LAT tk (Gareth) 
[2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 29:02 (Eric) 
[2.10 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) rate it
Universal (Sunday) 7:04 (Jim) 
[4.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 
[3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 4:42 (Matt G) [3.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
John Kugelman’s New York Times Crossword “Meeting Their Match” — Eric’s review
John Kugelman’s New York Times Crossword “Meeting Their Match” — 6/7/25
I ended up cheating a little to finish the SE corner on this. I knew 107D [“Thong Song” singer, 2000] SISQO was something like “Sisko,” but couldn’t remember the spelling. And for some inexplicable reason, I interpreted 116D [Pioneer in electronica music] ENO as using Spanish, which kept me from putting in our favorite Brit electronic musician for a long time. Also, I’ve never heard of 117D [Soccer analyst Holden] STU.
Other than that corner, this wasn’t too difficult. The grid has four drawings of horseshoe magnets, each of which makes a Down answer bend to an Across answer:
- 1D [What Jason Momoa has, notably] ABS OF ST bends to the right at 42A TEEL for the full answer ABS OF STEEL.
- 9D [Jason Statham or Sylvester Stallone] ACTIONS bends to the left at 43A RATS for the full answer ACTION STAR.
- 10D [Churchgoer] CONGREG bends to the right at 45A GANT for the full answer CONGREGANT.
Because I need to go cook dinner, I’ll let you figure out the other magnet answers yourself.
There is more, as 108A [Powerful force of attraction on display in this puzzle?] ANIMAL MAGNETISM tells us: At each set of poles in the magnets, the letters spell out an animal (indicated in the above answers with red letters).
I’m not fond of grids that have gibberish answers, and this one is full of them. And one of my least-favorite puzzle-solving experiences (especially in a 21X21 grid) is to solve all the theme answers and then have to chip away at the remaining fill (in this case, predominantly the SE corner).
There’s a wide variety of cultural references in the fill, which makes it easy if you know a lot of stuff and tough if there’s something you don’t know. Just in the top central area you’ve got music, sports and movie-making:
- 10A [Singer Cruz known as the “Queen of Salsa”] CELIA
- 20A [Rafael Nadal has won a record 14 of these] FRENCH OPENS
- 24A [Deal with a problem later, as a filmmaker] FIX IT IN POST
I didn’t have much trouble with those answers (though I did first want FIX IT IN EDITING), but I can see solvers who don’t know ANSEL Adams, SALERNO, Uncle MILTIE Berle or STRATOcaster guitars having difficulties getting anywhere. It would be hard to make sense of the magnet trick if you couldn’t fill in around the bent answers.
Some of the fill is nice: BATTLE ROYALES, I WANNA SEE, ZIP TIES.
Jeff Chen and Paul Coulter’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Ad Absurdum”—Jim’s review
Two heavy hitters bring us today’s puzzle, so you’d expect it to be good…and it is! Famous slogans are repurposed for a different product.
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Ad Absurdum” · Jeff Chen and Paul Coulter · 6.8.25
- 21a. [Advertising slogan for “America’s Got Talent”?] YOU DESERVE A BREAK TODAY. McDonalds (70s/80s).
- 36a. [Advertising slogan for the MLB?] GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL. Pokemon.
- 47a. [Advertising slogan for Chippendales?] WHERE’S THE BEEF? Wendy’s.
- 67a. [Advertising slogan for the NBA?] AMERICA RUNS ON DUNKIN. Dunkin (Donuts).
- 86a. [Advertising slogan for the PGA?] DRIVERS WANTED. Volkswagen.
- 96a. [Advertising slogan for Midas’ muffler service?] CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Verizon.
- 116a. [Advertising slogan for McCafe?] THE QUICKER PICKER UPPER. Bounty (paper towels).
(Traveling this weekend, so I have to make this quick. My flight is boarding soon.)
A fun set. I especially liked the MLB and NBA entries.
In the fill, I’m not so sure about UNCLIPPED, but I’ll happily take highlights OLD TIMERS, “TAKE THAT!”, SEA SPRAY, OPEN ROAD, MOUNTIES, GRID IRON, and WAFER (thin).
Four stars.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “There’s More” — Matt’s review
Evan Birnho’z Washington Post crossword solution, “There’s More,” 6/8/2025
Apologies for the delay this week. Our themers are before-and-after phrases where the first word of the before is a single letter. As we can expect from Evan, a revealer at the end tells us that those letters spell something apt:
- 23a [One evaluating Dior’s flared dress style?] A LINE JUDGE
- 25a [Mixed-greens dish eaten while employing a euphemism for romantic affection?] L WORD SALAD
- 36a [Fans of a discontinued Apple music device?] I POD PEOPLE
- 40a [Dresses worn during a young sluggers game?] T BALL GOWNS
- 55a [Dark beer served to a fearsome dino?] T REX STOUT
- 66a [Waters where unhip squares from the 1950s roam?] L SEVEN SEAS
- 68a [Ocean predator in an internet birthday greeting?] E CARD SHARK
- 80a [Musical father who only plays in a key with four sharps?] E MAJOR DAD
- 97a [Reptilian mascot of a video game console?] X BOX TURTLE
- 99a [Public spectacles on a ski lift?] T BAR SCENES
- 116a [Dessert for the cartoonish who created Mr. Natural?] R CRUMB CAKE
- 119a [Athletic activity for Mr. T’s TV crew?] A TEAM SPORT
- 128a [Bonus … such as the phrase spelled out by the letters appended to 12 phrases in this puzzle] ADD ON
Those added letters spell A LITTLE EXTRA, as promised.
I had a good time with this one! The theme clues were silly but not so twisted that I couldn’t get to the base phrase, and I think it’s a pretty consistent set. It took me a minute post solve to dig up L-SEVEN and mid-solve to remember R CRUMB; the former I’d recognize in the longer phrase “L-seven weenie,” while the latter is something I recently told friends they probably didn’t need to worry about seeing in modern crossword puzzles. So eating my hat there! I didn’t know at all what MAJOR DAD is/was. From Google, looks like a TV show a bit before my time. Do I google “turtle” every time they’re called a reptile to confirm? Sure do.
Outside of the theme, also a good time! The grid pattern looks like it might be a bit blocky, but my solve felt pretty connected. Other highlights: STRAW clued as a “dinner tube” // OILSKIN is just a fun word // learning the word “livity” (“the Rastafari concept of righteous, everliving living”) from the clue for RASTA // [Couple often banned from a casino?] for JOKERS was very nice. I was thinking something about loaded dice
NYT: It wasn’t until I read the NYT Wordplay column that I realized that each pair of attracted answers sort of goes together: ABS OF STEEL/ACTION STAR, GREEN GRASS/PERIWINKLE, etc. I’m sure that upped the construction challenge.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
I knew there had to be something more to the NYT. Thanks for sharing. It doesn’t make the puzzle solving experience retroactively more enjoyable but good to know there’s an additional dimension.
This doesn’t add one bit to the fun value of the puzzle. It’s wasted effort.
I missed that aspect of the puzzle too, and as a result was thoroughly baffled by the presence of the magnets in the grid.
I miss the old rating system.
Me, too. Now I just don’t rate.
Me three
Certainly that is your choice, but I’m somewhat baffled about how the new rating system is much more burdensome than the previous one–in both you just click the “rate it” link but instead of choosing the number of stars on the top of the post, you just choose it at the bottom. (I’m assuming you have chosen to retain your name and email address in the comment form.) The puzzle you are rating continues to be already chosen for you.
The new system serves two purposes for us, it limits raters to approved commenters and it also encourages raters to add some rationale for their rating.
Finally I would add we have allowed raters to remain anonymous if they just enter a period in the comment field.
You turned a one-click process into a multi-click process. It’s a pain in the derriere.
