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Aidan Deshong’s New York Times Crossword — Sophia’s Review
Theme: GRAYSCALE – each theme answer has two solfège notes within it, in order moving through the puzzle. Each note is shaded in gray, making a scale.
New York Times, 07 27 2026, By Aidan Deshong
- 16a [“Either way is fine with me”] – I DON’T CARE
- 22a [Friendly emoticon] – SMILEY FACE
- 36a [Country in Oceania named for a biblical king] – SOLOMON ISLANDS
- 47a [Pet for Franklin Roosevelt or George W. Bush, informally] – SCOTTIE DOG
- 59a [Smartphone setting that removes all color from the screen … or a feature of this puzzle?] – GRAY SCALE
Did anyone else get “Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music” stuck in their head while solving this puzzle? The placement of the notes across the theme answers is nicely balanced, and all 4 theme entries are great choices. As a former choir kid, my only minor complaint is that the notes are traveling downwards through the puzzle, whereas the scale on sheet music would have each subsequent note go up! The puzzle is also not square – it’s 14×15 in order to accommodate the central 14-letter long SOLOMON ISLANDS.
I knew the trivia about both SOLOMON ISLANDS and SCOTTIE DOG, so much of the bottom half of the puzzle came together quickly for me. The clue of [Smartphone setting that removes all color from the screen … or a feature of this puzzle?] for GRAYSCALE was an interesting one as I associate that term much more with the art world than with the tech one.
The fill was incredibly clean and interesting given the density of thematic material! I liked seeing PONZU and UNAGI near each other in the northwest corner. Other standout answers are SEMIFINAL, TOO LATE NOW, GASLIGHT, TO BE SAFE, ONE SEC. I’m always happy to see Zac EFRON in the puzzle, and I liked the clue of [Only state with a nonrectangular flag] for OHIO (it’s closer to a pennant shape).
Happy Monday all!