Monday, March 2, 2026

BEQ 20:00 more or less (Eric) [2.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:11 (Stella) [2.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:15 (Sophia) [3.59 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 6:58 (Amy) [3.67 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) [2.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 5:23 (Jim Q) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

Leslie Benson’s New York Times crossword — Sophia’s recap

Theme: GIVE A SHOUT-OUT – each theme answer contains a word that may be shouted

New York Times, 03 02 2026, By Leslie Benson

• 17a [Hint at, as what’s to come] – FORESHADOW
• 25a [Hit the jackpot, so to speak] – STRIKE GOLD
• 48a [Sequence of steps to accomplish a goal] – ACTION PLAN
• 58a [Wild canid of the Great Lakes region] – TIMBERWOLF
• 36a [Acknowledge during a broadcast, say … and a hint to the shaded squares] – GIVE A SHOUT-OUT

GIVE A SHOUT OUT is a fun, modern revealer that doesn’t feel too slangy or dated, and it works very well for this concept. TIMBER is shouted by loggers, FORE is shouted by golfers, ACTION is shouted by film directors, and I guess STRIKE is shouted by baseball umpires? (That was the one answer that felt a bit more tenuous to me than the rest). All the theme answers themselves are fun; as a former Minnesota resident I was proud to get TIMBERWOLF without any crosses.

I also felt like there were two mini-themes running through the puzzle: weddings and nerd touchstones. The former came from [Wedding vow] IDO, [Maiden name preceder] for NEE, and of course [Wedding walkway] for AISLE. The latter is from the prominent placement of SMEAGOL (from Lord of the Rings) and DOCTOR WHO – both fun callouts to popular series! There were a few pieces of fill that could have been cleaner (AREAR, AS BAD, ACUTER), but not much trivia or pop culture that might make the puzzle inaccessible, Monday-wise.

Other highlights: CHESS MOVE, the HOKEY-pokey, and the clue [Word after deep, stir or small] for FRY.

Happy Monday all! Congrats to Leslie on a fantastic NYT debut.

Renee Thomason’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 3/2/26 by Renee Thomason

The revealer, unusually, is split across two entries in the bottom row, 66A and 67A [Repay a community’s generous support, or a feature of the answer to each starred clue], which together are GIVE BACK. That is, the last, or BACK, word in each theme entry is a synonym for GIVE:

• 21A [*Official currency of a nation, e.g.] is LEGAL TENDER.
• 26A [*Gently sidestep an awkward question] is SKIRT THE ISSUE.
• 44A [*18th president of the United States] is ULYSSES S GRANT.
• 52A [*Japanese sedan that’s been a top seller in the U.S. since 1989] is HONDA ACCORD.

Sorry to say I didn’t like this puzzle very much. The thematic words TENDER, ISSUE, GRANT, and ACCORD don’t have that elusive “sparkle” in and of themselves, and the theme phrases aren’t as evocative as I’d like, especially LEGAL TENDER (in which the theme word has nearly the same meaning in its thematic sense and in the sense of the phrase it’s used in). Plus, there are some real duds in the fill: BEIN’, CONG., -ETTE, and my personal least favorite, REROSE (clued as [Stood up again]). In a slightly better but still not great category I’d place AGEE, AGOG, E FLAT, and EKED.  I expect a grid with this many short entries to fill more cleanly.

Zhouqin Burnikel’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Meet the Parents” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: A variety of parental pairs can be found in common phrases

WSJ • 3/2/26 • Mon • “Meet the Parents” • Zhouqin Burnikel • solution • 20260302

THEME ANSWERS:

• PAJAMA PANTS
• SPA PARTIES
• DRAMA MAJOR
• SPAM ACCOUNT

A little more challenging than I’m accustomed to for a Monday! I must admit, I didn’t fully grok the relatively simple theme until the very end. I figured we were looking for simply MAMA or PAPA in the entries as a singular (good enough for Spelling Bee!). And I honestly thought there was a typo in the grid when I entered PAMA in the circled letters for SPAM ACCOUNT. A little lightbulb moment as I peeped the title and realized the parental figures, made up of MAs and/or PAs. DUETS!

When I started typing the theme entries just now, I noticed that the MA and PA combinations were neatly split across the theme answers. That is, MA/PA ending the first word and MA/PA beginning the next, which I thought elegant and intentional to illustrate that there are indeed two parents in each entry. But that must’ve been a coincidence because it doesn’t work for SPAM ACCOUNT.

OTHER THINGS: 

• SMOG ALERT. Fun entry, despite being an un-fun reality.
• [“…old woman who lived in ___”] A SHOE. Gedsundheit!
• [Stoically endures a challenge] GUTS IT OUT. Never heard this phrase before. Is this something people say? I’ve heard TOUGHS IT OUT…
• [Picked produce from the farmers’ market, say] ATE LOCAL. Feels weird as a past tense verb phrase.
• [Red wine is best served at it, casually] ROOM TEMP. Fun entry! Is the clue opinion, or fact? I wonder if Hannibal Lecter liked his chianti chilled…
• [Get-togethers with robes and facials] SPA PARTIES. Unfamiliar term for me.
• [Theater-focused collegian] DRAMA MAJOR. AKA “barista.” Fun entry!
• [Tender spot?] BAR. The “tender” would be at the BAR serving drinks. Bit of a stretch, but cute.
• [Lowly workers] PEONS. PLEBS / SERFS were in play for me before PEONS.
• [Alternative to Yahoo!] AOL. Is it though?

