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Online publication of Vox Media / TUE 8-12-25 / Lorde who wrote "Sister Outsider" / 1990s-'00s sitcom starring Brandy / Tres o cuatro / What the Beyoncé title "6 Inch" refers to / Edible Christmas ornament / People living abroad for tax reasons / Like this: ESMCLDRBA
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Constructor: Erik Agard
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
This is just a beautifully crafted puzzle. A beautifully crafted easy puzzle. I love it because it shows that easy puzzles don't have to be boring. The theme is simple but cute, and kinda funny. Just three themers! (plus a short revealer). Back in the day, three themers was pretty normal, but some time in this century, a theme-answers arms race seemed to start where the standard went to four and often well north of that. This was enabled by the rise of constructing software, which allowed puzzle makers to more easily fill grids with a dense set of fixed answers (themers are always fixed in place first when you're building a theme puzzle). But more is not necessarily better (as you may be aware), and there's something to be said for a theme that leaves a little air, a little breathing room so that the rest of the grid can shine a bit. And today's grid does just that. First, it's clean as hell. Polished, vibrant, lovely. Plus it opts for mirror symmetry over the more customary rotational symmetry (a feature occasioned by the theme—how else to arrange this set of answers symmetrically?), and this gives us a grid with very deep corners in the SW and SE. Deep pockets! And it's here where the grid really goes to the next level—two banks of 9-letter answers, each of them 3 wide—so (if I may show off my math skills...) that's six 9-letters answers, all of them good to great, giving this puzzle a level of non-thematic pizzazz rarely seen in themed puzzles. Six 9s?! That don't compromise grid quality at all? In addition to a full theme!? Nuts. Bonkers. It won't feel bonkers, because it just plays like an easy early-week puzzle. The craftsmanship on this one isn't showy. But if you make puzzles yourself, you know how impressive the work is here.
- CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE (17A: Pales in comparison)
- CANDY CANE (27A: Edible Christmas ornament)
- MEXICAN-AMERICAN (51A: Chicana, for example)
The Cut is an online publication that, as part of New York magazine, covers a wide range of topics, such as work, money, sex and relationships, fashion, mental health, pop culture, politics, and parenting, with a specific lens for women. // In 2015, The Cut published a New York Magazine cover feature by Noreen Malone that included interviews with 35 women who had accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. The cover image and photo portfolio by Amanda Demme included portraits of all the women seated and an empty chair to symbolize those unable to come forward.
In 2018, The Cut published an essay by Moira Donegan in which she revealed herself as the creator of the "Shitty Media Men" list that contained rumors and allegations of sexual misconduct by men in the magazine world. Later that year, Lindsay Peoples's essay "Everywhere and Nowhere," about the challenges of being a Black voice in the fashion industry, came out, sending a "ripple of waves through the industry."
An excerpt from E. Jean Carroll's book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal ran in 2019 on The Cut and on the cover of New York's print magazine, in which she first shared her story of being sexually assaulted by then-President Donald Trump.
In 2022, The Cut ran a special package that highlighted resources for accessing an abortion nationwide following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The Cut is known for a number of columns, including Madame Clairevoyant's weekly horoscopes; as-told-tos in "Sex Diaries"; and the "How I Get It Done" series, highlighting the routines of influential women. The Cut has published widely read personal essays including Emily Gould on the "Lure of Divorce," Grazie Sophia Christie on "The Case for Marrying an Older Man," and Charlotte Cowles's "The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger".
