Wednesday, July 31, 2024 | (2024)

LAT4:49 (Gareth)

NYT4:45 (Amy)

WSJ4:27 (Jim)

Zachary David Levy’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Pardon My French”—Jim’s review

I solved the puzzle without catching on to the theme, since I kept looking for French words in either the entries or the clues. So the clues didn’t help me very much, but with enough crossings, I recognized each phrase. After the solve I went back and noticed each entry starts with LA and that the first words can be separated into LA something. So there’s your theme: Each entry is a familiar phrase whose first word can be separated into the French definite article LA plus another word. Wackiness ensues. Shall we say this is in honor of the Paris Olympics? Let’s.

• 17a. [Sore spot left by a bee, in Bordeaux?] LA STING REMINDER.
• 22a. [What finals generate, in Grenoble?] LA TEST CRAZE.
• 37a. [The ore that’s mined, in Marseille?] LA TIN MASS.
• 51a. [Where lab rats learn, in Lyon?] LA MAZE CLASS.
• 59a. [How revulsion is expressed, in Rouen?] LA UGHING OUT LOUD. Ugh indeed. This one’s awkward but it does have a certain charm.

A somewhat kooky theme that reminded me of Pepe Le Pew combining French and English into one. These felt like groan-worthy puns, but not in an entirely bad way.

Plenty of 6s and 7s in the fill with only a couple of 8s. I liked RED ZONE and fully-named BRIAN ENO as well as MONETIZE and HANGRY.

Clues of note:

• 43a. [Central]. MID. I recently learned that kids these days are using this word to mean “average” or “mediocre”. So I was surprised at this traditional cluing angle since editor Mike Shenk seems to like to include newer slang when he can.
• 49d. [Canoeing event at the Olympics]. SLALOM. Nice tie-in to the Summer Games since we normally see this word associated with skiing.

3.5 stars.

Jackson Matz & Ben Matz’s New York Times crossword—Amy’s recap

First, let me confess that I have never seen The Little Mermaid, neither the original animated movie or the Halle Bailey live-action version. But I’ve seen plenty of “Under the ___” crossword clues, so boom. The theme revealer, UNDER THE SEA, points to the vertical theme entries. As clued, the answers should be specific words or phrases, but if you sneak a C in front, they become entirely different (but still legit) phrases:

• 11d. [*Not moving fast enough], CLOSING TIME. C + losing time.
• 18d. [*Increases sharply], CRAMPS UP.
• 25d. [*Rip off], COVER CHARGE.
• 31d. [*Like 10%-fat beef], CLEAN-CUT. Is lean-cut an adjective, as clued? Feels more like an awkward noun phrase, but beef butchery is not my thing.

I’m not sure about 31d, but overall it’s a lever, ute theme.

Three things:

• 23a. [Expose the vulnerabilities of, in a way], HACK. I couldn’t see what this clue was getting at for the longest time.
• 3d. [What it would be a mistake to write twice?], BOO. As in a booboo.
• 39d. [Duck delicacy], FOIE GRAS. Gross. Some jurisdictions ban this because it entails force-feeding ducks or geese via tubes (often metal). If you find it delicious and don’t give a rat’s ass about what the birds are subjected to, please keep that to yourself.

Fave fill: BEAR HUG, BROADCASTER, the lovely word PERUSE.

3.5 stars from me.

Ryan Judge’s AV Club Classic crossword, “What the …?”—Amy’s recap

Literature meets geography meets anagramming in this theme.

• 40a-49a. [With 49-Across, work set in Paris and London], A TALE OF / TWO CITIES.
• 17a, [Street in Paris that runs alongside the Louvre], RUE DE RIVOLI.
• 27a. [Street in London known for bespoke tailoring and the Beatles’ rooftop concert], SAVILE ROW.
• 64a. [Titular street child in a famous novel … and a hint to finding that child in the streets of 17- and 27-Across], OLIVER TWIST.

“Twist” those highlighted letters in the street names by scrambling them, and you get OLIVER. Street kid, two street names in London and Paris, the two cities in the Dickens novel … I like the interconnectedness of the theme.

Favorite clue: 54a. [What to do, per Dylan Thomas, against the dying of the light (you could also just buy a new bulb I suppose)], RAGE. There are always people who would rather rage against something than actually look for solutions, but this is not what inspires poets.

