Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Jonesin’ 5:34 (Erin) rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:06 (Evan) [3.69 avg; 21 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [4.13 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (Eric) [3.42 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 5:10 (Jim Q.) rate it

Jake Halperin’s Universal Crossword “Add-On” — Eric’s Review

Jake Halperin’s Universal Crossword “Add-On” — 8/12/25

Common phrases get a few additional letters to become sort-of wacky new phrases:

• 17A [*Note about an imperfect i or j?] DOT COMMENT dot-com
• 19A [*Seasonal home?] FALL APARTMENT Fall apart
• 38A [*Some underground treadmill owners?] BASEMENT RUNNERS Base runners
• 56A [*Distinctive parrot, say?] STATEMENT BIRD State bird Mine’s the lark bunting. What’s yours? And have you seen it? I haven’t seen mine (that I know of).

The lark bunting, state bird of Colorado

• 60A [What might be included with an email … and a hint to the starred clues’ answers?] ATTACHMENT Or, parsed differently, ATTACH “MENT.”

I like this as a theme for inexperienced crossword solvers. The theme answers are only a little bit wacky and consist of normal words. The base phrases are all commonly known. That the added MENT is the same throughout the grid makes it easy to understand how the wordplay works.

The grid design is interesting. You rarely see theme answers stacked on each other. The large L-shaped groups of seven blocks on the two sides are a bit off-putting, though they do keep each Down answer from crossing three theme answers. But the grid didn’t feel nearly as segmented as you might expect looking at it.

Other stuff:

• 25A [Sudan’s ___ pyramids] NUBIAN I didn’t know about these ancient structures, but they look pretty cool.
• 43A [Name between Jay and Elle?] KAY Cute clue. Maybe too cute.
• 63A [Fuzzy fruit] PEACH I think of a kiwi fruit as “fuzzy,” but not a peach (unless it’s moldy).
• 2D [Faith with a 19-month calendar] BAHÁ’Í I didn’t know that, but I know very little about that religion.
• 4D [Many a high schooler] ADOLESCENT I had ADOLE____ and couldn’t see where that was going.
• 10D [Help with a crime] ABET/27D [Getaway car passenger, maybe] BANK ROBBER Seems like a missed opportunity to not clue ABET as [Drive a getaway car].
• 36A [___ Incredible, aka Elastigirl] MRS Voiced by the wonderful Holly Hunter. Don’t write off animated films if you haven’t seen The Incredibles. Or Toy Story. Or Coco. Or Up.

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “A Little Praise” — four notable characters. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 8/12/25

Hello lovelies! This week we have a literary theme. We’ll let the entries do the talking:

• 17a. [Began eagerly] JUMPED INTO
• 62a. [Supplement that may assist cognition] MEMORY DRUG
• 11d. [Familiar route] BEATEN PATH
• 28d. [Slow-moving vehicle in parts of Pennsylvania] AMISH BUGGY
• 39d. [“Little” literary characters that can be found on the outside of the four longest answers] WOMEN. The theme entries are flanked by JO, MEG, BETH, and AMY, Louisa May Alcott’s characters from Little Women.

Simon

Other things:

• 5a. [“Straight Outta Compton” costar___ Jackson Jr.] OSHEA. His father, O’Shea Jackson Sr., is also known as Ice Cube.
• 24d. [Four-color toy of the 1980s] SIMON. Who remembers this electronic memory game?

Until next week!

Erik Agard’s New York Times crossword—Evan M’s review

Erik Agard’s Tuesday 8-12-25 New York Times crossword puzzle solution

Greetings, earthlings! I hope all is well with the collective you! A very familiar name in the crossword world (Erik Effing Agard!) showed up to write today’s New York Times crosswords, and I sure did enjoy playing with, unpacking, and admiring it. Erik, current editor at AppleNews+ and former editor of USA TODAY crosswords, adds this excellent romp of a puzzle to his formidable portfolio as his 83rd NYT publication overall and his 10th Tuesday puzzle.

Since I solve for time (ish), I usually don’t try to understand the theme as I solve. I have been dabbling with starting down in the revealer area to see if it gives me anything nice to quickly rip the long themers to shreds like an overeager toddler (or adult, TBH) unwrapping Christmas presents, but that approach did not work today. TBH, this adult took a bit of bouncing and bopping around to get enough to grab the short-and-sweet revealer at 63D [Birds phonetically suggested by a feature of 17-, 27- and 51-Across]: TOUCANS. Even when I got it, I figured spending time unraveling was not worth it, since the meaning of “two cans” (🥫🥫, hehe) sounds in a phrase didn’t 7A (RUDELY) slap me across the face, and I’m not too 57A (ASHAMED) to admit it.

So, as for the theme entries. They all sing for me, each in a different way.

