BEQ 11:02 (Eric) 
[2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) 
[3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 15:09 (ZDL) 
[4.15 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:00 (Eric) 
[3.42 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 8:18 (Jim Q) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Beth Rubin and Will Nediger’s Universal Crossword “Remember This” — Eric’s Review
Beth Rubin and Will Nediger’s Universal Crossword “Remember This” — 2/26/26 (Click to Embiggen)
It took me a half-minute after finishing this to see how the theme worked. It’s a bit more subtle than we sometimes see, with slightly wacky phrases as theme answers:
- 16A [*Sample a cocktail while adjusting a shirt, perhaps?] SIP AND TUCK Nip and Tuck
- 27A [*Stopwatch that goes 0:02, 0:04, 0:06, and so on?] EVEN TIMER Oven Timer
- 32A [*Ice sheet on a body of water?] LAKE COVER Take Cover
- 42A [*Dust cloud in a cartoon?] FIGHT BALL Eight Ball
- 55A [Personal reminder … or a hint to how the first letters of the starred clues’ answers change] NOTE TO SELF The N of “Nip” becomes the S of “Sip,” the O of “Oven” becomes the E of “Even,” etc.
I like that the common phrase NOTE TO SELF is repurposed here. And I like that it’s a change from the sort of theme where circled letters spell thematic words, which I see a lot of. Even though I quickly saw the base phrase for SIP AND TUCK, I needed the revealer to understand what was going on.
Other stuff:
- 14A [Jim who played Gomer Pyle] NABORS That Andy Griffith Show spin-off ran from 1964–1969. Does anyone under the age of 60 remember it?
- 22A [Leaves one’s job] RESIGNS/37A [Accepted employment] HIRED ON Nice little symmetry there, even if the order of events is backwards (though not if we’re talking about going from one job to another).
- 39A[“Sleepless in Seattle” writer/director Ephron] NORA At least this cultural reference is from the 1990s, which seem like yesterday sometimes.
- 51A [“On Golden Pond” actor Fonda] HENRY More 1990s pop culture. If you didn’t know the film and tried PETER first, that’s a credible guess.
- 17D [Hare or rhea] ANIMAL I don’t think I’d ever registered that “hare” and “rhea” are anagrams. Animalgrams? I’m sure that knowledge will someday be useful.
- 25D [Like games at sports bars] ON TV I wouldn’t exactly call the brewpub where we had dinner last night a sports bar, but of the four TVs I could see, one had a mountain biking competition, one skiing and snowboarding, one a college basketball game. That’s more sports than I would normally see in a week, much less an evening.
Peter Gordon’s Fireball Crossword “Themeless 158” – Jenni’s write-up
I really struggled with this one. I’d love to say it’s because I’m distracted, which I am, and that’s not entirely fair. This is a really hard puzzle.
Peter often has some connection between the first and last (upper left, lower right) entries in his themeless puzzles. This time it’s PLANET X at 1a and PLANO TX at 64a, clued as [Object searched for by astronomer Percy Lowell] and [Hdqrs. of Frito-Lay and JCPenney]. It helped to know Peter’s pattern; I got 1a and was able to suss out 64a much more easily.
Fireball, February 15, 2026, Peter Gordon, “Themeless 158,” solution grid
A few things I noticed:
- 20a [Old West shooting range?] is COURT. Jerry West, who played in the NBA from 1960 to 1974 and was the inspiration for the NBA logo.
- NICHED? Really?
- 19a [Wink, e.g.] is DISC. What you play tiddly-winks with.
- Two old legal dramas, LA LAW and THE D.A.
- 63a [Hot and bothered] is IN A STEW. Hmm. To me, “hot and bothered” means “sexually aroused” and that’s not what I think of for IN A STEW.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: that J.D. VANCE called Trump “cultural heroin” in a 2016 Atlantic article. Sigh.
