LAT tk (Gareth) 
[1.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 22:46 (Eric) 
[3.31 avg; 29 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 
[2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 10:32 (Jim P) [3.50 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 
[3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo 3:48 (Matt G) [2.88 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Jeremy Newton’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review
Jeremy Newton’s New York Times Crossword “Heavenly Voices” — 8/3/25
We get a high concept puzzle this week, based on an enduring sci-fi franchise, with most of the theme in the Down answers:
- 4A [Iconic sci-fi setting spelled out in this puzzle’s shaded squares] THE ENTERPRISE (Note the shaded squares sort of look like the Enterprise, with the engine nacelles on the left and the saucer section on the right; that’s a nice touch.)
- 22A [Member of this puzzle’s shaded squares who might say “I cannot change the laws of physics, Captain!”] MISTER SCOTT
- 3D [“Our window is closing for escape w-elocity!,” as [circled letters] might say] WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS QUICK Chekov, the ship’s navigator.
- 12D [“Any time! I’m a doctor, not a do-nothing!,” as [circled letters] might say] YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME McCoy, the ship’s doctor.
- 36D [Logic dictates that you control your emotions,” as [circled letters] might say] KEEP COMPOSURE Spock, the ship’s half-Vulcan first officer.
- 40D [“Stepping on the gas, Captain!,” as [circled letters] might say] FULL THRUSTERS Sulu, the ship’s helmsman.
- 45D [“To protect my crew, the gamble was necessary,” as [circled letters] might say] I TOOK A RISK Kirk, the ship’s captain.
- 48D [“We received a distress signal. Any injuries?,” as [circled letters] might say] ARE YOU HURT Uhura, the ship’s communications officer.
- 83D [This puzzle’s theme] STAR TREK
- 84D [“I want to come back to the ship,” as everyone circled in this puzzle seems to have said to 22-Across] BEAM ME UP
I’ve seen many of the shows in the Star Trek universe. We just started watching the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, about the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike. So I should have loved this puzzle, but instead, I found it annoying.
I don’t particularly like theme answers that run Down unless there’s a good reason for it. There’s an excellent reason here — the characters’ names all run from bottom to top — but I didn’t realize that until well into solving the puzzle. I know these characters well and if I’d realized that I had to put their names in essentially backwards, it would have save me some time and frustration.
A bigger problem is that to accommodate the characters’ names, some of the theme answers are not things you can imagine those characters saying. Yes, Captain Kirk might say “I took a risk,” but I can’t imagine Spock saying “Keep composure” or McCoy saying “You can always count on me.”
Other stuff:
- 24A [Like being late or cutting in line] RUDE Lateness? Maybe, but stuff happens. Cutting in line? Just don’t.
- 44A [D.M.V.-issued card authenticated by airport security] REAL ID I’ve got mine. I hope you have yours.
- 66A [City whose Fushimi Inari shrine features 10,000+ red torii gates] KYOTO I’m mildly annoyed that I put in the correct answer based on the T and then took it out for some reason.
- 72A [Baseball team whose mascot is Wally the Green Monster] Boston RED SOX I didn’t know the mascot’s name, but I knew the left field wall at Fenway Park is known as the Green Monster.
- 90A [Inits. for this puzzle’s shaded squares] USS United Space Ship
- 2D [Camped nearby and surveilling, in police jargon] ON A STAKEOUT I’m not sure I understand the “camped nearby” part.
- 10D [Enemy of the Jedi] SITH Just to satisfy the Star Wars fans, I guess.
- 77D [World capital with 400 kilometers of bike lanes] AMSTERDAM A not surprising factoid that I didn’t know.
- 101D [“___ is more important than life” (Klingon proverb)] HONOR More Trek. With _ON__, I briefly considered MONEY.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword, “‘Uh, What?'” — Matt’s Review
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword, ‘”Uh, What?”‘ solution, 8/3/2025
This week’s puzzle from Evan is a fun theme that delivers top to bottom. Our title is “Uh, What?” and themers are common phrases with /uh/ added after the first word and reparsed:
- 23a [Mythical creature that feeds on Little Caesars pies?] PIZZA DRAGON (‘Pete’s Dragon)
- 25a [Soft footwear worn while playing a big brass instrument?] TUBA SOCKS (‘tube socks’)
- 43a [Encrypted messages sent by fast cats?] CHEETAH CODES (‘cheat codes’)
- 60a [Pigs on a “Mary Tyler Moore Show” spin-off?] RHODA HOGS (‘road hogs’)
- 72a [The study of the nature and behavior of singer Kitt?] EARTHA SCIENCE (‘earth science’)
- 85a [“Daddy’s awesome!”?] PAPA ROCKS (‘Pop Rocks’)
- 100a [Mass gatherings in support of an animated pig?] PEPPA RALLIES (‘pep rallies’)
- 123a [An evening with pollsters and statisticians?] DATA NIGHT (‘date night’)
- 125a [Concerns over finding two of every animal, fitting all the animals on the ark, etc.?] NOAH WORRIES (‘no worries’)
I found this a really fun set both of base phrases, and of wacky re-parsings. Particularly in larger Sunday puzzles, sometimes once you crack the theme there’s little puzzle in subsequent themers, or even when you have it, there’s too much puzzle to piece each themer together. This one hit the sweet spot between those two ends.
