LAT untimed (pannonica) 
[2.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT untimed, grr (Amy) 
[3.41 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal 3:31 (Jim P) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 
[2.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Larry Snyder’s New York Times crossword — Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 9/26/25 – no. 0926
My laptop has a touchscreen, and about a quarter of the way through the puzzle I inadvertently touched the ad for NYT Family above the puzzle, which jumped me to a Fave different page, and then the back button took me to the empty puzzle! An outrage, I tell you! Do better, NYT tech.
Fave fill: HATE-WATCH, ALONE TIME, FERRETS (you out there, MAS?), DELETED SCENES, DEEPFAKES, pet-hair LINT ROLLER, MEGHAN Markle, diaper-bag WET WIPE (good for all ages!), BANANA PEEL, tennisian HELD SERVE.
First into the grid: 10A. [Dip that can be made in a molcajete, for short], GUAC. I suppose other dips could also be made in that stone tool. Googled my way to a hummus recipe where the chickpeas are mashed up in a molcajete, so yes.
Three more things:
- 31A. [“Hogwash!”], PAH. Do you use this word? Do you hear it or read it outside of puzzles? I don’t.
- 33A. [Takes in the trash?], DELETED SCENES. I llike the reversal of the usual “takes out the trash,” with “takes” transforming into a noun.
- 5D. [One receiving monthly payments], LEASER. Uh … Merriam-Webster shows a very particular sort of definition for this word. It can be “a textile worker who forms a lease,” or it can mean a leaseman, “a person in the petroleum industry who negotiates with landowners for land options, oil-drilling leases, and royalties and with producers for the pooling of production in a field” (with leaseman synonymous with landman, which is the title of a Western series starring Billy Bob Thornton and know I vaguely know what landman means). At any rate, it doesn’t seem to mean “anyone holding a lease with monthly payments.”
3.5 stars from me.
Suzanne Oliver’s Universal crossword, “Line of Inquiry”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are colloquial phrases that start with one of the traditional question words, except the phrases aren’t questions. The revealer is LEADING QUESTION (38a, [Objectionable inquiry … or what the statement at 17-, 26-, 50- or 59-Across has]).
Universal crossword solution · “Line of Inquiry” · Suzanne Oliver · Fri., 9.26.25
- 17a. [“Let’s go along with it!”] “WHEN IN ROME…”
- 26a. [“Oh, that’s too bad!”] “WHAT A SHAME!”
- 50a. [“That figures!”] “HOW TYPICAL.”
- 59a. [“You’re askin’ for it!”] “WHY I OUGHTA…”
Solved without looking too closely at the theme. Once I finished and made sense of it, I thought, “So what? They’re all just questions.” Then the penny dropped and I realized they weren’t questions at all but only started with question words. A simple yet elegant little theme. We’re only missing a “who” and a “where”. So can you find a statement starting “who” or “where” that isn’t a question? If so, drop it in the comments.
I also really enjoyed the smooth fill in this grid. Long highlights include DOLLAR SIGNS, ICE SHEET, GLAAD AWARDS, “DON’T LOOK!” and FISHNET, but there are some assets in the shorter fill as well like MONGOL, HAGGLE, STINGY, Isaac NEWTON and B-GAME.
Clues of note:
- 8d. [“Dirty snowballs” in space]. COMETS. The internet says “dirty snowballs” is a popular nickname for COMETS. I personally have never heard it, but it was inferable.
- 39d. [Instruction before a surprise is revealed]. “DON’T LOOK!” I wanted “DON’T PEEK” and I think I still prefer that as the answer to the clue. “DON’T LOOK” seems more commonly used as a warning to avoid seeing something unpleasant.
Enjoyable puzzle. 3.5 stars.
Ariana Borut’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 9/26/25 • Fri • Borut • solution • 20250926
Took me a few beats to understand the theme after seeing the revealer. I had recognized that there was a ‘before-and-after’ mechanism in play, but there’s more to it.
- 59aR [Go over the top, or a hint to 17-, 23-, 37-, and 48-Across] PUT ON A SHOW. The final element of each theme answer is the name of a television program that’s been tagged on.
