WSJ (Contest) Grid: 15 minutes; Meta: 8 more 
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Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal contest crossword, “Driving Force” — Conrad’s writeup
This week we’re look for an automotive term. There were five long theme entries, and the central one was the key: STEERINGWHEEL (Item on which the hand positions were traditionally taught by a pair of clock positions). You classically hold your hands at the 10 and 2 o-clock positions, indicating that we need to look at the 10th and 2nd letter of each themer:
WSJ Contest – 09.07.2025
- A[R]ITHMETI[C]: Handy skill when figuring gas mileage
- U[S]ERSMANU[A]L: Booklet in a glove compartment
- S[T]EERINGW[H]EEL: Item on which the hand positions were traditionally taught by a pair of clock positions
- V[S]IXENGIN[E]S: Auto motors popularized in the 1960s
- U[S]EDCARLO[T]: Place where you might find some lemons
The 10th and 2nd letters of each themer spell our contest solution CRASH TESTS. Another fun meta by Mike. All of the theme entries were car-related. The mechanism didn’t require that, so it was icing on the cake. Solvers: please share your thoughts.
My rabbit hole was the Roman numerals, thinking about clocks, and I tried to make sense of all the I, V, and X’s in the puzzle.
Yep! One of my rabbit holes, too!
Regarding the WSJ 9/5/2025 puzzle, I believe 22-A should be AMY, and 3-D SPICYHOT.
Thank you all for what you do!
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 5 stars
Fixed, thanks!
It was a fun puzzle with a satisfying click.
Ironically, they’re no longer teaching 10 and 2 because of hand injuries caused by airbags. 9 and 3 is better, but that would spell IIUEWENIOE.
9 and 3 is not possible with a lot of steering wheels.
I learned to drive long before airbags were introduced, but I thought the recommended positions now were 8 and 4.
No, 9 and 3: https://living.geico.com/driving/auto/car-safety-insurance/steering-wheel/
I always enjoy Mike Shenk’s puzzles. This is no exception! Fun solve!
Tough week 1. Forces in the title had me searching for engineering units. ARITHMETIC clue had me searching for hidden MPG references. FONDA was close enough to HONDA I hunted for other near car makes. Then I crashed. :)
I wanted to back-solve for HORSEPOWER and found there were actual racehorses named ARITHMETIC and USER’S MANUAL! Not so lucky for STEERING WHEEL so I gave up on that rabbit hole.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 5 stars
Fun puzzle to solve. Lucky for me that when I took Drivers Ed back in 1972, 10/2 were the traditionally taught hand positions on the steering wheel.