Sunday, September 7, 2025

LAT tk (Gareth) [2.88 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 16:18 (Eric) [2.69 avg; 26 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) [1.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:29 (Jim P) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:45 (Matt G) [2.58 avg; 6 ratings] rate it

Derrick Niederman’s New York Times Crossword “The Name Is the Game” — Eric’s Review

Derrick Niederman’s New York Times Crossword “The Name Is the Game” — 9/7/25

I typically solve the Sunday NYT puzzle on my iMac. It’s got a decent-sized screen and the puzzle title is in ½” tall letters. So how do I not read the title every week?

I knew from the italics in the clue for the first theme answer that it was going to be a punny theme. But I was over halfway done before I completed a theme answer and finally saw the trick. It’s famous names in which one either the first or last name can also be something else:

• 23A [As the British pound rises in value, the dollar ___] BILL WITHERS The soul singer best known for the great song “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
• 34a [After spending the afternoon at Epcot, we had dinner at a ___ bistro] TONY ORLANDO The pop singer best known for the ear-worming song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon (‘Round the Old Oak Tree).”
• 51A [Did Joyce write courtesy of a ___?] ULYSSES GRANT The Civil War general who became a fairly forgettable president.
• 68A [An increase in ham prices forced the deli to ___ sandwiches higher] MARK CUBAN The owner of the Dallas Mavericks who made enough money doing something else that he could buy an NBA team.
• 85A [To Washington ___, Germany, seemed far from Tarrytown, N.Y.] IRVING BERLIN  The composer of “Blue Skies” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” among many others.
• 102A [Some Californians consider Santa ___ on Earth] BARBARA EDEN The actress best known for the title role in the 1960’s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. I’ve only driven through that town on US 101, but I have a friend whose mother lived there in the 1980s and loved it. Like much of California, it’s very pretty.
• 116A [The supermodel was holding a copy of ___ herself on the beach] ELLE FANNING The actress known for lots of stuff. I most recently saw her in A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic in which she played Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvie Russo (a not-quite-real character based on the actual Suze Rotolo). Elle, as any true crossword geek knows, is a French lifestyle magazine.
• 45D [Why do none of the Fruit of the Loom characters ___-colored clothing?] DON LEMON The former CNN host. I probably should have had a better idea of who he is; there aren’t many out gay Black journalists. But when I got the answer, I thought he might be a boxing or wrestling impresario. My apologies to both Don Lemon and Don King.
• 50D [Peeping ___ for Lady Godiva to appear] TOM WAITS The brilliant, gravelly-voiced (but always in tune) singer-songwriter.

Most of these names are familiar to me, but I’m not sure how much that contributed to how easily I solved the puzzle. Maybe in one or two spots, I got part of the name from crosses and then filled in the rest.

None of these puns truly amused me, but they also didn’t really annoy me. So I guess that counts for something.

Other stuff:

• 1A [Where Gloria Estefan was born] HAVANA That should have been a gimme; I know she’s Cuban.
• 28A [Part of many a morning routine] SHAVE Not DRIVE. One of the many things I like about being retired is that I don’t have to shave unless I want to. And I usually don’t want to.
• 30A [Orchestra section toward the middle of the pit] OBOES I figured that OBOES would fit, but I’m more used to seeing orchestras on stages, not in the pits of musical theaters, and I waited for a cross or two. STRING would have fit, too.
• 40A [Overdone] TRITE I thought we were talking meat here and had BURNT for a while, mostly because MEDIUM WELL didn’t fit. (The hamburgers were delicious, thanks.)
• 75A [Gerald Ford or William Howard Taft, once] YALE MAN The E and A suggested GENERAL, but I knew that was wrong as to Ford (and probably Taft). Why aren’t these presidents in chronological order? Sloppy editing?
• 92A {Charles or Ray who lent their name to a kind of chair] EAMES 30+ years ago, someone gave my husband an original Eames rocker. It’s the most uncomfortable chair we own.
• 114A [The shark-warning notes of “Jaws,” for example] LEITMOTIF German has some great nouns, doesn’t it?
• 124A [Set of pull-ups?] ARMS Not ELLS. I wonder if that was intentional.
• 6D [Media personalities Melber and Fleischer] ARIS For all the complaints about too many proper nouns in crosswords, ARIS let me know that DRIVE was wrong for 28A. Thanks, guys.
• 18D [Sarastro in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” e.g.] BASSO Most operatic villains are written for basses. Heroes are typically tenors. I think baritones can go either way.
• 24D [Product of the first three primes] THIRTY I was too lazy to try to remember the first three prime numbers, much less to do the multiplication.
• 107D [Beaver State capital] SALEM I made a semi-educated guess that Oregon is the Beaver State.

