Wednesday, January 28, 2026

AV Club untimed (Amy) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 6:42 (Gareth) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:06 (Amy) [3.45 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:26 (Jim Q) [4.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 6:52 (Emily) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 8:03 (Eric) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

Jeff Chen & Jonathan Raksin’s AV Club Classic crossword, “Minor Scales”–Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, 1/28/26 – “Minor Scales”

This one’s PDF only to mark the cutoff between the full Down answers and the CUT DOWN TO SIZE words at their bottom. Could’ve used circled squares for .puz/Black Ink/Across Lite/Crossword Nexus-friendly solving, but the CUT aspect would be fuzzier. Not entirely sold on [… or a literal description of five entries in this puzzle]. Feels a little inaccurate to me.

GREEN ARROW has NARROW at the end. APPETITE, PETITE. WWI SPY, WISPY. GASLIGHT, SLIGHT. And ANNO DOMINI, MINI.

New to me: NAGWARE, [Initially free app with persistent pay pop-ups].

3.5 stars from me.

Kevin Curry’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 1/28/26 – no. 0128

The theme here is to take two-word phrases or compound words that start with an animal and end with an S-word, and move that S to make the animal a possessive:

• 17A. [Article of furniture on which a plate of oats might be set?], HORSE’S TABLE. I do wonder if horses still eat much in the way of oats, or if that’s just a hangover from crossword clues of yore. If you’re old enough, you remember clues like [Morsel for Dobbin] for OAT.
• 23A. [Thick, spiked outer covering?], DRAGON’S LAYER. Eh. Not exactly an animal like the others.
• 37A. [Relatives in a sty?], PIG’S KIN. I like this one.
• 39A. [“Throne” for a lion king?], CAT’S CAN.
• 46A. [Walk from one coop to another?], CHICKEN’S TRIP. Slightly bugged by CO-OP being in the grid above this “coop.”
• 56A. [Being flipped on its back, e.g.?], TURTLE’S HELL. This is the only one that breaks the SH sound into S and H, and it’s also the funniest. Always save the best for last!

Fave fill: RELAY RACES, DIAMOND, jigsaw EDGE PIECES, SKULK. Least favorite: “IT’S ODD” (which is basically just IT’S + an adjective, not an idiomatic phrase unto itself) and AD FEES (maybe people who’ve taken ads or placed ads find the phrase familiar but I don’t, outside of crosswords) and PLEB.

3.5 stars from me. Good night!

Justin Werfel’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Kinda Sorta” — Eric’s Review

Justin Werfel’s Wall Street Journal Crossword — 1/28/26 (Click to Embiggen)

“Kinda Sorta” becomes “—ISH,” added to familiar phrases to wacky effect:

• 17A [Especially delicious pastry?] GREAT DANISH
• 23A [“As I was saying to my good friend Oprah last week…,”say?] NAME BRANDISH
• 38A [100% made out of a root vegetable?] TOTALLY RADISH
• 49A [Paint on a school bus?] YELLOW FINISH Among the less-than-useful things that I learned working for the Texas Legislature is that, at least in Texas, only a school bus may be painted yellow. That’s why the church activity buses that you see so many of in Texas are usually white.
• 60A [Like someone from Gdask or Gdynia?] NORTH POLISH It took me a bit to remember that Gdańsk is a Baltic seaport and hence in the northern part of the country. I didn’t recognize Gdynia, which is apparently part of the Gdańsk conurbation and a popular port for cruise ships.

This is a fine if not ground-breaking theme. The theme answer are a bit silly, but one needs to expect that sort of thing in crosswords.

Other stuff:

• 1A [Cartoon canine from Orbit City] ASTRO A gimme. The Jetsons was a part of my 1960s childhood TV watching.
• 15A [Forearm length, in biblical times] CUBIT Another gimme. I was immediately reminded of a very funny comedy sketch from the 1960s — a conversation between Noah and God — but I’ll stifle the memory because the comedian in question is rightfully persona non grata.
• 20A [Artist’s studio] ATELIER Seems like a high-dollar word for a Wednesday puzzle.
• 31A [City south of Gainesville] OCALA My knowledge of Florida’s geography is at best sketchy. I initially guessed Tampa but held off until the crosses ruled that out.
• 43A [“I’m Gonna Git You ___” (1988 parody film) SUCKA That seems like a tough one for solvers who weren’t around 35 years ago. I never saw the movie, but I think it starred some of the then-ubiquitous Wayans brothers.
• 68A [Slalom path, basically] ESSES I ski but have never been good enough to race. We’re leaving for a long-awaited ski trip to Utah and I was bummed to learn today that the conditions there have deteriorated in the last week or so. At least the place where we’re staying has good food and a friendly staff who knows us (we’ve been staying there almost every year for over 20 years).
• 11D [Solves a crossword while watching television, maybe] MULTI-TASKS Most of us are not as good at that as we think we are.
• 24D [South Asian rice dish] BIRYANI I need to find the recipe for the chicken biryani I made a few years ago. It was pretty tasty.
• 41D [Prime minister between Cameron and Johnson] Teresa MAY Just yesterday, we were discussing how frequent the turnover in British PMs has been in recent years. Who will ever forget Liz Truss, prime minister for 49 days?

