Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Jonesin’ 4:56 (Erin) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [1.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:12 (Eric) [3.50 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [3.50 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:36 (Eric) [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim) [3.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Meaningful” — that’s what I think. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 8/5/25

Hello lovelies! This week’s theme involves taking common sentiments and translating them literally.

• 17a. [It means a lot] PARKING AREA. As in, a parking lot is an area to put your vehicle.
• 49a. [It means a great deal] HALF-OFF SALE
• 11d. [It means the world to me] PLANET EARTH
• 25d. [It means a bunch] BANANA GROUP

Other things:

• 6d. [S as in Socrates] SIGMA. It looks like we’re avoiding Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang definitions here.
• 36d. [“The Barefoot ___” (Bogart film)] CONTESSA. Clued based on the 1954 movie and not the 2002-2021 cooking show.
• 45d. [Boopable body part] SNOOT. Booping a snoot daily has been proven to lower blood pressure and increase general well-being.

Until next week!

Tarun Krishnamurthy’s Universal Crossword “Remote Meetings” — Eric’s Review

Tarun Krishnamurthy’s Universal Crossword “Remote Meetings” — 8/5/25

Once again, I saw a bunch of circles in the grid and mostly ignored them while solving the puzzle as a themeless puzzle. When I did look at them mid-solve, I saw MA_ . . . ET in 17A and thought it was odd to build a theme around American playwrights like David MAMET.

But no, what’s going on here is a bit spacier than that:

• 17A [“Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” co-star] AMANDA PEET I somehow missed “co-star” in the clue and my pattern-recognition solving method was briefly stymied by my inability to imagine a word ending in PEET.
• 24A [Sandwich chain whose name is French for “ready to eat”] PRET A MANGER Call me a pedant, but it really ought to be PRÊT À MANGER.
• 37A [Sci-fi events depicted in 17-, 24-, 48- and 59-Across?] ALIEN ENCOUNTERS ET, meet MAN. MAN, meet ET.
• 48A [Back-to-basics food regimen] CAVEMAN DIET This is my least favorite of the theme answers, because MAN is just MAN.
• 59A [The drink you shouldn’t have had] ONE TOO MANY Been there, done that. Fortunately, the consequences were never as bad as they could have been.

USS Enterprise Nurse Christine Chapel and Buckley, an alien of “unknown species” (a/k/a “guy in a latex suit”)

I’m willing to cut Mr. Krishnamurthy a little slack for using “man” when “human” would be more appropriate. Every phrase I found that contains that string of letters uses the word “human.” You can’t hide it the way you can hide “man” in “manger” or “many.”

Maybe I liked this theme more than I would have otherwise because we just started the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I really like the characters on that show, though the editing sometimes gives me a headache.

Other stuff:

• 22A [Missouri river] OSAGE I don’t know how many rivers there are in Missouri, but I saw the five-letter slot and OSAGE was the first one I thought of. It was dammed up to make Lake of the Ozarks, which was the setting for the very good series Ozark.
• 29A [Drummer Shannon] LETO That’s a new name for me; he’s in the band Thirty Seconds to Mars along with his more well-known brother, the actor Jared Leto.
• 45A [Cougar] PUMA We may have had a cougar cross our driveway the other night. Or maybe it was just a big dog. Feel free to offer your opinion in the comments.

Mountain Lion? The print is about 3″ across.

• 66A [Cookie brand that worked with Selena Gomez] OREO I’ve seen those cookies in the grocery store, but even having learned that the filling is some sort of cinnamon/horchata flavor, I’m not the least bit tempted. (OK, maybe I’m a tiny bit tempted.)
• 13D [Canadian insult] HOSER I know this from Bob and Doug McKenzie on the 1980s sketch show SCTV.
• 28D [“That’s a legitimate reason”] I RESPECT IT This answer doesn’t seem sufficiently “in the language” to me.
• 34D [Chocolate-coated toffee treats] HEATH BARS I blanked on that answer, though I love chocolate and toffee.

