LAT 10:07 (Kyle) 
[2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 12:49 (Nate) 
[3.52 avg; 25 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:41 (Jim P) [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:41 (Adam S) [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo untimed (Matt G) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Rachel Fabi and Adam Wagner’s New York Times crossword, “Come Full Circle” — Nate’s write-up
Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s to all the mothers and to everyone who fills that role for someone in their life. <3 Now, onto the NYT Sunday puzzle, which I can only describe as acne (which is a very good thing, thematically, as you’ll see):
05.10.2026 Sunday New York Times Crossword
First, the “normal” theme entries:
23A: SPACE INVADER [U.F.C. fighter] (U.F.C. –> U.F.O.)
25A: MEGA MALL [Where many large cutlets are seen] (cutlets –> outlets)
32A: YOUTHFUL INDISCRETIONS [Wild cats] (cats –> oats)
99A: ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME [Chic venue that features great bands] (chic –> Ohio)
111A: AWAY TEAM [They’re frequently bcced] (bcced –> booed)
39D: LIFE STORY [Bic filler] (Bic –> bio)
40D: REST STOPS [Travelers’ cases] (cases –> oases)
43D: LATE NIGHT [Arsenic’s realm, in years past] (Arsenic –> Arsenio)
And then, inside a large central C of black squares (yay grid art!):
64A: ICE(BLOCK)ERS [Large summer delivery, in past times / N.F.L. linemen, at times] (ICE BLOCK / BLOCKERS)
69A: SUN(BLOCK)SET [Lifeguard’s tubeful / Baby gift bearing the alphabet, maybe] (SUNBLOCK / BLOCK SET)
73A: OLD(BLOCK)ADE [Dad, in a euphemism / Naval barrier preventing entering and leaving] (OLD BLOCK / BLOCKADE)
65D: BLOCK BLOCK BLOCK [■■■] (These three blocks close the grid art C and turn it into an O, in reference to the themers above!)
113A: CLOSE THE LOOP [Ensure that a task is finished … and a hint that might help you with finishing this puzzle]
Wowowowow! So, let’s work backwards from the revealer and title, which both tell us to “Come Full Circle” / CLOSE THE LOOP. Each is hinting that we should take relevant C’s and close them up to turn them into a full circle / letter O.
– Knowing this helps us make sense of the “normal” theme entries: turn every C in the themer clues into an O and you’ll get clues that make much more sense with their entries. The transformations of “bcced” to “booed” and “Arsenic” to “Arsenio” felt particularly inspired here. As a bonus, I think(?) that none of the other clues in the entire puzzle contain the letter C or O?! ::mind blown::
– Then, in the center of the puzzle, closing the grid art C of black blocks with three more blocks at 65D turns that grid art C into a grid art O and helps us make sense of the double clues at 64A, 69A, and 73A. This section took me an extra bit of time, but I finally realized that “Dad, in a euphemism” derives from “A chip off the old block” – TIL! Solving this puzzle on the NYT app results in a fun animation, where 65D turns into three blocks and the grid art C looks properly like an O.
How this pair of cruciverbalist magicians managed to pull this off – and with a stunningly clean grid to boot – is beyond me! Did y’all like it? I hope so! Let us know in the comments what you thought – and have a great weekend.
Hannah Slovut-Einertson’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 183” – Adam S’s write-up
Hannah Slovut-Einertson’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 183” – 5/9/26
I love the distinctive grid. A 101 piece of gridding advice is that stair stacks that go up and to the right lead to easier fills than those tilting the other way, since they tend to yield more favorable letter combos at the ends of words to the left and the beginnings of words to the right. This grid definitely takes that advice to heart!
Lots to love in the entries, too. My favorites were WHAT DO I DO?, RAW TALENT, STEADY NOW, DR SEUSS, ALONE AT LAST, NERD OUT, CHATTY CATHY, and HAGIA SOPHIA.
However, arguably the best entry in the grid is Mario’s exclamation of “LET’S-A GO” [“Time to head out,” to Mario], which is so iconic even I, as a total non-gamer, know it well. This is a debut in any of the outlets tracked by Crosserville. It’s also not in either of the two main wordlists (Spread the Wordlist and Xwordinfo) used as base wordlists by constructors. So it’s quite likely this was one Hannah spotted herself in the wild as a great potential entry and added to her personal wordlist. Brava!
