Monday, October 20, 2025

BEQ 14:40 (Eric) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:34 (Stella) [2.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:10 (Sophia) [3.33 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 9:04 (Amy) [3.25 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) rate it
WSJ 6+ min (Jim Q) rate it

Adam Aaronson’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Recap

Theme: [THING] N’ [THING] phrases, meaning that the middle word has been shortened from “and” to “n”, making them AD FREE

New York Times, 10 20 2025, By Adam Aaronson

• 20a [Milkshake flavor made with Oreos] – COOKIES N CREAM
• 30a [Music genre that Joan Jett “loves”] – ROCK N ROLL
• 48a [Two-part steakhouse entree] – SURF N TURF
• 60a [Like some scented stickers] – SCRATCH N SNIFF
• 55d [Not interrupted by commercials … or shortened like the middle words of 20-, 30-, 48- and 60-Across?] – AD FREE

Cute theme that’s really boosted by the high quality of its answer set, in my opinion! I love all of the “N” answers chosen here – SCRATCH N SNIFF is so nostalgic for me, and I always love food entries in puzzles so COOKIES N CREAM and SURF N TURF are both right up my alley. I didn’t know that the title of Joan Jett’s song is actually “I Love ROCK N’ ROLL“, stylized with the “n”, so that was cool to learn!

I liked the addition of AD FREE as a revealer, but honestly it didn’t add too much to the puzzle to me. I solved the puzzle like the theme was just “things with N’ in the middle”, so by the time I got to the reveal at the end of the puzzle, it felt more like any other satisfying wordplay clue than a true “aha” moment. But I still like that it’s there.

Lots of baseball in the puzzle today! I’m about to go root on the Mariners in the ALCS, so having GREG Maddux, AT BAT, and the Chicago White SOX all in the puzzle felt extra October-thematic to me.

Fill highlights: DRUM SOLO, VERY SAME, RAVIOLI, POP SONG, BRING ON, HAYAO Miazaki

Clue highlights: the ALL/YOU cross reference for “all you can eat”, [End of some sentences] for PAROLE

New to me: that ZULU is the last language alphabetically on Google Translate

Matthew Stock’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 10/20/25 by Matthew Stock

This puzzle was pretty hard for a Monday — I can’t remember the last time I went over the 2:10 mark, and this was a lot over that.

The revealer 54A [Combo meal component, and what the answers to the starred clues have] is SIDE OF FRIES, because the left SIDE, or first word, in each clue is a type of potato fries. Arguably, this revealer should lead to the theme word being on the SIDE of the grid (sometimes it’s more centrally located).

• 16A [*Breakfast chain founded in metro Atlanta] is WAFFLE HOUSE, leading to WAFFLE FRIES, which are underrated IMO.
• 18A [*Harlem Globetrotters legend known for his shaved head] is CURLY NEAL, leading to CURLY FRIES.
• 34A [*Dramatic snag in the outfield] is SHOESTRING CATCH, leading to SHOESTRING FRIES.
• 51A [*Feature of some blocky footwear] is a WEDGE HEEL, leading to WEDGE FRIES (the least interesting fries IMO; at that crispness-to-softness ratio, you may as well be eating a baked potato).

Some nice lively entries like SPORTS BOOK and FETA CHEESE, and some letter combos you don’t see as often in mid-length words like WALLOW and WARMTH that I liked. I do think this puzzle was misplaced on Monday: Yes, the theme is simple (“theme word on left side of phrase”), but I think the theme entries themselves require a little more knowledge than is usual for a Monday, especially CURLY NEAL. Combine that with theme entries stacked on top of each other making it harder to get words that cross both themers and you’ve got a “Monday” puzzle that’s really Wednesdayish in difficulty.

Stella Zawistowski’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Final Contests” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Two-word phrases where the second word is a synonym for “Contest”

WSJ • 10/20/25 • Mon • “Final Contests” • Stella Zawistowski • solution • 20251020

THEME ANSWERS:

• 17A [Chris Isaak’s only Top 10 hit] WICKED GAME
• 33A [People, collectively] HUMAN RACE
• 48A [Marriage for romantic reasons] LOVE MATCH
• 65A [Alternative to Zoom] GOOGLE MEET

Another puzzle from Fiend contributor Stella Zawistowski! Her byline has been popping up quite a bit it seems :) Congrats, Stella!