• • •
In addition to the six 9s, it's got five 7s (!), and even some of the shorter fill is original and interesting (THE CUT, BLIGHT, MOESHA). I just looked at the grid sitting here on my desk and said "man, this is just a good puzzle." Aspiring constructors should study this puzzle. It's not that there's no overfamiliar short stuff, it's that the repeaters (TSAR, UAE, DES, OLE) are doing work, holding together sections composed of much stronger stuff—they allow the shiny stuff to shine. Another thing that makes this puzzle remarkable is how much it foregrounds Black women. Again, there's nothing particularly showy with how Erik does this, but yeah, four Black women (more if you count the women in the clues —e.g. Beyoncé, Kerry Washington). And precisely no white men (unless maybe you want to count ARES (?) or the TSAR). Historically, the (in)visibility of people of color generally, and Black women specifically, has been an issue that many solvers have called attention to and that (fairly recently) some constructors have tried to address. This puzzle quietly gives Black women the kind of puzzle prominence that is absolutely routine for white people (men in particular). I say "quietly" because it does nothing to the overall solvability of this puzzle. MOESHA is a bit of a throwback (55A: 1990s-'00s sitcom starring Brandy), so if any proper noun gives trouble today (beyond THE CUT), it's probably that one, but the rest are right over the plate. AUDRE Lorde may not be as well known to solvers as ANITA HILL and HARRIET Tubman, but she's in the puzzle a lot (full name earlier this month), so if you don't know her, you should. Weird fact: LORDE first appeared in the NYTXW as the pop star of that name back in 2015. The first person to clue LORDE as the poet Audre LORDE was ... Melinda Gates!? (in a puzzle co-constructed with Joel Fagliano back in 2018). Bizarrely, AUDRE has appeared fewer times (2) than the full AUDRE LORDE (3). Sorry, I'm in the statistical weeds now. My point is, this puzzle centers Black women. That may not matter to you, but it's a deliberate move, and I think it's worth noticing. (11D: Lorde who wrote "Sister Outsider")
The only trouble I had with this one was THE CUT (I know of it, but the name didn't leap to mind) and ... I think that's it. I did write in CAIN before BRAN, which made me laugh (38D: Raisin ___). Nice when a mistake makes you laugh at yourself rather than gnash your teeth or say "d'oh!" or slam your head on the desk or whatever your reaction of choice to self-stupidity is. Again, this puzzle has very few lowlights, and the highlights are everywhere. I smiled at the clue on SCRAMBLED (30D: Like this: ESMCLDRBA), raised my eyebrows at the inventiveness of "ARE WE LIVE?" (31D: "Has our broadcast started?") and nodded appreciatively at the double-X of TAX EXILES (32D: People living abroad for financial reasons)—and that's just in the SW corner! That is one hell of a stack (still not sure what to call a "stack" that involves Downs rather than Acrosses).
Bullets:
- 19D: Tres o cuatro (NUMERO) — me: "OK, so three and four is ... seven ... but ... that's SIETE! I don't ... wait, what does 'o' mean? ... oh ... right." "O" means "or," not "and," my bad.
- 40D: A dispiritingly large percentage of phone calls (SPAM) — I appreciate the commiserative tone of this clue. It's nice to have some acknowledgment of how badly polluted our lines of communication have become. We finally got rid of our landline because it was 90% garbage calls that we never answered. I don't get many SPAM calls on my cell, but email, texts ... it never ends.
- 50A: University in western Pennsylvania, familiarly (PITT) — in the near future, this answer will be clued as the (soon-to-be) Emmy-award-winning TV show, so keep your eye out for that.
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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21 comments:
Mostly easy with a comfortable theme. I needed a lucky guess for the NOMS/MOANA cross (are "noms" short for nominees?).
Noms? Surely, that should have been ‘nods’.
Yup - wonderful early week puzzle. Nothing wrong with the difficulty level as long as it’s placed right - this was spot on. Cute theme - interesting presentation and an apt revealer.
I Got STRIPES
Slight edge to the fill - no issues although I needed all the crosses for MOESHA. Liked the KOALA x ALOHA mash up and the fantastic vertical tri-stack in the SW.
Naked Raygun
Short - but highly enjoyable Tuesday morning solve.
Life Can Be So Nice
All easy, except 24D is wrong (sort of). "Have I Got News for You" has been running on the BBC for 2000 seasons (feels like, Wikipedia says it's only been 69), been through scandals that have rocked British society, leading to the decision (making a virtue out of necessity) of having constantly rotating hosts. I even have the DVD box set of the complete Boris Johnson appearances on the show (where he proved his general incompetence beyond the shadow of a doubt). Etc.
TBH: even before I wrote in the first letter of 24D, I stopped and thought "NYT; US audience; oh, they mean *that* HIGNFY" and wrote in CNN grimacing. CNN doesn't even broadcast the show where I live. Part of me was hoping I had overthunk this and that my original notion was right. No such luck.
[I have seen some of CNN's teasers for the show, Roy Wood Jr is great — and he's hosted the BBC version at least twice. Otherwise, yes, funny, but I wish Ruffin and Black weren't quite so shouty. Seems you can't do comedy in the States without screaming at each other. Sigh.]
I first had NODS, but with the cross figured: …kay… short for NOMinationS… well, if y'all insist.
I must lead a sheltered life—was totally surprised when Rex highlighted THECUT. I never saw it in the puzzle because I entered it all from crosses. Live and learn. I enjoyed being played by the Tres o cuatro clue. Also started with NOdS, but finally recognized MOANA. ANITAHILL also developed from crosses and brought back floods of memories.
I saw Erik’s name at the top of the leaderboard and was worried that we might have a classic wavelength mismatch today. Fortunately, he (very successfully) kept it within the constraints imposed by the desire to keep it Tuesday-level difficult.
Rex makes a very insightful observation about the theme density and how less can often be better - I couldn’t agree with him more. I’m sure most, if not all of us know the feeling that we get when we realize that the theme has overwhelmed the grid and we just keep bumping into gunk fill and contrived theme entries that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I sometimes refer to it as “theme fatigue”.
