Wednesday, July 22, 2026

AV Club untimed (Amy) rate it
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NYT 8:45 (Amy) [3.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
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Rebecca Goldstein’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 7/22/26 – no. 0722

We’re going to the carnival and throwing away our money on the games. “STEP RIGHT UP,” the carny says. “TRY YOUR LUCK!” So you do the RING TOSS in hopes of winning a PLUSH TOY. The ring toss is depicted by the circled R-I-N-G arc that ends where there’s a ring around [BOTTLE] in a rebus square at the end of SPIN THE BOTTLE. Fun!

Fave fill: GOSSIP, NOTECARD, BUGABOOS, potty PIT STOPS.

Somehow this puzzle took me more than twice as long as last Wednesday’s. The single rebus square wasn’t such a sticking point. Maybe my mind was just elsewhere, or maybe the cluing is harder than usual for a Wednesday. What’s your experience?

Four stars from me.

James Mattina & Bart van Merriënboer’s AV Club Classic crossword, “No Half Measures”—Amy’s recap

AV Club Classic crossword solution, “No Half Measures” p- 7/22/26

Roughly synonymous with the titular “No Half Measures” is the phrase IT’S ALL OR NOTHING. There are four rebus squares that contain either ALL or nothing, and the Across and Down clues work either way. A brilliant theme.

• 15a. [Lead in “The Specialist” who was also a voice actor in “Antz”], Sylvester ST{ALL}ONE or Sharon STONE. The crossing is 3d. [It might lift you up], BOON or B{ALL}OON.
• 16a. [Say two or ten or twelve or twenty times], ITERATE or, with all those T sounds, ALLITERATE / 7d. [Election counting concerns], BOTS or BALLOTS.
• 53a. [Performance in “A Star Is Born”], a concert SHOW or the duet “SHALLOW” / 47d. [Matches], TIES or TALLIES. There’s a definition of “match” or “tally” that I’m not familiar with, I think.
• 58a. [Method to bring dealings to a halt], STING (halting drug deals) or STALLING / 55d. [Major goal for a hockey player], the Stanley CUP or a CALL-UP, I guess to a higher level of team? Leave to a Canadian constructing duo to work hockey into the mix.

In the mix we’ve got a BREAD PAN as a [Vessel for some proofing]. There’s OTTER clued as [Slim, hairy person, in queer culture]. PAINT CAN evokes a Home Alone scene. The entry LESSOR feels “meh” but overall the fill is smooth.

Four stars from me.