cross goss!

i have lots of takes, all of them lukewarm

Fri May 15 2026 16:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

Hi all! Sorbier checking in here with my first foray on the website.

While Skep is a regular crossword fiend, polishing off crosswords from diverse sources every day, I admit that I have taken a long break from crosswording. It's been a few years since my last crossword, so if anyone around here is going to have lukewarm takes, it's going to be me.

AVCX+, May 15 by Hannah Slovut-Einerston

Themeless, titled "Get Ready!".

This crossword was delightful! A really fun re-introduction to crosswords.

Some clue highlights:

1A: Orange juice? (TRIPLESEC) — i don't know why, but this clue really tickled, especially since it was the opener... now I want an orange juice, though I wouldn't say no to an "orange juice" either
8D: People at the beginning of their love story, in a trope (ENEMIES) — god, the romance books are taking over culture and I love it. There's nothing quite like reading 100,000 words for the enemies to stare at each other from across the room (their hands brushing for the first time 50,000 words in, just so they can each ruminate on it during the next 45,000 words and wonder what it meant and if the other person meant to touch them on purpose) all in one night and getting 2 hours of sleep. Hypothetically.

Some answer highlights:

19A: IMPRESS ME (“Let's see what you can do!”) — the tone is so mean! I would hate to hear anyone say either the answer or clue to me in real life
22A: I BELIEVE (“We can do this”) — complete opposite energy!
30A: ASS (Word with hard or hat) — it must be because most of my crossword experience has been with the very sanitised New York Times, but I couldn't believe we were talking about hardasses and asshats in a crossword
43A: CLOUT CHASER — such a relevant phrase, fun surprise, so fresh compared to what we usually get in crosswords
46A: SOLE HEIR — another great one, current with all the recent talk of nepo babies, wealth inequality, so on and so forth...
12D: TOP SEED — I am totally numbskulled when it comes to sports, but in the most surprising move ever, I got this answer without a sweat thanks to watching HOURS OF COMPETITIVE POKEMON

I just love snappy medium-to-long answers!

I did get tripped up at the beginning, since I dropped in SCAPEGOAT for 17A (Someone to make an example of) without any crosses, then felt reluctant to remove it since it fit so well. In the same way, I really wanted 49A (Without support, in a way) to be BRALESS but at least that time I was saved by it being the wrong number of letters.

On the other hand, STRESS CLEAN (27A: Tidy in response to anxiety), which I also dropped in right off the bat, ended up helping me a lot with the downs in that section; I finished off the northeast part of the grid first before rounding the corner into the southwest corner.

(I will take this chance to complain about 10D, LOCAL COLOR, for its spelling... one day I will find a Canadian-constructed crossword that spells words right. In a context where every letter matters, and the lateral thinking relies on visualising words, being used to different spellings really bites you.)

The northwest corner was the hardest; it took me a while to make much headway and having SCAPEGOAT there really didn't help. After I scrapped it, I got another false start with 5D (Green flavor) which I insisted to myself was ALOE. Maybe I've been drinking too many canned drinks from Asia.

That said, I did get to drop in ERHU (53D: Instrument sometimes known as a Chinese violin) without hesitating... now that's cultural representation.

Gripes (which I saved for the end because there is nothing more unserious than crossword nitpicks):

14D: Crossword solving tool without an easy way to undo (PEN) — why do crosswords always get self-referential? the number of times I've seen some corny winky clue about solving crosswords... we are not in a Marvel movie! you need not break the fourth wall!!!
25D: “Music for films” artist Brian (ENO) — yet another regular among the crossword filler crowd, I guess it's unfair to complain about ENO since it's required glue, but it bores me every time I see it
37D: “Hahahahaha” (LOLOLOL) — wow, I hate this clue-answer pair so much... first, it's so on the nose. Hahaha is literally just Lololol. No creative way to clue Lololol emerged at all??? On top of that... if they insist on cluing Lololol this way, why not at least match the number of "ha"s with the number of "lol"s??? As it is, “Hahahahaha” is uncanny valley LOLOLOL: almost the same but off in one infuriating way.

wooingly

Sun May 10 2026 11:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

Double-posting since Sorb is too busy writing our CSS to do crosswords.

