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Wildlife that may nest on Hawaiian golf courses / WED 8-27-25 / The Prancing Pony and the Admiral Benbow are fictional ones / Basic couturier offering / Genre for Blackpink or BTS / Sister goddesses who personify destiny
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Constructor: Zhou Zhang
Relative difficulty: Medium
Theme answers:
- I'M [UP/DOWN] FOR WHATEVER (18A: "Anything sounds good to me")
- 3D: One end of the day (SUN-[UP/DOWN])
- BUTTON-[UP/DOWN] (23A: Basic couturier offering)
- 26D: One aspect to consider in making a decision ([UP/DOWN]-SIDE)
- GOBBLE [UP/DOWN] (48A: Devour)
- 33D: One orientation of a playing card during a magic trick (FACE [UP/DOWN])
- GOING [UP/DOWN] IN FLAMES (54A: Failing epically)
- 55D: One tool for scrolling on a computer ([UP/DOWN] KEY]
Blackpink (Korean: 블랙핑크, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. Regarded by various publications as the "biggest girl group in the world", they are recognized as a leading force in the Korean Wave and an ambassador of the "girl crush" concept in K-pop, which explores themes of self-confidence and female empowerment. [...] Blackpink's debut studio album, The Album (2020), was the first album by a female act in South Korea to sell one million copies. Their 2022 follow-up, Born Pink, was the first to sell two million copies, the first by a girl group to reach number one on the US Billboard 200 since Danity Kane in 2008, and the first by a Korean girl group to top the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart. The album's lead single, "Pink Venom" (2022), was the first song by a Korean group to reach number one on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and the first by a girl group to reach number one on the Billboard Global 200. Blackpink has overall achieved three number-ones on the Billboard Global 200 and four number-ones on the Billboard Global Excl. US, the most for a female act, as well as ten entries on the US Billboard Hot 100. Their Born Pink World Tour (2022–23) became the highest-grossing concert tour by a female group and Asian act in history, while they became the first Asian act to headline Coachella in 2023. // With 40 billion streams and 20 million records sold worldwide, Blackpink is one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. They have the most-subscribed and most-viewed music artist channel on YouTube, and are the most-followed and most-streamed girl group on Spotify. Blackpink's accolades include several Golden Disc Awards, MAMA Awards, People's Choice Awards, and MTV Video Music Awards; they were the first girl group to win Group of the Year at the latter awards in the 21st century. (wikipedia)
• • •
All of the difficulty today, for me, came immediately, with the first clues I encountered. I thought you "rigged" the SAIL (1A: It might be rigged), and when I confirmed SAIL with AHEM (2D: "I'm standing right here, you know!"), I thought I was golden. But then I knew ("knew") the transit option of 1D: S.F. transit option had to be BART, and that wouldn't work with SAIL, so I tore out SAIL/AHEM and wrote in BART, which I "confirmed" with "AS IF!" (12A: No way!"). SAIL/AHEM v. BART/"AS IF!" ... there could be only one victor. Who would it be? Turns out, neither. A third fighter appeared as if out of nowhere and knocked them both out. MAST/MUNI ... oof. OK. I accept that those are the correct answers, but only because the Hawaiian goose said so (as a veteran solver, there's something very sad about needing to be bailed out by a crossword goose, but that's what happened) (15A: Wildlife that may nest on Hawaiian golf courses = NENE). After that ... nope, I'm looking at the grid and I don't see any struggle points. The fill felt iffy and weak in places (that NW corner is so-so, ASAMI is always unwelcom, ECCE and EKED are not much better, and that "OH" in "OH, BE A PAL" is completely made-up / tacked-on / absurd (I can maybe hear an "aw...." but not an "OH")). But mostly the fill seems solid enough. Having theme material in two directions puts a lot of strain on the grid, so we should probably be grateful the fill is as clean as it is. I hope you got the "aha" (or "OHO") moment I did, with the second revealer. It was the one real pleasure the puzzle had to offer today.
