Saturday, June 27, 2026

LAT 2:50 (Stella) [3.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Newsday 29:24 (pannonica) [3.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:45 (Amy) [4.41 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:31 (Adam S) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) rate it

Adrian Johnson’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

NY Times crossword solution, 6/27/26 – no. 0627

What’s this Friday puzzle doing in the Saturday slot? Quickest NYT themeless I’ve encountered of late. My favorite type of grid, too, with stacked 10s in every corner.

Fave fill: “HOW ABOUT NO?”, ONE-POT MEAL, RINGO STARR, GETTING OLD, GO BEDDY-BYE, EARLY TEENS, THROWBACKS, UNDERSTATE, IJEOMA Oluo, LEGO BATMAN.

Five things:

• 11A. [Cock-a-hoop], GLAD. That’s some vocab I either forgot or never knew. Thank you, crossings!
• 16A. [Dancer’s restraint?], REIN. As in Santa’s reindeer, Dancer. Judging from Merriam-Webster’s etymologies for reindeer and rein, unrelated!
• 24A. [Word repeated in a fit of disbelief], BUT. As in “But, but, but—”
• 39A. [Some choppers], AXMEN. I don’t care for this at all.
• AER and AIR CURRENT, duplicative entries.

Four stars from me. How’d it treat you?

Joe Marangell’s Universal Crossword “Universal Freestyle 229” – Adam S’s write-up

Joe Marangell’s Universal Crossword “Universal Freestyle 229” – 6/26/26

Interesting grid today. I liked the way that the design allowed for featuring some 14s and 13s. However, this came at a slight cost of a high number of black squares and 3 and 4-letter entries (42 of the 74 entries, if I’m counting correctly), which are difficult to make exciting.

Still, there was lots to like about the longer entries. My favorites were ICK FACTOR, GOODY BAGS, FIRST DATES, THE GREAT GATSBY, and REAL SIMPLE. The grid played a fraction faster than average for me, perhaps in part because, despite the number of black squares, it has sneaky-good flow.

A few notes:

• !&A ICK FACTOR [Gross aspect] This was easy enough, but the clue felt a little awkwardly thesaurus-like. Not sure one would ever get substituted for the other in real-life conversation or writing.
• 19A GYMS [Places people go to be spotted?] Nice clue!
• 42A CASUAL FRIDAYS [Breaks from ties?] I like the thought process behind this clue, but it doesn’t feel like the surface is really an in-the-language phrase. Sidetracking – Are casual Fridays still a thing for anyone? In my world, it feels like every day is casual Friday and has been since about 2015. I still have a collection of about 40-odd ties, but wear one of them about once a year.
• 10D AUTO [Prefix with “mobile” or “pilot”] It was perhaps fortunate for me that this filled in on crosses, as I stared at this afterward for an embarrassingly long time trying to work out how auto could fit in front of a mobile phone 🤦

Zhouqin Burnikel’s Los Angeles Times crossword — Stella’s write-up

Los Angeles Times 6/27/26 by Zhouqin Burnikel

It’s my birthday and my present is a themeless that has more green paint than I’d like, but also some nice clues to balance it out:

• 1A WARM-UP LAPS is green paint, even with a pretty good clue [Early revolutions].
• 15A [Only shopped at farmers markets, perhaps] is ATE ORGANIC, also green paint.
• 17A [Help in obtaining top-shelf products] is a nice clue for STEPLADDER.
• 28A I also liked [Ending of “Oedipus”] as a clue for SIGMA.
• 31A ACT COY, more green paint.
• 37A [Line for waiters] is PLEASE BE PATIENT, nice clue.
• 39A [Cannes Film Festival prize] is PALME D’OR, which I like as an entry even if the clue is pretty straightforward.
• 44A [Go, to the dogs] is MUSH. Ha!
• 57A [“Great, now we’re pouting”] is REAL MATURE, which is a fun entry.
• 62A [One who has seen it all] is EYEWITNESS, another nice clue.
• 11D [“Our food’s getting cold!”] is LET’S DIG IN; the LET’S is what makes this feel like green paint.
• 34D CAME UP DRY…yeah, more paint of the green variety.

David P Williams’ Newsday crossword, Saturday Stumper — pannonica’s write-up

Newsday • 6/27/26 • Saturday Stumper • Williams • solution • 20260627

This was certainly a bear to complete. So many huhs and so many misfills!

