LAT tk (pannonica) 
[3.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:34 (Amy) 
[3.75 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:16 (Jim P) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 
[2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Carolyn Davies Lynch & Brian Callahan’s New York Times crossword — Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 4/3/26 – no. 0403
Lots of lively stuff in the grid today. Fave fill: “READY, SET, GO!”, “OH, NO REASON,” THE LAST OF US (I haven’t started season 2, but at least season 3 isn’t due till next year), MOCHI DONUT (you can have mine, though), TACO BELL, “FRET NOT,” HEARTBEATS, GET SLOSHED, CORN DOGS. (Meh: Zeno of ELEA, one of the kings of classics crosswordese.)
Five more things:
- 61A. [It might be worth just as much as you pay for it], FREE ADVICE. Hey! I’ve given plenty of free solving advice over years and it’s worth at least a few cents.
- 22D. [What autopay helps avoid], LATE FEE. I wonder how much autopay and autopsy are typed for each other, the A and S being adjacent on the keyboard. A fatal error for a marketing email, urging customers to set up autopsy now for their convenience.
- 26D. [Brown on the outside], PAN-SEAR. Pansear is also the name of a Pokémon, it’s basically a fire-type chimpanzee (chimps’ genus is Pan). There are also Pansage, a grass-type ape, and Panpour, the water-type one. The Pokémon names mostly don’t build on taxonomy but I appreciate when they do. (Edited to add: Just did Brian’s AVCX themeless, and he’s got a Pokémon clue in there. He knows the Pansear!)
- 51D. [Bands together?], AM/FM. The clue kept me wondering, and wanting the answer to end with an S.
- 59D. [Some small donations], OVA. Egg donors are sometimes completely altruistic, sometimes compensated for the rigors of the donation process.
Four stars from me.
Zachary Edward-Brown’s Universal crossword, “Spring 2026 Themeless Week, Puzzle 5”—Jim P’s review
Themeless week is usually a good time, and this one delivers some sparkly fill. Let’s dig right in.
Universal crossword solution · “Spring 2026 Themeless Week, Puzzle 5” · Zachary Edward-Brown · Fri., 4.3.26
Highlights include “THIS CAN’T BE!”, “YEAH RIGHT“, TEEN IDOL, “WHAT ELSE IS NEW?”, GUILT-TRIP, RAGE-BAITED, “ARE WE DONE?”, GIRL POWER, YODASPEAK, “I WON’T BITE“, and “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!” I love all the colloquial phrases in there! Another lively one is BAN BOSSY [2014 campaign designed to destigmatize assertiveness in girls], though I don’t quite remember that one from twelve years ago.
The going was slow because I was just on the wrong wavelength. I wanted WAD for GOB [Lump of gunk], TACOS for BOWLS [Some Chipotle orders], and ADELE for GOTYE [“Somebody That I Used To Know” singer], even though I knew that answer once I stopped and thought about it. And somehow I read “Italia” as “India” in the clue for NAPOLI, so that slowed me right down in the NE. That’s what you get for trying to solve faster than you can read.
Clue of note: 27d. [Fish-throwing Muppet Zealand]. LEW. This guy. Bonus points if you can name the Muppet who gets a fish in the eye.
LEW Zealand, fish-thrower
Good themeless grid. Four stars.
NYT was mostly pretty easy for a Friday, but I was held up in a couple of places. I started with FEARNOT, which sounds more natural to me than FRETNOT, and that caused some problems in the middle. The middle section at the bottom was blank for a while. I had TORN before TORE, was misled by the AMFM clue, and I still don’t know what MOCHI is, despite seeing it from time to time in crosswords (and nowhere else). But it didn’t take too long to straighten that little section out.
I held off on the last letter in TORE given the possibility, was misled myself on AMFM, and also didnt know MOCHI. Since I didn’t know which station to use or the rapper’s program, I was pretty much doomed in the SE.
I meant also to say that I started with “fear not” and clung to it, so I fully understand what solving was like for you.
if y’all have any interest, and a Japanese restaurant or Asian grocery nearby, go try some mochi and report back! i think it’s so wonderful (have not yet gotten to try it in donut form but i’m adding it to my to-do list for 2026)
I have fond memories of “mochi pounding,” making these rice cakes for New Year’s. It’s an extended-family event in traditional Japanese homes. My wife comes from a large family and we would gather in Moses Lake, WA to turn 150 pounds of glutinous rice (mochi kome) into hundreds of balls of taffy-like mochi.
The rice was soaked overnight and then steamed in batches. A batch was transferred into the usu, a large granite mortar on an ancient wooden tripod. The men took turns pounding the rice with huge wooden mallets in pairs, with a third brave soul periodically flipping the mass between rhythmic slams of the hammers and wetting down the forming mochi. Rhythm was key — not only to prevent mallets from hitting each other, but to avoid smashing the flipper’s fingers. Whack! Whack! After the mass was free of all graininess and as smooth as a baby’s cheek, it was dumped onto a sheet pan and taken to the kitchen, where the women formed the balls of mochi.
Some batches were made green with an herb yomogi, Japanese mugwort, to look forward to spring. Most years it was freezing cold in eastern Washington at night when mochi pounding took place, and we were bundled up in parkas envying the women in the warm kitchen.
Today, this is a disappearing ritual. Most families buy their holiday mochi or have mochi-making machines. Machine-made mochi doesn’t compare with usu-pounded, but it’s a lot easier.
Pounding yomogi mochi in Japan.
What a vivid and evocative description, composed with an attention to rhythm as precise as the mochi pounders’. Thank you, Martin.
That was a great description. I’ve never had mochi, but I knew basically what it is. Martin’s clear explanation of making mochi was fun to read. It reminded me in a way of descriptions I’ve heard of a tamalada.
Thanks, Martin.
Thanks, guys. As I said, it is a fond memory and I’m happy to share it.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
NYT:
Pretty easy and blah for a Friday. Dying to know why this puzzle was selected by the Times editors.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
NYT: Great clueing and perfect amount of resistance for a Fri IMO! Lotsa fun food fill too.
NYT
For the life of me, I cannot figure out how tore is the answer to rent. Can someone help me out, please. Thank you in advance.
“Rent” is a past tense of “rend”, to tear apart forcibly.
Thank you so much. That clue/answer combo was driving me crazy.
I like the mini-symmetry of 9D (TONI) and 32D (INOT).
WSJ: It took me a bit to see the meta mechanism, but once it clicked it was quite easy.
It’s the first WSJ meta that I have solved in months. Give it a try!