Wednesday, July 2, 2025

AV Club 6:27 (Amy) [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:57 (Gareth) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:27 (Amy) [3.81 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 2:15 (Kyle) [4.00 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [2.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today 8:01 (Emily) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 5:31 (Jim) [3.38 avg; 8 ratings] rate it

Brad Wiegmann’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “No Dessert for You!”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar sweet treats with circled letters spelling out synonyms of “nothing”. The revealer is SWEET NOTHINGS (35a, [Loving words, or what’s found in this puzzle’s circles]).

Wall St Journal crossword solution · “No Dessert for You!” · Brad Wiegmann · Wed., 7.2.25

• 16a. [Rum cocktail options] BANANA DAIQUIRIS.
• 22a. [Almond confection] MARZIPAN.
• 48a. [Candy counter treats coated in white fudge] ZERO BARS.
• 55a. [Thomas Jefferson recorded the first American recipe for it] VANILLA ICE CREAM.

Good theme! I love the double-layered consistency of having sweet things and embedded “nothings.” It’s too bad an alternative for ZERO BARS couldn’t have been found because it’s the obvious outlier (in addition to looking completely unappetizing). Let’s have a look…Hmm, SASQUATCH could work though you’d have to pluralize its counterpart to MARZIPANS. Worth it, in my opinion. Edit: Nope SASQUATCH wouldn’t work. It’s got the “nothing” part, but not the “sweet” part.

Nice job on the fill too with stacks of 8s in the corners bringing us highlights PORKY PIG, STUD FARM and WHODUNIT. KISSING and ROSETTE are additional niceties in the center. Not so keen on that stack of ZEKE and ILIE crossing GAEL, but they should all be gettable by Wednesday solvers. EASE ON [Press lightly, as the brakes] is pretty iffy as well.

Clues of note:

• 20a. [It can help to exercise a bit]. REIN. Had to double- and triple-check this one. Not a horse rider…Bits need exercising?
• 54a. [Each of the first two Monopoly avenues is named for one]. SEA. Baltic Ave. came to mind immediately. The other is Mediterranean Ave.? Yes.
• 61a. [Clue board areas]. ROOMS. Clue, the game, in case that wasn’t evident.

Good puzzle. 3.5 stars.

Dan Caprera’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap

NY TImes crossword solution, 7/2/25 – no. 0702

Ah, the Times will be hearing from Navajo/Diné  people about that NAVAHO spelling. They tried to hedge with the historic angle and “var.” tag in [Language of W.W. II “code talkers”: Var.], but I don’t think the Nation will be pleased.

The theme is types of factual bits clued to fit the phrases those factual bits are part of:

• 17A. [Did you know?! The most common bar name in the U.K. is The Red Lion], PUB TRIVIA. Trivia about a pub.
• 23A. [Did you know?! The oldest known porno movie is the 1907 short film “El Satario”], GRAPHIC DETAIL. They could’ve gone with a detail in graphic design (fonts and such) rather than porn.
• 37A. [Did you know?! Engaging in leisure activities has been shown to reduce stress levels by over 30%], FUN FACT.
• 40A. [Did you know?! Before mastering fire, cave men ate uncooked meat for the first million years of human existence], RAW DATA. Gah.
• 50A. [Did you know?! America’s first chartered money supplier opened in Philadelphia on January 7, 1782], BANK STATEMENT.
• 62A. [Did you know?! Diamonds are 58 times more resistant to pressure than rubies or sapphires], HARD TRUTH.

Fresh theme idea.

Fave fill: BABY GRAND, KAZOO, SMUDGE, SABOTEURS. A bit surprised to find RIA and KENO in a Wednesday puzzle. Am I the only one who knows KENO, and what a RIA is, only from crosswords?

3.5 stars from me.

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AV Club Classic crossword solution, “Smooth Turns” – 7/2/25

This 16×15 puzzle features TIPPING CULTURE (20%! because without tips servers are making $2.13 an hour), and four brands of yogurt (which is made with cultures) are “tipping” in the circled squares: YOPLAIT, SIGGIS, DANNON, and FAGE. I guess the letters in Chobani don’t lend themselves to this. There’s not any other theme content here.

Fave fill: STAR SIGNS, LOOK-SEE, HUMANOID, YAKITORI, HUBBUB, ZEALOT.

New to me: 32d. [“River child” of Japanese folklore], KAPPA. Had to work the crossings and assumed it wasn’t going to be the same as the Greek letter. Wikipedia tells me “The kappa favor cucumbers and love to engage in sumo-wrestling. They are often accused of assaulting humans in water and removing a mythical organ called the shirikodama from their victim’s anus.” #TheMoreYouKnow!

