LAT untimed (pannonica) 
[3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:15 (Amy) 
[4.05 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:05 (Jim P) 
[2.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Two months in a row with Friday the 13th! Good thing none of us are superstitious.
James McCarron & Rachel Souza’s New York Times crossword — Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 3/13/26 – no. 0313
Nice themeless, not as quick as a Wednesday New Yorker puzzle but easier than most Friday NYTs.
Fave fill: SLAP BASS, BENT THE KNEE (a phrase I picked up from Game of Thrones), POETS’ CORNER, JACK SPARROW, “CAN YOU NOT?”, NO FILTER, SWING ERA, JAVA SEA (it’s filled with coffee, you know), T-SHIRT CANNON, ONE-HORSE TOWN. Lots of fun stuff here.
Five more things:
- 38D. [Word with mouth or training], POTTY. Not as unsavory as a port-a-potty reference!
- 15A. [Tools for potatoes], PARERS. I checked the Williams Sonoma site. They sell peelers and paring knives, not “parers.” That one time that PARER was the Wordle word angered so many people. It’s a bit of a bullshit word that isn’t heard in most of our kitchens. “Hand me the parer, hon”?? Nope.
- 44A. [Quite a lot?], ESTATE / 47A. [Lots, e.g.], REALTY. A luxe estate would be quite a real estate lot.
- 49A. [___ Rooney, best-selling author of 2024’s “Intermezzo”], SALLY. She’s Irish. If you’ve read any of her books, which should I add to my to-be-read list?
- 22D. [Some are gothic], FONTS. I recently had a phlebotomist who had a tattoo saying “n,n” in a gothic font. I didn’t dare ask him what it meant; too many Neo-Nazis embrace gothic fonts these days.
Four stars from me.
Greg Snitkin and Rafael Musa’s Universal crossword, “Beast Mode”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are famous people whose names hide a famous dog. The revealer is “I GOT THAT DOG IN ME” (57a, [Words affirming one’s grit … or what 20-, 25- or 48-Across might say]).
Universal crossword solution · “Beast Mode” · Greg Snitkin and Rafael Musa · Fri., 3.13.26
- 20a. [Ethiopian emperor revered by Rastafarians] HAILE SELASSIE.
- 25a. [“Taxi Driver” actress] JODIE FOSTER.
- 48a. [Texas Democrat in the House] JOAQUIN CASTRO.
Ha! Great theme! I’ve never actually heard the revealer phrase, but it wasn’t hard to suss out given the circled letters, and the meaning of the phrase is inferable. Really nicely executed as well with the left/right symmetry and a spot-on title. Bravo!
The long fill adds to the fun with DREAM JOBS, LET IT RIDE, SYNAPSES, and CARIBOU.
Clue of note: 11d. [Ignore something]. LET IT RIDE. These don’t quite equate to me. I’m more familiar with the phrase in a gambling context where you’ll let your stake sit for the next go-round after you’ve weighed the options. To me, that’s different than just ignoring it.
Good puzzle. Four stars.
Tracy Gray’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up
LAT • 3/13/26 • Fri • Gray • solution • 20260313
I didn’t realize this was a themed crossword until rather late in the solve, and didn’t take the time to investigate how it worked until the grid was completely filled.
- 38R [Secondary gig, or a literal description of 10 answers in this puzzle] SIDE JOB. My first thought that the answers would be vertical, alongside other, related entries (never mind that 10 such pairs would be impossible in a 15×15 crossword). Later I confirmed instead that the relevant entries occur along the perimeter.
- 1a. [Undergarment brand] JOCKEY.
- 7a. [Single-story home] RANCHER. Never heard of this, only ranch house or ranch-style and also split-level ranch.
- 13d. [Enc. or dict.] REFerence.
- 29d. [Representation built to scale] MODEL.
- 52d. [Perry of classic TV] Perry MASON.
- 66a. [“Heaven Can Wait” Oscar nominee Jack] WARDEN.
- 65a. [One who is a real sport] TROOPER.
- 57d. [Confirm the credentials of, say] VET.
- 33d. [Test episode] PILOT.
- 1d. [2017 AL Rookie of the Year] Aaron JUDGE.
- 17a [Fresca, for one] DIET POP. Not fair to me, because that isn’t part of my vocabulary. </Northeast bias>
- 18a [Hightail it] BOLT OFF. <side-eye> 35d [Force to fit] RAM IN. <another side-eye>
- 19a [Extra product] GUM. Considering the editing level of the other clues in this offering, it seems that this one would have had a question mark. c.f. 43a [Spot for horsing around?] CAROUSEL, 9d [African flower?] NILE.
- 20a [Some surfers] WAHINES.
- 40a [Beth Ann Fennelly’s “__ to Butter”] ODE.
- 60a [Option not available for most low-tier streaming subscriptions] SKIP ADS. Got this one easily while solving, but when it came to looking at the grid in review, I wondered where SKI PADS came from.
- 84a [Starting line?] HERE I GO.
- 4d [Word with mess or press] KIT, not HOT.
- 5d [Unusual ability] ESP. I would always prefer a qualifier, disclaimer, or caveat when invoking ESP. Sure, it’s an ability, but it isn’t what it purports to be.
- 10d [Former name of a med. imaging tool] CAT SCAN. Computed axial tomography scan vs computed tomography scan.
