Thursday, May 21, 2026

BEQ tk (?) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 5:45 (Gareth) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:51 (ZDL) [3.36 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:32 (Eric) [3.33 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:18 (Emily) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

Hannah Binney’s Universal Crossword “End Game” — Eric’s Review

It’s a simple theme, with the title and revealer pointing the solver in the correct direction to understand the circled letters’ signficance:

• 16A [Absolute disaster] TRAIN WRECK Track
• 24A [Object hanging over a swimming hole] ROPE SWING Rowing
• 35A [Daredevil’s diversions, or a theme hint] EXTREME SPORT The sports are at the ends — the extremes, if you will (and you will) — of the theme answers.
• 49A [Grand finale, perhaps?] PIANO SOLO Polo
• 58A [Biblical symbol of idolatry] GOLDEN CALF Golf

Not flashy, but it works.

Other stuff:

• 67A [Stouts and porters] BEERS Two of my favorite brewing styles.
• 5D [“Get out of ___!” (“Be serious!”)] TOWN I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say that. It’s been a while.
• 37D [Inside-out hat worn to support a losing team] RALLY CAP That’s a tradition/superstition I’d not heard of.

Peter Gordon’s Fireball Crossword “Themeless 188” – Jenni’s write-up

This one was a bit chewier than the last few FB themelesses. Or maybe I’m tired. Or maybe both.

A few things I noticed:

• Peter often puts anagrammed or otherwise related answers in the first and last entries. This time they weren’t quite that symmetrical. 1a [Musician mentioned in the lyrics to the “All in the Family” theme “Those Were the Days”] is GLENN MILLER and 61a [Director of “Tropic Thunder] is BEN STILLER. Bonus points for a Peter Gordon Classic Very Long Clue at 1a.
• I don’t follow soccer in any country so I didn’t know [8d English soccer player White] and I’m chagrined to admit I was looking for a man’s name. Turns out it’s ELLEN. We all have our biases.
• 24a [GI counterpart in Gwanju] is ROK which is the abbreviation for Republic of Korea and the South Koreans who serve in the military.
• 34d [Squeaky thing in a boxer’s mouth] is a TOY. Dog, not pugilist.
• 56a [Modern-day stay-at-home worker?] is a ROBOT UMPIRE otherwise known as the ABS (automated balls and strikes) system. I think MLB got this one exactly right: only the players involved can challenge, the answer is nearly instantaneous, and the number each game is limited.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: see above re: ELLEN White. I also did not know that HOTTIE is the correct term for a Megan Thee Stallion fan.

Zhou Zhang and Mallory Montgomery’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up

Time: 7m51s

Difficulty: Breezy (<8m)  |  Easy-ish (8-9m30s)  |  Working on it (9m30s-11m)  |  Rough going (11+m)

Today’s theme: fashion statements 

• BACKWARDS CAP (limit)
• CUT OFF TEE (missing)
• MINI SKIRT (tiny evade)
• STRIPED SOCKS (punches)

I am still not 100% awake and finished this puzzle with MINI SHIRT and just stared at it and wondered how could SHIRT mean “evade” and what on earth is a MINI SHIRT anyway.

Cracking: EXACTAMUNDO, ding ding ding

Slacking: AODAI, looks kinda like adonai, crossing AIs, and I was like ayyyyy

Sidetracking: FERAL

Jeff Stillman’s Wall Street Journal crossword “I Could Go Either Way” — Jim Q’s write-up

THEME: Phrases that feature the letter pattern U-S-T-I are placed vertically in the puzzle

I suppose my theme description should clarify that the S-T-I is meant to be read backwards as it leads into the U, though that distinction didn’t really change the solve experience for me.

The revealer did help in a few rough sections where I was hanging on by my fingernails, and it’s reasonably clever once understood, but overall the puzzle played more like a lightly themed themeless than a true Thursday “aha!” experience.

It also felt odd to have DISH IT OUT in the grid when that particular IT isn’t leading to a U at all. Likewise, TIO contains the same backwards “IT” pattern as the theme entries but doesn’t participate in the gimmick. Even within JUST IN TIME, one of the TI combinations gets ignored entirely. That inconsistency made the theme feel a bit less elegant to me.

