LAT 2:20 (Stella) 
[3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Newsday untimed (Jenni) 
[3.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 10:05 (Amy) [3.14 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 
[2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 16:10 (Jim Q) 
[2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Mark Diehl’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 2/7/26 – no. 0207
Been feeling not great for the past week or so, and I kept dozing off during the Parade of Nations, which usually holds my attention.
Old thing that was new to me: 30D. [Woolen leggings, as worn by W.W. I soldiers], PUTTEES. Here’s the Wiki.
Eww: TOENAIL SCISSORS, SPORTS BETS.
Fave fill: WAFFLE MAKER (would also take waffle iron), READY TO GO, RETIRE THE SIDE.
47A. [Former e-book devices, until 2014], SONY READERS. A tech device that’s long gone? Delete from your word lists, constructors.
3.75 stars from me. Good night!
Amie Walker’s Los Angeles Times crossword—Matthew’s recap
Amie Walker’s Los Angeles Times crossword solution, 2/7/2026
Matt subbing for Stella again. I enjoyed this one; moved pretty smoothly top-to-bottom. Accessible longer entries like WHAT IS THIS, CAESAREANS, ANYTIME NOW, and LOVE TO HATE helped me work around a few names I wasn’t certain of. Right to highlights:
16a [Grand] THOU. As in “thousand”
18a [Stubbs of the Four Tops] LEVI. Or just as memorably, (to me, at least) of Little Shop of Horrors
36a [“Newhart” production co.] MTM. New to me, though I do recognize the show. Fortunately, the crossings are no trouble.
11d [“SNL” alum who played a Spartan] CHERI OTERI. Not often we see the full name in a grid!
26d [Magic spirit, say?] TEAM MORALE. As in the NBA’s Orlando Magic
Cheers!
Matthew Sewell’s Saturday Stumper Newsday crossword—Jenni’s recap
Hi! I’m filling in for pannonica. I usually don’t volunteer to cover the Saturday Stumper because some weeks I don’t finish it until Sunday or Monday. This one fell in one sitting, so I’m guessing it’s on the less stumper-y side. I enjoyed it!
Some highlights:
Newsday, February 7, 2026, “Saturday Stumper,” Matthew Sewell, solution grid
- 18a [Chip choice] is not potato, chocolate, or silicon. It’s NINE IRON.
- The grid-spanning GENERALIZATIONS and THUMBNAIL SKETCHES, both with fun clues: [They’re not particular] and [Portraitist’s preface].
- 30d [Floor show specialist] had me second-guessing myself because I got the first two letters and couldn’t figure out what word started with CS. Turns out it’s the floor of Congress and the answer is CSPAN.
- 36a [It’s highly resistant to 17-Across] is TEAK, which I got from crossings, so then I went back to 17a [Porch problem] and filled in DRY ROT.
- 47d made me think I might need new glasses. I read it as [Car with at least three common aliases] and I had _ U _ A which made no sense. That’s because the first word in the clue is CAT and the answer is PUMA. Duh.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that “Etiquette de NOM” is French for “name tag” (clued as [French conventioneer accessory].)
And speaking of French, this is what 14d made me think of:
Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Unselfish” — Jim Q’s write-up
THEME: I’s in common phrases have (unselfishly) been replaced with WE
Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Unselfish” — 2/07/26 (Click to Embiggen)
THEME ANSWERS:
- [Valuable crop of plants with prickly pods?] BURWEED TREASURE. Buried Treasure.
- [Personal belongings bought from IKEA?] SWEDE EFFECTS. Side Effects.
- [Observation on spotting a woodcutter?] HEWER APPARENT. Heir Apparent.
- [Like logs that aren’t lumber-quality?] LEFT UNSAWED. Left Unsaid.
- [Staff for a midsize Elizabethan tavern?] TWELVE WENCHES. Twelve Inches.
- [Sparkly adornment on a staircase post?] NEWEL DIAMOND. Neil Diamond.
- [Components of a locker room brawl?] TOWEL AND TROUBLE. Toil and Trouble.
Really enjoyed this offering from Mike Shenk today, despite a few of the themers being somewhat clunky. It was one of those themes where knowing the gimmick really helped in the solve, which can lead to some divine solving moments. Cluing and fill in general was on a just-right-Sunday-level for me. For the most part, clues felt fresh and fun.
