CRTH

@Patrick J. You may be confusing Jane Grey with Jane Seymour, who was the third wife of Henry VIII. A queen consort would not be called a reigning queen. Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen after the death of her cousin, Edward VI (the son and successor of Henry VIII). Her reign lasted only nine days as she was deposed in favor of Mary, the older daughter of Henry VIII.

@jennie A puzzle isn't a "take it or leave it" proposition. The crossword editors work with constructors to improve their original submissions, and they can (and do) suggest alternative clues. It's the clueing that determine the difficulty of the puzzle - the existence of easy mode for Friday puzzles demonstrates that. If a difficult puzzle can be made easy by more straightforward clues, then the opposite is also true: an easier puzzle can be make harder with more subtle or trickier clues. It's up to the editors to determine what level of cluing is appropriate for a particular day of the week. Personally, I'm OK with an occasional easier puzzle - as long as it's only every now and then. It's the overall trend towards consistently easier puzzles in the second half of the week that I find disquieting. I like variety and definitely want challenging puzzles to be part of the mix. And that's up to the editors.

@Ken W. I agree that you either have or haven’t heard of ANNE (MEARA). But if you're looking for a name - anybody's name - with the letters A_NE, ANNE has to be the obvious first choice. How likely are the other options? ACNE? AONE? ARNE?

The (New Hampshire) Loon Preservation Committee has samples of the four types of loon calls on their website: <a href="https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon" target="_blank">https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon</a>/ The fourth, which they call the tremolo, is the "laugh". I've vacationed on Squam Lake in NH for 30 years or so and recognized [Lake bird with a laughing call] immediately - and which call it was referencing.

@Andrzej Sure, that's what I do now. But back then I had my first real job and wasn't earning much, so I could save a few $ by doing it myself. And I got a certain amount of satisfaction from being ABLE to do it as a girl (way back then, working on cars was still perceived as mostly a guy thing.) For a while I had 4 snow tires and changed them myself twice a year. Got pretty good at it. Now if I get a flat, I call roadside assistance. But when I said things were simpler, I guess I really meant that car engines were simpler. Not necessarily better, but definitely simpler.

@Ms. Billie M. Spaight You aren't taking into account the blended families. It's a logic puzzle: prior to their marriage to each other, Dad had two children and Mom had one child. So Kevin D was their first child *together*, Dad's third, Mom's second, and their fourth overall.

The clue for 12D [Purple drink ingredient at a boba tea shop] doesn't mention taro.

HAZE from wildfires can be dense enough to be a driving hazard.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” He chortled in his joy. (the slithy toves gyre and gimble)

@Petrol Standing room is definitely a thing on Broadway, depending on the theater and the production. Some theaters (mostly the older ones, I think) were built to accommodate standing, with a partial wall behind the last row of orchestra seats, maybe around 4 ft tall (that's an estimate, could be higher or lower) with a ledge to lean on and numbered spots. Generally only made available when the show is sold out, hence SRO. Playbill currently lists 6 Broadway shows with SRO. <a href="https://playbill.com/article/broadway-rush-lottery-and-standing-room-only-policies-com-116003" target="_blank">https://playbill.com/article/broadway-rush-lottery-and-standing-room-only-policies-com-116003</a>

@sotto voce Guanabara Bay was completely unknown to me, but I guessed RIO without any crosses. Try thinking of a three letter city "familiarly", how many other choices are there? Guanabara sounded like it could plausibly be Central or South American.

@dutchiris I learned to make spanakopita from years of cooking holiday dinners with my half-Greek sister-in-law. Using store bought frozen phyllo simplifies the process and gives excellent results. We prefer spanakopita triangles so it takes longer than making a single dish, but it's worth it for the higher phyllo to filling ratio. Cut the phyllo into long strips, brush each strip with butter to get a crispy, crunchy result, add a generous spoonful of spinach mixture, and fold. Make sure to cover the stack of yet-to-be used phyllo with a damp towel so it doesn't dry out. Yum!

@john ezra I interpreted "offering" to mean that the sommelier selected the house wine rather than recommended it.

