Thursday, December 4, 2025 |
BEQ tk (Eric) rate it
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Universal untimed (Eric) [4.00 avg; 1 rating] rate it
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Frederick Lavoie’s Universal Crossword Puzzle “Double Down” — Eric’s Review
Frederick Lavoie’s Universal Crossword “Double Down” — 12/4/25
Technically, this wasn’t an untimed solving experience — I got interrupted while working and paused the timer, but I forgot to start it up again. Based on what the timer says and the ease of solving this, I’m guessing that my actual solving time was between five and six minutes.
There’s no revealer, but the title makes it apparent why certain letters in the theme answers are circled — they’re all doubled and each doubling is repeated:
- 16A [Papa’s papa, perhaps] GRANDDADDY
- 26A [Annual celebration of Hawaiian fashion and heritage] MU’UMU’U MONTH This is a real thing, folks.
- 44A [“What’s cooking, ___?”] GOOD-LOOKING Reverse the answer and the clue and you’ve got a 1951 hit for Hank Williams. I’ve grown to appreciate much of his music, but I still don’t really care for that one.
- 59A [What city streets typically do] CRISS-CROSS
These theme answers are all good, interesting finds. I especially appreciate that none are made-up phrases. I have no idea how limited the universe of possible theme answers is: For A, you’ve got BAA BAA or the Teletubby LAA LAA. There’s nothing for B and only CCCC for C. That’s as deep into the alphabet as I felt like looking.
Other stuff:
- 1A [___ to none] SLIM It took me a bit to get this, because I wanted SECOND to fit.
- 14A [Fell face-first] ATE IT Ski season is finally here in Southern Colorado. I will do my best to not eat it this year.
- 35A [Professor’s job protection] TENURE/37A [Degree for many profs] PHD
- 52D [___ brothers (“Avengers: Endgame” directors)] RUSSO Not a name I recognize.
Hannah Slovut-Einderston’s Fireball Crossword “Alternate Routes” – Jenni’s write-up
Took me a minute to figure this one out. OK, more than a minute. Once I understood the theme, my solving pace picked up considerably.
Each theme clue has an second word that is capitalized for apparently no good reason. They’re all types of thoroughfares, and each answer ends in an appropriate abbreviation.
Fireball, December 3, 2025, Hannah Slovut-Einertson, “Alternate Routes,” solution grid
- 20a [Family Circle?] is GRANDMASTER – GRANDMAS TERrace.
- 26a [Happy Place?] is GRINDR – GRIN DRive.
- 27a [Pool Lane?] is DIVEST – DIVE STreet.
- 43a [Cutting Corner?] is SICK LEAVE – SICKLE AVEnue. Had to stare at that one for a while.
- 51a [Musical Loop?] is VERDICT – VERDI CT (court)
- 52a [Dance Walk?] is DISCORD. DISCO RD (road)
That’s a lot of theme material for a 15×15 and amazingly enough the fill did not suffer. It’s a great construction and a lot of fun to solve.
What I didn’t know before I did this puzzle: never heard of ERICA Garza or her memoir “Getting Off,” which is apparently about her experiences with sex and porn addiction.