LAT tk (Gareth) 
[3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 19:37 (Eric) 
[2.86 avg; 21 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 8:37 (Jim P) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:32 (Matt G) [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Randolph Ross’s New York Times Crossword “Misquoting Shakespeare” — Eric’s Review
Randolph Ross’s New York Times Crossword “Misquoting Shakespeare” — 11/16/25
I knew from the byline that this would be a punny theme. Mostly it’s Hamlet getting the royal treatment here, but Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar show up just to mix things up:
- 22A [King’s assessment of his son the Crusader?] GOOD KNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2 (Horatio)
- 40A [Santa’s view on loyalty for those who help him?] TO THINE OWN ELF BE TRUE Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3 (Polonius)
- 51A/61D/78A [With 61-Down and 78-Across, “Food at this restaurant stinks, but the duck seems fine”?] FARE IS FOUL/AND/FOWL IS FAIR Macbeth, Act I, Scene 1 (Witches) I kinda liked this one.
- 64A [Frequent question about the spelling of “Caribbean”?] TWO B’S OR NOT TWO B’S Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1 (Hamlet)
- 87A [Schnozz, honker or beak?] A NOSE BY ANY OTHER NAME Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2 (Juliet) I lost almost a minute here by conflating this line with the Gertrude Stein quote “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” (from her poem “Sacred Emily”).
- 112A [Warning to a beachgoer on St. Patrick’s Day?] BEWARE THE TIDES OF MARCH Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 3 (Soothsayer)
If you know your Shakespeare, you might be a step ahead on this one. And you’re either amused by these puns or you’re not. For the most part, I found them not all that funny. Yet my husband laughed out loud over the reworking of “To be or not to be.”
Other stuff of note:
- 1A [They’re charged for long trips] TESLAS If you’re going to put even an indirect reference to Elon Musk in your puzzle, especially at 1A, you might as well have a cute clue.
- 21A [Conflict that ended with the Treaty of Nanking] OPIUM WAR I’m sure I studied that event in high school history, but high school was a long time ago.
- 30A [Swan Lake” role] ODETTE I’m not big on ballet and can never remember that Swan Lake has both Odette and Odile.
- 35A [Davis of old Hollywood] BETTE The “old Hollywood” ruled out OSSIE and GEENA. Seems like there’s another five-letter Davis in the movies, too.
- 101A [Right-leaning?] ITALIC Cute.
- 120A [“The Godfather” weapon] GARROTE If I remember correctly, two Mafiosi meet their ends that way in the movie: Luca Brasi and Carlo Rizzi. Everybody else is either shot or blown up.
- 121A [Movable parts of record players] TONEARMS Fair enough, but the actual turntable moves, too.
- 8D [Wayne’s world?] WESTERNS Cute clue. I wasn’t thinking of John Wayne and based on the letter pattern had WESTEROS for too long.
- 19D [Microphone inventor ___ Berliner] EMILE That’s not a name I recognized. Does that mean I have to give my Radio/TV/Film degree back?
- 33D [Formerly with law enforcement, informally] EX-FBI Not EX-COP.
- 63D [L.A.’s ___ Stadium, site of the opening ceremony of the 2028 Olympics] SOFI The current contract for the naming rights goes to 2029. I don’t even try to keep up with that stuff anymore.
- 88D [Wally ___, astronaut who commanded Apollo 7] SCHIRRA I’m sure it was his Actifed commercials as much as his NASA tenure that cemented his name in my brain. Or maybe it was his lovely wife, Kay.
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post Crossword “Body Modification” — Matt’s Review
Evan Birnholz’ Washington Post crossword solution, “Body Modification,” 11/16/2025
In “Body Modification” this week, our themers are phrases that contain body parts, reparsed so that the body parts are a separate word:
- 22a [Historical period when pictures of a lower body part are altered] DOCTORED FOOT AGE
- 33a [Auditory organ found on anyone who isn’t architect Maya?] NON LIN EAR
- 49a [Winner’s swiveling joint?] CHAMPIONS HIP
- 62a [“That limb doing okay?”?] LEG ALRIGHT
- 67a [One of hte limbs on actor Pacino’s doppelganger] FALSE AL ARM
- 84a [Wield a stone that one was chewing on?] PLY MOUTH ROCK
- 95a [Part of the face emerged?] CHIN AROSE
- 110a [Sexy bottom gracing the covers of magazines?] HOT BUTT ON ISSUES
I was a bit uncertain midsolve that I had the theme correct, but it’s certainly consistently done. I particularly appreciate how natural the base phrases are – perhaps CHINA ROSE is an outlier, but I’ve seen it plenty in crosswords to not quibble.
