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

Thursday, December 25, 2025

Posted on December 24, 2025 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 9:47 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Fireball tk (Jenni) rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) 5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
TNY 0:58 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 9:11 (ZDL) 4*: 2 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 2 [2.89 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:49 (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today 10:00 (Emily) 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.25 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ tk (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andy Kravis, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Daniel Hrynick, Kate Hawkins, Sam Ezersky | 27 Comments

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Eric Hougland

AV Club 6:19 (Amy) 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:29 (Gareth) 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [1.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:58 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3*: 4 | 1.5*: 1 [3.45 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 4:34 (Amy/Kyle) 5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.94 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today 7:54 (Emily) 4.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 6:45 (Eric) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Aimee Lucido, Ella Dershowitz, K.J. Sarr, Leslie Young, Mike Shenk, Olivia Mitra Framke, Will Nediger | 11 Comments

MGWCC #916

Posted on December 23, 2025 by joon

MGWCC crossword 2:53
meta ~~DNF~~ 3 days 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 [4.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 8 Comments

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Erin Milligan-Milburn

Jonesin’ 4:40 (Erin) rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:48 (Eric) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 3 | 1.5*: 1 [3.44 avg; 9 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.44 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:47 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) 4.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ 5:00 (Jim Q) 4*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Vincent, Alan Olschwang, Anna Shechtman, Matt Jones, Nathan Hale, Tarun Krishnamurthy | 9 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, December 19, 2025

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: 25 minutes; Meta: an hour 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.46 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 32 Comments

Monday, December 22, 2025

Posted on December 21, 2025 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 11:23 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:07 (Stella) 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:54 (Sophia) 5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:54 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.69 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 4:10 (Jim Q) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andrea Carla Michaels, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Jeff Jerome, Patrick Berry, Rena Cohen, Suzanne Oliver | 11 Comments

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Eric Hougland

LAT tk (Gareth) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 19:10 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 2.5*: 4 | 2*: 5 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.92 avg; 19 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 8:39 (Jim P) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 2 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo untimed (Matt G) 5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 2 [2.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged David Kwong, Evan Birnholz, Jared Goudsmit | 15 Comments

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT 2:41 (Stella) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.64 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Newsday 13:39 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [4.00 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:02 (Amy) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 6 | 3.5*: 3 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.58 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 4*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 14:20+ (Eric) 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged David P. Williams, Mark MacLachlan, Rafael Musa, Robert S. Gard | 27 Comments

Friday, December 19, 2025

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 | 1*: 1 [2.71 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:55 (Amy) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 9 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.77 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:55 (Jim P) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Hemant Mehta, Samantha Podos Nowak, Val Melius | 19 Comments

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 10:25 (Eric) 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Fireball tk (Jenni) rate it
LAT 6:49 (Gareth) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 11:23 (ZDL) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 7 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.47 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:49 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 10:27 (Emily) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) 4.5*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, CJ Tan, Joseph Gangi, Mike Shenk, Rebecca Goldstein, Willa Angel Chen Miller | 17 Comments

Thursday, December 25, 2025

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

MGWCC #916

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

WSJ Contest — Friday, December 19, 2025

Monday, December 22, 2025

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Friday, December 19, 2025

Thursday, December 18, 2025

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