Friday, January 23, 2026

LAT untimed (pannonica) [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:58 (Amy) [3.89 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:46 (Jim P) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Joyce Keller’s New York Times Crossword — Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 1/23/26 – no. 0123

There’s an ACPT guideline of “check your crossings. I did check the crossings for what looked like RESTIAN BAR, but I neglected to check the crossings’ crossings. D’oh! 1d [Completely convinced] isn’t SURE, it’s SOLD. Yes, ERE is a legit answer, but not when the clue is 19A. [“Black-ish” patriarch], DRE. I do love the clue for LESBIAN BAR, [She’s out there!]. That section also slowed me down where UH PUHLEEZE sat in place of OH PUHLEASE. I also hid 54a. [Apt ryhme for “pads”] (ADDS) by viewing 44d. [Tip] as a verb, LEAN, rather than the detective’s noun, LEAD, and then the 49D. [Texter’s “ciao”] is CYA? I had CYL as a “see ya later” thing; not sure I’ve see a 3-letter text abbreviation where “you” becomes the 2-letter YA. CUL and CYL are both used for “see you later, as is CYA, apparently (just “see ya”), but I know that one much better as a non-texter’s “cover your ass.” These areas probably ate up a good 3 minutes of my nearly 7-minute solve.

Fave fill: CREATIVITY, BEDROOM EYES, PRESS-ON NAILS, CPARE CHANGE, MILESTONES.

I questioned whether the CIARA clue, [Grammy-winning R&B singer named for a Revlon fragrance], was for real. It’s mentioned in her Wikipedia page with a link to a fashion magazine story about her becoming a Revlon spokeperson.

Anyone else try TONSIL instead of TONGUE, [Mouth organ]? What are the odds that a small part of the body would have two different 6-letter organs?

Four stars from me.

Jeff Stillman’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

LAT • 1/23/26 • Fri • Stillman • solution • 20260123

Today we’re adding a B-sound to the ends of familiar phrases to wacky effect and adjusting the spelling as necessary.

• 20a. [Add to one’s ear piercings?] HIT A NEW LOBE (hit a new low). This is fine technically, but I’m not completely convinced it makes sense practically. Perhaps we’re considering the tragus and antitragus as mini-lobes? Or are we reading this from the perspective of a professional ear-piercer, who may have performed this service on countless lobes belonging to other people?
• 27a. [“There’s nothing like the feeling of posting a vlog!”?] I LOVE YOUTUBE (I love you, too).
• 46a. [Trio trying to sneak past the guard at a sauna] THREE IN A ROBE (three in a row). A variation on the old three-in-a-trenchcoat trope.
• 55a. [“Get your own die, pal!”?] THAT’S MY CUBE (that’s my cue).

(28d [Two-finger sign] VEE.)

Should I rate it a B-plus?

• 4d [Motivation for seeking counsel] LEGAL ISSUES. Seems borderline greenpainty?
• 5d [“Heaven forbid!”] HOPE NOT.
  
• 8d [Comics canine] SNOOPY. With the first two letters in place I was all set to put in SNERT but quickly realized it didn’t have enough letters.
• 10d [Peach or plum] HUE. Mild misdirection.
  
• 12d [“The King and I” setting] SIAM. 39a [“The King and I” role] ANNA.
• 26d [Seafood dish that turns from blue to orange during preparation] STEAMED CRABS. East Coast blue crabs, I would imagine.
  
• 31d [Out of shape] BENT. Does that make “bent out of shape” redundant? I don’t think so.
• 34d [Fragrance] ODOR. Thank you!
• 44d [Period of invincibility in video games] GOD MODE. Possibly somewhat obscure? Also, I think of GOD MODE being more of a cheat that’s enabled rather than a fleeting (?) period.
• 51d [Online cash-back offer] EBATE. Stands to reason that this is legit with all the other e-formations out there, but I’ve never encountered it.
• 53d [Wagon part] AXLE. Okay, sure.
• 15a [Bread maker] OVEN. Okay, sure.
• 18a [Mallet game] POLO.
  
• 25a [Seed cases] PODS. In my lexicon, seedcase is a compound word.
• 65a [Utah home of Sugarloaf Mountain] ALTA. Not the one in Brazil.
  
• 67a [“Holy moly!”] YIPE. I use this, but am a little surprised it’s legit enough for a primetime crossword.
• 68a [Existed] BEEN. Feels glancingly apt as a final entry in this B-laden affair!

*I believe seven embeds is a record for me on a daily 15×15 crossword write-up.

Howard Neuthaler’s Universal crossword, “Grid Over Troubled Water”—Jim P’s review

Theme: Circled vertical words spell out types of sharks. The crossing word at the top letter of each shark is clued while replacing the shark’s first letter with the one letter above it. The revealer is JUMPING THE SHARK (38a, [Reaching a point of decline, in TV lingo … or the key to interpreting 17-, 25-, 51- and 53-Across]). The crossing entry using the first letter in the shark is still a valid (though unclued) crossword entry.

Universal crossword solution · “Grid Over Troubled Water” · Howard Neuthaler · Fri., 1.23.26

• 17a. [*Polynesian country] SAM(O)A jumping a BLUE shark from 4d “GO BLUE!”
• 25a. [*Lets go] FI(R)ES jumping a NURSE shark from 19d OR NURSE.
• 51a. [*Turn to mush] PUR(E)E jumping a SAND shark from 45d “YES AND“.
• 53a. [*Swallows] E(A)TS jumping a MAKO shark from 46d BAMAKO.

Fun theme, well executed. As it should be, I was a little befuddled for a while until the penny dropped and I enjoyed my aha moment. The “jumping” letters spell out OREA which isn’t anything unfortunately. It would’ve been cool if the spelled out FONZ or something.

I will pick some nits though. Both SAND and MAKO are hidden in their respective entries while BLUE and NURSE are not. I would’ve liked more consistency there. That bottom right corner was tough with BAMAKO [Mali’s capital] probably not in most people’s wheelhouse and with crossing BAND clued opaquely [Stripe], EMTS not clued at all, and AKITA clued via trivia [Helen Keller described hers as “an angel in fur”]. It was all gettable but a good deal tougher than any other section of the grid.

In the fill, I enjoyed POOH-POOH, CELLO CASE, SIR PAUL, and AUTO LOANS. There are a fair amount of “cheater” squares as well as crosswordese (UM NO, I KID, NENA, NO MSG), and IN LEFT [Where Fenway Park’s Green Monster looms large] is kind of a stinker. So…hits and misses in the fill.

Clue of note: 34d. [Demonstrated sound judgment?]. TSKED. This clue is doing a lot of work, but on the whole it gave me a smile.

3.5 stars from me.

In case you were wondering about the origin of JUMPING THE SHARK, here’s the inanity that started it all: