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

Monday, August 25, 2025

Posted on August 24, 2025 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 8:26 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 1:41 (Stella) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:30ish (Sophia) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 3 | 2*: 1 [3.86 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:33 (Jenni) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 1 [3.64 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [1.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ tk (Jim Q) 2*: 1 [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andy Kravis, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Brent Sverdloff, Drew Schmenner, Gary Cee, Mollie Cowger, Ryan Mathiason | 23 Comments

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Eric Hougland

LAT tk (Gareth) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [2.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
NYT 18:17 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 4 | 3*: 3 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 7 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [2.50 avg; 19 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1*: 2 [2.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 10:13 (Jim P) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [2.88 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 6:12 (Matt G) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 3 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.88 avg; 8 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged C.C. Burnikel, Evan Birnholz, Michael Lieberman, Tom Pepper, Zhouqin Burnikel | 27 Comments

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sophia Maymudes

LAT 4:00 (Stella) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 3 | 1.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.86 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
Newsday tk (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [4.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:46 (Sophia) 4*: 8 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 2 [3.50 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 2.5*: 2 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 2*: 1 [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ tk (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Matthew Stock, Ryan Judge, Willa Angel Chen Miller | 19 Comments

Friday, August 22, 2025

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Jim Peredo

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brian Keller, Chad Hazen, Jeff Chen, Katie Hale | 20 Comments

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 12:54 (Eric) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 17:37 (ZDL) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 10 | 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1*: 2 [3.70 avg; 20 ratings] rate it
Universal 3:35 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 9:42 (Emily) 5*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WSJ 9:02 (Jim Q) 4*: 2 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.00 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

The Fireball is on vacation until September.

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, Brian Callahan, Guilherme Gilioli, Joe Rodini, Simeon Seigel | 34 Comments

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Eric Hougland

AV Club untimed (Jenni) 4*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 6:24 (Gareth) 4*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [3.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:12 (Eric) 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 6 | 1.5*: 4 [2.12 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 2:07 (Kyle) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today 8:30 (Emily) 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [1.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 7:12 (Eric) 3*: 1 [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Amy Ensz, Caitlin Reid, Gary Larson, Michael Schlossberg, Rebecca Goldstein, Sally Hoelscher, Victor Schmitt | 10 Comments

MGWCC #898

Posted on August 19, 2025 by joon

MGWCC crossword 3:16
meta DNF 4*: 2 | 3*: 2 [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 6 Comments

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Posted on August 18, 2025 by Erin Milligan-Milburn

Jonesin’ 5:54 (Erin) rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:59 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 5 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.25 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.43 avg; 7 ratings] rate it
Universal 7:13 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.13 avg; 4 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 untimed (Jim) 4.5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brooke Husic, Eric Rollfing, Jeff Chen, Jeffrey Martinovic, Jonathan Raksin, Kyle Dolan, Matt Jones, Rachel Glover | 12 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, August 15, 2025

Posted on August 17, 2025 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: untimed; Meta: a day or so 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 4 | 4*: 5 | 3.5*: 3 [4.12 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 26 Comments

Monday, August 18, 2025

Posted on August 17, 2025 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 31:45 (Eric) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 1:45 (Stella) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 3:05 (Sophia) 5*: 1 | 4*: 4 | 3.5*: 3 | 3*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.50 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 8:47 (Jenni) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.50 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 4.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WSJ 5:02 (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Amanda Cook, Andrea Carla Michaels, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Christina Iverson, Erik Agard, Zhouqin Burnikel | 12 Comments

Monday, August 25, 2025

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Friday, August 22, 2025

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

MGWCC #898

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

WSJ Contest — Friday, August 15, 2025

Monday, August 18, 2025

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