Sunday, January 25, 2026

LAT 7:37 (Kyle) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 16:08 (Eric) [3.38 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:52 (Jim P) [4.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:22 (Matt G) [2.79 avg; 7 ratings] rate it

Mark MacLachlan’s New York Times Crossword “Alert! Alert!” — Eric’s Review

Mark MacLachlan’s New York Times Crossword “Alert! Alert! — 1/24/26 (Click to Embiggen)

The theme answers are punnily clued computer error messages that might or might not be familiar, depending on how deeply you’re into computers and what type of computer you use:

• 23A [“That cabinet with plates looks awfully full”] OUT OF DISK SPACE
• 43A [“It’s saying you completed the marathon in under two hours, which can’t be right”] RUNTIME ERROR
• 51A [“Is that a cough I hear?”] VIRUS DETECTED
• 70A [“Sorry, we’ll have to put the old panes back in”] WINDOWS UPDATE FAILED
• 91A [“Those pancakes are piled way too high!”] STACK OVERFLOW
• 98A [“Your emery board will never fit in this tiny toiletry bag”] FILE TOO LARGE
• 122A [“Your waiter’s nowhere to be seen!”] SERVER NOT FOUND

I’ve had some sort of Mac product as a home computer since the late 1980s and at work used many machines that ran on MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows, but none of those error messages sounded all that familiar. On the other hand, they’re all recognizable as English sentence fragments.

The punny clues are a bit forced. Overall, the theme didn’t do much for me.

Other stuff:

• 6A [Apple TV comedy that received 20 Emmy nominations for its first season] TED LASSO Yes, it can be a bit sentimental at times. But it’s mostly pretty funny, with some interesting characters.
• 22A [Makeshift replacement for a Kleenex] SLEEVE Ugh. On the other hand, ski gloves these days typically have an absorbent patch at the base of the thumb for clearing away the prodigious amounts of snot one can generate in cold weather.
• 36A [Sphere of creativity] ART SCENE That’s better than my original answer of ART ZONES.
• 69A [Something to use on your break?] CUE Cute clue.
• 105A [Word found in all but four state constitutions, but not the U.S. Constitution] GOD None of that surprises me.
• 129A [Have no stomach for] DETEST/134A [Doesn’t care for] NEGLECTS Nice pairing to illustrate the different meanings of “care for.”
• 8D [William, Edward and Harry, e.g.] DUKES Huh. Just a few hours earlier, my husband and I tried unsuccessfully to remember Harry’s nominal dukedom. It turns out it’s Sussex.
• 42D [One cutting corners] MITER SAW Cute clue.
• 71D [Court order] WRIT A W improvidently placed as the second letter here kept me from seeing 78A TORA for a long time.

Paul Coulter’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Same Difference”—Jim P’s review

Theme answers are completely unrelated pairs of familiar two-word phrases. Yet each phrase in the pair gets the same clue consisting of two parts: The first part of the clue works for the first word in each pair, and the second does the same for the second word.

Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Same Difference” · Paul Coulter · 1.25.26

• 27a & 30a: [As thick as thieves + Certain boo-boo] TIGHT SCRAPE and CLOSE-CUT. “As thick as thieves” could mean TIGHT or CLOSE and “Certain boo-boo” could mean SCRAPE or CUT.
• 46a & 49a: [Lofty + Instruct] TALL ORDER and HIGH SCHOOL.
• 65a & 70a: [Lacking money + Fencing weapon] LIGHT SABER and SHORT SWORD.
• 85a & 89a: [Petite + Hit hard, in mixed martial arts] LITTLE ROCK and SMALL SLAM.
• 106a & 108a: [Look-alike + Leeway] TWIN ROOM and DOUBLE SPACE.

A novel concept executed beautifully. I especially liked TALL ORDER and HIGH SCHOOL for some reason. They’re such disparate phrases yet the same clue works for both of them. I don’t know that I’ve heard of a SMALL SLAM though. Google tells me it’s a bridge term which explains why it’s not in my wheelhouse.

Elsewhere, MOTHBALL and FULL DRESS make for interesting long fill. I’ve never heard of anything being ECO-CHIC, but it was inferable. A SKIN PEEL sounds frightening but at least it reminds me of the Weird Al song, “Jackson Park Express” with the lyric, “I’d like to remove all your skin and wear your skin over my own skin…But not in a creepy way.” As for LAWN SALE…is that a thing? “Yard Sale” of course, but LAWN SALE sounds like an offering at the garden center.

Clue of note: 121a. [105-Down with spores]. FERN. Or [Massive winter storm of 2026]. Please stay safe out there, folks.

Four stars.

