Monday, June 15, 2026

BEQ 18:59 (Eric) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 1:46 (Stella) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 4ish (Sophia) [3.17 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 4:19 (Amy) [3.50 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) [3.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
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Eric Rollfing’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Recap

THEME: SOMEBODY’S CRANKY – each theme answer involves a literal crank, clued in a punny way

New York Times, 06 15 2026, by Eric Rollfing

This recap is coming from San Francisco, where I attended the Westwords crossword tournament today! It was a great time and so fun to see so many crossword folks. However since I’m traveling without my laptop, this will be a pretty quick write up.

Today’s theme involves items that use a crank, making them literally CRANKY. Each of them also has a ? Clue, although I’m not sure if that’s related to the revealer or not? These were: [Device that helps you make a point in class?] for PENCIL SHARPENER, [Toy likely to be found at a pop-up store?] for JACK IN THE BOX, and [Revolutionary kitchen item?] for SALAD SPINNER. Each of these worked for me, although I don’t know enough about the mechanical definition of “crank” to confirm if the salad spinner that I own that mostly involves hitting a button on the top counts as one.

I don’t personally think of the revealer SOMEBODY’S CRANKY as a known phrase, is this something that other people are more familiar with? It may just not be something my family and friends say.

Fave fill: DANCE CREW, ESCHEWS, MAIN MENUS (say that three times fast!)

Trouble spot: LIDS at 1A! I had “rims” and “lips” first.

Happy Monday all!

Janice Luttrell’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 6/15/26 by Janice Luttrell

You could say this is a run-of-the-mill puzzle…what the theme is about, that is. 56A [Tom Jones hit, and what can be said about the end of 20-, 27-, or 49-Across] is IT’S NOT UNUSUAL, because the last word in each theme entry (COMMON, PLAIN, and ROUTINE) means “not unusual” in some way:

• 20A [Central green in a small town] is VILLAGE COMMON.
• 27A [Plateau in England that’s home to Stonehenge] is SALISBURY PLAIN.
• 49A [Comedian’s performance] is STAND-UP ROUTINE.

The fill is pretty smooth, as should be the case when, with two exceptions (SHOVELED and TRIAL RUN), all of the nontheme entries are 6 letters or shorter.

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword #1896 — Eric’s Review

¡Vamos España!

More later!

Brendan Emmett Quigley’s Crossword — 6/13/26 (Click to enlarge)

Was this one tough, or am I just suffering from two nights of too little sleep? I had to pause around 16 minutes for a FIFA-mandated hydration break. And still it was a challenge to finish up.

Much of the grid was blank for too long. Stuff I should have known didn’t come to mind. Colloquial phrases just didn’t ring quite right.

What caught my eye:

1A [Polishes up] BUFFS Tough start, since that kind of clue is so often used for EDIT. (Yes, Amy, I really would like an editor!)

6A [Passes in soccer, e.g.] STAT As long as it took me to get this, you wouldn’t know I had just finished watching the first of today’s World Cup matches. (No spoilers from me; if you want to know the score, it’s easily found.)

14A [One of the producers of the Broadway production of “The Color Purple”] OPRAH Not a factoid that I knew, but easily guessable if you know anything about the show or Ms Winfrey.

• 15A [Video doorbell company] ARLO Not RING. Not NEST. I’m not familiar with that brand. But I guess even the “Alice’s Restaurant” singer needs a day off now and then.
• 17A [Question from a mover with an armload] WHERE’S GOOD Ugh. The folks who unloaded our stuff two years ago were more articulate than that?

