Wednesday, June 24, 2026

AV Club 4:09 (Amy) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) rate it
NYT 6:51 (Amy) [3.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (Jim Q) rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) rate it
WSJ 5:52 (Eric) rate it

Bharati Hemmady & Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal Crossword “Digital Divide” — Eric’s Review

Bharati Hemmady & Jeff Chen’s Wall Street Journal Crossword — 6/24/26 (Click to Enlarge)

This one went very smoothly. If I had solved on paper, or if AcrossLite had a keyboard command for switching directions, I’d have been quicker. Approximately 40 years of typing on computers have made me very fond of keyboard command over using a mouse or trackpad. (Yes, I can hear the teeny-tiny violin you’re playing, probably in waltz time.)

Four mathematical fractions, all of which work out to “1,” clue the theme answers:

• 16A [1/1] NEW YEAR’S DAY
• 25A [4/4] TIME SIGNATURE I listen to music throughout most of my days, but never learned to play any instrument. Consequently, while I have a vague idea of what a time signature is, “4/4” didn’t make me immediately think of common time, a pattern of four notes to a measure that is the norm in rock, jazz, country, and bluegrass.
• 47A [20/20] PERFECT VISION In my youth, you were unlikely to have your eyes tested unless your teacher noticed you were having trouble reading the chalkboard. I didn’t wear the glasses I needed for quite a while after I got them. My perfect vision is likely to be restored only by cataract surgery in a few years.
• 60A [50/50] HALF AND HALF We go through that stuff way too quickly around here. When I first started drinking coffee in college, I decided I would do it only if I drank it black. I didn’t want the calories from sugar or cream. That didn’t quite work out.

It’s a solid theme, with theme answers that feel fresh.

Other stuff:

• 10A [Car that “beats the gassers and the rail jobs” in a 1964 hit] GTO I should probably listen to that song someday, as much as it appears in crosswords.
• 21A [“Breaking Away” director Peter] YATES As a regular bicyclist and a movie fan, that’s a gimme.
• 55A [Guy who cooks] FIERI Cute clue.
• 6D [Ford’s longest continuous car model] MUSTANG I expected the answer to be TAURUS, thinking that, like the Chevrolet Camaro, the Mustang had been discontinued and revived.
• 10D [Fashionable group] GLITTERATI Kind of a fun word.
• 27D [There’s no use discussing them] MOOT POINTS In my experience, mootness never stops some people.
• 50D [Interior designer Yip] VERN That’s a new name for me; I guessed VERA. Wikipedia says that while guesting on the TV show Trading Spaces, Yip “was known for frequently including silk, candles and flowers in the rooms he designed.” That doesn’t sound like something I’d care for, but in moderation, who knows?

Kevin Curry & Zhou Zhang’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 6/24/26 – no. 0624

WALKIE-TALKIES are the name of the game, 36A. [Hand-held radios used by the speakers of the italicized clues and their answers?]. The theme answers are phrases that end with walkie-talkie transmission words, clued as if there’s a comma in those familiar phrases:

• 17A. [“Sleigh’s loaded and ready! How are you feeling, Santa?”], “JOLLY, ROGER!” We assume that one of the elves at the North Pole is named Roger.
• 25A. [“I’m at the bakery – what kind of doughnut do you want?”], “GLAZED, OVER.”
• 49A. [“What’s tomorrow’s chemistry exam about again?”], “CARBON, COPY.”
• 60A. [“Before you go, what animal crosses the road in that old joke?”], “CHICKEN, OUT.”

Fun, fresh.

Didn’t know a 1A. [Retro kind of hairstyle] was a PIN-UP. What era is this from, exactly?

63A. [What postseason games can’t end in], TIES. I filled in DRAW first, since it’s World Cup season. Slowed down that whole corner. DRAW encouraged WE’RE HERE instead of WE MADE IT, and REVS instead of PEPS didn’t help me one bit.

Fave fill: ASS BRA above the middle should be a thing. Maybe it is? PICANTE, PONZU, OMNIVORE, GOOD EATS (maybe better clued as the old Alton Brown food show).

Four stars from me.

Sala Wanetick’s AV Club Classic crossword, “This Is Fine”—Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, 6/24/26 – “This Is Fine”

This was a quick solve, but also one where I have no idea what the theme was after solving. Let’s put it together. The revealer is 36a. [Sign in a construction zone, or what might be said by the entities in this puzzle’s theme answers], PARDON OUR DUST. Ah, it’s all in the theme clues, isn’t it?

• 17a. [Cocaine-selling “Scarface” character who says “Say hello to my little friend”], TONY MONTANA. Face dusted with the coke he’s been snorting.
• 24a. [Three-time Olympic gold medalist in track], GAIL DEVERS. Sprinter and hurdler. Olympic tracks are made of that rubbery stuff, right? No literal dust? Just leaving people in the dust, figuratively.
• 47a. [“Hook” fairy], TINKER BELL She’s got fairy dust.
• 57a. [Iconic New Orleans beignet spot known for using a truly egregious amount of powdered sugar], CAFE DU MONDE. Powdered sugar everywhere.

So the puzzle title, “This Is Fine,” evoking that cartoon dog in a burning room saying “this is fine,” relates to fine powders such as cocaine, dust, fairy dust, and confectioner’s sugar.

Fave fill: ILIA Malinin of ice skating fame (at first I thought it was the Ilia of Heated Rivalry), POLITICO, ESCARGOT (took my son and his wife out for dinner last week and the kids ordered escargot and ate it all). [Appetizer typically served with a snail fork]? Indeed. It arrived at our table with four little forks, though the snails were already out of the shells.

14a. [Word pair repeated in “Hot Hot Hot,” the anthem of the 1986 World Cup], OLE, OLE. Watching the Telemundo streaming feed of the World Cup matches, I’ve not heard fans chanting “Olé, olé, olé,” but I have heard the announcers shouting “Go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ol!” when either team scores. (Pardon my brevity. I left out a lot of O’s there.)

Four stars from me.