LAT 7:00 (Kyle) 
[3.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 18:50 and counting (Eric) [3.72 avg; 23 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 
[3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:49 (Jim P) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo 433 (Matt G) [3.50 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Miranda Kany’s New York Times Crossword “History Course” — Eric’s Review
Miranda Kany’s New York Times Crossword “History Course” — 3/15/25 (Click to Embiggen)
Sunday is the ides of March, and I feel somewhat betrayed by this puzzle. Despite my best efforts to avoid making a typo, I’ve got a mistake in my grid that I can’t find. That’s always frustrating, but more so with a 21X21 grid. (The grid at right has a mistake in it; I will pay you a dollar to the first person who posts a comment identifying the error.)
I’m trying to not let that frustration color my impression of this puzzle, which is that it’s pretty good. There are two things going on here, almost two different themes. There are seven rebus squares (which I figured out fairly quickly) and a recipe of sorts for a dish that’s relevant to the other part of the theme:
- 19A [Notion that’s difficult to dispel] {IDÉ}E FIXE crossing 1D [Provided assistance] A{IDE}D IDÉE FIXE was obvious enough that I knew there was some sort of trick, even if I wasn’t yet sure what.
- 22A [One large head, shredded, with the outer leaves discarded] ROMAINE When I started solving, I was switching between Across and Down and missed the lettuce. That kept me from immediately seeing that we’re making a Caesar salad (yum). The salad explains why the puzzle title is “History Course” and not “History Class” or ‘”History Lesson.”
- 35A [2 tbsp., for acidity] LEMON JUICE Ms Kany is a chef and caterer; I like that several of the recipe clues include the reason for using a particular ingredient or something beyond just the basic ingredient information.
- 24A [Stockholder’s portion] DIV{IDE}ND crossing 9D [Certain silk spinner] SP{IDE}R SPIDER gave the rebus aspect away. Tolkien haters: Be glad that this wasn’t clued as [Shelob, e.g.].
- 51AN [One clove, crushed] GARLIC
- 42A [Lair] H{IDE}OUT crossing 32D [“Haven’t a clue”] NO {IDE}A
- 69A [Infamous warning for 126-Across … and for solvers, when filling in seven squares in this puzzle?] BEWARE THE {IDE}S crossing 59D [Tour leader] GU{IDE}
- 75A [Digressive remark] AS{IDE} crossing 64D [Las Vegas football player] RA{IDE}R I can rarely remember which teams have moved where, and in my mind, the Raiders are still in Oakland.
- 86A [Ground, black, to taste] PEPPER
- 107A [One cup, seasoned and lightly toasted until crispy] BREAD CUBES
- 110A [Some savanna groups] PR{IDE}S crossing 92D [] STR{IDE}
- 125A [One, coddled or raw; add an extra for a richer flavor] EGG YOLK Eating “undercooked” eggs is a risk I’m willing to take.
- 126A [This puzzle’s subject, in two very different ways] CAESAR
- 130A [Contemptuously laughed at] DER{IDE}D crossing 123D [Slyly disparaging] SN{IDE}
- 4D [3/4 teaspoon, Grey Poupon preferred] DIJON MUSTARD In 1993, my future husband and I were standing at a street corner in San Francisco, waiting for the light to change, when a limo rolled up. The woman in back rolled down the window and said, “Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” (Lady, that joke’s not as funny as you thought. And I hoped you gave the driver a generous tip for having to listen to it multiple times.)
- 7D [1/2 cup, slowly drizzled and whisked to form an emulsion] OLIVE OIL Extra virgin, no doubt.
- 40D [George Eliot masterpiece … or a punny hint to seven squares in this puzzle] MIDDLEMARCH I’ve never read that and probably should. A “punny” hint because in the Roman calendar, the ides are either the 15th day (March, May, July, or October) or the 13th (any other month).
- 67D [2 tbsp., for a briny flavor] ANCHOVY PASTE By the time I’d gotten here, I knew what we were making, and was confused that ANCHOVIES didn’t fit. That “briny flavor” is a form of umami.
- 89D [1/2 cup, freshly grated] PARMESAN
Whew! That is what my friend Greg, a retired physics professor and a NYT crossword solver, might call a metric fuck-ton of theme material. Cut me some slack if I missed one of the recipe steps. (I’m pretty sure I covered all seven rebuses.)
