Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Jonesin’ untimed (Jenni) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 5:55 (Erin) rate it
NYT 8:34 (Eric) [3.43 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (panonnica) [3.67 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal 7:35 (Eric) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ tk (Jim Q) rate it

Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “Congratulations!” — there are a few in the grid – Jenni’s write-up

One of the (many) things I enjoy about Matt’s puzzles is that the title serves as the revealer. That gives us more theme material in the grid. This week’s theme is timely and amusing. I have a quibble with the fill – see if you can spot the clue to my quibble in the grid.

Jonesin’, June 9, 2026, Matt Jones, “Congratulations!” – there are a few in the grid, solution grid

Each theme answer is a base phrase with GRAD added in (get it? June? ’tis the season!). Hilarity ensues.

• 17a [Steal a D+, perhaps?] is ROB LOW GRADE. Rob Lowe.
• 32a [Symbols representing Saint Petersburg two name changes ago?] is PETROGRAD GLYPHS. Pegtroglyphs.
• 51a [Singer Rawls evened out a yard?] is LOU REGRADED. Lou Reed. That one threw me for a minute – I tried to see LOU RAWLS in the grid where, of course, he did not belong.

The theme was delightful. The base phrases are solid and the clues and subsequent ridiculous answers are highly amusing.

My quibble is at the crossing of 7a and 10d. I have never heard of the band MGMT or their album “Oracular Spectacular,” nor am I familiar with TYE Sheridan of “Ready Player One.” It would have been much more straightforward to clue MGMT as the abbreviation. I initially tried D and did check and reveal rather than cycle through the alphabet.

What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: see above re: MGMT and TYE Sheridan. I also did not know that INGRID Michaelson was drafted at the last minute to sing backup for Paul McCartney on the season finale of “SNL.” I have, however, heard of her, so I knew the answer right away.

Zachary Edward-Brown’s Universal Crossword “Business Divisions” — Eric’s Review

Zachary Edward-Brown’s Universal Crossword “Business Divisions” — 6/9/26 (Click to Enlarge)

Circled letters span the entries on three rows, holding some familiar tenants of a neighborhood shopping center:

• 16A [With 17-Across, collaborates with] WORKS/17A [See 16-Across] ALONGSIDE
• 26A [With 28-Across, swindler] SCAM/28A [See 26-Across] ARTIST
• 46A [With 48-Across, actress who delivered a monologue in “Barbie”] AMERICA/48A [See 46-Across] FERRARA
• 61A [Places where stolen cars are dismantled … or a theme hint] CHOP SHOPS

I don’t know how much I used the theme while solving, but I like the reimagining of the revealer.

Other stuff:

• 1A [Oodles and oodles] LOADS Not LOTSA.
• 13A [Gym session with planks] AB DAY This is why I don’t go to the gym.
• 34A [Has kimbap or bibimbap] EATS I like the choice of having two Korean dishes in the clue. I’ve never eaten either, but maybe someday.
• 65A [Zoolander of “Zoolander”] DEREK It’s rare that I stop watching a movie after 10 or 15 minutes, but that’s one of them.
• 66A [___Guessr (online game)] GEO That’s new to me. It seems to run off Google Maps, an app that I dislike using.
• 69A [Stitch] SEW/63D [“You reap what you ___”] SOW “How was the puzzle?” “So-so.”
• 3D [Bungee jumper’s hormone] ADRENALINE I lost a bit when TESTOSTERONE didn’t fit.
• 5D [Food distribution company] SYSCO Really, what other company would it have been? They’re the Amazon or Wal-Mart of restaurant provisions.

Rebecca Goldstein’s New York Times Crossword — Eric’s Review

Rebecca Goldstein’s New York Times Crossword — 6/9/26

Does the United States Department of Agriculture still prescribe cooking temperatures for meat and fish? One never knows about things like that anymore.

But here’s every temperature you might want:

• 21A [Chafes excessively] RUBS RAW
• 28A [Nearly unique] EXCEEDINGLY RARE
• 47A [Compromise that, ideally, leaves both parties satisfied] HAPPY MEDIUM
• 58A [Prediction of a negative outcome that is true of 21-, 28- and 47-Across] THIS WON’T END WELL

I appreciate the progression in the theme answers from least to most done. And I also like that the theme answers are all familiar phrases, but not overly used in crosswords.

Other stuff:

• 33A [Assists, in basketball slang] DIMES That’s new to me; I’m moderately curious about its origin (but not curious enough to look it up).
• 54A [English soccer star ___ James] REECE Not a name I recognize. But as he’s part of the English squad for the World Cup, maybe I’ll see him play.
• 55A [Sonic boom generator?] SEGA Cute clue.
• 6D [Carnivorous cinematic alien] BLOB Is this the 1958 sci-fi classic with Steve McQueen or the 1988 remake? Does it matter?
• 45D [“Toodle-oo!”] BYE NOW Not BYE-BYE.

Amanda Rafkin and Amy Walker’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Erin’s write-up

LA Times solution, 6/9/26

Hello lovelies! Today’s LAT puzzle features some strong work from the constructors.

