LAT untimed (pannonica) 
[3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 8:53 (Eric) [3.67 avg; 15 ratings] rate it
Universal 3:25 (Jim P) 
[2.88 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 
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Greg Snitkin and Glenn Davis’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review
Greg Snitkin and Glenn Davis’s New York Times Crossword — 1/9/26 (Click to Embiggen)
This seemed pretty breezy, even by modern NYT Friday puzzle standards. Yet, looking at the completed puzzle, I didn’t see a lot of answers that were gimmes for me. Those gimmes are usually proper nouns, and this grid didn’t seem to have many of those. Which isn’t to say that the puzzle didn’t go more smoothly if you knew a few things about stuff other than crosswords.
Stuff that stands out for me:
- 1A [Crush] PUPPY LOVE I quickly sensed that “Crush” was not a verb here, but I had several letters in place before I thought of the answer.
- 14A [Winning like crazy] ON A HEATER I’ve not heard that one before. The only casinos I’ve ever seen have been in movies and TV shows.
- 16A [Places many Cubans are found] CIGAR BOXES Nice misdirection there.
- 43A [“Watch your mouth!”] DON’T SASS ME What did your parents say when you got cheeky? I really can’t remember what my parents said, but I’m sure I gave them enough opportunities to say it.
- 60A [Monopoly token retired in 2017] BOOT I tried SHOE (close, no CIGAR) and IRON first. Of the board games I played a lot as a kid, Monopoly is my least favorite.
- 61A [He’s great for the time being] MR. RIGHT NOW I’ve heard that phrase before, but I needed some crosses to get the answer.
- 66A [Jazz coda?] ZEES Cute clue. It helps to know that, musically speaking, a coda is “the concluding passage of a piece or movement.”
- 3D [Something you have trouble putting down] PAGE-TURNER I had the right idea almost immediately, but like so much else in this puzzle, I didn’t think of the actual answer until I had some letters in place.
- 5D [The Beatles’ “___ Blues”] YER Finally, a gimme! From 1968’s The Beatles (a/k/a “The White Album”). I was always more fond of Paul McCartney’s contributions to their music than John Lennon’s.
- 10D [Footwear that lacks defined heels] TUBE SOCKS I remember when those became popular in the 1970s. Do people still wear them?
- 17D [Item that someone with cold feet might have] SKI We’re planning to ski tomorrow. I hope the snow is better than what we’ve seen so far this season.
31D [Raccoon, humorously] TRASH PANDA We used to see raccoons in Austin all the time. We don’t see them much in Southwestern Colorado, though I can’t imagine they’re not out there.- 33D [Pointers for some fighters?] ÉPÉES Cute clue for a word that shows up a lot in crosswords.
- 41D [Oscar winner Blanchett] CATE OK, I had a few gimmes. Ms Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator and Best Actress for Blue Jasmine.
- 50D [Elba who portrayed Nelson Mandela] IDRIS Another gimme, though I didn’t know about that role.
- 54D [Java ingredient?] CODE More misdirection that I only saw now, having filled that in from the crosses.
- 58D [Wilde thing] POEM Cute clue. Even as I was typing PLAY, it occurred to me that Oscar Wilde also wrote poetry.
Rebecca Goldstein and Rachel Fabi — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 1/9/26 • Fri • Goldstein, Fabi • solution • 20260109
16×15 grid, for a little more breathing room.
Prefixes!
- 17a. [Pseudo?] FALSE FRONT.
- 25a. [Neo?] NEW BEGINNING.
- 38a. [Mono?] SINGLE ORIGIN.
- 54a. [Mega?] GRAND OPENING.
- 64a. [Anti?] NONSTARTER.
Not part of the theme: 19a [Annual EDM festival in 22-Down] ULTRA (22d [Biscayne Bay city] MIAMI), 20a [Fashionably nostalgic] RETRO.
Basic theme. All fine.
- 3d [“Naked” rodents] MOLE RATS. Yes, as opposed to all the rodents dressed in haberdashery. Thanks to the clue for putting that image in my mind. Anyway, they’re mostly hairless.
- 5d [Unsmiling] STERN, not STONY or STOIC.
- 8d [Café du __: New Orleans shop known for beignets] MONDE. And chicory coffee.
- 13d [Indonesian apes] ORANGS. Let’s try to get away from this usage please. I don’t have time to cite the reasons, but there’s ample discussion to be found on why it’s considered insulting. 61d [Killer whale] for ORCA is also kind of derogatory, and I’d like to see that term be shelved.
- 28d [Sushi bite sometimes served on a model boat] NIGIRI. etymology: borrowed from Japanese, short for nigirizushi, from nigiri, noun correspondent of nigiru “to grasp, form with the hands” + –zushi SUSHI (m-w.com)
- 34d [Winter break?] SNOW DAYS. Tried SNOW DAY first, took it out, not considering the plural could also answer the clue.
- 46d [ __ khao: Laotian crispy rice salad] NAM. Sounds tasty.
- 55d [Have no reception, say] ELOPE. Cute. 71a [Leave in the lurch at the church] JILT.