- 15d [Ignited] SPARKED, not STARTED (14a [Starts a revolt] UPRISES), 54d [Discontinue] STOP.
- 27d [Overhauls] REDOS. Both nouns.
- 36d [Heart] CORE.
- 39d [Impromptu gig, casually] JAM SESH. meh
- 46d [Biter of Miles Morales] SPIDER.
Good job keeping professions out of the non-theme entries. Solid crossword.
Loved the Times today.
Nomination for clue of the month: 14D “Top gun?” T-shirt cannon.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Hey, just learned T-SHIRT CANNON.
I’m thinking maybe it’s not that common in academia…
You could start a trend of using them as doctoral defenses. Just load up a bunch of t-shirts with “I’m a PhD, sucka”…
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
All in all great clues. “Top guns?” is especially good. Also, I knew it must be Jack Sparrow once I saw the clue; that was a befitting quote.
Can anybody explain why “Folksy?” is PARENTAL, though?
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
In colloquial speaking where I’m from, one’s folks are their parents. Et voila.
See 4a.
From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 5th Edition:
folk
folk (fōk)
noun
pl. folk or folks
1.
a. The common people of a society or region considered as the representatives of a traditional way of life and especially as the originators or carriers of the customs, beliefs, and arts that make up a distinctive culture: a leader who came from the folk.
b. Archaic A nation; a people.
2. folks Informal People in general: Folks around here are very friendly.
3. often folks People of a specified group or kind: city folks; rich folk.
4. folks Informal
a. One’s parents: My folks are coming for a visit.
b. The members of one’s family or childhood household; one’s relatives.
adjective
Of, occurring in, or originating among the common people: folk culture; a folk hero.
Idiom:
just folks Informal
Down-to-earth, open-hearted.
[Middle English, from Old English folc; see pelə-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
NYT: This Friday played harder than usual for me – maybe I was solving too late in the evening. I had bits and pieces all over the grid, but couldn’t seem to get a rhythm going.
SLAP BASS was new to me. BENT THE KNEE and CAN YOU NOT are both understandable, but not really in my lexicon.
ONE HORSE TOWN is a fun phrase. I grew up in one, and don’t regret that at all.
Liked the clues for INTERNET, ENAMEL, T-SHIRT CANNONS and PARENTAL.
It went fast then I got bogged down in the SW corner.
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 3.5 stars
Stared at “Igotchatdoginme” for a long time before figuring it out.
Good NYT, though a little too easy for a Friday. I agree that PARERS is the only ugly thing in the grid.
‘Nowheresville’ immediately made me think of an equivalent phrase that a good friend of mine likes to use, which I will forbear from mentioning here.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
PARERS being called the worst thing in the grid (which I think is a completely acceptable word) is a testament to the near perfection of this puzzle. The best themeless in recent memory, IMO. Seamless fill, fresh cluing, modern angles, cool grid shape
+1
And I have no problem with PARERS.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
NYT: guess we are back to too-easy Fridays? Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Still: nothing awkward/annoying, so at least it was easy and fun. Had HELO for HUEY for a bit, but the crosses fixed it.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
I really liked the open flow of the NYT.
LAT review: agree with the comment on RANCHER for [Single-story home]; I grew up in the midwest and then moved to the northeast, and I’ve only ever heard ranch or ranch-style.
The other themer that didn’t quite fit for me was TROOPER – that should be TROUPER as clued, but most dictionaries have given up on that distinction. (I will not.)
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
Ditto re RANCHER in LAT.
I’ve still never heard it.
Zillow seems to have 519,000 references to “rancher.”
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
NYT
Nicely done. My only complaint involves 11D. Does a partial anagram clue belong in a Friday puzzle? Surely there’s a better way to clue GRENADE.
“Pineapple, to a GI.” and “Dangerous thing to catch.” have been used in the past. Or maybe “Pomegranate in Paris.”
It only works because DANGER is an apt (partial) anagram. It wouldn’t fly in a GANDER clue.
So, did anyone else watch Elsbeth last night?
These people have no sense of humor.
My mom heard it takes place at a crossword tournament. Was it fun, haari?
Amy insists I’m a man because I used the term “lap dancer”. You can’t make this stuff up.
Nah. I’ve been assuming you’re a mantroll for a long time already.
Puzzle: LAT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Great 10-themer construction by Tracy Gray, and the editors didn’t muff any clues!
LAT 65A answer should be TROUPER — a good sport. TROOPER is wrong. Common mistake.
It’s such a common mistake that it’s no longer considered wrong.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-trooper-vs-trouper
Per Google AI ( for what it’s worth)
“Trouper: Originates from the theatrical “troupe,” evoking the “show must go on” attitude. A real trouper is someone who persists through difficulty without complaint.
Trooper: Specifically refers to a mounted police officer or soldier. Using “trooper” to mean a good sport is often considered an “eggcorn”—a logical but technically incorrect replacement for the original word.” Merriam-Webster.
Technically incorrect is not good enough for me. It’s like saying “To the manor born,” when the correct expression is “to the manner born.”
I trust you insist on “pease,” rather than the incorrect back-formation “pea,” another eggcorn that relies on hearing the singular pease as a plural. Only the pease-brained would confuse trooper and trouper. Regardless of how many of them there are.