Sunday, May 31, 2026

LAT 7:02 (Kyle) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 9:49 (Nate) [2.88 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 6:59 (Jim P) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:41 (Adam S) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 3:47 (Matt G) [3.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

Jeffrey Martin0vic and Evan Park’s New York Times crossword, “Target Practice” — Nate’s write-up

05.31.2026 Sunday New York Times Crossword

22A: SWITZERLAND [Home of the legendary folk hero at 116-Across]
32A: MARKSMANSHIP [Expertise demonstrated by 116-Across in a fabled feat of precision]
41A: ARCHERY [Athletic skill mastered by 116-Across]
69A: THE BIG (APPLE) [City sobriquet that might describe the target for 116-Across, as depicted in this puzzle]
66A SPARROW contains an ARROW in the BOW hidden in 42D CLUB OWNER
91A: ROSSINI [Composer of an overture dedicated to 116-Across]
103A: SHOOTING STAR [Streaker in the night sky … or a punny description of 116-Across]
38D: FRUITFUL [Productive … or a punny description of the feat performed by 116-Across]
56A: TAKE A BOW [What 116-Across did before and after this puzzle’s feat?]
116A: WILLIAM TELL [Legendary figure who’s the subject of this puzzle]

I imagine that folks might be of two minds on this puzzle. On one hand, it was quite a quick solve, even with some slightly tougher NE and SW corners, thanks to largely smooth and clean fill.  The post-solve animation in the NYT app was cute, with an arrow being launched from the BOW / ARROW toward the (APPLE) rebus square.

On the other hand, a 21x puzzle having just one rebus square makes that rebus much harder to spot, and I’ll admit that I spun my wheels at that SN(APPLE) / THE BIG (APPLE) crossing for a while! In retrospect, the clue for 69A and the puzzle’s general theme should suggest an (APPLE) there, but I could only think of O for the center of a target and certainly couldn’t make the jump right away from SN? to SN(APPLE). I wonder if others had the same issue, and I wonder if a more specific hint, like [New York City sobriquet …] or [Drink company with facts on the bottoms of their lids] would have felt a little fairer in getting me to that lone rebus square?

Folks might also wonder why there’s a WILLIAM TELL tribute puzzle but, at the very least, it’s certainly an opportunity for a bunch of related puns. The no-duplicate purists will likely grumble, though, at the BOW dupe between the BOW highlighted in CLUB OWNER and the BOW in TAKE A BOW.

What did you think? TELL us whether this puzzle hit the target for you – and have a nice weekend. For those in the LGBTQ+ community and our allies – happy early Pride!

Amie Walker’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 186” – Adam S’s write-up

Amie Walker’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 186” – 5/31/26

I hope you came to this puzzle thirsty. After we have our ICED MOCHAS, DOUBLE IPA, CAPRI-Sun, and SODAS, we’ll be heading out for a few more at the KARAOKE BAR [Where drinking songs are performed]. We’ll also be sampling some OJ to debate PULP [Orange juice stuff that many people have opinions about]. And make sure you ignore the THIRST TRAP as we go, or you might have to drink in some SLOP too. If you need to cool off, the SPLASH PADS are that way.

Amie Walker keeps the good times flowing with this puzzle. In addition to the liquid gold listed above, I also loved CURSE WORDS, THAT DOESN’T COUNT, and PIE CHART. Extra double kudos for the evocative I’M THIS MANY [Little kid’s age reveal phrase], which may well be a debut across all major publications since the Crosserville database has no record of it having been used before.

Cheers to Amie for a fun puzzle. And bottoms up!

A few notes:

• 1A PSST [(I’ve got somethin’ to tell ya!)] Always feels like a fun and apt entry at 1A.
• 20A CONE [Cozy ___ Motel (Radiator Springs loding in “Cars”)] Nice clue! Fun reference that took a little bit of remembering.
• 4D TEE SHIRTS [Garments from the Eras Tour] May I make a plea that the Eras Tour has been overdone as a cluing angle and that we all give it a break for a while?
• 34D OKAY LOOK [“So, here’s the situation”] While I’m making pleas, can we exercise a little restraint in the trend of shoving OKAY, UM, SO etc. on the front of everything and claiming to have made a crossworthy phrase? This is an across-all-major-publications debut I don’t feel a huge need to see again.
• 47D YELL [Breach the social contract in a library] And I thought my original stab of TALK was a bad enough breach of the library social contract. Someone is yelling? Please pass the smelling salts.