- 65d [“Etc.,” in Pittsburghese] NAT. Wish I had time to investigate this. Maybe I’ll learn from you all iin the comments this evening.
- 16a [Leaving less of a bad taste, maybe] RIPER. Or perhaps more of one.
- 29a [Word of woe] ALAS. 73a [Word of woe] SADLY.
- 68a [Location, location, location] AREAS. Sure, okay. Taking it literally.
Joe Marquez’s Universal crossword, “Final Laps”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases whose final words can also be synonyms of “run (fast)”. The revealer is END RUNS (39a, [Certain football plays, and a theme hint]).
Universal crossword solution · “Final Laps” · Joe Marquez · Fri., 1.9.26
- 17a. [Cinematic effect meant to disorient the viewer] DOLLY ZOOM. Camera effect where the camera physically moves closer or farther away from the subject while simultaneously zooming in or out, depending on what the camera operator is trying to achieve. See this example from Jaws.
- 24a. [Element of the Gatorade logo] LIGHTNING BOLT.
- 52a. [Additional fee] SERVICE CHARGE.
- 62a. [Group often threatened by aliens in sci-fi] HUMAN RACE.
A classic example of the synonym theme. Each theme answer is solid and all the keywords have their meanings changed from how they’re used in the grid.
Solid grid as well with highlights HOME GYMS, SAUCIER, CELTICS, and SNL ALUMNI. The grid is quite open, even in the corners which can often get boxed in, and those stacked long entries in the NW/SE corners crossing both theme answers (two of them in fact) and other 7-letter-long entries are quite impressive. We do get some crosswordese (ET AL, AIOLI, O’NEAL), but they’re easily dealt with. Proper names ALY and TONYA crossing at the Y might be troublesome for some solvers (an I seems quite feasible if you don’t know those names).
Clue of note: 44d. [Airplane bathroom, in slang]. LAV. I don’t think I’ve heard this word outside of a British context. Is there something in particular about an airplane bathroom that lends itself to it?
Overall, a solid theme with an impressively constructed grid. 3.5 stars.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I am delighted that there aren’t many proper nouns in this puzzle (they are my downfall)…
But it still took me longer than my usual Friday. I too had never heard of ON A HEATER, although I thought of CIGAR BOXES fairly readily. But in response to “You better believe it” I had HARD DATA (yeah, nerdy scientist) before HELL YEAH, eventually switching to HECK, which helped with SKI and that whole neighborhood. The SW little corner also took some doing.
But looking at the puzzle overall, it’s an excellent one with a great deal to love.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
Some good long answers in this one, but it’s unusual to see so many 3s and 4s (and so many blocks) in a themeless.
NYT: I really liked this puzzle! A couple gimmes for me (YER TELL CABIN) and lots of nice cluing all around.
Shame on you if you’re not familiar with ON A HEATER! Go watch “The Hangover” (one of the best comedies of the aughts). That phrase features prominently from Jeffrey Tambor (a great, underrated actor).
Hmm, not only do I not know ONAHEATER, I’ve never heard of “The Hangover.” Shame on me, I guess.
I liked the puzzle, though.
haha, same here. I guess we all live in different bubbles.
I’ve heard of The Hangover but not seen it. I’ve enjoyed Jeffrey Tambor ever since Hill Street Blues and agree he’s an underrated actor.
LAT – Here’s what I found about NAT. N’at is a contraction of “and that”
https://www.fastslang.com/nat
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
IVENOIDEA doesn’t quite feel in the language (when’s the last time you heard someone say “I’ve”?) but the rest of the grid is excellent.
NYT
I don’t recall ever seeing or hearing “oxes”.
Oxen I know.
Some dictionaries (e.g., Merriam-Webster) accept it. Seems non-standard to me – but more reasonable as it’s clued in the puzzle than it would be for referring to draft animals. Not sure I would refer to two guys who are clumsy oafs as “oxen.” (Of course, I’d probably just refer to them as clumsy oafs.)
I agree that “you big ox — and you too — you two big oxes” doesn’t come up a lot in real conversation, but it would be the correct plural should it. Similarly, two bullocks are always oxen or ox.
OXES has appeared 11 times in Times crosswords, always as bipeds.
Yeah, as the kids say, “oxes” is sus.
LAT review: thank you for calling out the use of ORANG; one of my pet peeves.
Some info here (“Why “orang” is no substitute for “orangutan”): https://www.orangutanssp.org/orang-vs-orang-utan.html
NYT I don’t know about The Hangover, but people say “on a heater” all the time on sports channels, referring to a winning streak.
NYT: Major jazz listener here and know the word ‘coda’ … But – Heck NO on ‘ZEES’ … I mean, Nerts! Can anyone enlighten with better context on that one?
I don’t think you can apply “coda” too strictly here. It’s a bit of a joke: Interpret it as “ending” and it should make sense.
(My tastes run more to pop/rock, country and classical, but I have zero musical training. It’s probably from reading about classical music that I have any understanding of what a “coda” is.)
Face palm – this was a case of too much knowledge slowing me down. – got it now – thx!