- 17a. [Extremely popular puddle jumper?] HOT AIR TAXI.
- 23a. [Soon-to-be buds?] NEXT BEST FRIENDS.
- 37a. [Beach race outcome?] QUICK SAND CASTLE.
- 48a. [Four-bed, three-bath digs in the backyard?] FAMILY TREE HOUSE.
So that’s pretty neat. It also reminds me of the trope “let’s put on a show!”
- 5d [Pass on the water] SAIL BY. 7d [Nautical shout] AVAST. 42a [Perplexed] AT SEA.
- 8d [Assess] TAX, crossed by 6a [Assess] RATE.
- 31d [One familiar with the aging process] WINEMAKER. Lack of a question mark makes the clue a small bit trickier.
- 39d [Lab request?] STAY. The old crossword trick of punning on the short form of labrador retriever.
- 50d [12:31, for one] RATIO. 20a [12/31, for one] EVE. If I had to guess, I would say that this was an alignment made during the editing process.
- 53d [Heated counter point?] STOVE. Note that it’s counter point and not counterpoint.
- 15a [Like a lemon] OVAL. Definitely not among the first few things I thought of, which included tart and sour.
- 22a [Pep rally chant] CHEER. Almost the name of another television series.
- 28a [Batman and Robin, e.g.] ROLES. Not really a fan of such overgeneralized clues, similar to those that list two things and the answer is NOUNS.
- 29a [Coyote call] HOWL. My instinct would be to call it a YOWL, but both a crude Ngram query and a search of the Wikipedia page for Canis latrans (21 × howl, 0 × yowl) indicate otherwise. Canis latrans translates to ‘barking dog’, a reference to the many vocalizations they produce (Wikipedia).
- 41a [“Un Verano __ Ti”: Bad Bunny album whose title translates to “A Summer Without You”] SIN. That’s a rather long clue for essentially asking the solver how to say without in Spanish.
- 57a [Cello’s sect.] STR. 62a [Pt. of EMS] EMER. My tolerance for entries of this type in a crossword grid is one (1).
NYT: I like me some wordplay in a puzzle. Clues for DELETED SCENES, REEL, CODAS and HELD SERVE were fun. I thought the clue for CREASED was a stretch. I’m not sure I get the clue for ALONE TIME – I’m married, and we were almost inseparable during our honeymoon, but we lived together before we married, and I’d say we were “newlyweds” for a while after the honeymoon (after which we both went back to our regular work routines).
PAH sucks. And I had thought maybe EDDA had been dropped from constructors’ word lists.
Is SPEED GUN a term people use? I wanted SPEED TRAP, but that didn’t fit, so I went with just SPEEDING. Where I live, cops use a “radar gun.” Maybe it’s regional.
I too had SPEEDING and was stuck for a while, and also wondered at the clue for ALONE TIME. It’s an overgeneralization and sounds a little off, like a sign of a bad start to a marriage… It’s perfectly fine to need alone time as a newlywed, but lacking it means you’re not communicating very well…
It may not be easy to clue it, though.
ALONE TIME: desire of old lady who lives in a shoe
I’m not understanding the confusion with ALONE TIME. The newlyweds (ideally) are spending all their time together. So they, consequently, are (individually) lacking ALONE TIME. makes perfect sense to me!
Like others, I see PAW to LEASER!
Great puzzle the rest of the way!
Not sure why it’s ideal for newlyweds to spend all their time together. My wife and I certainly didn’t, and that seems to have worked out reasonably well – 37 years and counting.
After further thought, I believe the clue might have been more apt if it had cited “retired couples” rather than newlyweds. My wife and I both retired about seven years ago, and ALONE TIME seems to be at more of a premium than it was early in our marriage.