Yitzi Snow’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Time: 15:09
Difficulty: Breezy (<8m) | Easy-ish (8-9m30s) | Working on it (9m30s-11m) | Rough going (11+m)
Yitzi Snow’s New York Times crossword, 2/26/26, 0226
Today’s theme: ROMAN NUMERALS (System in which XL is smaller than L … or a hint to interpreting the answers to the italicized clues)
- C INCHES 100
- D REAMS 500
- VI KINGSHIPS 6
- LI ABILITIES 51
- X BOXES 10
- M ANGLES 1000
A proper Thursday challenge, and my slowest non-Saturday solve in years. VI KINGSHIPS (Collectively, the reigns of all English monarchs named George) is the standout, but I tip my cap to the whole theme set.
Cracking: the PESKY PRIX, NAG-a-thon to end all NAG-a-thons
Slacking: I CAN SAY that GAIN TIME atop UNNAILED was pretty rough
Sidetracking: CON AIR
Mike Graczyk & Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Buying on Margin” — Jim Q’s write-up
THEME: Synonyms for “store” can be found wrapped around each of the puzzle’s corners
WSJ • 2/26/26 • Thurs • “Buying on Margin” • Mike Graczyk & Jeff Chen • solution • 20260226
THEME ANSWERS:
- In the NW: SHOP
- In the NE: RETAILER
- In the SW: KIOSK
- In the SE: BODEGA
- (revealer) [Gain a monopoly, and a hint to the circled letters] CORNER THE MARKET
Cool puzzle! Filled remarkably well, given the constraints on the corners. Particularly with that KIOSK corner. Don’t think I’ve seen OIKOS in a puzzle before, but anyone who’s browsed the dairy aisle for a few minutes is likely to be familiar with the name, even if it’s not your go-to Greek yogurt.
I saw the circled letters early on, but didn’t stop to register what was hidden in them until the third corner of my solve. I figured the revealer was going to be CORNER STORE, or something of that ilk. It was nice to see a snazzier grid-spanner with CORNER THE MARKET. I mean, it doesn’t exactly describe what’s going on (probably because of the THE), but close enough and far more interesting than simply CORNER MARKET.
OTHER THINGS:
- Thank goodness ETHEL is an oddly inferable name, otherwise the GHENT / ETHEL crossing would’ve been a natick for me.
- [Wing flap] AILERON. Wasn’t sure of the spelling, but my dad was a pilot, and he painstakingly described all parts of the plane that needed to be checked before taking off, including those AILERONs. So definitely in my wheelhouse. No clue if this is a common knowledge term.
- [Austere] STERN. I always forget that it means this. I only think of the word “austere” as meaning plain and unadorned.
- [Father figure?] DAD BOD. Great clue!
- [Seasons in the Four Seasons] SALTS. Not sure I understand this one. I get that SALT is a seasoning, but the “in the Four Seasons” part of the clue is difficult for me to interpret. Doesn’t seem to be a reference to the Vivaldi piece, does it? Or the hotel chain?
Great title!
3.75 stars from me.
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1865 “Stoned Writings” — Eric’s Review
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1865 “Stoned Writings” — 2/26/26 (Click to Embiggen)
It seems like at least once a month, I’m destined to solve a themed crossword without understanding what the theme is even after staring at the completed grid. This one is February’s puzzling puzzle. I see a connection between the theme answers and the hint, but it doesn’t go far enough to make any real sense:
- 3D [All the downsides of Seacrest’s cohost?] RIPA MINUSES (RIP A-MINUSES?)
- 10D [With 54-Down, big fan of Jerry Garcia, and a hint to this puzzle’s theme] DEAD/54D [See 10-Down] HEAD
- 7D [Spread out a Beethoven symphony?] RIPPLED THE FIFTH (RIP PLED THE FIFTH?)
- 26D [Iron Man Cal seethes?] RIPKEN BURNS (RIP KEN BURNS?)