Gary Larson and Amy Ensz’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Gary Larson and Amy Ensz’s New York Times Crossword — 8/5/25

I could see from the first theme answer that this was a punny theme, but it wasn’t immediately obvious to me where the punning was occurring. Looking at it after I finished, I realized it was in the way the first word in a common phrase was wackified (thanks, Jim Q.!) as “A [something]”:

• 17A [Adorable perspective on things?] A CUTE ANGLE Acute . . .
• 28A [Axe or Old Spice?] A SCENT OF MAN Ascent . . . I question the accuracy of this clue. It’s my understanding that Axe body spray and related products are used primarily by males under age 15.
• 46A [Major newsmagazine’s C.E.O] A HEAD OF TIME Ahead . . .
• 61A [Taco tortilla option?] A CORN SHELL Acorn . . . This feels a little off to me; I don’t remember hearing people refer to “acorn shells” the way they might refer to “pecan shells” or “walnut shells.”

It’s a cute enough theme for a Tuesday and one that even a novice solver ought to be able to make sense of despite the lack of a revealer.

Other stuff:

• 5A [Church assembly] SYNOD I never really knew what that word meant, but the first definition I looked at used “assembly.”
• 14A [Zap, in a way] TASE I tried NUKE first.
• 21A [Longest key on a keyboard] SPACE BAR I was thinking of a musical keyboard. I also initially thought this was a theme answer, even though there’s nothing remotely funny about it.
• 23A [Driving force] IMPETUS A nice, underused word. We need more of those in crosswords.
• 34A [Satchel in Cooperstown] PAIGE Cooperstown is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, for the two or three people less versed in sports lingo than me. Today I Learned that after many years in the Negro Leagues, Paige made his American League debut in 1948 at age 42 with the team then known as the Cleveland Indians. He’s still the oldest debutant in MLB history.
• 42A [Competition that offers a lot of bucks?] RODEO Kind of a cute clue.
• 64A [Fred Flintstone’s pet] DINO I had a stuffed dog as a preschooler that I named after that character.
• 68A [Nose-in-the-air type] SNOOT I inevitably read that clue, see that the space is five letters, and try to make SNOB work.
• 4D [ ___ Midler a.k.a. “The Divine Miss M”] BETTE A gimme for someone my age; I wonder how many younger solvers recognize that name.
• 12D [Arm bone on the pinkie finger side] ULNA I could probably distinguish between the ulna and the radius, but getting one’s knowledge of anatomy reinforced in a crossword is never a bad thing.
• 33D [Spot to sit and sweat] STEAM ROOM I tried STEAM BATH first. I’m rereading the wonderful novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and came across “shvitz” the other night; it took me a few to remember what that means.
• 54D [Chevy model whose name references a body of water] TAHOE/62D [Kia model whose name references a body of water] RIO Both names are rather generic, as “Tahoe” is derived from the Washo word for that lake, dáʔaw, which means “the lake.”

Robbie Cottom’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

This one took me a while to suss because I made a mistake on the revealer and, not surprisingly, the theme made no sense. Once I straightened that out everything fell into place.

Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2025, Robbie Cottom, solution grid

• 4d [*Grayish time at dusk or dawn] is HALF LIGHT.
• 18d [*Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing] is OFF CALENDAR.
• 28a [*Penultimate] is SECOND LAST. Hmm. I would say “second to last.”
• 37a [*Nontraditional] is NEW SCHOOL.

and the aforementioned revealer: 10d [Like some annual accounting comparisons, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues] is YEAR ON YEAR. HALF YEAR, LIGHT YEAR, OFF YEAR, CALENDAR YEAR, SECOND YEAR, LAST YEAR, NEW YEAR, SCHOOL YEAR. Since the clues are all in the Down answers, the two words are stacked on each other. This has the makings of a fine, tight theme. I’m not crazy about SECOND LAST, as I said, and my original mistake was YEAR TO YEAR. I’ve never heard YEAR ON YEAR. Is it a term of art in accounting? The Ngram viewer is on my side.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: well, I’d never heard of YEAR ON YEAR. I also didn’t know that HE–MAN says “By the power of Grayskull.”

Erik Agard’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 8/4/25 • Tue • Agard • solution • 20250804

This week’s Tuesday offering felt to me to accurately fill the ‘moderately challenging’ slot.

Despite an adequately connected grid, my solve effectively took shape as four or five mini puzzles.