3.5 stars from me.

Aidan Deshong’s Universal crossword, “Pardon Me” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 7/2/25 • Wed • “Pardon Me” • Deshong • solution • 20250702

As I was working my way down the grid, I was trying to understand what the theme might be. Rebus squares? I even looked at the title mid-solve in an attempt to get a handle on it, to no avail.

• 62a^R [Certain updo … or what each starred clue’s answer has?] FRENCH TWIST. Okay, so: the original phrases have English words that are lookalikes with common French ones, and the translations of those French words are used in the grid.
• 17a. [*FDR radio address] FIRESIDE CAT (chat = cat).
• 30a. [*Major annoyance] ROYAL BREAD (pain = bread).
• 46a. [“Fast X” co-star] WINE DIESEL (vin = wine).

It’s an interesting and different theme premise. As for the title, it’s a play on the expression “pardon my French”, used when swearing, for some reason.

• 1d [Spot for a coffee date] CAFÉ. The English coffee and French café are cognates.
• 8d [Insect that may emerge after 13 years] CICADA. Periodic cicadas typically have dormancies of years that are prime numbers, such as 13 and 17. It’s an evolutionary adaptation. “The Cicada’s Love Affair With Prime Numbers“
• 22d [Coolness, in Gen Z slang] AURA. Okay, I’ve learned something.
• 39d [Like some justice] POETIC. I’d like to see a healthy dose, the sooner the better.
• 48d [Epoch when mammals arose] EOCENE. You can tell that the people who named geological periods were biased towards mammals—of which humans are a part—as the peak of terrestrial life because they considered this relatively late epoch to be the dawn. 33d [Occurs to, with “on”] DAWNS.
• 53d [On vacation] AWAY. 18d [Beginning of a vacation] DAY ONE.
• 7a [Vegas WNBAers] ACES. Also the acronym of the American Copy Editors Society.
• 49a [The day after Pi Day, e.g.] IDES. Interesting framing.
• 51a [Black, white, and Earl Grey brews] TEAS. The Earl Grey bit renders the other two unnecessary to mention. The clue would’ve been better without it, or perhaps as [Black, white, and green brews]. In any event, the ‘brews’ part pretty much gives it away.
• 53a [10 square chains] ACRE. Chain was not a unit familiar to me.

Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword – Kyle’s write-up

The New Yorker solution grid – Robyn Weintraub – Wednesday 07/02/2025

Let’s see what Robyn has for us today:

• My first entry was 1D MOPEDS [Scooter-like vehicles]. My sister used to own one.
• Fun, witty clue on 17A PALM READER: [Adviser who does a lot of hand-holding?]
• Didn’t see 12D LETTERS while solving, but on review I see the clue is like a riddle: [There are five in seven and three in six]
• Enjoyed the science angle in 36D DOMINANT [Opposite of recessive, in genetics]. Nice to have an eight-letter gimme.
• 47D SPORT gets the clue [Cricket or curling]. As I write this, I’m listening to live coverage of the England-India Test cricket match on the BBC (via YouTube).

Thanks Robyn!

Beth Rubin’s USA Today Crossword, “Nesting Birds” — Emily’s write-up

Up for some bird watching?

Theme: each themer contains —EMU— (aka a “nesting bird”)

Themers:

• 17a. [What concertgoers get to enjoy], LIVEMUSIC
• 40a. [Variety sketch program starring Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, etc.], THEMUPPETSHOW
• 67a. [Container for a cup of joe], COFFEEMUG

A fun themer set today with LIVEMUSIC, THEMUPPETSHOW, and COFFEEMUG. Excellent cluing, though I needed a few crossings so it didn’t take much to fill in.

Favorite fill: GUESSWHO, LOVEIT, and TOFFEE

Stumpers: NAENAE (apparently I missed this craze), UNSEAT (only “ousted” and “usurped” came to mind), and DAUNT (needed crossings)

A delightful puzzle with fresh fill and fun cluing. Overall, it felt like a smooth solve even with my average solve time. How’d you all do?

4.0 stars

~Emily

John Kugelman’s LA Times crossword, – Gareth’s theme summary

The puzzle has left-right symmetry, possibly because of the 16-letter revealer, and possibly because the “canon” options are limited. The revealer is THREESQUAREMEALS, and we assume each of the breakfast, lunch and suppers listed consist of squares: RICECHEX, WENDYSBURGER and LOBSTERRAVIOLI. I’m not very familiar with any of those – are lobster ravioli squarer than other raviolii or is it padding?

Gareth