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “After-School Activities” — Matthew’s write-up

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “After-School Activities” solution, 5/31/2026

A light meta this week, where we’re prompted to find an eight-letter word. Our titles is “After-School Activities,” and eight themers are arranged in a vertically-symmetrical grid

• 24a [2011 video fame featuring an explorer being chased by demonic monkeys through an ancient ruin] TEMPLE RUN
• 32a [Composer who, with Billy Strayhorn, arranged jazz versions of pieces from “The Nutcracker”] DUKE ELLINGTON
• 52a [Walk nervously from one side of a room to another several times] PACE UP AND DOWN
• 63a [Be obsequious] BROWN NOSE
• 75a [Clarinets, oboes, etc.] REED INSTRUMENTS
• 93a [William Shakespeare] BARD OF AVON
• 96a [Piece of pad see ew] RICE NOODLE
• 108a [“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” author] HUNTER S THOMPSON 

So each themer is a phrase starting with an institution of higher learning. Some came to mind easier than others, though I do recognize them all. Ultimately, the theme clues are pretty targeted such that I don’t think you need to recognize the school pattern to complete the grid. 

It’s critical, though, for the meta. Keeping in mind the words “after-school” in the title, and looking at the letter in each theme entry immediately following the school, we can spell out the eight-letter word REUNIONS, a type of “after-school activity,” with a nice twist on “after-school.”

A straightforward meta off an easy-to-spot theme, but the misdirect in the title was a very satisfying payoff for me. 

Other highlights: RADIO is the home of hit [songs] in [Hits home?], a deft little clue // Similar kudos for “play dates” in the clue for ON TOUR at 81a // It’s been a few weeks since I commented on a Barenaked Ladies angle for ENID, and here we have their hit song “If I ___ $1000000” getting us to HAD. My appreciation, Evan // [“Stick” to some athletes] has a track sense, where the passed BATON during a relay is colloquially called a “stick” 

Cheers!

Samuel A. Donaldson’s LA Times crossword “HARDLY RIGHT” – Kyle’s write-up

LA Times solution grid “HARDLY RIGHT” – Samuel A. Donaldson – Sunday 05/31/2026

Veteran constructor Samuel A. Donaldson brings us this Sunday jaunt with an elegant theme: take a two-word phrase, add -LY to the first word to make it an adverb, and re-parse it as an adjectival phrase. What really makes this theme work is that the second words, mostly nouns in their original sense, can turn into adjectives:

• 23A [Kinda sorta up for it?] FAIRLY GAME
• 29A [Like a portrait hung by a professional?] HIGHLY LEVEL
• 35A [How beer is served?] COMMONLY COLD
• 49A [Geeky without shame?] PUBLICLY SQUARE. Great find.
• 62A [Faking trendiness?] ARTIFICIALLY HIP. Another superb find.
• 80A [Vague to the max?] MAJORLY GENERAL
• 93A [Having the wealth of kings and queens?] ROYALLY FLUSH
• 98A [Like a smart recycler?] SAGELY GREEN. Again, excellent.
• 108A [Sad, but composed?] CALMLY DOWN. “Down” isn’t a noun in the original sense here, but again the change in meaning is clear.

Notes on fill and clues:

• • In the longer fill, my favorites are 13D HAIL MARY and 82D “YOU AGAIN?!”, the latter with the fun clue [“If it isn’t my nemesis!”]. Other long fill like UNICAMERAL, COME UNDONE, PUSH-PULL and MUTATION are solid, if less spectacular.
  • Interesting angle for 12D SIKH [One resisting the five thieves]. From Wikipedia:
    

    In Sikhism, the Five Thieves (Punjabi: ਪੰਜ ਚੋਰ, pronunciation: [pand͡ʒ t͡ʃoɝ]), also called the five evils or the five vices (Punjabi: ਪੰਜ ਬੁਰਾਈਆਂ paja burā’ī’āṁ),^[1] are the five major weaknesses of the human personality at variance with its spiritual essence, and are known as “thieves” because they steal a person’s inherent common sense. These five thieves are kaam (lust), krodh (wrath), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankar (ego or excessive pride)