Sped through the puzzle, and then just got stopped dead in the SE corner. Took forever to chip away at it; had GRasPED instead of GROUPED (which made sense, and at the time I had CIPRa instead of CIPRO). Figured out EPA, then got VERGE, which after I had fixed GROUPED got me OEUVRE. I also wasn’t’ sure out SPEED GUN for a long time, and HELD SERVE just didn’t mean anything to mean. In the end, I had to go through the grid as I couldn’t remember if it was CENSeR or CENSOR, and that was checked by POW (vs. PeW…). Anyway… still, a pretty Good Friday despite a very long last mile. The clue for CREASED was quite nice.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I liked how this puzzle unfolded. At times, it seemed impossible, like the clues were a little too clever, but somehow the penny would drop and I’d figure it out. I finished it late last night and stared at the “Takes in the trash” clue for the longest time and was too tired to figure it out. Now I get it! Cute!
DEEP FAKES and HATE WATCH are a great pair.
NYT: I liked this puzzle quite a bit, with some nice wordplay that gave the puzzle some bite but still kept it on the Friday level. I’m glad Amy confirmed that LEASER is off; does anyone know how much it’s appeared in the NYT before?
Not loving PAH, either.
I only knew what a molcajete was because it was an answer for the NYT 4/12/25 Saturday crossword. I had never heard of it before that. So I’ve learned at least one thing that has sunk in from doing crosswords!
This is the eight appearance of LEASER in the NYT crossword (going all the way back). Interestingly, about half the clues have suggested it means a landlord and half have suggested it means a tenant. That just shows its relative worthlessness in the context of a typical real estate lease. (I started with the much more common LESSOR, but having to change that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this otherwise wonderfully clued puzzle.)
Ugh. Just because NYT has allowed it before does not make it correct. It is not.
It’s correct. Obscure, not great, but correct.
Eric, thank you for looking into that! I also started with LESSOR.
Thanks for piquing my curiosity.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
LEASER is a dumb word. Any landlord is a LESSOR. Picking a nit, I suppose, but that was just bad.
+1
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
Agree there were some rather dubious entries… but also how are you going to really hate on a puzzle with FERRETS and DEEPFAKES and a clue for CREASED that actually made me laugh out loud when I finally figured it out.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
This was a really enjoyable puzzle. Loved the creative cluing!
Gotta agree, however, that LEASER was bad. Real bad. An unfortunate blot on an otherwise fine puzzle. Demerits for that.
PAH, however, seemed perfectly fine to me, if kinda old-timey. It apparently goes way back to the 16th century, although the Google Books Ngram Viewer actually shows it increasing in use during the 2000’s.
When my great-grandmother was pushing ninety, she had a problem that we all referred to as “senility”, which I erased almost as quickly as I put it in. My take is that that word was a kind of catchall word that is now diagnosed more accurately as “dementia” or “Alzheimer’s”, but I mostly erased it because I didn’t think it would be seen as an appropriate answer to the clue. Has the word simply fallen out of favor, or is it now considered offensive? I can’t keep up. I myself just recently became a septuagenarian, and I suffer from an un-diagnosed but clear case of CRS syndrome. Anyway, I also had SPEEDING but wanted an extra letter for SPEEDTRAP; like others I must live in a region where they use radar guns.
In answer to Jim P, perhaps an owl might like to weigh in on this question. I immediately thought of “Who’s on First”, which was a question to Lou Costello, but a statement to Bud Abbot. As for “Where”, maybe we can think about Connie Francis, Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein, or Delia Owens?
When I was a kid, I took horseback riding lessons, and when we would go out trail-riding we were instructed to call out “Where hole!” if we spotted a hole in the terrain that could trip a horse.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
Most of the entries I found online for PAH refer to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
From Wkipedia (on the third page)
“PAH is a slang term used to describe a person who is perceived as being weak, cowardly, or lacking in courage. It is often used as an insult to belittle someone and make them feel inferior. The term has its roots in the word “pussy,” which is a vulgar term for female genitalia. The term PAH is commonly used among men to assert their dominance over others and establish themselves as alpha males.”
Searching “PAH hogwash” returns reference to NYT puzzle. Make of this what you will.
Wiktionary just says it’s “Imitative of spitting out something disgusting.” Seems a more likely fit for this reference.
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 4.5 stars
Nifty finds, elegant construction, terrific fill and clues — thanks, Universal!