AV Club 4:29 (Amy) 
[2.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 8:11 (Gareth) 
[3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:42 (Amy) [3.21 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (Kyle) 
[4.33 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 
[3.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today 8:37 (Emily) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 5:53 (Jim) [2.36 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
David Alfred Bywaters’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Sad to Say”—Jim’s review
Theme answers were originally familiar phrases but they’ve had their final words changed to a homophone. The connection is that each homophone is also a reaction someone might have to sadness.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Sad to Say” · David Alfred Bywaters · Wed., 6.11.25
- 18a. [Bad sign for an airline passenger?] PILOT WAILS. Pilot whales.
- 24a. [Demanding child’s after-dinner complaint?] DESSERT WHINE. Dessert wine.
- 39a. [“This place is so bougie!”?] IN GROAN. Ingrown.
- 51a. [Unhappy outbursts inaudible in first class?] ECONOMY SIGHS. Economy size.
- 61a. [Consequence of a negative self-image?] MIRROR BAWL. Mirror ball.
Not for me. These all felt tortured and unfunny. We’re supposed to imagine a pilot wailing and find that humorous? Why isn’t ECONOMY SIGHS clued [Despondent reactions to a recession?]? Making it about airplane seating is unnecessarily confusing. Evoking ingrown toenails is just not a pleasant subject for a puzzle. And even if I knew that “bougie” meant “pretentiously fancy” (which I didn’t, though I’m trying not to hold that against the puzzle), I don’t see how that makes the clue an IN GROAN. Plus the inconsistent use of plurals really throws off the flow. Hard pass.
OLIVE GREEN, RINGS A BELL, and RAW ONION are all outstanding additions to the grid (though not enough to save the theme). Crosswordese like OREM, OTRO, OENO, and III didn’t help matters though.
Clues of note:
- 17a. [Customary behavior]. WONT. Thumbs up. Learned this word as a kid reading LOTR.
- 13d. [Cassowary’s home]. NEST. Today I learned that even though the cassowary has the moniker of “murder bird”, only two deaths have been documented in the last century (per Wikipedia). Compare this to the common ostrich which kills 2-3 people every year in South Africa.
- 34d. [Domingo delivery]. ARIA. Got me with this one. I was thinking of días de la semana and a sermon in Spanish.
- 55d. [Fly like an eagle]. SWOOP. We need to go out on a high note here, so let’s listen to Seal’s version of the Steve Miller Band song which was used in the ’96 film Space Jam.
2.75 stars.
Sam Koperwas & Jeff Chen’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 6/11/25 – no. 0611
I do like a geography theme! Here we have the MISSISSIPPI River flowing south, separating pairs of bordering states from north on down the river. Old Man River starts in Minnesota and reaches the Wisconsin border. Next, It’s IA and WI on opposite sides. Iowa and Illinois, then MO and IL. Kentucky gets involved for a bit before you’re between AR and TN. LA and MS take you out to the Gulf of Mexico. Now, I might’ve liked it better for MN and WI to be the first pair, but they might not generate good phrase options. Five pairs of state-abbreviation phrases intersecting with MISSISSIPPI in a symmetrical grid? That would be a challenge.
The states are contained in SIAMESE TWIN (… just the one?), MOTOR SKILLS, STAR WITNESS, and PLAGIARISMS (… you can pluralize that?).
I like the quasi-celestial STAR WITNESS crossing SUPERMOONS. I think the current full moon is called a strawberry moon but isn’t positioned to be a supermoon. Other fave fill: Nikki GIOVANNI (surprising to clue a poet via a Grammy nom), SEASONAL, DENALI National Park, and LEGO SET. Not keen on TTOP, plural AWS, ALVA, LAB SITE, AER, SES, ELIE, SSNS.
Etymology clue of the day: 39D. [Celebration whose full name translates as “festival of the first day”], TET. Seven syllables in the English translation! What an inefficient language we have.
Cute clue: 44D. [Hem, but not haw], SEW. Please consider hee-hawing while sewing.
3.5 stars from me.
Zhouqin Burnikel’s Universal crossword, “C-List” — pannonica’s write-up
Universal • 6/11/25 • Wed • “C-List” • Burnikel • solution • 20250611
- 16a. [*Biggest prize in hockey (Note the last word of each starred clue’s answer)] STANLEY CUP.
- 22a. [*Swede known for his temperature scale] ANDERS CELSIUS.
- 50a. [*Cyberpunk novel where minds outlive bodies] ALTERED CARBON.
- 61a. [*Service hub with headsets] CALL CENTER.
Yes, C can stand for cup, Celsius, carbon, and center, although I think center isn’t quite as strong an association as the others.
The crossword as a whole was well constructed and an absolute breeze to solve.
- 52d [The here and now] TODAY. 37a [Koi old goldfish] CARP.
