Monday, June 8, 2026

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Tom McCoy’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Recap

THEME: Par Amount – each theme clue’s bracket indicates how many times the string PAR is in the answer

New York Times, 06 08 2026, By Tom McCoy

• 18a [Popular board game adapted from India [1]] – PARCHEESI
• 23a [Challenge for student drivers [2]] – PARALLEL PARKING
• 41a [Never stop having fun [3]] – PARTY PARTY PARTY
• 50a [Of the highest importance … or, when parsed differently, what each bracketed number in the clues indicates?] – PARAMOUNT

PARAMOUNT to “par amount” is a fun re-parse! I like that the “par”s are all at the start of their respective words. PARALLEL PARKING is a great grid spanner, and PARCHEESI is an interesting answer for the theme answer with the most options. I didn’t know that it was adapted from India before now! Is PARTY PARTY PARTY a known phrase? I was able to parse it out pretty easily, but it’s not a phrase I’ve heard in the wild.

I found this puzzle to be harder than the average Monday. The middle section with KNAVERY and NIPS/LEVER as clued was the last part that I entered into the grid. Looking at the puzzle as a whole, I don’t think any of the crossings were unfair – everything overall just felt a little trickier than usual.

Clue highlights: [Characterize?] for SPELL, [Deer sir?] for STAG, [5×5-square crossword] for MINI, [Apt zodiac sign for Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion]. Lots of interesting clues for a Monday!

Fill highlights: POP-UP store, SPAM FILTER, REPORT BACK, GOTCHAS

Happy Monday all!