LAT 7:06 (Kyle) 
[2.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 12:17 (Nate) 
[2.52 avg; 26 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) 
[3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 7:17 (Jim P) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:35 (Adam S) 
[4.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:15 (Matt G) 
[3.60 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
In the mood for great mini and midi crosswords? Be sure to check out:
APIHMinis is “a space dedicated to celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander voices — constructors and solvers, those who solve crosswords daily and those who are solving a crossword for the very first time.” Be sure to check them out to enjoy daily minis made by API constructors all month long!
Midis for Minnesota is a “midi crossword pack to support mutual aid efforts across the state … 13 midi crosswords created by Minnesotan constructors in support of neighbors impacted by ICE in Minnesota.” Check out their website for more – especially since a generous donor is matching all donations made through Sunday 5/3.
Mark Diehl’s New York Times crossword, “What Are the Odds?” — Nate’s write-up
05.03.2026 Sunday New York Times Crossword
23A: PLASTIC SHEETS [Moisture barrier supplies] (PATCHES)
26A: GIVES A DARN [23-Across, oddly?] (they help darn clothing)
35A: NO EASY TASK [A hard job] (NESTS)
40A: STICKY PADS [35-Across, oddly?] (birds’ homes, often made of sticks)
55A: BRIDGET JONES [Fictional diary writer] (BIG TOE)
60A: LOW DIGIT [55-Across, oddly?]
81A: KEN KESEY [“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” author] (KNEE)
83A: CHILD SUPPORT [81-Across, oddly?]
99A: BARBARIANS [Conan and others] (BRAIN)
103: THINK PIECE [99-Across, oddly?]
114A: ACCOUNT REP [Client’s sales agent, in brief] (ACUTE)
118A: NOT QUITE RIGHT [114-Across, oddly?] (like an angle)
This week’s Sunday NYT crossword has us playing the odds – in that the odd (every other) letters of each themer spell a new word or phrase, which is then pun-nily clued in a follow-up entry. Neat idea! I haven’t read the constructor’s notes yet, but I have to hope that finding BIG TOE amidst BRIDGET JONES was the seed for this puzzle – what a find!
Writing up this puzzle, it strikes me that there was a BIG TOE / KNEE / BRAIN body parts sub theme. I wonder if there was a version of this puzzle where each of the words-spelled-from-the-odd-letters fit that tighter set, though who am I to complain about NESTS coming out of NO EASY TASK.
I found this puzzle to be a largely enjoyable solve, though there were certainly some entries and crossings that were new to me. AEC / TASS / OMEARA in the top right corner stumped me for a bit, and KEN KESEY / RIESEN / SENTA in the left center was the last section to fall. (It was anyone’s guess which vowel should go in the RIES_N / KEN K_SEY crossing, since SENTA at least had the KNEE confirmation.) ICH / ACHT / EIN also felt like more German than I’m used to in one puzzle, and I only got YPRES and PARI from the crossings. As always, YMMV. If you knew a bit of German and some of those folks’ names, I bet this one was smooth sailing!
My only actual nit to pick was the clue for CHOCTAW [One of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes]. Even if that clue is historically accurate, referencing a civilized vs. not civilized classification for actual groups of human beings in 2026 did not spark joy. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say, for what it’s worth: “In the 21st century, this term has been criticized by some scholars for its ethnocentric assumptions by Anglo-Americans of what they considered civilized, but representatives of these tribes continue to meet regularly on a quarterly basis in their Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes.” It would have been so easy to clue this entry in so many other CHOCTAW-celebratory ways.
How was the puzzle for you? Let us know in the comments – and have a great weekend!
Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “It’s All Relatives” — Matthew’s write-up
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword solution, “It’s All Relatives,” 5/3/2026
This week, “It’s All Relatives” takes common phrases, reparses them as if they’re names, and relates them to a real-world celebrity.