• 14a [Feeling or making sick] NAUSEOUS. We’re losing nauseated.
• 18a [ __ O’odham Nation] TOHONO. An Agard crossword typically gives me lessons in cross-cultural awareness. See also 34a [Like many Sahrawi people] ARAB. 40a [Trickster spider in Akan folklore] ANANSI—I knew this one!
• 22a [Fruits known as misbeliefs, in New Orleans] LOQUATS. Need to check into that origin.
• 36a [Actor in “Insecure,” “The White Lotus,” and “How to Die Alone”] NATASHA ROTHWELL. None of which I’ve seen, and whom I’ve never heard of.
• 60a [ __ mountain dog (Swiss breed)] BERNESE. One of four similar-looking sennenhund breeds, the others being the Alpenzeller Sennenhund, Greater Swiss mountain dog, and Entlebucher mountain dog.
• 2d [Anime character allied with crows named Phobos and Deimos] SAILOR MARS. Guessing this is from Sailor Moon? 11d [It’s full about once a month] MOON; definitely thought this was a misdirection clue and waited until I had three crossings before accepting it at face value.
• 3d [Excerpts displayed prominently within an article] PULL QUOTES. Knowing this and its neighbor 4d [Densest naturally occurring element] OSMIUM allowed me to finish this northwest section—and the crossword—without too much drama.
• 21d [Meant genuinely] UNIRONIC. Nice to see this in a puzzle, for some reason. Its symmetrical partner, 23d [Worship associated with some heavy-metal bands] SATANISM, however, is often an ironic accoutrement.
• 30d [Seasonal workers who do a lot of listening] MALL SANTAS. Interesting framing.
• 35d [124 __ Road (house address in “Beloved”] BLUESTONE. Does it feature memorably in the novel? I need to read more Toni Morrison.
• 45d [On the pages of this document] HEREIN. 46d [One hundred per cent committed] ALL IN.
• 48d [Can’t think about without smiling, maybe] ADORES. Another nice clue turn.

Marc Goldstein’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Bake-Off” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Common phrases reimagined as having to do with baked goods

WSJ • 8/5/25 • Tue • “Bake-Off” • Marc Goldstein • solution • 20250805

THEME ANSWERS:

• 16A [Comedian’s favorite baked good] ROLL IN THE AISLE
• 24A [Exerciser’s favorite baked goods] BUNS OF STEEL
• 37A [Actor’s favorite baked good] TOAST OF BROADWAY
• 47A [Off-road driver’s favorite baked good] CAKE WITH MUD. Yum.
• 69A [Candidate’s favorite baked good] WAFFLE ON AN ISSUE.

Fun set! TOAST OF BROADWAY is my favorite of the bunch. There’s something so weird about CAKE WITH MUD that it’s kind of delightful as well. WAFFLE ON AN ISSUE feels a bit strange to me comparatively- the other phrases seem solidly in-language whereas doesn’t quite feel like it stands alone, despite being something people definitely say.

If I’m being honest, the fill (or filling if we’re being thematic! hehe…) was not my favorite in this puzzle. It’s always going to be tough with that much real estate taken by theme (3 15’s!) where much of the fill has to satisfy demands of two different themers. Here we have two partials in the same area: ODE TO and IT’S A. SAN is there too, which feels like a partial to me in a sense. AT A makes for yet another. I think non-constant solvers may face some trouble in that area.

Sal Mineo

Another spot I see as a potential struggle is the NE where BESETS / ILSA / LEICA / OAS / and OLLIE are. SAL rounds out that crew, where he is often clued as a variation of [Mineo of movies]. I know the name from crosswords only. I actually have no clue who that actor is… (googles) Oh wow. He was a silver-screen actor. I was picturing someone from the ’80s. Surprised no other SALs have become crossword-worthy! Wait a second… what about SAL of Impractical Jokers which was referenced in 53-A?

ERLE, REI, NEHIS, OEIL, TWA… hoo boy. Looking back, there’s more crosswordy tough stuff than I initially thought.

NEW TO ME / THINGS THAT I COULDN’T QUITE REMEMBER:

• 21A: OEIL. [Trompe l’___ (artistic illusion)] Oof. That’s a total faceplant for me. Looks like it has past usage though, so I’m glad to know it. Hope I can remember it.
• POLITICAL Animal… I’ve heard this before, and for a second  (I’m embarrassed to admit this) I thought it was referring to- like- an elephant or a donkey, but then I remembered there was a broader concept. I couldn’t remember what it was though. From Google’s AI: The phrase “political animal” originates from Aristotle‘s Politics, where it describes humans as naturally inclined to live in political communities. It signifies that humans are inherently social and possess the capacity for reason and law, which are fundamental to political life. Yea. That sounds familiar.
• Punta del ESTE.

In short, loved the theme answers as much as a disliked the fill. 3 stars to average them together.