• I didn’t realize that SETI (67A) could be a standalone acronym. I always thought it  was shorthand for the SETI Institute.
• I had no idea on 53D [“OutDaughtered” family name] BUSBY. The clue refers to a reality TV show about a family of quintuplet girls. I generally don’t watch this category of reality TV.
• I also learned that DALLAS (14D) is where German chocolate cake was invented. Ironically, despite the historical roots of German culture in Texas, the cake has nothing to do with that; “German” was the surname of the fellow whose chocolate was used in the original recipe.
• A couple crossword standbys in entries like TCI, YMA Sumac, ON AT, UTIL, SASE. Clues like [City on the Orne] for CAEN also lend a Maleska-esque vibe. Remember those European rivers, you never know when one is going to show up in your puzzle!

Ryan Mathiason’s Universal Sunday crossword, “The Times They Are A-Changin”—Jim P’s review

Theme answers come in pairs. In the top half of the grid are familiar two-word phrases where one word is an indicator that the other word will be scrambled. The bottom half of the grid features additional familiar phrases in which the solver will find the scrambles hinted at above.

Universal Sunday crossword solution · “The Times They Are A-Changin” · Ryan Mathiason · 5.31.26

• 23a [Fantasy movie with Lindsay Lohan, or a hint to 70-Across] and 70a [They produce milk] FREAKY FRIDAY and DAIRY FARMS.
• 32a [Reason for a snow day, or a hint to 82-Across] and 82a [Important court figure] WINTER STORM and STAR WITNESS.
• 49a [Cinderella team’s chance to shine, or a hint to 97-Across] and 97a [Parts of a camper’s sweet treat] MARCH MADNESS and GRAHAM CRACKERS.
• 62a [Work period for someone on “vampire hours,” or a hint to 108-Across] and 108a [Very complex concept in physics] NIGHT SHIFT and STRING THEORY.

Nice theme. I’ve gotten more into cryptic crosswords within the past year, so looking for the anagram or scrambling indicator has become second nature. I like how this puzzle uses a variety of ways to get us there. Each of the entries is solidly in the language and lively to boot. The grid is nearly symmetrical except where some of the theme answers don’t match their corresponding partners. I guess that’s the price for having lively theme answers in this case.

Fill highlights include TIEBREAKERS, BED FRAME, ASTROLOGY, PRE-ORDERS, CARE BEAR, ACID RAIN, AVENGERS, and “WE’RE LIVE“.

Clues of note:

• 55a. [Aardman’s animated sheep]. SHAUN. With this name you either go with “SHAUN of the Dead” or SHAUN the Sheep. Either one works for me. Ah, I guess there’s snowboarder SHAUN White as well.
• 12d. [Many emails about unpaid tolls]. SCAMS. I just got one from Toronto. Never been to Toronto.
• 43a. [“I pranked those folks”]. “GOT EM“. Kind of an awkward clue/answer combo. This crosses TITHE, and I’m wondering why you don’t go with GOLEM/LITHE here.

Good theme and fun fill. Small demerit for a lack of symmetry, but overall an enjoyable puzzle. 3.5 stars.

Matthew Stock’s USA Today Crossword “24/7 Coverage (Freestyle)” – Zachary Edward-Brown’s write-up

Matthew Stock’s USA Today Crossword “24/7 Coverage (Freestyle)” – 5/31/26

Sorry for the late write-up! We’ve got a themeless today.

Fave fill: SO LONG, THEY/THEM, SAY CHEESE, GOURMET CHEF, MEMORY LANE. Solid, but I feel like it could have used more sizzle.

The longest answer, ENGLISH MUFFINS, seems just OK to me, but I did like the clue: [Baked goods with “nooks and crannies”]

AT SIGN clued as [@] gets the side-eye from me. Mostly, the puzzle felt solid, if not exceptional.

Favorite clue: 43D [___ Every Day (educational YouTube channel)] SMARTER

4.25 stars