LAT untimed (pannonica) 
[2.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:43 (Amy) 
[3.68 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
Universal 3:41 (Jim P) [2.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 
[3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Kate Hawkins’s New York Times Crossword — Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 2/20/26 – no. 0220
Hey! A Friday puzzle that takes a Fridayish amount of time, right on target.
We just had SWEATER WEATHER last week in Wyna Liu’s New Yorker puzzle, and in Chicago we are returning to sweater-and-a-coat weather. Sweater weather was nice while we had it!
Fave fill: BARISTAS, REVERSE-ENGINEER, SNOW DAYS, SWAGGER, WIZENS, CON ARTISTS. Less keen on “ARE WE LIVE?” and “HERE’S A TIP.”
Five more things:
- 29A. [Actress Seehorn of “Pluribus”], RHEA. The show is on Apple TV and it’s only nine episodes. A tightly wound sci-fi drama.
- 39A. [Miracle on the ___ (surprise French/English victory of W.W. I)], MARNE. The Marne is one of those European rivers I know only from crosswords of yore.
- 43A. [N.Y.C.-based dance group], ABT. American Ballet Theatre. In Chicago, there’s Abt Electronics, a good place to buy TVs, appliances, and such.
- 48A. [Someone you might like to get to know better], FRIEND MATERIAL. Not yet a friend, but promising? Feels like a newish term to me.
- 4D. [Posh hotel room amenities], FINE LINENS. Not entirely sure this is an in-the-language phrase where dictionaries are concerned, but high-thread-count sheets made of a good grade of cotton are indeed fine linens.
3.75 stars from me.
Alisya Reza and Shannon Rapp’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 2/20/26 • Fri • Reza, Rapp • solution • 20260220
A 16×15 grid to accommodate the non-negotiable revealer.
- 65aR [Metaphor for something with positive and negative consequences, or what 18-, 30-, and 49-Across literally are?] DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD. It’s a novel way (at least for a standard crossword) to describe a cryptic-style container, but certainly accurate enough. The ends, or ‘edges’ of the clue answers can be combined to spell out the name of a type of sword, and those letters are helpfully pre-circled.
- 18a. [“Espresso” singer] SABRINA CARPENTER (saber).
- 30a. [Taking time off from school?] CUTTING CLASS (cutlass).
- 49a. [Pet adoption that wasn’t planned] FOSTER FAIL (foil).
Additionally, the grid possesses left-right mirror symmetry, as one of the themers is also 16 letters in length—and in fact none of the theme answers pair up, lengthwise.
- 1d [Tea in masala chai, perhaps] ASSAM, which is one of the principal tea-growing regions of India.
- 2d [Tibet’s capital] LHASA.
- 5d [Part of the water cycle] RAIN. That’s easy; just don’t hit me for details of the Krebbs Cycle.
- 6d [Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour co-headliner] SZA, not RZA or SIA.
- 11d [Daily spectacle] SUNRISE.
- 13d [Do a virtual interview, say] E-MEET. Meh.
- 14d [“Fresh Air” co-host Gross] TERRY. After many decades, she’s gently phasing herself out from the program that she created and built.
- 26d [Indigenous people of North Carolina] ENO. Now that’s a different spin, and a respite from musicians Brian and Roger.
- 32d [“Minor Detail” novelist Shibli] ADANIA. New to me, but timely and significant.
- 62d [Starter home?] EDEN. I mistakenly went all-in on WOMB without any crossings.
- 10d [One of many in Indonesia’s Kepuluan Seribu] ISLET.
- 21a [2024 Korean Air merger partner] ASIANA. Am slowly getting this one internalized.
- 23a [“Jeopardy!” champion Amodio] MATT. >shrug< ok?
- 33a [Flavor of fermented foods] UMAMI. Should this have a an “often”-type qualifier?
- 68a [Freelancer’s targets] OUTLETS. Hmm?
- 70a [Knight rider’s companions?] STEEDS. Another meh.
- 71a [“Nothing yet!”] NO NEWS.
Aidan Deshong and Adam Levav’s Universal crossword, “Expanded Roles”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are familiar names and phrases where the odd letters spell out an occupation. The revealer is ODD JOBS (58a, [Taskrabbit tasks … or what letters one, three, five, etc., in the starred clues’ answers spell?]).
Universal crossword solution · “Expanded Roles” · Aidan Deshong and Adam Levav · Fri., 2.20.26
- 17a. [*Edward Teach’s pirate name] BLACKBEARD. Baker.
- 29a. [*Pan out on paper?] WORK IN THEORY. Writer. The clue really made me think this was going to be about Peter Pan.
- 43a. [*”Show me evidence!”] “PROVE IT!” Poet.