Noelle Griskey’s Universal crossword, “Diamondbacks” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 1/28/26 • Wed • “Diamondbacks” • Griskey • solution • 20260128

• 59a^R [Rough estimate, and a clue to the ends of 20-, 33- and 43-Across] BALLPARK FIGURES. So the title doesn’t have anything to do with the Arizona MLB team or the namesake snake; instead, it’s diamond = baseball field + back = the end of each answer.
• 20a. [Pottery vessel for pouring liquid] CERAMIC PITCHER.
• 33a. [Mixture poured into an iron at a breakfast buffet] WAFFLE BATTER.
• 43a. [Woven creation of the Ojibwe people] DREAM CATCHER.

And those three are really the core of the baseball battery, no?

• 1d [Rooibos or oolong] TEA. Double double-O action. Incidentally, rooibos is not a true TEA.
• 9d [Dadaism, for example] ANTI-ART. First I tried ART-something, but SEAR for 15-across [Hayes of “Will & Grace”] didn’t seem correct.
• 13d [Texans: NFL :: __ : MLB] ASTROS. Not part of the theme, but it ventures nearby.
• 30d [Swedish supergroup] ABBA. I was under the impression that a supergroup comprises artists who have already been very successful either as solo artists or in other groups. I don’t believe that’s the case with ABBA, though of course they enjoy enormous popularity. 10d [Legendary] EPIC.
• 42d [Nickname hidden in “blood relative”] DRE. Never really a fan of this clue variety; it seems like spackling for the crossword.
• 50d [Prepare to stow, as a sleeping bag] ROLL UP. Unless it’s one of those higher-end ones that you’re just supposed to smoosh into a stuff sack.
• 67d [High/low card] ACE.
  
• 14a [Flight attendants point them out] EXITS. Nice clue.
• 53a [Not prone to crushes, for short] AROmantic. In case anyone has yet to internalize the term.
• 65a [Short video on Instagram] REEL.
  

Kind of a weird time to run a baseball-themed crossword.

Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword — Jim Q’s write-up

I’m relatively new to consistent solving of the Wednesday New Yorker, but wow are they smooth. Continuously impressed by the junk-free and interesting grids I’ve encountered as of late.

New Yorker • 1/28/26 • Wed • Robyn Weintraub • solution • 20260128

FAVE ENTRIES:

• [Surface used when kneeling in the direction of Mecca] PRAYER MAT
• [Crustacean that scavenges empty shells for protection] HERMIT CRAB. Fun bit of trivia in the clue that I didn’t see until now. Hard to justify reading the full clues sometimes when you get the whole thing from the starting letter and the word “Crustacean.”
• [Bart Simpson telephoning Moe’s Tavern to ask for Seymour Butz, e.g.] PRANK CALL. Does The Simpsons still have this as a recurring bit? Haven’t watched regularly in, well, decades.
• [“You look really familiar”] HAVE WE MET?
• [Money-hungry types who seek out affluent partners] GOLD DIGGERS. 
• [Practice of not broadcasting in real time] TAPE DELAY.
• [British luxury S.U.V.] RANGE ROVER. 
• [“Huh–well, moving on . . .”] OKAY THEN…
• [Brief getaway?] VACAY. Cute. “VACAY” is a “brief” way of saying “vacation.”
• [Happy puppy’s “kiss” LICK. You say gross. I say bring the puppy licks on.
• [Feeling toward a sibling who has, yet again, ruined everything] IRE. Oddly specific clue. What happened at Thanksgiving, Robyn?
• [Soda in some Shirley Temples] GINGER ALE. Just seeing this clue now. Never heard of using GINGER ALE in a Shirley Temple. Regional? The standard as I know it is Sprite/Sierra Mist.
• [“The ___” (medical drama starring Noah Wyle)] PITT. Just binged first three episodes of season 2. So good.

Fantastic grid today. 4.5 stars.

Zhouqin Burnikel’s USA Today Crossword, “Clear Out” — Emily’s write-up

Keep it moving!

USA Today, January 28, 2026, “Clear Out” by Zhouqin Burnikel

Theme: each themer is contained within CLEAR

Themers:

• 19a. [Top honor for a standout soccer team], CLUBOFTHEYEAR
• 38a. [White neckband worn by a priest], CLERICALCOLLAR
• 57a. [Slugger who bats fourth], CLEANUPHITTER

Today’s themer set includes CLUBOFTHEYEAR, CLERICALCOLLAR, and CLEANUPHITTER. The first one I needed crossings but the second two I got the last word of each right away then needed assistance with the first half of them. I could see the neckband but just couldn’t recall the full name for it. Sports references are always hit or miss for me, but I’m sure this set was easy for some solvers. Also, it’s fun how the theme shifts with each consecutive themers, from CL–EAR to CLE–AR and ending with CLEA–R.

Favorite fill: LOLCAT, TORTES, and BEARDOIL

Stumpers: CIAO (needed crossings), NANA (kept thinking “gma”), and BURP (misdirected–I was thinking about praise)

Overall a quick and fun puzzle! A great theme and themer set, with an enjoyable grid and fill. Lots of fresh fill too, which is always a treat.

4.0 stars
~Emily

Samantha Podos Nowak’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s theme summary

Samantha Podos Nowak’s puzzle is built around a central phrase, HANGINTHERE. Four answers are places where you hang, in two different senses of the word, with each sense used twice. So:

• A [Work space?], ARTGALLERY and a
• [Jacket pocket?], COATCLOSET are where items are hung.
• And a [Brew house?], COFFEESHOP and a
• [TV station?], FAMILYROOM are where people hang out.

Gareth