe the SBALOAN/RICOACT mini-theme tickled American solvers more?
Gareth
Kareem Ayas’s USA Today Crossword, “Chopped Liver” — Emily’s write-up
Want a bite?
USA Today, May 29, 2025, “Chopped Liver” by Kareem Ayas
Theme: each themer contains LIVER, broken up in different places (aka “chopped”)
Themers:
- 20a. [Bourant device for staying afloat], LIFEPRESERVER
- 34a. [Person making pickups and drop-offs], LYFTDRIVER
- 53a. [1986 Bon Jovi hit with the lyric “Take my hand, we’ll make it, I swear”], LIVINGONAPRAYER
What a themer set! It feels like summer—grab your swim gear and LIFEPRESERVER, catch a ride to the beach from a LYFTDRIVER, and blast some tunes like LIVINGONAPRAYER. Let the good times roll! (Now I have an ear worm, not that I’m complaining.)
Favorite fill: ALOO, LATTE, ONEAY, and POUT
Stumpers: READEXIT (needed a few crossings), PEST (needed crossings), and ENTER (only “open”, “closed”, “push”, and “pull” came to mind)
My fastest solve yet! Loved the gird and everything just clicking into place for me and I raced through it. Great fill and cluing. How’d you all do?
4.0 stars
~Emily
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1787 “Most Sidesplitting” — Eric’s Review
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1787 “Most Sidesplitting” — 5/29/25
There’s something to be said for truth in advertising, I suppose. Brendan’s labeled this as “Medium” and on his website says that he “[t]ried to make it on the easier side of things.” He succeeded there, with a theme that’s based on superlatives that rhyme with the noun they modify:
- 19A [Most fresh songs from yesteryear?] MOLDIEST OLDIES I’m a bit late in posting this because we spent 45 minutes or so at the Subaru dealer getting our car serviced. The waiting room music was a SiriusXM channel that features “Deep classic album rock.” I haven’t heard that much 1970s music since ski season ended.
- 24A [Most verbose small studio films?] WINDIEST INDIES I can’t look at that answer and not see WEST INDIES.
- 42A [Most baggy farming students?] SAGGIEST AGGIES
- 47A [Most happy skateboard tricks?] JOLLIEST OLLIES OLLIE is crossworld’s go-to skateboard trick, so I filled in the end of this one without much thought.
The theme answers are fine; the first two are even moderately amusing.
Much of the rest of the grid felt like the same stuff we see over and over: L’IL, AREA, ADORN, SO-SO, CODE, ONUS, AÇAI, SIREE, UGLI, OREO, SADE, TRON, OGRE, just to name a few. Many of those were bunched up in the bottom four rows. I know that’s nothing unusual about this puzzle, but it doesn’t make for an interesting solving experience.
Other stuff:
- 9D [World leader on the rupee] GANDHI I assume it’s Mahatma and not Indira or Rajiv.
- 28D [___ McCorvey (“Roe” of “Roe v. Wade”)] NORMA The parenthetical shouldn’t be necessary, but it probably is anymore.
- 30D [Fragrant resin used in incense] ELEMI Moldiest oldies indeed.
- 38D [Fart spray and Groucho glasses, for two] GAG GIFTS “Gag” fits in more than one sense.
- 43D [Trattoria treat] GELATO Yum.
FB – 17d [Pinot grigio, but not pinot noir], {WHITE} WINE. Wines made from Pinot Noir are overwhelmingly red but there are notable exceptions. Blanc de noirs (white from black) Champagne and other sparkling wines are made from the red-skinned grapes Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a combination of the two. Some producers make a white Pinot Noir still wine. Oregon’s Domaine Serene makes a wine called Coeur Blanc (white heart) that I can personally vouch for. Finally, there are many rosés made from Pinot Noir. We drink a fair amount of one produced by Martinelli
The skin of the grape contains the pigments which give red wines their colors. If the skins are removed soon after the grapes are pressed, the juice and the resulting wine will be white.
The clue is fine. Unless it’s clear from the context that you are talking about the grape, PINOT NOIR in common parlance implies a red wine, not any wine made by the grape. If you ask a sommelier to recommend a pinot noir, they are never going to suggest a sparkling, white, or rosé wine.