Bullet points:
- 5A: Genre for Blackpink or BTS (K-POP) — I need to make sure you are all familiar with the movie-musical phenomenon KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, which was a streaming juggernaut this summer (on Netflix). The songs from that movie have absolutely torn up the Billboard charts, becoming so popular (with a wide variety of age groups) that Netflix decided to release the movie theatrically earlier this month, with showings specifically designated as sing-alongs! Why do I need you all to know this? Because it's only a matter of time before it makes its way into your puzzle ... somehow. The rival bands in the film are HUNTR/X and SAJA BOYS—no idea how you'd handle that slash in "HUNTR/X" in a crossword grid, but it's not that hard to see how SAJA (4) might find its way into the xword mix. The lead characters (lead singers from the rival bands) are RUMI (4) and JINU (4). There's an adorable large animated cat called DERPY (5). Anyway, this is a pop cultural artifact that is too big for the puzzle to ignore for very long. It will certainly at least be a KPOP clue in the near future. Not only is Kpop Demon Hunters the most popular Netflix film of all time, its two-day special theatrical sing-along release seems to have actually won the box office for last week. From Yahoo! Entertainment:
According to CNBC, “Rival studios on Sunday estimated “KPop Demon Hunters” led all films over the weekend with $16-18 million in ticket sales. Distribution executives from three studios shared their estimates for the Netflix phenomenon on condition of anonymity because the streaming company has a policy of not reporting ticket sales.” Some have even estimated the movie made about $20 million in its weekend stint at the theater. Apparently, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters even made it to the top of the box office without appearing at the popular AMC Theaters chain. AMC declined to show the movie. But those KPOP gals didn’t need ’em to send Netflix to #1. That’s two total wins for KPOP Demon Hunters.
- 64A: The Prancing Pony and the Admiral Benbow are fictional ones (INNS) — The Lord of the Rings and Treasure Island, in case you were wondering—I definitely was. Not a Tolkien fan and I don't know if I ever read (or even saw) Treasure Island. The only fictional INN I know is the Tabard, from Canterbury Tales. Oh, and the Stratford Inn from the sitcom Newhart.
- 24D: Apt letters missing from "c--tom---" (USERS) — me: "US ... ARY? What's USARY!?"
That's it. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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36 comments:
Easy, solved without reading the long theme clues and without getting the "down" side of the two-way rebus squares until after the happy music played. I put [UP] in the circle at 3Dx18A, then encountered the theme clue at 27A and went ahead and put [UP] in all the other circled squares. That was good enough.
Overwrites:
Like @Rex at 1D: bart before MUNI, after removing MAST at 1A
My confused state was a dAZE before it was a HAZE (46A)
My 58D small was tINy before it was MINI
No WOEs.
I had mostly DOWN answers instead of UPs, but it didn't matter. I found it easy, except I was sure BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) was the answer at 1-Down, with "boat" instead of MAST at 1-Across. I suspect MUNI was a misdirect, because BART is more familiar to crossword solvers (and to this former San Mateo resident).
Same experience as OFL, but I’d rank it as “easy.” Got traction in the NE and worked my way down to 27A and had that OOO moment for UPS. Immediately filled in all the circles with that.
Only much later, after filling in most of the lower right and swinging around clockwise did I see the down clue. Then “ooo” turned into “aha” and I caught the totality of the theme.
Thank you, Zhou. This was fun!
The circles and the reveal gave up the rebus presence without much resistance - which is a good thing since I have been battling a severe case of gimmick-fatigue recently and wasn’t in the mood to go scavenging for rebus squares (again) today.
I had some trouble getting out of the NW with THE FATES being just a black hole up there. I ended up wandering around the rest of the grid and circled beck to clean that up last.
So, nice to see a theme that is not overly burdensome, which unfortunately passes for praise these days with NYT puzzles.
Just last Thursday we had an up/down theme played a different way. Not complaining; just observing.
And (trusting that there is no one left in the universe to spoil this for), the Stratford Inn had the distinction of being a fiction within a fiction. Which suggests the question: if THE FATES were Gods instead of Goddesses, would their names be Larry, Darryl and the other brother Darryl?
I had the same aha moment when I put in “downs.” ‘Twas a game changer as they say.
10 minutes for me, so easy-medium. Same experience as @OFL--what? Downs? Where? Did I miss 4 other circled squares??? What??? And then the big AHA of realizing that each of those circles also works as DOWN, both ways! A fun puzzle with a great double reveal aha moment. Thank you, Zhou! : )
OH BE A PAL is just awful, and those keys are UP arrow and DOWN arrow.