Speaking of which: I get why inexperienced solvers get befuddled when they first encounter a rebus puzzle. Maybe this will makes some rebus converts: It’s a short rebus, it’s the same word throughout, and though the rebus squares aren’t marked, it’s easier knowing how many of them there are.
Other stuff:
- 6A [One of two elected magistrates to the ancient cursus honorum] CONSUL They didn’t have to clue this in a manner that fits with the Julius Caesar theme, but I like that they did.
- 23A [Record label for the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy] DEF JAM
- 25A [Handled vessel in a museum] AMPHORA
- 26A [1977 Robin Cook medical thriller] COMA This and the preceding two answers are great evidence for the proposition that the more you know, the easier it is to solve crosswords. Only COMA was a gimme, but I got the other with just a few crosses.
- 93A [Cute, woolly farm animals] LAMBS I missed that this was plural and lost a bit trying to make LLAMA work.
- 98A [Title role for both Patti LuPone and Madonna] EVITA
- 6D [Soupçon feature] CEDILLA I learned that mark’s name in French I in the seventh grade. I’ve always thought of it as a 5 with the top lopped off, but the name actually goes back to the Greek zeta.
- 20D [The first one was sent in 1971] EMAIL I wasn’t sure of the exact year, but I knew that it was 15 or 20 years before email became widely available.
- 81D [Adjustable feature of an office chair, maybe] ARM It took me way longer than it should have to think of any chair part that’s adjustable other than the seat height, especially since I used to work in a store that sold office furniture.
- 85D [Poseidon’s domain] OCEAN What did Neptune do to piss off Will Shortz?
Katie Hale and Rich Katz’s LA Times crossword “STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU” – Kyle’s write-up
LA Times solution grid “STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU” – Katie Hale & Rich Katz – Sunday 03/15/2026
Thanks Katie and Rich for this week’s Sunday LAT. Our theme involves inserting a U to create wacky entries:
- 27A [Complete text of “Prefixes for Dummies”?] THAT’S A NOUN STARTER (non-starter)
- 40A [Fancy hotel rooms overrun with spiders] WEB SUITES (sites). An eerie mental image
- 65A [Negotiating with Mephistopheles?] ON THE FAUST TRACK (fast)
- 78A [Tariff on marble sculptures?] STATUE TAX (state)
- 110A [Snap selfies in a sulky pose?] TAKE POUT SHOTS (pot)
- 71D [Candlelit dinner at the Geek Squad counter?] BEST BUY DATE (by)
- 74D [Sotheby’s event featuring a Shakespeare original?] PLAY AUCTION (action)
- 97D [#marinara, e.g.?] RAGU TAG (ragtag). It was a nice surprise to find a seven-letter down themer near the end of the puzzle.
There’s also a bonus thematic element in the seventh row, with 45A CLOWNS on the left and 48A JOKERS on the right, an allusion to the lyrics of the titular song. Very neat!
Notes on fill and clues:
- 31D [Drones, e.g.] MALES, 39D [Bugs on the road, briefly] VWS. Insects vs machines! We’ve also got BEES at 109D.
- 87D [Ranchers’ ropes] LARIATS. I had LASSOES first.
- 86D [Travel blogger’s succinct review] A MUST SEE. Feels like a long partial without “it’s”.
- 96A [“The Mole” host Shapiro] ARI. I didn’t realize he had left NPR.
Closing out with a Faust track:
Sam Koperwas and Matthew Stock’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Major Concerns”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are idiomatic phrases applied punnily to someone in search of their perfect collegiate field of study.
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Major Concerns” · Sam Koperwas and Matthew Stock · 3.15.26
- 21a. [“I started my studies as a history major, but I ___”] LOST TRACK OF TIME.
- 28a. [“I switched to entrepreneurship, but I ___”] HAD NO BUSINESS THERE.
- 50a. [“I became a hospitality major, but I ___”] WORE OUT MY WELCOME.
- 64a. [“Next, I studied oceanography, but I ___”] WAS OUT OF MY DEPTH.
- 82a. [“After that, I took up theology, but I ___”] DIDN’T HAVE A PRAYER.
- 99a. [“Archaeology seemed promising, but I ___”] DUG MYSELF INTO A HOLE. Wait. Isn’t that a good thing?
- 113a. [“So now I’m a nursing student, but I ___”] COULDN’T CARE LESS. Ouch. Not what you want in a nurse.
