[time_hdr postdate="2025/02/18" puzz="The New Yorker"]2:34 (Kyle)
Chloe Revery’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Case by Case”—Jim’s review
Theme answers are compound words or two-word phrases where each half can precede the word “cap” to make a different phrase. The revealer is ALL CAPS (38a, [Online equivalent of shouting, and a hint to both halves of each starred answer]).
Wall St Journal crossword solution · “Case by Case” · Chloe Revery · Wed., 2.19.25
- 17a. [*Chief of the Iowa tribe until 1834] WHITE CLOUD. Whitecap, cloud cap. I had to look up both kinds of caps as well as the Native American chief. “Whitecaps” refers to the crests of waves and the term is usually in the plural. A cloud cap might be seen on a solitary mountain. I should’ve known this as nearby Mt. Rainier often sports a spiffy lenticular cloud cap. Not sure that many solvers will know the chief, but he is mostly recognized for his later years when he espoused peace among tribes and Europeans.
- 24a. [*Dark period that lasts up to 179 days] POLAR NIGHT. Polar cap, nightcap. Again, I wasn’t familiar with the entry phrase but it was inferable. I had no idea a POLAR NIGHT lasted so long at the poles.
- 50a. [*Brief winter flurry] SNOW SHOWER. Snow cap, shower cap. I’m more familiar with the term Sno-Caps than the term snow caps, but again, they refer to mountaintops, this time covered with snow.
- 60a. [*Recycling center feature] BOTTLE DROP. Bottle cap, drop cap. In printing, a drop cap is the large decorative first letter of a section of text.
Lenticular cloud cap over Mt. Rainier
Despite my unfamiliarity with some of these terms, I enjoyed this, as I usually do with this type of theme. It’s a good theme set and provided me with an opportunity to learn some things.
In keeping with that attitude, I begrudgingly accept PUTTO as a valid crossword entry (1a, [Chubby cherub, in Renaissance art]). Never have I ever heard that word, but I probably should be glad to learn it. Maybe I would have liked it better anywhere else but 1-Across where it sets the tone for the whole puzzle. Other less-than-fun fill include E-GIRL, ECLAT, A DRAG, and ABOIL.
On the other hand, there’s some really nice long fill here: HOG WILD, TITANIC, TAIWANESE, “I DISAGREE,”, and WASABI.
Clues of note:
- 37a. [Scrub spots, for short]. ORS. I expect nobody is actually “scrubbing in” in the OR itself, though.
- 41a. [Sleepy bud]. DOC. Think Snow White.
3.25 stars.
Joe Deeney’s New York Times crossword–Amy’s recap
NY Times crossword solution, 2/19/25 – no. 0219
The name of the game is a QUILTING BEE and the theme answers begin with words that are components of a quilt (except maybe for one). BLOCKBUSTER for a cut piece of fabric (sometimes they’re triangles and whatnot rather than squared blocks). BORDER TERRIER for the fabric edge framing the quilt. BATTING PRACTICE for the cotton(y) batting used to fill a quilt. And … BLANKET APPROVAL for the blanket that can be made at a quilting bee? I like that they’re all B words but BLANKET feels off to me. If BLANKET is also a quilt component, please enlighten me!
Fave fill: SKYMALL, the reduplication of TAY-TAY and TSK-TSKED, CUTIE PIE. Surprised by some fill that feels tough for a Wednesday puzzle, perhaps. REA, GAS TAPS, ANNI, SEA EEL, and IVAN IV.
3.25 stars from me.
Joe Rodini’s Universal crossword, “Off to the Races” — pannonica’s write-up
Universal • 2/19/25 • Wed • “Off to the Races” • Rodini • solution • 20250219
Left-right mirror symmetry to accommodate the unusual lengths of the theme answers.
- 20a. [*One for the money? (Note how many words are in each starred clue’s answer)] SIMOLEONS.
- 30a. [*Two for the show?] BROADWAY MUSICAL.
- 45a. [*Three to make ready?] SET THE STAGE. (1) I had SET THE SCENE at first, (2) I’ve mostly heard the phrase as ‘three to get ready’, not that it matters here.
- 58a. [*And four to go?] HEAD FOR THE HILLS.
I like this theme. It’s simultaneously simple and clever, and it’s well done.
- 2d [“__ is never finished, only abandoned” (Leonardo da Vinci)] DEMOCRACY ART.
- 5d [Mean] UNKIND. 16a [ __ bun (tousled hairstyle)] MESSY.
- 13d [Manhattan whiskey] RYE. Traditionally yes, but many—such as myself—prefer bourbon.
- 23d [Subside] ABATE. 31d [Flooded] AWASH.
- 29d [Star cluster?] A-LIST. Nice.
- 57d [Workplace safety org.] OSHA. Do we still have that? In the news: “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered the digital and physical destruction of 18 publications on workplace safety practices …” (source)
- 9a [Part of an award quartet] OSCAR. Of the crossword-popular EGOT acronym.
- 60a [English football rival of Liverpool, to fans] MAN U (Manchester United).
Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword – Kyle’s write-up
The New Yorker solution grid – Robyn Weintraub – Wednesday 02/19/2025
Thanks Robyn for today’s New Yorker puzzle. Mostly standard fare here, though I enjoyed uncovering the new-to-me HOPE IN A JAR [Beauty-industry metaphor for the optimism that cosmetics represent]. It’s stacked on top of ONE-DAY SALE, which creates a mental association of shopping at, say, Sephora. PLEATED SKIRT also feels like a fresh entry, though I’m not sure whether to call it green paint. The puzzle is very heavy on short entries, which made my solve a bit faster than usual.
Stella Zawistowski’s USA Today Crossword, “Split Level” — Emily’s write-up
Watch your step!
USA Today, February 19, 2025, “Split Level” by Stella Zawistowski
Theme: each themer contains FLA—T
Themers:
- 17a. [Extra-spicy Cheetos flavor], FLAMINHOT
- 25a. [Helpful item in a power outage], FLASHLIGHT
- 43a. [Top that might be plaid], FLANNELSHIRT
- 58a. [Bailed on a date, say], FLAKEDOUT
A variety of themers in today’s set with: FLAMINHOT, FLASHLIGHT, FLANNELSHIRT, and FLAKEDOUT. I noticed the theme after solving the puzzle, helped by the title hint which got me thinking about types of housing and then I saw the “flat”s. It’s also fun that FLA—T is split.
Favorite fill: LENTIL, PROSE, LUGE, ICE, and WAVY
Stumpers: GUTSY (needed crossings), WISH (also needed crossings), and DOLE (“mete” and “hand” came to mind first)
A smooth solve today with fun cluing and overall fill. The east section was particularly delightful with LED above HEAD and HEART crossed with HEAD and HEIR crossed with PEARS.
4.25 stars
~Emily
Brian Callahan’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s theme summary
The final of five theme entries is FOURQUARTERS, [Change for a dollar…]. The previous four long across answers start with a word meaning “accommodation,” but used in totally different way in the phrase it is part of. I appreciate the degree of separation in the entries:
- [Completely and utterly incorrect], FLATOUTWRONG
- [Cheat sheets], CRIBNOTES
- [Tries to uncover old scandals], DIGSUPDIRT
- [Thai dish also called “drunken noodles”], PADKEEMAO
Gareth
Matthew Luter’s AV Club Classic crossword, “Marine Screenings”–Amy’s recap
AV Club Classic crossword, “Marine Screenings” – 2/19/25
Nice theme here. The revealer is the term BLUE MOVIE, and the other themers are clued as both regular words and as movies. Each movie title is “Blue ___,” so there’s VALENTINE, CRUSH, COLLAR, HAWAII, STREAK, VELVET, and CHIPS. I think I’ve maybe seen just one? That would be Blue Velvet; RIP David Lynch.
Fave fill: OVERUSED, a Crossfit BURPEE (never done one!), ESCHEWED, HAVE-NOTS.
Liked the “Ocho” clue for ESPN!
Four stars from me.
NYT: This was for me a perfect Wednesday puzzle that left nothing to be desired.
I know BLANKET, BORDER, BATTING, and QUILT(ING) are things that get sewn, but am not familiar with BLOCK in this context.
(I was bamboozled by BOSSES, but fortunately SKY MALL wasn’t too hard to guess, which gave BOSSES.)
NYT: It went very smoothly for me, with a faster solve than yesterday’s puzzle.
SPOILER ALERT if you have not finished the WORDLE from Tuesday 2-18!
Re INNIE: It was my third entry today on Quordle and the Bot got all snarky with me, and said:
“There was only one possible solution left- and this wasn’t it. (INNIE is a valid guess, but it’s unlikely to be a solution based on what I’ve learned from playing Wordle). But there’s still only one solution remaining. You should solve the puzzle on your next turn”.
And it gave me Zero for skill on INNIE! Totally cracked me up.
PS (I did redeem myself by solving on the next turn).
Et tu, Bot?
II hate it when the WordleBot says, “this isn’t a word as far as Wordle is concerned” and gives you a zero for skill. Usually I think, “Well, Wordle might not think it’s a word, but Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano think it’s a word!”
The same thing happens regularly in Spelling Bee.
Alas, based on the limited selection of words that appear in the crossword puzzle and that are accepted by Spelling Bee, I’m not sure if Will S. and Joel F. are the best examples here.
NYT: True Natick for me at the intersection of NSC and CANO at the “C.” The National Security Council just wasn’t coming to me, and I have never heard of CANO as a last name. Almost any letter of the alphabet would be a plausible last name structured as (-)ANO.
I put NSA instead of NSC even though I knew that wasn’t really right, and eventually had to run the alphabet.
The NYT editors are usually pretty good at avoiding this kind of true Natick, especially early in the week, where a set of initials crosses with a name that’s probably unknown for a large number of solvers.
I also put in NSA first, but reconsidered and saw that NSC seemed more likely and changed it.
Agreed. Just happy that it was a ‘C’ since I ran the alphabet!
Coincidentally there’s one word that appeared in both NYT and LAT, and they also clued the same.
somethinbg i came across today:
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2025/feb/10/do-crosswords-stave-off-mental-decline-its-the-wrong-question