BEQ 12:41 (Eric) 
[3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Fireball tk (Jenni) 
[3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) 
[2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:48 (ZDL) [3.25 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:31 (Eric) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today 8:27 (Emily) [2.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) [2.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Charlie Dean’s Universal Crossword “Ice Cream Sandwich” — Eric’s Review
Charlie Dean’s Universal Crossword “Ice Cream Sandwich” — 3/26/26 (Click to Embiggen)
Congratulations to Charlie Dean on what appears to be his debut puzzle in a publication regularly covered by Diary of a Crossword Fiend!
I wasn’t paying much attention to what the circled letters spelled, so when I got to the revealer, I had a bit of déjà vu: The revealer in a Wall Street Journal puzzle I reviewed last week was INSIDE INFO. Had I paid attention to the title of this puzzle, I’d have realized sooner that the SCOOP here was a quantity of a sweet treat many people enjoy:
- 17A [What to say if you’re on fire?] I’M IN THE ZONE Mint I’m not sure I’ve had mint ice cream that didn’t have chocolate chips, but someone somewhere probably makes such a thing.
- 23A [Space mission launch site] CAPE CANAVERAL Pecan Today I Learned that the Kennedy Space Center, where most NASA launches took place, is actually on Merritt Island (which appears to be a peninsula and not a true island).
- 39A [Made exhausted] WORE OUT Oreo I don’t much care for the dried-out flavor of Oreos, but stick them in a decent ice cream and they’re much more appealing.
- 50A [“Creature” that might “attack” a child] TICKLE MONSTER Lemon
- 61A [Exclusive information, and a theme hint] INSIDE SCOOP
It’s a solid if not particularly innovative theme, animated by answers like I’M IN THE ZONE and TICKLE MONSTER. The other theme answers are not as much fun, but they’re not objectionable.
Other stuff:
- 5A [First name in 2024 politics] KAMALA This is not the first time I’ve seen a clue like that and nothing has come to mind. That’s more than a little embarrassing.
- 11A [Slalom, say] SKI The 2025–2026 skiing season in Southern Colorado was not good. The closest resort to where I live announced yesterday they’re going to close for the season on March 29 (an April closing is more typical). From what I’ve heard, they ought to be closed now.
- 3D [Waterway not supported by Jefferson or Madison] ERIE CANAL Today I Learned of the third and fourth presidents’ opposition to that project, apparently because of its cost.
- 18D [Feature of htis clue] TYPO I make too many typos solving crosswords.
- 43D [Like Brussels sprouts, to many kids] ICKY If you’ve never had roasted Brussels sprouts, try them! They’re one of my favorite vegetables.
- 51D [Like Sundance films] INDIE As Wikipedia puts it, “Many notable independent filmmakers received their big break at Sundance, including Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Todd Field, David O. Russell, Steve James, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, James Wan, Edward Burns, Damien Chazelle, Lee Isaac Chung, Jane Schoenbrun, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, A. V. Rockwell and Jim Jarmusch.” I don’t recognize all those names, but many of my favorite contemporary directors are on that list.
Alex Murphy’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Time: 5:48
Difficulty: Breezy (<8m) | Easy-ish (8-9m30s) | Working on it (9m30s-11m) | Rough going (11+m)
Alex Murphy’s New York Times crossword, 3/26/26, 0326
Today’s theme: FLIP THE BIRD (Make a rude gesture … or a hint to answering 17-, 23-, 33- and 50-Across)
- POL EGRET IST
- FALL CRANE HES
- GOLDE TERN RIEVER
- MAR HAWK LBERG
This one did not GET UGLY — swiftly clocked the theme and was in fourth gear before I knew it.
Cracking: RAGTAG, used almost exclusively to describe the assembled cast in a heist flick
Slacking: EINK keeping EBATES company
Sidetracking: MOANA, greatest Pixar movie of all time – the soundtrack, the story, the aesthetic
Marshal Herrmann’s USA Today Crossword, “Ha Ha” — Emily’s write-up
Is it October yet?