I also am a fan of the connectivity in this grid. It’s perhaps at the expense of many longer non-theme slots but I really was able to meander around rather than a more linear top-to-bottom, left-to-right solve. I also noticed many fewer misdirects and question mark clues than I’m used to, perhaps because the theme involved so much reparsing. If that’s a standard approach for Evan, I’m sorry to say I’ve missed it until now.
Other highlights: Loved seeing death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean mentioned in the clue for Susan SARANDON, who played her in “Dead Man Walking” // [“Up” talker] is a nice turn of phrase for ED ASNER. I was momentarily thrown since “voice actor” would be more direct, but the realization was worth the pause // Small quibble/question for more knowledgeable commenters on [State one may reach without moving] for INERTIA. Don’t we always have inertia, whether at rest or in motion? Doesn’t seem like something to be “reached”
Cheers!
Emma Oxford’s Universal Sunday crossword, “It’s Elementary!”—Jim P’s review
Theme answers are familiar phrases that have added metal chemical symbols, causing crossword wackiness. The revealer is METAL DETECTOR (121a, [Modern treasure hunter’s tool, or a hint to this puzzle’s theme]).
Universal Sunday crossword solution · “It’s Elementary!” · Emma Oxford · 11.16.25
- 22a. [*Make a doodle of a tiger? (Iron)] DRAW THE FELINE.
- 41a. [*Fortress made of shoes? (Aluminum)] SANDAL CASTLE.
- 70a. [*Adorable TV show’s first episode? (Copper)] CUTEST PILOT.
- 98a. [*Crustaceans sold by the half-dozen? (Chromium)] SIX-PACK CRABS.
- 14d. [*Dessert mixture for Wiccans? (Silver)] PAGAN CAKE BATTER.
- 46d. [*Pack a desert landform with people? (Gold)] CROWD THE PLATEAU.
Good theme, well executed. These might get a little goofy but they’re all believable and work just fine for me. I do wish the revealer clue was something more along the lines of […or what you could use to find the additions to the starred answers] instead of a generic […”a hint to this puzzle’s theme”].
Pretty good fill, too, with highlights SALT FLATS, BRAKE PADS, EVER AFTER, OPEN MRI, “NO REASON” and “NO TAKERS?” (although “any takers?” feels more common to me). Of note is “singular” TRICEP getting the oft-seen “bicep” treatment.
I didn’t mark any clues for extra attention, so I’ll leave things there. Solid grid with an enjoyable theme. 3.5 stars.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3 stars
Typical Randolph Ross puzzle. A couple of chuckles at the puns, decent fill.
Not a fun of puns, so both NYT and WaPo were slogs for me — the former more than the latter.
Matt — I agree with your quibble about the clue for INERTIA.
In physics, inertia isn’t a state; it’s a property of matter. So the clue makes no sense if that’s the sense of “inertia” that we’re talking about.
However, in non-technical language “inertia” is the state of inertness. I ignore the alarm clock because of inertia. The clue is reasonably justified by that sense of the word.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 4 stars
I guess I liked NYT more than most. Decent puns; decent fill.
this cracked me up- Just because it did sound like a grumpy assessment in spite of the 4 rating :)
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
I have admitted my bias against punny Sundays. I’m trying to set it aside, and this one grew on me as I solved it.
And like your husband, Eric, Two B’s or Not Two B’s got an actual chuckle out of me. Way to dilute this great existential moment!
I didn’t solve the puzzle, but if I had, I’d have been laughing along with Eric’s husband. I can NEVER remember how to spell Caribbean!
I greatly enjoyed Ross’s NYT, even though (or perhaps because) I flew through it in a near-record time for me.
