LAT tk (Gareth) 
[2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 21:28 (Eric) 
[3.17 avg; 15 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 
[1.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 7:36 (Jim) [3.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:32 (Matt G) 
[3.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Brandon Koppy’s New York Times Crossword “Tunnel Vision” — Eric’s Review
First, I noticed this:
Brandon Koppy’s New York Times Crossword “Tunnel Vision” — 7/13/25
NOTE: This puzzle comes with eight bonus clues. Find their answers to reveal an apt alternative for traversing the grid.
1. Show how it’s done 2. “Für Elise” composer 3. They can help with conflict resolution 4. Spy device in old cereal boxes 5. Bringing shame upon 6. Bass-heavy musical groups, maybe 7. Valedictorians have them 8. New bride, quaintly.
Then I noticed that the 12th column was a line of black squares, creating two apparently separate 11X23 puzzles. (Yes, the whole thing is an oversized 23X23, so if it took you longer than usual, that might be the reason.)
There aren’t any theme answers as such, but the “bonus clues” fill eight squares in that middle column and turn two-word answers into single-word answers:
- 9A [Imaginary fiends]/11A [Assign a number, maybe]/[Show how it’s done] DEMONS/RATE/DEMONSTRATE
- 31A [Bit of red in a salad]/32A [What accepts all cookies?]/[“Für Elise” composer] BEET/OVEN/BEETHOVEN
- 56A [Big hunk]/57A [Many idol worshipers]/[They can help with conflict resolution] GOB/TWEENS/GO–BETWEENS
- 69A [Geometric art style, familiarly]/70A [Going wrong]/[Spy device in old cereal boxes] DECO/ERRING/DECODER RING I lost at least a minute trying to make ERRANT work.
- 94A [Gossip about]/[Champion’s memento]/[Bringing shame upon] DISH ON/RING/DISHONORING
- 103A [Good person]/104A [Collectors’ org.]/[Bass-heavy musical groups, maybe] MENSCH/IRS/MEN’S CHOIRS
- 133A [Black dialect, in brief]/134A [Seemingly forever]/[Valedictorians have them] AAVE/AGES/A AVERAGES
- 146A [Smooth with a whetstone]/147A [Like some bobsleighs]/[New bride, quaintly] HONE/TWO-MAN/HONEST WOMAN
There’s more: 68D [With 18-Down, classic 1967 song by a group whose name is a hint to solving the eight bonus clues (see note)]/18D [See 68-Down] BREAK ON THROUGH TO/THE OTHER SIDE
And those letters in the middle column? They spell THE DOORS.
This is clever concept and undeniably impressive puzzle construction, but as is sometimes the case, impressive construction doesn’t equal a fun solving experience. I didn’t dislike the solving experience, but neither did I truly enjoy it. Mostly, it felt like solving an extra-large themeless puzzle. (Or two medium-sized themeless puzzles.)
Perhaps I’d feel differently if the New York Times Games team hadn’t spoiled the payoff. Once I’d filled in the grid, the letters spelling out THE DOORS were immediately and automatically filled in, before I’d had any chance to ponder the bonus clues or the 68D/18D hint. What fun is there in trying to make sense of a “bonus clue” when you already know the answer?
Other stuff:
- 111A [1962 Paul Anka hit with the lyric “Kiss me mucho”] ESO BESO I’d have had no idea about this if ESO and BESO weren’t so frequently clued in relation to that song.
- 10D [Winfield ___, loser to Franklin Pierce for president in 1852] SCOTT This seems like an obscure way to clue SCOTT. I knew the answer because I was interested in American history when I was a kid.
- 116D [Jersey boys?] CALVES Probably my favorite clue of the puzzle.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “Archvillains” — Matt’s Review
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “Archvillains” solution, 7/13/2025
Lots of circled squares in this one from Evan, and an asymmetrical grid to make it all work. Happily, the title “Archvillains” and a double take to confirm that, yes, all those circles form arches, pretty much lays it out for us.
Each set of circles (unclued) contains a fictional villain – LEX LUTHOR, DOCTOR DOOM, MALEFICENT, etc. And while we don’t need a revealer to see that, we do get one for the classic Birnholzian cherry-on-top:
- 128a [Fictional character whose archenemy is spelled out by the last letters of this puzzle’s archvillians] HOLMES
Indeed, those squares spell MORIARTY, another fictional archvillain, in this case an “arch villain” as well.
I have mixed feelings about this one, but I like more than I dislike, and I’m biased by my speedsolving preferences. It is a busy, busy grid, to fit enough arches in to spell the eight-letter MORIARTY, and to fit a block pattern around them. The constraint is evident everywhere.
But I like that the villains aren’t clued, and I found the fill tougher than normal, which I especially appreciate as so many entries in the grid are triple-checked. The grid makes the most out of the open areas it can afford – JANE AUSTEN, TRADE DEFICITS, interesting clues on a lot of six- and seven-letter entries. It’s certainly something I haven’t seen before, so I’m grateful for that.
Cheers!
Kareem Ayas’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Don’t Rock the Boat”—Jim’s review
Hola from Costa Rica!
Groups of circled letters spell out MAN sitting atop a word that can precede “board” in other phrases. The revealer is “MAN OVERBOARD!” (111a, [Emergency shout at sea … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme]).
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Don’t Rock the Boat” · Kareem Ayas · 7.13.25
- 18a [Unyielding quality] ADAMANCY over 22a [“Searchin’ My Soul” singer] VONDA SHEPARD. Dashboard.