- 3d [“Keep your eyes peeled!”] STAY ALERT. 49d [Outer layer of the eye] CORNEA.
- 53d [Subject of a paparazzi pic] CELEB. The ‘pic’ shortening signals that the answer will be similarly abbreviated.
- 1a [Not quite foggy] MISTY.
- 6a [Jumper on a Lab coat] FLEA. The Lab of the clue is a Labrador retriever; this is a common bit of wordplay in crosswords, but typically it isn’t capitalized. Doing so here makes the deception more noticeable, hence easier to suss out. And 46a [Toy with a tail] KITE tries to deceive us going in the other direction, putting us in mind of our canine pals.
- 19a [Georgetown athlete] HOYA. Also a relatively common type of garden plant, also known as waxflower.
- 56a [Actor Goree] ELI. New to me.
- 65a [Disk-shaped cookie] OREO. Oh, disc-shaped? That really narrows it down!
- 66a [Root veggies in rosolli and borscht] BEETS.
Michael Schlossberg’s AV Club Classic crossword, “On the Flip Side”–Amy’s recap
AV Club Classic crossword solution, 6/11/25 – “On the Flip Side”
Two puzzle images for you today: The blank PDF with the picture-book animals in some boxes, and the AV Club’s solution grid.
As their solution page explains, “In each theme entry, the shaded squares represent an open alphabet book; so, for instance, turning the page on the book that’s open to B and C will reveal D and E on the next two pages, changing MOB CRATE to MODERATE. Similarly, WHOM NEE becomes WHOOPEE, DOE FAIR becomes DOG HAIR, and PER SLANT becomes PETULANT.” AS EASY AS ABC and TURN THE PAGE are the revealer-ish entries suggesting how the theme works.
I don’t love that the entries that work with the Down crossers are nonsensical word pairs rather than plausible, if whimsical, word combos. WHOM NEE? Ugh. The animal pairs also aren’t in alphabetical/abecedarian order in the grid.
Blank grid with ABC book animals
Here are those theme clues:
- 24a. [Swarm + Egg holder (or, after you 61-Across on the circled pair: Neither right nor left)], MOB CRATE into MODERATE. The BC squares show a bear and a camel.
- 40a. [Salutation pronoun + Once called (or, after you 61-Across on the circled pair: “Yahoo!”)], WHOM NEE into WHOOPEE. Mouse and narwhal.
- 41a. [Female kangaroo + OK (or, after you 61-Across on the circled pair: Pet brush target)], DOE FAIR into DOG HAIR. Elephant and fish.
- 49a. [A pop + Bias (or, after you 61-Across on the circled pair: Sulky)], PER SLANT into PETULANT. Rabbit and snake.
Definitely a creative theme concept, but I’m not wild about the “phrases” created for the gimmick.
Least fave fill: DITS, NAG AT, AWS.
3.25 stars from me.
Mark Budovitch’s USA Today Crossword, “Double Up” — Emily’s write-up
Punny stuff!
USA Today, June 11, 2025, “Double Up” by Mark Budovitch
Theme: the first word of each downs themer is a homonym for a number that then doubles from left to right
Themers:
- 3d. [Achieved all your dreams and goals], WONATLIFE
- 25d. [“Cry me a river!”], TOOBADSOSAD
- 9d. [“As an example…”], FORINSTANCE
- 37d. [Dined, then dashed], ATEANDRAN
I found today’s themer set to be incredible, though sneaky. Did you catch it sooner? The set includes WONATLIFE, TOOBADSOSAD, FORINSTANCE, and ATEANDRAN. It took me until this write up to see the themer, or rather hear it when I was stumped and finally said them all aloud while pondering the title hint. With the theme, we get “one”, “two”, “four”, and “eight”—doubling with each consecutive themer! So satisfying.
Favorite fill: SNEAKER, SCARF, and CREAK
Stumpers: ETON (challenging cross for me today), TATE (challenging cross for me today), and EXCAVATE (“extract” and “uncover” came to mind first)
Even before the theme clicked for me, this puzzle was solid with a fairly smooth solve. Other than my lacking British knowledge with my crossed stumpers, nothing slowed me down too much though there were a few trickier cluings that took some crossings to get. Overall, a great puzzle with a nice grid design and a fantastic theme, themer set, and title hint. Kudos!
4.5 stars
~Emily
Dylan Schiff’s LA Times crossword, – Gareth’s theme summary
It’s always tricky basing a puzzle around proper nouns, like this one. The revealing entry is sublime, a STORYBOOKENDING. The trick is coming up with a four one-word kids’ books that are suitably famous. FWIW, I’ve only heard of Matilda and Holes; with the other’s being Wonder and Hoot. I often feel like US has a totally different kids book canon to the UK / Commonwealth?
