Thursday, November 27, 2025 |
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Alexander Liebeskind’s New York Times crossword — Zachary David Levy’s write-up
Difficulty: Average (8m43s)
Alexander Liebeskind’s New York Times crossword, 11/27/25, 1127
Today’s theme: SQUARE THE CIRCLE (Complete an impossible task … or a hint to reading three Down answers in this puzzle)
- WISHB(ONE) FORMATION / (ON E)DGE
- FAS(T WO)RKER / YEAR O(F OUR) LORD
- EAR(TH REE)NTRY / SATUR(NINE)
Some phrases are just revealers dying to be made into puzzles — SQUARE THE CIRCLE falls firmly into that category. Might have played faster if I remembered what SATURNINE meant. Wasn’t he the god of riches and enlightenment? Why the dour connotation?
Cracking: the KREBS CYCLE, medical school PTSD notwithstanding
Slacking: SED, sed me
Sidetracking: AD WARS
Zhouqin Burnikel’s Universal Crossword Puzzle “Turkey Trot” — Eric’s Review
Zhouquin Burnikel’s Universal Crossword “Turkey Trot” — 11/27/25
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate this holiday! Odds are that anyone reading this has many things to be thankful for, and it never hurts to take a few minutes and acknowledge that.
I’m assuming that today’s theme is a simple one because so many people will be wrapped up in cooking or socializing. Unless I missed something (always a possibility with me), we get five words or phrases containing the trigram TOM in which as you go lower in the grid, TOM “trots” to the right:
- 17A [*Easy opponents in the boxing ring] TOMATO CANS I’m all for colorful entries in crossword puzzles (especially theme entries), but this one might be a little too colorful. It’s perhaps more unfortunate that it’s the first theme answer.
- 23A [*Video game featuring Lara Croft] TOMB RAIDER When I filled in this gimme, I thought the theme involved TOM followed by A, then B, then C. I got ahead of myself and stuck TOMC in the next theme slot, only to immediately delete it.
- 38A [*River through Washington, D.C.] POTOMAC
- 48A [*Comic strip hero with a skull ring] THE PHANTOM
- 59A [*Absolute lowest point] ROCK BOTTOM
I didn’t notice until I was finished that the grid is asymmetrical. I assume that’s why the theme clues are starred, as there’s no reference to the asterisks in any other clue. (But it looks to me like Ms Burnikel placed her theme answers in symmetrical slots, so maybe the asymmetry is just to get better fill.)
Other stuff:
- 15A [Western lake home to Emerald Bay] TAHOE I don’t recognize the bay, but a five-letter crossword friendly lake is almost always TAHOE.
- 27A [Mono alternative] STEREO In the 1960s, when I was still listening to records that my older siblings had bought, stereo mixes were almost an afterthought. The only recording for which I have both the mono and stereo mixes is White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground, and whatever differences there are between the two mixes are too subtle for me to notice.
- 33A [West African nation known for desert blues] MALI I tried CHAD first, but I should know better.
- 11D [Cosmetic product for shaping arches] EYEBROW GEL That’s new to me.
-
A show I’m certain I was at
- 28D [Concert souvenir] TICKET STUB Does the clue need “obsolete” or “old-fashioned”? I can’t remember the last concert I went to where I needed a paper ticket to get in. I kinda wish I had save my stubs, because I’m no longer sure when I saw some of the shows I saw.
- 31D [What adult jaguars have that adult pumas don’t] SPOTS I didn’t notice this while solving and didn’t know that juvenile mountain lions have spots.
- 51D [Dried poblano pepper] ANCHO Our local grocery store doesn’t stock ANCHOs, and our chile suffers for it. We’ll be in Texas next week and hope to stock up on those.