Outside of the theme, this was a pleasingly open grid, as well. Not a ton of long, ‘bonus’ downs, though MISO RAMEN and AIR HOCKEY are plenty fun, but also no dead ends and lots of paths to work around any tricky area.
Other notes: I’m seeing a lot of punny clues for LIP READS and related terms lately. I’m not sure why – it’s not like the summer when everyone was trying to cram FIDGET SPINNER into their grids. But [Uses speech recognition?] is well done, here // The ALAMO is of course a famous mission in downtown San Antonio, but there’s a lovely bike path down the San Antonio River with more, if you’re ever visiting // It’s a basic fact of fencing, but [Electrified blade] felt like a nice departure from the most common EPEE clues
The ‘all’ hint in [Hotel chain that lists “All Together” as one of its core values] for OMNI brought a big smile to my face. I maybe overuse the word ‘deft,’ but I don’t have another word for this here // The ERIE SeaWolves recently spent a night as the “Moon Mammoths,” instead, courtesy of a … contest I suppose? from comedian John Oliver
Hanh Huynh’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Blind Stitch”—Jim P’s review
There are a lot of layers to this theme, so let’s see if I can cover them all. Theme answers are familiar phrases that feature (in circled letters) articles of clothing. These words also represent pieces of thread sewn into fabric as evidenced by the gap between letters in each word. What’s more, the solitary letters in these collective gaps spell out the word THREAD, and to top it off, these letters are not used in the crossing Down entries (though said entries are still valid words even if included). The revealer is PHANTOM THREAD (116a, [2017 film about an obsessive tailor, or a hint to finding the word that’s “sewn” into this puzzle]). I never saw, nor even heard of the Daniel Day-Lewis film, but that wasn’t necessary to make sense of the theme.
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Blind Stitch” · Hanh Huynh · 8.3.25
- 23a. [*They love their mummies?] EGYPTOLOGISTS. POLO is the garment with crosser 5d [Victorian pal] (MATTE – T = “mate”).
- 34a. [*Total bootlickers] SYCOPHANTS. PANTS with crosser 15d [Rented] (LEASHED – H = “leased”).
- 49a. [*Oregon’s nickname] BEAVER STATE. VEST with crosser 33d [Leopard feature] (SPORT – R = “spot”).
- 66a. [*Tiny British dogs] YORKSHIRE TERRIERS. SHIRT with crosser 63d [Certain parent] (PEA – E = “pa”).
- 89a. [*Largest city in Tanzania] DAR ES SALAAM. DRESS with crosser 83d [Org. with spies] (NASA – A = “NSA”).
- 102a. [*”I’m descending this ladder!”] “COMING DOWN!”. GOWN with crosser 99d [In the know] (ADWARE – D = “aware”).
Wow! A lot going on here and I’m really impressed with this construction. The garments were easy to stumble across and I thought that was all there was to the theme. Trying to make sense of the phantom letters took a few theme answers before the penny dropped, and it was very satisfying when it did. I especially liked NASA hiding the secretive NSA.
Even with all that’s going on in the theme answers and their crossers, we still get plenty of meaty fill to enjoy like STAR SYSTEM, STRESS BALL, STUPEFIES, SUGAR MAMA, ATE DIRT, KELLOGG of cereal fame, “I’M WIPED“, PIEROGI, GO TIME, and AMNESIA. And the grid is entirely symmetrical which means grid constraints ran high during construction. Super impressed all around.
Clues of note:
- 31a. [Focus on an autostereogram]. STARE. “Autostereograms” are popularly known as “Magic Eye” images.
- 81a. [Walking on sunshine]. ELATED. Gah! Did we really need that earworm?!
- 120a. [Texter’s “Isn’t that the truth?”]. IKR. “I know, right?” in case you were wondering.