- 23a [Actress Lucille’s psychic relative] CRYSTAL BALL
- 25a [Actor Tyrone’s self-restrained relative?] WILL POWER
- 39a [Fictional agent Cody’s thieving relative?] ROB BANKS
- 44a [Singer Al’s drab military uniform-wearing relative?] OLIVE GREEN
- 68a [Pop psychologist Joyce’s Catholic relative?] CHRISTIAN BROTHERS
- 94a [Singer Tina’s novelist relative?] PAGE TURNER
- 96a [Singer Dinah’s shipwrecked relative?] LEE SHORE
- 115a [Prohibition agent Eliot’s blunt relative?] FRANK NESS
- 117a [Director Mel’s fighting relative?] DONNY BROOKS
A fun theme that was pretty easy to spot and work through. I wonder what possibilities there might be for more contemporary names, but Evan tells me that there’s some debate of whether the Friends character is Rachel GREEN or GREENE. I also have to note (though it didn’t bother me at all) real-life IndyCar racer Will Power, who is one of the more entertaining personalities in the series.
I didn’t notice the fill very much myself: NEAT AS A PIN and ANIMORPHS are fun. PALM WINE is new to me but plenty gettable with the clue.
Other highlights: Is TWEE (34a) a particularly British term? I use it plenty, not that that’s real data // I recall a very faddish app called BE REAL (50a) a few years ago. I’m sure it’s still around, but I haven’t heard much of it recently. [“Come on, face the facts”] certainly gets right at it // Years of wondering about LUTZ and AXEL, and today, [Figure skating move] is SPIN // Good news if you were sick of Mel OTT: you have a new sportsperson [NBA coach Jordan] to fill the gap. Or “over the transom” // I had to look up the relevance of San Antonio to VALERO. Turns out the original name of what we now call the Alamo was “Misión San Antonio de Valero” //
Cheers!
Kareem Ayas’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Meeting Places”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are pairs of crossing familiar(ish) phrases that each have a hidden country within. The revealer is UNITED NATIONS (115a, [Country club? … or a hint to this puzzle’s intersecting circled words]). Further, the four letters at which the pairs cross collectively spell out LAND (128a, [Word aptly spelled out in the four intersections of circled words]).
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Meeting Places” · Kareem Ayas · 5.3.26
- 39a and 17d: MANGO LASSI and FORMAL TALKS. Angola meets Malta at the L.
- 49a and 12d: TWENTY-NINE PALMS and THOMAS PAINE. Nepal meets Spain at the A.
- 89a and 52d: POMONA COLLEGE and CATCH IN A LIE. Monaco meets China at the N.
- 106a and 65d: IN DIAPERS and GOTCHA DAY. India meets Chad at the D.
Really impressive theme set. I love the consistency with each country spanning at least two words as well as the familiarity of each phrase. I especially like that TWENTY-NINE PALMS/THOMAS PAINE crossing for some reason. Maybe it’s their sheer length. Also, it’s interesting that the Americas have been left out of the mix. Doesn’t bother me, but I wonder why. I expect the LAND constraint probably limited options. (For example, PERU need not apply since it shares no letters with LAND.) Having them all spell out LAND is the cherry on top. Very nicely done. (And let’s not leave out the title which is spot on.)
So yes, the grid is not symmetric, and while I wish it was, it’s a fair trade to have an impressive theme along with some really great long fill. Speaking of which: CONGLOMERATE, ALOHA PARTY, GET-UP-AND-GO, GHERKIN, NINTENDO, ROBOT ARM, MODESTY, ALLERGY, TRAMPOLINE, YOGA MAT, and TROPICANA. Great stuff there!
Clues of note:
- 1a. [Language that “catamaran” comes from]. TAMIL. With this truly international theme, and it being Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month, this entry starts the grid on the right foot. Speaking of which, make sure to check out the minis at APIHMinis.com this month. I know that constructor Kareem Ayas will be making an appearance there sometime soon.
- 28a. [Game company that made Swordquest]. ATARI. I was big into ATARI back in the day, but somehow I missed this game. Maybe it’s because graphics-wise, it looked terrible. But apparently it had a fascinating contest.
