LAT 2:41 (Stella) 
[3.67 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Newsday 28:19 (pannonica) [3.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:55 (Amy) [3.37 avg; 15 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) [3.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) 
[1.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Ryan Judge’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 11/8/25 – no. 1108
Ah! THIS IS FINE! I didn’t realize that this meme dates back to a 2013 webcomic by one KC Green. Usually you see the first two panels or just the second panel, but click through to see the original six-panel comic featuring the “this is fine” dog sitting at a table in a house on fire.
Fave fill, after my #1 fave THIS IS FINE: BINGO CARD, MANSA MUSA, the metaphorical GARDEN PATH ([Where someone might be led on the way to being tricked]), “I HAD NO IDEA,” mathy SCATTER PLOT, sports DEPTH CHARTS.
Did not know: 44D. [Lucas’s younger sister on “Stranger Things”], ERICA. I think Netflix is about to release a new season of that show. I’ve watched about two episodes ever.
Three more things:
- 2D. [Red state?], OHIO. Took a minute to make sense out of this. The Cincinnati Reds are an Ohio team.
- 4D. [Cephalopods with a name derived from Greek mythology], ARGONAUTS. What? How is there a cephalopod that I don’t know anything about? Here’s its Wikipedia article. Those eggcase fossils are really cool!
- 37A. [“You’re not just imagining that tone”], “I HEAR IT.” As if both of you are picking up on some faintly veiled hostility from across the table, maybe? (Not excited that three entries start with the word “I”.)
Kelly Morenus & Erik Agard’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up
Los Angeles Times 11/8/2025 by Kelly Morenus & Erik Agard
I am annoyed at this puzzle because a) I wish I’d made it and b) it was easy, so I wish it had lasted longer. Which means that what I am really saying is: This is a great puzzle. Too many bangers to list them all, but:
- There’s a stack of great clues in the upper left: [Advice to someone who’s about to blow?] for MAKE A WISH, [Good-looking?] for IDEALISTIC, and [It’s the thought that counts] for MENTAL MATH.
- 25A [Oil formation] is SLICKS. Normally an entry of this length isn’t one that I imagine the constructors put a lot of thought into including, but SLICKS is Erik Agard’s nickname. Coincidence? Probably not.
- 39A [Exercise named for a physiologist] is BURPEE, a highly evocative word for anybody who does CrossFit. (I probably did 65 of them this morning? I don’t remember.)
- 40A [Get even] is LEVEL OUT, which to me is an example of an entry that isn’t “sparkly” on its own, but due to the deception involved in the clue, is elevated to greatness.
- We’ve got another stack of good stuff in the bottom right: [Asset turned liability?] for ROGUE AGENT, plus the delightful entries SPITE FENCE and AS ONE DOES. (The latter is a phrase I use at least once a week.)
- 15D [Overcome, in a way] is CHOKED UP — as in overcome with emotion, but I was definitely fooled at first into thinking “overcome” was meant in its “overcome an obstacle” sense. Good stuff.
- 36D [Comment when things are heating up] is a lovely clue for GET A ROOM, but here’s something even better. I didn’t notice this while solving because the adjacent entry OVEN MITT was easy to finish off without reading the clue, but the clue for that entry is [Protection when things are heating up].
I almost never give star ratings because I think they’re too reductive, but: Five stars.
Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Holding in the Pain” — pannonica’s write-up
WSJ • 11/8/25 • Sat • “Holding in the Pain” • Shenk • solution • 20251108
When I was done solving, I instinctively knew it had been a Shenk crossword. Not sure what intangible (to me) quality led to that conclusion, but there we have it.
The theme is the simple insertion of OW into familiar words and phrases to wackify them.
- 22a. [Expertise that doesn’t diminish over time?] PERMANENT PROWESS (permanent press).
- 31a. [Group of cumulus cloud fans?] BILLOWY CLUB (billy club).
- 39a. [Hairstyle with two uncooperative tufts?] DOUBLE COWLICK (double click).
- 62a. [Support for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures?] HOLLYWOOD ENDOWING (Hollywood ending).
- 86a. [Coxwains?] ROWING LEADERS (ringleaders).
- 93a. [Powerful hit by MLB Hall of Famer Frank “Hondo”?] HOWARD LINER (hardliner).
- 109a. [Greek, with baby-eating Titans and vengeful Olympians, is tough to beat?] NO WORSE MYTHOLOGY (Norse mythology). Seems as if it was a struggle to make a sensible clue, but somehow this feels like the seed entry.
