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

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Posted on January 16, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT 3:01 (Stella) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.17 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Newsday DNCCTF (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 2 [4.42 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:24 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 [3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 3*: 1 [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ untimed but slow (Eric) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Aaronson, Amy Ensz, Ben Zimmer, Emily Biegas, Gary Larson | 31 Comments

Friday, January 16, 2026

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 11:23!? (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 7 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.67 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:12 (Jim P) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 5*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Alex Rohrer, Hanh Huynh, Kyle Dolan | 24 Comments

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 14:02 (Eric) 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:28 (Gareth) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 9:40 (ZDL) 5*: 4 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 3 | 2*: 4 [3.35 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal 6-something (Eric) 5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.67 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today 9:53 (Emily) 4*: 1 | 1*: 2 [2.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ tk (Jim Q) 4.5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 [2.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Shapiro, Barbara Lin, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Larry Snyder, Michael Hobin, Ryan Judge, Wendy L. Brandes | 22 Comments

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Eric Hougland

AV Club 4:39 (Amy) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:33 (Gareth) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:01 (Amy) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 4 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 3 | 1.5*: 1 [2.93 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:30 (Jim Q) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 [4.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 5*: 4 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 2 [3.39 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:04 (Emily) 4.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 8:04 (Eric) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Dena R. Verkuil, Jeff Stillman, Joe Gangi, Joseph A. Gangi, Joseph Gangi, Mike Shenk, Robyn Weintraub, Val Melius, Zhouqin Burnikel | 26 Comments

MGWCC #919

Posted on January 13, 2026 by joon

MGWCC crossword 3:04
meta ~~DNF~~ 3 days 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 [3.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 16 Comments

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Erin Milligan-Milburn

Jonesin’ 4:52 (Erin) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:13 (Eric) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 [3.81 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.80 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:36 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.33 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) 2.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 3:58 (Jim Q) 5*: 3 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.60 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andrea Carla Michaels, Dan Zarin, Dena R. Verkuil, Katherine Xiong, Matt Jones, Nate Hall, Patrick Berry, Richard Liu | 6 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, January 9, 2026

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: 30 minutes; Meta: 20 more 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 [4.14 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Mike Shenk | 7 Comments

Monday, January 12, 2026

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ tk (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 [3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:13 (Stella) 2*: 2 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:07 (Sophia) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.31 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 7:04 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.94 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 5*: 2 | 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.83 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 2.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 3:16 (Jim Q) 2*: 1 [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Anna Shechtman, Carolyn Davies Lynch, Christina Iverson, Patti Varol, Ryan Mathiason | 18 Comments

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Eric Hougland

LAT 7:06 (Kyle) 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 28:30 (including a lot of time finding my mistakes) (Eric) 5*: 6 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 4 | 2*: 2 [4.09 avg; 22 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 10:10 (Jim P) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 [3.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:33 (Matt G) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Dylan Schiff, Evan Birnholz, Jill Singer, Sara Cantor | 35 Comments

Saturday, January 10, 2026

Posted on January 9, 2026 by Matt Gritzmacher

LAT 3:16 (Stella) 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 [3.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Newsday 19:06 (pannonica) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:00 (Matthew) 5*: 5 | 4.5*: 5 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [4.21 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 2.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Amanda Cook, Kameron Austin Collins, Matthew Sewell, Mike Shenk | 37 Comments

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Friday, January 16, 2026

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

MGWCC #919

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

WSJ Contest — Friday, January 9, 2026

Monday, January 12, 2026

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Saturday, January 10, 2026

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