Sunday, June 7, 2026

LAT 6:53 (Kyle) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 21:22 (Nate) [2.71 avg; 19 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) rate it
Universal (Sunday) 10:18 (Jim P) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal 3:52 (Adam S) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:14 (Matt G) [3.50 avg; 6 ratings] rate it

Adam Wagner and Simeon Seigel’s New York Times crossword, “Split Seconds” — Nate’s write-up

06.07.2026 Sunday New York Times Crossword Puzzle

22A GA TECH / ANGELIC / ENSURE [With 23- and 24-Across, airport announcement / Requirement to practice, perhaps]
48A MADRE / SPECTATED / INNER [With 50- and 54-Across, serious props / Had an evening meal]
87A CHIAS / MUSCLEMEN / TINES [With 88- and 91-Across, syntax-reversing rhetorical device / Small, peelable citrus fruits]
105A THE REST / I MEANT IT / HEFT [With 106- and 108-Across, “No need to hurry” / Like some security measures]
66A TWO OUT OF THREE [Amount that “ain’t bad,” so to speak … or what to make with six sets of answers in this puzzle?]

In this puzzle, two entries are split across three consecutive across slots in the grid. Only on reparsing those three grid entries can you get to the two proper answers for the two given clues – hence, getting TWO OUT OF THREE. For example, GA TECH / ANGELIC / ENSURE can be reparsed as GATE CHANGE and LICENSURE.

I liked the concept behind this theme, but I was underwhelmed (or maybe just whelmed?) with its execution. In my mind, pulling off a neat trick like this should be worth it to the solver, resulting in neat transformations. In this instance, though, one of the theme sets hinges on knowing what a CHIASMUS is, and SOFTEN turns into LESS OFTEN, which felt fine. Looking at each row of themers, the first transformation was often fun or interesting (GA TECH / ANGELIC to GATE CHANGE, MADRE / SPECTATED to MAD RESPECT, and THE REST / I MEANT IT to THERE’S TIME) but the other reparsed answers (ATE DINNER, LICENSURE) felt more pedestrian than I’d expect.

I should also mention that my solve time was easily twice what it normally was. I was just not on the wavelength of this puzzle, and there were multiple sections of the grid that I just stared at for a while before I could get any traction. The very bottom SE corner of the grid was especially ??? to me. T-SHAPE / OPE / GES / SHILOH / AFTERS / STE / MOTT ST and even SOUP‘s clue had me totally stymied.  You can see in my grid image that I had to check the grid and try to wrangle what remained.

This puzzle wasn’t for me, but I hope that many of you got a kick out of it and were much more on their wavelength! Let us know what you thought in the comments – and have a great weekend. Happy Pride!

Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 187” – Adam S’s write-up

Rafael Musa’s Universal Crossword “Themeless Sunday 187” – June 7, 2026

Lovely puzzle today. The long stuff was all very good, with VELCRO DOG, SANTA SUIT, SIDEQUEST, EASTER EGGS, and DISS TRACKS standing out for me. But where this puzzle really differentiated itself was in the mid-length fill. 7s are hard to knock out of the park, given they are often single words or prepositional phrases. But today was a grand slam, with EN FUEGO, JUST A MO, MEOW MIX (which is fun enough to transcend being a brand name), BIOTECH, and KOOL AID. Actually, scrap the grand slam – that’s a five-run homer.

My only tiny kvetch about this puzzle is that it was basically two puzzles in one. There are only two routes from the north to the south of the grid, and both of them involve turning a corner. Which led to a slightly disorienting moment when, halfway through the puzzle, I suddenly barely had a toehold anywhere. Not a big deal, but not what you expect to happen in a themeless.

None of which substantively detracted from a really nice puzzle that had interesting cluing for the difficulty level, while still playing smooth and fast.