But the theme is very good, and the way the revealer is broken up really works if you are generally solving top-town, which most people I suspect do on Monday-Wednesday. Before hitting the second revaler, I had two UPs and two DOWNs in the circles, then had a nice revelation at the revealer.
Had fun with this - liked the nuance of the dual entry theme. Tall - handsome grid layout - revealers were placed neatly but lacked any true punch.
Lulu
Overall fill was awkward on places. Rex highlights most of the odd stuff. For me - YAK is what you do after eating bad sushi or drinking too much mezcal - YAp is more appropriate. Liked THE FATES and DIANA. Nice shoutout to NPR.
KATRINA
Enjoyable Wednesday morning solve.
FACE UP
I had pretty much the same solving experience as Rex, being quite positive about Bart for 1down, but also about NENE, leading to confusion in the NW. Also a nice aha moment when I realized there was the UP/DOWN component. A fun puzzle.
One thing I don’t get/like is BADAT for perenially struggling with. There are plenty of things in life that one can struggle with - it doesn’t necessarily mean one is BAD AT them.
Thanks for the info about KPop Demon Hunters, Rex! I think I’ll have to watch it.
“Bailed out by a crossword goose.” The perfect description of my experience in the NW, where I really didn’t want to let go of BART. I started to feel like this is something I’m just BAD AT.
I put in three UPs before hitting the second revealer, then DOWN for the last one. Does that make me a glass-three-quarters-full sort of person?
Estoy arriba y abajo para lo que sea.
I first thought "Counting to two is obviously more difficult than you'd think if they're not sure how many UPS and DOWNS go into the circles. So weird ... "that COULD appear four more times..." Then I discovered you can put UP or DOWN in all the circles and said, "Oh, I get it." Then I wondered why the puzzle was skinny.
I've just returned from a weekend of driving and attending social events I only partially wanted to attend, and now my staff is full of covid, so no doubt I have a long couple of weeks ahead, and I might be cranky. I need good puzzles to cheer me up. And this one tried.
On the road we listened to Meryl Streep read most of Ann Patchett's newish novel "Tom Lake." I'll probably never finish it, but it was pleasant, and then BEL CANTO appears in the puzzle today. Isn't life serendipitous.
❤️ OHO. BAD AT. OH BE A PAL.
People: 5
Places: 1
Products: 6
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 16 of 78 (21%)
Funny Factor: 5 😄
Uniclues:
1 Bag with a melted goose design.
2 The age of children rising up to declare God is real, but he's just not that into you.
3 My title at the roundtable, as evidenced by my belly.
4 When multiplied by millions of travelers, how the airline executive acquired a yacht.
5 How I came to know AHAs aren't real.
6 When the picture of the naked lady finally downloaded in 1993.
1 DADA NENE TOTE
2 DEISM-IMPS ERA
3 SIR GOBBLE UP
4 ADD ON FEE
5 OHO MUSING
6 MODEM PRIZE EKED
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Angst in crossword solvers' souls who just ain't gonna watch Game of Thrones. ARYA DAMAGE.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was impressed by how effectively UP and DOWN worked for each answer. But Kpop as the word of the day? The first thing I wanted to do when I finished the puzzle was to google The Fates and learn more about them. That was a highlight for me today.
I don’t know Latin. But I know the Mr Bean theme song which translates to “Behold a man who is a bean” and the opening phrase is “Ecce homo”
I wondered why “could appear” was in the clue for UPS (Hi, @Rex!). “It shouldn’t be ‘could appear’; it should be ‘appear’!” I thought with a harrumph. “It should be [Highs … that appear four more times in this puzzle]!”
So, when the second revealer revealed that DOWNS could also go in the rebus squares, I experienced not only a jaw-drop at that piece of information, but it also explained the “could appear” in the clues for UPS and DOWNS, making for a double ephiphany, and let me tell you, that was one sweet aha.
Fun to fill in a 14x16 grid rather than the standard square 15x15, and, remarkable that Zhou made the rebus squares work in both directions, given the paucity of phrases in which UP and DOWN can be swapped.
Apt to see ASHE, the name of the U.S. Open tennis tourney’s biggest venue.
