Zachary David Levy’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Package Deal”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases punnily applied to new employees at the USPS.
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Package Deal” · Zachary David Levy · Wed., 2.12.25
- 17a. [“Welcome to your USPS orientation! As a reminder, you and your fellow carriers are forbidden from ___”] TRADING POST.
- 27a. [“For customers who have recently moved, you’ll need to double-check the ___”] FAREWELL ADDRESS.
- 34a. [“To avoid parcels bouncing back, ensure they’re not affixed with a ___”] RUBBER STAMP.
- 45a. [“If a mail slot is too narrow, we encourage you to gently ___”] PUSH THE ENVELOPE.
- 57a. [“Most important, remember that your primary responsibility is ___”] TO THE LETTER.
A cute set, and I enjoy a theme that employs some imagination. I think I liked the envelope entry best.
I am currently working my way through Mick Herron’s Slow Horses books (about MI5 and spies therein), so I had trouble parsing 11d LITTLE SPOON which looked to me like it was going to be LITTLE SPOOK. But that’s a fun entry anyway as clued [Participant in a cuddle session]. MR PRESIDENT isn’t quite as fun (esp. in the last couple of months), but I appreciated the clue [1962 Irving Berlin musical]. Other less high lights include NFLERS and MDMA especially crossing proper name ODOM.
Clues of note:
- 53a. [What may lead to travel reservations?]. JET LAG. Nice clue with “reservations” being synonymous with “misgivings.”
- 9d. [Further]. ELSE. I really fought this and wanted ALSO. But I guess it comes from such usage as, “What ELSE did she say?”
- 21d. [Elton or Ringo, e.g.]. SIR. Would you really call one of them a SIR? No, I think you’d say he is a knight.
3.5 stars.
Philip Koski’s New York Times crossword
NY Times crossword solution, 2/12/25 – no. 0212
I didn’t like this puzzle until I filled in the revealer and then I discovered I liked it a lot! The divided revealer is BEHIND A / PAYWALL, and there are walls made of pay (WAGE and SALARY). Those paywalls break up DEFINITE ARTICLE, SPEAK ONE’S PIECE, and CINDERELLA STORY, and you may often find yourself trying to read an article, piece, or story online only to be foiled by a paywall.
Handy tip: On Bluesky, there’s a feed full of gift links from assorted journalistic outlets. If you hit a paywall, take a look and see if the article you want is there.
Fave fill: “ANY IDEAS?”, the GEICO GECKO, BURNOUT. Not keen on very much of the other fill. PAW AT, ANON., TRA LA, RAH, OPERA ARIA, SEEPY crossing LAE, partial I NEED, plural symbol ATS? Sixty-seven theme squares to tend to crowd a grid. Wondering if this theme would have gridded better with two 15s each with its own paywall instead of three?
3.5 stars from me. Cool theme!
Taylor Johnsons USA Today Crossword, “Back Track” — Emily’s write-up
A delightful midweek puzzle with a fantastic themer set and theme. Enjoy!
USA Today, February 12, 2025, “Back Track” by Taylor Johnson
Theme: the second half (aka “back”) of each themer can be appended with –TRACK to form a new phrase
Themers:
- 20a. [Thomas the Tank Engine, to a toddler], CHOOCHOOTRAIN
- 38a. [“Pfft, what a foolish thing to say!”], DONTMAKEMELAUGH
- 54a. [Extremely quickly], LIGHTNINGFAST
Today’s themer set is a hoot! Starting off with CHOOCHOOTRAIN to which many might quip DONTMAKEMELAUGH but surely there was at least a LIGHTNINGFAST smile on everyone’s face (or a shadow of one) for that first themer. Very playful! With the theme, we get TRAIN TRACK, LAUGH TRACK, AND FAST TRACK, all of which tie in well to their original themers too! What fun!
Favorite fill: SOFTBOIL, TABASCO, DIDO, and ALIA
Stumpers: DRYCLEANED (tried “shampoo” and “washed” first), SPADE (though of “shovel” first), and IMOUT (only “see ya” and “later” came to mind)
Loved the grid and all the lengthy bonus fill. A smooth solve for me this morning, which is delightful for midweek. The overall fill was fresh and fun as well. Fun theme and themer set with a great title hint. Nicely done!
4.5 stars
~Emily
NYT: I had a very hard time getting a consistent foothold into this puzzle at the start. I’d figure out an answer and then hit a proverbial wall (of uncertainty) and move elsewhere. It took a while to get rolling.
Like Amy, I liked the concept once I figured it out. In some ways, it felt like a Thursday, except that one could just solve it as a themeless and figure out the idea afterwards.
I think part of the issue was the fill as described by Amy, and part was the cluing. I need to consider that I also had a very long and complicated day, so that probably dimmed my wits.
huda, I had a similar experience. My worst Wednesday time in a very long time. Part of the issue is that I don’t think I’ve ever heard of SPEAK ONES PIECE before, and I had a very hard time figuring out this answer.