Take note: 11d. [Jewelry chain named for its founder’s daughters], ALEX AND ANI. This is constructors’ alternative to Ani DiFranco, so you’ll see it “Alex and ___” in the occasional clue.

Four stars from me. An enjoyable solve and an elegant theme.

Robyn Weintraub’s New Yorker crossword – Kyle’s write-up

Thanks Robyn for today’s puzzle.

Neat bit of trivia at 17A [Prizes named for the theatre pioneer Antoinette Perry] TONY AWARDS. Here’s her Wikipedia bio. The full name of the award is the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre.

Other long answers I liked: the duo of SEAWEED SALAD and BREADSTICKS (the latter getting a nod to Olive Garden in the clue), CLASSICAL (just discovered a lovely recording of Beethoven’sDiabelli Variations by Mitsuko Uchida), “END OF RANT”, CLICKBAIT (with a tricky clue: [What a mouse might be drawn to?]), “GET ON WITH IT!”. The rest of the grid is totally clean, as usual.

Lenora Genovese and Emet Ozar’s Universal crossword, “Monster Movie” — pannonica’s write-up

The theme is basically animal name + anatomical feature.

• 41a^R [“Godzilla vs. Kong,” for example … and a hint to each starred clue’s answer] CREATURE FEATURE.
• 16a. [*Suedelike fabric] MOLESKIN.
• 24a. [*Keen observer’s ability] EAGLE EYE.
• 52a. [*Paw-shaped pastry] BEAR CLAW.
• 68a. [*Skid side to side] FISHTAIL.

It’s a nice, tidy theme, but I don’t care for the way that the title is relevant to the revealer but not the theme itself. It’s spurlike but not spurious (those words have different etymologies).

• 5d [Go on and on] YAK. Clued not as the bovid.
• 38d [Small Hawaiian shell] PUKA, seen often in necklaces.
• 48a [Shake, like a finger] WAG.Finger is an anatomical feature, so this intrudes on the theme a bit. Evoking a dog’s tail would objectively be more egregious. My suggestion: echo the clue for 32a [Super hilarious person] RIOT.
• 59a [“Well, obviously!”] UM, DUH. The last bit of fill that needed correcting. Had NO DUH, then UH, DUH before proper completion.
• 71a [Edge of the forest] TREELINE. The upper altitudinal edge, also calledtimberline.

Zachary David Levy’s LA Times crossword – Gareth’s summary

Zachary David Levy’s theme today is more creative than most: we have four LITTLEWOMEN – famous women with a first name (or similar) than sounds small:

• [Grand Ole Opry fixture from 1940 to 1991], MINNIEPEARL
• [“If These Walls Could Talk” star], DEMIMOORE
• [Actress who played Lucy on “Raising Hope”], BIJOUPHILLIPS
• [Singer born Emma Lee Bunton], BABYSPICE

Interesting clues and answers:

• [Kit filled with money and passports, in spy movies], GOBAG. I only know this in the context of waiting a visit to the hospital…
• [Narrative device employed in “Russian Doll”], TIMELOOP. Is that like “Groundhog Day”, perchance?
• [John who played Blackie Parrish on “General Hospital], STAMOS. You mean he was in things other than Full House?

Gareth

Max Schlenker’s USA Today Crossword, “I Will Turn This Car Around!” — Emily’s write-up

Better keep yourself entertained—how about a puzzle?

Theme: each themer contains —RAC— (or “car” backwards)

Themers:

• 15a. [Bonus points on an exam],EXTRACREDIT
• 36a. [Tomb Raider heroine portrayed by Alicia Vikander],LARACROFT
• 61a. [Groups following reality TV stars],CAMERACREWS

Great themer set today! EXTRACREDIT and LARACROFT filled without issue for me. However, CAMERACREWS was one I needed many crossings for as I kept thinking about fans instead of a more practical option. It’s super savvy that made me grin once I figured it out. Loved the title hint too!

Favorite fill: ENERO, SITBACK, GLAMPED, and LIEDETECTORTEST

Stumpers: LOSE (I misdirected and racked my brain for chess terms), ILKS (needed crossings, just didn’t come to mind), and MIX (kept thinking “mess” or “tangle”)

If it weren’t for the three stumpers that really tripped me up today, my time would have been 6 minutes. The puzzle just clicked for me, had an easy flow, really nice cluing and great overall fill with oodles of lengthy bonus fill including a spanner. I also enjoyed the grid design.

4.5 stars

~Emily