Anyway, I can’t remember the last time a Monday had me struggling so much! I was cruising along at a clip, but then face-planted once I hit the center / center-west of this grid. Equal parts Brain Farts and Lack of Smarts (my rhyme GAME remains strong!) Had GNAT for MITE [Wee pest], could not get EVERY for quite a while [Not just some], despite using CHINET paper plates frequently I was all but certain it was CHIMEA, no clue with ANDRO [Supplement banned by MLB, for short], SIA for MYA [“Case of the Ex” singer], and with all that mess PARA wasn’t easy to see. Finally got a handle of things with SIMILE and just going through synonyms for “Contest” to finish LOVE ????? (being unfamiliar with the term LOVE MATCH). Finished somewhere above the 6 minute mark!

And just when I was proud of myself for a 5:30 NYT Friday solve last week… Stella delivers delicious humble pie, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Normally I would list all the things I screwed up on here, but I think that about covers it today.

4 stars!

Guilherme Gilioli’s Universal crossword, “Software Upgrade” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 10/20/25 • Mon • “Software Upgrade” • Gilioli • solution • 20251020

I solved this as a themeless, and an extremely easy one at that. This would be a very good crossword for a new, inexperienced solver. The clues are almost all softballs, and the theme is ultimately simple to grasp.

• 10d^R [*Evaluated … or, read differently, a hint to the word progressing through the starred clues’ answers] APPRAISED. The software is represented by APP, and I’ve circled its appearance in each answer so that you can clearly see the upward progression. APP, raised.
• 34d^R2 [*Angry Birds 2, for one … or a hint to the word progressing through the starred clues’ answers] MOBILE APP.
  The trigram A-P-P can also be described as mobile here.
• 27d. [*Property’s external charm] CURB APPEAL.
• 6d. [*Celebrates good news, in a way] DOES A HAPPY DANCE. The phrase and concept always make me think of Snoopy.
• 3d. [*Low-quality sheets] SCRAP PAPER.

• 17a [Rounded parts of some tables] EDGES. 60d [Garment’s border] HEM.
• 18a [Indian bread?] RUPEE. One of the few playful, punny clues.
• 22a [Cookie with a Selena Gomez version] OREO. With all these variants it strikes me that the Oreo powers-that-be may be stretching themselves too thin.
• 32a [Rice grounds] CAMPUS. Okay, I confess that I was misled by this clue.
• 14d [Potpie morsel] PEA. Almost always the case, at least in crossword-land.

Now that I’ve gone through all the clues again, I can see that another reason for the puzzle’s easiness is the relative lack of proper names; there are only a handful and they’re clued rather easily. For example, 20d [ __ Troopa (Mario’s rhyming foe)] KOOPA practically gives the solver 80% of the answer. Even though I pretty familiar with The Simpsons lore, I didn’t know that 32d [Homer’s friend with an IQ of 214] CARL is canonically some sort of super-genius. On the other hand, I never saw the clue during the solve because that entry was filled in via crosses.

Rafael Musa’s New Yorker crossword, “Austerity Measures”–Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 10/20/25 – “Austerity Measures” – Musa

A themed puzzle today, part of the New Yorker’s “Money” issue. The theme revealers are MONEY IS TIGHT, [“We need to cut back on spending” . . . or one description of three squares in this puzzle] and CASH CRUNCHES, [Liquid-asset shortages . . . or a second description of three squares in this puzzle]. Those squares are rebus squares (I tried the Insert key on my keyboard but needed to use the Rebus option on the PuzzMo menu on screen) crunching three types of cash: COIN, BILL, NOTE.

Fave fill: STYMIE, NA{NOTE}CH, SIT SKI (in a similar vein of adaptive sports, recently saw a multiple amputee marathoning on a skateboard), “NO ONE CARES,” WISH LIST, ALT-TEXT, SLUSHY.