I was inspired by your persistence, Zhou, by how you kept submitting puzzles to the Times after 15 rejections. That on top of being uber-buoyed by that double-whammy aha. Thank you and brava!
An especially luscious “Aha!” today when I filled in DOWNS, just as I experienced yesterday, during Zhou’s husband’s puzzle, when that yellow A lit the grid up.
That's hard to create in a puzzle, and both have the ability. Now I wonder if Zhou and Kevin encountered a similar explosive rush when they first met!
Very easy, and the revealer wasn't as exciting for me because I started with DOWN in the first rebus circle, so the UPS revealer gave it away immediately. I played the rest by using whichever one (UP or DOWN) fit the phrase that first popped into my head, and thus had a mix of the two by the end.
But I felt the need to comment because deciding between UP/DOWN for 26D made me think of this song, which contains the lyrics "down on the upside" (and is from an album of the same name):
Soundgarden - Dusty
Thought this a fun puzzle with in-the-language themers and quickly identifiable rebuses (rebi?) that should have add it easy. However struggled in the NW with NENE a gimme but MUNI a mystery. Same in SE with PIKE an unknown and ANEW clued awkwardly, at least for me. I was far off starting with “done”. Anyway, all’s well that ends well…
I didn’t have the ‘aha’ moment, as I first wished to put ‘down’ in the circles. Then I encountered the 3 letter reveal and saw the circles could be up or down. Solving on my phone, I wasn’t sure what I should put in the circles could- but simply putting in ‘u’ worked.
Hey All !
Neat puz, but total fail on my part in a couple of ways. First big ole DNF as the ole brain decided to block any answer in West Center. Had BUTTON, ASHE, THICK, but just could not home up with DEISM, BAD AT, USERS, ARC, TSK. Dang. Wanted either icK or yuK for TSK. No parsing of "customers" was coming through for some reason. I was thinking of Customs, like at the airport, customers (custom-ers, not pronouncing it as it should be.) And ARC! Nothing. BADAT, ugh, again, nothing, the brain shutting off.
Second fail was not noticing that both UP/DOWN would work for each clue! Wanted the Up only in the Across, and the Down only in the Downs. Then I come here and read Rex, and he tells me either one would work, and I let out an "ohhhh". No YAY ME today. Silly brain.
So kind of an oxymoronic theme, sort of. English in all it's crazy glory. GOBBLE UP, GOBBLE DOWN. IM UP FOR WHATEVER, IM DOWN FOR WHATEVER. GOING UP IN FLAMES, GOING DOWN IN FLAMES.
Puz is 14x16, which gets you 224 Squares, as opposed to 15x15, which gets you 225. I want my money refunded for the lost square. Har.
@Rick Sacra from YesterComments -
My F crusade came from noticing that the F wasn't used much in puzzles, as a common letter. Aside from the unusual letters, like your J, X, Q, Z, it seems the common enough F gets shafted a lot. So I starting keeping track, just to point it out for y'all, you know, in case you gave a fig.
Enough YAKS from me
Have a great Wednesday!
Four F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Easy...and I also only saw the "DOWN" once I hit that clue. For me, it was more of an "Oh" than an "Aha" moment.
Rex’s blog today informed me about K-POP DEMON HUNTERS. I do try to stay marginally aware of the latest and hottest young people’s fads, but this one was (fortunately) entirely out of my radar. Now I’ll be forced to watch the first ten minutes of the film and declare myself an expert. Right up there with Skibidi Toilet.
Until I got to the DOWNS clue, everything was an UP for me and I found the puzzle boringly easy and obvious. "Is this all there is?" I wondered. But it wasn't. Now I'm thinking that this is a clever way to delineate one of the real oddities of the English language. Could the trick have been revealed -- or at least hinted at -- earlier so that I would have been in on the joke? Had that been done, I think this would have been a far more enjoyable puzzle.
In a much, much simpler way, it's the same problem I had with the CLINTON/BOB DOLE puzzle. I only saw one solution and therefore missed the whole thing as it was unfolding.
When I came across the first rebus square, I puzzled over whether it was supposed to be “up” or “down”. Maybe it was “up” for across and “down” for down, but that did not match the clues either. Was I supposed to write up/down in each circle? I settled on “up”, which seems like what everyone else did also. I assume the puzzle would have marked “down” as correct also. I wonder what it would have done if had asked for the solution?
