Monday, June 23, 2025

BEQ 12:49 (Eric) [3.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 1:37 (Stella) [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:25 (Sophia) [3.19 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 6:08 (Amy) [3.92 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) rate it
WSJ 4:06 (Jim) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Zhouqin Burnikel’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Write-Up

Theme: Each theme clue is in imperative form, but the answer is a literal thing the action can be done on.

New York Times, 06 23 2025, By Zhouqin Burnikel

• 15a [Can it!] – DILL PICKLE
• 33a [Zip it!] – SLEEPING BAG
• 40a [Shut it!] – BEDROOM DOOR
• 60a [Button it!] – DRESS SHIRT

This clue type comes up every so often in daily puzzles, and is generally signaled by the use of the exclamation point. Because I’ve seen clues like this before, as soon as I saw [Can it!] as a clue, I knew what was going on. I’m curious if other solvers will similarly catch on as quickly or if it will play trickier. Similarly, I think for folks less familiar with this type of clueing (which might be a fair amount of Monday solvers!) the theme will feel more unique and interesting than it felt to me.

I liked that all of the imperatives had the same meaning – “shut up!” – but most of the answers themselves left me a little cold. BEDROOM DOOR and DRESS SHIRT aren’t particularly interesting answers, and I wanted to know why these answers were chosen as opposed to anything else one could zip, shut, or button. DILL PICKLE was a fun answer, though.

Fill highlights: I HAD A BLAST, SLY DOGS, RAW EGGS, PR TEAMS

Clue highlights: The ROGER/RADIO cross-reference when the answers literally crossed, [Ballet, beadwork or bonsai] for ART

New to me: Poet Stephen Vincent BENET and rapper LIL Tecca – I knew neither the old or the new proper noun references today!

Happy Monday all!

Janice Luttrell’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 6/23/25 by Janice Luttrell

The revealer at 56A [The Byrds No. 1 hit whose lyrics come from Ecclesiastes, and what can be found at the starts of 20-, 27-, and 48-Across] is TURN! TURN! TURN! because each theme answer begins with a way of TURNing (WHIRL, TWIST, and SPIN):

• 20A [Soaker with jets] is a WHIRLPOOL TUB. This themer is the only one in which the TURN word is part of a compound word, which threw me a little bit. I went to Merriam-Webster to verify that WHIRLPOOL is not, in fact, a verb.
• 27A [Unexpected change in circumstances] is a TWIST OF FATE.
• 46A [Public relations pros, informally] is SPIN DOCTORS. I’d love to see this clued as [“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” band], but I recognize that this is a mainstream Monday puzzle and not a ’90s-themed collection.

I was surprised to look at the clock and see a 1:37 time on this one, given that there was a decent amount of trivia in it for Monday, especially in the NW corner. Then again, GREG Louganis, ACROSTICS, and La ROCHE-Posay are in my wheelhouse. I am curious to hear whether others found this one easier than the typical LAT Monday or not!

Danish Abdi’s Universal crossword, “Deep Undercover” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 6/23/25 • Mon • “Deep Undercover” • Abdi • solution • 20250623

Some hidden word action today.

• 54a^R [Where spies are found … just look at 20-, 25- and 47-Across!] ON THE INSIDE.
• 20a. [Curved decoration at a party] BALLOON ARCH (narc).
• 25a. [Hiker’s fear] BEAR ATTACK (rat).
• 47a. [Teacher’s recruitment “test”] DEMO LESSON (mole).

The theme feels familiar and a bit slight. The grid also feels a bit wispy with all of those black squares breaking things up, which precipitates a slew of three-letter entries. So despite the imperative of the revealer I won’t get too excited here.

• 1d [Steamy place to chill] HOT TUB. 31d [Resort where you might find a 1-Down] SPA.
• 7d [Kind of hygiene you can’t just brush off?] ORAL. One must floss as well.
• 52d [They have dog days almost every day!] VETS. Okay,
• 1a [Pay attention to] HEED. 36a [Blindly 1-Across] OBEY; I’d prefer a perhaps-type qualifier here.
• 18a [Sherlock’s sister] ENOLA. Is this canon now?
• 34a [Mafia code that prohibits singing?] OMERTA. Vaguely theme-adjacent?
• 35a [Prefix with “noun” or “verb”] PRO-. Nice, possibly my favorite clue here.
• 51a [Mother with no mother] EVE. Hmm.

Azriel Wasser’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Moving Parts”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases starting with a gerund but they’ve been re-imagined as particular items on the move.

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Moving Parts” · Azriel Wasser · Mon., 6.23.25

• 20a. [Rock stretching its legs?] STEPPING STONE.
• 33a. [Branches out for a stroll?] WALKING STICKS.
• 38a. [Traffic signals out for a jog?] RUNNING LIGHTS.
• 54a. [User manual diagram racing for the finish line?] DASHING FIGURE.

Easy enough with some decent wordplay for a Monday. I like the consistency of movement and indeed the progression from stepping to dashing. But for me, my preference in puzzles with wacky clues is that they have some surface sense. Jogging traffic signals are simply nonsensical.