- 34a [Country whose flag has a pair of crossed swords] OMAN over 39a [Receives a dirty look] GETS THE STINKEYE. Keyboard.
- 47a [Words to live by] MANTRA over 53a [Lincoln center?] CAR DEALERSHIP. Cardboard.
- 73a [Type of envelope or folder] MANILA over 77a [“Time to make a decision!”] “IT’S NOW OR NEVER“. Snowboard.
- 86a [Japanese comics] MANGA over 90a [Sunbathes] CATCHES SOME RAYS. Chess board.
Good theme with some fun theme entries. I like that each “board” word spans multiple words in their respective entries. I didn’t know the singer nor her song, but all the crossers are fair.
In themes like this where you have potentially unnatural stacks of words, the test is in the crossings. This is managed somewhat with short crossers like NYSE, MSN, or ONO, in other words, nothing beyond the pale. But there are some actual nice crossings in there like PROM KING and the craft store MICHAELS.
Most of the grid is impacted by the stacks of theme entries, so it’s a little bit harder to pick out fill, but there are some nice finds in there like NAMIBIAN at 1a, COINSTAR, INTERCOM, BALLOONS, CHICKENS, GOAL AREA, and “NO MATTER” closing things out at 122a.
Clues of note:
- 34a. [Country whose flag has a pair of crossed swords]. OMAN. Did you read that clue too quickly like me and think for a second there’s a country out there with a pair of crosswords on its flag?
- 39d. [It’s found at either end of a pitch]. GOAL AREA. Using the British definition of “pitch” to mean a “playing area” as in football (i.e. what we call soccer).
- 50d. [Fear-inducing FX series, for short]. AHS. Needed all the crossings and then still needed a few beats to come up with American Horror Story. Crossing this with Spanish PAPAS (potatoes) is a bit on the unfair side.
3.5 stars.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
loved the puzzle. pissed off, like you, that i didn’t have a chance to try to figure out the hidden answers.
i wish the info in the app that gave the clues etc. also indicated something like “The hidden answers will be revealed when the puzzle is completed so don’t enter that last square if you wish to figure it out yourself!”
puzzle was a tour de force though and i loved solving it.
Yeah, I have no idea why the clue for 68-Down wasn’t just, “With 18-Down, classic 1967 song.” The aha moment would have been great at the end.
Sounds like this is that rare occasion when solving in AcrossLite provided a better experience. I completed the puzzle and got the Happy Pencil, and then went back to find the “bonus clue” answers that BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE.
There was a nice aha! moment for me because, while I know the song, I couldn’t recall who recorded it.
exactly what I was going to say! +1
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
This rating is completely for the constructor, only marked off for a couple of naticks. Fantastic idea, terrible execution on mobile. My intro offer expired a few weeks ago, so I’m now paying full freight for the NYT Games app. At that price, I really expect the Times to figure out a much better way to digitally present and solve a grid like this.
NYT–Yeah, same as everybody else. Way to pooch the dismount, Times. At least online. I suspect it would have worked much better in print, but as noted, the revealer still hinted “the Doors,” directly, so I would have just been looking for the spaces that fit the T the H the E etc. Too bad. This constructor really made something wonderful and then it was sunk by the presentation. Kinda bummed.
NYT: Agree so far with the complaints. This could have been an awesome aha moment, but the center ‘revealer’ was a gimme.
I typically solve from the NYT Mag, but am away and had to use the app. Not sure if that would have been any better.
And since I had to use the app, I was really hoping they would animate the doors swinging open and shut. Alas!
Got tripped up with RESUMES — had RESULTS because am not familiar with GoT and thought John Lennon, a known pacifist, may have had Yoko doing some cult recruiting after his untimely death.
I almost mentioned WESTEROS in my review because it made me realize that RESULTS needed to be RÉSUMÉ. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever been glad to see a “Game of Thrones” answer in a puzzle.
Not me. I just hated that corner because of WESTEROS and a couple of other things, although RESUME straightened itself out for other reasons.
I agree with the review, though, that the puzzle played like a themeless, making it hard for me to want to keep going. (I know some crossword fans prefer that kind.) That also made it harder, since I couldn’t rely on letters from the two long down answers until I was all but done and had enough crossings. The clue for them said little but that the song would hint at its theme.
Glad I did, though. I normally fail at meta puzzles, but glad I kept going there, too. Beyond Fur Elise, several of the eight could have been any number of things. But seeing it all fall into place was great.
I printed the NYT out, as is my wont on Sundays, so I didn’t get any premature revealer. OTOH, figuring out the bonus clues was irrelevant to the solve, which made them seem irrelevant.
I didn’t care for BOCCI, which I had initially as BOCCE — by far the standard spelling. I changed it to go with NOSIR but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
+1 on BOCCE vs. BOCCI.
I’d BOCCE, too, first and was disconcerted, wondering if I were being obliged to change it only because my new crossing was wrong. Not ideal.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
2,5
Puzzle: USA Today; Rating: 1 star
Editors who publish puzzles that contain junk answers need to improve. This crossword has answers such as 36D: “Water flavorer” = “Stur” and 59D: “For real” = “Tru”.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
Tunnel Vision: “impressive construction doesn’t equal a fun solving experience.”
AMEN!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
I liked this puzzle and offer congrats to the single constructor, Brandon Koppy. My printed version didn’t show any gray squares and I was not familiar with the song, I didn’t see it on the top 100 list. I would say “Light My Fire” is a 1967 Classic.
23A, had medics inked in!
15A, good clue for “waits”, I thought
145A, i also liked this clue for “wet bar” Th-That’s all folks , The White Rabbit