WSJ (Contest) Grid: untimed; Meta: a day or so 
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Matt Gaffney’s Wall Street Journal contest crossword, “Make It a Double” — Conrad’s writeup
This week we’re looking a famous American athlete of the past. There were six theme entries:
- CHERYLTIEGS: 1970s-80s supermodel
- JAMIEDIMON: JPMorgan Chase CEO
- SEANASTIN: “The Goonies” co-star
- DIANADORS: Star of 1951’s “Bikini Baby”
- JONSTEWART: 2022 winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
- BRADPAISLEY: Grammy winner from West Virginia
The themers were first name, last name. I noticed nothing notable and spun my wheels for a long time. I could’t find a signal so I checked the clues: “Ink filled writer” struck me as odd. You could clue BIC a lot of ways, and that’s not how you’d normally clue it. Pen came to mind, SEAN ASTIN was a themer, leading to SEAN PENN. Double N’s.
WSJ Contest – 08.17.2025
I thought that was a dead rabbit hole, so I went to bed. I woke up and kept exploring. CHASM’s vaguely worded clue jumped out: deep hole. Pit came to mind, leading to BRAD PITT. Double T’s. Then I spotted YAK’s vague furry four-legger clue. I had the rabbit: each theme entry first name matched a famous person’s last name, each ending in double letters. They all had a matching grid entry:
- TOT -> CHERYL (LADD): Young fellow
- YAK -> JAMIE (FOXX): Furry four-legger
- CHASM -> BRAD (PITT): Deep hole
- ONION -> JON (HAMM): Salad ingredient, maybe
- BIC -> SEAN (PENN): Ink filled writer
- BUY -> DIANA (RIGG): Win dubiously
The mapped entries spell our contest answer TY COBB. Solvers: please share your thoughts.
I noticed that several three letter answers were consecutive letters that could be found in the long themers: AMI in JAMIEDIMON, SEA in SEANASTIN, ADO in DIANADORS and BRA in BRADPAISLEY. I figured this had to be the gimmick but after copying out all the three letter answers, none fit in CHERYLTIEGS or JONSTEWART. It seemed too much to be a coincidence but I couldn’t figure out why they were there but not in all the theme answers. Turned out to be just another rabbit hole with a dead end. *Sigh*
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4.5 stars
Four out of six!
Quelle coïncidence.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 3.5 stars
Devious.
PITT briefly came to mind alas I was seduced away by not quite drink names hidden in the themers and then adjacent/diagonal double letters throughout the grid. All dead ends not worth doubling down on since I had some errors in the fill due to names unknown to me. Neat meta mechanism.
Got the answer, but with a lot of work. Had to back solve. Diana Rigg or Diana Ross? Jamie Farr or Jamie Foxx? And who is the world is Jon Hamm? Never heard of him. Why is ham (or onion, for that matter) a salad ingredient?
I guess Matt needed a way to clue both onion and ham with the same clue. I agree, I would never eat a salad with either of those things, and they’re not exactly the first salad foods you think of, but I can’t think of another better way to connect those two foods. (I didn’t get the meta.)
Rather than ingredients in a salad, ham and onion would be better ingredients in an omelet. Omelet ingredients would be a much better clue.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4 stars
While onions may be in a regular salad (always in mine!), there is also ham salad itself. (Can never get enough of my homemade version)
Chef’s salad would certainly have ham, but perhaps not onion.
Western or Denver omelets have ham and onions. Omelet ingredients would have been better, rather than salad ingredients.
I solved but want to say–This puzzle is not as clean as the usual Gaffneys are. Too many incorrect alternate answers that also fit the ‘double’ pattern—Diana ROSS, Jamie FARR and Cheryl LYNN (70’s disco singer who sang “Got to be Real” – which is close to 14A — “I’m Real”. This hung me up for a long time, before I discovered Cheryl Ladd, Jamie Foxx and Diana Rigg)
That’s not a flaw in the meta. ROS and LYN aren’t things anyway, and a quick scan for a FAR clue quickly lets you know that’s a dead end.
That is what I did. Had FARR along with all the correct ones and quickly corrected.
Very clever, Matt. I totally missed it because I thought it was a drinking theme. “Make it a double” and make it snappy. Seeing PICKLE and ONION in the grid assured me we were talking about MARTINIS (that weird Magician clue with INI as the answer convinced me I was on the right path.) Saw PARSLEY for PAISLEY, LIMON for DIMON, CHERRY for CHERYL, BANANA for DIANA, BEAN for SEAN (as in espresso bean.) Etc. haha. Left me staring into the pit of the olive at the bottom of the glass.
BTW, Diana Dors was not really the “star” of Bikini Baby. The picture’s original title was “Lady Godiva Rides Again” starring Pauline Stroud. Diana Dors had a secondary role, and her name wasn’t even on the original poster. When Dors hit it big the film was retitled “Bikini Baby,” with her featured prominently in the posters wearing a bikini. Joan Collins was also in it, uncredited.
I had the right start by getting Cheryl Ladd and Diana Rigg, but also went with Jamie Farr. I didn’t correlate the new last names to alternate entries in the puzzle, so I didn’t get the final. Should have stuck with it I guess.
BTW, you failed to mention that TY COBB ends in a double letter!
Yes!
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4 stars
I spent a long time trying to figure out how to use the 6 theme answers. Ultimately needed help to get step 1. Had to use Google to come up with Jon Hamm. Very neat mechanism. Enjoyable puzzle after getting Step 1!
Jon Hamm – really?!
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4 stars
As for Jon Hamm – if I saw him it was “oh, yeah, he’s that guy from that show.” I didn’t watch it so wouldn’t have rung a bell. However, he was featured in a series of Progressive ads as Flo’s former date/boyfriend. She got his name wrong, and was corrected enough that I now knew who it was. And connected a “man in an ad” with “Ad Men”
Just don’t ever use John Cena. To me, he’s the guy who advertises garbage bags. Apparently, he does a whole lot more. Yeah, I end up Googling “actor in commercial” to find who the latest pop culture stars are.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 5 stars
I’m flummoxed by these posters who have never heard of Emmy-winner Jon Hamm. He’s won multiple Golden Globes, hosted SNL 4 times and starred in movies like Bridesmaids, The Town, Baby Driver and Minions. Entertainment Weekly named him as Entertainer of the Year, and lastly but not leastly(?) was People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.
I mean, COME ON NOW!
Amen!
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4.5 stars
It must have something to do with the WSJ readership, but it’s a little confounding to see all the “Jon Hamm? Never heard of the guy!” sentiments, and no one blinking an eye at Jamie Dimon.
Or Diana Dors. PLEASE! NEVER heard of her, but I have heard of Jon Hamm.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4.5 stars
I took a unique approach to solving the meta. I joined others atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean to greet the morning as we sat in lotus position and chanted our mantra “OM.”
Then a bell chimed, and I had it. In its entirety all at once. In perfect harmony. The real thing.
Thanks Matt. I’d like to buy you, and the world, a Coke.
I got totally stuck on Ernie Banks. Make it a double header. Right sport anyway….,
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4 stars
We were stuck until we started the NYT August 17 puzzle and saw Cheryl Ladd. Then the light clicked on and we got to Ty Cobb!