People were abusing the old system. A rating system that is more robust at the cost of a little inconvenience is a more than fair trade-off, and if you genuinely wanted to be a responsible member of this community, you’d agree. If you want everything handed to you on a plate, you’re welcome to go elsewhere, but if you like this site and regularly visit, take on a little responsibility and give sincere ratings to benefit your fellow solvers.
Dave worked really hard to make our new setup more secure yet still really easy. The entitlement and ungratefulness on display is disheartening.
It’s an anonymous online rating system. It’s never going to be “secure” or “valid.” In fact, I’d argue that it’s actually less “valid” because it’s the result of a subjective belief about what the ratings should look like.
That said, I certainly don’t have to rate puzzles—so I don’t.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
In my humble opinion, the perfect crossword grid should be full of people’s names, brand names, place names, internet lingo, technical jargon, Latin words, and of course good ol’ crosswordese like ERE or ALEE.
Instead, this puzzle dared to feature plain English words like MESH, SPACING, or RATIONAL. Although these normal words rarely appeared, the few instances of them have adversely impacted my solving experience so much that I am giving this puzzle one star.
Frederick, this made me chuckle. I have to assume you’re joking and that your criticisms are actually praise.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
I have no words… other to say that I think 1 star may be generous with this one. TEEL, BORK, SRAS, RASS, TINGS. What are we doing, people?! Makes me want to get a look at some of the puzzles in the NYT reject pile.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
Sure had enough thoroughly, unpleasantly junky fill for me.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
I come here every day and never pot. But, this might be my least favorite puzzle that I can recall.
This is the link for WaPo, which I was looking for.
NYT – Never have I ever heard the term GLAMAZON, and I hate it.
+1
I had heard GLAMAZON before, but I was surprised to learn that it goes back to 1943. I would have thought it was a much more recent coinage.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glamazon
In 1943, Lois DeFee was first billed as “Queen of the Glamazons” at Minsky’s burlesque theater in Chicago.
NYT: It’s a trifecta! (1) A puzzle that comes with a note in AcrossLite, telling me this might not be the best way to solve the puzzle. (2) A theme that results in multiple gibberish entries in the grid. (3) An “isn’t that an impressive feat of puzzle construction” aspect to the theme – the animals – that adds nothing to the solving experience.
On the bright side, the new rating system seems to be working well today – this is a solid 1.94 in my book.
Gary, I’ll leave aside your #2 and #3 (and the unnecessarily mean comment in your second paragraph) but I’ll ask you about #1. It’s already been long established by now that Across Lite can’t handle all aspects about every Sunday NYT crossword, more so these days ever since the NYT stopped posting .puz files on their website and so the scraper tool is the only way you can get them. Knowing that, why would you still insist on solving the Sunday NYT in Across Lite when you know that some Sunday puzzles just won’t translate into Across Lite in the best way? Even if Across Lite is your general preference, could you not solve the Sunday NYT in their app or print out the PDF and solve it there instead?
Obviously if you didn’t solve in Across Lite this time because you saw the warning note, and still didn’t enjoy the crossword, then okay … but it seems like every time a puzzle is published with a warning about Across Lite being unable to handle it (or not being the best medium for solving it), you deem that the fault of the puzzle. We’ve known about Across Lite’s limitations for years now.
Evan,
I guess I’m old-school – I like to solve crosswords that could be solved on paper. For me, AcrossLite is a convenient way to solve those puzzles without having to print them out or subscribe to the dead-tree version of the newspaper. The tricks/features/extras that the NYT seems increasingly to want to incorporate into its crosswords add little/nothing to my solving experience – mostly, they’re a PITA.
For the record, with today’s puzzle, after I saw the note in AL, I went back to the NYT page and saw the “magnets,” so I knew where there was something “entertaining” (for very small values of “entertaining”) going on.
Not clear on what is “unnecessarily mean” about my second paragraph. I’m simply agreeing with the ratings posted by other readers of this blog (I don’t usually rate puzzles). Is saying I agree with the average rating “mean?” Is that meaner than some other poster giving the puzzle a 1-star rating? I know you’re not a fan of the star-ratings, but in my opinion, today they are pretty much on-target.
