Truly excellent. Clever, challenging, but fair. A delightful Thursday!
I had no idea what a McFlurry was but somehow knew that OREOS would be the HOTGLUE to hold it all together.
@Mike R It’s a McDonald’s dessert. Something like an ice cream sundae, I think. Oreo is in the puzzle all the time—probably because it’s got three vowels and one of the most commonly occurring consonants in English.
@Mike R It’s basically soft ice cream with mix-ins. Dairy Queen has the Blizzard. Sonic has the Blast. They’re all more or less the same thing.
Pictures of a brokerage are stock photos. (The camera people tried to invest there but got a negative return.)
@Mike Guess nobody put the in the picture and told them to hedge their bets.
@Mike Do you only use stock photos because an actual photo of a brokerage might cause a flash crash on the market?
@Mike I saw a bird in my yard, but I wasn't sure if it was on aperture a branch. (Hard to focus.)
...how did they manage to make the comments interface in the iOS app *worse*?
@Isabeau maybe you’re in a test group… it looks like it always does for me? What has changed? Do you mean that we have to tap into it in app instead being taken to the website?
@Isabeau yeah, this is really, really bad. Let’s hope it’s just a glitch and they’ll fix it.
This puzzle was a lot of fun and a reasonable challenge for me. I was happy to complete it without looking up tv shows or other pop personalities unfamiliar to me. I think there might be a great number of regular solvers like myself who don’t belong to the group who regularly comment here, the elite who love to say puzzles are too easy.
@Lee these are my thoughts exactly!
I don't recall any comments calling today's puzzle *too* easy, but a fair number of solvers -- who may or may not be elite -- did find this one *relatively* easy for a Thursday. <a href="https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-06-25" target="_blank">https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2026-06-25</a>
@Lee a couple things: 1) "fun" and "reasonable" did not come to mind while I was solving; I struggled and was slower than my Thursday average by several minutes. That's not a complaint; I like a challenge, but it made me sweat. I was surprised to learn that many folks and xwstats rated it "easy". 2) there have always been, and will likely always be, proper nouns--TV shows, pop personalities, Civil War generals, suburbs of Boston--that you either know or you don't. If the editors have done their job, then the crosses and practice on a solver's part should lead to an answer. 3) I absolutely agree that I think there are a great number of solvers who don't comment here; in fact I bet a lot of them don't even know the column and comments exist. There is a core group who actually find the time to read every comment and have dialogs about the puzzle. I'm not sure I consider myself elite, and the word seems freighted. I will say I don't know anyone who loves to say the puzzles are too easy; I think it pains most of them. The puzzles absolutely have become demonstrably easier. It's not every puzzle, it's not all the time. But about four hours ago @Weak posted about solving an archive puzzle from 3/14/2014, and a few of us took a crack at it. It is inarguably much harder than most Friday puzzles we've seen in 2026. It's a real thing, and it saddens some people. Onward to Friday.
To think I’ve been a FINE MIST all this time and never knew. It does beat “wintry mix” and “killer humidity”!
Whenever I hear a sports report that mentions the University of Connecticut, I think they are referring to the Klondike territory.
@Michael Weiland Great pick up! Missed opportunity not to clue that “Sch. that sounds like it should be located in 20-across?”
Me too! Used to live in Canada… was super confused when I first moved to the US and I kept hearing about Yukon being a basketball powerhouse
@Michael Weiland Also cool how those two answers were in the exact opposite places from each other in the grid
@Michael Weiland The two entries were ‘diagonally symmetrical”.” I’m sure by design. And you may know. The mascot for UCONN is the Husky. I know there isn’t such a thing as a Yukon Husky. But it woulda been cool! Although Claude tells me that Mackenzie River huskies are fun the Yukon Territory. I know, I took it too far…
@Michael Weiland yes loved that they co-appear in the puzzle. Back in pre-history living in the midwest, I listened to the games, and it was easily several years before I figured out that "Yukon" Huskies were NOT an Alaskan school!!
How about the Midi today? Very clever, and a great graphic at the end! Loved it!
@Ellen from Philly How clever was that! Loved it.