Reasonable people can disagree. Cheers!
I had a fine sparling blanc de (pinot) noir from Obsidian last night. But it never occurred to me to ding the clue. If you order a glass of pinot noir and don’t get served a nice red, you can object.
Adam and you are on target. I thought varietal when the answer should have had me thinking wines. It didn’t help that I think of Pinot Noir as the “whitest” red wine. Not how it tastes but how I drink it.
The NYT and the WSJ make for an interesting combo today.
weird day to be the letter T
NYT: Fun theme, though not especially tricky for a Thursday. It must have taken some work to come up with themers where the second and third parts of the entry were legitimate entries on their own.
Had an inkling of what was going on at 36-A, but didn’t quite see it until 54-A. When I went back to look at 19-A, I could see what the entry was, but it still didn’t make much sense to me. I’ve never run across “Mensa” in that context – and I was interested in astronomy as a kid. I know that clue was meant as misdirection, but it seems like something like “Leo” or “Taurus” could have provided the misdirection but left fewer of us scratching our heads at the end.
Still need to Google the insect named for the Virgin Mary – not clear to me how that works.
The first parts are legitimate on their own as well.
Perhaps the clue refers to the fact that ER Nurses respond to Code Blues on the floor units.
Not in any hospital I’ve ever worked in. ED nurses stay in the ED. Other staff (providers, respiratory therapists, etc) respond to codes outside the ED. The nurses do not. I was glad to see ZDL comment on that because I had the same thought (although until today did not know he worked in an ED).
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
replying to rate
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Really enjoyed the solve. I liked the AHA moment after the first theme entry and that made the rest a lot easier. LUCHADORA was a new one to me. It sent me to Wikipedia to read up on Lucha Libre, which sounds fascinating! I love it when I learn something cultural and distinctive from solving a puzzle. And invariably, it will come up soon thereafter in some other context, which makes me happy for knowing it.
BTW, something about knowing stuff is really reinforcing- You can see it in kids as they get excited and shout out: “I know, I know”. I don’t think it’s just competitiveness but more of a sense of some mastery in a world full of unknowns.
PS. Good point, ZDL re the clue for ER nurse. It occurred to me fleetingly as I was solving but I can see how it would ring wrong if you practice in an ER setting.
I didn’t spot the displaced Ts in the NYT, so I couldn’t make sense of the revealer, but I still enjoyed figuring out the trick — although I’d never heard of MENSA as a constellation, and it sounds unimaginative. I’m pretty sure there aren’t constellations named ‘stick’ or ‘box.’
I wondered about the clue for FRAU, but Google tells me that Germans now use Frau as a form of address for all women, and also that Fräulein is no longer used because it’s deemed condescending.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
NYT: The lightbulb went on when I knew “Two sure things” had to be Death and Taxes. Then I figured that “tease up” meant Tees Up and then my brain said Voila. Thanks, John, for a very clever Thursday puzzle!
When I first started doing crosswords a classic crosswordese fill was “ELEMI” I hadn’t seen it in ages and there it was in the BEQ, I was awestruck to see it again, like an old friend.
a nice little bit of elegance in the Fireball is that the BLACK part of the rebus always reads across and WHITE is always in the down clues
Puzzle: Fireball; Rating: 4.5 stars
Good point! Thanks!
LAT: in the review, Gareth posits, “maybe the SBALOAN/RICOACT mini-theme tickled American solvers more?”
No, it did not.
Luckily, that did not detract from the theme (for me).
Puzzle: WSJ; Rating: 4 stars
Fun puzzle. My apartment lease is 67 pages.
NYT, about FLAT-EARTHER: Can you really call believing something that’s blatantly, proveably false an “opinion?” I know it’s a really small thing in a silly little puzzle, but to me, calling this an “opinion” legitimizes it in a way that it should never be. There are way too many people out there who actually believe this nonsense to be flippant about it. They’re not “entitled to their opinion” about this; they’re just wrong.
Puzzle: LAT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Very nice puzzle by Andrew Colin Kirk with four various religious-leader themers!
Sorry to differ on the ED clue but I worked as a nurse in the ED and we did respond to floor codes.