Wednesday, December 17, 2025

AV Club 7:21 (Amy) [2.79 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
LAT 3:24 (Gareth) [3.71 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:58 (Amy) [3.21 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (Kyle) rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [3.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 9:19 (Emily) [2.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 6:44 (Eric) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Zhouqin Burnikel’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Scaling Up” — Eric’s Review

Zhouqin Burnikel’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Scaling Up” — 12/17/25

I’m not a big fan of themes that run in the Down answers — it’s harder for me to read top to bottom — but that’s the only way a theme like this makes sense:

• 3D [Force leader] ARMY GENERAL The site crosswordtracker.com doesn’t show that phrase in any previous crossword puzzles, bolstering my belief that we’re talking about someone who rides in the back of a  green-painted Jeep.
• 7D [“It’s all over for me!”] MY GOOSE IS COOKED That’s more than a little 0ld -fashioned sounding, but I like seeing it in a grid anyway.
• 8D [Pessimistic person] GLOOMY GUS Ditto.
• 25D [Place for indoor bouldering, and what 3-, 7-, 8- and 35-Down all contain] CLIMBING GYM
• 35D [Women’s fragrance from Hilfiger] TOMMY GIRL I don’t pay much attention to perfumes and colognes (except when someone has doused themself in a fragrance), but I do know Mr. Hilfiger’s first name.

It’s a straightforward theme that even beginning solvers should grasp quickly. Because I got the revealer before completing 3D and 35D, I could use the theme to fill in a few letters.

Other stuff:

• 5A [Volt/ampere] OHM I should probably know this, and there aren’t that many units of electrical whatever that are three letters, but I needed the H to see OHM.
• 16A [Forum speech] LATIN It took me longer than it should have to see that.
• 17A [Cuba libre garnish] LIME WEDGE My husband’s drink of choice is a rum and Coke, no lime. I just now learned that a “Cuba libre” does not necessarily include a lime wedge.
• 23A [Amorphous mass] GLOB Not BLOB. That’s where understanding the theme was helpful.
• 34A [Cubs outfielder Happ] IAN I don’t recognize that name. He won Golden Glove awards in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
• 35A [Apples and oranges, e.g.] TREES Not FRUIT.
• 45A [“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” band, familiarly] BTO a/k/a Bachmann-Turner Overdrive. Their biggest hits were in the 1970s, but they’re still letting it ride on the boomer nostalgia train despite two of the three Bachmann brothers having died.
• 56A [Some dispensary purchases] BONGS Oat Willie’s is a head shop in Austin that’s as old as BTO. I used to work with Wali, the guy who was the model for Oat Willie.
• 66A [Caustic compounds] LYES I just learned that “lye” is not a specific compound, so that S doesn’t bother me (much).
• 4D [They get cast in horror films] SPELLS Cute clue.

RIP, Joe Ely.

Gary Larson & Doug Peterson’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 12/17/25 – no. 1217

The revealer tells you how the constructors formed each theme entry. 60A. [Painstakingly explain something … or a hint to 17-, 26- and 45-Across], SPELL IT OUT, or spell “IT” as “OUT” instead. So a pity party becomes POUTY PARTY, and champs at the bit is CHAMPS AT THE BOUT (with boxing champs replacing the verb sense of champing at the bit). The whale SPOUT IN THE OCEAN, then comes from spit in the ocean, which isn’t super-familiar to me. Merriam-Webster tells me it’s the name of a poker game, who knew?

Fave fill: TRUE TO LIFE, CLUELESS.

Four more things:

• 37A. [Brand once known as “Standard Oil Company of Indiana”], AMOCO. Probably easier for Gen X and older, particularly those from Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. The Aon Center in Chicago was the Standard Oil Building at first, and then became the Amoco Building. Then the marble cladding began to fall off and they had to replace 83 floors of exterior stone with granite.
• 

  Sloe, the fruit of the blackthorn. (This image is published on Wikipedia Commons by Martin Olsson under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).)

  Hair tricks: 1A. [Lock combinations?], COIFS, and 24D. [Red carpet hairstyle, perhaps], UPDO. Am I the only one envisioning someone whose hairstyle is made out of red carpet? Hey, Elmo!

• 52A. [Dark-skinned fruit], SLOE. Not sure I’ve ever seen a sloe in the flesh, and it turns out they don’t really look like plums. They’re more like little Concord grapes growing on a small tree.
• 51D. [Cultivated, in a way], not the “sophisticated, refined” way, but the past-tense verb way. HOED. Next time someone is being a little too snooty about some cultural point of reference, in my head I’ll call them HOED now.

3.75 stars from me.

Emily Biegas & Sara Wanetick’s AV Club Classic crossword, “Tracking Number”–Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, 12/17/25 – “Tracking Number”

As so often happens, the AV Club’s posted difficulty level is not at all what I experienced. This played like a tough Thursday NYT for me and not a 2-of-5 difficulty. Oof! If it felt like a 2-of-5 for you, congratulations.