USA Today, March 26, 2026, “Ha Ha” by Marshal Herrmann
Theme: each themer contains HA—HA—
Themers:
- 19a. [Spooky season activity on a farm], HAUNTEDHAYRIDE
- 35a. [“Worry dectective” in a children’s book series by Elizabeth Olsen], HATTIEHARMONY
- 52a. [Greeting to trick-or-treaters], HAPPYHALLOWEEN
A quirky mix of themer in this set with HAUNTEDHAYRIDE, HATTIEHARMONY, and HAPPYHALLOWEEN. Well, the theme certainly connects them all, it felt like we needed another October related one since it was already two thirds of the way there. Still a fun set!
Favorite fill: SPLASHPAD, NEEDAHAND, and BLINDDATE
Stumpers: HULAHOOP (needed crossings,), WELT (“ache” and “bruise” came to mine first), and WORST (also needed crossings)
A smooth solve with lots of fun and fresh fill, with another great grid that opens up options for lengthy bonus fill. I liked the theme, though it seemed like the theme are set could use either more variety or more consistency for my liking today, though it was probably tricky to find good entries that fit the theme and worked well in the puzzle.
3.5 stars
~Emily
Ella Dershowitz’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Hot Spell” — Jim Q’s write-up
THEME: Different types of reds can be found hidden in the circled squares in each quadrant of the puzzle
WSJ • 3/26/26 • Thurs • “Hot Spell” • Ella Dershowitz • solution • 20260326
THEME ANSWER:
In the NW: SCARLET
In the SW: MAROON
In the NE: CRIMSON
In the SE: BURGUNDY
(revealer) [Noteworthy times, and what’s depicted in this puzzle] RED LETTER DAYS
This reminded me of the NY Times game Strands, which is one of the couple of those games thatt I do not play regularly. Word searches aren’t my favorite thing in the world (side note: a frustrating number of people seem to confuse the terms “crossword puzzle” and “word search”), so I solved this mostly as a themeless, with the exception of the SE, where I relied on determining that BURGUNDY was hidden in the squares in order to get me out of a jam. Lot of constraint in grids like this- more than meets the eye. The grid doesn’t suffer too much however, except for maybe the NE corner where I wasn’t a huge fan of IS OFF, FOURS, NO SAINT, and OH SO. There was more pushback up there as I don’t understand [Crisper, e.g.] for BIN and wasn’t confident with FLA for [Skyway Fishing Pier State Pk. location].
OTHER THINGS:
- [Life sentences?] BIO. Cute! I wonder if there needs to be some sort of hint as to the brevity of the entry. Maybe [Short life sentences?] perhaps?
- [Scientology founder Hubbard] L RON. There’s an entry I could do without.
- [All those not controlled by humans in a video game, for short] I had BOTS. NPCS is much better.
- [Island nation east of the Philippines] PALAU. Not to be confused with MACAO.
- [Dark time on Madison Avenue] NITE. Good clue! NITE is how the word NIGHT often appears in advertisements.
- [Sets of clubs?] LEAGUES. Great clue!
- [Like many award-winning dramas] INTENSE. Seems subjective.
- [Mellow, maybe] AGE. AGE as a verb. Nice!
- [Good behavior around the Monopoly board] FAIR PLAY. That must be an intense game of Monopoly if you and your buds need to establish FAIR PLAY rules on game night!
- [April 13, e.g.] IDES. I thought the IDES had to be smack-dab in the middle. Guess not!
3 stars from me!
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1873 “Only F An ‘S” — Eric’s Review
Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1873 “Only F An’ S” — 3/26/26 (Click to Embiggen)
There’s kind of an odd theme here. I assume the title is a play on the website/subscription service “OnlyFans,” which has many musicians, comedians and athletes in addition to producers of pornography. The F’s and S’s here are put to use in goofy phrases that take a little bit of tugging to fall into place:
- 17A [Bid adieu to director Coppola?] SEE OFF SOFIA I lost a little time here trying to work FRANCIS into the answer.