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post Crossword “Musical Scales” — Matthew’s Review

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post Crossword “Musical Scales” solution, 1/25/2026

“Musical Scales” had me thinking (and dreading) something DO-RE-MI ish this week, but Evan’s got something a little different. Themers are marked by asterisks

• • 43a [*Whom Entertainment Weekly once called “the founding antihero of modern television”] The answer is TONY SOPRANO but only the first five letters are in the entry. Let’s check out the rest
  • 44a [*Flourishes that show one’s care and attention to detail] PERSONA(L TOUCHES)
  • 75a [*Landline sounds] DIA(L TONES)
  • 81a [*Marijuana smuggler who was the subject of the film “Kid Cannabis”] NAT(E NORMAN)
  • 109a [*Consistency] EVEN T(ENOR)
  • 120a [*Supported of science] LAB (ASSISTANT)
  • 122a [Sign of agitation … or a phrase describing any one of six choir members spelled diagonally in this puzzle RAISED VOICE

So what was going on with the missing ends of the theme entries, as clued? Well, the revealer tells us to think about “voices” and look diagonally. We also had 71a [Scale, like certain words in this puzzle] for ASCEND.

TONY SOPRANO and EVEN TENOR are the easiest to spot – each of the six themers contain either SOPRANO, ALTO, or TENOR, voices in a choir. And each continues diagonally up from the end of their clued entry, with PERSONAL TOUCHES, DIAL TONES, NATE NORMAN, and LAB ASSISTANT continuing across once the “voice part” part of the word is done. (-RMAN of NATE NORMAN is in 60A PR MAN, for example).

And one of those things that I take for granted from Evan, but not everyone does: all the theme entries are still crossword valid before they turn diagonally: TONYS, PERSONAL, DIA, NAT, EVENT, and LAB.

A fun theme. I’m always appreciative of puzzles like this that use the across-and-down space differently and get out of seven-to-nine longish across entries. I thought the fill was a bit gentler than normal, but my time doesn’t back that up.

Other comments: I’ve only known RICKI Lake as a talk show host, so was glad to learn she’s also been in movies // I cannot say how many times I tried to make SARGASSO SEA fit into ATLANTIC’s space for [Body around the Bermuda Triangle]. It never seemed to fit. Jane Eyre on my mind, I guess // With the Australian Open in full swing, tennis is on the mind for 3d [Returns from Venus?] BACKHANDS, in reference to Venus Williams // I never know how many pounds are in a stone. Here, today, it’s apparently FOURTEEN. I don’t think that will stop it from being sixteen or eighteen the next time it comes up // I liked the misdirect on “jam” (as in “tune”) in [Apple jam source?] for IPOD // Yes, Weezer has a song titled “Say It AINT So,” but I’ll be darned if I read that phrase in anything other than blink-182’s “All The Small Things” patter 

Cheers!

Priyanka Sethy and Rajiv Sethy’s LA Times crossword “DARN IT ALL”

LA Times solution grid “DARN IT ALL” – Priyanka Sethy and Rajiv Sethy – Sunday 01/25/2026

Daughter-father constructing duo Priyanka and Rajiv Sethy bring us a crafty theme:

• 120A [Laughing hysterically, or what the answers to the starred clues literally are] IN STITCHES. Each of the indicated answers is bracketed by letters spelling out a type of stitch.
• 23A [*Result of turning over a new leaf] BLANK SHEET. Blanket. Nice misdirect on the idiom “turn over a new leaf” (we’re meant to read “leaf” as a literal sheet of paper).
• 33A [*Staple of mid-century campus style] BASEBALL JACKET. Basket. I think this is the same as a varsity jacket.
• 51A [*Composure metaphor in a P.G. Wodehouse title] STIFF UPPER LIP. Slip. This appears to be a reference to “Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves”.

• 69A [*Royal who’s next in line] CROWN PRINCESS. Cross. An example: Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland.
• 90A [*Circle of care] SUPPORT SYSTEM. Stem.
• 105A [*Silent film legend in a bowler hat] CHARLIE CHAPLIN. Chain.

My wife, who makes crochet, tells me that these are stitches used in many kinds of embroidery/textile arts.

Notes on fill and clues:

• I enjoyed seeing less common short entries like FROSÉ, GAUCHE, GUAVAS, THORAX.
• 56A [Future JD’s major, maybe] POLI SCI. Nice use of the degree to indicate an abbreviated/abridged answer, but that’s a very strong “maybe”. I had a grandfather who became a lawyer after being a math major. I imagine there are many fundamental skills needed to pursue legal education–logical thinking, writing, etc.–that can be developed in any number of undergraduate majors. There’s an echo here at 78A [Future MBA’s major, maybe] ECON.
• 87A [Soap with a bird imprint] DOVE BAR. If someone said to you “I’m going to the store to buy a Dove bar” would you think they were talking about soap, or candy? (edited to add: commenter Anon points out that a Dove Bar is the trademark for an ice cream bar, with a Chicago connection!)
• 92D [British collective] YOU LOT. I like this entry too.
• 113A [Dutch cheese?] EURO. D’oh! I put in EDAM first. You got me, Priyanka and Rajiv!
• 48D [Adornment below a maang tikka, perhaps] BINDI. In India, a maang tikka is a piece of jewelry worn over the forehead of a bride.