The theme is Stevie Wonder’s song, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” and the puzzle title reflects that package of love being shipped, with a “Tracking Number” (“number” also meaning “song”). What’s [Signed] are DIVORCE PAPERS. [Sealed], TIME CAPSULES. [Delivered], NEWBORN BABIES, ha! And then some key lyrics are in the grid. 18a. [Start of the song refrain hinted at in this puzzle], HERE I AM, and 61a. [End of the song refrain hinted at in this puzzle], I’M YOURS. I don’t think the other theme answers have anything to do with someone being “yours,” as DIVORCE PAPERS and TIME CAPSULES aren’t part of the romance.

Fave fill: CRACKLE, a GLINT in your eye, CORN clued via the Corn Kid, [Big lump with knobs, as virally described by a certain kid (It has the juice!)], creamy LABNEH, TRIPLE SEC, video game FINAL BOSS.

New to me: 22d. [“Ask ___” (advice podcast) [leopard emoji, kiss emoji, kiss emoji]], RONNA, and 54a. [Brand known for colorful nylon totes], BAGGU.

3.75 stars from me.

Mike Graczyk’s Universal crossword, “One in Five” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 12/17/25 • Wed • “One in Five” • Graczyk • solution • 20251217

Took me several beats to understand the theme, even after the grid was complete. Partly it was because I’d missed the mildly explanatory clue for the first one.

• 17a. [*Seasonal worker who might wear a fake beard (First in an alphabetic quintet)] MALL SANTA.
• 23a. [*”At what place did I leave off?” (Second)] WHERE WERE WE?
• 37a. [*Climactic conclusion (Third)] BIG FINISH.
• 51a. [*”Keep your eyes averted” (Fourth)] DON’T LOOK NOW.
• 58a. [*Busy midday period for diners (Fifth)] LUNCH RUSH.

Do you see it? Each of the theme answers features one vowel, used more than once. In order, the themers present A, E, I, O, U.

• 6d [Reddit Q&A] AMA. I almost thought there was a duplication here, but the As stand for answer(s), ask, and anything.
• 33d [“Umbrella” singer, to fans] RIH, short for Rihanna. Crosswords have taught me RIRI, but RIH is new for me.
• 40d [“Roasted!”] OOH, BURN. Is this crossworthy?
• 52d [No turn _ (road sign)] ON RED. I think of it more of a street sign than a road sign, but perhaps that’s based on definitions peculiar to me. 32a [About face] U-TURN.
• 62d [Obam__re] ACA. I definitely don’t like this kind of clue, as I’ve made it clear in the past, but I’m willing to accept this one, principally because the letters are contiguous, and secondly because there’s no cutesy “aptly”-type explanation.
• 9a [Give and take?] SWAP. Yep, that’s what it amounts to.
• 20a [“__ be an honor!”] IT’D. Always the exact same clue for this entry. Be a shame if someone broke that perfect record. (nb: My assertion may be incorrect)
• 30a [How many ties are broken, for short] IN OT. Somewhat interesting that we also have ¾ of the letters for KNOT, which is certainly related to ties.
• 45a [Timely benefit] BOON. Last entry filled for me.
• 61a [“It’s a wonderful life” director Frank] CAPRA. 63a [Christmas __ ] TREE.
  
• 65a [Nail the exam] ACE IT. 55d [Frosts, as a cake] ICES. Not really related, but I’m putting them together anyway.

Adam Shapiro’s LA Times Crossword – Gareth’s summary

LA Times
17 Dec 25

I’m not sure if I’m missing something, but today’s theme seems a tad messy? The revealing answer says TRIPLEDOUBLES. And we get answers with three sets of not always reduplicated, but letters that are present more than once. However, not all of them are doubles; we get TRIPLEDOUBLES (plus some extras?). Is having two of the same letter in a phrase unusual?

• [Artist with success in more than one genre], CROSSOVERSTAR. Two O’s, 3 S’S, 3 R’s.
• [What an angsty teenager may slam], BEDROOMDOOR. Four O’s, 2 D’s, 2 R’s.
• [Be useless], TAKEUPSPACE. Two E’s, Two A’s, Two P’s.

Most surprising answer? YAKBUTTER. Anyone have any recipes?

Gareth

Max Schlenker’s USA Today Crossword, “Bedhead” — Emily’s write-up

Get a good night’s sleep?

USA Today, December 17, 2025, “Bedhead” by Max Schlenker

Theme: each downs themer starts (aka “head”) with the size of a bed

Themers:

• 3d. [Like most commercial airplanes], TWINENGINE
• 8d. [“Let’s go as fast as possible!”], FULLSTEAMAHEAD
• 14d. [Plant said to be named after an English monarch who loved fine needlework], QUEENANNESLACE
• 28d. [Hooded snakes that primarily eat other snakes], KINGCOBRA

A wide range of themers in today’s set containing TWINENGINE, FULLSTEAMAHEAD, QUEENANNESLACE, and KINGCOBRA. Everything fairly crossed so it didn’t take me too long to fill them in.

Favorite fill: AGOG, ISABEL, and AHI

Stumpers: AGITA (new to me), ISO (needed crossings), and NAPE (also needed crossings)

Nice puzzle with a great grid, funny themers, and a bit of challenging cluing though nothing too tough. A smooth solve with good flow, though it took me a bit more time. How’d you all do?

4.0 stars

~Emily