“A theme, a very palpable theme.”
- 1d [Hieroglyphic serpents] ASPS. Since there are no BOAS in Egypt, it steered me away from the big misdirection in 1a [Definitely not locked] AJAR, for which I dutifully considered BALD. 54d [It’s bad if they become unhinged] DOORS.
- 7d [Beast with a lion’s body and a scorpion’s sting] MANTICORE. A gimme for everyone, right? Also, fwiw, manticore anagrams to cremation.
- 17d [Paparazzi’s prey] CELEB. “Prey” is an interesting word choice, and I can’t say it’s incorrect.
- 45d [Zucchinis, to Brits] COURGETTES. etymology: French, diminutive of courge gourd, from Middle French, from Latin cucurbita. I checked, and it seems unrelated to the word history for cucumber (Middle English, from Anglo-French cucumbre, from Latin cucumer-, cucumis), unless the cucu- Latin element can stand alone. (etymologies from m-w.com)
- 56d [Stows away, say] HIDES, not LADES.
- 59d [Alphabetical order?] BLT. True.
- 90d [Crude fight?] OIL WAR. Saw through the clue right away, but wasn’t confident that OIL WAR was a legitimate thing.
- 107d [Vega’s constellation] LYRA. Don’t ask me how I knew this, but I put it in right away. 78a [Vega, e.g.] STAR.
- 38a [Butler to the Addams family] LURCH.
113a [First person in Il Giardino dell’Eden] ADAMO. - 48a [Mac alternative] BUB. 53a [Mac alternative] IPAD.
- 56a [Lack] HAVEN’T. Verbs.
- 58a [Third-century queen who conquered Egypt] ZENOBIA. Once again, somehow I just knew this answer, even though I couldn’t tell you anything about ZENOBIA.
- 76a [Water-type Pokémon that evolves into a Dewgong] SEEL. I believe I’ve had enough of weird Pokémon names and the whole mockery of evolution thing. >grump, grump<
- 105a [Bud] PAL. Close echo of 48-across (above).
- 114a [Person likely to pass the bar] TEETOTALER. Oh I saw this one a mile away.
- 115a [Recipient of many Apr. uploads] IRS. {insert screed against current administration’s abuses here}
- 116a [Jeopardy] PERIL.
Matthew Sewell’s Newsday crossword, Saturday Stumper — pannonica’s write-up
Newsday • 11/8/25 • Saturday Stumper • Sewell • solution • 20251108
For those of you disappointed with the relative easiness of today’s NYT crossword, we have an extremely difficult Stumper today. The cluing was especially oblique, seemingly in all the spots where the solver would need a little help.
- 1a [Of few, sharp words] CRISP, not TERSE or similar.
- 6a [Maneuver into a tight spot] CRAM, not PARK.
- 10a [Name on the cover of Monster Rally drawings] CHAS. Addams?
- 17a [Reach a relationship right of passage] MEET THE FAM. Not GET ENGAGED, which sounds a little greenpainty anyway.
- 18a [What ballerinas usually have] UPDO. C’mon, impossible without like 75% crossing letters.
- 19a [Lay __ ] ODDS, not OPEN.
- 21a [Transfix] PIN. Literally.
- 36a [Message on an annual Indy Arts Council creation] WELCOME RACE FANS. Note that it’s “Indy” and not “indie”.
- 40a [Last long] WEAR. Hmm.
- 41a [Got into a mess] DINED. I could see the mechanics of this one early on. 55d [Mass or mess] PILE.
- 42a [Brief minute] LIL. Minute is an adjective here.
- 49a [Essere __ (be convenient)] BENE. Gettable only in retrospect for me, ok.
- 50a [Boatwright’s raw material] ELM. Okay if you say so.
- 53a [Force through a pastry tube] PIPE. I really should have gotten this one much sooner.
- 57a [Apt rhyme for “recruit”] BOOT. Meh. 1d [Fatigues, at times] CAMO.
- 59a [Flyers, et al.] PRINT MEDIA. Nothing to do with ice hockey.
- 63a [Pay obedient regard to] KEEP. Hmm.
- 64a [High rollers?] EYES. Yes, I am very much rolling my eyes at this very difficult clue.
- 65a [Now and then?] AS YET. Excluding the future, okay.
- 2d [“A change of mood…of a day I had __”: Frost] RUED. A helpful early entry for me.