A few notes:

• 12A AT IT AGAIN [Back to one’s usual shenanigans] Shenanigans is such a fun word. More shenanigans, please!
• 50A FERRY [Transport option between San Francisco and Marin County] Wasn’t expecting to see my home county in the puzzle! Speaking of which, for any Bay Area readers (or readers anywhere that would like to take part in the Virtual tournament), a brief reminder that next Sunday is Westwords. I’m greatly looking forward to this – last year, the puzzles were amazing, and the opportunities to geek out between them were even better. Registration here for anyone interested.
• 57A SANTA SUIT [Holiday outfit that’s often uncomfortably warm in the Southern Hemisphere] Evocative clue. I wonder if Rafa is speaking from personal experience here.
• 3D LILY [Flower that’s highly poisonous to cats] Nice way to liven up a common short answer.
• 26D DISS TRACKS [Pieces of musical criticism?] Another nice clue!

Ricky J. Sirois’s LA Times crossword “FIVE STARS” – Kyle’s write-up

LA Times solution grid “FIVE STARS” – Ricky J. Sirois – Sunday 06/07/2026

Thanks Ricky for today’s puzzle. The theme is reimagining phrases as high compliments, with the first word taking on the compliment connotation and often the second word also taking a new meaning:

• 23A [Glowing review for a groundskeeper’s work?] FLAWLESS DIAMOND. As in baseball diamond.
• 41A [Glowing review for a preprandial prayer?] AMAZING GRACE
• 60A [Glowing review for a wrestling team?] PERFECT MATCHES. The choice of wrestling is a little bit arbitrary, but that’s a very small nit over an otherwise nicely executed clue and well-chosen entry.
• 69A [Glowing review for a cheerleading squad?] GREAT PYRAMIDS. A great choice for a central themer.
• 81A [Glowing review for a purchase from a vintage music store?] SPOTLESS RECORD
• 96A [Glowing review for a bootlegger?] AWESOME SAUCE. Ha!
• 120A [Glowing review for a chairmaker?] FIRST-CLASS SEATS

I’d call that a top-notch theme execution!

Notes on fill and clues:

• 2D OXLIP [Primrose variety] is an uncommon five-letter entry. My first guess was OXEYE, which is a type of…daisy, I think? (I’ve learned both of these flowers from puzzles).
• Didn’t expect the 59A clue [Chocolate confection] to lead to BARK. That’s definitely a Sunday-level clue
• So often a clue like 67A [French bread] leads to an answer like EURO, but today it’s the actual French word for bread, PAIN.
• I like the choice to clue BREATHE (111A) as a conversational entry: [“Just be calm…”]
• I also like the repetition of the clue [Library receipt info] for the crossing answers DUE DATE (106A) and TITLE (109D).

Rebecca Goldstein’s Universal Sunday crossword, “Short List”—Jim P’s review

Theme answers were familiar phrases that originally featured a long U sound which has been shortened to wacky effect. Spellings are changed as needed. The revealer is “YOU HEARD WRONG!” (116a, [“The rumors aren’t true!,” or a phonetic hint to the transformations at the ends of the starred clues’ answers]).

Universal Sunday crossword solution · “Short List” · Rebecca Goldstein · 6.7.26

• 22a. [*Vegetable grown in a school garden?] STUDENTS’ ONION. Students’ Union. My only gripe with this is that I’ve always heard it “student union”.
• 27a. [*”Avoid making blunders at tryouts”?] “DON’T GET CUT!” “Don’t get cute!”
• 49a. [*Energetic baby bears?] HYPER CUBS. Hypercubes. 4+ dimensional geometry. Not my forte.
• 51a. [*”Time to film a scene, Fido!”?] “YOU’RE ON MUTT!” “You’re on mute!” The dog is a trained actor, and you’re calling him “mutt”? Tsk tsk.
• 67a. [*The Kremlin ponders over a decision?] MOSCOW MULLS. Moscow mules.
• 83a. [*Valuable noodle soup?] PRECIOUS PHO. Precious few.
• 86a. [*Five-o’clock shadow, e.g.?] SHORT FUZZ. Short fuse.
• 109a. [*Subject line of an email excluding an astronaut from a mission?] ROCKET FULL. Rocket fuel. Ouch. Sorry, friend. Guess you’re staying home.

Nice puzzle. I especially like the revealer and the aha moment it provided. It was clear what was going on during the solve, but the revealer made for a fun punchline.

Fill highlights include VOICE COACHES, DANCE STUDIOS, SHOT GLASS, CAST DOUBT, PITTANCE, CAVEMAN, and UPS STORE.

