Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Jonesin’ 9:16 (Erin) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:01 (Eric) [3.44 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (pannonica) [3.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:47 (Eric) [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Free Ticket” — another tricky themeless. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 2/24/26

Hello lovelies! Matt has a themeless for us this week, with an announcement at 1a. that he’s going to TURN FIFTY [Reach a half century (which yours truly will do in March!)]. Congrats Matt!

Since this is a themeless, it’s time for another episode of “Today Erin Learned…”! Let’s go!

• 27a. [___ Pacific University (Christian institution near L.A.)] AZUSA. It’s located in Azusa, California.
• 30a. [Doctor (Richard Dreyfuss) antagonized by Bob (Bill Murray) in “What About Bob?”] LEO MARVIN. Fun fact: the 1991 movie was directed by Frank Oz of Muppets and “Star Wars” fame.
• 32a. [White Stripes album named after a Dutch art movement] DE STIJL. It translates to “The Style.”
• 4d. [Australian bushranger Kelly] NED. Bushrangers were armed robbers living in the bush. Kelly lived a busy life until he was finally captured and hanged, suffering 28 wounds either directly from bullets or from ricochets off his armor and surviving until his execution in 1880.

Until next week!

Rena Cohen’s Universal Crossword “Up Top!” — Eric’s Review

Rena Cohen’s Universal Crossword “Up Top!” — 2/24/26 (Click to Embiggen)

Who says you can’t learn anything from an easy crossword?

Circled letters in the theme answers hold greetings in various languages:

• 16A [Batman’s archenemy] THE JOKER (Swedish) I didn’t know this one; it’s apparently pronounced like the English “hey.”
• 22A [Undercover govt. worker] CIA OPERATIVE (Italian)
• 32A [Father Christmas] ST. NICHOLAS (Spanish)
• 40A [Spot for a beginner swim lesson] SHALLOW END (English, maybe more British English than American)
• 49A [“Star Trek” gesture] VULCAN SALUTE (French)
• 61A [Celebratory gesture … and a phonetic hint to this puzzle’s theme] HIGH FIVE Phonetically, five synonyms for “Hi.”

Though it didn’t help me solve the puzzle, I like this theme for its international flavor and the overall interesting quality of the theme answers. It might have been nice to have an African or Asian language in the mix, though I suppose one could argue that the theme is stronger for having all the represented languages being European.

Other stuff:

• 39A [“Hey now, we’re all friends here”] BE NICE I don’t know how I’d have clued this, but it probably wouldn’t have been like this. Still, gettable enough.
• 68A [Stackable music holders] CDS Yeah, you can stack a bunch of compact discs in jewel cases, but in my experience, you end up with one sliding to the floor and breaking the case if not the disc.
• 1D [Gold holders by rainbows] POTS/24D [Gold holder by a river] PAN The first one took me longer to get than it should’ve.
• 4D [Handsome guy] ADONIS
• 42D [Govt. org. whose logo is a two-leaved flower] EPA Kudos for a clue that is factually correct instead of something based on something the Environmental Protection Agency formerly regulated.
• 49D [Time to chillax] VACAY It’s a toss-up as to which of those words I find more annoying.

Adam Aaronson’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Adam Aaronson’s New York Times Crossword — 2/24/26 (Click to Embiggen)

I’m so used to seeing the abbreviated form of exempli gratia in crossword clues that it didn’t register here as anything unusual until I was done with the puzzle and looked for the theme. The e.g. is a big hint that all the theme answers are two words, beginning with those letters:

• 17A [Nuyoricans, e.g.] ETHNIC GROUP
• 24A [Fender Stratocaster, e.g.] ELECTRIC GUITAR
• 36A [“The Disrobing of Christ,” e.g] EL GRECO
• 50A [Thyroid, e.g.] ENDOCRINE GLAND
• 59A [Dress for a soirée, e.g.] EVENING GOWN

I might have shaved a minute or more off my time had I noticed the E___ G___ pattern, especially with EL GRECO and ENDOCRINE GLAND. I didn’t have any idea on the painting and it’s been a long time since I studied biology, and consequently was a bit slow filling those in.