The Grateful Dead song “Ripple” is one of my favorites from that band, but even looking at the lyrics, I don’t see how the RIP theme answers add up to a coherent theme. They just seem to be phrases and names to which RIP can be added for wacky effect.
I pondered the title, too, but that was no help. “Stone” could refer to gravestones, which stereotypically have “Rest in Peace” written on them, but that only makes sense with KEN BURNS.
If you’ve got any idea what’s going on here, please comment below.
Other stuff:
- 8D [Gives again, temporarily] RELOANS Not RELENDS. Ugh either way.
- 14A [Palindromic expression of surprised achievement] I DID DID I Well, the palindrome aspect fits, though I can’t say I’ve heard this much.
- 22A [Dairy delivery vehicle in England that sounds like it should be airborne] MILK FLOAT I’d not heard that term before.
- 5D [Molly’s cohost on “Bubble Guppies”] GIL I don’t think I really want to know what that show is.
- 36D [Word with drive or screw] THUMB Yay for gratuitous mentions of torture in puzzle clues (yes, I know the word has two meanings).
- 45D [Woman’s name that becomes another woman’s name when you add She or Rosa to the front] LIA I was surprised to see that there over half a dozen women named “Shelia” who have Wikipedia entries. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen that name.
- 62D [Where Chelsea buns might sit] LAV The LAV/LOO choice is beginning to irk me, especially when the clue is as cute as this. I seem to have run into it a lot lately.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Brilliant puzzle, in my estimation.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
NYT: Agreed! An absolutely brilliant theme. Made my day. V stars (ha ha)
Very fun! Got the theme from the first entry, and was going fast until the SE slowed me down, but still ended up faster than average. Really cute puzzle; very happy with all of the theme answers.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Perfect challenge!
Can someone explain why is the clue for DREAMS 250,000 sheets? Isn’t D just 500?
NYT: A ream is 500 sheets, so 500 x 500 =250,000
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
A ream is 500 sheets
Liked theme, a few clunkers though in the grid
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Really hard for me to get a foothold in the NW, had no idea what was going on. Then tumbled to the theme and it went a whole lot faster.
Never saw or heard BYGUM in my life.
And somehow, I didn’t think of “Stall” as GAINing TIME, since you’re delaying things. But I guess you’re wasting time in order to have more time to come up with an answer or strategy…
Still, the theme answers were worth the price of admission. XBoxes was my least favorite, because the X is not really fully integrated into the word. The rest are fabulous.
When Letterman dropped into his Indianaian yokel shtick, he would sometimes throw in a “By gum”.
I agree that GAIN TIME didn’t really fit the clue. I might have clued it as something about daylight savings time, where we talk about GAINing an hour or losing an hour. Or time zone changes.
I agree with all the positives. One nit might be the “two d” answer that is a sort of dupe to the theme.
NYT: A tale of two puzzles for me. I caught on to the theme after looking at 1-A and 8-A (had to slow down for a minute to remember how many sheets are in a ream, and then do the math). So I breezed through the top 1/2 – 2/3 of the puzzle.
But then I couldn’t recall ELIAS, and I had trouble parsing TWO-D (it was late). Didn’t know NATASHA. Didn’t care for GAIN TIME – I think I GAIN TIME when traffic is light and I can drive faster. Didn’t care for UNNAILED, either.. Solved in AL, so the graphics in the clue for X-BOXES didn’t show up.
Enjoyed the puzzle. Thought, at first, that it was going to be a really quick solve, but ended up only a little faster than a typical Thursday.
NYT: I had the same problem with the graphic for X-Boxes; usually there’s a note that says something like “There are features in this puzzle that won’t display correctly in AL …”, so I was very confused. Especially since the first (and for a while, only) crossing I had was “UNO” – so “QUOTES” fit very neatly in that space. I didn’t even consider that it was a theme clue. Even after I got it, it didn’t click until I read your post.