• 17a. [Cocktail poured with a heavy hand] STIFF DRINK
• 29a. [Honest amount of reliable work] SOLID EFFORT
• 45a. [Resilient person] TOUGH COOKIE
• 60a. [Social media debut of a romantic relationship, or what 17-, 29-, and 45-Across have] HARD LAUNCH. The theme entries start with, or launch with, a synonym for hard.

Other things:

• 43a. [Delt neighbor] LAT. Here it’s short for latissimus dorsi, but but it’s also kind of meta for the LAT puzzle to contain LAT as an answer.
• 10d. [Assassin’s Creed game company] UBISOFT. The French company also developed Prince of Persia, Just Dance, and the Tom Clancy series of games.
• 26d. [Wright of “Black Panther”] LETITIA. She plays Shuri in the Black Panther movies and other Avengers films.

Will Nediger’s New Yorker crossword — pannonica’s write-up

New Yorker • 6/9/26 • Tue • Nediger • solution • 20260609

I’ve actually managed to squeeze in a Tuesday New Yorker write-up for the first time in weeks. My time is still limited, but I’ll try not to shortchange you, dear readers.

I think this one manages to hit the mocha mark better than most. Further, the fill is fresh, varied, and engaging.

• 1a [Cherubic-looking] ANGEL-FACED. Should have had this one sooner, but I had two incorrect crossings. First, there was 3d [Was waved through by the bouncer] GOT IN, for which I tried LET IN. Second, there was 10d [Planetary-rotation period] DAY, for which I inattentively put in SOL. (21d [Source of some flares] SUN.)
  
• 15a [{I’m a little baby!}] GOO GOO GA GA. Kind of bold to use that as an entry! 11a [No longer in the womb] BORN.
• 17a [Reason to eschew cashews] NUT ALLERGY. Cute, like something I’d probably write.
• 19a [Name that’s a synonym of “eat” backward] ENID (dine). Clue was ambiguous to parse, and I reasonably wondered about CHAI as a name.
• 25a [Rhetorical term that comes from the Greek for both “sharp” and “dull”] OXYMORON. Good to remember.
• 27a [Biblical name meaning “my God”] ELI.
  
• 34a [Stymies, as a plan] THWARTS. Etymology of stymie: Scots stimie, stymie “to obstruct a golf shot by interposition of the opponent’s ball,” from stimie, noun, “shot that places a ball between an opponent’s ball and the hole,” of obscure origin (m-w.com)
  51d [Annoyance treated by an optometrist] STYE. Etymology: short for obsolete English styan, from Middle English styanye eye with a sty, from Old English stīgend sty, from stīgan to go up, rise — more at STAIR (m-w.com). Also, how often would someone with a STYE seek out professional care?
• 41a [Competition show on which Bobby Flay controversially stood atop his cutting board] IRON CHEF. I didn’t care for him before that incident, and lost all remaining respect afterwards. Also (cred claim), I’d been a devotee of the original Japanese production of Iron Chef for a couple of years before the American version, and there was quite a lot lost in translation.
  
• 49a [Props for a job well done] KUDOS, which is singular.
• 53a [Run-time error?] FALSE START. Nothing to do with computing.
• 56a [Stalinist’s ideological foe, in Soviet Russia] TROTSKYITE. Nifty bunch of letters as a crossword entry.
• 58a [Humans who can transform into fierce scavengers, in African mythology] WERE-HYENAS. It’s unfair to so frequently refer to them as scavengers, because hyenas (I’m considering Crocuta crocuta, the spotted hyena, which is the most common species in popular imagination) hunt and kill prey for roughly 75% of their diet.
  
• 2d [Bed and breakfast, for example] NOUN. Never been much of a fan for this type of clue.
• 4d [“Blast!” from the past] EGAD. “Blast!” is also from the past, yes?
• 7d [Type of discrimination whose name was coined by the gerontologist Robert Neil Butler] AGEISM. Clue telegraphs the answer. Also, it seems like such an easy and natural word formation that it seems unnecessary to coin it. On the other hand, I suppose it’s precipitated by the recognition of the phenomenon—once the concept was acknowledged, the naming is perfunctory.
• 11d [Shows off one’s pipes] BELTS. Singing.
• 12d [Listened in on, perhaps] OVERHEARD. 54d [Overhead expanse] SKY. Not a duplication at all, but I’m just noticing the similarity.
• 13d [Video-game subgenre that includes Hades and Belatro] ROGUE LITE. I’ve heard of both games and the category (which I couldn’t describe because I don’t know what it means), but didn’t see this as the answer until sufficient crossings were present.
• 14d [Widely spaced features of a hammerhead shark] NOSTRILS. Eyes too, of course. Factette: the unusual antomical distinction of the hammerhead shark is called a cephalofoil.
• 24d [Beginning-of-the-month observance, in Judaism] ROSH CHODESH. Didn’t know this, but early on surmised the ROSH part (with help from a crossing).
• 32d [Souvenir from a boxing match] BLACK EYE. Perhaps the presence of this entry necessitated invoking an optometrist in the clue for 51-down, to avoid duplication?
• 42d [Sexless] CHASTE. AGENDER did not fit.
• 53d [Celebratory initialism, online] FTW, for the win.