Sunday, September 28, 2025

Could this crossword BE any more fun?

No one uses that spelling of "lychee" (cue the pedants telling me it's quite common...)

As a fan of Friends back in the day, the title was a giveaway for me. A fun solve, nevertheless. Several years ago I attended a pop-up event and have photos pivoting the couch up the stairs and drinking coffee in Central Perk. A fun time with *my* friends. It's hard to believe the show premiered thirty years ago. You know you’re getting old when “Friends With Benefits” means having someone who can drive at night.

Well I suspect as we’ve seen already, YMMV depending on whether you like, or at least are familiar with, the show. But whatever you think, you have to give credit for some fabulous construction here—with a lot of gratitude to the crossword gods, no doubt. You have 6 random names from a show and somehow manage to get them completely symmetrical (from side to side at least) and the benefits crossing them? With the exception of Rachel they can be clued as something other than a first name? AND you get the perfect title and revealer??? (I think the name of their cafe was obscure enough that it doesn’t ruin it for most people, and as the editors said regardless you can’t NOT use it.) This is just too good to be true. You can nit all you want about the rest—Ok the grid was a little ungainly with a lot of closed areas, which made it on the harder side to solve, even once you got the theme—but this is a really impressive achievement and nothing to sneeze at. I enjoyed it a lot!!! Also, shout out to my daughter in law and her family who are from Chandler.

When you spell it "mojave" it takes far longer to solve. LOL

So, this weekend I’ve been in Liverpool to celebrate the wedding of my nephew ROSS to the love of his life RACHEL. I kid you not. Long story short; met at uni, separated, lived their lives 300 miles apart, she married and divorced. Met again 15 years later. Happy ever after. Wedding speeches naturally full of FRIENDS references, down to the tiny plastic lobsters on the table. Filling in today’s grid made me smile.

I never saw a single episode of "Friends," thus, I was (no pun intended) clueless. I'm sure it was a fun puzzle for fans of the show, but uninspiring for me.

This crossword hit close to home. I remember my devastation on hearing the news of Matthew Perry's passing, I knew about his demons and that he had not been in great shape at the Friends reunion, but it was still a shock nonetheless. Friends was such a big part of my life growing up. In my teenage years, as someone living outside the US, that was my visual of what NYC (and by extension, the US) was and all the hope this great country held. Through the years, it has remained a source of great personal comfort: if I'm feeling down, I'll often play an old episode and the refrain of "I'll be there for you" just hits differently. I know how Friends is a polarising show, but for those of us who love it (in all its nostalgia-tinged silliness), it will always be something very meaningful and special. What a wonderful tribute, the puzzle really put a smile on my face today.

“The One With The Benefits” is how I will remember this puzzle 🫶🏼 Friends is the show of my generation. I’m the same age as the main cast, so it was very relatable to me and my group of friends. We were all just a couple of years out of college, starting our careers, dating and just figuring out life. My kids now enjoy watching the reruns and finally get some of my references (like speaking in the manner of CHANDLER who couldn’t BE more funny) 🤣 And who doesn’t love a good rendition of SMELLy cat 😹 JOEY with his How YOU doin’? 😏 And finally, who here didn’t find themselves clapping 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 during the opening credits? <a href="https://youtu.be/sLisEEwYZvw?si=PehZ4IZtvx9ZXS0L" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/sLisEEwYZvw?si=PehZ4IZtvx9ZXS0L</a> Thank you, Rich, for this wonderful tribute to one of my favorite shows 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Excellent puzzle! One nit to pick: I would argue "ABLATE" does not mean to remove surgically. Ablation is killing tissue without removing it, and often non-surgically! Radioablation uses focused radiation beams that converge with sub-millimeter precision to kill aberrant tissue, particularly in the heart to stop arrhythmias. Some people had EXCISE, and I had RESECT until the very end, both of which are more consistent with the clue.

[107D]y cat, [107D]y cat They should've figured a way to work that in as a bonus.

If I had actually watched "Friends" rather than merely being aware that it existed, the puzzle title would have given everything away. I only dimly recalled it after getting the theme from the revealer. Before that, I noticed the six crossing letters could spell OCEANS. What is depicted on the show as Monica's apartment is half a mile from mine, but the show took place 2800 miles away. Ironically, for a time, Jennifer Aniston had an actual apartment two blocks west of me (in a building where actual friends of mine lived). Clever puzzle that hit home. Enjoy the view, Rich.

Fun puzzle, nice example of a theme which isn't needed to fill in the full puzzle, but then delivers a nice 'aha' payload when you make the connection. Enjoyed going back through it to find all the characters and their respective benefit.

Yesterday I saw one of my favorite episodes of friends: The One Where Nearly Everyone Tells Mike "I'll Be There For You" Where are you, Mike? We better not be on a break.

I've never seen the whole series of "Friends", but I watched enough episodes for half of the theme to be a gimme. The other half came to me after the gimme of a revealer. Is VACATION only classified as a benefit in the US? Over here it's a right, and one of many: all employers are obliged to provide all employees with paid vacation time, up to 26 days per year in most cases, and more for some professions. For example, as a professor at uni I'm entitled to 36 days of vacation. Polish employees also have up to 33 sick days with 80% of our pay, long maternal and paternal leave, living minimum wage, paid overtime and weekend work, etc. Of course, many employers, especially small businesses, try to game the system, utilizing illegal contractual trickery to deprive employees, usually young ones, of their rights, and the government doesn't have the resources to do much about it 😢. I had to look up some proper names to deal with some of the spots in the grid, e.g. SYMS and WESTELM in the trivia-overloaded SE corner. I don't get the clue for BEHAVES - "Minds one's P's and Q's". Any help? Lucek was great on his first long walk in the forest. I'm looking forward to all the fun we will have over the years, exploring nature. We will have to teach him to swim, too, but it's already getting too cold to do that this year. It I'll have to wait - in the spring of 2026 we will take him to the lakes in my wife's home region of Wielkopolska, where Jorge the Lab learned to swim as a puppy.

Well, wasn’t that creative, Rich coming across the phrase FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, and picturing a puzzle hooking up the friends from the show with work benefits. Bravo! And wasn’t that remarkable, actually pulling this theme off IRL, having it fit symmetry, and decently filling in the grid, given the constraints of six crossed answers plus a 19-letter revealer. Wow! Because I didn’t watch the show – maybe saw an episode or two – my biggest aha was that moment I thought, “I bet these were the characters on ‘Friends’!” Best memory trigger was UNUM, which shot me right back to the first time I heard the phrase “e pluribus unum” in the Wizard of Oz, when I was a wee kid. (It’s when the Wizard is handing out a diploma to the Scarecrow). It sounded so silly to me I never forgot it. Lovely serendipities: The rare-in-crosswords five-letter semordnilap PEETS, and the pair of T-starters (TBONDS and TBAR). A fun and satisfying solve on top of an impressive theme and grid-build. Rich, Sunday in the box with you was a start-to-finish treat – thank you!

This crossword had a very silly theme, so needless to say I enjoyed it.

I watched Friends back in the 90s, but mostly because it was on the same night as Seinfeld and ER and rewatched it during the pandemic. The rewatch made me appreciate how well-crafted the writing and acting was. Anyway, despite knowing the show pretty well I totally missed the theme. Like Barry i saw that the crossing letters anagrammed to OCEANS, but never realized that it was entire entries i should have been paying attention to. Well, it wasn't the first theme that went over my head, and it won't be the last. Side note: any puzzle with George TAKEI and the EROICA in it, is okay by me.

Smooth solving other than a few early missteps (I always SEETHE before I SEE RED). Didn't really use the theme or even see it till I was done. I am much more Seinfeld than Friends, but it was punny enough when I got it.

I have GOT to start reading those Sunday puzzle titles! I don’t know why I always forget. Big fan of Friends, but as I did this puzzle in spurts, over the span of several hours, the combined presence of the different character names just didn’t register. So sadly, neither did the theme. Not that it matters, I guess. It’s a moo point. Like a cow’s opinion. It’s moo.

Someone may have already registered this complaint but "Remove surgically, as tissue" is an inaccurate clue for ABLATE (and sorry for spoiler for anyone). An ablation does not remove tissue, it destroys it (typically with heat or electricity). Ablations are more often considered procedures than surgeries; a dermatologist ablating a skin lesion in the office does not have tissue for pathology as one would when surgically removing tissue (which is to resect or excise tissue, both fit better with this clue). This should have been caught by editors (though in general medical terms are often misses in the NYT puzzle, unfortunately). Otherwise kind of a cute homage to Friends and a relatively quick solve for me.

Meh 🫤

This puzzle was uninspiring for a Sunday. Pretty easy, even not knowing anything about Friends. For fans I imagine it was cute, but I'm not sure the cute factor compensates for the meh factor. I don't mean to insult Friends fans or anyone else (we're all sensitive these days), but in my view, having a theme is necessary but not sufficient to warrant publication in the Sunday NYT.