Credit goes to Erik for those six long downs as well - all “in the language” and all discernible from the crosses if not readily apparent - they would be appropriate for any day of the week.
ANITA HILL warned us of Clarence Thomas; the most dangerous, crooked judge on the Supreme Court
When I saw Erik Agard’s name, I thought I might be in trouble as I often find his puzzles challenging. But after getting all three opening acrosses bang-bang-bang, this puzzle turned into a pretty straightforward, enjoyable solve. And I agree with @Rex about its elegant cleverness. I had only two problems at the end. I’d put in MAGIC SHOw for MAGIC SHOP – read the clue too fast and not accurately. That left me with the incomprehensible wLS for [Partner of “ty”], but it was all the way down in the SE corner and I didn’t notice it for a while. The other problem was dead center at the crossing F of BFS and FILA. I blanked on FILA, although now that I see it in place, it does ring a bell as a [Sneaker brand]. And, I dunno, BFS was just not occurring to me as significant others – I wanted BAES but it was too long. Anyway, those two sore spots were easy to overcome and then, yay, happy music.
Like @Rex, I noticed the women of color and all the terrific long answers. And hey, @REX, you’re in it, too!
UNICLUES:
1. Fentanyl and ketamine.
2. Epstein’s client list.
1. LATE CELEB MEDS
2. HEELS’ LAST NAMES
Como decía antes, me interrumpieron tan groseramente...
You see Erik Agard and you panic a little, but then you say, "It's Tuesday, it'll be okay," but then you wonder what he's doing on a Tuesday. Then it turns out he's doing the Can Can and making a gunkapalooza.
The shocking news to me: Saturn has 274 moons? When does a big rock become big enough to become a moon?
People: 6
Places: 4
Products: 7
Partials: 6
Foreignisms: 7
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 30 of 74 (41%) {Ew, on Tuesday?}
Funny Factor: 1 🤨
Uniclues:
1 Propofol for Michael and Fentanyl for Prince.
2 Phrase said with air quotes when the other planets gossip.
3 Rub some dirt on it.
4 Empanada filled with green chile and math.
5 This one goes by Ms. Above Your Left Ear and this one is Ms. Above Your Right Ear.
1 LATE CELEB MEDS
2 SATURN NORMAL
3 THE CUT DIG
4 NUMERO PIE
5 HEELS LAST NAMES
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Where Coke-or-nothing people go when society won't play along with their nits. PEPSI ONE ASYLUM.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Agree that the Agard name up top can be daunting, but I thought, well, this guy knows it's a Tuesday, so probably OK, and that turned out to be right.
Noticed the CANs right away (note to OFL, the plural of cans does not require an apostrophe) and thought the TOUCAN revealer was just great. Never heard of THECUT, never remember AUDRE, my bad, and don't know a thing about Brandy or MOESHA but the crosses took care of them. The "o" as "or" in Spanish I knew, but did you know if the next word begins with an o, or an ho, the o changes to a "u"? So if the clue says "siete u ocho", now you know why.
Rex didn't even mention the REX shout out. He's way behind @Roo though.
Great stuff, EA. An Exemplary Archetype of what a Tuesday should be, and thanks for all the fun.
Easy. No WOEs, only one overwrite, my 62A time to look ahead was Edt ("spring forward") before it was an EVE
Erik is the master. Loved the puzzle, loved the write up. Best Tuesday in memory.
Hey All !
Visions of TOUCANS doing the CANCAN dance. The ole brain being silly again.
Only 34 Blockers, when normal is 38, more puz to fill. Agree with Rex that the fill is quite nice. Also a shout-out to REX at 42A. Appropriate, since we all know 42 is the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Not ASHAMED to RUDELY acknowledge myself as a CELEB today, as I turn NUMERO 56. With an often non-NORMAL SCRAMBLED brain. HAHA
You know, my book is still available, sloooooowly working on a sequel, but get it at Amazon or barnesandnoble.com, Changing Times by Darrin Vail. 😁
Anyway, have a great Tuesday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Glad Rex made THE CUT his word of the day, as I kept trying to make that be something else ... something I've actually head of, seeing as it is Tuesday.
AUDRE Lorde hasn't fully sunk in yet, but once I got the D and R in place it came to me. So she's in that twilight where I don't know the answer from the clue, but recognize it once it comes in.
Nice early week puzzle. Absolutely *loved* the clue for ELEMENT. Also not a particularly clever clue but for some reason 2-down made me smile thinking about KOALAs eating eucalyptus. 🐨
My submissions for what to call a vertical stack:
A tower
A building
A taller, narrower stack
My submission for mistakes that make one smile: I mindlessly wrote in "canCAN" for the revealer. That's...not a bird... I also had filled in just enough of 51A that I thought it might be MEXICAN, A MExICAN. Like it was just repeating itself for emphasis.