Let's see--BART? Check. Saved by NENE? Check. Put UP in the circles? Check. Pleasantly surprise by DOWNS? Check. So I really feel like a member of our little community this AM. Only wished I had seen the UP/DOWN thing earlier so I could have so I could have made a little arrow going up and down in my circles.
One overwrite, PRIZE, had PRICE.
Local legend had the site of the Newhart show as the Norwich Inn in VT, which is where we have our Monday night hootenannies. Sure, why not?
Nice to see all the stuff about KPop, but I think my musical tastes are pretty firmly established by now and I'm still catching up with all the good stuff I missed at the time.
Nice tricksy Wednesday, ZZ. I liked its Zesty Zeitgeist, and thanks for all the fun.
Okay, but GOBBLE DOWN? That one just doesn’t sound right to me. Scarf down, sure, but you GOBBLE UP.
Very easy for me until I got to the very last clue left to finish, and I was fittingly in a haze because I’d filled in “price” for 32 down and am unfamiliar with “sepal.” That took me a minute to figure out. I liked the up/down theme. I usually hate rebus puzzles but maybe having the circles made it easier to see.
I had PRICE instead of PRIZE which kind of also works for the clue “Value.” But that gave me HACE instead of HAZE. I never heard of HACE so I looked it up and apparently it is an ailment that causes a state of confusion (High Altitude Cerebral Edema). So I thought that also kind of fits the clue. Once I saw PRIZE/HAZE that obviously fits better but it kind of irked me that PRICE/HACE can also sort of work for the given clues.
Nice puzzle. Surprised it accepted only UP in the rebus circle. I had (UP/DOWN) and that was accepted as well. Never heard anyone say “GOBBLE DOWN” so that one didn’t work for me.
I’ve been watching the KPOP Demon Hunters with my grandsons. I was wondering why I had one of the songs stuck in my brain while working on this puzzle! I have to admit the songs do appeal to everyone, young and old, if my family is typical.
Oh wow! I entered UP in every circle without even giving it a thought. Then saw the revealer and slapped my head for not seeing the DOWN alternatives. All that time, I coulda entered either one and shoulda noticed but I didn’t.
My only wrinkle was badly wanting I’m Up For ANYTHING versus WHATEVER. And a little cringe at OH BE A PAL. But mostly just outstanding - and lots of fun. Thanks Zhou Zhang. I look forward to seeing your name again.
A rebus that I liked! Does that mean we're off the hook for tomorrow?
Nothing to say but Thank You, Zhou :)
What everybody said (except Nancy) it was neat to see DOWNS and suddenly realize how clever a puzzle it is.
One flaw—BUTTON-UP is a real thing as a verb, but it does fit the clue. Sure there are button-up shirts and cardigans, but one wouldn’t just say “BUTTON-UP” as a noun.
Also, the Roman goddess of fertility was Ceres, surely, not the virgin DIANA.
Am I the only one who mixed ups and downs according to which sounded more natural (to me)? It began to dawn on me that either could work when I was filling in BUTTONUP/DOWN – UP/DOWNSIDE, but for the other clues one just felt more right, e.g., I'm DOWN for whatever, Gobble UP, Going DOWN in flames, etc. Because I filled in the revealers early without thinking too hard about them, I knew that there were some UPS and some DOWNS in the puzzle, but I didn't quite see that either could work in every case and just figured it was UP for some and DOWN for others. I had the same experience as Rex in the NW—wanted SAIL and BART before I figured out MAST. Never heard of MUNI, but NENE was rattling around in my head somewhere, and I plopped down the N as my final letter to complete the puzzle.
Ah, clever! I had UP in all the rebuses . . . didn't notice that those could also be DOWNs until the very end, when I got the happy music and the squares filled in with UPDOWN.
Overwrites: BART before MUNI, PRICE BEFORE PRIZE, ADDED before ADD ON, CUT before FEE.
Have never heard of the Prancing Pony or Admiral Benbow and have to go look them up now. A fine Wednesday puzzle, nothing to object to.
@Anonymous 9:37 AM
I had the top two as up, and the bottom two as down. That's why I couldn't understand why there might be four of each. But yeah, if it is GOBBLE-ABLE, I will gobble it up or gobble it down. I'm not picky that way.
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