@Ellen from Philly As I have commented before, I much appreciate when someone alerts us to something special in the Mini or Midi, since I usually don't do them. Keep it up, please!
Midi - Dear Mr. Livingood - "Antifa" is not an actual group. It's a figment of Trump's imagination. I can't believe this clue and answer got past the NYT editors again. (We objected the last time a constructor tried this.) On the other hand, I am anti-fascist, but I am not part of an official group.
@jennie Yeah, it’s really disappointing to see it again so soon after it appeared last time. The proper cluing should be “Fictitious group used by the right wing as a bogeyman.”
@jennie I'm generally sympathetic to these comments; I agree the clues have been bad. But I hate to see gaslighting in either direction. Antifa is not a political organization, or an organization of any kind really, but it also is not a fictitious figment. Once, if not any more, it was a real group to which people identified. The Black Bloc? I didn't imagine all that.
@jennie More importantly, where's all this fascism you claim to be fighting against? A slim and possibly shrinking majority in Congress does not bear this out.
@Grant Um, the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue??
@jennie I agree with you that Antifa does not refer to any organized group. It is a term that many people who favor more conservative political views use to label people who are opposed to fascism. Both groups of people, those who refer to others as Antifa and those that are referred to as Antifa, are people who are involved in expressing their opinions about political issues. I think this provides legitimacy to referring to either as a political group. I don't see that the clue claims that either group is organized or is in any way "official," and so I have no problem with the clue. What is very different, and I do object to very strongly, is the claim that to be Antifa is to belong to a terrorist (or any other kind) of organization. I also believe it would be unconstitutional in this country to punish people for any belief, including being against fascism. 🏵️
@jennie - My father proudly fought in the Antifa forces in North Africa and the Middle East in World War II. I display his USAAF cap and other regalia in my living room. He would be sad to hear that Antifa is now considered to be evil by some in the USA.
This scratched an itch I didn’t know I had! I’d love more like this - man I love a Thursday puzzle!!
I needed the revealer to figure out the trick to this puzzle, but then it fell in place quickly after that. Steve EARLE was a gimme for me. Not only is he a fine singer/songwriter, he gave good performances in The Wire and Treme. He’s also a very generous spirited human being who supports a number of worthy causes including autism awareness and criminal justice reform.
That was one of the most satisfying puzzles I've done in months. Loved it.
A fun and lively puzzle for a new personal beat time on Thursday. Delightful enough to warrant my first comment!
@catelinshirley Welcome, don’t be a stranger!
Well, the brain that saw the phrase INSIDER TRADING, then stopped and mulled for a bit, and envisioned conjoining letter sets within actual words switching places to form other actual words – that’s constructor brain of the highest order. Uber-high-quality playful themes have marked all four of Tarun’s Times puzzles (his first published two years ago when he was 16). That is, he’s the real deal. Today’s puzzle brought not zero, not one, but two resounding ahas. The first came upon seeing the trick, which was followed by great pleasure, because it made my brain think in an out-of-ordinary way – reversing letter-groups in words – to suss out the remaining theme answers. My brain loves switching gears like that. The second came at getting the elegant, perfect revealer. Tarun, I’m glad you are keeping your crosswords talents active as you pursue your medical studies, because you’ve got the knack. Thank you for a splendid outing today!
Really clever revealer and really well executed. Tarun, I’m envious of you being so young and already so hooked in to the crossword community, I’m sure you have a great career ahead of you both in crosswords and medicine and I look forward to following it. It wouldn’t be a Thursday if I weren’t bemoaning the clueing level to the editors. Please, this seems unarguable. NINA —1492 Caravel? RONALD —Restaurant icon MCDONALD? It’s not like these couldn’t have been clued in dozens of more interesting, non gimme ways. Minor municipality—TOWN? Start of high school—NINTH? I could go on but you get the idea. I don’t understand, with so many chewy puzzles and clues earlier in the week, why this is so. My time was half of Tuesday and Wednesday, and not much longer than Monday, and it wasn’t because of the grid or the quality of the theme, and this is becoming the rule not the exception on Thursdays. On the flip side, I did enjoy the TUTU clue (anyone else look for some extra letters to enter TULIPS?) and BLEEP. In a funny coincidence, I just finished an archive puzzle with the clue “Improvise, in a way”—SCAT, and confidently put that in before SKIT. Anyway, Tarun, this is a fine puzzle and my disappointment is firmly but respectfully and politely laid at the editors’ doorstep. Keep up the good work!
