Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Jonesin’ 4:55 (Erin) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:48 (Eric) [2.88 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) [3.81 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (Eric) [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 4:02 (Jim Q) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Take a Chance” — you might get it right. – Erin’s write-up

Jonesin’ solution 3/31/26

Hello lovelies! Will I tell you the theme of this week’s Jonesin’ puzzle? BET.

• 17a. [Online tracker of U.S. economic stats] DEBT CLOCK
• 20a. [Portrayer ot Lydia Tár] CATE BLANCHETT
• 31a. [With certainty] UNDOUBTEDLY
• 43a. [“That’s ludicrous”] DON’T BE SILLY
• 63a. [Root beer option (before it got rebranded as “Zero Sugar”)] DIET BARQ’S
• (Our revealer) 59a. [“Anything could happen!” (or what’s happening with the circled letters)] ALL BETS ARE OFF. Each theme answer has the letters BET in a different order.

Other things:

• 22d. [Winter malady] FLU. It’s spring and we’re still seeing flu in the Philly area. It just won’t go away.

Until next week!

Sam Buchbinder’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Get a Move On!” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Phrases that start with a word that’s slang for HEAD

WSJ • 3/30/26 • Mon • “Get a Move On!” • Sam Buchbinder • solution • 20260330

THEME ANSWERS:

• NOODLE BAR
• CROWN ROYAL
• DOME OF THE ROCK
• BEAN SPROUT
• (revealer) [Advantage for a racer, and a hint to 17-, 24-, 35- and 50-Across] HEADSTART

Excellent puzzle to start off my Spring Break week! This was a lot of fun- nothing new as far as a theme idea goes, but well-executed with fresh fill and clues. I like the playfulness of the slang words in the theme too.

STUMBLES / NEW TO ME / ERRATA

• [Iconic Islamic shrine in Jerusalem] DOME OF THE ROCK. Probably something I should know. I don’t.
• [1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby] RAHAL. New to me. Good thing it is fairly crossed, because none of the letters is very inferable.
• [Intensify, with “up”] REV. I wanted AMP, which I think fits the clue better too.
• [Sign that it’s time to leave?] EXIT. Not sure I entirely get this one. Does an EXIT sign suggest you should leave at a certain time? I have a feeling I’m missing something obvious.

4 stars from me!

Owen Bergstein’s Universal Crossword Puzzle “Themeless Week, Puzzle 2” — Eric’s Review

Owen Bergstein’s Universal Crossword Puzzle — 3/31/26 (Click to Enlarge)

I was halfway through this, trying to figure out whether the theme was anything other than “Brought to You by the Letter Q,” when I finally read the title. I don’t think my late realization that this puzzle is themeless affected my solving experience, but who knows?

Clues and answers that caught my eye:

• 16A [Key that’s hard to reach?] DESERT ISLE I fell completely for the misdirection and thought only of a computer keyboard or maybe a musical instrument.
• 19A [Restaurant feature that encourages phones at the table] QR CODE MENU I knew I was firmly middle-aged the first time I had trouble reading a paper menu in a dimly-lit restaurant and the waiter helpfully came over with the flashlight on his phone.
• 25A [Incan method of communication using knots] QUIPU I knew that word as a method of mathematical computation and recordkeeping. I hadn’t known quipus were used for broader communication.
• 29A [Saying the same thing as?] QUOTING Cute clue.
• 40A [Sportscaster Bob] UECKER Not COSTAS.
• 50A [What should be celebrated almost always, per Lewis Carroll] UNBIRTHDAY When Alice first encounters Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass, he’s wearing a cravat that he describes as an unbirthday gift from the White King and Queen.
• 55A [Opponent’s taunt] YOU’RE TOAST I just liked seeing that in the grid.
• 58A [Starchy cooking byproduct] PASTA WATER Some cooking experts call it “liquid gold” and advise using it to smooth out your pasta sauce. Yes, but you don’t need the whole potful.
• 2D [Sci-fi author Okorafor] NNEDI I didn’t know that name. In addition to her writing, she coined the term Africanfuturism.
• 5D [Pirate’s sound] ARR This answer perpetually annoys me because I never know how it’s going to be spelled. Plus it’s just a silly stereotype.
• 37D [Soccer star Sam whose surname is hidden in “locker room”] KERR The Universal editors seem to really like this sort of clue (which does give the solver a lot of help). I like it better when (as here) the words that hide the name somehow relate to the person. But I’m not sure which Samantha Kerr this refers to — the Australian who plays for Chelsea or the Scot who plays for Liverpool? (Shame on me for assuming that the answer was a man; I do that too often with sports names that I don’t know.)

Ryan Patrick Smith’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Ryan Patrick Smith’s New York Times Crossword — 3/31/26 (Click to Enlarge)

I got my new passport in the mail last week — just in time to travel some fantastic places:

• 17A [2003 crime drama adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel] MYSTIC RIVER I haven’t read the book, but the movie is quite good, with nice performances from Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and especially Laura Linney.
• 27A [Six Flags location that was the first amusement park to offer 20 roller coasters] MAGIC MOUNTAIN I’m a little sorry that this isn’t clued to Thomas Mann’s 1924 novel, as I’m almost to the halfway point (it’s over 1,400 pages in the translation I’m reading).
• 48A [Concept explaining why certain humanoid robots look so unsettling] UNCANNY VALLEY I don’t remember where I picked that term up, but it helped to know it.
• 64A [Utopian expanse … a map of which might include 17-, 27- and 48-Across?] FANTASYLAND

The concept holds together well enough and the theme entries are all fresh and fun. What more can you hope for in an early-week puzzle?