- 72d. [Foam shoe sometimes worn in “sport mode”]. CROC. Ha! Never heard of “sport mode” but it basically means having the strap around your ankle as opposed to being pushed forward (thus giving greater stability allowing you to engage in sports if you were so inclined). I hereby call on athletes to show us how they perform their respective sport while wearing crocs. Bowlers, you start.
Wonderful puzzle. Chef’s KISS! 4.5 stars.
Like Eric, I wanted to love this puzzle but had a little trouble. Its wealth of theme material takes a tough construction; it has layers of theme entries, entailing multiple discoveries; the pun on “beam me up” to justify vertical circled names is nice; and so is the picture created by the gray squares.
Still, the density of theme material means that you keep running into them and need them in trying for other fill, but of course you need other fill as crossings in order to get the theme. I can only imagine, too, how anyone who didn’t have a Star Trek phase could complete this. I can’t tell you how I sorta know much of it (one summer I stayed at college, sharing meals and TV time, to keep the radio station open, but that was the Next Generation). But if it had been any of the Shortz staples in Harry Potter, Star Wars, and LOTR, I would have had to chuck the puzzle, wildly incomplete, as I have never done, in the garbage.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
I’m not a Star Trek fan by any means – the only iteration I’m even casually familiar with is The Next Generation – and I still managed it pretty well. Once I realized the vertical themers were just paraphrases of the clues, the grid filled in much faster.
Not my cup of tea as a theme, but we’ve had worse. Much worse.
I was also gunning for my first weekly set solved in under an hour total, but ended up missing it by about 6 minutes. Oh well, we go again.
I’m a Trekkie from the original series on NBC. This puzzle didn’t resonate with me. I’m not a fan of haphazardly circled letters that spell words of interest. The long down answers containing the circled letters didn’t seem iconic. But I may not be remembering everything I should. The theme seemed overly dependent on the misquotation, “Beam me up, Scotty”
I think this expresses my reaction to the puzzle pretty well. I’m a fan of the original Star Trek series and the movies it spawned. I also like the newer movies with Chris Pine as Kirk. Recognized the Star Trek theme pretty early on, and caught on to which characters were being referenced in the themers, but it just fell a little bit flat for me.
Not a Trekkie at all– surprised my solve time was almost exactly the same as Eric’s. For me it was pretty much a difficult themeless.
One thing I want to point out… OK GO is a fairly well-known band with the most imaginative and creative music videos. I’d say mind-blowing. So bummed to see that clued as “”Now that we’re all here, please proceed”
Like, I don’t know where to start as far as providing a link to their best video.
Here’s one that was done on an airplane without special effects, believe it or not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWGJA9i18Co
Am I alone on this? Anyone else wanna link an OK GO shout out?
OK GO did a great treadmill video many years back that was turned into a workout video (something like “Master the Treadmill with OK GO!”)
The airplane stunt is even more impressive. I’m assuming they used one of those zero G dive planes, though I thought you were only weightless for 30 seconds at a time in those things.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
I wish I could say something good about the NYT Sunday, since I’m sure the constructor spent a lot of time on it
Or you could have just not said anything
Or you could shut up.
NYT: I suppose I’m ni the minority, but I clicked with this almost immediately. I realized the names were going to be beamed up with the SPOCK entry (after I couldn’t grok the CHEKOV one). I’m not a big fan, but I watched the first few movies, and TNG. Anyway, I thought it made for a really nice Sunday with good theme fill, and the rest of the puzzle didn’t suffer too much. Plus, the theme helped get the longer answers. Nicely done!
NYT: I’m with you! Long time Star Trek fan and loved that the puzzle reminded me of all the characters. Kudos to the constructor as I don’t think this was easy to put together.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
NYT: I agree with you both, fan of the original ST and the puzzle was chewy and interesting. I truly don’t understand all of the meh response.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
I’m a trekkie and I loved this puzzle. I also loved the nod to Star Wars with SITH.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
Stupid “theme”; horrible fill.
Much like most of your comments on this site.
I’m entitled to my opinion. I could say the same thing about many of your posts. Have a nice day.
AGREED!!
not everyone is a star trek afficionado!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
Solid meh.
NYT and WaPo: Star Trek and puns. Two of my (unfavorite) themes for puzzles. At least I have some more interesting things to do today, like laundry.