I didn't mind the clueing, but wondered about NINTH as the start of H.S. That *used* to be the case when you went to grammar school (1-8) and high school (9-12). But since the advent of junior high schools, now often called middle schools, don't high schools tend to be grades 10-12 nowadays?
@SP In my current neck of the woods, middle school is 6-8, high school is 9-12.
Get off my lawn, you young, word-snapping, grid-setting so-and-so...! There. Out of my system. Nice work, kid. Solid Thursday.
Great one, very clever and satisfying! I do always cringe a bit when I see N instead of Ñ in these crosswords. They're different letters that literally change the meaning of words when swapped. The funniest example is always when AÑO (year) is put as ANO (anus). The clue is usually something like "A year in Spain". In English it would be like saying CANNON and CANYON are the same word.
@Alex I was writing a puzzle for the LA Times—they insist on clueing ANO as “A NO”, as in “that’s ___ from me”.
@Alex @SP Many puzzles have clued ANO as the Portuguese word, which does not use a tilde to mean year.
@Alex Yeah, that's something you have to look out for in Spanish: Mi papá tiene muchos años. (My father has many years / is old.) Mi papa tiene muchos anos. (My potato has many buttholes.)
@Alex back in the day, when the NYT crossword first appeared, accent marks were not included in the typeface because English doesn’t use them. Early computers using basic ASCII or EBCDIC coding didn’t support them either. It’s only been in the last 20-odd years that Unicode and computerized typesetting have become prevalent, and it takes a long, long time for things to shift to a new paradigm. Maybe someday the Times will start including accent marks in the puzzles, but that is many years off if it ever happens. And if it does, a lot of people will be at least as unhappy as you are now.
I loved it! Clever and fun, everything a Thursday should be! I really don’t understand why people complain about Thursday having a twist when it has been this way for years. Years. From those of us that adore these kinds of puzzles, could you just let us have this? Especially since the other types of crosswords (which I also loved) became print only. One day a week for those of us who like our puzzles with a bit of spice. The puzzles only start to get really interesting for me from Thursday on, but I don’t complain about the puzzles early in the week being too easy. They have always been easier, and it’s a great way for people new to puzzles to get in on the fun. That was me once. Since I know they are that way, I don’t rush to solve them, sometimes save them to do more than one in a day. Many new constructors debut with earlier in the week puzzles and it’s nice to see what talent we will have to look forward to. If you don’t like Thursday, don’t solve Thursday and let the rest of us that do enjoy it without negativity. I get it, some people solve every day for the streak, but sheesh! Every week! Okay. Diatribe over. Hope everyone has a great weekend coming up.
Clever and cute theme, but the cluing felt a bit easy for a Thursday. I only realized the theme at the very end.
@Logan All finished in a good time and I still don't have a clue what the theme is.
I’m going to be having a busy day and have not looked at many of the comments as I normally do before jumping in, but I’ll just say I think there will be many people who have trouble with this theme, and many who won’t like the puzzle as a result. I found it Thursday tricky and quite satisfying.
A very funny, show me the money cynical take on the stock broker's world, those w@asels! You know the type, arrives early to take you on a date to a wine bar. As you settle into your car seat, you see him spray himself with a fine mist before getting behind the wheel, filling the car with a scent much like the dirty mini deli counter in the back of the Esso station where you worked as a teenager. "Let's see what's on air," he says, and tunes in on NSYNC. He starts singing along. "I have all their LPs," he says to you. At the bar he will gawk at every female and wonder aloud whether "they" were natural or supplemented by a brapad and occasionally utter a "Baa!" sound. A stone pit began sinking in your stomach and you drank your oreo-tini a little too quickly. Let's not overthink this, you said to yourself. But then he began to tell you his life story. "I went to the UConn in search of gold," he began. "You went to school to become an Olympian? Are you particularly agile or something?" "No! I went to the YUKON in search of gold ORES" he snorted. Then, as if in constant need of ego boosts, he said, "I've been from the terrains of Asia to Rio town, sometimes in a leaky tin can of a tug, sometimes on a ship so old it felt like I was on the Nina and the agua was up to here," he said, standing up on tiptoe and raising his hands above his head, like a bonnie lass in a tutu. You made the mistake of asking, "Dude, are you in God Mode?" And that's simply not done.