Clue that surprised me: [Taylor Swift became one in 2023], {BILL}IONAIRE.

Four stars from me.

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1828 — Eric’s Review

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1828 — 10/20/25

Today’s grid is more segmented than usual, with the four-block areas in the centers of each side producing what’s almost four mini-sized puzzles. Only the NW corner really lived up to the “Hard” label for me. Gimmes in the NE and SW got me started in those corners, and the clueing seemed a bit more straightforward in the SE than in the NW.

Stuff that caught my eye:

• 1A [Part of a cell wall] IRON BAR Nice misdirection; I thought this was a bit of biology for a long while. But are the iron bars over a prison cell’s window really part of the wall?
• 8A [Broad, tree-lined streets in Spain] RAMBLAS I’m luck ALAMEDAS didn’t fit, because it wasn’t until I had the M and B that I remembered RAMBLA.
• 15A [Scout, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” e.g.] HEROINE This was the first answer I put in, but for a bit, I took it out because none of the crosses cooperated.
• 18A [Natural orangey-yellow food coloring] ANNATTO A gimme; it’s derived from the seeds of the tropical achiote tree. I always try this word in the New York Times Spelling Bee. Maybe someday it’ll be accepted.
• 19A [Julius Caesar’s second wife] POMPEIA No idea here; for some time, I had OLYMPIA.
• 20A [Ginger, in the UK] RED-HEAD A gimme. Think Prince Harry.
• 22A [Proctor-___ (appliance brand)] SILEX Another gimme.
• 31A [“Unchained” band] VAN HALEN I remember when they were on MTV about every 10 minutes, but I never cared for their music. I didn’t recognize this title, but a few letters at the end of the name were enough to get me the rest.
• 35A [“Irony of Negro Policeman” painter] Jean-Michel BASQUIAT I don’t know that painting, but the Q gave me the rest of the name.
• 48A [God imprisoned in a bronze jar by Otus and Ephialtes] ARES I was briefly into Greek mythology around age 11 or 12, but I have no memory of the story of the Aloadae.
• 52A [Lottery tickets] CHANCES Really poor ones, at that. Save your money, folks!
• 56A [Haenyeos, e.g.] KOREANS I assume “haenyeo” was a demonym, but it’s a job — they’re women who dive for mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life. Crosswords can be so educational.
• 58A [Play that takes place in a professor’s office] OLEANNA I’m sure someone besides David Mamet has set a play in a college faculty office, but I can’t think of one. And the letters were just too grid-friendly to pass up.
• 1D [“Your lips to God’s ears!”] I HOPE SO I first encountered the clue phrase a year or so ago and have never heard anyone use it.
• 2D [Ones moving crates?] REPO MEN Cute clue.
• 3D [Place you might pick out] ORE MINE This sounds like green paint  to me, but the internet suggests it’s a real phrase.
• 6D [Model/influencer Gallagher (she’s the daughter of Noel from Oasis)] ANAÏS I pay zero attention to models and influencers. I guess it’s nice to give Anaïs Nin a break now and then.
• 13D [Film legend who said “Either the camera will dance, or I will”] Fred ASTAIRE Not quite a gimme, but obvious with a few letters in place.
• 34D [Hair oil that shares a name with an Indonesian port] MACASSAR That’s a word I know from antimacassar, the doily-like fabric your great-grandmother might have had on the back of a chair to keep it from getting stained by hair oils.
• 35D [Covert paramilitary activity] BLACK OP That always looks weird to me without an S on the end.
• 41D [Watts who is the announcer for the talk show “Sherri”] ROLONDA I’ve never heard of the show or Ms Watts.
• 46D [Explorer with a city named after him in Goa, India] Vasco DA GAMA Someday, I’ll remember it’s not De Gama. Otherwise, this was a gimme.
• 55D [“Foundation” star ___ Harvey] LEAH We watched the first two seasons of Foundation and though I enjoyed the character Salvor Hardin, I’m really bad anymore at learning the names of the actors in the shows we watch.