LAT tk (pannonica) 
[2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:06 (Amy) 
[4.18 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:07 (Jim P) [4.17 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (tk) rate it
Amanda Winters’s New York Times crossword — Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 6/12/26 – no. 0612
Interesting grid design. The 6-block corners look weird, but we get a puzzle bolstered by four 14s instead of 15s. The GENETIC LOTTERY, PORTLAND OREGON, ICE CREAM PARLOR, and BEST-KEPT SECRET are all great. In the middle are crossing 11s: CONEY ISLAND and POINTILLISM, also welcome. The rest of the fill is in the 3- to 7-letter range, so just the six longer entries.
Fave fill: SEASICK, KEY WEST, MAGGIE Smith.
Five more things:
- 19A. [“Empire of the ___” (1977 sci-fi film with an approval rating of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes)], ANTS. There’s also a 1991 novel by that name, by a French writer. Sounds much better.
- 29A. [Half ass reply?], HEE. As in half of a donkey/ass’s call, hee-haw.
- 1D. [Pastry with Austrian origins, despite its name], DANISH. I’ve had Swedish Danish in Chicago, so delicious!
- 11D. [Home of the Ernest Hemingway House], KEY WEST. Been there, saw some cats. The yard had some philodendrons climbing the trees. If you think about the plant’s etymology, it makes perfect sense!
- 49D. [Do business?], SALON. A business where they generate hairdos.
Four stars from me.
Alan Levin’s Universal crossword, “Risin’ Action”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are familiar words and phrases that feature the bigram ON, however those letters appear in the rows above our theme answers in the exactly correct positions. The “ON-less” entries are still valid, though unclued, crossword words.
Universal crossword solution · “Risin’ Action” · Alan Levin · Fri., 6.12.26
- 12a. [*Religious residence] MASTERY with 1a ONO -> monastery.
- 14a. [*Political cliques] “FACT IS…” with 7a MASON -> factions.
- 28a. [*Kraken, for one] SEAMSTER with 23a END ON -> sea monster.
- 45a. [*Influential manga and anime by Akira Toriyama] DRAGBALL with 41a LEMON -> Dragonball.
- 66a. [*”Give it to me straight”] BEHEST with 61a LEONARD -> “be honest“.
- 67aR. [*Like the Jeffersons, per their theme song … or solvin’ each starred clue’s answer by raisin’ two letters a row higher?] MOVIN’ UP with 64a ALIMONY -> “Movin’ On Up“.
Very nicely done! It’s not easy to stack theme answers because it makes for extra constraints on the grid, and here we have six such stacks. Yes, we only need two letters from each upper word, but those letters have to be in the correct position, and of course, they have to be parts of legit crossword entries. So I’m guessing this was a challenging construction, but the end result is quite nice. I realized ONs were missing from our theme entries before I left the upper portion of the grid, but it wasn’t until near the end that I found them above each entry. The revealer appropriately provided the final satisfying aha moment.
It’s not terribly surprising that there’s not much in the way long flashy fill. With the constraints I mentioned above—and the fact the grid maintains diagonal symmetry—having a clean grid is a tall enough order. At least we get some nice 7s to chew on, like GO STALE and EPIC WIN. I’m very not keen on partial A FINE, but given the theme, I found it…fine.
Clues of note:
- 4d. [Most common dice rolls]. SEVENS. Easy enough to get, but I feel like this should specify pairs of 6-sided dice. Maybe [Most common dice rolls in Vegas] would suffice.
- 5d. [Pay dirt?]. ORE. *grumble* Not sure I’m okay with calling rocks “dirt”. Any geologists want to weigh in?
- 34d. [Country whose official language was French from 1066 to 1362]. ENGLAND. I recognize 1066 as the year of the Norman invasion. Let’s see what happened in 1362: Okay, not as exciting, but Parliament decided that since common English citizens didn’t speak French and couldn’t understand what was being said in courts of law, then the courts should speak English from then on. On the throne sat Edward III who had an impressive 50-year reign considering it was the 14th century.
Good puzzle. 3.5 stars.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
That was excellent. Fun fill throughout, good cluing, minimal gunk.
If you ever visit PORTLANDOREGON, you must make time for Powell’s City of Books in downtown. There are a couple satellite stores too, but they’re just not the same.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
NYT: Agreed! An excellent Friday puzzle! I knew Powell’s bookstore because my daughter bought me a tee shirt from there when she visited Portland a number of years ago. My first answer was Coney Island, a gimme for me. Thanks Amanda for a very nice start to my morning.
I have a couple Powell’s shirts as well. I was in Portland a few weeks ago for a job interview, but unfortunately I wasn’t there long enough for another visit (and I also packed very light).
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
+1. The long answers were mostly gimmies (I’ve been to Powell’s many times), but it was still a fun solve. Such a weird clue for DANA, though. I grew up visiting SoCal yearly, and lived in the Bay Area for more than 5 years, traveling all over the state while there, and I’ve literally never heard of Dana Point.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4.5 stars
Agreed. Lovely puzzle, creative, fun, breezy. I needed that after a complicated week. Thank you!!!
And agreed re Powell’s. Lots of fun to be there.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1.5 stars
NYT – not my cup of tea. Most of the entries are dull as dishwater, and the cluing was self-satisfied smarm. Not a lot of joy to be had here.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
I really enjoyed this puzzle – I thought the cluing was very creative – multiple possibilities for the answer. I really liked “Do Business” and “Style with spotty coverage”. I also thought the Ice Cream Parlor, Coney Island, and Retina was a neat trio. I agree with Jamie about Powell’s – it’s simply amazing. If you go, plan to be there at least half a day. I’m old enough to have been to Coney Island when it was the place to go; later I would ride my bike from Cobble Hill along the bike path past the Verrazano to the boardwalk in its decline. I haven’t been near the place since the 1980’s, but my guess is that it has gone the way of Asbury Park. When I was a kid, I was allowed to bring two friends to AP for the day with my mom for my birthday. Anyone been to either lately?
Coney Island has definitely improved since you were last there. It’s quite popular again and you can still ride the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel. There are lots of modern rides as well.
And Nathan’s is still in business and is always packed.
NYT: Asbury Park has had a renaissance as well. Good music, good food, good boardwalk. And an amazing Halloween celebration!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 5 stars
I loved this puzzle. I’ve been doing NYT crosswords for several years now, but I’m still a novice. My time wasn’t the greatest, but this was the first Friday puzzle that I can remember not needing to look up at least one answer. Thank you, Amanda, for a challenging (for me) but fair puzzle!!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
Good puzzle. My best/worst mistaken answer: [“Empire of the ___” (1977 sci-fi film with an approval rating of 5% on Rotten Tomatoes)]. ANUS. I’m guessing that might fare worse than 5%.
Puzzle: Universal; Rating: 4.5 stars
Very clever concept & 6 theme answers in the grid!