While I don’t take back my pity party on Wednesday night into Thursday， I am incredibly grateful for this smooth sailing puzzle. I guess Thursday is now a Moo point.

The not terribly common word REDOUND appears is a puzzle about a TV show that debuted in the fall of 1994. In a fall 1994 episode of "Law & Order" (White Rabbit), William Kunstler -- playing himself -- uses the word.

where in the world do they spell Lichee -- "Litchi"?

I didn't know it was because I print it out under "ink saver" that I never see italics in my NYT puzzles so I didn't even know which ones were italicized. I'm imagining the perks, yes? I suppose that would've helped me catch the "intersections," but I enjoyed solving it nevertheless. I watched "Friends" and the whole theme and the title were very clever. Thanks, Rich!

Painful combination of obscure Americana (sports teams, furniture brands, court cases) and obscure spellings (LITCHI..?) topped off with a dollop of pig Latin, made this a bit of a drag. It's fair game of course, given than this is the NYT, but still didn't have nearly as much fun as usual. At least the Ryder cup is going well!

Crosslandia, you might want to check out the obituary for Mel Taub. He created Puns and Anagrams puzzles. In the article is a doozy of a crossword puzzle! At least it was for me. I revealed one answer (and read the answer to another in the article) before I got even a toehold. It was fun! Free link: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/crosswords/mel-taub-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.Q66x.Sce2fk_3aaJf&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/crosswords/mel-taub-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.Q66x.Sce2fk_3aaJf&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare</a>

So in response to people complaining that some the names are horizontal and the rest vertical—again I have to geek out on construction. So specifically in response to ROSS and JOEY being horizontal…I did a double take at that also but look at the crossings—WELLNESS and VACATION. If ROSS were vertical and WELLNESS crosses at its second last letter, then if JOEY was vertical then VACATION would have to cross at the second A to be symmetrical which doesn’t work, so you’d have to find a different benefit with 8 letters that crossed at the A (or change ROSS’s). And with only 4 letters (3 for ROSS) you don’t have a lot of options to go with—not to mention the J and Y in JOEY which make it even harder. Again, say what you will about the aesthetics if they bother you (or say don’t publish at all if it can’t be perfect) but just consider it’s not laziness or lack of skill that produces these blemishes, quite the opposite.

Kudos to whomever chose the header image for today’s blog. PIVOT!

As a somewhat dissenting opinion, I want to add that I’ve never watched the show but have gathered so much through cultural osmosis that I knew what the theme was as soon as I read the title. I remembered most, but not all, of the names. Found it fun! :)

Well, that song will be stuck in my head all morning. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Cute puzzle.

So much fun! As a millennial, I finally feel seen and validated by the NYT crossword ;)

PIV-AHT

Got the revealer early on but didn’t connect it to a sitcom until afterward and was very annoyed with myself for taking too long to get CHANDLER, a city(?) where I’ve visited friends. Had enough difficulty along the way to make it interesting but finished in good time. All in all a good Sunday puzzle. Thank you.

A smooth one for me until I got to RE_OUND. Learned a new word today!!

I never watched Friends, but over the years there were so many references to it and stories about its stars, that it was easy to know the names of all the characters. And I'd see the name of the coffee shop on the screen before turning the channel. But as I was filling in the puzzle I had no idea that those names had anything to do with a TV show. Still, I made no connection to them or the trick even after I filled in the revealer and then the rest of the puzzle. So I walked away for a moment to do something, and when I came back, CHANDLER jumped out at me, right there in the middle. There had been enough publicity about Matthew Perry's death that some brain cells clicked with the revealer, and so I looked for the names of the other characters, then eventually those benefits, which in more civilized countries are rights, not crumbs tossed to the peasants. Pretty impressive construction,though I'm now having to resort to a big magnifying glass for the Sunday puzzle because of some eye issues.

Such a beautiful Sunday here. It rained the past few days, and the humidity is barely noticeable. The lake level is up, the fish are jumping, and the Bridge gang meets here today. - It took me forever to ascertain the crossing pairs were not synonymous with the associated character. I was trying to meld the character with their profession, but it was even simpler than that. Benefits, plain and simple. - Send a card. I actually still do that, and I receive them as well, albeit in lesser quantity than in the past. There seem to be at least two or three of us in the US that continue to partake in this ancient ritual, may it ever continue. - I'm mildly relieved we may have finally put the DISC vs. DISK debate aside. I believe NODISC settles it all. - Liberal leaning. There. I just addressed close to the entirety of this forum. 😉😁 - What do slow fliers and FINED have to do with each other? What gets fined for flying too slow? - A HEN party? Dare I ask? - How many immediately filled in NUYS, then changed it to NESS? Actually the crosses did that for me. That and realizing it was on the opposite tip of the state! - I do love the Middle English words still in use, especially those beginning with "a." Terms like astir, apace, astride, aghast, etc. do it for me, I can't explain it, it's part of my PSYCHE. Several of the "be" words have their rightful place; like betwixt, behest and bemoan. Attack = SETUPON, I like that, too. The term crapulent? Eh, no explaining that.