- 27A [Soccer org. takes the Gallagher brothers to court?] FIFA SUES OASIS I’m not a big sportsball fan, but I’ve watched enough of the association football World Cup that FIFA is a gimme, as was OASIS.
- 43A [Living room furniture that’s accessible for everyone?] EASE OF USE SOFA The “accessible for everyone” had me trying to get IKEA in at the end of this one. Guess I should’ve paid more attention the title.
- 58A [Where Melburnians keep their valuables?] AUSSIE’S SAFES
The “Only” of the title refers, I guess, to the fact that the only consonants in the theme answers are F’s and S’s. I’m always a bit slower with phrases that aren’t idiomatic, probably because the predictability of more common words and phrases allows me to ignore or at best lightly skim some clues. Goofy themes work for me if I find the goofiness amusing. These theme answers are OK but not truly amusing.
Other stuff:
- 1A [Country with the second-highest number of French speakers] CONGO Not GABON. At least I had the right continent.
- 14A [Best picture before “One Battle After Another”] ANORA I still haven’t seen that, though it’s on my list.
- 36A [Man who’s really into whole-grain?] OLEG Because “whOLE-Grain.”
- 62A [Get smarter] PREEN Nice misdirection.
- 4D [Matt who created “The Simpsons”] GROENING A gimme. I read the other day that when he pitched the idea for the series, he hadn’t yet named the characters, so he used the names of his family members.
- 11D [With 16-Across, Oscar winner for “Moonlight” and “Green Book”] MAHERSHALA/16A [See 11-Down] ALI Another gimme, which filled in quite a few squares. He’s very good in Moonlight and also the American version of House of Cards.
- 12D [What a triangle means] PLAY I assume this refers to the triangle used on the Play button for a VCR or DVD player, which has made its way into the online world on sites like YouTube.
- 45D [Make a copy over the cloud] EPRINT That’s not a term I’d heard before. I tried UPLOAD first, but none of the crosses worked well.
- 46D [Drink with donburi] SAKE I’d never head of “donburi” and it didn’t immediately sound Japanese. It’s a bowl of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice.
- 60D [ID on a passport application] SSN I just renewed my expired passport online. That’s pretty easy to do and I’d read that the State Department may get swamped with passport applications if the SAVE Act passes.
NYT: Kinda saw what was going on after I got 17-A (mostly from crosses). Saw that there were bird names embedded in a familiar word/phrase/name, and that the bird names needed to be rearranged to get the familiar entry. Still didn’t “quite” get it for a couple of minutes after I finished – then the meaning of the revealer finally clicked.
Pretty clever theme. Entries that are gibberish always rub me the wrong way, but I think I can live with it this once.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
enjoyed the NYT. nice thursday theme for me. i knew tv she’d squares clearly weren’t entered as-is. got the revealer, and had a nice AHA.
4 stars for me.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Agree with assessment of Moana although Encanto is also brilliant.
Terrific puzzle and execution. Thought the birds were just scrambled but they were actually cleanly reversed. Cluing and revealer all very clever. Excellent all around. 4.0
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
One of the few where I got the revealer before even completely filling in the first theme entry.
+1
Never heard of EINK, which I take to be E-INK, which is inferable, but new to me.
RAGTAG could also be used describing any improbable hero(s), e.g., the Bad News Bears.
Same; I had RAGTAG on the down, and knew it had to be POLTERGEIST so I somehow figured it might be reversed, and when I saw it was a bird, I thought that had to be it. Made for a very fast Thursday (close to PR), though I don’t know if I needed ECIG, EINK, and EBATE all to be in the same puzzle :-) Pretty nice theme, and fun Thursday.
NYT:
And keeping the EINK and EBATES company is also the ECIG.