Even though the SE corner felt very 90s to me, between the phone book reference and MOESHA crossing ANITA HILL, this was a very fun, fresh solve!
Erik Agard fooled me with the reveal: after the first two theme answers, I was sure it was going to be "cancan" - and I even allowed myself to imagine that the two black L shapes at the bottom represented legs kicking up. But a reveal surprise is always a bonus. And I thought CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE was a real treat.
Over the past few weeks, my husband and I have been godparents to a family of robins who have been nesting on our front porch. They built the nest in the early spring and we got quite excited about our new tenants, but then they abandoned their construction and disappeared. I guess they found a nesting site they liked better for their first brood of the season. But then, around 10 July, they came back and started reinforcing the nest. Woo-hoo, we’re going to get some avian action, after all! The mom laid four eggs but, sadly, according to one of our eagle-eyed neighbors, one was stolen by a crow. (I like crows for their astonishing intelligence, but it’s no wonder they call them in groups “a murder.”)
Mom-robin was the soul of patience as she sat incubating those eggs. Our neighbors are having their driveway, front walkway and back patio replaced, and she had to carry out her vigil through the sounds of jackhammers and stonecutting saws – what a cacophony! I found it interesting that although she mostly sat there quite motionless, she did feel free to fly off for brief forays, presumably to eat. (It was during one of these absences, of course, that the crow struck.)
Then, one day, we noticed both parents sitting on the edge of the nest and looking down into it. Hah – that could mean only one thing: baby birds have hatched! Then began the non-stop feeding ritual, in which both parents seemed to participate equally. They flew in and out of our porch at Mach-speed. If you happened to be out there near the flight-path, your hair could practically get singed.
The little birds grew until first beaks and then bodies were visible over the sides of the nest. We were surprised that there was no chirping in the early days of feeding – it seems it takes a few days for the babies to find their voice. Hatchlings are really not an attractive sight and their open beaks seem to be the same size as the rest of them. But how quickly they passed through that stage and turned into little speckled buddhas sitting stolidly in a row, waiting for their next meal.
And then one early morning before I was up, one of them fell out of the nest. Code yellow! Red alert! Battle stations! The dear little thing was unhurt and my husband popped it back in, after first determining that this action wouldn’t jeopardize the viability of the family. Apparently, robins don’t have a particularly good sense of smell so aren’t able to detect human interference. And, indeed, feeding went on in the normal fashion after that. Then, the next day, the little blighter fell out again, but this time, when my husband went to retrieve it, it flew a short distance. It flew! Good grief, how can that be? A mere two weeks ago, it was an egg!
The second chick departed soon after that, leaving one lonely hold-out in the nest. We understand that, for a time, the parents feed the fledglings on the ground, and were a bit afraid that in their zeal to find the departees, they might forget about the remaining nester. Early this morning, my husband looked out and that last chick was perched on the edge of the nest, looking around, and presumably closely considering its next move. A little later a parent arrived with food and found that chick…gone! Poof, vanished, out into the big wide world.
So, sniff, my husband and I are empty-nesters. We’ve been utterly riveted at all stages of the family’s development, and can’t wait to see if the nest will be used again.
Yep, a good Tuesday offering. I wouldn't class the six 9's as "all good to great" (half of them are actually quite boring) -- but the fact that they're there at all is the real story, so bravo for that.
I whooshed through this so quickly that I never noticed THECUT, HALAL, ASHAMED...or even TOUCANS!
I feel like CANTHOLDACANDLE is incomplete; I've never heard, read or spoken it without "...to [whatever is being compared]." But that didn't bother me while solving, and I suspect that it's my understanding, not the entry, that is incomplete.
Like others, NOdS before NOMS. I was thinking afterward...do NOdS perhaps refer only to wins? I also had AUDRa for a bit.
KOALA brought to mind a story I read yesterday about Little League Baseball. In the regional competition to get to the upcoming LL World Series, the team from Lexington, KY -- and specifically their pitcher -- was struggling. The coach, sensing the need to reset his kids without simply urging them to "buckle down" or "focus", gathered the team at the mound and proceeded to tell a slightly winding tale about how a KOALA is a marsupial because it doesn't have the "KOALA-fications" to be a bear. That was it -- no strategic advice, no pep talk. The pitcher rolled his eyes at the Dad joke, but it did the trick; he settled down. The team didn't make it to the LLWS, but the story went viral up as an interesting example of situational awareness and knowing your audience. I loved it. You can read more here if you like.
For a vertical stack: a bundle?
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