Wednesday, December 24, 2025

AV Club 6:19 (Amy) [2.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:29 (Gareth) [1.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:58 (Amy) [3.45 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 4:34 (Amy/Kyle) [2.94 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:54 (Emily) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 6:45 (Eric) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “A Night In” — Eric’s Review

Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Night In” — 12/24/25 (Click to Embiggen)

Some well-known phrases and names get a timely element to produce wacky answers:

• 18A [Some criminals finish with more money than they began with?] THIEVES END UP This End Up I have to stress the UP to make that answer work with the clue.
• 25A [Where the shrimp are prepared at a restaurant?] DEVEINING ROOM Dining Room
• 41A [Radio replies delivered in a nervously agitated state?] FEVERED ROGERS Fred Rogers
• 48A [Boarding areas for double-decker planes?] BI-LEVEL GATES Bill Gates
• 57D [Holiday preceder that’s been added to the theme answers] EVE

The theme answers are not particularly wacky, though the thought of a restaurant with a dedicated space for a shrimp preparation task is mildly amusing.

Other stuff:

• 1A [Bit of choreography] STEP It’s nice to not get started on the wrong foot sometimes.
• 17A [Sister of Chekhov’s Masha and Irina] OLGA From the play Three Sisters.
• 38A [Sale setting, sometimes] GARAGE Not ESTATE.
• 54A [Wills’s wife] KATE As in William, the Prince of Wales.
• 6D [Racing cyclist Kooij] OLAV I don’t follow cycling, but this Dutch cyclist seems a bit obscure for a mainstream crossword.
• 7D [“___ of the Mind” (Sam Shepard play)] A LIE I blanked out on that title and got it from the crosses.
• 10D [Iberia’s longest river] TAGUS That name doesn’t sound familiar. It flows through Aranjuez, Toledo and Lisbon, among other cities.
• 22D [Miles of film] VERA Maybe best known for two John Ford movies, The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), as well as Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

Aimee Lucido’s AV Club Classic crossword, “Don’t Lose Your Head”—Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, 12/24/25 – “Don’t Lose Your Head” – Lucido

Clever theme. BRAIN ROT is the name of the game, 66a. [Condition caused by being way too online, which has progressively afflicted the author of this puzzle’s starred clues (and their answers)]. The starred answers all originally start with MIND, but that brain rots progressively, going to MID, ID, and I:

• 17a. [*Vulcan connection], MIND MELD.
• 26a. [*Electricity meter checker who’s kinda meh at their job], MID READER. I have not yet adopted “mid” in my vocab as a stand-alone word but it may happen.
• 39a. [*Changing yr birthday, name, whatevs on a license, like WHOA so sus!!!], I.D. FUCKERY. I do like mind fuckery as the basis for a themer.
• 55a. [*”CANT TALK NOW IS WRD BORD GAME TIIIIME 4 MEEE!!!111!1!!!1″], “I BOGGLING.” Ha!

Note the Joycean deterioration of language as we proceed through the clues. The brain, he rots.

Fave fill: EILISH, CUBANO, topical PANTONE “cloud dancer” white, political LOBBIES.

Trouble spot: crossing of 40d. [Prick] and 42a. [It wouldn’t be your first choice]. PLAN B is commonly enough seen in crosswords, but I wasn’t expecting D-BAG.

27d. [Deg. from MIT, perhaps], ENGR. Wait, what? A person with a degree from MIT might be an ENGR., but their degree would be a B.S., an M.S., a Ph.D., yes? Engr is short for engineer.

3.75 stars from me.

Ella Dershowitz’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 12/24/25 – no. 1224

FAKE IDS are the name of the game here, and the three I.D.-initialed themers are “fake” in some way:

• 17A. [Salad topping that’s actually from America and is rarely consumed in its namesake land], ITALIAN DRESSING. Folks who’ve spent time in Italy, tell me what salad dressings you liked there.
• 27A. [“Out of Africa” author actually named Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke], ISAK DINESEN.
• 44A. [Observance celebrating a decision actually made on July 2 — the date when John Adams predicted it would be celebrated], INDEPENDENCE DAY. Digging into Wikipedia … OK, the Continental Congress agreed on a resolution of independence on July 2, then signed and printed the Declaration of Independence on July 4. You ever learn about that July 2 event as important? I watched the American Revolution documentary by Ken Burns et al, don’t recall that being emphasized.

Fave fill: CORNER PUB, ILL-ADVISED, SKEETER, MR NOODLE (I also like Mr. Noodle’s Brother Mister Noodle; Mr. Noodle’s various sisters, Ms. Noodle and Miss Noodle, were after my son’s time—I’ll assume all have been silent performers, portrayed by gifted actors).

NAKED PARTY? A [No-clothes college gathering]? I’ll take your word for it. in my Day, Carleton had skinny-dipping in the fountain by the art building and streaking past the library around finals.

3.75 stars from me.

Olivia Mitra Framke & K.J. Sarr’s USA Today Crossword, “Reindeer Games” — Emily’s write-up

Up on the rooftop…

USA Today, December 24, 2025, “Reindeer Games” by Olivia Mitra Framke & K.J. Sarr

Theme: each themer ends with the name of one of Santa’s reindeer

Themers:

• 19a. [DC superhero with adventures on Earth and in space], CAPTAINCOMET
• 37a. [Winged woman with a heart-fletched arrow in “Rhythm Heaven”], LADYCUPID
• 54a. [She was the original owner of Katniss’ Mockingjay pin, in “Sunrise on the Reaping”], MAYSILEEDONNER

A mix of characters in today’s themer set with CAPTAINCOMET, LADYCUPID, and MAYSILEEDONNER. I needed crossings for all, not knowing the first two and only part way through the novel that includes the last. Everything was fairly crossed, though, and easy enough to fill in. Any additional bonus is that the reindeer are even called in order: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, COMET, CUPID, DONNER, Blitzen.

Favorite fill: MUSTREAD, CHIPSIN, and KIMI

Stumpers: LAU (new to me), THATSO (needed crossings), and APR (new to me)

Happy holidays! Whether you celebrate Christmas or another holiday this time of year, hopefully everyone can enjoy this fun game with some of the reindeer today. Loved the grid, fresh fill, lengthy bonus fill, and great cluing. A smooth solve for me today and a great start to Christmas Eve–very apt!

4.75 stars

~Emily

Will Nediger’s New Yorker crossword, “2025 in movies”–Amy’s solution grid

New Yorker crossword solution, 12/24/25 – Nediger – “2025 in movies”

Note from Amy: I’d heard of some of the movies and names, and encountered plenty of movies and names that were new to me. Twenty-two clues tied to 2025 movies, whew!

Names new to me that look crossword-friendly: Oscar-winning Palestinian documentarian Basel ADRA, and KPop Demon Hunters voice actor AHN HYO-SEOP.

Finished the puzzle in a reasonable amount of time, so I felt the crossings were fair; your mileage may vary.

Leslie Young’s LA Times Crossword – Gareth’s summary

Leslie Young’s puzzle is one of association. Four phrases are linked to four different definitions of “4×4”:

• [Where to find a sturdy 4×4], HOMEDEPOT of wood
• [Where to find a caloric 4×4], INNOUTBURGER. Apparently, an offering there.
• [Where to find an adventurous 4×4], OFFROADTRAIL. As someone who has basically only ever driven a 4×4, I usually stick to regular dirt roads thank you. My car might be able to handle African 4×4 trails, but I don’t need that stress.
• [Where to find an athletic 4×4], RUNNINGTRACK. Relay team…

Gareth