- 99d. [Dudes on boats]. SEAMEN. Maybe skip “Dudes” in the clue when DUDE is only a few entries away at 109d.
Impressive puzzle. Four stars.
Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Shaun Phillips’s LA Times crossword “PERIODIC UPDATE” – Kyle’s write-up
LA Times solution grid “PERIODIC UPDATE” – Ben Wildman-Tobriner & Shaun Phillips – Sunday 05/03/2026
It looks like this is the second collaboration for Ben Wildman-Tobriner and Shaun Phillips, following a daily puzzle in the LA Times in August 2024.
I always appreciate a science-themed puzzle, but I also found this theme rather a little too easy and straightforward for my liking. I guessed from the title right away that the periodic table of elements would be involved.
- 69A [Advantage in some situations, or an alternate title for this puzzle] ELEMENT OF SURPRISE. Each theme answer contains an element which is replaced by its periodic table symbol. The clues point straight to their base phrases, with the wordplay alluded to by the word “periodically”.
- 22A [Upside found periodically in a bad situation?] AG LINING (silver)
- 29A [Queen singer played periodically by Rami Malek?] FREDDIE HG (Mercury)
- 41A [Baking ware that’s only used periodically?] MUFFIN SN (tin)
- 46A [Cary Grant film that airs periodically on classic movie channels?] AS AND OLD LACE (Arsenic). I think some people will struggle to interpret this one
- 96A [Dickens novel that’s only read periodically?] DAVID CUFIELD (copper). This is the only answer where the element occurs as part of a larger word.
- 100A [Perfect stand-up materials performed periodically?] COMEDY AU (gold)
- 115A [Hairstyling device applied periodically?] CURLING FE (iron)
- 124A [Periodically prone to breaking the speed limit?] PB-FOOTED (lead)
Not much more to say about it.
Notes on fill and clues:
- Nice crossing of two long answers in 38A SOUR APPLE [Flavor of many a bright green martini] and 10D’s AIR FRANCE [Carrier whose primary hub is Charles de Gaulle].
- More science with the appearance of Sir ISAAC Newton at 90A and CERN [Home of the Large Hadron Collider] nearby at 97D.
- 14D [Borden mascot] ELSIE, 86A [Olaf’s creator in “Frozen”] ELSA. Surprised to see these two variants of Elizabeth in the same grid.
- 74D [Syndrome in “The Incredibles,” e.g.] had me stumped for a bit. Turns out it’s not a malady, but the name of the main ENEMY. Well, I never saw the film. Funny enough I had ENEM_ and I was really, really curious what that last letter would be.
Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 182” – Adam S’s write-up
Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 182” – May 3, 2026
It’s always an auspicious sign to see Rafa’s name on a grid, and this is a characteristically fun and well-made puzzle. Universal’s themeless specs state that “a themeless grid needs at least 10 lively, 9+-letter “marquee answers.” Here, the grid delivers 14 9+ letter multiword (or in one case, portmanteau) answers, of which the vast majority are slam dunk assets and none feel like negatives. I particularly liked ON A TANGENT, I’M TALKING, PAW PRINTS, STAYCATION, MAKES SENSE, TRANSWOMEN, I RESPECT IT, CAN WE GO NOW, and PUT ON AN ACT. KEG STAND (don’t try this at home, kids), SNICKET, and SEA SALT added further to the color.
With so much going on, in most constructors’ hands, a grid with this much good long stuff would strain a bit in the shorter fill. But Rafa keeps it very clean with nothing that distracted me from the good stuff. As a result, this played a little faster than average. The only real moment of hesitation I had was at OBAMA????? where I blanked on what could follow for [“Yes We Can” Adminstration] since I tend to think of the OBAMA BIDEN as the ticket rather than the administration. Dunno if that is a me thing.