Lil AVCX, May 4th by Madison Shultz

14-Across: Malcolm in the Middle cooking prodigy sibling
Me: “Oh yeah, I think I vaguely remember that being a thing I guess. Who was that? Dewey and REESE both fit. REESE seems right to me for some reason. What about the older brother who was in the military, what was his name? Right, Francis. That doesn’t fit. …Hold on, why the hell do I even remember all these names?”

Puzzmo Cross|word, May 5th by Henry Lin-David

Clue for 24-Across was These numbers are pointless!. I got INTEGERS on the crosses, but it took a few moments to click for me. It’s referring to the lack of decimal point. Smart!

Lil AVCX, May 5th by Adryel W. Robles Ojeda

34-Across, Nice vegetable dish? Not only did I get RATATOUILLE without any crosses, but I even spelled it correctly on the first try. I mostly have Pixar to thank. (The misdirect is that Nice is a city in France)

Puzzmo Mini, May 6th by Leo Tsai

The clue for 2-Down plays so well off of 1-Down (Small cutesily is followed by Small amount, Greekily). Together they form half of the theme, which is enormously clever. A must-play mini, which isn’t something I say often.

AVCX, May 6th by Greg Snitkins

35-Across: Arab nation whose top-selling drink is Mountain Dew – OMAN. What??? Really? Don’t give into our ridiculous American ways, you folks are smarter than this! Crazy fact.

Brendan Emmett Quigley, May 7th

“The sixth-most published constructor in The New York Times under Will Shortz’s editorship” is such a pedantically specific claim to fame. Are you keeping count, buddy? Trying to hit number 5?

Not with this puzzle, you’re not. Shame, too, because it’s so close to being amazing, with a very fun theme integrating both down and across answers and some great cluing:

3-Down, Burning passion? – ARSON
20-Across, Afghan rights grp. – SPCA
32-Across, Chic clubs? – DISCOS
33-Down, Sheep-ish? – OVINE
58-Down, First person to work at IKEA, likely – SWEDE

But MAN are there a lot of real duds in this one, too. The overambition left us with answers like ADIN, WRT, PHIZ, LBAR, AWNAW, and WOOINGLY. I was still able to finish with the crosses and a couple lucky guesses, but it’s clear why this one ended up on the personal blog.

peeps peeps

Mon May 04 2026 11:00:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)

I have never done a crossword blog before and I don’t know what I’m doing.

AVCX, May 1st by Jess Rucks and Geoffrey Schorkopf

Chock-full of excellent misdirect clues.

22-Across, Polar opposite of a ‘hardcore gamer’ – My immediate instinct (FILTHYCASUAL) was correct, but I initially didn’t enter it, deciding it was too derogatory to be the actual answer. This term is strongly associated with gatekeeping in the hobby so it’s a little disappointing that it was clued in a way that perpetuates this.
25-Across, Place to go outside? – PRIVY is such an underused word in all aspects of life.

Crossword Curiosities, May puzzle by Hannah Binney

It’s really rare that a full-sized themed puzzle gets a clean fill, definite kudos here.

5-Across, Counterpart to a ladder, in a board game – Either snakes or CHUTES, take your pick. Personally, CHUTES always made more sense, even if snakes are more traditional.
39-Down, Present day person? - Such a tight clue for SANTA.
83-Across, Candy that 30% of customers prefer to eat stale, according to the company - Unpopular opinion, but PEEPS don't even taste good fresh.

Come to think of it, there’s really no reason to eat Peeps beyond the age of maybe 15 (you really shouldn’t eat them under the age of 15, either, but I digress).

Puzzmo Cross|word, May 4th by Olivia Mitra Framke

I completed this puzzle early in the day, and the clue for PAWN at 9-Across was One of sixteen Stormtroopers in a Star Wars chess set. I was going to point out here that Star Wars chess sets tend to have a Rebellion vs. Empire theme, meaning only one side would have Stormtrooper pawns. Typing this up at 10 a.m. the same day, I see they’ve already changed it to read eight instead of sixteen. I’m sure their Discord server was up in arms over this one. Can’t mess with the Star Wars people.