LAT tk (pannonica) rate it
NYT 6:05 (Amy) 
[3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Jim P) rate it
USA Today tk (Ben P) rate it
Geoffrey Schorkopf’s’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 7/24/26 – no. 0724
The middle of this puzzle seems to be giving an opinion. BINGE WATCHING? HERE’S THE THING: LIFE’S TOO SHORT. I disagree. I was outside for a while this afternoon and I binge-watched some TV this evening. A well-balanced life.
The cluing overall felt a bit hard for a Friday. There were some entries whose clues weren’t delivering me to the answers:
- 46A. [Group with defining traits?], WORD NERDS. Clue sort of points to lexicographers, and WORD NERDS isn’t really a term of science, is it?
- 49A. [Tropical fruit with white flesh and a deep-red rind], MANGOSTEEN. Not one found at my local stores. I looked it up online and I daresay the Pokémon called Bounsweet is modeled after the mangosteen.
- 21D. [Cookware sometimes used over campfires], DUTCH OVENS. I could only think of s’mores, which need no cookware.
Fave fill: MORNING STAR, “PUT THAT DOWN!”, FINE PRINT, and the 15s.
20A. [It makes one red in the face] isn’t shame or makeup, it’s a CLOWN NOSE. Not red in the whole face.
Four stars from me.
Amy,
No Chinese markets in your area? Mangosteens are pretty tasty. Not as sweet as fresh lychees, which are in season now too, but a close second. Just beware that the pith is bitter. Sort of like pomegranate pith. Maybe worth the trip to 99 Ranch in Naperville. The lychees are, for sure.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
I thought the grid felt kind of dated, along with the odd cluing. I haven’t been to CNET in ages, “suspicious” links would be phishes or scams rather than something NSFW, and aren’t DUTCHOVENS a bit heavy to use over a campfire?