LAT tk (pannonica) rate it
NYT 5:39 (Amy) rate it
Universal tk (Jim P) rate it
USA Today tk (?) rate it
Spencer Leach’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 6/26/26 – no. 0626
Cute pairing in the opening corner. [Expert on cosmos?], MIXOLOGIST (cosmopolitan cocktails) beside [Expert on the cosmos], ASTRONOMER. My kingdom for an [Experts on cosmos], HORTICULTURISTS (15).
New to me: 30D. [Chess tactic in which the king and queen are attacked simultaneously by a single piece], ROYAL FORK. Also unfamiliar: 22D. [Third-generation Japanese American], SANSEI. Crosswords of yore taught me ISSEI, Japanese immigrants to the US, and NISEI, those people’s kids. So sansei are the grandkids.
Fave fill: EXTRA-LARGE PIZZA (I would never), LOS DOS (solely because an old taco commercial was memed to great effect), HOUSE OF PAIN, EDGE CASES, TEETERED, BZZT, PANOPTICON.
There’s quite a bit of short fill that I didn’t love. Abbreviations XMAS, BRB, CEO, MIA, SYS, SCI, PDAS, CIA, and ASST, that’s a lot. The spoken “OK, SO…” feels a little more random than idiomatic.
3.5 stars from me.
Is “BZZT” really a thing? That clue rubbed me really wrong