@john ezra I actually LOL’d. Very clever.
@john ezra, Very funny! I loved this!
@john ezra So good I had to comment! I LOL'd too.
Just the right amount of Thursday brain strain for my Thursday morning. The downs were straight forward enough to solve the revealer and then enjoy the 6 mini brain teasers. Great puzzle. Good luck and enjoy your premed. Though, it's hard to imagine how you will find the time to create puzzles while in Med School!
Cute puzzle! I wish my brain had enough lateral thinking ability to recognize when letters in words can be switched around to make new words. Alas, my brain doesn’t work in that way so I will just simply admire those that can think like this :)
Tarun, my sincerest congratulations on going to pre-med, constructing puzzles, and doing puzzle editing, all at once. And here I was thinking Superman wasn't real! I'm truly impressed! Loved the puzzle. It took me a while to figure out the themers, until INSIDER TRADING dotted the i's. Seeing words or phrases become other words or phrases, and so neatly tucked into the grid, was magical. Thank you! Finally, because I can't see [Lilac] and not think of "Lilac WINE," here is the phenomenal Jeff Buckley with his rendition, exuding the kind of charisma that silences a room to where you can hear a pin drop. Gone too soon. <a href="https://youtu.be/ik3hPy6oYK0?is=-8ufmkhy4Ujx8_eF" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ik3hPy6oYK0?is=-8ufmkhy4Ujx8_eF</a>
@sotto voce Thanks for that link. His father had the same amazing vocal range and intensity.
Curious about how Spelling Bee puzzles are created? Interested in learning more about the editor behind the game? On Friday, June 26th at 1p.m. E.D.T., Sam Ezersky will be answering your questions in the Spelling Bee Forum comment section. Come say hello!
@Patrick M. Hoo, boy!
Just did the midi. Once again, I’m troubled by the cluing for ANTIFA. Really disappointing.
@Charles Nelson Reilly Agreed. @NYT Antifa is NOT a political group. Anti-fascism is an ideology. There is no ANTIFA organization. To suggest there is plays into this administration's attempts to brand it as such so they can prosecute against individuals "in the group". Stop that!
@Charles Nelson Reilly Came in to the comments just to say this so thank you. We are all here doing word problems, so let’s look at the root words in this abomination of short hand: ANTI — Against FA — Fascism Against Fascism. Isn’t every American against Fascism?? Isn’t this very paper against fascism?? If they aren’t, well that’s not American at all. Shame on the NYT for supporting this nonsense.
@Charles Nelson Reilly I'm confused. Did we do different Midi puzzles today? My Thursday puzz had no reference to ANTIFA (of which I am a lifetime member). I would share your annoyance however had I seen what you describe.
Good puzzle today. Fun theme to figure out. I got FINEMIST before I figured out the INSIDER TRADING revealer, but great Aha with that. But I love it when they change spellings but still have it spell something else real. I actually had the most trouble with NIB because I was sure the crossing clue was TIN CUP instead of TIN CAN. Easier puzzle than yesterday but also much more rewarding one.
Clever. Clever. Clever! Zackly what I want on a Thursday. Puzzle in a puzzle. And next February, if you find you’ve spaced that it *is* Valentine’s Day and you have exactly nothing, nada, zip for your valentine, just play this Steve Earle song and have a little slow dance in your kitchen. All will be forgiven. This is experience speaking. <a href="https://youtu.be/PAWAMeqypVE?is=uLNx0l1Qcht3qIsC" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/PAWAMeqypVE?is=uLNx0l1Qcht3qIsC</a> Enjoy!
@CCNY Are you familiar with his ex-wife, Allison Moorer, and her sister, Shelby Lynn? If not, here's a sample. <a href="https://youtu.be/oI99dmJpryY?si=aOMCMLNjqlCUm3QU" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/oI99dmJpryY?si=aOMCMLNjqlCUm3QU</a> It's from their album Not Dark Yet.
