Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Jonesin’ 14:59 (Erin) rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:57 (Eric) [3.38 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [4.00 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 7:16 (Eric) [2.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) rate it

Matthew Stock and Mark Valdez’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

This one continued to puzzle me even after I saw the revealer. Not sure why. It’s still a Tuesday-level solve – I don’t think the theme helps the solve at all.

Los Angeles Times, October 7, 2025, Matthew Stock, Mark Valdez, solution grid

• 16a [Replace a player on the basepath] is PINCH RUN.
• 20a [Comedian who co-created the Netflix animated series “Big Mouth”] is NICK KROLL. I started to think this had something to do with double letters.
• 32a [Ski resort pass] is LIFT TICKET. So yeah. Double letters.
• 43a [“RuPaul’s Drag Race” segment featuring celebrity impressions] is SNATCH GAME. So not double letters.
• 57a [Reject, on a dating app] is SWIPE LEFT.

And the revealer: 63a [Go on a break, or what the starts of 16-, 20-, 32-, 43-, and 57-Across can be called]: TAKE FIVE. The first word of each answer is a synonym for TAKE and there are FIVE of them.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of NICK KROLL or “Big Mouth.”

Tarun Krishnamurthy’s Universal Crossword “Sound Bites” — Eric’s Review

Tarun Krishnamurthy’s Universal Crossword “Sound Bites” — 10/6/25

A tricky theme (at least for me) of a strange menu based on the musical scale:

• 17A [Evening chocolaty drink, maybe] DECAF MOCHA
• 24A [Filled food with a green wrapping] CABBAGE ROLL
• 36A [French stew for which Julia Child penned a popular recipe] BEEF BOURGUIGNON You might think that because I took French in high school, I wouldn’t have much trouble spelling this one. You’d be wrong.
• 47A [Iconic breakfast sandwich] EGG MCMUFFIN
• 59A [Tendency to like rap, say … or a hint to the playable first words of 17-, 24-, 36- and 47-Across] MUSIC TASTE

I spent much longer trying to figure out this theme than I did solving the puzzle. The “Bites”/TASTE aspect seemed covered by the fact that each theme answer is something edible. I saw an ABBA in CABBAGE ROLL  and an EEF Barzelay (of the indie band Clem Snide) in BEEF BOURGIGNON, but no other musical artists (and in any case, Mr. Barzelay is hardly a household name). I considered whether the “playable first words” were something different than the actual first words in the theme answers. (For example, way the “playable first word” in 24A CAB and not CABBAGE? Was 36A BEE, not BEEF?) But DECAF and EGG didn’t lend themselves to that sort of interpretation.

I eventually ended up caving and getting the explanation from editor David Steinberg. Each “playable first word” is made up of only the letters in the standard musical scale of A–G. Listening to music is a big part of my life, but I never learned to play an instrument and my practical knowledge of the subject is limited. I never noticed the scale in the “playable first words” and I needed a bigger hint in the revealer clue or a more explicit revealer like MUSICAL SCALE. (And thus have I demonstrated why I am so bad at meta crosswords.)

Other stuff:

• 10A [Author, activist and educational YouTuber Green] HANK I’d not heard of him; his channels include CrashCourse and SciShow.
• 22A [Permitted] LEGAL/22D [Permitted] LET
• 29A [Chutzpah] GUTS Those don’t strike me as equivalent. To me, “chutzpah” connotes “audacity.”
• 13D [Hillock] KNOLL For older folks like me, “knoll” is always that “grassy knoll” in Dallas.
• 33D [Starter at an Italian restaurant] ANTIPASTO I don’t remember seeing this in a grid before, which is slightly odd given how common those letters are.

Corry Cropper’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Corry Cropper’s New York Times Crossword — 107/25

Congratulations to Corry Cropper for a fun New York Times crossword debut — and, I believe, his debut in any publication covered by Diary of a Crossword Fiend.

The theme is straight out of Greek mythology, with the story told succinctly in three common phrases and one popular song:

• 19A [Brief time to savor one’s glory, metaphorically] DAY IN THE SUN
• 34A [Mysterious way to vanish] INTO THIN AIR
• 41A [Practical and unpretentious] DOWN TO EARTH
• 56A [Oscar-winning Disney song sung by a crab named Sebastian] UNDER THE SEA From the Disney film The Little Mermaid (but you knew that).
• 61A [Mythological figure whose ill-fated trajectory is suggested by 19-, 34-, 41- and 56-Across] ICARUS

I switch directions constantly while solving, so I didn’t see the relationship between the theme answers until I hit 61A. I found the revealer to be an amusing payoff, and the theme answers are all pretty nice phrases that I would be happy to see in a themeless puzzle.

