Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Jonesin’ 5:57 (Erin) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:30 (Eric) [3.15 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:51 (Eric) [3.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 3:03 (Jim Q) rate it

Constructor Natan Last has a book being published next month: Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle. ShelfAwareness.com describes the book as an “erudite, thoughtful debut [that] investigates the origins, cultural influence, and often tricky politics of the crossword puzzle.” That sounds like timely and relevant reading material for anyone interested in these puzzles.

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “My Wish List” — some numbered items. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 10/28/25

Hello lovelies! This week’s Jonesin’ puzzle makes use of homophones of English numbers.

• 20a. [“First, a favorable lottery ticket would be nice…”] ONE THE POWERBALL (won the Powerball)
• 25a. [“Next, I’d like something hand-written…”] TWO THE LETTER (to the letter)
• 42a. [“A little later, I’d like my own aviary…”] FOUR THE BIRDS (for the birds)
• 48a. [“And further down my list, a beautiful panoramic view”] EIGHT THE SCENERY (ate the scenery)

Other things:

• 10d. [Songwriting partner of Stoller] LEIBER. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller created hits in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, including “Yakety Yak,” “Hound Dog,” and “Stand By Me” (with Ben E. King).
• 19a. [“Could ___…Satan?” (mid-1980s “SNL” catchphrase)] IT BE. Dana Carvey was hilarious as The Church Lady.

Until next week!

3.5 stars from me!

Noelle Griskey’s Universal Crossword — “Style Tips” 10/28/25 — Eric’s Review

Noelle Griskey’s Universal Crossword “Style Tips” — 10/28/25

I tried a technique with this puzzle that I would call “thoughtless solving.” I’m sure the real speed solvers have been doing something like this for years. It’s simply skipping any clue that you can’t immediately answer. Yeah, if you stopped and thought about it for 10 seconds, you could get the answer, but 10 seconds here, 15 there, 8 there . . . it adds up. So no thinking until you really have to.

I’ll never be a real speed solver. But I wouldn’t mind shaving a few minutes off my average solving times. I don’t like being the slowest Fiend in the bunch.

My attempt to be a little faster with this puzzle may not have paid off, but that could be because the theme is contained in Down answers. Since the theme answers are typically the longest ones in the grid, vertical themes slow me down because I have trouble reading top to bottom. I don’t know have more trouble than anyone else; my husband is a retired graphic designer and despises what he calls “totem type” in part because it’s difficult to read.

The “Tips” part of the puzzle’s title plays on the verticality, with various articles of clothing and accessories placed at the tops of the theme answers:

• 3D [Battle spacecraft piloted by Darth Vader] TIE FIGHTER I  just now realized this is part of the theme. I originally wanted the answer to be DEATH STAR but (1) that doesn’t fit and (2) it’s plain wrong. Vader commanded the Death Star, but he wasn’t sitting at the helm. TIE stands for “twin-engine ion,” though I’m not sure that fuller name is ever spoken in the dialog. 
• 9D [Beef often used for fajitas] SKIRT STEAK A gimme. I haven’t had fajitas in a few years; I feel guilty enough about how much beef I eat. But fajitas have an aroma that for a carnivore is almost as good as that of bacon, the gateway treyf. (I wish I could remember where I heard that phrase about bacon; it’s very clever. And true, or so my Jewish friends tell me.)
• 17D [Haute couture, and a hint to the starts of 3-, 9-, 27- and 30- Down] HIGH FASHION No, neckties, skirts, etc. are not necessarily “haute couture,” but in this grid, they’re up towards the top. Cute pun.
• 27D [Wood-smoothing tool] BELT SANDER Here’s where I applied my “thoughtless solving” technique. I did a lot of work on the 1930s house we had in Austin and I had all kinds of power tools. I can’t remember what letters I had when I read this clue, but nothing immediately popped into my head, and unlike SKIRT STEAK, there was no answer that was 99.9% likely to be correct. So I moved on.
• 30D [Super Bowl gathering, e.g.] WATCH PARTY I’ve been to election night watch parties. Too often in the last 25 years, I’ve gone home very depressed.

These theme answers are all solid. I don’t mind a vertical theme if there’s a good reason for it. The “high” fashion is a good enough reason for me.

Other stuff:

• 33A [Brownish-yellow colour] OCHRE That superfluous U in the clue is a tip that the answer will have the RE of British English.
• 56D [Arab country home to the Land of Frankincense] OMAN The Land of Frankincense is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that features he frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah and the remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr/Wubar and the associated ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed. I’d not heard of this place.

Adrianne Baik’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

The grid has five shaded rectangles that I more or less ignored while solving. The revealer 62A explains those rectangles: [Personal treasure chest … or what each of the five groups of shaded letters illustrates?] JEWELRY BOX.

The five groups, clockwise from the NW corner, are a BRACELET, a CHOKER necklace, a RING, a BROOCH, a BRACELET and in the center area, a HOOP earring. Yep, those are all pieces of jewelry.