51a [Color close to peach] MELON.
- 3d [Put a handle on] IDED, not NAME.
- 6d [Far from fully fortunate] CHECKERED. Easy to see after it’s there.
- 7d [Swimming] RIFE. oof.
- 10d [One skilled in logic] CPU. “One” kind of implies a living being, no? Maybe I’m being too literal.
- 11d [Tie-ins for Pixar’s latest (2025)] HAPPY MEALS, for which I accidentally typed in as MEALY MEALS, ha-ha?
- 13d [Prepared for a smoothie, say] STONED. Oh, come on.
- 15d [Apparitional] PHANTOM, not GHOSTLY.
- 23d [Westernmost city on the Columbia River] ASTORIA. This appeared in last week’s Stumper, with the clue [Oregon’s oldest city].
- 26d [Young walrus] CALF. My first entry for the solve.
- 27d [Bear __ (Canadian snowshoe] PAW. That was my first thought, but had to wait until the puzzle was nearly complete before it could be confirmed.
- 29d [Mobile library setting] SILENT MODE. Tricky clue. It isn’t about a mobile library at all, but what you would set your cell phone to while in a library.
- 34d [They’re under palms] HAND BONES. Meh.
- 37d [Put on a list] CANT. Awkwardly deceptive.
- 38d [Fixes for good] CEMENTS, not NEUTERS.
- 39d [ __-niacin (reddening-reducing supplement] SLO. Had no idea here.
- 48d [Rex relative] LEROY. Not particularly another stereotypical dog name. It’s referring to the fact that both names invoke kinghood.
- 52d [Face-to-face] LIVE. 28d [Tete-a-tete lead-in] ARE WE ALONE.
- 56a [Oz quadrant] EAST. Not seeing how this works.
- 58d [Volume reduced by 60+ percent] TSP. >rolls eyes<
- 60d [Screen monitor reduced by 25 percent in 2019] MPA, formerly the MPAA. They dropped the “of America” appellation.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I was here for a good time, not a long time. Broke my Saturday PB and almost beat Amy’s time.
Lots of good fill in this one and nothing I didn’t like, except maybe how little resistance it gave me. On the other hand, Ryan’s previous Saturday took me over 20 minutes, so YMMV.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
Agree. There were a handful of fresh entries, but the cluing was a bit too on the nose for a Saturday. It’s one of the rare occasions I beat Amy’s time on a Saturday. I’d never heard of Mansa Musa. What an interesting guy. Some accounts put him as the wealthiest person of all time.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
The Friday and Saturday puzzles this week should have been swapped.
Agree. Much easier than yesterday’s.
The easiest Saturday, at least for me, in a good while. Usually I look up a good number of answers, but this time I relied on my instincts. I’ve never heard of the novel “The Centaur,” but having it clued with John and already having the U entered, UPDIKE was the only answer that seemed to fit. Similarly I had both the F and O entered, making FRAT BRO a reasonable entry for 35-A.
As for “Stranger Things,” it’s the final season. It’s worth the watch if you like suspense and horror. It’s also a great show for those like me who grew up in the 80s. Plenty of 80s nostalgia scattered throughout
I’ve been really put off from watching Stranger Things. It seems like the actual show is less important than cramming in all the 80s nostalgia and the product placement and the over-the-top marketing tie-ins. Which ironically is also a piece of 80s nostalgia.
What’s kept us watching Stranger Things is the characters like Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke), Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) and yes, Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson), just to name a few.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
Easy Saturday NYT totally marred by the 59A/53D crossing with the misdirection clueing for NASA. I assumed it was some god I’d never heard of crossing some emperor I’d never heard of and just gave up. I admit it was only my annoyance that prevented me from thinking through what “overseer” might mean, and then alternatives to what Artemis might refer, but geez — one tricky clue for that one square in an otherwise breezy puzzle seems kind of mean spirited.
Different strokes, I guess. I had no idea on MANSA MUSA, but I thought the clue for NASA was one of the highlights of an otherwise easier-than-usual Saturday. Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt. Her parents were Zeus and Leto (conveniently four letters long).
Tough piece for me was THIS IS FINE – required pretty much all the crosses. I’m not much of a “meme” guy.