Enjoyable theme. Probably relatable to anyone who’s been to college and wasn’t sure what direction they wanted to go. My daughter is preparing to start college in the fall; I’m hopeful she won’t be undergoing six changes of major.
The grid is not quite symmetrical with those NE/SW corners being the outliers. As such, we’re denied a stack of two 10-letter entries in the SW like the one that appears in the NE. Granted, it’s a tall order to stack two fun 10-letter entries, especially when they cross two theme answers; I’m impressed it was done at all.
Speaking of which, those two entries make for grid highlights: “HI EVERYONE” and INNER DEMON. Also: EAST ASIA, SNOWMAN, TOM YUM soup, CAT HAIR, UP A CREEK, and SOUPED UP. I was glad that the Pokemon turned out to be one that I recognize (MEWTWO). But I needed all the crossings for actor GATEN Matarazzo even though I’ve seen all of Stranger Things (he plays Dustin).
Clues of note:
- 26a. [Sleep lab inits.]. REM. Not for my daughter. She recently had a sleep study done and never once made it down to REM sleep. I honestly don’t see how anyone can sleep well with so many wires attached to them.
- 53d. [Allergy-triggering fluff]. CAT HAIR. Well, it’s not the hair people are allergic to, it’s the dead skin sells (dander), saliva, or urine attached to the hair. This according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. That said, I see the clue doesn’t actually say that it’s the hair that’s the problem.
Nice puzzle. 3.5 stars.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “Catching a Movie” — Matt’s Review
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, “Catching a Movie,” 3/15/2026
Quickly: Our themers are Best Picture nominees (including some winners) which, spelled out in circled letters, contain different types of fish, and the revealer tying it together is OSCAR BAIT
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
NYT: What a great way to celebrate today!
Error in puzzle is at 37D = USER not UBER
at the time i replied, your post wasn’t on my screen… before or after… the glory is all yours!
;-)
Weird! I didn’t see your comment until just now.
The dollar is yours if you want it!
Thanks!
uSer, not uBer… did the same thing at first! ;-)
no $1 necessary!
my idea of a brilliant and brilliantly executed puzz. wow!
I think 37 down is user not Uber (UX == user experience as in UX design). Really enjoyed the double theme in this one!
UberX is the base level for the ride share service.
But you’re right, that was it!
I used the List View on my phone app and somehow still missed AbCH. I’ve never heard of that psychologist, but I should have seen that ASCH made more sense.
(Updated solving time: 20:29)
I was serious about the dollar. If you have Venmo and want to give me something to identify you, the money is yours. If you want to give it to charity, just let me know who.
In any case, thanks for saving me additional frustration!
56d, 75a should be s for SOWS and ASIDE.
Thanks. It’s weird, but fixing USERX seemed to do it. I don’t think that I changed SOWS and ASIDE after I took that screenshot, but anything is possible.
Since you identified a different error, my offer of a dollar still stands.
its all good, i definitely owe you folks a dollar for every time you’ve helped me find one of my snafus.
That’s what we’re here for.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
You also have an I instead of the S in ASIDE… in addition to the already mentioned USER/UBER
Thanks!
Someone else noted that earlier, but you can have the dollar if you really want it.
NYT: Ended with the same ABCH/UBER error as Eric. Knew that was where the problem was, but I had to run the alphabet to fix it.
Cute theme, but the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. That’s a Sunday NYT for ya.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Perfect description of this (and many other) impressively constructed puzzle. Nice to look at once done but fairly unpleasant to actually solve. Plus: BREADCUBES?? Is that a real term? I’ve certainly made my own croutons before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the starting ingredient listed that way.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Really fun theme. Not too difficult, but it felt like I was solving very slowly, only to find that I was about two minutes faster than my Sunday average.
Made the same mistake as everyone else with the Uber X. When I scanned the grid, I saw ABCH and knew that it couldn’t be correct and entered the S.
As for the ARM of a chair, I believe there are office chairs that allow you to move the end of the arms in and out.
Thanks.
My review was already getting too long, so I left out that my last office chair had a bazillion adjustments, including how far apart the arms were and how far forward or backwards. It was a hell of a lot better on my back than some of its predecessors.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
My office chair also allows for arm height adjustment.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Five Star Sunday for sure.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
I made the SAME ERROR and it took me FOREVER to figure out with UbER! Also, I found this one very annoying— there are two almost completely different and not that clever themes, and a bunch of consistently lousy filler.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
Not clever, and two completely separate themes intertwined by a thread! The midi is basically the same as this, and twice as entertaining! Fill was also incredibly annoying. I don’t know– this one really irked me. And I like Sundays usually.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
This is a work of genius. Of course there are many flaws in the grid, like the crossing ROARK/AMAL, but the juice is very much worth the squeeze.
