Saturday, June 13, 2026

LAT tk (Stella) rate it
Newsday tk (pannonica) rate it
NYT 5:40 (Amy) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Universal 5:25 (Adam S) rate it
USA Today tk (ZEB) rate it
WSJ tk (pannonica) rate it

Attention, cryptic crossword lovers! Patrick Berry’s got a new suite of puzzles in his “Crypt” series. It includes 13 new cryptic puzzles, including 5 block-style cryptics and 8 variety cryptics. Cost is $15. Available from Patrick’s website.

Ryan McCarty’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 6/13/26 – no. 0613

Surprisingly zippy for a Saturday NYT, and not far off from yesterday’s solving time.

Fave fill: CAIMAN (I’ve watched too much Naked and Afraid not to have a soft spot; never saw the clue word alligatorid before but it makes sense), “THE HEAT ISON,” VAPE JUICE, LOS ALAMOS, BAG CLIP (so useful!), DATES UP, REGGIE JACKSON, SLUSHIES, AC MILAN, VLOGGER, EEYORE.

Three more things:

• 19A. [“Right?,” in British lingo], INNIT. Being American, it can bug me when INNIT follows something that’s not an “it.” Like “My sister’s annoying, innit?” “My parents are bonkers, innit?” This is how you can tell I’m not British.
• 44A. [Fishing accessory], CREEL. One of those words I rarely encounter. But I’m reading John of John, by Douglas Stuart, set on the Isle of Harris (Outer Hebrides, Scotland), and it’s got creel, creeler (a boat), and creeling (the verb). Smattering of Scots Gaelic vocab peppered throughout, and not all of it is findable in Wiktionary. Have also been watching How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix, and there’s a good bit of Irish dialogue that goes unsubtitled. I have Irish and Scottish ancestry but don’t know the languages at all.
• 3D. [Many a modern chess-playing program], AI MODEL. *shrug* If you say so.

Four stars from me.

Kareem Ayas’s Universal Crossword “Universal Freestyle 227” – Adam S’s write-up

Kareem Ayas’s Universal Crossword “Universal Freestyle 227” – June 13, 2026

Very impressive grid today. A very un-Universal 68 words (Universal themelesses can be up to 74 words, and most are 72 or 74), but with characteristic Universal accessibility and liveliness. That 4-6 words may not sound like a big difference, but as a very rough rule of thumb, themeless construction difficulty roughly doubles for every two words you take out of the grid.

Lots to love in the long stuff today. My favorites were INNER PEACE, BOOGIE BOARD, FROZEN PIZZA, DIAPER GENIE, ROAST MASTER, TUNA HELPER, BEER KOOZIES, HOOP SKIRTS, and FIRENADO. The italicized entries on that list have never previously appeared in outlets tracked by the Crosserville database, which is an incredible amount of super-fresh material.

The grid shape is fun, too, creating the feeling of following a path through the grid. It does lead to the corners being a little bit cut off, but it felt like a good tradeoff, especially as it also helps separate the stacks and allow for the colorful entries. It played a little tougher than a typical Universal for me – I actually solved yesterday’s NYT quicker than this, which almost never happens – but the puzzle was so good that spending a bit of extra time on it was a feature, not a bug.

A few notes:

• 33A FROZEN PIZZA [Humble pie?]. Chef’s kiss!
• 49A ROAST MASTER [Foremost burner?] Contrast with the above. Doesn’t quite land for me. The wordplay works, but since I’ve never heard anyone say “foremost burner,” it didn’t land for me.
• 56A STATE SEALS [Idaho’s and North Carolina’s feature cornucopias] TIL that a cornucopia is “a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat’s horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn.” Had only heard it in the metaphorical sense previously. Good clue to elevate a duller entry.
• 16D OAST [Brewer’s kiln] One of the many things that David Steinberg does very well as an editor is to grade expectations for fill on a curve based on the difficulty of what is being attempted. He once asked me to regrid to remove OAST in a much more forgiving grid than this. That was totally the right call for that grid, as was letting it pass to hold up this excellent puzzle.
• 52E MES [Mayo, por ejemplo] Embarrassed to admit that I totally glossed over the very obvious Spanish tag and tried to make this about mayonnaise 🤦‍♂️