Retrospectively, I agree, but at the time I was looking for some “overseer” of the god Artemis that fit NA?A (since the obvious Zeus and Leto didn’t fit). NAIA and NALA and NAXA didn’t work, and since there was no help from the cross, I just quit and hit the “reveal” button. If it was a typical, hard Saturday that I had to work on, I might have paused and figured it out, but I just wasn’t in that frame of mind given how easy the rest of the puzzle was. So I was irritated by what should have been a very clever clue, simply because it crossed one of those “random arcane proper noun” entries. Oh well.
That NASA ‘S’ was last to go for me too. But fair once it clicked.
RARE STAMP seemed a little green painty to me. But otherwise a nice confidence building Saturday for me!
Stumper – I think 56a refers to the four witches in The Wizard of Oz
Agree, though I don’t recall any witches of the south or north.
Glinda is the Good Witch of the South.
P.S.
In the Judy Garland movie, Glinda is the Good Witch of the North. In the book, she’s the Good Witch of the South and there’s another Good Witch of the North. They are the balance to the Evil Witches of the East and West.
I’m no Wizard expert but I suspected the connection when I read the clue. I found four witches although the Good Witch of the North is unnamed.
Oh that’s definitely the correct context.
Puzzle: Newsday; Rating: 3.5 stars
You rolled your eyes at 58d TSP in the Stumper. Please explain!!
Some of the cluing was just too opaque for me. I love a difficult puzzle but this seems unfair.
“Teaspoon” (a baking “volume”) → TSP loses 62.5% of the letters hence “reduced by 60+ percent”
Yes, I certainly understood it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Thanks! I was wondering about that one, too. I thought it was something like what you say, although (like pannonica) I didn’t like the thought that it was that.
Stumper errors: leTS Be, coral before MELON, ThE Bbc (I had no idea here) before TREBEK, gHosTly before PHANTOM, sLap before PLEA. These all managed to hold up nearly every quadrant in the grid. Seeing UPDO finally let me finish the NE.
I had an aha moment when EAST fell into the Oz quadrant, nice!
Matthew Sewell succeeds again in making a tough puzzle, thanks!
Newsday: Wow this was hard. Finished with no errors in a little over an hour but was stuck for long stretches of time in between. Very satisfying tho.
Opening gambit was a TREBEK gamble in the SW. I quickly filled in that whole corner but then had nothing for like 20 minutes. Eventually I could see SIMPLE from SI- and I filled in PROMOTIONS for [Flyers et al.] which I “confirmed” with LOST for [Without a goal], so that took a while to untangle.
Had to eventually get MELON / EYES / LIVE from just first letters with those clues but that was enough to fill in the SE. Worked through the center up to the NW, where I couldn’t see PA SYSTEM until I had basically all the letters (really wanted PASS- something especially since [Doesn’t intervene] really looks like it could end with an S. But I knew LETS BE and the correct SITS BY were possible.) Finished in the NE.
As someone who has no idea what this is: WELCOME RACE FANS seems like a completely random phrase… ridiculous choice for a marquee answer. I thought it might be an Indiana Jones quote, and when RACE became unmistakable I had WELCOME RACECARS for a bit there and thought it was going to be some sort of palindrome thing. Is this a well-known thing at all?
TIL the “cause to slant” definition of CANT. I only knew the “language” sense. I knew the “list” in [Put on a list] was going to be the “tilt” sense (this trick is a bit overused) but I had nothing even with -ANT, so I was second-guessing the correct answers for a while there.
[Swimming] for RIFE is probably my favorite clue. [Swimming] just doesn’t look like it can be anything (my brain kept autocorrecting it to “swimmingly.”) Great puzzle.
The Indianapolis 500 is a very well known auto race. It’s often presented as the Indy 500. When I saw annual and Indy the race immediately came to mind. So I more or less arrived at WELCOME RACE FANS than associating it with the Arts Council
Stumper: Loved this! So so hard, a proper Stumper struggle. Don’t love the recruit-BOOT connection — is it supposed to be like in the Army? Yikes.
Can someone explain “Last long” for WEAR and “Pay obedient regard to” for KEEP?
“Denim wears well.”
“Keep the faith.”
Hmm²
Are “oil-based paint wears better than latex” and “keep kosher” less hmmish?
eh, I just don’t like ’em here
I agree, but (like pannonica) I wasn’t happy with the cluing for “keep.”
Stumper: Toughie for us here (husband and myself). Had to look up a couple of things before it finally started to fall into place. Lower right was easiest and upper left was the last. I will add to pannonica’s list of looking askance stuff: 20A’s “skewering” for “acerb.” Yuck.