While I’m throwing compliments around, this grid is also a good illustration of how sensitively the Universal team has handled the transition to allowing astmmetric grids. It is, by definition, far easier to achieve clean grids with asymmetry. But the team has done a great job in balancing that with respecting solvers that value symmetry and constructors who, like Hannah today, strive to make symmetry work and recognizing that is likely to lead to a few longer slots with decent but not outstanding fill, like LOSER PAYS and AUTOSAVED, as well as a smattering of SENSATE and III. That’s a price worth paying for not abandoning symmetry totally, and the result is an outlet that strikes a really nice balance between tradition and innovation.
A few notes:
- 14A HORSE GIRL [One with a stable relationship?] Nicely judged clue. Fun without being too challenging for Universal’s intended difficulty level.
- 40A RAW TALENT [Unrefined power?] Guessing I’m not the only person who had to cycle through crude oils and ores before getting to the answer. Satisfying misdirect!
- 1D WHO [One of the five W’s]. I’m not normally a fan of cross-referenced clues, but this could have been a fun opportunity for something like [Cindy Lou ___ (tot in an 8-down book)].
- 48D ROSA [“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” speaker Parks] Great inspirational quote.
Katie Hale’s LA Times crossword “GARDEN VARIETY” – Kyle’s write-up
LA Times solution grid “GARDEN VARIETY” – Katie Hale – Sunday 05/10/2026
LA Times assistant crossword editor Katie Hale brings us today’s puzzle with a fitting Mother’s Day thematic tie-in:
- 119A [FTD Mother’s Day slogan, or an alternate title for this puzzle?] SAY IT WITH FLOWERS. Each theme answer has a floral pun.
- 24A [Show off very pale linseed plants?] WAVE THE WHITE FLAX (flag)
- 32A [Monarch who wears an oxeye crown?] DAISY QUEEN (Dairy)
- 53A [Finds the best way to get thorns in one’s hand?] STRIKES A ROSE (pose)
- 70A [“If you buy another showy pink bloom, so help me…”?] “NOT A PEONY MORE” (penny). My favorite of the set, since I’ve got a peony bush in my yard.
- 90A [Throw a tantrum in a springtime meadow?] POUND POPPIES (Puppies). According to Wikipedia, “Pound Puppies is a toy line that was created by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film.”
- 111A [Fall wedding with a purple theme, perhaps?] ASTER PARTY (after)
Notes on fill and clues:
- Here’s a foreign word we don’t often see in crosswords: 22A [Nothing, in Italian] NIENTE.
- 11D [Department store chain with TV ads starring Ellie Kemper] KOHL’S. I don’t recall ever seeing one of these ads, but then I don’t watch a lot of TV.
- 81D [Cookie sheet holders] OVEN RACKS. I thought at first this would be oven mitts.
- Thematic tie-in in the clue for 131A SDSU: [Snapdragon Stadium sch.]. It’s indirectly named for the flower; Snapdragon is a brand division of Qualcomm, which owns the naming rights to the stadium. We also have an echo of the theme in the clue for 63D INA: [“Be My Guest With ___ Garten”].
- A bit tricky to figure out 35D [Not hot and not cool] UNHIP. I thought it was going for something in a moderate temperature range.
- 38A [“Minaret” novelist Aboulela] LEILA. Per Wikipedia: “Leila Fuad Aboulela FRSL (Arabic:ليلى فؤاد ابوالعلا; born 1964) is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland.” Minaret, her second novel, follows the journey of a young woman whose family is uprooted by civil war in Sudan and resettles in the UK.
Amie Walker’s USA Today Crossword “Want Some Company? (Freestyle)” – Zachary Edward-Brown’s write-up
Amie Walker’s USA Today Crossword “Want Some Company? (Freestyle)” – 5/10/26
Wow, both days this weekend we get freestyle puzzles! What a treat! I must admit, I love USA Today themed puzzles, but themelesses are my favorites.
This puzzle delighted me in every way. Everywhere I turned, I felt the puzzle’s energy. My only quibble with yesterday’s puzzle by Rafael Musa was that the short stuff didn’t really excite me too much. But today, in addition to the incredible long answers, we get variety in the short fill mixed in with really fun clues throughout.