Four 13-letter theme answers require placement away from the upper and lower edges. Still, there should have been room for at least a couple long non-theme answers (though they may have had to cross three theme answers).  As it is, the most sparkle we get comes from some 7s: PILLBUG, NUT-FREE, CRYSTAL, GLORIFY. Less nice: A LOAD, TO SEE, GOERS, CLII.

Three stars.

Brooke Husic’s New Yorker crossword–Amy’s recap

New Yorker crossword solution, 6/23/25 – Husic

Easier than I’d expect for a Husic Monday New Yorker.

Fave fill: WETSUIT, LIZARDS, FLOTSAM, “IT WAS ALL A DREAM,” FRINGE FESTIVAL (is this a generic term or is the clue referencing the longstanding Edinburgh Fringe Festival?), MUST-READS.

Four bits:

• 6a. [Figure such as the Koch snowflake or the Sierpiński triangle], FRACTAL. Never heard of the clue terms, guessed FRACTAL, turned out to be right.
• 1d. [Electronic musician with the 2024 album “Ten Days”], FRED AGAIN. Never heard of him. He’s a Brit with hits on the US dance charts, but dance and electronic aren’t my genres. If you’ve never heard of him either, don’t beat yourself up. The crossings got me there.
• 43a. [Get the lead out, maybe?], RECAST. As in ditching your lead actress and recasting the role. I like the editorial RECAST, to change the order of words in a sentence to eliminate an awkward bit.
• 52a. [Society that Elle Woods’s LSAT score qualifies her for], MENSA. What a fun clue! Apparently ditzy blonde in Legally Blonde, brilliant at law.

3.5 stars from me.

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1794 — Eric’s review

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1794 — 6/23/25

This seemed a bit easier to me than some of Brendan’s other themeless puzzles, though I did find the SE corner a bit of a challenge. The triple-stack of 15-letter answers in the center also slowed me down a bit, though in hindsight, none of those answers is particularly hard.

Highlights, lowlights and in-between lights:

• 1A [It’s near the malleus bone] EAR DRUM I got off to a slowish start with EAR LOBE, which I quickly dumped because of the gimmes of 5D [Roger of “Cheers”] REES and 6D [It was founded by Thomas Jefferson, for short] UVA. That RU combination had me trying HUMERUS for a while, even though I should remember that “malleus” is the fancy name for the hammer bone in the inner ear.
• 16A [He had a “rivalry” with the Phillie Phanatic and San Diego Chicken] Tommy LASORDA He was the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976–1996. I don’t know why he would have had a rivalry with the mascots of other teams, and I don’t really care. All that matters to me is that the name is familiar enough that I got it with a few letters.
• 17A [“Truckin'” band, for short] THE DEAD A gimme for most baby boomers, I’d think.
• 32A [Fall desserts sometiems (sic) flavored with nutmeg] APPLE SPICE CAKES I have a recipe for a tasty apple cake that I inherited from my mom, who got hit from my dad’s stepmother. I haven’t made it in a few years. Maybe this fall?
• 38A [Coral reef studier] MARINE ECOLOGIST It took me too long to get this one.
• 39A [Diet Coke enjoyed on a work break] FRIDGE CIGARETTE I encountered this term for the first time just last week, and now I can’t remember where I saw it.
• 43A [See Tears for Fears, say] MISREAD Cute clue that’s probably lost on anyone who doesn’t know that 1980s band.
• 54A [Virginia’s last name in the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial] O’HANLON I knew this once, but needed some crosses. The editorial appeared in the New York paper The Sun on September 21, 1897.
  

  Virginia O’Hanlon

• 58A [Colombian doughnut] BUÑUELO C’mon, Brendan, I just had breakfast and you’re making me hungry already.
• 3D [“Die a Happy Man” singer Thomas ___] RHETT I don’t know the song or the singer, but I can’t complain about giving Rhett Butler the day off.
• 4D [Helped someone out] DID A SOLID I was surprised to learn just now that this usage dates to the early 1960s. I would have guessed it was much more recent.
• 8D [Blunders big time] SLIPS A COG I’ve not heard that phrase.
• 25D [Philosopher/theologian Peter] ABELARD The name is only vaguely familiar to me.
• 27D With 50-Down, literally “wind-water” FENG/SHUI I guessed at this one and got lucky.
• 31D [Alana and Danielle’s sister in Haim] ESTE I’m not sure why I only have a half-dozen of their songs in my collection. I like what I’ve heard.
• 32D [Station identification letters?] AM/FM Cute clue.
• 35D [Some hard Italian cheeses] PECORINOS I’m not used to seeing “pecorino” without “Romano” following it; today I’ve learned that it derives from the Italian pecora, which means “sheep.” That prompted me to look up “sheep” in French (brebis or mouton) and Spanish (oveja). Usually, the Romance languages seem to have closer cognates.
• 37D [Mutant played by Daniel Henney in the X-Men movies] AGENT ZERO I don’t think that character was in whatever X-Men movie I saw 20 years ago.
• 51D [Carol of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”] KANE Did I throw that in because I kinda sorta knew it or because the wonderful Carol Kane is the only actress I could think of?
• 54A [Like peradventure or gramercy: Abbr.] OBS No, they’re not doctors who deliver babies; they’re obsolete words (respectively, an adverb meaning “perhaps” and an interjection meaning “many thanks”).