Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Jonesin’ 4:21 (Erin) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
NYT 5:05 (Evan) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [3.44 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:03 (Eric) [4.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 5:36 (Jim) [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Roll With It” — rice to the occasion. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 6/17/25

Hello lovelies! This week we have a tasty sushi theme for the Jonesin’ puzzle, where the first word of each theme entry is a type of sushi roll.

1. 17a. [Windows 98 card game that as of 2005 was the most played game on Windows PC] SPIDER SOLITAIRE
2. 27a. [Colorful 1980s animated series with the villain Murky Dismal] RAINBOW BRITE
3. 48a. Conqueror of a mythical flying beast] DRAGON SLAYER
4. 63a. [1965 hit co-written by the late Brian Wilson] CALIFORNIA GIRLS

Other things:

• 18d. [The___ (“New Rose” punk band with guitarist Captain Sensible)] DAMNED. I love the name Captain Sensible, but I think I love the drummer’s name Rat Scabies more.
• 52d. [Tree trunks, botanically] BOLES. I love learning new things from puzzles.

Until next week!

Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword (themeless) — Eric’s review

Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword — 6/17/25

I was a third of the way done with this before I started trying to figure out the theme — and then I saw that there wasn’t one. I truly enjoy Rafael Musa’s themeless puzzles in the New York Times; while this one had some nice fill, I generally prefer themeless puzzles to be a bit more challenging.

• 1A [Social media request for followers to assess one’s clothes] FIT CHECK That’s new to me and I really can’t imagine doing that. In many ways, I’m glad to have gotten through my teens and young adulthood long before social media existed.
• 13A [“Totally standard behavior”] AS ONE DOES I picked that up from reading comments here on Diary of a Crossword Fiend, as one does.
• 16A [NYC site of a 1969 civil rights uprising] STONEWALL An appropriate entry for Pride Month.
• 21A [Orange fruits that symbolize good fortune in Chinese culture] PERSIMMONS I didn’t know this, but there’s a lot I don’t know about Chinese culture.
• 39A [Steve Jobs or Simone Biles, e.g.] ADOPTEE I might have known that Mr Jobs was adopted, but I don’t think I knew that about Ms Biles.
• 56A [“OK, I’m done complaining”] END OF RANT If only that were true.
• 58A [Beach vacation reminders] TANLINES I’ve always found those sexy. I might have put a “maybe” in the clue because not everyone tans.
• 10D [Closing statement?] THAT’S A WRAP Cute clue that I missed while solving.
• 21D [Wet blanket] PARTY POOPER
• 53D [___-CIO (labor union group)] AFL Does the parenthetical phrase really help anyone?

George Jasper’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Split Levels”—Jim’s review

Circled letters spell out famous mountains which are split by a black square. The revealer is SPACE MOUNTAIN (35a, [Attraction at a Disney park, and what you need to do to fill each set of circles]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Split Levels” · George Jasper · Tue., 6.17.25

• EVEREST is formed by 13a EVER and 14a ESTHER.
• ARARAT is formed by 24a RARA and 26a RATE.
• SINAI is formed by 60a AS IN and 61a AIN’T.
• RUSHMORE is formed by 64a INRUSH and 65a MORE.

Solid. I’m not totally keen on those short entries RARA/RATE and AS IN/AIN’T. It would be nicer if the theme entries were a bit more meaty like TIARA/RATTLE and BASIN/AIKIDO or some such. And in my book, ONRUSH/OBOE beats INRUSH/OBIE any day.

REM SLEEP, ALSO-RAN, NON-STORY top the fill. I raised my eyebrows at ASTERISM and UNIT TEST. The former is simply a word I’ve never heard before and am glad to have learned it (it means a recognizable collection of stars that don’t form a constellation). The latter, with its clue [Coder’s evaluation of an individual module], doesn’t seem like something most people would know. You could have a UNIT TEST in a classroom covering a block of instruction, but that phrase feels a bit like green paint.

Clue of note: 12d. [Pour from a pot]. HOT TEA. “Pour” is a noun here. Meh.

Three stars.

Tarun Krishnamurthy’s New York Times crossword—Evan M’s review

Hi all. Evan Mulvihill here. I’ve been basking in the feels of positive reception to my NYT debut this past Friday (a themeless), but it also has me thinking about how much I struggle to come up with good themes! This puzzle reminded me that simple ideas can be pulled off with panache and style, and it’s even more impressive that Tarun Krishnamurthy did so before graduating from high school. That cute little factoid is mentioned in the puzzle’s final Across entry [Typical high school student … like this puzzle’s constructor!] — TEEN.

OK, now for my notes on Tarun’s puzzle. I’ll be honest, when I solve for time, I don’t even try to understand the theme until afterward because puzzling on it usually takes more time than just schussing through the grid. Afterward, though, it was an easy one to tease out because of the split-entry revealer REESE’S // PIECES and the circled squares, which have “pieces” of the word “Reese’s” in them (RE/ES/ES).

