Happy Valentine’s Day to you all, crossword fiends!

(It’s a book cover from Brazilian Amazon! So cute)

Sarah Sinclair’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY TImes crossword solution, 2/14/25 – no. 0214

Enjoyable puzzle, on the breezier side for me.

Fave fill: GOOD KARMA (live your life to accrue that), TIDY SUM (gotta stack your dollars neatly), Klimt’s THE KISS, the contemporary usage CATCH FEELINGS ([Develop emotions (for)], perhaps when it won’t be reciprocated; I like the involuntary vibe, like catching a virus), ONE LOVE and AMOUR in the same row (it’s Valentine’s Day!), “SO SWEET!”, CANOODLE (smooch!), AFTERLIFE, TAKES THE “L” (this is not about Chicago commuting but rather, accepting a defeat), NOSE RING.

Bits of note:

• 44D. [Its national dish, matoke, is made from green bananas], UGANDA. Per Wikipedia, the unripe bananas themselves are matoke, not the dish. Maybe some naming overlap there between the dish and its key ingredient. I’d never heard of it. Cuisines of West Africa, Northern Africa, and Ethiopia/Eritrea are represented in restaurants near me, but not Uganda.
• 26D. [A little unwell?], MEDIUM RARE. “A lot unwell” would be rare. Going to say I’m medium rare the next time I’m feeling somewhat unwell.
• 10D. [Desirable and profitable, as an assignment], PLUM. Interesting how many stone fruits are used idiomatically in such positive ways. If you’re a real peach, that’s wonderful. If something’s cherry, it’s awesome; not sure which generation(s) have used it the word way.

4.25 stars from me.

Daniel Hrynick’s Los Angeles Times crossword — pannonica’s write-up

LAT • 2/14/25 • Fri • Hrynick • solution • 20250214

• 17a. [“My love, borscht for the first course of our Valentine’s dinner!] SUGAR, BEETS.
• 23a. [“My love, ruby spuds as a side”] BABY, RED POTATOES.
• 49a. [“My love, sweet-and-sour chops for our entree”] HONEY, GLAZED PORK.
• 56a. [“My love, I didn’t forget dessert!”] PUMPKIN, PIE.

Cute enough.

“If music be the food of love …”

• 3d [WoW or D&D] RPG, role-playing game.
• 8d [Spine-stretching asana] CAT POSE.
• 10d [“Likewise!”] SAME TO YOU. In such situations, I always say “same for you” because SAME TO YOU can also be an insulting retort. I realize context pretty much eliminates any ambiguity, but I still take the precaution.
• 38d [Barely run?] STREAK. This chestnut clue fooled me today.
• 49d [Instrument in a toot suite?] HORN. Little play on the French expression tout de suite.
  
• 59a [Kung __ tofu] PAO. Haven’t heard of kung pao with tofu, but of course it’s totally reasonable.
• 33a [Ceremonial pile] PYRE. “Pile” in the clue gives a strong nudge.
• 67a [Change channels?] SLOTS. Nice.

Amie Walker and Amanda Rafkin’s Universal crossword, “Inner Healing”—Jim’s review

Theme answers are familiar phrases that feature the letters in the word HEART. In the first three entries, the letters are in two groupings getting successively closer together until they unite in the revealer.

Universal crossword solution · “Inner Healing” · Amie Walker and Amanda Rafkin · Fri., 2.14.25

• 14a. [*”… generally speaking, that’s true” (In this clue’s answer, note letters 5-6 and 12-14)] FOR THE MOST PART.
• 24a. [*Begins before everyone else, say (… letters 6-8 and 13-14)] GETS A HEAD START.
• 40a. [*”Go ahead, we’re listening!” (… letters 9-12 and 14)] “WELL, LET’S HEAR IT!”
• 52a. [1996 Toni Braxton hit, and what the starred clues’ answers do collectively?] UNBREAK MY HEART.

Lovely theme! The clues are unwieldy in their length (no thanks to the parenthetical square-counting hints), so I mostly ignored them during the solve. But I got the gist of the theme with the first two entries and then the revealer tied it all together nicely.

I also like the choice of having the letters in two groupings in each entry, thus implying a heart broken in two, as opposed to having the letters spread throughout the entry, such as in HOUSE ARREST. The symbolism of two becoming one is in keeping with the theme and the day.

Looks like all the 14-letter theme answers required a fair number of “cheater squares” in order to keep the fill relatively smooth. But they did the job, so I’m not bothered by it, and in fact I like the visual effect.

The unusual grid curtailed any long fill entries, but what we get is pleasant enough with highlights GAMEPAD, DORITOS, and FACE ID.

Clues of note:

• 44a. [Rover’s pal, perhaps]. FIDO. Never have I ever come across a dog named FIDO nor Rover. Having one of each within the same friend group would be something.
• 47a. [Fugazza veggie]. ONION. From Wikipedia, “Fugazza is a common type of Argentine pizza, that consists of a thick pizza crust topped with onions and sometimes olives.” I should remember not to blog when I’m hungry.
• 48d. [Like a relationship that’s yet to be hard-launched, maybe]. NEW. Ok, I’ll bite. I’ve heard of a “soft opening” for a store or restaurant, say. I take it a “hard launch” is sort of the opposite, starting something in a very public manner.

Good puzzle. 3.5 stars.