• 1a [Persian product] MEOW. Since rug didn’t fit, something like this was my immediate fallback, but it took most of the solve before I was confident enough to put it in.
• 10a [Historical qualification] YET. Went with YEA first, and it stayed that way for quite a while.
• 13a [Able to be reversed] ELBA. Was not expecting a cryptic-style clue so ‘early’ in the puzzle, and one without involving a name, to boot!
• 14a [Real ruckus] HOO-HA. Wanting the too-long HOOPLA helped me get to this.
• 17a [Complimentary] ON THE HOUSE. Took me far too long and too many crossings to see this.
• 19a [Early medical provider] DAY NURSE, after trying WET NURSE and, uh, DRY NURSE.
• 21a [Water carriers] AIDES, not TIDES.
• 23a [Raylike] PISCINE. Answer was more general than I expected. Was thinking along the lines of cartilaginous and (dorsoventrally) planiform.
• 25a [Incredulous] FLABBERGASTED. Another that I should’ve seen earlier.
• 29a [Phish food?] LURES. Don’t understand this clue. Are we invoking the jam band? How does that help? I did try ’LUDES.
• 35a [Birds, bees, begonias …] BIOTA. Again, very general.
• 37a [ __ name] PEN, not PET.
• 40a [Awareness confirmation] TELL ME ABOUT IT. On the other hand, I got this long entry with relatively few crossings.
• 43a [Cutter’s floors] SAW PITS. Was wondering if it was film editors or garment workers, but no it was the most straightforward type of cutter.
• 46a [Oedipus uncle] CREON. Another that I should’ve remembered/gotten sooner; when I finally did get it, it helped to break open the whole lower left section.
  
• 47a [Streaming device] FIRE HOSE. I knew it was going to be something like this, and required just a crossing or two to figure out the right answer.
• 51a [Hollywood boulevard?] ROAD TO FAME. This, on the other hand, was super-tough. For a while I had it ending with AVE, even though the clue gave no abbrev. indication.
• 55a [“Some unexpected __ in far-off seas”: Browning] ISLE. Finally got this, after experimenting with EELS and then ILLS.
• 57a [She’s a bit different grandmother] ANNA, an anagram of NANA. “A second cryptic-style clue has hit the crossword.”
• 58a [Nickname that elides 24-Down] MEL; 24d [Margot and Ryan’s president] ISSA. Was befuddled by all of this, but now I’m pretty sure it’s ISSA Rae and a reference to the Barbie movie from a couple-few years ago.
• 60a [Greenpan.com purchases] WOKS, not POTS.
• 1d [Confederate] MELD. Oho, a verb. I had experimented with ALLY here.
• 4d [Aspirants] WANNABES, not HOPEFULS.
• 5d [Egg head] SHORT E. Ugh, was not expecting the clue to work that way. Tough in context!
• 8d [Joined forces] CONSORTIUMS. Oho, a noun. Had tried something-TEAMS here for a time.
• 7d [Thoughtless] ROTE, neither RASH nor RUDE.
• 8d [Opening line] AHH. ?
• 9d [April __ & the June Bugs (rockabilly band)] MAE. My first filled entry, which I guessed at from context. Unfortunately I spelled it MAY and it took some time before I saw clearly enough to change it.
• 10d [Incredulous inquiry] YOU DID WHAT. Was dancing around the right answer for most of the solve.
• 18d [Precipitation] HASTE. Lil tough.
• 25d [Try to fly] FLAP. Almost too easy.
• 27d [“Join the club” kin] AREN’T WE ALL. Got this one fairly easily.
• 28d [Rock band’s origin] GEODE. Trued AGATE first.
• 33d [Tied up] FAST. This little section here, I completed it rather easily early on.
• 35d [Sea, compactly] BALT, not SALT. Bah.
• 39d [Go without] LOSE. 42d [Deprived] BEREFT.
• 43d [Theater backer] SCRIM. I fell for the misdirection and put in ANGEL.
• 47d [Evade antonym] FACE. Another instance where my strong suspicion of the right answer turned out to be correct, but where I waited for most of the solve before feeling confident enough to put it in.
• 50d [Pier group] ETAS. Huh?

Feeling accomplished in completing this under thirty minutes.

Amie Walker’s USA Today Crossword “Curtain Bangs” – Zachary Edward-Brown’s write-up

Amie Walker’s USA Today Crossword “Curtain Bangs” – 6/27/26

The themers split the letters BANGS:

19A – [Soothing seats for little ones] = BABY SWINGS
34A – [Gymnastics feats] = BACK HANDSPRINGS
50A – [Sticky and saucy sports bar snack] = BARBECUE WINGS

Each themer breaks BANGS the same way – that is, BA*NGS. Nice consistency. And I particularly like the last themer, BARBECUE WINGS. It’s a fun title, too, so I like it overall.