3 stars from me!

Will Nediger’s New Yorker crosssword–Amy’s recap

New Yorker crossword solution, 3/2/26 – Nediger

Tough one, more because of unfamiliar fill rather than cluing difficulty.

New to me:

• 1a. [Surname of the neo-Confucian philosopher brothers Hao and Yi], CHENG. Neo-Confucian dates back a thousand years!
• 15a. [Happy baby, for example], ASANA. A yoga move I hadn’t heard of.
• 17a. [“Tornado!,” “Flood!,” and “Fire!”], DISASTER MOVIES. I’ve seen plenty of disaster movies, never heard of these three.
• 28a. [Yellow Magic Orchestra instrument], SYNTH. What is Yellow Magic Orchestra?
• 30a. [Blendtec alternative], OSTER. I know Oster blenders but not Blendtec.
• 60a. [Wig type named for its letter-shaped top], U PART.
• 8d. [Fast-travelling effect of an earthquake, for short], P WAVE.
• 38d. [Brazilian singer Mercury], DANIELA. Tricky crossing with EDM, electronic dance music at a rave.

Fave fill: PERIOD PARTIES, “POT, MEET KETTLE,” DISASTER MOVIES. Not keen on OKAY AND, OR WORSE, I NEED IT, MINORLY.

3.5 stars from me.

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1866 — Eric’s Review

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1866 — 3/2/26 (Click to Embiggen)

It’s been a while since one of BEQ’s themeless puzzles has left me feeling like I might not finish it without looking something up. The middle portion on the east side of the grid seemed to be particularly recalcitrant. And even when I had figured out the last few answers there, I had to search for a mistake that took a few minutes to find.

Stuff:

• 1A [“Barrel Fever” humorist] David SEDARIS I may have been overconfident because this was as much of a gimme for me as any answer ever is. For many years, we snapped up Sedaris’ latest book as soon as it was out.
• 16A [Whence “wear your heart on your sleeve”] OTHELLO I finally read that play a few years ago and don’t remember that line.
• 17A [Ally on ’90s television] CALISTA Flockhart I’ve never seen the comedy-drama Ally McBeal, but the star’s name lodged in my brain along with lots of other uncommon names.
• 19A [Lower body workout that involves switching legs during lunges] SCISSOR JUMPS I hadn’t heard of this exercise. It’s probably something I should be doing, but I’m following the primary rule for older people exercising (don’t get hurt).
• 21A [High peak] TOR I was reluctant to enter that answer because what little I know about those hills indicates that rockiness, not height, is their defining characteristic.
• 22A [Agcy. that was dissolved a month after WWII] OSS Another little bit of crosswordese that I was 90% sure of, but  hesitated over because I couldn’t instantly come up with any crosses to confirm it.
• 23A [Split personality?] SLAV The question mark made me immediately think of the city in Croatia, but I waffled between SERB and SLAV. (Wikipedia says over 96% of the residents of Split are Croats, but surely some of the others are Serbs?) Getting this answer helped immensely with the Downs in that area.
• 27A [Lung darts] CIGS I had no idea what “lung darts” meant.
• 35A [Show utter disrespect for] SPIT ON I’d agree with that clue.
• 36A [“We’re cool now”] APOLOGY ACCEPTED I needed a few crosses for this one, but I like seeing it in a grid.
• 46A [Significant other] BAE I knew BOO might have worked, too.
• 49A [First European player to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award] DIRK NOWITZKI He played for the Dallas Mavericks from 1998–2019, which may be why his name is familiar though I didn’t know that factoid. My late brother lived in Dallas and was a big Mavericks fan. When I got the first name, the surname immediately popped into my head. Too bad I had an S instead of a Z.
• 55A [“Gotta bounce”] I’M OUTIE I can’t really imagine saying that.
• 

  The Lugubrious Game (1929)

  60A [Meuse-___ offensive (WWI battle)] ARGONNE I drew a blank here, though I know the name. It was one of the last major battles of WW I.

• 3D [“The Lugubrious Game” artist] Salvador DALÍ I didn’t recognize the title, but made an educated guess from the D in SEDARIS.
• 5D [Last name of either director of “Avengers: Endgame”] Anthony or Joe RUSSO I’m not a big fan of comic books or movies based on them.
• 20D [Bill passer?] JOSH ALLEN Cute clue; Mr. Allen is the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and is highly adept at both passing and running.
• 25D [Low life] AMOEBA “Low,” I suppose, in an evolutionary sense. Nice misdirection: I thought of something like SLEAZE or SCUMBAG.
• 35D [Malicious pop-ups that goad users into downloading unnecessary programs] SCAREWARE That’s not a term I’ve seen before, though I’ve probably seen such ads.
• 37D [Extensive and overwhelming history explanation toward the beginning of a story] LORE DUMP I’ve come across LORE DROP before, but not LORE DUMP.
• 44D [Rack up some W’s] GET HOT “W’s” as in “Wins.”