… and EMAIL ME too … I’d call that E-overkill, especially since all four are in the same section of the grid
The WSJ felt its colored squares should be red to go with the theme. That means they print darker (in black and white) than typical colored squares, which already disguise my handwritten entries. To work crossings, I had to rely entirely on memory and the crossings themselves. Ouch.
Oh, thanks for mentioning that. I went to look at the puzzle on their website, and now I see why the circled letters are in the configuration that they are. Looking back, if you squint at across lite, you can sort of tell that they are trying to be lower case d a y s – for REDLETTERDAYS. It’s easier to see with the red circles and shading. Ugh. I didn’t get that part of it. And NPCS and ASMR – I don’t have those memorized yet.
And it’s kind of a backward theme D. Actually, the tail on the A is prominent enough that I mistook it for a Q as well.
Complaints aside, what explains ECONOMY as lower class?
I decided it meant the lowest class of seating for airline tickets
Ah, that makes perfect sense. Sorry I missed it, and thanks.
NYT: No, just no. Bad idea, hard to fill in, and no fun at all. I’m honestly surprised that others like it so much.
Yeah, I didn’t love it, either. My crossword pet peeve is theme answers that don’t form legit entries, as is the case here. If the flip hadn’t happened, this puzzle would be fairly bland. The flip only involves the theme answer itself; the theme doesn’t involve staircases onto other entries or things like that that would make the construction of the puzzle more challenging. This puzzle isn’t any harder a construction feat than a non-flipped puzzle. So this theme isn’t interesting enough for a NYT Thursday puzzle IMO. And there’s stuff like having EBATES and EINK and EMAILME and ECIG in the same puzzle.
YMMV, of course.
NYT review sidetrack: Moana is by Disney, not PIXAR.
best disney movie of all time too
Puzzle: USA Today; Rating: 2 stars
To the editor: Just say “NO” to puzzles that include texting shorthand. 39A: “Me rn” and the answer is “mood”. (Who in the world is going to know that Me rn translates to “Me, right now”? And stay away from your excessive use of tween-speak clues/answers that pervades a lot of your puzzles. You’re alienating the over 40 crowd.
I tend to really struggle with stuff like this in puzzles too (I’m in the over-60 crowd), but I think the USAT, Uni and TNY often target younger solvers and that’s a good thing for CrossWorld. In fact, it’s why I incorporated those puzzles a few years back into my daily rotation of NYT, LAT and WSJ. It’s basically the only place I see or hear language like this and I wanted to try and keep up with the modern vernacular. It doesn’t always stick, but some of it does.
TY for your perspective SFM59. (And what I’d really like to hear is Mr Grumpy’s opinion, lol!)
As another Medicare-eligible solver, I sympathize with Seattle DB’s position. But ultimately, I’m more in line with your take — I’d never encounter some of the “tween-speak”/young person slang if I didn’t see it in puzzles. Every once in a while, there’s a word like “yeet” that I actually have a use for.
And I agree that whatever the puzzle editors can do to interest younger people in solving crosswords is a plus overall.
Puzzle: BEQ; Rating: 4 stars
Eric-
Stop saying “sportsball”. It’s not as edgy and funny as you think. It’s rude and condescending. You’re not better than others because you’re not into sports. (FWIW: don’t watch a ton but I really enjoy baseball) To counterpoint, please let me know some of your interests and I can find some terms to degrade them.
Thanks for a different perspective.
It’s less the actual sports themselves that I find uninteresting than the overemphasis our society puts on them. I’m as capable of being awed by an athletic performance as anyone. But if you look into things such as the incentives that local governments offer to retain or attract pro teams, it makes you wonder what our priorities are.
I like movies and music. Condescend away!
Sorry if I was a bit harsh but glad you understood anyway. I do agree somewhat on the over emphasis of sports but then when I watch something like The Olympics it makes me realize some sports and events are different than others.
Not fair on music and movies, haha. Constantly have music on. Movies, not as much anymore. But sometimes find a new one that surprises.
Thanks.