Other stuff:

• 43A [Asset for a thrower] AIM/33D [Asset for a thrower] ARM I caught myself just in time to avoid having the wrong word in one of those places.
• 12D [Festivals often featuring jousting knights, for short] REN FAIRES I remember seeing ads for Renaissance Faires in the 1970s. I never would have guessed they’d still be a thing all these years later. The shortened name is something I’ve only ever seen in a crossword puzzle.
• 45D [Juice box?] CHARGER I wish I could remember where I saw this clue two or three days ago.

Matthew Luter’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

I could not figure out where the theme was going. I enjoyed the journey!

Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, February 24, Matthew Luter, solution grid

• 17a [Performer who might play finger cymbals] is a BELLY DANCER.
• 25a [Easily frightened sort] is a SCAREDY CAT.
• 36a [Furry red “Sesame Street” toy] is TICKLE ME ELMO.
• 53a [Hardware store device that makes custom colors] is a PAINT MIXER.

And the revealer: 62a [“How goes it?,” or a question that could be answered by 17-, 25-, 36-, and 53-Across] is WHAT‘S SHAKIN‘. Yup, that tracks. Fun!

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that REM recorded a song called “Shiny Happy People.”

Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Topspin” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Facial features are hidden in common phrases if read from bottom to top

WSJ • 2/24/26 • Tue • “Topspin” • Mike Shenk • solution • 20260224

THEME ANSWERS:

• ISRAELI. Ears.
• MARIAH CAREY. Hair. 
• PONTIUS PILOT. Lips.
• SIGNATURE SONG. Nose. 
• JAPANESE YEN. Eyes. 

JUBJUB! SAGUARO! JANIE! URIS! That corner is pretty daunting for a Tuesday. Or any day really. Despite knowing the poem Jabberwocky (at one point in my life, very well), I could not pull JUBJUB from the depths of my brain. JANIE Fricke is a new name for me, and I’m sure I’ve come across a stray SAGUARO touring Arizona, but any one of those letters could’ve been something different and it’d look A-OK to me! Leon URIS was a gimme for me, but only because of the frequency with which he shows up in crosswords.  

The theme here is serviceable- It’s elegant when the hidden word bridges two parts of a phrase, as it does in PONTIUS PILOT, SIGNATURE SONG, and JAPANESE YEN. They are all upstaging MARIAH CAREY and ISRAELI in that sense.

OTHER THINGS: 

• [Briefly] AWHILE. As a single word, it means “briefly,” but separate the A from the WHILE, and then it’s just a vague “period of time.” I find that very odd.
• [Spoil] LOUSE UP. Seems old-timey!
• [Repeated, a vitamin deficiency] BERI. Just seeing this now. I would’ve had no clue. New for me.
• [“Sleep No More” author Greg] ILES. New for me. Is this a text based on Macbeth? There was a pretty neat immersive theatrical experience called Sleep No More in NYC that turned into a bit of a phenomenon. It closed only recently after an unexpectedly long run.
• [Mollusks with ribbed shells] COCKLES. Wanted CONKLES, but those, of course, are mollusks with swollen ankles.
• [“The Nine Tailors” author Dorothy L. ___] SAYERS. I knew this, but still struggled mid-solve. Foggy morning for me, I suppose.
• [Grammy winner Rimes] LEANN. Totally forgot about her. She was a pretty big deal. Is she still?
• [Bad spot for a date?] PIMPLE. I went on a date in 6th grade, and to obscure the pimple on the right side of my face, I obsessively reminded myself to walk on her right side. To this day, I cannot be on the left side of someone I am walking with.

Harder than usual for me to enjoy the theme wading through the difficult proper nouns.

2.5 stars.