STUMBLES / MUSINGS / LARGE GAPS IN MY KNOWLEDGE:

• [Court worker’s machine] STENOTYPE. I never actually knew the name of that machine. Very literal naming convention there.
• [Tombstone name] WYATT.</https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claudestrong> As in Earp.
• [They may be minced] OATHS. I had never heard the phrase “minced oaths,” though apparently it’s a real linguistic term for softened curse words like “dang” or “gosh.” Kind of nifty, actually.
• [Boomers with bell-bottoms in the back of the closet, maybe] EX-HIPPIES Is this a phrase people say? Completely unfamiliar to me.
• [Asian secret society] TONG. New to me.
• [Lay low] HID. During the solve I could not make my brain accept that “lay low” simply meant “hid.” But “They lay low” can indeed sub for “They hid.”
• [Swing teacher] COURSE PRO. I spent way too long thinking ballroom dancing before realizing: golf.
• [Takes the wrong way] SWIPES. Meaning “steals.” Sneaky clue.
• [Character from Euripides] ETA. Feels like crossword editors are getting bored of cluing it as Estimated Time of Arrival.
• [Avignon’s western edge] RHONE. Did not know this.
• [Russian opposition leader Navalny] ALEKSEI. Nice to see his name in a grid. Absolutely no confidence in the spelling, though.
• [Skin care product derived from bird fat] EMU OIL. Yesterday’s The New Yorker puzzle gave us SAGE OIL. If presented with both options for skincare purposes, I’m going sage every time.

Not really my favorite solve. Too many unknowns, too much stop-and-start progress, and the theme never quite rewarded the effort for me.

2.25 stars

 

 

 

Norman M. Aaronson’s USA Today Crossword, “Face Covering” — Emily’s write-up

Enticing!

Theme: each themer contains FA–CE

Themers:

• 17a. [“That’ll never happen!”], FATCHANCE
• 42a. [Call when a baseball spectator illegally alters there course of play], FANINTERFERENCE
• 68a. [Amount that’s reasonable], FAIRPRICE

A mix of themers with FATCHANCE, FANINTERFERENCE, and FAIRPRICE. All needed a few crossings to get me started but they weren’t difficult to fill. Had a caught on to the theme sooner, they probably would have filled easier too. The title hint is fun, as the there is a “covering” in the middle of the FACE since it’s split. Very creative!

Favorite fill: SLOGS, FIFA, and DIRE

Stumpers: OKOK (needed crossings), ODESSA (new to me), and SCOOT (also needed crossings)

A lovely grid today with a fun theme. Great cluing and fill that made for a smooth, quicker solve for me today.

4.5 stars

~Emily

Heather Stanger McIntire & Shannon Rapp’s LA Times Crossword – Gareth’s summary

Heather Stanger McIntire & Shannon Rapp’s puzzle is one square wider, to fit an even central explanatory answer in: SECRETMENU. The weirdest example I can recall is my father ordering a fish-paste sandwich from a Wimpy back in the day. It still concerns me how long that jar must have sat there…

The four menus hidden, by being across two parts of longer answers, are not edible, however. Rather, they are the ones on the top of many desktop applications: EDIT, HELP and VIEW are pretty standard. HOME is less so – my Firefox and LibreOffice both have “File”, but I think newer Microsoft Office programmes replace that with “Home”? While I’m here, the whole “hiding the menus in a single hamburger button” deal is just annoying. Thank you and get off my lawn.

The theme answers themselves are as follows:

1. [Brunch choice], FRENCHOMELET
2. [Apprenticeship in the ways of the Force], JEDITRAINING
3. [Negro Leagues player in the baseball Hall of Fame], SATCHELPAIGE
4. [“I Just Called to Say I Love You” singer], STEVIEWONDER. Stevie is short for Stevland, which I find unusual.

Titbits:

 

• [Locavore’s org.], CSA. Apparently that’s “community supported agriculture”.
• [“I feel seen”], ITME. I had no idea that had become an established phrase.
• [Artist known for fabric-wrapped installations], CHRISTO. I have never heard of this person. It’s interesting that they’re only half a Wikipedia page…

Gareth