Other stuff:

• 5A [Floral shade] LILAC I almost put that in immediately, but I decided to wait for a cross or two.
• 29A [Diaphanous] LIGHT Not SHEER.
• 64A [Thin layer] LAMINA Nice word I don’t often see.
• 6D [ ___ fixe] IDÉE My typical response to that clue is PRIX. LILAC spared me this time.
• 9D [Italian dessert menu staple] CANNOLI Yum.

• 11D [Certain monk(ey)s] CAPUCHINS In the religious sense, they’re fully the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.
• 33D [Still learning to navigate local landmarks, say] NEW IN TOWN I’ve lived in my “new” home for over a year and don’t consider myself “new in town.” But I still don’t have the mental map of town that I had of Austin after living there for over 45 years.
• 42D [Spirit of Mexico?] TEQUILA Cute clue.

Jonesin’ solution 10/7/25

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Verbal Playground” — it’s themeless time again. – Erin’s write-up

Hello lovelies! For this week’s Jonesin’ we have a themeless grid. I learned a ton in this difficult (for me) puzzle, so let’s go over things I didn’t know before today.

• 2d. [Powdered wig] PERUKE
• 34a. [French politician whose commission was key in creating the euro and modern European Union] JACQUES DELORS
• 52a. [1965 John Coltrane album set up in four parts] A LOVE SUPREME  
• 30d. [“Morbius” director Daniel] ESPINOSA 
• 11d. [“Coronation Street” character___ Sharples] ENA 

Until next week!

Paolo Pasco’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 10/7/25 • Tue • Pasco • solution • 20251007

Very smooth and not-so-challenging offering this Tuesday.

• 14a [Class where exercises are performed with kids?] GOAT YOGA. Pretty good clue, but there’s better to come.
• 22a [Like a game that’s impossible for both sides to win] ZERO-SUM. Pet peeve: too many people see too many things in black-and-white terms and also view too many aspects of life as a ZERO-SUM game, when that generally isn’t how things work. (19a [“What can you do!”] THAT’S LIFE.)
• 29a [Salon __ Refusés (historic art exhibition of works rejected by the Paris Salon)] DES.
• 31a [Actress who played Brooke Taylor Windham, the accused murderer in “Legally Blonde”] ALI LARTER. Needed the crossings here.
• 44a [Request from a patron who just wants a shot] NO CHASER. Another fun clue. Monk Day is just around the corner (10 October):
  
• 47a [Activity whose experts really have chops?] KARATE. Yet another, but the great clue still lurks.
• 6d [First-rate] A-ONE. 12a [Cream of the athletic crop] A TEAM.
• 15d [One whose pitches are high and outside?] YODELER. TA-DA! (5a) There’s the clue of the puzzle right there. 50a [Mountain such as the Wildspitze or the Finsteraarhorn] ALP.
• 27d [Words from a quitter] I CAN’T.
  
• 31d [Kendrick Lamar song whose title completes the lyric “But if God got us, then we gon’ be …”] ALRIGHT.
  
• 32d [Beer-pong target] SOLO CUP. 36d [Ruling from a hockey or soccer referee] NO GOAL.
• 42d [Drink served at Heorot, in “Beowulf”] MEAD.

Liked this one, even though it was pretty easy. Gotta run!

Gary Cee’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Play it for Laughs” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Two-word phrases where each word begins with “HA.”

WSJ • 10/07/25 • Tue • “Play it for Laughs” • Gary Cee • solution • 20251007

THEME ANSWERS:
20A HAMMERIN’ HANK
28A HAUNTED HAYRIDE
48A HANNIBAL HAMLIN
65A [Question asked in response to the starts of both words at 20-, 28-, and 48-Across] WHAT’S SO FUNNY?

I was today years old when I learned the name HANNIBAL HAMLIN. How is that not a household name? Definitely would make a great name for a punk band. (If I ever start one, I’ll call it that, and we’ll debut at the local dive bar, naturally called HAMMERIN’ HANK’s.)

Anyway—what’s not to like about a puzzle with a laughter theme? Light, breezy, and exactly what a Tuesday should be: fun, accessible, and a little goofy without trying too hard. If there is such a thing as the perfect Tuesday theme, this might be it.

Completely unrelated, but I recently saw a mesmerizing New York performance called “HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.” One performer, part alien, part clown, inviting audience members to confess their problems. Totally surreal and oddly moving. Anyone else catch it? Would love to compare notes.

ERRATA

• [Jazz great Vaughan] SARAH. Doesn’t get nearly enough love. Her late-life recording of “Send in the Clowns” is pure magic.

• [Bygone document duplicator] MIMEO. Ah yes, the purple-ink worksheets of childhood. They smelled pretty bad.

• [Lacking good posture] SLOUCHY. Never heard it as an adjective before, but I’m adopting it immediately.

 3.5 stars from me!