This grid needs subtle asymmetry to make it work – and nicely illustrates why allowing for that is an asset for Universal themelesses. The strong stack in the west with MAKES SENSE and TRANSWOMEN would, with regular symmetry, have forced SS?? and ?SW???E?. This would likely have led to an untenable pile-up of gunk in the surrounding fill, as well as having to rip out the strong (and often hard to get right) middle of the grid. Moving the black square down one space allows for the use of a strong pair of entries without compromising the fill. I’ve said before that my preference is generally for themelesses to maintain a strong semblance of symmetry. But I barely notice this type of small exception on the edges of the grid, and I’ll happily take the stronger fill it allows.
A few notes:
- 14A HOUSE SALAD [Leaves from a restaurant] This clue didn’t quite land for me, perhaps because the surface of the misdirect, while perfectly comprehensible, didn’t feel like an in-the-language phrase.
- 21A WAP [“Trap Queen” rapper Fetty ___] Interesting choice to go with this angle rather than the Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hit. Given the available alternative, there’s a case for avoiding the drug trafficking and death threats associated with this angle.
- 15D SNICKET [Lemony ___ Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity]. Very cool cluing to jazz this up with a TIL about what looks like a very cool award.
Joe Rodini’s USA Today Crossword “Mixed Breeds” – Zachary Edward-Brown’s write-up
Joe Rodini’s USA Today Crossword “Mixed Breeds” – 5/3/26
It’s hidden anagrams today:
16A – [Matzah, e.g.] = UNLEAVENED BREAD
38A – [“Is this real life?!”] = I MUST BE DREAMING
61A – [Creole dish simmered with the “holy trinity”] = RED BEANS AND RICE
The word “mixed” in the title is our anagram hint, and the word being anagrammed is “breed.” Nice!
One thing I like is how all three themers are 15-letter grid spanners. For one thing, it’s slightly more theme density than USA Today usually has, but it also allows for traditional symmetry, which USA Today doesn’t always have. Asymmetry is great, but today’s theme set allows for a very pretty grid shape with plenty of flow and sparkly non-theme variety, which I love! Well done, Mr. Rodini!
A few notes:
- 26A [Throw on the floor?] RUG Nice misdirect. Didn’t really notice while solving because I had the letters in place but I like the wordplay.
- 29A [Vegetables sometimes topped with marshmallows] YAMS Was not aware of this – not sure if I’d find this tasty or disgusting, but regardless, it’s a fun clue!
- 33A [Soy-based soup base] MISOPASTE and 43A [“That’s how the cookie crumbles”] C’EST LA VIE are nice non-theme bonuses.
- 34D [“Let’s chat on WhatsApp!”] IM ME This gets a side eye from me. DM ME, maybe. I’m less sure about this, but I guess I could see people saying it?
- 1D [Talking ___ (character on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction)] SKULL Favorite clue in the puzzle! (29-Across is a close second)
4.5 stars
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
This score is mostly for the theme, which I thought was pretty neat. The fill was not great… gunky abbreviations and some inelegant entries (OBTUSER, JOWLY, HDTVSET, etc.) but maybe with 12 themers, some of that was inevitable.
Side note, it is really hard to see circled letters on the tiny Sunday grid on a dark mode iPhone.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
JOWLY is perfectly fine, but OBTUSER can go back to whatever dark corner it came from. (Or maybe not; I can think of a lot of people who are more obtuse than me — and I can be plenty obtuse sometimes.)
HDTV SET isn’t great (I was initially reluctant to put it in), and I’m still waiting for Will Shortz to show me an “office memo” with the subject line IN RE. (I worked three or four law offices in my 30+ year legal career, and the only place I ever saw IN RE used was the style (name) of a case.)
Regarding your side note: Did you know you can enlarge sections of the grid with a two-finger reverse pinch? I solved the puzzle in normal mode on my iPad and also had trouble seeing the circles, but enlarging the grid helped immeasurably.
I’ll have to try that out. I would use my iPad to solve but I find it much harder (read: time-consuming) to jump between the keyboard and screen to skip past entries, or toggle from across to down.
And yes, INRE is another pet peeve. I’ve been in communications my whole career and I have yet to write anything that starts that way.
NYT: Nate says “It was anyone’s guess which vowel should go in the RIES_N / KEN K_SEY crossing.”