A good Sunday NYT. I think having two distinct but related themes kept my interest all the way through. Also had to search for a stray letter at the end, which is a hazard for a Sunday puzzle.
Much as I dislike Caesar salad, I liked this puzzle. Its theme seems a recipe for forced, difficult, or unsightly fill, given seven theme squares, the many recipe steps, and three revealers. But it seemed quite smooth, if not especially challenging. Well, OK, I didn’t know either what to make of UX and guessed Uber without entering until I had USER from crossings.
Question: do people actually save V-Day for VE-Day and Valentine’s Day?
NYT: if you work in IT, there was never a doubt about USER.
Fun, if not too easy, Sunday fare!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Fun one. “Roman” crossing “Romaine” is a little silly. For app users, they kind of dropped the ball in that the title of the Midi is also the spoiler for this crossword.
NYT: Really fun Sunday; locked into the theme very quickly. This is, in fact, exactly the kind of rebus that helped (slowly) convert me; I really like it when it’s just one word that is used throughout, so it’s like adding an extra “letter” to the alphabet to work with.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
A fitting puzzle for Oscar season, but others will enjoy this theme more than I do. Though I actually HAD seen three of the six theme films! Had a hard time with the obvious clue for “ET” attached to a 21 letter answer till the crosswords reminded me it was actually called ETTHEEXTRATERRESTRIAL. Clever, as always, with the director of Brokeback including the word “angle”, the circled letters of the theme answers spelling types of fish, and a letter from each of those answers, in order, spelling Ang Lee.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
I have mixed feelings on this one. I used to be a big movie fan and have seen each of the six movies named (The Theory of Everything is the only one that I’ve never seen.)
Much of it was extremely easy, which is sometimes boring. But as usual, Evan Birnholz’s construction is impeccable.
Is the fact that “Ang Lee” contains “angle” enough to warrant the fish aspect? On the other hand, OSCAR BAIT is an apt description for many movies, and that helps tighten the theme.
I solved in AcrossLite, which is not ideal for a 22×20 grid. (Please excuse me if I miscounted; that’s not my strongest skill.) I might have enjoyed this more if I had solved it on paper.
(An aside: A few years ago, we watched The Guns of Navarone, which I had not seen since early adolescence. It holds up well n the scenes that are supposed to be tense are.)
“Is the fact that ‘Ang Lee’ contains ‘angle’ enough to warrant the fish aspect?”
Obviously I’m biased, but yes, I was *very* pleased when I noticed that. Given that the sixth movie in the set is BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the fact that a) the letters of a fish can be spelled in that title, b) I could explain about the director’s name in the clue, and c) that most of the letters in his name spell a relevant word connected to fishing, all made it an extremely lucky find on my end.
It was a 22×21 grid, for the record.
Across Lite has a View, Full Puzzle menu command that sizes odd puzzles to fit on screen. Or you can Zoom out.
Thanks. I did not know that.
Matthew informed me that he wasn’t going to be able to blog my WaPo puzzle this weekend (owing to circumstances beyond his control), but I’m hoping someone else might be able to quickly post just the solution grid if they have the chance? In the meantime I wrote a little about it at my Post blog here if you’re interested. That’s a gift link, no subscription required.
Thanks! Really fun Sunday puzzle, and with an Ani Difranco clue, which I always appreciate (Tiptoe is one of my favorites of hers)! Solved pretty quickly because I knew most of the films too. Ang Lee has a small Univ. Illinois connection, and is such an interesting director. Great puzzle!
Nice to read your column again, Evan – thanks for the gift link. That’s one of the few things I keep wishing I could read in the Post.
Puzzle: LAT; Rating: 4.5 stars
What a great puzzle, and the constructors made sure that every theme answer had a “U” that was “Stuck In The (exact) Middle”.
Puzzle: Universal (Sunday); Rating: 4 stars
I’m a sucker for corny & punny puzzles, and this one hit my wheelbase!
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
Evan B is the best constructor in the biz right now because his puzzles are suitable for all tweeners & older. He really knows how to play to the mainstream, which probably explains his great success!