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

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Eric Hougland

LAT tk (Gareth) 5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 18:09 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 5 | 3*: 5 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 3 | 1.5*: 2 [2.89 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Darby) [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
Universal (Sunday) 8:10 (Jim P) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.50 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Norah) 3*: 3 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
WaPo 5:42 (Matt G) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 1*: 2 [2.86 avg; 7 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Evan Birnholz, Michael Schlossberg, Sam Ezersky | 31 Comments

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT 3:20 (Stella) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Newsday 25:25 (pannonica) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 [4.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 7:55 (Amy) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 4 | 2.5*: 3 | 2*: 5 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 3 [2.61 avg; 22 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (Matthew) 4*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Matthew) 3*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 [2.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged August Miller, Ben Zimmer, Byron Walden, Mike Shenk | 35 Comments

Friday, August 15, 2025

Posted on August 14, 2025 by Amy Reynaldo

LAT untimed (pannonica) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 8:27 (Amy) 5*: 9 | 4.5*: 8 | 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 2 [3.94 avg; 25 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:46 (Jim P) 4*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Emily) 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Dena R. Verkuil, Jeffrey Martinovic, Rachel Glover, Zachary David Levy | 19 Comments

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Eric Hougland

BEQ 10:07 (Eric) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:21 (Gareth) 4*: 2 | 1*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 12:16 (ZDL) 4.5*: 2 | 3.5*: 2 | 3*: 5 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 5 | 1.5*: 1 [2.81 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:47 (Eric) 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.38 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 15:04 (Emily) 3*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 20+ (Jim Q) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.13 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

The Fireball is on vacation until September.

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adrian Johnson, Brendan Emmett Quigley, David Y. Lin, Gene Louise De Vera, Kathy Lowden, Shannon Rapp, Sita C. Palepu, Will Eisenberg | 27 Comments

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Posted on August 12, 2025 by Eric Hougland

AV Club 7:10 (Amy) 5*: 1 | 3.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 4:20 (Gareth) 3.5*: 2 | 1.5*: 1 [2.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 4:14 (Amy) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 2 | 2.5*: 5 | 1.5*: 2 [2.88 avg; 12 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker tk (Kyle) 4*: 4 | 3*: 1 [3.80 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today 10:13 (Emily) 4.5*: 1 | 1*: 1 [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 6:00-something (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.30 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Adam Levav, Jared Cappel, Kaela Curry, Kevin Curry, Matigan King, Steve Jopek, Zhouqin Burnikel | 19 Comments

MGWCC #897

Posted on August 12, 2025 by joon

MGWCC crossword 4:06
meta 3 days 4*: 3 | 3*: 2 | 2*: 1 [3.33 avg; 6 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Contests | Tagged Matt Gaffney | 10 Comments

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Eric Hougland

Jonesin’ 5:34 (Erin) rate it
LAT untimed (Jenni) 3.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 5:06 (Evan) 5*: 2 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 7 | 3.5*: 6 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.69 avg; 21 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker untimed (pannonica) 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 4 | 3*: 1 [4.13 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (Eric) 4*: 3 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2*: 1 [3.42 avg; 6 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 5:10 (Jim Q.) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Erik Agard, Jake Halperin, Jared Cappel, Matt Jones, Patrick Berry | 28 Comments

WSJ Contest — Friday, August 8, 2025

Posted on August 10, 2025 by Conrad

WSJ (Contest) Grid: 12 minutes; Meta: 20 more 5*: 6 | 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 5 [4.54 avg; 13 ratings] rate it
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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Mike Shenk | 11 Comments

Muller Monthly Music Meta, August 2025

Posted on August 10, 2025 by Matt Gaffney

Muller Solving time: puz: about 8 mins
meta: 35 min, the last 20 mins of which were totally unnecessary 5*: 1 | 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 2 | 3.5*: 1

[4.20 avg; 5 ratings] rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Andrew White, Mack Meller, Muller Monthly Music Meta, Pete Muller | 8 Comments

Monday, August 11, 2025

Posted on August 10, 2025 by Sophia Maymudes

BEQ 12:23 (Eric) 4.5*: 1 | 4*: 1 | 3*: 1 [3.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
LAT 2:10 (Stella) 3*: 1 [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
NYT 3:10 (Sophia) 4.5*: 2 | 4*: 7 | 3.5*: 1 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 1 | 2*: 2 [3.57 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 7:05 (Amy) 4*: 3 | 3*: 1 | 2.5*: 2 | 2*: 1 | 1.5*: 2 | 1*: 1 [2.60 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (pannonica) 4*: 1 | 2.5*: 2 [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (?) 2.5*: 1 | 1.5*: 1 [2.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
WSJ 4:00 (Jim Q) rate it

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Posted in Daily Puzzles | Tagged Brendan Emmett Quigley, Brian Keller, Guilherme Gilioli, Mary Winslow, Natan Last, Rebecca Goldstein | 10 Comments

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Friday, August 15, 2025

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

MGWCC #897

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

WSJ Contest — Friday, August 8, 2025

Muller Monthly Music Meta, August 2025

Monday, August 11, 2025

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