• CANT HOLD A CANDLE: The first is a super-fun spanner (15-letter-long entry) with an idiomatic twist, plus as clued [Pales in comparison], there is a little solving trick that usually works but won’t here: assuming the first word will have an S at the end of it like “pales” doesn’t work when an irregular verb like CAN (🥫)–or CAN’T (🙅‍♀️)–is employed!
• CANDY CANE: cluing it as “Edible Christmas ornament” def threw me a little. I typically think of them as a sweet treat more than as a decoration, but of course it’s not wrong! Nice angle for what could’ve otherwise been a cute but slightly dull entry.
• MEXICAN AMERICAN: A double-themer-spanner day, woweee! It feels really nice to have a spotlight on a group of people who have such an important role in U.S. culture. The clue is so fun and simple, too: [Chicana, for example]. For those unfamiliar with the term, chicana refers to a girl or woman of Mexican descent born in the United States. As the creator of the Facebook group Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory, Erik has taken direct action to help constructors from underrepresented groups get published, and this entry is very in line with his ethos. I even personally got my start from there!

Nice job, Erik! Five stars: i ✨🥫✨ with this puzzle. 😉

Jared Cappel’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

We’re on a world tour! Each theme answer has CASH UP FRONT, as we find out at 35a [Demand for payment prior to service, or what 18-, 27-, 41-, and 54-Across all have].

Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, August 12, Jared Cappel, solution grid

• 18a [Was victorious in the ring, but not by a knockout] is WON ON POINTS. South Korea.
• 27a [Drawn from actual events] is REAL WORLD. Brazil.
• 41a [Dessert made with equal parts sugar, eggs, butter, and flour] is POUND CAKE. The UK.
• 54a [Big name in map publishing] is RAND MCNALLY. South Africa.

Consistent and interesting theme – and given the amount of theme/revealer material, the fill is quite smooth.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of Mike POSNER. Having now watched the music video for “Cooler Than Me,” I’m going to nope out of hearing him again.

Josh M. Kaufmann’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Triple Decker” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Suits from a deck of cards can be found spread apart (in 3 “pieces”) in phrases

WSJ • 8/12/25 • Tue • “Triple Decker” • Josh M. Kaufmann • solution • 20250812

THEME ANSWERS:

• SECLUDED BEACHES
• DICED ALMONDS
• SPREAD AWARENESS
• THEME PARTIES
• (revealer) THREE PIECE SUITS

Ok, sure. Not my favorite theme type, or my favorite puzzle today. While solving, the only one of the phrases that felt solidly in-language was SPREAD AWARENESS. Looking back now, they don’t bother me as much. I dunno about DICED ALMONDS though. I love me some almonds on my salad. Mine are called SLICED ALMONDS. I just call them almonds though.

This is what I got when I googled DICED ALMONDS (+ salad). Only these.

The suits being in three pieces only seems to work for SPREAD AWARENESS because there are no single letters designated as a “piece,” as there are in the others. Calling an S by itself at the end of a phrases a “piece” seems especially cheap because you just need to pluralize the answer to make the “piece.”

The fill also made me grimace at times, starting with A NAP. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that partial before. Just seeing I COME now. Oof. NESS, IS SO, RICHE, SCENE I, MCING, EIEIO, crosswordy GNUS and ANKH were some others that kept it feeling a bit rough for me. Not a huge fan of the longer answers NEAR THERE or RUN A TEST either.

The general idea of the theme, and the accompanying revealer, I did appreciate.

2.5 stars from me.

Patrick Berry’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 8/12/25 • Tue • Berry • solution • 20250812

Interesting solving experience. It felt as if it was more difficult than the venue’s typical ‘moderately challenging’ Tuesday offerings, which I generally find too easy, but my final solve time 29d BELIEd that perception. In fact, it was one of my fastest solves here. 23a [“Is that even possible?”] CAN IT BE? Go figure.

• 13a [Just off the beaten path?] TRAILSIDE. Reflexively thought this was the answer, but waited for several confirming crossings.
• 15a [Revolutionary journey] ORBIT. Immediately had the right idea, but could only think of year and day.
• 26a [Jeu d’__ (bit of wit)] ESPRIT. Instinctively knew this one, by association with esprit de l’escalier.
  
• 29a [Succotash morsel] BEAN. Specifically LIMA, yes?
• Offset triple stack in the center of MAKE ME AN OFFER (32a [Price line?]), GENERAL STORES, SENIOR CITIZEN.
• 53a [Annual festival held at California’s Empire Polo Club] COACHELLA. Know the event, didn’t know the locale.
• 10d [Brownie batch?] TROOP. Nice clue.
• 14d [Snowcapped mountain overlooking La Paz] ILLIMANI.
  
• 16d [Taste __ ] TESTER. Encountering this clue confirmed that I should not have been thinking of TASTE ME for 24d [Sign near samples] TAKE ONE.
  
• 25d [Attempts to bring back cold cases?] BEER RUNS. Great clue. The ‘bring back’ phrasing should have been a stronger tipoff, but the misdirection still worked.
• 30d [Last player to pass, in most bridge columns] EAST. Since it was four letters, I knew the answer was either EAST or WEST, so the ST went in immediately.
• Similarly, 34d [Worry about] FRET OVER might have been STEW OVER, but OVER was practically guaranteed.
• 55d [Cubano ingredient] HAM. Just want you all to know that it takes a lot of self-control to resist posting that same “Cuban Sandwich” song by Barrence Whitfield and Tom Russell every time a clue mentions one!