Okay but I solved it on paper and the magnets were in the PDF — so, how you would have solved it on paper if you’d chosen that. Perhaps seeing them could theoretically have made it a little easier to see the theme (it felt like a typical NYT Sunday difficulty for me though I’m sure that wasn’t true for every paper solver) where not seeing them in Across Lite could have been more challenging. And maybe you’d have still disliked it as much as you did even if you solved it on paper, I couldn’t say. My point was just to reiterate that I don’t think it makes much sense to say that it’s a weakness of the crossword for having visual elements that Across Lite can’t replicate since we all know by now that it’s a common limitation of Across Lite. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that maybe on other puzzles you’d have a different reaction to seeing the PDF afterwards, but then I’d guess you’d have enjoyed the theme more in that case.
And yeah I didn’t think you were simply agreeing with others. I thought it was mean to end your comment with what I interpreted as “Hey good news, the star ratings are good today since everyone else seemed to think this puzzle was garbage just like I did.” This is one of many reasons why I despise the star ratings, because they give people an excuse to pile on and be nasty for no great reason. If it wasn’t your favorite puzzle, why not just say that instead of pointing to the star ratings as though they should be used as evidence of anything?
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
NYT: I feel like there was a decent theme idea lurking here, and the editor should have sent it back to try again on the execution.
Agreed.
I’m baffled by all the complaints about “gibberish fill” like RASS. GREENGRASS is “bent” by the action of the animal magnet, so it makes a 90 degree turn. RASS is not an entry. This is not the first time this kind of theme has appeared, but I don’t recall such dislike of the concept. Perhaps it’s a side effect of so many brilliant puzzles by Evan, where words that are operated on for a theme manage to form new words. Has he ruined us for any theme with partial words in a grid?
I am one who complains about “gibberish fill” (and did today). I believe that when I look at a completed crossword grid, like a Scrabble board, every entry should make sense, on its own.
It’s one of the standards I consider when evaluating a theme/puzzle. I’m entertained by themes that involve changes of direction or missing letter/words, etc. But I expect them to render a grid that makes sense.
Recently (I think), we had a puzzle in which black squares in some of the across answers represented T’s. But all of the actual across entries were legit – cool!
We also had a puzzle where “IF,” “AND,” or “BUT” were missing from the entries. But all of the actual entries were legit – cool!
When some entries are “gibberish” in order to make a theme work, I don’t know that it’s a fatal flaw – it just makes it kind of a mediocre construction. (IMHO)
“I believe that when I look at a completed crossword grid, like a Scrabble board, every entry should make sense, on its own.”
That’s my view also. I sometimes cut a puzzle some slack in this regard if it’s not too difficult to look at the grid, apply the trick, and understand the entries.
I’m also not usually bothered by “trivia” or PPP (as Rex’s readers name it) in puzzles. But the combination of the gibberish and the seemingly excessive trivia in this grid did nothing to salvage a concept better left on the drawing board.
I, too, am a bit baffled by the nearly uniform animosity to this puzzle. I enjoyed it; the theme clicked in pretty quickly (magnets bending the two related answers to each other) though I didn’t catch on to the animals until the revealer (which helped me quickly fix a mistake). I found it a fun solve! I agree that it would’ve been one notch better if all of the 4 letter “bends” spelled valid words, but as is, I thought it worked quite well. I guess I expect on Thursdays and Sundays to see some non-standard but interesting crossword play, and this puzzle delivered.
I also enjoyed this NYT crossword.
In my opinion, solvers who really, Really, REALLY dislike, detest, abhor a particular crossword, are not approaching it with an open mind… but with preconceptions about what a crossword should be…
or shouldn’t be…
or what they want it to be.
More’s the pity.
I’ve been doing crosswords all of my Baby Boomer life, since as a kid, discovering Dell Crossword magazines on newstands…
have yet to get jaded about it…
and don’t expect to.
1 star.
Completing this puzzle was a slog, though it is one of the easiest I’ve ever done. The fact that each animal name had a superfluous letter, thereby creating a non-word, was more than I could take. Hoe did this one get past the puzzle editors?