As for “Stall” = GAIN TIME, for me today the clue meant “WASTE-TIME”; as I was doing the puzzle instead of fixing the vacuum cleaner. The clue for 43-D definitely got me back on track.
NYT: Agree that this was an excellent puzzle with great themers! I saw that CINCHES had to be right, and the theme clicked.
Also agree that SE was the toughest spot.
VIKINGSHIPS — great answer!
Puzzle: Fireball; Rating: 3.5 stars
Fireball: I really like tough, themeless puzzles, but this one went too far, IMO. The whole NE corner seemed basically impossible, even after I’d done some cheating and just gave up and revealed the Z in SZE x BEZIQUE (really??). COURT, UBER, and NICHED were total mysteries (even after having the Jerry West part pointed out, COURT still seems like a stretch without NBA or BASKETBALL or something). Anyway — DNF for me, but I’m not sure it was my own fault given the combination of arcana and intentionally misdirecting clues.
Also: SPEEDCOP?? I call foul.
Excellent theme in the NYT, although I balked at a couple of the other answers. GAINTIME doesn’t seem at all idiomatic to me — I wanted BUYTIME but it’s a letter short. And UNNAILED is a word never seen in the wild, I would guess.
I would also like to post here one of my periodic objections to cluing NAE as ‘Highland refusal.’ Here is something I found on Quora from an actual Scottish person: In Glasgow we’d say “nae bother” for “no bother” but usually we’d use “naw” for “no”. That fits with my understanding of the word.
In other crossword news, yesterday I came across a collection of Maleska-era Sunday NYT puzzles, published by Will Shortz in 2000 as a tribute to his predecessor. I tried a couple of them last night, and the difference in style between them and current puzzles is remarkable. Almost all the clues are purely definitional, referring to people, places and things, many of them no longer in circulation. There’s very little wordplay and wit, apart from a few bad puns. I was able to finish one puzzle, with a few educated guesses, but the second one I tried defeated me. Clues such as “He wrote ‘The Naked God'”, “Subject of a Keats tragedy,” “One of the ‘proud’ items in a Murray book,” and “‘…Mother,’ Poe poem,” all jammed into one corner, brought me to a dead halt.
A few other clues, for your delectation: “Jimmy Kennedy’s ‘sunset’ insight:” “Paul…, baseball’s Big Poison;” “City in MO.” and so on….
I enjoy wrestling with older puzzles. For $20 a year, xwordinfo.com gives you access to solvable versions of all NYT crosswords, going back to 1942. As one of the volunteers on David Steinberg’s project to digitize them from blotchy microfiches, I can attest that they’re there due to a lot of love and dedication.
Some can be maddening. “Obscure” takes on a new meaning when confronted with some early clues and entries. But it’s lots of fun.
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 5 stars
UNI:
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 5 stars
UNI NOTE TO SELF replaces letter in self with letter in note and spells NOTE.
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 4.5 stars
I thought this was a very good puzzle and changing the letters N-O-T-E to S-E-L-F was brilliant!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
That is an ORCA candidate in the NYT, for my part. VI KINGSHIPS? I tip my hat. that’s a Reagle-esque level of wordplay. X BOXES too.
sure the fill wasn’t perfect but the theme made up and then some. 4.5 stars for me.
NYT: UNNAILED and ORE CART are major stinkers, but otherwise I enjoyed the puzzle.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Only thing keeping this from a 5 was unnailed. Which my spellchecker is telling me is not a word as I type it here.
Brilliant puzzle IMO. And actually a great time for me.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
This is a work of genius.
The non-thematic fills are really hard. I can only complete the puzzle with the help from the theme, which is relatively easy to suss out.
Puzzle: WSJ; Rating: 4 stars
Mike Graczyk (aka MikeyG) posts a Punny-puzzle every weekend over at https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewforum.php?f=48 and if you want a good laugh at humorous clueing, visit the site.