Jonesin’ 4:03 (Erin) rate it
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[2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
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Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick’s Universal Crossword “Pony Tales” — Eric’s Review
Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick’s Universal Crossword “Pony Tales” — 7/21/26 (Click to Enlarge)
A trio of equines and a punny revealer make up today’s theme:
- 16A [Adult animated series about a cranky humanoid] BOJACK HORSEMAN
- 27A [2010 biographical sports drama] SECRETARIAT
- 41A [Young adult classic that teaches animal welfare] BLACK BEAUTY
- 54A [Protagonists, and a phonetic description of 16-, 27- and 41-Across?] MAIN CHARACTERS
I’m vaguely familiar with the three protagonists, though none were gimmes. But with a few crossing letters, it was easy enough to get those answers.
Other stuff:
- 1A [Grindr and Caviar, e.g.] APPS I’ve heard of the “social networking” application Grindr, but I’m not sure whether, in this clue, “Caviar” means the appetizer. There appears to be an application by that name that provides AI graphic design, but that seems a bit obscure.
- 49A [Caterpillar phase] LARVA I lost a few seconds here reading “phase” as “phrase.” Oops.
- 59A [Outkast album with the song “Ms. Jackson”] STANKONIA I know of that rap duo but didn’t recognize the song or the album.
- 1D [Opportunities from home?] AT-BATS Cute clue.
- 3D [Word before “party” or “top”] PAJAMA Just last week, in reviewing another puzzle, I questioned whether “pajama top” was really an in-the-language compound noun. I guess it is.
- 9D [Woman’s name in No. 1 hits from 1962 and 1985] SHEILA The 1962 song was Tommy Roe’s #1 “Sheila,” which I don’t really recognize and which owes a big debt to Buddy Holly. The 1985 song was Ready for the World’s #1 “Oh Sheila,” which I definitely don’t know, and which sounds more than a little like a Prince song.
- 24D [Guy in Suite D?] TED This clue made no sense to me. Then it finally clicked when I realized it used “Guy” in place of the “Name hidden in” that the Universal editors seem so fond of.
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Matt Jones’s Jonesin’ Crossword, “No Notes” — except for those seven. – Erin’s write-up
Jonesin’ solution 7/21/26
Hello lovelies! I’m filling in for Jenni again. Let’s see what’s going on with this odd puzzle. For starters, there are two across 15s and two down 9s, but they appear unrelated. Second, where are all the Es? And the As? Why are there so many Ss and Ts? The answer lies in the center of the grid at 41a. [Notes that appear here and nowhere else in the solved grid] ABCDEFG. The rest of the puzzle omits the seven musical notes. Generally these grid constraints lead to subpar fill like I WHO and OR I and the Roman numeral XLI, but overall the fill didn’t really suffer. Well, SRI and SSRI in the same grid isn’t great either.
Other things:
- 44a. [Sleep aid brand] “NYTOL…will help you get your Zs!” Psst…each pill is just 25mg of diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl.
Kenneth Cortes’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Review
Theme: GO OUT WITH A BANG – each theme answer ends with an explosive synonym
New York Times, 07 21 2026, By Kenneth Cortes
- 17a [“Easy-peasy!”] – BADA BING BADA BOOM
- 28a [Clean with a rough spray] – SANDBLAST
- 43a [Colorful taffy candy brand] – STARBURST
- 56a [2023 double-platinum Chappell Roan record] – RED WINE SUPERNOVA
- 34a [Finish flamboyantly … like 17-, 28-, 43- and 56-Across?] – GO OUT WITH A BANG
Hi folks, Sophia here on a Tuesday filling in for Eric! The theme today is simple but effective – I feel like the explosion synonyms just inherently lend themselves to interesting words/phrases, right? Even the shorter entries of SANDBLAST and STARBURST feel exciting, and they build nicely to the final SUPERNOVA.
Today’s grid is 16 letters across, which affords two great theme answers in BADA BING BADA BOOM and RED WINE SUPERNOVA. The latter is actually my favorite Chappell Roan song, so it was an immediate gimme for me – I’m guessing it will play harder on a Tuesday for other folks. (Actually, I’m probably in the minority who saw the clue about a “Chappell Roan record” and thought “how is this puzzle going to fit The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in the grid?”)
The grid did feel a little segmented off to me due to the diagonal black square line across the middle and the 5 black squares on each side, but the design does give fun down answers like THAT HURT, HABANERA, and OH GROW UP. I also appreciated other fill choices like BODEGA, RHINOS, and the AUGHTS. Trickiest clue for me was also my favorite: [Gave a hand] for DEALT.
Happy Tuesday all!