The score around the half

• 21A [Making a killing?] LETHAL Is that kosher, or should it be [Capable of making a killing?]
• 23A [His portrait in on the Tiananmen Gate] MAO Three letters? China? Who else would it be?
• 24A [“Fighting” collegians] ILLINI A much-needed gimme and my first touch answer.
• 26A [Phrase said while touching one’s temple] AYE CAP’N The clue didn’t make me think of a salute; even when I had the start of it, I wasn’t sure about the last letter.
• 36A [Stereotypical warmth from the Gopher State] MINNESOTA NICE If I’d seen that clue sooner, I might have shaved a few minutes off my time.
• 39A [A ___ placito (at pleasure, in music)] BENE I know a lot of musical notation terms for someone who has never played an instrument. Not this one.
• 40A [Provisional state whose symbol was a honeybee] DESERET I’m kicking myself here. I live maybe an hour from the Utah state line. I forget how exactly Deseret figures into the history of the Colorado Plateau area; it probably has something to do with the Mormons allowing multiple wives. But in any case, the name lives on in The Deseret News, a major paper (if such things still exist) in Utah, and Utah is the Beehive State (it’s on their road signs).
• 47A [Expert marksman] DEADEYE. Duh. I think the last Vonnegut I read was Deadeye Dick.
• 49A [Immature egg] OOCYTE How did I know this? My memory of biology is really weak.
• 52A [It looks like an I] SMALL L I hate the phrase “I call bullshit,” but c’mon. It’s a lower-case L. A “small L” is just a tiny type size.
• 58A [“Did you hear me? Unh-uh”] I SAID NO WAY Unh-uh.
• 61A [Reduce the effectiveness of] NERF Not NUMB. Legit answer that didn’t occur to me until my first answer wasn’t working.
• 64A [“Well, shit”] DRAT Not a fair clue, at least by New York Times standards.
• 4D [Language that gave us “pistachio”] FARSI I eat pistachios a lot and should have known better than to try TAMIL first.
• 9D [What many are when learning something surprising] TODAY YEARS OLD I love the sentiment that one can always learn something new if one keeps an open mind. But the cutesiness of the phrasing gives me the creeps.
• 11D [Preliminary, moving storyboard] ANIMATIC A term I once knew and had forgotten.
• 12D [He was known for drinking under the table] AL CAPONE Anyone want to explain that clue to me, per favore?
• 13D [Island in the Cyclades] MYKONOS I’ve seen the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey a couple of times now. It looks promising. (I have no idea if any part of that story takes place on Mykonos. But the mind goes where it will.)
• 18D [“Totally forgot it!”] SLIPPED MY MIND Me, too much of the time.
• 22D [Fender who founded an eponymous guitar company] LEO Absolute gimme.
• 30D [Termination to the choir] APSE Not AMEN.
• 33D [Golfer who won tournaments across six different decades] Sam SNEAD Impressive if you like golf. I could do without it.
• 37D [Out of public view] IN CAMERA Legal Latinisms! (“Camera” is Latin for “chamber” or “room;” if a judge reviews evidence in their chambers to see if it should be presented to the jury, it’s an “in camera review.” (Or more or less; my trial court days ended a long time ago.)
• 45D [Cuban Missile Crisis UN secretary general] U THANT It sometimes helps to be older. Or a history buff.

Elizabeth Gorski’s New Yorker crossword–Amy’s recap

New Yorker crossword solution, 6/15/26 – Gorski

My solving time, and that of commenter David L, did not connote Monday New Yorker rigor. Easier than last Tuesday’s New Yorker and Friday’s NYT. Huh.

Fave fill: the dreaded TRAFFIC CAMERA (though in Chicago there’s a distinction between speed cameras and red light cameras), RAVISHED, CONTRARIAN. I do like DEETS, short for details, but suspect there are other solvers who find it inelegant. (Could have been RIB/BEETS.)

Lots of clunkier fill, despite there not being all that many entries in the 8+ range. AGAS, TAM, AND A, SON OF, AHI, I’D SAY SO, UGLI? There’s also a retro vibe, with 1995 HIDEO and GINA Torres with a 2002 credit. (Willie MAYS is timeless and Lionel MESSI is current.)

Three stars from me.

Matthew Luter’s Universal crossword, “Wraparound Porch” — pannonica’s write-up

Universal • 6/15/26 • Mon • “Wraparound Porch” • Luter • solution • 20260615

• 20a. [Transfer leadership] PASS THE TORCH.
• 29a. [Key ingredient in gluten-free donuts] POTATO STARCH.
• 43a. [Cubano or McRib] PORK SANDWICH.
• 52a. [Piece of fine dinnerware] PORCELAIN DISH.

In each of these entries, the word porch brackets the other letters. Note also the regular progression of the break as we move from top to bottom—it’s a touch that elevates the theme.

• 5d [Unpaved street] DIRT ROAD.
  
• 13d [Fury] IRE, 16a [Fury] ANGER.
• 34d [Hiker’s aerosol defense] BEAR SPRAY, whose efficacy relies on capsaicinoids.
• 38d [Network with a lot of résumés] LINKEDIN, which nowadays is rather creepy and gunky if you ask me. (61a [Lead-in to a texter’s hot take] IMO.)
• 45d [Any of six in a game of Clue] WEAPON. Can I remember them all? It’s been a very long time since I’ve played the game. Rope, revolver, wrench, candlestick, dagger, lead pipe? I think that’s correct.
  
• 49d [Hands, or coverings for hands] MITTS. Clever.
• 51d [Spin] WHIRL, not TWIRL as I originally tried.
• 14a [Veranda] LANAI, which is a covered patio. So: theme-adjacent.
• 17a [Person put in a cast before they break a leg?] ACTOR. Also clever; nice clue.
• 39a [Nursery purchase] PLANT. Something you buy at a nursery (botanical) rather than for a nursery (pediatric). Relatedly, I am finally going to be able to get some plants this week—so late this year because I’ve been so busy. At least five coleus for the porch rails, some other stuff to hang, and a few more for the stands. Keeping it relatively minimal.
  
• 41a [Accessory with a Windsor knot, perhaps] TIE. I made the conceptual leap of seeking an additional accessory, such as a tie clip or cufflinks, because the implication of a necktie was so strong.
• 59a [Singer LaBelle or Smith] PATTI. Or Cathcart. Or Page. Or Austin. Or LuPone. Or Scialfa…
• 63a [Deep pit] ABYSS. Nietzsche notwithstanding, I’m still kind of grumpy that barely any people liked my social media post from over two years ago, which read
  

  >snap, snap< “Hey, Abyss! My eyes are up here”