Be better
Like Bartleby, I prefer not to.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
NYT: I have nothing new to add about the theme, but I wanted to call out CRYPTOS as sounding very off to my ears. I’m not an inhabitant of crypto world, but I work with some people who are and I am quite confident none of them have ever uttered pluralized CRYPTOS.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Seeing other’s comments and ratings this is clearly a polarizing puzzle. I’m here to say to the constructor that this puzzle is a fantastic feat, all nits aside about whether each themer is something we can easily imagine the character saying. I grew up a Star Trek fan and from my point of view this is great. So many different elements coming together without very much strain on the fill is quite something. Well done Jeremy!
Dr. Evans, TY for your definitive & complimentary comment to the constructor.
(Also, I hope all is well in your personal life due to the medical issues your family is facing!)
Totally agree!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
“Camped nearby” is basically ensconced near the surveillance point, perhaps in a car, not literal camping.
As far as Real IDs go, where I live we’ve had them since 2012. Quite a few states dragged their feet in getting on board, causing the last minute “panic” of getting one.
I liked the theme overall because I like Star Trek, but I agree that the themers sounded stilted in order to fit in the names. Not my slowest time, but slower than usual for some reason.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
So impressed by this puzzle. The theme density is off the charts, I counted 127 theme squares, some of which are doubly theme crossed — and the fill hardly suffers at all.
The “beaming up” of characters is such a brilliant through-the-looking-glass repurposing of a revealer phrase into a crossword mechanic. And the added constraint of putting the character finds inside of in the language phrases they might say is a very clever way to add that sense of tightness.
All that plus the Enterprise visual and MISTER SCOTT beaming them all up… that’s what I’m talking about.
I’m not even a Star Trek fan, but I am a big fan of this puzzle.
All of the stars. Thanks for the trek Jeremy!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
The constructor might be out of options, but putting something as bad as ON STAKEOUT in the top-left corner is ill-advised. It will affect people’s first impressions.
I have no problem with the theme, even though nearly all my knowledge about Star Trek was taught by crosswords. In fact, I love it when constructors just “sperg out” (excuse my French but I don’t know a better way to say this) and put in 120% of their effort and love in their puzzles.
Today’s clue is on the hard side, which adds to the frustration of many. With a geeky theme, omnipresent in the grid, it is probably more appropriate to use easier clues. The difficulty of clues is controlled by the editor, who should retire in glory.
Furthermore, the Fushimi Inari shrine is well worth a visit.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I’m no Star Trek fan, but this was a fun puzzle and an impressive construction.
I did Evan’s WaPo puzzle after reading your comment, looking forward to the liberal references … but I found none at all. Is your complaint and rating for Evan’s puzzles in general, or for this one in particular?
That’s high praise!
You’re really reaching to label Gay TALESE as a liberal reference.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Ditto. This was so much more intricate and inventive than the typical Sunday puzzle! It kept me engaged throughout.
I’m not at all a Trekkie, but these characters are so iconic that it’s hard to see how a person could have lived on planet Earth for any amount of time and not know enough about them to do this puzzle.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Great puzzle. Incredible feat of construction. Loved that all the names were “beamed” upeven if the quote was made up
Been more sniping here of late. Maybe attributable to requiring a comment to post a rating. Perhaps if we went back to the old system there would be fewer nattering nabobs of negativism.
But nobody has to write a comment to rate a puzzle. It goes through the commenting mechanism, butif you type nothing in, there’s no comment.
Right, as Amy said, if you just put a period in the comment text field, your rating will be anonymous and no comment will show up.
Lol, Mr. Agnew! (Great comment from five decades ago.)
Yes, penned by the Times’ own late, great William Safire.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I liked the beam-up feature as well. A very clever puzzle!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
A lot of haters on here! I guess the theme won me over. I even like the squares in the rough shape of the Enterprise.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
Evan B has been my favorite constructor for the last several years, and he pulled off a punny & funny puzzle that gave me the giggles.
SPOILER ALERT: BELOW THIS ARE TWO OF THE PUNS THAT MADE ME ALMOST WET MYSELF!
“Papa Rocks” and “Noah Worries” are very creative; and I like it when Evan lets his inner-comedian come out!
“MADE ME ALMOST WET MYSELF!”
TMI, my friend. TMI. :-)
I disagree. “ALMOST” makes it quite demure.
That is a micturating factor.
I finally finished the WaPo Sunday (I usually do it on Monday but this Monday was rather busy) and I too enjoyed it. I really like Evan’s work and this was no exception.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Retired Baby Boomer here.
I LOVE STAR TREK.
I LOVED this puzzle (even though I confidently made the mistake of first entering the names of crew members top to bottom).
Woe to all the nitpickers who let their personal puzzling dislikes get in the way of enjoying this magnificent creation.