Prasanna Keshava’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Double the Fun”—Jim P’s review

Theme answers are phrases whose first words collectively form a word ladder from POKER to DARTS. The revealer is GAME CHANGER (111a, [Industry-disrupting idea, or a hint to the slow transformation happening in the starts of the starred clues’ answers]).

Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Double the Fun” · Prasanna Keshava · 9.7.25

• 29a. [*People hoping to get royal flushes] POKER PLAYERS.
• 38a. [*Provokes someone powerful] POKES THE BEAR.
• 62a. [*Studies carefully] PORES OVER.
• 69a. [*Places where people present visas] PORTS OF ENTRY.
• 77a. [*Anthony Bourdain’s travel show] PARTS UNKNOWN.
• 104a. [*Squads who aim at a target] DARTS TEAMS.

Some people don’t care for word ladders, but I don’t mind them if they’re done well. This one may have a couple of clunky bits, but overall it has some features that I quite like. Firstly, there’s consistency in that both games are specifically not kid games. Secondly, the game may change, but I’m imagining the people playing them remain the same. That is, the POKER PLAYERS got up from their chairs and formed DARTS TEAMS. Sure, DARTS TEAMS is a bit green painty, but the imaginative aspect of the theme wins out in my book. Nicely done.

I enjoyed the long fill, especially FORREST GUMP, EGG TIMERS, DAD-TO-BE, KARAOKE, METAPHOR, and TITANIC. But I’m always a little disappointed when I look closer and realize the grid is not symmetrical. In this case it’s subtle, so I didn’t notice at first, but now I can’t un-see it.

Clues of note:

• 15a. [Actress Jessica]. BIEL. I fell for the old BIEL/Alba trap. Anyone else?
• 109a. [Sabyasachi garments]. SARIS. I thought Sabayaschi might be a festival or holiday of some sort. No, it appears to just be a clothing brand.
• 3d. [Sing-along activity that translates to “empty orchestra”]. KARAOKE. Cool! I’m glad to learn that translation.

Three stars.

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “The Games People Play” — Matt’s Review

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “The Games People Play” solution, 9/7/2025

Our themers this week are phrases containing the names of games. I might say ‘board’ games, but that might not be strictly accurate:

• 22a [Car mechanic’s favorite board game?] ENGINE TROUBLE
• 32a [Linguistics experts’s favorite board game?] GRAMMAR CHECKERS
• 44a [Felon’s favorite board game?] CRIMINAL MASTERMIND
• 69a [Antivirus software developer’s favorite board game?] CYBERSECURITY RISK
• 90a [Math teacher’s favorite board game?] ALGEBRAIC OPERATION
• 102a [Dallas athlete’s favorite board game?] COWBOY DIPLOMACY
• 118a [Lawyer’s favorite board game?] LEGAL MONOPOLY

Of the games, I’m least familiar with Diplomacy, and of the phrases, least familiar with COWBOY DIPLOMACY, but I at least vaguely recognize both. I don’t find anything particularly snappy in this set, but it’s consistent and neat to have a smaller set of longer themers – Evan moreso than many Sunday constructors will fit eight or more themers into a grid. 

I didn’t love the fill in this one. I wonder if it was constrained by the longer themers, and I also wonder if I’m confusing “difficult for me” with “suboptimal.” But it felt – whether it’s true or not – like more names and proper nouns than typical. Some, like IPASS [Tollbooth convenience on the Chicago Skyway] and RAE [1990s Ontarian premier Bob whose surname is 51 Across backward] passed up other options that I think would be more accessible to most solvers. RAE in particular is crossing new-to-me [“20/20” correspondent Lynn] SHERR. Others like ENDORA [Samatha’s mother on “Bewitched”] and ANNE [“The Weakest Link” host Robinson] feel a bit dated. SPIN DOC (vs “spin doctor” rings oddly to my ear) as does the thought of using CORN OIL in a frying pan.

Just not my day, I think – I’m curious to see how others took to this one.

Highlights: I chuckled at the one-two punch of IRAS followed by [“Money ___ grow on trees!”] // [“Married … With Children” characters?] for DOTS (referencing the dots of the ellipsis rather than characters in the show) is a cluing angle I think experienced solvers will clock easily, but I always like to see it