- 56a. [*Princess who helped Theseus] ARIADNE. Aide.
I love this super-tight theme! It must have taken a lot of work to find a suitable theme set, and all of these are strong entries. WORK IN THEORY is a little ungainly but the payoff of having a hidden WRITER is wonderful. I also love that there are no extraneous odd letters at the ends of the entries; that is, within each entry, all the odd letters are used. With such tight constraints I have no problem looking past the lack of grid symmetry. Very nice job.
For a second I thought we had reached that momentous day when Universal wasn’t expecting solvers to count squares since the grid features circles yet the theme clues don’t have those awkward parenthetical hints. But then I spied the revealer and saw the blanket statement there. Oh well. At least it’s less intrusive in this particular puzzle.
Despite the lack of grid symmetry we get two lovely 9-stacks in the NE and SE corners with grid highlights ROLE MODEL, TANGERINE, FREE TRIAL, and LOW POINTS. Excellent fill there.
Clues of note:
- 23a. [Something a baker cracks]. EGG. I know “baker” isn’t directly in the grid, but it’s essential to the first theme answer. Maybe this clue is just a knowing wink to the solver, but I think I would’ve gone a different direction.
- 36a. [Pre-hosp. care providers]. EMS. “Pre-hosp.” is such a weird term. It stopped me in my tracks for a few beats.
Great theme and strong, smooth fill. Four stars.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I found it on the easy side for a Friday. I really liked SWEATER WEATHER and REVERSE ENGINEER. FRIEND MATERIAL was new to me, but gettable. Overall, it flowed very well, and looking at the puzzle now, there are few three letter words, which I think matters.
For some reason, I put down IMPaRT instead of IMPORT (and didn’t get the clue for SCOTS) so took a little time to find that error.
MALIGN is such a potent word which you don’t hear much in real life. Beyond shade…
NYT: I thought this was about right for a Friday. SWEATER WEATHER is fun to say/hear, and is some of my favorite weather (though I’m more of a sweatshirt guy).
Nice clue for REVERSE ENGINEER.
9-D got filled from crosses before I looked at the clue. I was confused at first, because I was parsing it as “A TEASE.”
It’s been kind of a harsh winter in Michigan, and my grandkids are starting to worry about having to make up SNOW DAYS in the spring.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I started with CELTS then moved to BRITS then GALTS until finally seeing SCOTS. Also had UPC instead of SKU without seeing that none of the downs made any sense. Good puzzle!
LAT. I have a different puzzle?
I think the puzzle pannonica has commented on is from yesterday (Thursday, the 19th).
thnx
Hoping that someone will review today’s LAT because the theme is not entirely clear to me!
I’m sure someone from Team Fiend can do better, but here’s my take on the theme:
The revealer, WORK BACKWARDS, is suggesting that we swap positions of the two words that make up each theme entry. The actual theme entries are familiar two-word phrases. Swapping the words yields a two-word phrase that fits the clues for those entries, in a “word play” type of way.
PROJECT RUNWAY (TV show) becomes RUNWAY PROJECT (marshalling aircraft).
LABOR POOL becomes POOL LABOR (lifeguarding).
JOB SEARCH becomes SEARCH JOB (for a bounty hunter).
And the first word in each actual entry is a synonym for “work.”
Thank you!
NYT was very well made but very easy — I’ve taken longer to finish some Tuesday puzzles.
As I understand it, the Scots are not descendants of the Picts, but a separate group who occupied part of modern-day Scotland at the same time. The groups merged and the Pictish language was lost.
Very nice puzzle. Perhaps a tad easy for Friday, but Tuesday level? No way.
Interesting about Picts and Scots. Of course, if they merged, then some Scots today would have to be descendants of the Picts.
I held off on some things, such as what became SKU, so didn’t get into most sticking points reported here. I did, though, have “bravo” for BRAVA, so was slow to get the punny clue to SASSES. And I shall be ever so grateful for SWEATER WEATHER after what’s been a long, frigid New York winter.
For anyone who doesn’t know the acronym, in retail SKU is short for “stockkeeping unit.” It’s an internal code for tracking inventory and ordering… separate from the UPC that is used to ring it up at the register.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
I’m much more used to someone being described more specifically as boyfriend/girlfriend material.
That’s relationship material. Friend material does not imply romantic interest.
Apologies, everyone, for writing up the wrong crossword today. Learned of my mistake after I left home, and was engaged all day.
Puzzle: LAT; Rating: 1.5 stars
The editor(s) seem to increasingly pick poor puzzles towards the end of the week, and then their clueing makes a mess of the whole thing.
I’ve tried and tried but I don’t know how “PLY” is the answer to “carry on.”
You “ply your trade.”