While I'm enjoying the many tributes to Deb Amlen - my favorite Wordplay columnist - my first reaction was a panicked "Wait, is this her last column? NO!" So I checked, and happily the answer really IS "No"; we have two more weeks to savor her wit, warmth, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Phew!

@Cat Lady Margaret At least babka has Spelling Bee.

57D ["Tarnation!"] is HECK, not HELL, as Ιασων pointed out. What's the problem with that?

@R.J. Smith When there's an answer I don't know, I get more satisfaction from solving using the crosses, rather than, say, looking it up and then complaining about it.

@Scott I was at the ballet last week, where someone sitting near me shouted "BRAVO" for the man finishing his solo variation, "BRAVA" for the woman when she finished hers, and "BRAVI" when they took their bows together at the end of the pas de deux.

Link to today's Midi puzzle: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/paid/midi-07-25-25" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/paid/midi-07-25-25</a> You can access the previous Midis by changing the date in the URL. I struggled a bit with the anagram of the green letters (only two vowels!) but finally came up with the two word phrase. Thanks to John S, I was able to use the result as a discount code at the NYTimes store (No space between the two words.)

@Hope Levav The solution to the Midi's green box letters anagram can be used as a discount code at the NYTimes Store. However according to a post by Jill a few hours ago, the promo has reached its limit. See my earlier post; scroll up to see the the text of Monday's email from John S. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2025-07-25.html#permid=143795775" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2025-07-25.html#permid=143795775</a>

@Tavan Not a personal best, but 0:44 better than my Monday average and a little more than half my Wednesday average - including a few seconds to find and fix an error. Guess I was just on the same wavelength as the constructor. Helps that I remember Alexander HAIG was Reagan's Secretary of State, and knew ABIE's Irish Rose from years of doing the crossword.

@Bill I clicked on the link and was shocked - in the best possible way - to encounter the Roches. I very possibly was at that concert, as I saw them at McCarter two or three times. Had no idea there was video, so thanks!

@CaptainQuahog "No purchase necessary to enter. Open to legal residents of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. who are at least 18 years of age, while supplies last. " That's pretty standard contest verbiage. It refers to "chance to win $25 off". No purchase needed to enter the contest to win a $25 credit. Only solving the puzzles and the anagram. There is no place to enter the solution other than the discount code field in the NYTimes Store. You just have to be satisfied with coming up with the solution.

@Bob Lady Jane Grey is known as the "nine days queen"; I stopped my explanation at the end of her reign when she was deposed. In fact she was not beheaded immediately, so no, "deposed" doesn't mean "had her head cut off." Her actual execution came several months later, after her father had been involved in a separate plot against Queen Mary.

@The X-Phile Loved the clip. shouldn't he be able to back his own bags at this point??? I think he would pack for himself - if his gear (OK, extra parts) were actually going into a bag. It must be trickier to pack when the stuff has to go into an opening in your own back and you have to reach around without being able to see. IMO he probably helps her when SHE has to pack; they help each other. ;)

@Matt Ring Dings were my favorite by far, followed by Yodels; much preferred them to Twinkies or Hostess cupcakes. It wasn't til years later that I realized Drake's was regional rather than national - mainly Northeast and Mid Atlantic. Looked them up - the original company was founded by Newman E. Drake in 1896 in Harlem, New York. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Cakes" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Cakes</a>

@Katie SENS is an abbreviation for Senators. A group of 100 in the District of Columbia. [D.C. 100: Abbr.]

@The X-Phile Years ago, the New York Public Library had a great exhibition on Romantiscisn (“William Wordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism”, 1987 - I looked it up). One of the absolute highlights for me was an autograph copy of "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer". Not a working draft, but a fair copy in Keats own hand with a single correction. "That deep-brow'd Homer" was written "low-browed", with "low" crossed out and "deep" written in. Almost 40 years later, I still remember the thrill I felt reading that emendation. <a href="https://time.com/archive/6711089/art-sharing-the-poets-obsession" target="_blank">https://time.com/archive/6711089/art-sharing-the-poets-obsession</a>/

People often use "need" in conversation for things that aren't necessities. For example, "I need a vacation." Do they need a vacation in the same way they need food and water and shelter?Hardly - it's just something they really really want.