Crossword Fiend | Reviewing the best crosswords in newspapers and on the Web

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT 2:36 (Stella) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.86 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Newsday 16:45 (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:35 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.75 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 2 [3.07 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [1.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Levav, Anna Stiga, Mike Shenk, Rafael Musa, Stanley Newman, Zhou Zhang | 20 Comments

Friday, February 27, 2026

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.25 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:28 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 6 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.86 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:25 (Jim P) 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 4.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Caroline Hand, Doug Peterson, Patrick Maher, Sara Muchnick | 15 Comments

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 11:02 (Eric) 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 15:09 (ZDL) 5*: 7 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 1*: 1 [4.15 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:00 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.42 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 8:18 (Jim Q) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Beth Rubin, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Jeff Chen, Mike Graczyk, Peter Gordon, Will Nediger, Yitzi Snow | 26 Comments

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

AV Club untimed (Amy) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 [3.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:23 (Gareth) 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:53 (Amy) 4*: 5 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 4:10 (Jim Q) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 [4.21 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:32 (Emily) 2.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 6:09 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 [4.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Alexander Liebeskind, Amie Walker, Brad Lively, Brian Callahan, Geoffrey Schorkopf, Olivia Mitra Framke, Robyn Weintraub, Sally Hoelscher | 6 Comments

MGWCC #925

Posted on February 24, 2026 by joon

MGWCC crossword 3:31
meta DNF 5*: 10 | 4.5*: 5 [4.83 avg; 15 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Andrew Linzer | 25 Comments

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Erin Milligan-Milburn

Jonesin’ 9:16 (Erin) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:01 (Eric) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.44 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.40 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:47 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Aaronson, Matt Jones, Matthew Luter, Mike Shenk, Rena Cohen | 11 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, February 20, 2026

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: 15 minutes; Meta: 15 more 5*: 8 | 4.5*: 4 | 3.5*: 1 [4.73 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Patrick Berry | 12 Comments

Monday, February 23, 2026

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 17:58 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:13 (Stella) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:21 (Sophia) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 7 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.68 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 9:03 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.67 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 3*: 1 [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 5:11 (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, Brooke Husic, Hannah Binney, Katherine Baicker, Laura Dershewitz, Robert E.L. Morris | 14 Comments

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Eric Hougland

LAT 7:24 (Kyle) 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 15:22 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 3 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.13 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 7:31 (Jim P) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 7:21 (Matt G) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.81 avg; 8 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Daniel Grinberg, Doug Peterson, Evan Birnholz, Jill Rafaloff, Michelle Sontarp | 23 Comments

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Eric Hougland

LAT 4:50 (Stella) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.79 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Newsday 14:37 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 [3.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 8:12 (Amy) 5*: 3 | 4.5*: 6 | 4*: 5 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [4.03 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (Eric) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Josh Knapp, Kyle Dolan, Mike Shenk, Rafael Musa | 33 Comments

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Friday, February 27, 2026

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

MGWCC #925

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

WSJ Contest — Friday, February 20, 2026

Monday, February 23, 2026

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Saturday, February 21, 2026

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