Clues of note:

• 33d. [Basketball shot from downtown]. TREY. I was surprised at this clue since TRE [Three, on the Amalfi Coast] is nearby. Why not clue it as a name?
• 106d. [R&B singer Day]. ANDRA. It was great to see her on Colbert recently.

3.5 stars from me.

Zhouqin Burnikel’s USA Today Crossword “Make the Bed” – Zachary Edward-Brown’s write-up

Zhouqin Burnikel’s USA Today Crossword “Make the Bed” – 6/7/26

The theme is words that sound like letters, spelling out C-R-I-B, as hinted at by the title “Make the Bed”.

17A – [Reptile that usually nests on the same beach where it was born] = SEA TURTLE
29A – [“Can I speak now?”] = ARE YOU DONE
46A – [What shy people might struggle to make
] = EYE CONTACT
62A – [Superfood found in raw honey] = BEE POLLEN

The first words of each themer map onto one letter. SEA sounds like C, ARE = R, EYE = I, and BEE = B. As I was solving, I got SEA TURTLE and looked up at the title. My first thought was we’d be spelling out COT with the themers. Close, but not quite!

The grid is very nice. It could pass for a themeless puzzle with six non-theme answers that are 8 letters or longer: ITALIAN ICE, COCA-COLA, GET BORED, ET CETERA, PALME D’OR, and my favorite, SPACE OPERA, clued as [Genre for “Dune” or “Star Wars”]. Very nice!

Favorite clue: 43A [SZA’s debut album] CTRL I’ve seen the angle before, but I much prefer this to the computer key.

4.5 stars

Evan Birnholz’s Washington Post crossword, “Split Seconds” — Matthew’s write-up

Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, “Split Seconds,” 6/7/2026

“Split Seconds” this week features left-right symmetry, and strings of circled letters that bridge adjacent across entries. Those circled strings are clued, split between the clues for the entries they overlap

• 5a & 10a [Add flair to, with “up” / The second … … woman to win the Oscar for best director / Main artery] ZHUZH AORTA
• 31a & 34a [Exacted vengeance / The second … … planet from the sun / “Here”] GOT EVEN USE THIS
• 54a & 57a  [“The BFG” author Dahl / The second … … man on the moon / Professional athlete’s favorite bands?] ROALD RINGS
• 66a & 69a [Skill honed by students during exam prep / The second … … taxonomic rank / Address with labels separated by a dot] TEST TAKING DOMAIN NAME
• 90a & 92a [Org. concerned with disability rights / The second … … circle of hell in Dante’s “Inferno” / Flower show supporter] ACLU STEM
• 101a & 104a [“Marty Supreme” actor Timothee / The second … … birthstone in a calendar year / Classic Def Leppard album] CHALAMET HYSTERIA
• 110a & 115a [With 115 Across, process where an atom can split into two pieces (Note: The second letters of the circled words spell out the element associated with the number 2)] NUCLEAR FISSION

Some fun stuff happening here, but it takes me a moment to lay it all out. We have a series of “seconds” that are being split: ZHAO, VENUS, etc. Something else that involves “splitting” is NUCLEAR FISSION, and taking the second letter of each string of circled letters spells out HELIUM, the second element. It’s somewhat misaligned as helium is not a byproduct of fission – very quick research tells me zinc is the lightest such element – but it was an enjoyable couple of layers to work through, particularly the wide array of “seconds” Evan found for the circled strings.

Other highlights: It’s somewhat discouraging to accept SMEAR as a [Senator’s attack, say], but perhaps too idealistic to hope for fairer play in policymaking // I appreciate the [… as a chef would] qualifier on DEBONE. A bit macabre otherwise! // Little bit of a throwback at 97a [Style that’s similar to “the Rachel”] for SHAG. I never got much into Friends, but it’s surprising to realize it’s 30 years old // Speaking of 30 years ago, Judge Lance ITO’s “Trial of the Century” was the O.J. Simpson case // Little bit of sports jargon with TRAP GAMES, but Evan’s clue alluding to “a false sense of security” helps an unfamiliar solver along, I think // 

Cheers!