Wow, the NYT and the Stumper both went hard today. Look at all those scratch-outs. But I always enjoy some HOTCIDER (but please not from a K-Cup). No idea what DERNIERCRI is, either. I did love 51A in the Stumper, though; Jake is being ADORABLE and getting spoiled right now, in fact.
At least the Universal and LAT were easy today. Nice to see PANROMANTIC in a puzzle. And I'm hoping our landlord will be reasonable when we renew next year so no RENTSTRIKE will be required.
Both kitties decided they needed to "help" with my crossword tonight.
Today was for coincidental fill across the puzzles. With a MAI in the LAT, and TAIs in both the NYT and Universal, we've one-and-a-half MAITAIs for a Friday. And IDAHO is well-represented, spelled out in the NYT and abbreviated in the USAT.
Universal easily wins the puzzle-of-the-day award with MECHAGODZILLA and GIRL Scout Cookies. I learned my knowledge of NYC-adjacent geography is lacking; I thought YONKERS is over somewhere near Flushing, but it's north of the Bronx? And of course I am so glad I haven't needed OKCUPID for many years, though at least it has a cute name.
LAT SURPRISEd me with the Among Us sense of SUS; I've seen that in plenty of indies by now, but didn't know it had gone mainstream.
USAT amused with its 4/20 theme. I'll never hear JOINTCOMMITTEE in quite the same way again.
NYT was fun with its rotated theme. I miss the ZOOMZOOM ads. SADIRONS was a wtf?
USA Today's themers lead off with the all-to-topical LONGCOVID. Unfortunately we cannot say WEREDONE with COVID.
In the LAT, I wanted DRONERACING instead of DRONESOCCER, which is new to me. What kind of rules does that have?
Universal has AVIDREADER down the middle, which reminds me I have some books to get to...
HULKSMASH! I'm not into skate culture, but that entry made the LAT puzzle fun.
USAT made me hungry with APPLEPIEALAMODE. Also liked the reminder that the whole CARBONFOOTPRINT thing is BP greenwashing.
Universal reminded us of the lockdown fad of SOURDOUGH baking. I do love fresh hot bread, but never been a big SOURDOUGH fan myself (I'm not a fan of sour flavors in general).
Universal has TOEBEANS and CATEYES, so that automatically wins puzzle of the week. It also has some fun entertainment with a DRAGSHOW and SOAPOPERAS. Hopefully you don't need a SIDEHUSTLE to pay all those cover charges and streaming fees. I'll forgive it RAWDATA, even if I get too much of that in the day job.
The highlight of the LAT is the clue on 43A for PETS.
The Stumper definitely tried to stump. Really wanted the "Early influence on Asimov" to be VERNE or WELLS, but I suppose PULPS is accurate as well. That central pairing of INCAN DESCENT and INCANDESCENT is wild.
The Newsflash has me wondering why OREOs are the official cookie of the NBA? I am glad that Chrome has gotten reliable enough that I'd almost forgotten the AWSNAP message. I hadn't heard Disney+ was planning a new PETERPAN. Hope it's good.
#crosswords #SaturdayStumper #LATXword #UniXword #FireballNewsflash
USAT gets us into a proper kitty mood with KITTEN and CATTAIL. Then the Universal has BELLYDANCE; not quite as good as a bellyrub, but close. LAT reminds us to neuter our cats by removing their BALLS.
USAT features the delightful entry CATPARENT. Universal has "Catwoman" as a clue for VETERINARIAN. And the LAT leads with BIGCAT at 1D. Overall, a very satisfying catty day of crosswording.
Fun LAT puzzle today, with its GENDERCREATIVE reveal. I was initially confused by 18A; my first thought whenever I see CBT is not mainstream-crossword-friendly...
USAT had a fun selection of artists for its theme. 68A caused more trouble than it should have: "Rats!" -> DRAT -> DANG -> DARN!
Universal had some groanworthy (even if a bit over-familiar) puns, though I was a bit confused by 48A; "ROOTS" and "routes" (in the navigation sense) are not homonyms to me.
AndyHat