The spoken phrases today all hit perfectly: DONT BLAME ME, I AM AWARE, SURE THING, IS THIS SEAT TAKEN, YOU BETTER, and my favorite: HOLD MY BEER. But then we also get a variety of other excellent long answers, like GLITTER BOMBS, THEATER KIDS, AIR GUITAR, GOSSIP SESH, and CHICAGO STYLE, which I love, being from Chicago! By my count that’s eleven wonderful long answers, plus two solid ones: MONEY PIT and FILM CREWS.
Excellent!
Other notes:
- 4A [Sada ___ (Guyanese flatbread)] ROTI Love the angle here – wonder if we’ll ever get the full SADA ROTI in a puzzle…
- 13A [Taylor Swift’s “folklore” and “Midnights,” for two] ERAS Great call to reference Taylor Swift in the clue!
- 28A [Like a hot dog said to be “dragged through the garden”] CHICAGOSTYLE Love the answer, but the clue is also amazing. “Dragged through the garden” might be unknown to some solvers, but it’s also inferable, which I love – people get to learn something new!
- 36A [Bend and ___ (“Legally Blonde” move)] SNAP Did not remember this from the movie, but I love the angle here!
- 59A [Teens who love drama?] THEATERKIDS Fun clue!
- 1D [___ Crane (“Felicity” character)] NOEL I was unfamiliar with this character, but I’m sure others will see this and smile.
- 8D [“Watch this ill-advised thing I’m gonna do”] HOLDMYBEER Love the answer, love the wording on the clue.
- 29D [What a group hang might devolve into] GOSSIPSESH Not that relatable for me, but love the clue anyway!
- 50D [___ Blackjack Team (“Bringing Down the House” group)] MIT Wonderful clue here, referencing the 2003 book “Bringing Down the House” about the MIT Blackjack team becoming card counters. Also note the movie “21.”
- 16A [Say “You, too” to an usher who said “Enjoy the show,” say] ERR Favorite clue in the puzzle! This puzzle had so many excellent clues it was almost hard to decide, but this one is amazing. It’s a good thing that I have so many notes!
5.0 stars
Zhouqin Burnikel’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Double Take”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers come in pairs. One of the entries is a five-letter word ending in __OUT where the first two letters are what’s missing (“out”) from the other entry. The other entry is still a valid familiar phrase without those letters, but the solver needs to mentally add them to satisfy the clue.
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Double Take” · Zhouqin Burnikel · 5.10.26
- 22a [Easy classes] and 4d [Tapir’s schnoz, or a hint to how 22-Across was transformed] AP COURSES and SNOUT. Obviously, an AP course is not an easy class, so obviously some trickery is at play here. Take the letters SN from SNOUT and put them in the other phrase to get snap courses. Now, I wish “snap courses” was a phrase people actually use (AFAIK it isn’t), but its meaning is clear enough.
- 28a [Fleeing in a panic] and 9d [Talent seeker, or a hint to how 28-Across was transformed]. RUNNING A RED and SCOUT. Add SC to the other entry to get running scared. This one’s especially nice because both phrases (with and without SC) are fully in the language.
- 50d [Common menopause symptom] and 55a [Openly defy, or a hint to how 50-Down was transformed]. HOT ASHES and FLOUT. Add FL to get hot flashes.
- 70a [Spots where hairs grow] and 65d [Social pull, or a hint to how 70-Across was transformed]. FOLLIES and CLOUT. Add CL to get follicles.
- 45d [Digitally alters, like images] and 79a [Holler, or a hint to how 45-Down was transformed]. PHOTO OPS and SHOUT. Add SH to get photoshops. Another really nice one.
- 122a [Great for the price] and 109d [Dark beer, or a hint to how 122-Across was transformed]. CO-EFFICIENT and STOUT. Add ST to get cost efficient. I wanted “cost effective” to fit the clue, but “co-effective” isn’t a phrase.
- 125a [Diaper, e.g.] and 115d [Roughly, or a hint to how 125-Across was transformed]. BYPRODUCT and ABOUT. Add AB to get baby product.
Whew! This must have been a complicated construction. No wonder the grid is not fully symmetric. With seven theme entries crossed by seven others I doubt a symmetric grid was possible at all. But as it is, we get a ton of theme material, enough trickery to fully engage us throughout the solve, and then some nice long fill to boot. Speaking of which…
Highlights include “I’M NOT DONE!”, MOLASSES, BIG SHOT, PATREON, MCCAFE, LUNABAR, LEGAL FEE, ASIAN ART, CUE CARD, and FITBIT.