Which brings me to wonder: whomst is this eponymous Reese of the piece? Harry Burnett Reese (1879–1956) was a confectioner and businessman whose early career included a stint as a dairyman for none other than the Milton S. Hershey in (of course) Hershey, PA. Reese became a piece of the Candy Hall of Fame (a real and necessary thing!) in 2009.

And the even bigger question: of Reese’s pieces and Reese’s peanut butter cups, which is the superior candy? (Sorry, Tarun, but the cups win by a landslide for me.)

I really enjoyed the themer HERE COMES THE SUN, was OK with PRESSES THE FLESH (even though I’d never heard of the phrase personally–it’s giving more sexual than canvassing vibes to me), and was meh about Monsieur RENE DESCARTES‘ apparition dans ce jeu de mots croisés. Don’t get me wrong – I love a cogito ergo sum mome, but it lacked that certain je ne sais quoi for me because it’s a kind of random historical person instead of a more matching phrase. In his NYT Wordplay blog constructor’s notes blurb, Tarun notes that he avoided phrases that had the final ES be a plural — it leads moi to ask “pourquoi?” Seems like that just makes it harder to find a strong phrase, and I feel like if there was a fun verb-y kind of phrase that ended in a plural noun, whyst not? Yeah, maybe don’t use those for all 3, but for 1? Seems fine.

All in all, great theme and idea, but 3.75 stars from me for setting up an unnecessary obstacle that led him to use a boring proper as a themer instead of something fresher and in-the-language. I look forward to seeing Monsieur Krishnamurthy hone his cruciverbal skills more in future puzzles!

Will Nediger’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 6/17/25 • Nediger • solution • 20250617

The most striking feature of this grid is the quadruple ten-stacks in the northeast and southwest. It’s therefore not too surprising that there are only four three-letter entries in the entire grid.

• 1a [Missing from a post] AWOL. A military post. Not when you forget to add an attachment to electronic correspondence.
• 16a [“Stop behaving like a toddler!”] ACT YOUR AGE, not your shoe size.
• 21a [Boogaloo and ballet, for two] DANCES. 43a [Champagne or prosecco, slangily] BUBBLY.
• 24a [Jumbo-sized storage facility?] HANGAR. Jumbo jet.
• 25a [Wintergreen fruit that flavors a pink, Pennsylvanian variety of ice cream] TEABERRY. Had no idea about the regionality of this (nor was I aware of the ice cream at all). It appears on this list.
• 33a [Vegetable that might be speared with individual fork tines] PEAS. Really? I just scoop or nudge them onto my fork. And you definitely wont catch me balancing them on a knife.
• 39a [Language of the “Skáldskaparmál” and the “Gylfaginning”] OLD NORSE.
• 52a [Month after Nissan, in the Jewish calendar] IYAR. Recondite, at least for me.
• 53a [Trance-like condition] DREAM STATE.
  
• 54a [Emperor in the “Looney Tunes” short “See Ya Later Gladiator”] NERO. Looks to be one of the later original outings from Warner Bros. There’s a time machine in it.
• 4d [Sources of cold comfort?] LOZENGES. Very nice clue.
• 5d [Bear witness, perhaps?] CAMPER. Perhaps.
• 9d [Portmanteau for a climax induced by ab exercises] COREGASM. That … does not sound appealing.
• 10d [Something sung by a rocker?] LULLABY. The question mark does its job, signalling that something’s up. 34d [Composition akin to a 10-Down] BERCEUSE. etymology: French, from bercer to rock, from Old French bercier, from bers cradle (m-w.com)
  
• 12d [Indigenous people of northern Europe] SAMI. A traditional form of music thence is JOIK or YOIK.
• 22d [Pet that might “make biscuits”] CAT. There are several reasons that a cat might engage in this behavior, but I believe chief among them is that it’s a remnant from kittenhood, stimulating their mother to produce milk.
• 41d [“The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere” philosopher Habermas] JÜRGEN. I have no idea whether he is the most famous or notable person named JÜRGEN, but it may be personally important to the constructor so I’ll link to his Wikipedia page.
• 44d [Abbr. on the lower of two directional keys, on some keyboards] PGDN, page down.
• 45d [What a superfan is likely to be well versed in] LORE. At first I thought the clue might be limited to sports, but then I realized that probably isn’t even the main sphere here.

Once again, the New Yorker Tuesday played easier than I’d prefer for something advertised as moderately challenging, but it was plenty fun anyway.

Lee Taylor’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

I found the common thread among the theme answers and the revealer made me smile.

Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2025, Lee Taylor, solution grid

• 9d [Classmate who helps with a science project] is your LAB PARTNER.
• 11d [Post-retirement period] is the GOLDEN YEARS. I say I’m retired because I’m only working two days a week and only when I want to. My husband rolls his eyes.
• 25d [Briefs alternative] is BOXER SHORTS.
• 30d [Hoarse speaker’s feature] is a HUSKY VOICE.

71a ties it all together. [Head honcho, and a feature of 9-, 11-, 25-, and 30-Down] is TOP DOG. Fun! And not just because I like dogs.

What I didn’t know before I solved this puzzle: that NATO is currently headed by Mark Rutte.

And because I can’t resist: our Bailey, of blessed memory.

Who’s a good dog??