- [Australia’s unofficial national anthem], WALTZINGMATILDA.
- [Bite-sized treats], DONUTHOLES
- [Wide-eyed awe], CHILDLIKEWONDER
- [Cares], GIVESAHOOT
Gareth
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
Maybe this is just my issue, but it really bothers me that there is no reference in the clue or the answer MISSISSIPPI to “river” or “the” or “mighty” to indicate it isn’t the state. The state of Mississippi doesn’t divide the US.
“Natural dividing line on a US map” didn’t evoke a river vs the state for you?
We’ve discussed this before here. And why I know this. By its etymology, MISSISSIPPI means ‘big river’ or close to it, in its native language.
So there is no explicit need for a river reference.
NYT: I enjoyed this, but I don’t love the dupe between MS (Mississippi, the state), and the theme answer of MISSISSIPPI, the river. I realize that won’t bother everyone, though.
I caused my own problem by thinking “Yogi’s accessory” referred to Yogi Bear. I first put in TIE and then HAT. I eventually figured out that it was MAT but HAT was so close that it tripped me up for way too long.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
Whereas my mind unaccountably went straight to Yogi Berra, so I filled it in as BAT… 🙄
The dupe this once hardly seems like a flaw or, for that matter, given that one use isn’t the entry but simply the circled pair, even a flaw. Or if it’s a flaw, it’s a flaw in U.S. geography without which the puzzle’s US map would hardly be so nice and thorough.
Gotta agree with stmv that there’s no conceivable need to change the clue, which refers to one of the country’s most notable facts. Anyone, for that matter, who’s read Huckleberry Finn feels that fact deeply. Mutman’s explanation, new to me, while a fun factoid (my thanks for it), isn’t necessary.
NTY: I would suggest that “T Top” either be retired or prefixed with “former” or “old”. The last one seems to have been a 2002 Camero. I’m sure that in the last twenty years I’ve seen more T Tops in crossword puzzles than on the road.
+1
Happily, any clue can omit “former.” (Today’s Chang and Eng are no longer with us, for instance.) Happily, because T-tops are so cool.
Just this month, Elaine revealed she though T-top was a reference to Thunderbird convertibles. When it comes to love of cars, we’re a mixed marriage. But I’ve “forced” her to drive some pretty cool cars, so she’s known as “gangsta granny” at the shop, and she does get a kick out of that.
Puzzle: WSJ; Rating: 1 star
WAILS and WHALES are not homophones. Neither are WHINE and WINE. Total dud of a puzzle.
Depends on the speaker. They’re perfect homophones for me. (But puzzles involving pronunciation are always treacherous…)
Gee, never occurred to me they might not be homonyms for everyone.
You don’t pronounce the H? That baffles me. Sorry.
This discussion reminds me of this clip from Family Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfVEvgWd4ek
Thanks, that’s funny; a little humor for Mr.Ghrumpy.
Elaine and I are also a mixed marriage when it comes to that H. I pronounce “huge” as “aitch-yuge” for her to convey I know there’s supposed to be an aspiration. Since this is a New York puzzle, inserting that H is a mispronunciation.
So … Those lovely huge things in the ocean are great blue wails/wales? Sorry, but I cannot accept that.
You might want to look at this.
I still don’t hear it. Do you pronounce it as two syllables, WA-HAILS? Anyway this theme is more or less one of punning more than simple substitution, and puns often make a point of being an embarrassing threat.
Puzzle: WSJ; Rating: 4 stars
I thought the theme was good. Three themers made me laugh; the SIGHS and WHINE clues didn’t really stick the landing for me, but were by no means awful. Any pronunciation of “whale” or “whine” with an aitch vocalization up after that W sounds off to my ear.
Tell Greenpeace. :-)
I truly have a hard time understanding WAT you folks are saying. Do you go to the auto shop to get a new WEEL for your car? I can see WARF for WHARF, not to mention HORE for WHORE, HOO’S at the door and HOOSE shoes are these in the middle of the floor, but those three drop the W, not the H. Do you WISK away the ashes in front of your fireplace? Do you wait a AWILE before you call someone one on their WILES? Do you type your essays on WITE paper? I could go on and on, but I’ll stop, WICH I’m sure will delight you. :-)
My answer to all of your “do you” questions above is a resounding ‘yup’.
You may find some illumination here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html
+1
Yes – to pretty much all of the above. I was born and raised in the Upper Midwest, where we have no discernible accent ;-) – so all the TV news anchors are trained to speak like us.
Tet is short for “Tet Nguyen Dan” not as efficient as one might think.
Thursday WSJ alert: the theme clues include characters that Across Lite can’t display, so you might want to refer to the on-line app to see what those clues should look like.
Thanks for the heads-up, Martin. I’ll try to remember that when I solve it tomorrow.