Wednesday, April 2, 2025 - CIAO - the *perfect* word when you've forgotten if you're coming or going 😀 😀

YKNOW, today's crossword was ABLAZE with intriguing clues and new(ish) answers: witness 38D, Emphatic agreement in Latin America, SISISI; 17A, Frozen food brand famously lampooned by comedian Jim Gaffigan, HOTPOCKETS; and 51A, Get smart?, DOLLUP. Even old answers were clued AFRESH: consider 48A, One with a solo in Brahm's Symphony No. 1, OBOE, and 10A, It carries an added tax in Philadelphia and San Francisco, SODA. Nice job, Peter Wentz, thanks for giving us this Friday treat. On toda...

13 Mar 202110min

Today's puzzle was a toughie -- you might need to BURNTHEONEAMOIL in order to solve it. The top-left corner was a particular quagmire -- 4A, Drink served hot or cold, SAKE, 3D, Added assessments, SURTAXES, and 1A, Kerfuffle, FUSS all caused, well, a kerfuffle. Mike also had to battle demons in the bottom left corner, unwisely answering 44A, Abbr. in many an urban address, as AVE, leading to the conclusion that 45D, Dense spinning celestial body, was VULCAN, which while true on some plane of e...

12 Mar 202111min

TOOMANYCOOKS ... clearly was not a problem with this crossword -- there were TWO cooks, and they've served up a delicious Wednesday crossword for your enjoyment. The theme was the beginning of three adages -- truncating them right where the word SPOIL appeared, e.g., 45A, Start of a saying about parental discipline, SPARETHEROD. Very clever, Nancy Stark and Will Nediger! A few rarer words made an appearance -- 51A, Quick, possibly controversial bit of commentary, HOTTAKE and the always...

11 Mar 20219min

If you like cars, or perhaps we should say, if you like srac, then you'll love this crossword, which features a series of car manufacturers, embedded, in reverse, in various names. For instance, 17A, They often come out at night, FALSETEETH, includes, reading backwards, TESLA; and our favorite, 28A, First Lady of 2001 to '09, LAURABUSH, includes SUBARU. Besides that, the injection of several unexpected I's caught our I, er, eye -- 6D, Longtime "All Things Considered" host Robert, SIEGEL, an...

10 Mar 202110min

There is always a DEMAND for good crosswords, and contributing to the SUPPLY is Eric Bornstein. whose ECONOMICS themed crossword would've made ADAMSMITH proud. Both Jean and Mike, although solving independently, were temporarily naticked in the same location: 47A, Actor Philip with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, AHN, ran into 38D, Tennis score after deuce, ADIN. Fortunately, that troublesome N was part of the themed answer, DEMAND, which ran diagonally through the puzzle, and saved the...

9 Mar 20219min

Today's crossword had an ingenious theme. as one would expect when Celeste Watts and Jeff Chen are at the keyboard. Two letters, extracted from each themed clue ,when pronounced, formed a homonym for a word or phrase, as part of a second phrase, that described the original clue. For instance, 49A, LUXUR_ _AUGHT, UNWISEINVESTMENT, and 93A, POI_T OF _IEW, UNENVIABLEPOSITION. Amazing! Jean made short work of this crossword, but Mike, as usual, hit some choppy waters due to his unfamiliarit...

8 Mar 202110min

The force is strong with this one, this one being Sid Sivakumar, author of a crossword with a distinct sci-fi/nerd/geek vibe going for it. It starts off with 1D, "Star Trek" character first played by 12-Down, DATA, and the 12D counterpart, Actor Spiner, BRENT. It doesn't let up with 14A, Side opposite 41-Across in a sci-fi clash, ALIENRACE, and its counterpart, 41A, See 14-Across, HUMANS. Even 44A, School science project involving a vegetable and a voltmeter, POTATOBATTERY (not, as Mike origi...

7 Mar 20219min

A strenuous Friday workout from Sridhar Bhagavathula, with lots of challenges ... pretty much everywhere. Jean had a spot of bother with the top-left corner, with 1A, Pitched poorly, OFFKEY, and 3D, Resource for music performers, FAKEBOOK being particular sticking points. Mike found the top right corner a tough slog, with 7A, Trace element?, STENCIL (cute); 17A, The Statue of Liberty, for one, COLOSSUS; and his personal favorite, 9D, If all ________ were laid end to end, they would not ...

6 Mar 202114min