I miss a good, crunchy Thursday rebus. ☺️
INSIDER TRADING indeed! Have fun working with David, Tarun. I assume the job will be in addition to, not instead of, pre-med studies (or just for the summer).
This was really just right. Fully enjoyed. I do wish I could remove college sports teams as a trivia category forever. But the constructor has earned their short string of gibberish letters. Otherwise great.
Add me to the confused solvers who beat their average times. I’m terrible at anagrams. But, as my son reminds me, “You only need to know half the words!” So, I just kept working the downs. The gold star caught me by surprise.
It occurs to me that I haven't seen RONALD McDonald around lately; the iconic clown used to be ubiquitous. It turns out that a bunch of do-gooders declared that it was unethical to market fast food to children, and ran a successful ad campaign to that effect. Jeez Louise, we're not talking about Joe Camel here. The clown is still associated with his namesake charity - they provide temporary housing to families who have kids in the hospital.
@Grant I think Ronald was retired because people generally think of clowns as creepy these days. You can thank Stephen King and his ilk for that.
@Grant - "In October 2016, McDonald's decided that Ronald McDonald would keep a lower profile as a result of the incidents." The "incidents" being "evil clown sightings." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_clown_sightings" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_clown_sightings</a>
@Grant I agree. "Do-gooders" have an irrational dislike for childhood diabetes.
I remember in elementary school someone mentioning UCONN during March Madness and thinking it was pretty cool that Eskimos were competing in NCAA basketball. The theme was okay. I did about average for a Thurs.
@Charles Nelson Reilly It's very satisfying that in this puzzle YUKON and UCONN are in mirrored places (centre-top and centre-bottom) - I didn't notice that untill I read your comment!
The trick here was clever enough that I didn’t even mind the easy fill. The only one that stumped me was BRAPADS, which I initially entered then deleted, because what on earth is a brapad? But when crosses filled it in again, I eventually realized… ah, BRA PADS. Are those still a thing? And what about tin can telephones? Do tin cans even exist? I feel like I was in a time warp for some of this puzzle. But then I took an online course and everything was suddenly much better. Congratulations on a terrific puzzle, Tarun. Your youth and skills both impress and depress me.
@Heidi Chili, soups, beans, and soggy veggies are indeed still sold in 'tin' cans.
Midi: Just wanna thank whoever programmed those teeth to snap shut. Got a laugh out of me and made my morning!
Spare me. Quit showing off and just give me a puzzle. Thanks.
@Milo Ummm. . . This required figuring things out, which is what makes something a puzzle. It’s the definition of what a puzzle is. Also: Thursday almost always has a twist, so if that bothers you, just skip Thursdays.
@Milo "Showing off". I don't understand why complainers go there.
Easy peasy but fun . At first I didn't think much of the theme entry letter switches, (as in, "why are we doing this?") but when I saw the reveal I decided it was pretty cute. Loved the cluing for BLEEPS. Thanks and Good luck to the energetic constructor! And now, off to FINE MIST reading to pass on to some WEASELS I know...
Nice puzzle. Not the hardest, but I reckon it's difficult to challenge long time solvers without resorting to random trivia. All in all a fun, and satisfying, themed puzzle. I'm happy with the occasional confidence boosting Thursday before the challenges ahead! 😂
Tiresome and tedious. I guess I'm just not into gimmickry.
@R.J. Smith I agree. I think the human element of construction is being replaced by AI. No constructor, editor or publisher will admit it, but it is kind of apparent that, over time and across puzzles, only AI could perform the gymnastics needed to create, or at least contribute to these cyphers. The NYT loves it because they can easily tweak the difficulty or create complicated themes to keep things fresh and subscribership up.
@R.J. Smith Maybe you should just substitute a game from the archives on Thursdays. That would break any chance of maintaining a streak, but that seems like a-feature-not-a-bug territory to me.
I absolutely loved this puzzle! I really vibed with the cluing. This is one of those puzzles where I came away so impressed with the cleverness and creativity of the constructor.