Other stuff:

• 16A [Little guys in striped coats] ZEBRA COLTS I thought for some time that the answer would have something to do with small referees, not black-and-white African equines.
• 22A [Child’s living room hideaway] SOFA FORT Not in the house I grew up in, at least not in the living room.
• 42A [Plea before an impulsive act] STOP ME I guess the alternative is the fatalistic YOLO.
• 49A [Beverage containers for people on the move] TO-GO CUPS When the person in the coffee place asks you if it’s “For here or to go,” and you say “For here,” why do they give you a paper to-go cup almost every time?
• 14D [It may be in the low 90s] OCTANE Nice try, but I didn’t really think this had anything to do with a temperature.
• 48D [John who wrote “The Pilgrim’s Progress”] BUNYAN That’s one of those things I knew long ago and sort 0f forgot. Fortunately, I solved another puzzle in the last week with BUNYAN and a similar clue.
• 51D [Give extreme effort, in slang] GO HAM I hadn’t heard that one before. I’m a little surprised to see it in a New York Times puzzle, now that I know where the HAM comes from.

Samuel A. Donaldson’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

Feels to me like a Tuesday without a revealer is unusual. This puzzle doesn’t need one, so that’s not a criticism

The theme clues go in order.

Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2025, Samuel A. Donaldson, solution grid

• 15a [Spendy flying option] is FIRST CLASS.
• 23a [Dating option not recommended by Madonna in “Express Yourself”] is SECOND BEST.
• 33a [Topic to avoid, metaphorically] is a THIRD RAIL.
• 49a [Imaginary barrier that might be broken by a stage actor] is the FOURTH WALL. Have you ever noticed that the fourth wall on TV shows is often the television itself? The couch faces the audience, implying that the TV is in front of it.
• 59a [Double date tagalong] is a FIFTH WHEEL.

Very consistent theme with five answers that are solidly in the language. Seemed a bit easy to me even for a Tuesday. I admit I may not be the best judge of that.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of the book “Many Unhappy Returns,” which is apparently the story of how Charles O. Rossotti turned around the IRS.

Aimee Lucido’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 10/28/25 • Tue • Lucido • solution • 20251028

It appears that the New Yorker’s tweaking of the Puzzmo interface is ongoing. In today’s version, most of the annoying aspects remain, but the grid is significantly smaller. Hm.

• 5a [Subculture celebrated at San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair: Abbr.] BDSM. Bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism. I personally don’t get it, but as long as you keep it safe, do what you like. Nothing is for everybody, and not everything is everyone else’s business.
• 17a [Like a string bean] WIRY. The figurative kind.
• 20a [Becomes unlocked?[ GOES BALD. Wasn’t misdirected for even a moment.
• 28a [Sliding-scale provider?] TROMBONE. Clever.
• 34a [Peeked (at)] TOOK A LOOK.
  
• 35a [Offspring of two different big cats] TIGON. Okay, but the clue can easily be read as pertaining to individuals rather than species, in which case we’re only excluding clones.
• 37a [Jacqueline known for her performances of Elgar’s Cello Concerto[ DU PRÉ.
• 41a [“Dude, I totally agree”] HARD SAME. I feel as if “hard agree” has more currency, but this is valid too.
• 53a [Item that gets tossed after a tumble] DRYER SHEET. Stopped using them decades ago. They leave a weird, subtle coating on clothes, plus they’re totally inappropriate for items such as towels.
• 55a [Form of exercise that involves spurts of vigorous activity and brief rests: Abbr.] HIIT. Not sure what this is, but it seems akin to fartleks. Aha, “high-intensity interval training”, which is close to what I would have guessed it stood for.
• 60a [Contracts mandating confidentiality, for short] NDAS. Often a bad indicator.
• 3d [Toddler with a ’tude] THREENAGER, a term I’ve not encountered before.
• 7d [Milieu for giant worms, in “Dune”] SAND.
  
• 9d [“Could do way worse!”] I’M NOT MAD AT IT. Yep, I’ve heard this before. Not often, but enough.
• 28d [ __ de Jouy (patterned cotton fabric)] TOILE.
• 29d [React to making a gaffe] BLUSH. Had some subject/object issues here so my first instinct was STARE or GLARE.
• 42d [Privileged sorts] ELITES. It seems that many people are confused about who are elites, or at least which sort of elites are the ones to be wary of. And politicians are frequently invested in a project to further muddy the waters.
• 49d [South African singer with the 2023 hit “Water”] TYLA. New to me.
• 52d [Not that!] THIS. Quite literally.

On the easier side of the ‘moderately challenging’ line, despite the minuscule size and shifting grid.

Joe Marquez’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Fancy Pants” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Phrases where the second word precess “bell” are placed vertically in the grid

WSJ • 10/28/25 • Mon • “Fancy Pants” • Joe Marquez • solution • 20251028

THEME ANSWERS:

• LADY LIBERTY
• DOGGIE DOOR
• CASH COW
• LITTLE HAND
• [Flared pants, or parts of 3-, 9-, 24- and 31-Down] BELL BOTTOMS

This gave Monday-level vibes (though I admittedly have trouble pinpointing what Tuesday-level vibes are… the other days of the week I have down). Very rare that I’m at the 3 minute mark on a Tuesday.

Simple theme and concept here and a pleasant solve. Nothing much more I have to say about it!

If anything, I could’ve used a bit more cowbell. (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Almost no stumbles and not a heckuva lot in the way of new trivia for me. I didn’t know SHIA LaBeuf was in Holes. But that’s about it! Remarkably clean crid despite plenty of real estate consumption by themers.

3.5 Stars for me