Themers that really landed for me were TOWEL AND TROUBLE (second full themer to uncover after SWEDE EFFECTS, and where I grokked the theme), LEFT UNSAWED, and SWEDE EFFECTS. As much as I want to like TWELVE WENCHES, there’s a discrepancy with that entry, and I’m rather surprised Mike left it in: There’s a WE in the word TWELVE that has nothing to do with the theme. I was trying to backsolve that entry and use the theme synergistically with the solve, and that simply isn’t fair imo. That said, it’s nice to see that none of the other themers have the letter I anywhere in them other than the altered one.
Didn’t much like HEWER APPARENT because… I mean… is a HEWER a thing? Maybe it works for fill in a pinch, but highlighting it in a theme answer is a bit ugly. I can picture what I assume to be BURWEED in my head, but that word is new (spellcheck doesn’t seem to like it much either). NEWEL DIAMOND is cute- just feels a tad bit forced.
None of those last nits really impeded the enjoyment of the solve though. TWELVE WENCHES left me more sour than I would’ve liked. Also… while we’re on the topic, the word “midsize” is an interesting choice in the clue for that: [Staff for a midsize Elizabethan tavern?]. A bit arbitrary, no?
OTHER THINGS / HANGUPS:
- Wow! That NW corner was tough for me! The FIBERS [Some crime scene evidence] and FAULT [Site of an underground movement, maybe] crossing at the F took me WAY too long. After running the alphabet twice, I thought my best shot was a V. Duh. Good clues- good entries- dolt of a solver here.
- [Flashers in nightclubs] STROBES. Be better than me and keep yer head out of the gutter!
- [Tomb Raider protagonist] LARA. We’re on a first name only basis with her now? I get we’re tired of the same clue for her… but I think the last name “Croft” is necessary in the clue still.
- [“I pity the fool” speaker] MR. T. Not ALI, which is what I entered.
- [Chicken tender, for short] VET. Love this clue!
- [Curiosity’s target] MARS. Me: “The cat?” I guess I figured curiosity was looking to “kill” its “target.”
- [Legolas’s people] ELVES. Lord of the Rings reference that I didn’t know. Also, googling “Legola ELVES” returns only hits about Legoland (2 miles from me in Goshen, NY)
- [Key beneath shift] CTRL. Me: “Fn?” I’m a Mac user, though that is also under the shift key.
- [Letters on a zero button] OPER. That still a thing?
- [Watched a favorite film] RE-SAW. Side eye for this one. But the surprising lack of partials in the rest of the puzzle gives it a pass.
- [Didn’t just text] CALLED. If you’re calling, it better be important. Unless you’re name in my phone is “Mom.”
- [Shell competitor] OAR. I’m assuming a person in a rowing competition can be called an OAR? Great misdirection for all of us searching our minds for a three-letter gas station!
Enjoyed! 3.75 stars.
NYT: Not particularly quick for me, but I was falling asleep after a full day of skiing (which included a WAFFLE that was dripping cinnamon butter and that was really tasty).
I somehow missed seeing the clue for Pauline KAEL until I had been solving for a while; getting that earlier would have helped a lot with the top three rows.
Amy, I completely agree on TOENAIL SCISSORS and SONY READER. I liked the puzzle overall more than you did. I had to really work the crossings, which I enjoy.
This one played hard for me – felt like a TNY Monday.
No idea on KAEL – film criticism isn’t something I read – and I’m not familiar with SOLANGE, although I may have run across her in a crossword at some point. At least “L” seemed likely for that crossing.
Bigger problem was the crossing of STUPA and PUTTEES – I had to run the alphabet there.
I don’t remember SONY READERS. I was using a Nook from Barnes & Noble back then, and I think they stopped supporting it around 10 years ago – so I went with that until crossings said otherwise.
GOOD SPELLER seems a little green-painty. ROSY BOA seems a little obscure.
Not a bad Saturday, but not an especially good one, either (IMHO).
Yeah I put in TOENAIL TRIMMERS and TOENAIL CLIPPERS but it interfered with DAD BODS so eventually I landed on SCISSORS but… yeah.