Omg!!!! Beyond joy to accidentally discover the punchline. I got a box set and in 2003/2004 I “binged” every episode - one a morning before work. Then in late April 2004 I watched the finale with my now-wife after a few weeks of dating. Beyond great because I really needed help with some squares and now I know the names to use. So fun!!!! Thank you!!!

The puzzle had an interesting looking grid, but more closed off space than I typically care for. It was a pretty straightforward solve for me. I didn’t look at the title, and never caught on to the Friends connection. My only real hiccup was having seethes instead of SEESRED, which caused a little trouble in the SW.

This was thoroughly unpleasant. I filled in the revealer without even thinking, but even after finishing the puzzle I still had no idea what was going on. I had to read the explanation offered here twice -- once before and once after I went back to look at the grid. You have to mentally add the word "insurance" to both "dental" and "health" to torture those answers into thematic conformity. But you cannot even do THAT with "wellness," which of course is a broad concept. The puzzle title means nothing to me either, as I recall the existence of the show "Friends," but I can never remember if I'm thinking of that show or Melrose Place, which iirc isn't even the same genre. So a coffee shop? Get out of here. Now. This puzzle is what happens when you try to divide fun by zero.

Statement. I didn't do well on this puzzle (that's an understatement). And... must confess that even after I finished (with some cheating) I still had to ponder for quite a while to grasp the theme on the various occurrences. That's all on me. Puzzle find today. A Sunday from October 11, 1970 by Elmer Toro with the title "Brief mention." There was no reveal in that besides the title. I would have to guess that these would be some of the theme answers: BEPERFECTLYFRANK ARTFORARTSSAKE FIREWATWILL CHIPONTHESHOULDER NIPINTHEBUD INTHENICKOFTIME BALLINGTHEJACK And there were more. Here's that link: <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/11/1970&g=18&d=D" target="_blank">https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=10/11/1970&g=18&d=D</a> ....

This has to be the most boring solve YTD. Same recycled clues I see every day with a lame theme topped off with an additional 20 seconds spent running the alphabet at the crossing for 97.

Just a request that you stop posting the new puzzles at 6 pm CST. I was doing Saturday’s Sudoku, put it down, came back after six, and it was gone and replaced with Sundays. I had six more hours locally to do the Saturday puzzles before they disappeared. And now I have none for today. Not a problem for the crossword, Wordle or connections, but sudoku is actually my favorite puzzle.

Nora from France posted an open link to Mel Taub's obituary down below. Here is a link to a follow-up article, which includes three additional puzzles <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/obituaries/mel-taub-puzzles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.ux3h.gNHriotjWf33&smid=url-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/obituaries/mel-taub-puzzles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pU8.ux3h.gNHriotjWf33&smid=url-share</a>

Was not a fan of the show, so the names didn't jump out at me, nor did I know that Central Perk was the name of the coffee shop. I kept looking for the letter that was used by both clue pairs, thinking they would spell CENTRAL. Didn't work. I had to read the column to get it, and then I understood about the names, but the benefits still had me puzzled, and the explanation in the column was clear as mud. Took a few minutes for me to realize the non-name crosses were all work benefits. Not a thing for me--I'm retired!

Ohhh. My. Gawd! Before I understood the employment benefits part of the theme, I had jaNiS crossing CHANDLER. 😆 I mean, she wasn't an extra, as in the highlighted clue, but I still thought maybe it worked loosely. I was kind of disappointed to have to remove it. So I'm not against it, but I've also never considered myself a huge fan of Friends, yet I also know pretty much everyone and everything that ever happened in it, strangely enough. Just one of those cultural things I guess. I suppose for a while in my twenties, I also sported the Jennifer Aniston hairdo from the earliest seasons. A fine puzzle!

Would have been nice if the ink-saver printable version actually had the italics. I think the last three or four times a puzzle has had italics it's not been in that version. And italics wasn't mentioned in the clues anywhere, so I didn't know to look at the ink-wasting printable version. Can we get this fixed?

Snoozefest. No wonder 40 winks appeared twice in clues.