First time ever that I quit a puzzle because it was so NOT fun. I couldn’t make out the images were magnets! I thought they were some kind of signal to go in reverse or u-turn.
Does the now defunct rating system include negative numbers? If so, I would give it a -5.
I’m not a churchgoer. Do they now call 10D “Churchgoer” CONGREG?
No, it’s time to call the church exterminator for congreg ants.
Okay, Martin, don’t rub it in. :-)
Sheesh. I was completely lost with this puzzle.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
We should call grids like these Malcolms. I read the constructor’s notes and this to me is a classic case of “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.” I didn’t enjoy solving it at the time, and I think I like it even less after learning about the frankly ridiculous amount of effort it took to produce. Some ideas just have to be abandoned.
“your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
I have not run across this before, but I think I may have it printed, framed and hung on my office wall.
Where does one find constructor’s notes ?
https://www.xwordinfo.com/
There are actually two sets of notes today – one in the NYT Wordplay column, and another on XWordInfo. Both talk about how the grid took months of wrangling and outside help and stubborn determination, which called to mind Dr. Ian Malcolm’s quote in Jurassic Park.
Thank you, Eric and Jamie.
NYT: 1 star. This one feels like the editors are trying so hard to be hip that they are blind to the outcome when you set the trash compactor to disgorge and spew to accomplish it. The theme, the fill, the cluing, and the crossings from hell are all disasters. No redeeming qualities. It is clearly reminiscent of the steady stream of bad that we were all treated to when Joel was the temporary editor. Is this more Joel running amok?
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
Just okay.
Since no one has commented on the WaPo puzzle, I am chiming in to say I liked it. The only theme answer that caused me trouble was LSEVENSEAS, which I initially had as LSEFENSEAS because I wanted a broad-LEAFED plant (apparently you can say broad-leaved or broadleaf, but you can’t mash them up as I did).
And when made the correction, I still had to google around to find out what LSEVEN refers to. Not part of my language. But all the rest were familiar.
The WaPo was a fun puzzle. Once I figured out what was going on, I tried to concentrate on getting the theme answers with as few crosses as possible. When I saw “ski lift” in the 99A clue, I knew it had to be T-BAR something. I’m eagerly awaiting the next ski season, though I don’t expect to ride any T-bars ever again.
The L-SEVEN thing is not really in my vocabulary, either, though I did pick it up a few months ago from some crossword.
As I too often do, I hastily read the clue for 128A ADD-ON, so it wasn’t until I started reading Matt’s review that I realized I had missed A LITTLE EXTRA.
Those kinds of metas/quasi-metas that depend on the position a theme answer has in the grid boggle my little wannabe constructor brain. I have enough trouble getting a fillable grid when I have much more flexibility in placing the theme answers.
Thanks, Evan, for a pleasant 15-ish minutes.
I really liked Evan’s puzzle, too. I assumed the extra letters had to spell something out, and that helped me further down the puzzle. A very smooth solving experience.
NYT: Picking nits . . . I believe 66 Across would be BATTLES ROYALE to be grammatically correct, not BATTLE ROYALES . . . parallel to ATTORNEYS GENERAL being the plural of ATTORNEY GENERAL
M-W takes any of the four permutations.
.1.0. a mess
Puzzle: Universal (Sunday); Rating: 4.5 stars
Very fun puzzle that was breezy — which allowed me to keep chuckling all the way thru the solve!
Regarding the NYT crossword:
I apparently am in the minority of seasoned crossword solvers…
but I’m more than willing to put up with tired crosswordese and so-called ‘gibberish’, if that’s what’s needed to make a puzzle that’s original, and fun to solve… which this was for me.
I also don’t understand the many individuals who gripe about puzzles with a novel grid design. There are plenty of crosswords available that have a standard no-frills grid. Go do them… and leave the rest to us.
By the way, I’m a retired baby boomer who’s been doing and enjoying puzzles all of my life… and thankfully haven’t gotten jaded about it.