Clue of note: 37d. [Fruit that’s taboo to share in China]. PEAR. Intriguing. Apparently the phrase “sharing a pear” is similar to the phrase meaning “to separate” or “to divorce”.
Impressive, thematically-dense grid with plenty of enjoyable long fill. A lack of grid symmetry is about the only negative. 3.5 stars.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword, “Black Spots” — Matthew’s write-up
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, “Black Spots,” 5/10/2026
Apologies for the delayed post this week; one of my dogs had minor (and successful) surgery this weekend and follow-up care has taken more time than I expected.
This grid from Evan requires us to mentally fill in “AD” in six different pairs of black squares to make across and down clues make sense. I’ve seen AD BLOCK and similar themes a few times in the past, but I think this is a new take on it.
Most pleasingly, the grid entries are fully legit without the ADs: JUST and REAM become JUST A DREAM; HAR and CASH, HARD CASH; and my favorite is a single down entry that runs through two hidden letters: MAI ENVOY GES becoming MAIDEN VOYAGES.
It’s also worth pointing out that the letter string AD doesn’t appear anywhere in the grid itself; only in those six hidden spots.
Cheers!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
I finished the puzzle, which for the most part had Tuesday level fill, and had no idea why there was a giant C in the middle of the puzzle. Appreciate Nate’s explanation. A very impressive feat of construction but way too meta-like for me. I will be surprised if I am alone in not getting the trick.
When I first saw the grid art, it looked like a copyright symbol to me © so I at first thought that would have something to do with the theme, and when I saw Bic and Travelers I thought I was on to something… until I actually got to the center. I figured out the BLOCK, but it wasn’t till I hit the revealer that it made sense to me, and the rest of the puzzle opened up. Really nice Sunday! Reminded me of a puzzle 5 from ACPT a few years ago. Great feat of construction, and a very fun Sunday to solve! Kudos.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
probably due to my mental limitations but that cluing in the middle was too obscure for my blood…I sh/could have solved or just read the “blocks” clue correctly but they might have been dots or “ETC” or something else..
I get “closing a loop” (in fact solved that immediately) but doing so with “blocks” (which are not “loop closers” e.g. arcs of a circle to my way of thinking) unless you’re talking crossword loops which are blocks!) and oh I guess we are!!! so I just whiffed.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
Another impressive feat of construction, and I understand it had to be done like this to pull off the concept… but I’m just never going to be excited to finish a puzzle with this much short fill.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
I should just remember to not do Sunday NYT puzzles. What is the point of nonsense clues that don’t make sense until you’re literally at one of the very last entries? Do others read all the clues first, figure out the “trick” then work backwards (I always just work my way from the NW to the SE)? Once I got the “close the loop” hint, everything fell into place quickly, but until then it was just a slog since none of the clues made any sense given the partially-filled theme entries (which I could basically guess from the crosses). I don’t know how else to describe such a solving experience other than not at all enjoyable.
“I should just remember to not do Sunday NYT puzzles.”
Yup – I usually try out the first few rows, and if there’s nothing that shouts “Hey! This is fun!” I bail out. Too often, they are just too much time invested for too little payoff. I probably complete one in four or five Sundays.
The fun in this one – which was just marvelous! – started about 1/3 of the way through :)
I guess with more complex crosswords, I have no expectation that I am going to just be able to march from the NW to the SE. Monday through Wednesday, sure, but Thursdays, some Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, I really expect that I might get to the bottom and have to loop back, including reinterpreting some clues. I’d be disappointed if a later week puzzle isn’t hard enough to merit that. I really like themed puzzles, and harder ones. But I suppose some people prefer to just start at the top and get to the bottom and have the whole puzzle solved in one go.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Well made and a satisfying solve after wrangling the odd clues.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
yeah that’s one of the greatest of all time
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
Was going to rate this 4.5 stars until I saw this blog saying there were no “c” or “o” in the non-theme clues. After checking NYT Wordplay for this fun fact, I am rating this 5 stars. Masterful construction.
NYT is a classic, IMO, with intricacies reminiscent of the endgames of the old (and greatly missed) Hex variety cryptics. There aren’t a lot of puzzles that reward close examination, but this is one.
There’s an archive of those cryptics:
https://coxrathvon.com/
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Caught on to the gimmick fairly quickly. At first, I was wondering why the double clues were used to CLOSE THE LOOP, but then realized that the BLOCKs were used to separate the entries, and ERS, SET and ADE are all valid entries.