Shakespeare himself seemed to delight in puns (just from Hamlet: “I am too much in the sun”; “a little more than kin, and less than kind”; Yorick “quite chap-fallen”), so I’m guessing he would have been fine either way this theme.
I also appreciated Ross’s pleasure and skill in writing original clues for some of the fill.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
NYT: a saying almost no one uses anymore IN A TRICE stacked on a part of a object most people don’t use anymore TONEARMS crossed with two names from the past MEIR and SCHIRRA made for a very difficult corner for me.
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
Plus the random acronym TCM! Luckily I got Meir and tonearms right away, otherwise it’s INATxxxE over TONExxxS with no good way to get either.
“Vinyl” is big now, so more might be familiar with a tone arm than you think. I vaguely remembered Schirra, but didn’t remember Wally as his first name.
I teach high school. I’ll broadcast a picture of a record player tomorrow in class and ask all 150 of my students to name that part. I’ll bet a nickel zero of them can
Are NYT constructors supposed to be targeting puzzles to teenagers? I don’t understand the incessant push for every reference to be fresh and relatable to people under 30 years old, let alone teenagers. When I was part of that age group, I thought of crosswords as more of common hobby for folks in my parents generation or older. It doesn’t seem like that’s the target audience for NYT solvers. Why does everything have to be oriented toward the young? We older folks need pastimes too, you know?
I’m not suggesting that there shouldn’t be modern slang or current pop culture in puzzles. I just don’t know why some folks seem to think that’s the only thing that should be in them.
I think you and I are about the same age.
To me, the NYT and other mainstream publishers do a decent job of balancing clues that favor solvers with ones that younger solvers would be more likely to know.
I think that the NYT in particular is skewing things a little younger in recent years. Personally, I think it’s a little too much, but it’s not awful.
I don’t think they’re aiming at high schoolers, just people younger than me (and possibly you). I’m a senior, but not a senior in high school. :) Many references are aimed at those in their 20s and 30s, which is about when I got into crosswords.
In a trice is from previous centuries and record players were outdated 40+ years ago. So teenagers no. Perhaps people under 50 yes.
And if vinyl is big now, as implied above, wouldn’t some high schoolers know about it?
Depends on whether or not there are some musicians in your classes. :)
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2.5 stars
1A set me off because it was also 1A in today’s Mini and I doubt that was an accident. The rest of the puzzle wasn’t a whole lot better.
That was extremely upsetting to me too.
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 4.5 stars
Nice puzzle as usual Evan. Had to have taken a while to come up with those reparsed phrases.
On another note, to add insult to injury (I still dislike the new formatting), now the WAPO is sliding little pop-up ads at the bottom right of the screen that are incredibly annoying. I realize that probably keeps the crossword free, but it still is a pain.
Great WaPo as always from Evan! As the year is starting to wrap up, I’m excited to see what Eric has in store for the end of the year, too…
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 3.5 stars
NYT- Eric, Que Sera Sera! Ha!
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 1 star
NYT:
The pun Shakespeare lines were hit and miss, but the fill on this one was comically bad (ALUI, EELIER, ORI, ANE, THEI etc.,). Seriously, how did this puzzle get accepted?!
Puzzle: WaPo; Rating: 5 stars
As usual, Evan demonstrates how he cares for his solvers, both in the way he strives to amuse while making the puzzle actually solvable — super work. Thanks, Evan!
[Movable parts of record players] TONEARMS Fair enough, but the actual turntable moves, too.
Eric,
I’ll defend this because “moveable” implies the user decides when and where to move it. The turntable moves, but that’s not the same thing. A car moves but the seats are moveable.
Thanks, Martin. That’s a valid distinction.
I wasn’t really annoyed with the clue (possibly because TONEARM has been part of my vocabulary for as long as I can remember).
Puzzle: NYT; Rating: 2 stars
TREO and IN A TRICE? This puzzle must be as old as the House of Tudor.
Puzzle: LAT; Rating: 4 stars
Just have to give Jim’s very fun and creative puzzle a shout out. I only knew of it from Eric, so shout out to him, as well!
Also wondering if anyone is ever going to fill in for Gareth, who never reviews the LAT? And I ask this with a very quiet voice because I feel like I should not complain about anything I cannot contribute to fixing.