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

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Eric Hougland

BEQ untimed (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 [4.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.29 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:37 (ZDL) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 4 | 2*: 3 | 1*: 1 [3.17 avg; 15 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:26+ (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.33 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today 8:11 (Emily) rate it
WSJ 12:00 (Jim Q) 3.5*: 2 [3.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, Daniel Bodily, Ella Dershowitz, George Barany, Mallory Montgomery, Sally Hoelscher, Stella Zawistowski, Wendy L. Brandes, Zhou Zhang | 30 Comments

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Eric Hougland

AV Club untimed (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:31 (Amy) 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 3 | 1*: 1 [3.32 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:19 (Jim Q) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 2*: 1 [3.92 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:08 (Emily) 4*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WSJ 6:54 (Eric) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adrianne Baik, Caitlin Reid, David Alfred Bywaters, Michael Schlossberg | 31 Comments

MGWCC #918

Posted on January 6, 2026 by joon

MGWCC crossword 2:30ish
meta 1ish 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.67 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Continue reading →

Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 15 Comments

Ariadne’s Crossword Library, January 2026

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Ben Chenoweth

ACL Grid: 8 mins, Meta: 30 minutes (on-and-off) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 [4.19 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Continue reading →

Posted in Contests | Tagged Emma Oxford, Hannah Binney | 2 Comments

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Erin Milligan-Milburn

Jonesin’ 4:07 (Erin) 5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 10:04 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 6 | 1.5*: 6 [2.33 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.38 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:something (Eric) 4*: 3 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.00 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) 2*: 1 [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andrew Mascillaro, Matt Jones, Paolo Pasco, Paul Coulter, Rich Feely, Robert S. Gard | 21 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, January 2, 2026

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: 30 minutes; Meta: 20 more 5*: 4 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [4.28 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Continue reading →

Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 6 Comments

Monday, January 5, 2026

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 14:47 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:02 (Stella) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:16 (Sophia) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.94 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 6:13 (Amy) 4*: 4 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.42 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.92 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) 3*: 1 [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, C.C. Burnikel, Constance Burnikel, Drew Schmenner, Elizabeth C. Gorski, Lynn Lempel, Morton J. Mendelson, Zhouqin Burnikel | 14 Comments

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Eric Hougland

LAT 7:16 (Kyle) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 19:30 (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 4 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 3 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 2 [2.74 avg; 19 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 8:12 (Jim P) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo 4:45 (Matt G) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Doug Peterson, Evan Birnholz, Gene Louise De Vera, Ryan Mathiason | 29 Comments

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT 2:30 (Stella) 4*: 4 | 3*: 1 [3.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Newsday 21:55 (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:16 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 9 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [4.12 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 5*: 2 | 4*: 1 | 1*: 2 [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 2.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Hannah Slovut-Einertson, Kyle Dolan, Randolph Ross | 27 Comments

Friday, January 2, 2026

Posted on January 1, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:26 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 5 | 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 3 [3.71 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:21 (Jim P) 5*: 2 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.57 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 2*: 1 [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Wagner, Jake Halperin, Kevin Curry, Nate Curry, Rafael Musa | 25 Comments

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

MGWCC #918

Ariadne’s Crossword Library, January 2026

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

WSJ Contest — Friday, January 2, 2026

Monday, January 5, 2026

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Friday, January 2, 2026

Search

Blogroll

Recent Comments

Archives

Tags

Meta

For Bloggers