Friday, May 30, 2025

LAT untimed (pannonica) [3.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:38 (Amy) [4.13 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:45 (Jim) [3.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) rate it

Rafael Musa’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s write-up

NY Times crossword solution, 5/30/25 – no. 0530

This puzzle gets off to such a fun start! GAY BAR, SWEAR JAR, HOT SAUCE, ROCK BAND? LET’S GO! The whole thing played on the easy side, which enhances those vibes.

Other fave fill: DRIVER’S LICENSES, SODA BREAD (my friend Susan bakes this every St. Patrick’s Day), OTTER, SLAM DUNK, BOSSA NOVA, LIPREAD, AP SCORE, INSIDE JOB. Also welcome: the [South Asian wrap(s)] duo of a SARI and DOSAS. Just got derailed looking up places to get good dosa in Chicago, found a place near me. Haven’t tried any dosa yet!

I also liked the twofer of nail polish brands. OPI is the O.G. of pun color names, 28A. [Nail polish brand with a Raisin Your Voice shade]. ESSIE has been getting in on the action, 31D. [Nail polish brand with a Gossip N’ Spill shade], more a vibe than a pun. Man, I haven’t gotten a manicure since before my kidney transplant, but maybe I’ll get one this summer.

Question about 63A. [Some nostalgic throwbacks], OLD SONGS: Are those a thing, by that term? Or are they just oldies? Are 1940s tunes OLD SONGS while 1960s songs are oldies?

Four stars from me.

Joe Deeney’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

LAT • 5/30/25 • Fri • Deeney • solution • 20250530

The theme answers begin with synonyms for high quality.

• 17a. [Designation for who or what, perhaps] LEADING QUESTION.
• 23a. [Designation for tri-tip or flap steak, perhaps] TOP SIRLOIN.
• 37a. [Designation for “Unforgiven” or “Tombstone,” perhaps] BEST WESTERN.
• 49a. [Designation for mozzarella or cheddar, perhaps] GOAT CHEESE. My first try was HEAD CHEESE.
• 57a. [Designation for Ticonderoga or Faber-Castell, perhaps] NUMBER ONE PENCIL. B1 or H1?

In each case, the “Designation for” addresses the first part of the answer, while the rest of the clue relates to the second part. We are not to treat them as whole descriptions, although the answers themselves are familiar phrases.

• 1d [Bits of green in blue] ISLETS. I confess that the clue flummoxed me, but as a veteran crossword solver, it should have been a nearly reflexive get. I’ve seen plenty of similar clues before.
• 10d [When Miranda says, “O, brave new world / That has such people in ’t!”] ACT V. 18d [XXX divided by X] III.
• 12d [Not on the up-and-up] CROOKED. I had the wrong idea about this clue because I was primed by the preceding 11d [Severe decline] TAILSPIN. 62a [Stand up] RISE.
• 25d [One of the two women in “Hamlet”] OPHELIA, the other is Gertrude. More Shakespeare. Several months ago someone (Eric H?) commented that I could have shared The Band’s song of that name (something to do with the line “please darken my door”), so here it is now.
  
• 26d [Terse assurance] IT IS. 21a [Chapel vow] I DO.
• 31d [Rub the wrong way?] ABRADE. 1a [Rash reaction?] ITCH.
• 39d [Spotlight] FEATURE. 35a [Potential auction winner] HIGH BID. Both nearly theme-adjacent?
• 43d [Immobile] AT REST. These don’t feel quite equivalent, with immobile seeming much more severe.
• 53d [As above, in a footnote: Abbr.] IBID, short for ibidem, meaning ‘in the same place’.
• 54d [Perspective, metaphorically] LENS. 9a [Tune in] WATCH.
  
• 59d [Love of another sport?] NIL. Tennis’ love transposed to, for instance, soccer.
• 60a [Basket part] NET. Basketball, presumably. Originally the hoop-net structures were actual baskets with the bottoms removed.
• 20a [A couple of dollars?] ELS. The paired letters in the word.
• 39a [True to life] FACTUAL. A lot of people have a problem with facts, and many of those are people who consider themselves unswayed by emotion and rigorously logical. This would be funnily ironic if it weren’t so dangerous. </soapbox>
• 65a [Basic sammies] BLTS. Ugh, “sammies”. Hey, what it is it with all the various football (multiple kinds) players named “Sammie“?

Good puzzle, but I don’t feel 100% sold on the theme.

Amie Walker and Amanda Rafkin’s Universal crossword, “The Fairly Oddparents”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases that have the letters in PARENTS scrambled consecutively within. (I’ve decided to take a page out of pannonica’s book and completely ignore the annoying parenthetical hints in the clues that tell you which squares to count.)

Universal crossword solution · “The Fairly OddParents” · Amie Walker and Amanda Rafkin · Fri., 5.30.25

• 17a. [Co-founder, perhaps] BUSINESS PARTNER.
• 29a. [Sports gambling figure] POINT SPREAD.
• 47a. [Billowy attire in the “U Can’t Touch This” music video] HAMMER PANTS. I appreciate this nod to the Gen Xers.
• 61a. [Disneyland ride through Neverland] PETER PAN‘S FLIGHT. Easily the best ride in Fantasyland…at least as of the last time we went.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the theme during the solve, as I’m not too good at anagramming seven letters on the fly, and the clues were easy enough to sort through (though I appreciate younger solvers might not know HAMMER PANTS). I like the cryptic play on words in the title using “odd” to indicate scrambling, and my kids watched some of that show, so it’s quite familiar to me.

However, things got off to a rocky start with 1a: [Taylor Swift’s “_he _ortured _oets _epartment”]. I know next to nothing about her music so I had to rely solely on the clue. Clearly it ends with _TPD but I did consider an S for that first letter. It ends up being TTPD which probably a lot of people know since it’s her most recent album, but a lot of us don’t and this just looks like random letters in a grid. I try not to be a “Get off my lawn” type of guy, but this doesn’t look crossword-worthy to me. I sure wouldn’t want to see SPLHCB in a grid clued [_gt. _epper’s _onely _earts _lub _and].

Another thorny section was the center right with somewhat random “HEY ALL” [Group email intro], somewhat random first letter in D LIST [Tier of minor celebs], and the awkward “AS DO I“. Oh and I almost forgot CBT [Common treatment for anxiety: Abbr.]. That T was not friendly as CBD is all over the place these days and has been anecdotally used for anxiety (though it’s not common).

But those long stacks are lovely with LENA HEADEY, “ARE WE ALONE?”, FELL ASLEEP, and ANTI-MATTER. “I BEG YOU“, STIR-FRY, and SEA LEGS are other assets to the grid. Millenials probably enjoyed the Nickelodeon crossing of SLIMED [Covered in green Nickelodeon goop] and TOMMY [Dil’s brother on “Rugrats”].

Clues of note:

• 9a. [A Midwestern one might include Cool Whip]. SALAD. Oof, really? Are we talking a vegetable salad with Cool Whip added or some sort of sweet/fruit salad?
• 68a. [Website with custom game pieces]. ETSY. That’s unusually specific, but I guess if you want personalized Meeples for your board game, you could get someone to print them off for you.

Three stars from me.