In the fill, we get the fun bonuses SAM SMITH, CALAMARI, SCRAPBOOK, and NINTENDO, plus MEMORIES going across, with the fun clue [“So much nostalgia”]. Turning a regular word into a fun spoken phrase – nice move!

2 “Frozen” songs in the clues: [“Love Is an Open ___” (“Frozen” song)] for DOOR and [“___ the Unknown” (“Frozen 2” song)] for INTO. One clue I didn’t like: [Moral center?] for ORA. Ah, the classic literal wordplay, where ORA is the center of the word “moral.” Can’t say I’m a fan of this clue. Other than that, I do wish there was a little more oomph in the cluing, but it’s definitely a solid puzzle overall.

Favorite clue: 32D [Legend has it] EGOT Wow, this is… an amazing clue. That probably belongs in a tougher puzzle. But hey, I’ll take it! “Legend” here doesn’t refer to a popular story, but John Legend, who has an EGOT.

4.5 stars

Randolph Ross’ Wall Street Journal crossword, “Happy Birthday, USA!” — pannonica’s write-up

WSJ • 6/27/26 • Sat • “Happy Birthday, USA!” • Ross • solution • 20260627

• 112a^R [Benchmark U.S. birthday celebrated in eight of this puzzle’s across answers] SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL.
• 23a. [Canio, in “Pagliacci,” e.g.] TRAGIC CLOWN.
• 26a. [Prize whose first winner was “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in 1987] ARTHUR C CLARKE AWARD.
• 44a. [Constitution statement granting Congress the power to pass “necessary and proper” bills] ELASTIC CLAUSE.
• 50a. [Site of many sweaters] ATHLETIC CLUB.
• 70a. [Grammy winner for “Tears in Heaven”] ERIC CLAPTON.
• 86a. [Times of London puzzle solvers figure them out] CRYPTIC CLUES.
• 96a. [It’s characterized by long, cold winters] ARCTIC CLIMATE.
• 121a. [Laundry annoyance] STATIC CLING.

CCL = 250

• 1d [SFO setting] PST. 7a [It’s about 2,000 miles east of LAX] ATL.
• 7d [Perfect mark] A-PLUS. But A++ exists. 45d [Bee follower] CEE. 59d [Multiple choices] A, B OR C.
• 10d [“__ is Born”] A STAR. Theme adjacent?
• 20d [GOP fundraiser] RNC, not PAC. (73d [Fundraiser for pols] PAC.)
• 27d [Lab connection] LEASH. The old lab = labrador retriever trick.
• 36d [South American monkey] TITI. A subfamily comprised of three genera.
• 41d [Sign for one born on Cinco de Mayo] EL TORO. Wasn’t expecting a Spanish answer; perhaps if the entire clue had been in Spanish, not just the referent?
• 43d [Water carrier] DUCT. In the Stumper we had [Water carriers] for AIDES.
• 46d [Agcy. monitoring outbreaks] CDC. Hardly, these days.
• 70d [Kay Thompson character] ELOISE. 100d [Beverly Cleary character] RAMONA.
• 71d [Mischievous one] RASCAL.
  
• 81d [OMG or LOL, e.g.] TLA. Had to look this up: three-letter acronym.
• 85d [The Bruins’ sch.] UCLA. 87d [Bruins, to Brutus] URSAE.
• 99d [Lafrenière of the New York Rangers] ALEXIS. 106a [Hockey’s Tikkanen] ESA.
• 113d [Cruise ship retired and converted into a floating UAE hotel] QEII. Is that how the abbreviating works?
• 116a [White House advisory grp.] NSC. Uh, sure.
• 1a [Things we complain about] PEEVES, not GRIPES. My earliest fill/misfill/correction.
• 19a [Third-rate] POOR, not PULP.
• 40a [“Jeopardy!” reunion, to some uninvited, say] NERDFEST. Kind of a weird clue?
• 48a [Romania’s currency] LEU. Crossword gleu. 127a [Romanian composer George] ENESCU.
• 49a [Made arrangements, in a way] PERMUTED. Quite so.
• 58a [Where the action is] FRONT LINE.
  
• 129a [La Sicilia e la Sardegna] ISOLE.
  
• 131a [Frank] RED HOT.

Wish I could feel more enthusiastic about the upcoming 250th, but … >gestures vaguely yet expansively<