Man, this one had me confused for a bit because obviously a Scottish girl is a wee lass, but then the down crossers didn't make sense. But then my second run through with enough letters to get STONEPIT and realize the actual answer, it all clicked into place! Great Thursday puzzle!
This may well be my favorite Thursday puzzle so far! That said, as an improv performer, while the word that fits the space for 26A is technically correct for the clue (the best kind of correct), it's also more than a little reductive to me. Some [26A]s are improvised, it's true, but most are scripted. Plus, the vast majority of improv goes far beyond "[26A]s." When I think of "[26A]s," I think of cringey scenes put on by clueless corporate VPs, or clumsy mini-plays performed by kindergarteners. There's something else that comes to mind when I see the answer to 26A: Crossword space fillers. Crosswordese. I know deadlines are brutal, and that the rest of the puzzle was a brilliant execution of a fresh concept, but when I see an ESPY, an ICEE, an ALOE, an ORES, or a [26A], it still disappoints me.
@Brunsworks It's okay to use the fill words here. It is assumed that readers of posts have already finished the puzzle or is looking for help.
@Brunsworks I actually get a chuckle out of the filler words, it's kind of fun spotting them. Some other examples: IRS, PTA, ENOS, EPEE, EKE, NSA, EEL, YAK. The only one I hate is EEL. I don't like fish (as food), and the thought of eating eel is especially repulsive.
@Brunsworks Curious what you mean by “deadlines”. Crosswordese is not due to being rushed. There is a huge backlog of puzzles and many more good ones that are rejected. Constructors can take all the time they need. Crosswordese is there because sometimes you need it to fill a grid. Every constructor would avoid OREO if they could, believe me, but sometimes they just can’t. Give it a go and see how hard it is.
@Brunsworks SKIT? Crosswordese? Srsly? Other examples given, sure EPEE is the epitome. But not SKIT.
To get from the crossword comments section to the main menu of this app I have to do the following in this order: - swipe down from the top of the screen - click a left arrow button in the bottom left of the screen - click a check button in the top right of the screen - click a down arrow button in the top left of the screen Very cohesive design!
It feels so cruelly targeted to me a person with short thumbs and a big phone
I dunno. I finished it in reasonable time and without assistance, but it's not one of my favorites
Yikes. The first few Comments I saw were brief and sour. Don't listen to them, Tarun! This was interesting and clever, and I enjoyed solving it. (I thought BRA PADS were a bit weak--they never quite helped with the leaking during breast-feeding-- but I guess you just had to have that fifth Themer, eh? Since I solve "bottom up" most of the time, INSIDER TRADING gave away the game, but I was glad I hit the NW section last! WEASELS! Early one day I spotted one flowing up the tree line--no other way to describe its undulating pace!--and I thought, "How beautiful that is to watch..."
@Mean Old Lady Yeah, yeah. BA, no need to point it out. I meant to say either "sixth" or "five weren't enough" but reworded and fluffled it. Tarun will forgive me!
I loved every minute of this one. Thanks!
A quick early peeK, looK, GAWK at the blog comments made me realize that few people, if any so far, have suffered as I did. I found this hard and confusing -- but not in a good way. I got the theme at STEP ON IT, though I couldn't figure out a revealer that would explain ONEP in gray. Of course, that's not exactly what the revealer is explaining at all. And it is a terrific revealer. I do very much like that the mixed up answers form real words and phrases, even though they're un-clued. I really like the clue for BLEEPS and I really hate NATAN and EARLE next to each other. And the slangy clue for SHIP? Give me a break! So my experience wasn't as great as it might have been for a hard, tricky Thursday which I normally love. But I don't blame the constructor for this. One of the hardest things about being a constructor is that you can't solve your own puzzle without foreknowledge. And therefore you can't possibly know if other people will find your trickiness entertaining and provocative or frustrating and annoying. It's the worst thing about being a constructor -- this inability to see your creation through virginal eyes. I can imagine Tarun jumping out of bed and shouting "Eureka!" when he first thought this up. I would have done so too in his place.
@Nancy "... this inability to see your creation through virginal eyes." You make a really good point about how difficult it is to judge the difficulty of something you already know. I wrote General Chemistry quizzes for years and years before I had a pretty good sense of how difficult they were going to be.