Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Jonesin’ untimed (Jenni) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:01 (Erin) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:12 (Eric) [3.18 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (Eric) [3.90 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:38 (Eric) [2.88 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Antimatter” — existing in both states – Jenni’s write-up

It took me a minute to find the theme answers. Two of the four are in the Downs, which I appreciate, and they’re the longest answers by one letter, so they’re not as obvious as in other types of grids. Not complaining! I enjoyed the hunt. All the theme clues have question marks. One could argue that had I been paying more attention, it would have been obvious.

In any case, each theme answer is WORD NO WORD.

Jonesin’, May 12, 2026, Matt Jones, “Antimatter” – existing in both states, solution grid

• 10d [Ms. Mcrae, please record the minutes”?] is TATE NOTATE.
• 17a [Backyard building had a snack?] is SHED NOSHED.
• 27d [Groups of nine Brooklyn athletes?] is NETS NONETS.
• 58a [Wanderers supporting actor Mikkelsen?] is MADS NOMADS.

I enjoyed this! It’s a creative theme that I don’t remember seeing before and it’s smooth and consistent. The fill is strong as well.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of TATE Mcrae.

Brad Wiegmann’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Brad Wiegmann’s New York Times Crossword — 5/29/26 (Click to Enlarge)

A nice somewhat boozy theme for Tuesday:

• 17A [Standard musical progression] PENTATONIC SCALE
• 22A [High court judge?] CHAIR UMPIRE
• 33A [Basketball or baseball, but not boxing] TEAM SPORT
• 47A [Matching pair on many jets] TWIN ENGINES
• 52A [Requirement at some comedy clubs … or for 17-, 22-, 33- and 47-Across?] TWO-DRINK MINIMUM

I’ve never been to a comedy club, but I know that this kind of minimum spending requirement is common in those places. Can one get away with ordering two non-alcoholic drinks?

Other stuff:

• 10A [Mama ___ of the Mamas & the Papas] CASS Elliot. A gimme for me and millions of other Boomers.
• 21A [“Dinner’s ready!”] SOUP’S ON Hmm. I always thought of that phrase as more like “Dinner’s almost ready — the soup’s on the stove.”
• 28A [Michael of “The Man Who Would Be King”] CAINE Another gimme; that fine 1975 John Huston film also has Sean Connery.
• 36A [Frozen dessert franchise] TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) 25 years ago, there were 1,700+ locations; now it’s down to just over 400. Make of that what you will.
• 39A [Denali, e.g.: Abbr.] MTN Not SUV, much to my embarrassment.
• 7D [___ goal (soccer blunder)] OWN The FIFA World Cup starts June 11 in Mexico City. What’s the over/under for own goals during the month-long tournament?
• 23D [Sch. whose campus is just off Interstate 405] UCLA My Los Angeles geography isn’t great, but I know where “the 405” is generally speaking, and a four-letter university in Los Angeles is almost always UCLA.
• 40D [Nickname for Jeffrey Lebowski in “The Big Lebowski”] THE DUDE And he abides.

Shmuel Schmell’s Universal Crossword “Last Act” — Eric’s Review

Shmuel Schmell’s Universal Crossword “Last Act” — 5/19/26 (Click to Enlarge)

I don’t know what the theme is here. Circled letters in the four of the theme answers hold verbs that theoretically relate to the revealer:

• 17A [Longtime GM Korea car] CHEVY SPARK I’d not heard of that model, but I don’t know why I would have.
• 27A [Object in a synagogue’s ark] TORAH SCROLL
• 38a [Behave ethically, or a suggestion that applies to 17-, 27-, 45- or 63-Across?] DO THE RIGHT THING
• 45A [Computer conversation chain] EMAIL THREAD
• 63A [Deli staple] SMOKED MEAT

The simplest explanation of the theme is that the “right” is merely positional. But once could probably find a multitude of compound nouns that end with some verb, which makes it unlikely that these are random verbs.

But what are solvers to make of “park[ing] right”? Parking on the right side of the street? Staying within the lines?

“Roll[ing] right” and “read[ing] right” sounds like things we should all try to do, but they aren’t common phrases.

“Eat[ing] right” is a laudable goal. Good luck, thought, figuring out what is “right” at any given time. At least, though, that phrase is something I’ve heard before.

If you have any thoughts on what the theme is about, please speak up in the comments.

Other stuff:

• 1A [Young horse] FOAL Not COLT.
• 14A [4,840 square yards] ACRE Does it matter whether I remembered this or just made a lucky guess?
• 23A [Trailer made to have pull?] TEASER Cute clue.
• 8D [Angel of the highest order] SERAPH There’s a word you don’t see every day.
• 10D [Fantasy series in which teens transform into beasts] ANIMORPHS I’ve never heard of it, but with a few letters, the title was inferable.
• 35A [Skier’s pick-me-up?] CHAIRLIFT Cute clue.

Amanda Cook’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Erin’s write-up

LA Times solution, 5/19/26

Hello lovelies! This week’s LA Times puzzle by Amanda Cook is channeling Chill Rob G, because it’s got the power! Each theme entry contains two words or two parts of a word that can be preceded by POWER:

• 17a. [Midday break from work] LUNCH HOUR (power lunch / power hour)
• 26a. [Sony game console] PLAYSTATION (power play / power station)
• 52a. [Vacation with friends and their significant others] COUPLES TRIP (power couples / power trip)
• 62a. [Artistically repurposing, as trash] UPCYCLING (power up, power cycling)
• The revealer, 36a. [Fashion trend that embraces a bold mix of patterns and colors, or what can be found in 17-, 26-. 52, and 62-Across?] POWER CLASHING. We’re taking stripes with paisley, animal print with plaid, navy blue and orange, or any of crossword wizard Francis Heaney’s awesome shirt and tie print combinations.

Other things:

The Aggro Crag

• 45d. [Lengthy diatribe] SCREED. The word stems from the Middle English screde, from the Old English screade, meaning shred or strip of cloth. In other words, it’s a long strip of speech, like an extensive scroll of grievances being unrolled.
• 15a. [Rocky outcrop] CRAG. I cannot see or hear this word without thinking of the Aggro Crag from the 90s game show “Nickelodeon GUTS.” Who back then didn’t want to win so they could own a glowing piece of that radical rock?

Gary Larson’s Wall Street Journal crossword “Look Both Ways” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Common words are parsed as two-word phrases as if they refer to manners of looking at something

WSJ • 5/19/26 • Tue • “Look Both Ways” • Gary Larson • solution • 20260519

THEME ANSWERS:

• [See music groups in timepiece accessories?] WATCH BANDS. Not Watchbands.
• [See warm-up acts in surprising situations?]  EYE OPENERS. Not Eye-openers.
• [See baby goats in a 2001 action film?] SPY KIDS. Not the moview.
• [See sports scores in scenic outlooks] VIEW POINTS. Not Viewpoints
• [See a houndstooth pattern in random samplings?] SPOT CHECKS. Not Spot-checks.

Apologies for late/missed write-ups lately. My computer is shot so I can only do them at work ATM, and that’s not working out great.

Will go back to post missed grids within the week.

Really enjoyed the consistency of this one today. SPY KIDS was the winner for me.

Bit tougher than I expected for a Tuesday- though now I’m solving on WSJ Applet which makes everything significantly more difficult- not in a good way.

ISSEI was totally new to me- thought I had something wrong.

3.5 stars