Other stuff:

• 1A [“The Planets” composer] Gustav HOLST I’m not too proud to take a gimme as the first answer.
• 39A [Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess] ARIAL There are lots of Disney princesses. Fortunately, there aren’t as many knock-off Helveticas.

• 52A [Cloudy craft beer] HAZY IPA If it were up to me, the trendiness of IPA’s would have ended long ago.
• 8D [Establishment where a D&D party might refuel and pick up new leads] TAVERN I saw the reference to Dungeons and Dragons and more or less stopped reading the clue. I don’t know much about it except that I could easily have been someone who really got into it if I’d learned about it earlier in my life.
• 11D [Billy Joel title character who’s “been living in her white bread world”] UPTOWN GIRL Now I’m going to have that faux Frankie Valli stuck in my head all day.
• 29D [Vehicle with low fuel efficiency, in slang] GAS GUZZLER Is that really slang? I guess so.
• 36D [Rapper ___ Ma] REMY Not a name I knew.
• 50D [2010s dance fad with a reduplicative name] NAE NAE Isn’t it about time to retire this one?
• 51D [Bound along clumsily] LOLLOP I used to get annoyed when this word showed up in Spelling Bee. Now I kind of like it.

Rebecca Goldstein’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Jenni’s write-up

I really liked this puzzle! The difficulty level seems good for a Tuesday and the theme was a lot of fun. There’s no revealer, so the aha! moment was delightful.

The theme answers:

Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, Rebecca Goldstein, solution grid

• 16a [Hot mixture of elementary particles] is QUARK SOUP. No matzah balls.
• 20a [Match or Tinder] is a DATING APP.
• 31a [Colloquial name of the Christian symbol the ichthus] is the JESUS FISH.
• 41a [Large utility pipe] is a WATER MAIN.
• 52a [Head honcho] is the BIG CHEESE.
• 59a [Fasteners in a tyre change] are WHEEL NUTS. “Tyre” tells us this is a British usage, which might have been a bit obscure for a Tuesday if it weren’t so completely ineferrable.

The theme takes us from SOUP to NUTS via four other courses: an APP, FISH, a MAIN, and some CHEESE. That’s a lot of theme material for a 15×15 puzzle and the fill did not suffer one bit – it’s smooth and fun to solve. Thanks to Rebecca and Patti!

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of QUARK SOUP (although again, inferrable) and did not know the actual name of the JESUS FISH.

Aimee Lucido’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorler • 3/31/26 • Tue • Lucido • solution • 20260331

A really nice themeless. No scene-stealing long entries, just quality entries and clues throughout.

• 14a [Inside jokes for loyal viewers, for example] FAN SERVICE. Great entry, wondering if the term itself might also be a bit niche?
• 14a [Shirr, coddle, fry, poach, or scramble] COOK. Are eggs the only item that all can be applied to?
• 17a [Measure of social suaveness, in Gen Z slang] AURA POINTS. Didn’t know this, but inferable.
• 28a [Enters a clown car, say] PILES IN. Sure, ok.
• 42a [Beginning of el año] ENERO, aka the only Spanish month name that appears regularly in English crosswords.
• 44a [Kid-oriented programming language named for a d.j.’ing technique] SCRATCH. New to me, and I’m fascinated by the New Yorker’s punctuation orthography here.
• 56a [The troubles of human life, in Shakespearean language] MORTAL COIL.
  
• 60a [Reading profanity?] BLOODY HELL. Sneaky. That’s Reading, England.
• 5d [Product used to define some facial hair] BROW GEL. Facial hair immediately implied beards and moustaches for this solver. Got me again.
• 6d [Sister of Peppa and George Pig] EVIE.
  
• 10d [Bribe in a classic cartoon franchise] SCOOBY SNACK. Sheepishly confessing that I got this from only the first C.
• 11d [Hybrid dog breed that’s one letter off from a type of bird] COCKAPOO (vs cockatoo). The former is a portmanteau of cocker spaniel and poodle; the latter is derived from Dutch kaketoe, which in turn is from the Indonesian/Malay kakatua. Earlier variants include cacato, cockatoon crockadore, cokato, cocatore and cocatoo.
• 24d [Object that might sit in a corner gathering dust] AIR PURIFIER. ok.
• 33d [Father of Phobos and Deimos] ARES. Not coincidentally those are the names of the planet Mars’ two moons.
• 35d [Botox targets] AGE LINES, not WRINKLES.
• 38d [“I completely understand”] TOTALLY, not TOO TRUE.
• 44d [Take a casual walk] STROLL.
  
• 45d [TV show with the tagline “Save the cheerleader, save the world”] HEROES. Unfamiliar to me.
  
• 47d [Above and beyond, for two] IAMBS. Lil tricksy.
• 51d [Word that comes from the Greek for “uncuttable”] ATOM. Well it turns out that the ancient Greeks were wrong, haha?
• 58d [ __-Rho (Christian symbol that sounds like an African capital] CHI. New this one right away because I made that homophonic connection ages ago (just the Greek letters, not the religious symbol, which I was unaware of) and it’s stuck with me ever since.
  

(extra musics today because I’ve been absent for a while)