Pauline KAEL was a nice gimme, though for some reason I kept wanting WAFFLE CAKES instead of MAKER.
Ended up reasonably fast, but I had to guess on the U in PUTTEES / STUPA.
I went from EGGFRITTATA to COFFEECAKES to COFFEEMAKER before I got there. Must have been hungry.
NYT: 8d. Had A SEAT in there & kept it there ’til the end. My eyes must have passed it 3 or 4 times when looking for the error. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
NYT was daunting at first, but not so hard for me once I got a foothold. Started with LESBOS, then followed the reverse ‘S’ shape all the way to the NW. Pretty good puzzle, IMO.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
What in the name of repurposed 2014 puzzles was the NYT doing today? I’ve been working my way through archive puzzles for some time, and if you told me this one was a Saturday throwaway from ten years ago I’d believe you. SOLANGE and CERA were about the only thing in this puzzle that I didn’t need to brush mothballs off of. This has been a persistent issue for the past few months– oh here’s a fresh grid with great new entries aaaand this next one is actively getting CPR. Cmon NYT, I know you’ve got the talent roster, there have been some great Saturdays of late!
The LAT, by contrast, while markedly easier, was also… distinctly fresher!? Keep it up, LAT weekend crew.
Haven’t attempted the stumper yet, will report back from the front lines.
I got LON and KAEL quickly in the NYT, but then WANDERed to the bottom of the puzzle and from there made my way back to the top. I found it extremely easy — maybe a PB (I don’t keep track), but typical of a Tuesday or Wednesday time.
Don’t normal people use clippers on their fingernails and toenails? Scissors are kind of hard to wield effectively, in my experience. Especially as, at my current age, reaching my toenails is a bit of a strain…
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
There’s a philosophical argument here. I understand an editor not wanting to shut out the old masters if they have a new grid — Mark’s first NYT was in 1984 and he has almost 80 credits. But at the same time, their puzzles do tend to be less exciting and often dated. It’s a tough balancing act.
I appreciate the necessity for balance, and while I do stand by my comment above, perhaps it’s more constructive to say, Saturday NYT puzzles in particular seem to suffer from a disproportionate number of old hat puzzles over the past few months. Perhaps new constructors just aren’t putting forward publish level Saturdays OR newer constructors are more content with the editorial standards of eg AVCX. Either way, it stands out to me because of the stark contrast with the LAT, whose team seems to have made real, positive strides with respect to their Saturday/weekend entries.
Stumper: I didn’t get my printed copy of Newsday dellivered today (due to the snow we got, I assume), so struggled to use the online version. For the most part, it wasn’t too bad, except for the upper right — “exorcise” didn’t seem right, although I see the logic after, and I had “Sunny,” instead of “Sonny.” Another thing that threw me for a while was 41D, “Seussical frequent singer” — I know “Horton Hears a Who” and “Horton Hatches an Egg,” but there’s no singing involved — at least in the books. I assume that they did a musical?
Yup. “Suessical” had a short run on Broadway and is frequently performed by schools, not surprisingly. I’ve never seen it so took a guess with HORTON when I had some of the letters.
I also started with SUNNY and I got myself good and stuck by putting in COFFEE MAKER instead of WAFFLE MAKER and since the Fs were clearly right….
Thanks! I was assuming a musical. Never heard of the musical, but I got “Horton” from the Seuss reference and the crossings. Not remembering “coffee maker,” but don’t want to go back and look. That upper right was confusing in general.
The Stumper put up a fight with me but I’ll attribute that to being on vacation, Loved the Edith Piaf. All TEAK does is remind me that when I get home I’ve got to clean and oil my outdoor furniture, Ok, that’s a first world problem
You can’t go wrong with Edith!
LAT: Matthew, in case you didn’t look it up, the MTM stands for Mary Tyler Moore, makes it easier to remember!
Playing off MGM with a kitten instead of a lion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h533tfaO3Y
Stumper: Can someone explain “Acoustical nightmares” for BARNS? And “Strikes out” for ZAPS seems *almost* correct, but not really…
Barns are usually echo chambers because of the large open chambers, so they’re considered acoustically poor.