Perhaps it’s a generational thing, but for an oldster who has seen the film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest three or four times, KEN KESEY was an absolute gimme. That helped with some of the crosses there. I didn’t know RIESEN or SENTA Berger. (Despite Berger’s lengthy filmography, I don’t think I have ever seen her and don’t recognize most of the movies and TV shows she’s been in.) And [Mimic] BE LIKE is just ugh. (BELIKE is an archaic adverb meaning “probably” or “perhaps.” This is an answer in desperate search of a clue.)
In any case, welcome back, Nate! I’m glad your life is getting back to normal after y’all lost your house. It was fun sitting in for you at times, but overall I am glad to have my Saturday evenings freed up.
Here’s a case where a crossword enhances your life: Everyone who did not know the name “Ken Kesey,” please get on down to your local library and check out the BOOK “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Brilliant.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
I enjoyed this theme a lot. It was clever and inventive. I particularly liked that each paired answer was a tricky sense of the clue formed by the odd letters in its partner. Great job, Mark.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Agree on this one. It was really fun seeing how the back-references worked – though once you knew what was going on, the clues became pretty easy to sort out. Enjoyed it.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
NYT has nice theme but super clunky fill. 3 stars
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Totally agree. And I had Reese’s for Riesen which killed me in that section.
Same… even though I knew that Reese’s aren’t particularly chewy
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
Ugh. Too easy and clunky. This should have appeared — if ever — on a kid’s paper place mat at IHOP. Sheesh. The circled squares alone ruined it. What? Your solvers are too dumb to get the”oddly” part without shoving it in their face?
NYT was OK, not great but also not boring. Struggled with Saint Barthélemy and some old-fashioned fill.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
NYT: punny entries that need to be parsed by assembling letters from other entries, plus clunk, unchallenging fill? Hard pass. (I quit halfway through due to the opportunity cost of finishing.)
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Best puzzle ever!!!!!
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
I enjoyed this theme a lot. It was a pretty easy puzzle – no problem getting the pop culture refs using the crossing words. And importantly, all of the theme answers are plausible as real names – Donny Brooks, for example, or Olive Green. I wonder if, in fact, each of them might be a real person somewhere out there, named by a mildly sadistic parent.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
Somebody please wake up Shortz from his decades-long slumber and tell him Eugene Maleska has passed on, as have his ideas of what constituted good crosswords. Had to clear the cobwebs odd of this one.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
NYT: AEC and TASS next to each other crossed with “Perched on” which could easily be SETATOP instead of SATATOP in addition to the RIESIN which is similar to REESES crossed with German, French, and two proper nouns is too much for me even if Bridget Jones was easy. Not for me
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
Could not agree more!
I never care for more than the minimal cross-references in clues, since that takes tracking down and keeping track, and often it means that half the clues aren’t informative. And I’ve reported on my problems tracking down circled squares when I print a puzzle and fill it with ink. Either device is typically something I leave to catch after I’m otherwise done, not integral to solving. So this just wasn’t a fun theme for me. I feel luck to have finished it.
I realize that app solvers will have a theme more integral to solving. And the punny cross-references should be a treat for them as well.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4.5 stars
Wonderful work and great fun to solve — thanks, Evan!
WAPO – What the heck is Lee Shore? As in ship wrecked relative?
A lee shore is land on the lee side of your ship which means the wind is blowing your ship toward the land.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
IN RE NYT: I have never seen IN RE IN REal life either. The theme must have been a tough one to develop but I din’t find the crossword much fun to solve. The puns were clever but the theme entries themselves weren’t very entertaining: STICKYPADS, CHILDSUPPORT, LOW DIGIT, etc. Sometimes a constructor’s great feat isn’t the best solving experience.
P.S. KENKESEY is defintely generational and definitely worth reading.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
The theme is not bad, but also not good enough to drag me through all these garbage fills.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
How does the clue for Choctaw make it through the editing process? Also, so much bad fill. Obtuser?! HDTVSET? No. All this for a theme that is conceptually fine, but falls pretty flat.