NYT: Once again, a puzzle that shows that ingenious construction doesn’t make for an enjoyable solve. I filled in several of the theme answers before I understood the trick (the revealer, CLOSETHELOOP, is not a familiar phrase to me), and then got stuck on the three blank squares. ICE on its own is a perfectly good answer to the first clue in that set, and SUNSCREEN is far more idiomatic to me than SUNBLOCK. I put the puzzle down and came back to it before I was able to suss out those BLOCKs.
On top of that we have some dodgy fill: READE (who?), CHEWELRY (what?), YUTZ (not in my vocab), ADNOUN (huh?), ERHUS (wtf?)…
Oh, I forgot to add that today I learned what an ADNOUN was! Another great part of a really fun Sunday!
Just last weekend I attended a Cherry Blossom Festival that included a lovely erhu performance.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
I’m with you on all those dodgy fill entries, ugh. Especially…well, actually, all of those mentions.
“ERHUS (wtf?)”
Yes, the crossword referenced something from a non-white culture (in this case, my own). WTF indeed. How dare they. I hope you continue to enjoy living in your small world where people of other cultures and colors than that of your own don’t exist.
Do you think the constructors actually knew what an erhu was before their program found it for them like it found ADNOUN, LILOLME, OCULO and READE?
I do. Adam Wagner was co-constructor of the 3/30/23 NYT crossword that included ERHU. (This is its third appearance.) Dr. Fabi is a Jeopardy champion. I wouldn’t bet against a crossword enthusiast on Jeopardy knowing an instrument that’s appeared in two grids in the past couple of years.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
I thought I was supposed to quit with the Across entries when I came back (somehow did not iterate all the way through the Downs) to the little black squares and inferred that they were saying “block”! The puzzle did not tell me I was finished, and I realized I needed to enter that five letter rebus to complete the C into the (by now obviously required) O. Impressed with this one, indeed. I dislike random actresses (unless they’re ridiculously well known) and other pop culture refs, but they are truly fair game. That said, the clue that gave away the solve was “Arsenic Hall,” but only b/c I already had enough of “Late night” to make the substitution obvious.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4 stars
The above “remember not to do Sunday puzzles” – they’re the only ones I do! After Wordle and Spelling bee, who has the time? :)
I enjoyed figuring out Evan’s puzzle this week, but it had some weaknesses I am not used to seeing in his puzzles, to wit, part-entries that require reveals (recurring pairs of black squares representing AD) to make a decent crossword entry. For example the consecutive Down entries, “STE” and “HAR” are possible, but not attractive, complete fills, existing only to begin HARDCASH and STEALIN. **I can’t see Evan’s discussion of this puzzle** since Bezos’s third strike, so there probably is something I’m missing. Matt? Still enjoyed it, though.
That northeast corner that you’re mentioning is way, way more constrained than it looks. Imagine that the AD block isn’t there, and you’ve got a big corner to fill already. Then there needed to be legit crossword entries with and without that AD block, and at least decent fill everywhere else, and there’s a theme entry running through that section, and I was also avoiding AD in all other parts of the grid except for the revealer. So yes, STE and HAR aren’t award-winning three letter answers, but they helped facilitate an otherwise good corner that was very tough to fill with all the conditions I set on it.
If you want to read my blog post about this puzzle, here’s a gift link.
Hey, it was fine :) Just not quite perfect. You have set an exceptionally high standard.
Thanks for the gift link! I need to find a regular benefactor b/c I really miss your column.
I was thinking as you do that this puzzle was not like the others. The others being tight and fun. After I figured out the meta it was much easier. But all the proper names? Yikes! 43. Husker Gary’s got a gunk factoring process.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
This was 4-tier for me until I read the note about Cs and Os not appearing in other clues. Unreal.
“The Butterfly Lovers” is sometimes called the Chinese “Romeo and Juliet.” Here’s a concerto for erhu and mixed (Chinese/Western) orchestra inspired by the legend.
It’s amazing what you can do with two strings.
WaPo: Great Sunday from Evan! The revealer of ADS at the very bottom was nice; I grokked the missing letters / words early but didn’t see the whole picture until I got to the very bottom. I also liked that all of the partials were valid crossword answers. Very fun puzzle!
Hope your dog is feeling better Matt!
Puzzle: Universal (Sunday); Rating: 4 stars
I thought Zhouqin Burnikel did a fantastic job with having six interconnected answers in the grid!