Muller Monthly Music Meta, May 2026

Title: “Backbreaking Work” by Pete Muller, Mack Meller, and Andrew White
Prompt: The meta for this puzzle is the grid entry whose clue needs to be changed to make the meta mechanism consistent.

Answer: 5-Across / THE BEST, whose clue needs to reference the Tina Turner song
Grid: untimed
Meta: 12 minutes

 

 

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Sunday, May 10, 2026

LAT 10:07 (Kyle) [2.50 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
NYT 12:49 (Nate) [3.52 avg; 25 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) rate it
Universal (Sunday) 9:41 (Jim P) [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:41 (Adam S) [3.25 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WaPo untimed (Matt G) [3.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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Saturday, May 9, 2026

LAT 3:45 (Stella) [3.05 avg; 10 ratings] rate it
Newsday 26:31 (pannonica) [3.70 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:34 (Amy) [4.35 avg; 17 ratings] rate it
Universal 6:06 (Adam S) [1.83 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
USA Today untimed (ZEB) [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ untimed (pannonica) [1.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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Friday, May 8, 2026

LAT tk (pannonica) [2.50 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:45 (Amy) [3.08 avg; 18 ratings] rate it
Universal 4:24 (Jim P) [3.00 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (tk) [2.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it

A week ago, we plugged the series of minis celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month called APIHMinis.com. I (Amy) just saw last week’s plug when starting tonight’s post, which reminded me to visit APIHMinis and do the latest couple puzzles that I’d missed. I’m enjoying these! Note that today’s is a 9×7 midi by Hoang-Kim Vu, meater than the typical mini. Joon Pahk bylined yesterday’s. Enjoy!

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Thursday, May 7, 2026

BEQ 8:22 (Eric) [2.33 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Fireball untimed (Jenni) [2.75 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT tk (Gareth) [2.17 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
NYT 6:22 (ZDL) [3.44 avg; 16 ratings] rate it
Universal untimed (Eric) [3.63 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
USA Today 9:00 (Emily) [2.50 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
WSJ 11:35/DNF (Jim Q) [3.00 avg; 3 ratings] rate it

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Ariadne’s Crossword Library, May 2026

ACL Grid: 8 mins; Meta: 2 mins [4.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
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Wednesday, May 6, 2026

AV Club 5:48 (Amy) [3.00 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
LAT 6:05 (Gareth) [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
NYT 4:25 (Amy) [3.79 avg; 19 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 3:23 (Jim Q) [3.67 avg; 3 ratings] rate it
Universal tk (pannonica) [3.10 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today 12:17 (Emily) [3.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
WSJ 8:15 (Eric) [3.00 avg; 4 ratings] rate it

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MGWCC #935

MGWCC crossword 2:00
meta 0:35 [3.75 avg; 4 ratings] rate it
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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Jonesin’ untimed (Jenni) [3.00 avg; 2 ratings] rate it
LAT 3:41 (Erin) [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
NYT 6:42 (Eric) [2.79 avg; 14 ratings] rate it
The New Yorker 6:59 (Eric) [4.13 avg; 8 ratings] rate it
Universal 5:36 (Eric) [3.00 avg; 5 ratings] rate it
USA Today tk (Sophia) [2.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
Xword Nation tk (Ade) rate it
WSJ untimed (Jim Q) [3.50 avg; 1 rating] rate it

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WSJ Contest — Friday, May 1, 2026

WSJ (Contest) Grid: untimed; Meta: 5 minutes [4.36 avg; 11 ratings] rate it
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