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Fly-catching bird with a name derived from Greek / SUN 9-28-25 / Sewer in American history / Furniture retailer owned by Williams-Sonoma / City SE of Phoenix / Sewer in American history / Remove surgically, as tissue / He was né Clay / law concept in computing technology / Letter-shaped train track piece / French cocktail made with crème de cassis / Info commonly shown on a board game box
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Constructor: Rich Katz
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
It is currently the night of my wedding anniversary (i.e. Saturday night), so I have had a little to drink and a Lot to eat and am maybe not in the writingest headspace right now, but I'll do my best. Gonna keep it short. I think. This theme is silly and I kind of love it for that reason. I'm also slightly impressed by the title of the puzzle—which I rarely am on Sundays (the only day with an official title). I mean, it's very on the money. "Perk" is another word for "benefit," obviously, and Central Perk was the name of the coffee shop that functioned as the social hub of the Friends universe. There's a joke, many years into the show, where PHOEBE is talking to someone about "having picnics in Central Park" and "coffee at Central Perk," at which point she realizes that the coffee shop name is a pun: "Oh my god, I just got that." I'm pretty sure that was when *I* first got it too. I never really thought about the name. Anyway, I watched every episode of that show (a lot of it during its original run, and then all of it a few years back), and I literally just finished watching the second episode of the new season of The Morning Show, which is also set in NYC and also stars Jennifer Aniston. None of this is particularly relevant, just Friends-adjacent. I really wanted the crosses of the Friends and the benefits to be meaningful. That is, I wanted those letters to spell something out, but all I'm getting is CEANOS, which anagrams to OCEANS ... is that something? OCEAN is in the puzzle (64A: Where a hurricane forms). And there's a WALRUS in the OCEAN (or just under it). And the WALRUS was Paul, right? ... I don't see an EGGMAN, though. I'm gonna say the letters in the Friends/benefits crosses are meaningless. Sadly. Would've been supercool if those letters had been relevant in any way. But I still like the basic concept.
- RACHEL / DAYCARE (10D: Mother of Joseph and Benjamin, in the Bible / 24A: Alternative to a nanny)
- PHOEBE / HEALTH (3D: Fly-catching bird with a name derived from Greek / 39A: Class that might cause some high schoolers to blush)
- MONICA / DENTAL (17D: Santa ___ / 41A: Like some bridges)
- CHANDLER / BONUS (51D: City SE of Phoenix / 73A: Extra)
- JOEY / VACATION (86A: Outback baby / 47D: Time out, perhaps)
- ROSS / WELLNESS (90A: Sewer in American history / 56D: Holistic contentment)
Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship. It is an experience curve effect, a type of observation quantifying efficiency gains from learned experience in production.The observation is named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel and former CEO of the latter, who in 1965 noted that the number of components per integrated circuit had been doubling every year,[a] and projected this rate of growth would continue for at least another decade. In 1975, looking forward to the next decade, he revised the forecast to doubling every two years, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41%. Moore's empirical evidence did not directly imply that the historical trend would continue; nevertheless, his prediction has held since 1975 and has since become known as a law. (wikipedia)
• • •
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| [PHOEBE] |
If you're not a Friends fan, I don't know if you'll be as well disposed toward the theme as I am. There's other stuff to admire, for sure, though not a lot of long stuff—with 12 theme answers, half running Across and half Down, there's considerable pressure on the grid, and that pressure has been handled by building a grid that is quite heavy on the short stuff (though mercifully not heavy on outright gunk). I was not always enamored with the fill. I shouted "EAT A SANDWICH!" when I got SEND A CARD and then reshouted it at HAS A SIP (I've only had one cocktail, I swear). But there wasn't much else that made me flinch. There are a helllll of a lot of first person pronouns in this puzzle, though. Like "I" "I" "I" they just keep coming. IDK x/w I HEAR, then I'LL SEE, I'M THERE, I'LL ASK, I RAIL ... ok that last one doesn't involve a pronoun, but it's pretty bad as [letter]-[word] answers go. I've heard of IBEAM and IBAR, but not IRAIL, which sounds like an iPhone app if we lived in the USA timeline that has highspeed rail. But no, we live in this incredibly shitty timeline where the federal government is using the military to attack its own cities, its own people. This could be us ... but no:
Thanks to my making that ORTON wrestler guy my Word of the Day yesterday, I had WWE right at the top of my brain, so I actually remembered a wrestling initialism, yay me (116D: Org. that merged with the U.F.C. in 2023). I had SEETHES before SEES RED (an amazing, horrible letter-sharing coincidence) (92D: Boils with rage). I had to think for a minute about EMMA v. EYRE (1D: Title heroine described as "handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition"). Actually, maybe not a minute. Probably closer to a second. That description couldn't be less apt for Jane EYRE if it tried. So EMMA it was. We're currently in the middle of Mansfield Park. It is really pretty bad. We've been in the middle of it for a while now, since we only listen to it when we take trips out of town, usually up to Ithaca. Which means we'll listen to it today (i.e. Sunday), since we're going up to Cinemapolis to see Robert Redford in The Natural tomorrow. Maybe Mansfield Park will pick up? It's hard to see how the heroine is ever going to find a personality, but, to borrow a phrase from a puzzle earlier in the week: FINGERS CROSSED.
Bullets:
- 33A: Remove surgically, as tissue (ABLATE) — I had: ABRADE. I think (skin) tissue is abraded during certain (surgical?) procedures. That is my defense of my answer.
- 37A: Beethoven symphony originally intended to honor Napoleon (EROICA) — Ooh, the latest "Sticky Notes" podcast is all about what difference a conductor makes to the performance (and recording) of a piece of music, and EROICA is the piece of music being used as an example. Comparative EROICAs! I've only listened to the first ten minutes so far, but I'm eager to get back into it. If you like classical music, "Sticky Notes" is a really fine podcast.
- 63A: ___Guessr, hit online game whose players deduce locations from Google Street View images (GEO) — the phrase "hit online game" makes me laugh. Yeah, I'm not going to know that, I can guarantee you. Getting GEO was not hard to guess given that (long) clue, but LOL no idea. It does appear to be A Whole Thing...
- 77A: ___ Day, Billie Holiday's portrayer in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (ANDRA) — as with yesterday's NAZCA, I remember making ANDRA Word of the Day at some point in the recent past, but that did Not help me remember her today.
- 82A: He was né Clay (ALI) — omg I have never seen masculine "né" it looks cursed.
- 50D: Clown around with food? (McDONALD) — as in Ronald, truly the scariest-looking clown there is. That "It" clown? Trying too hard. This is the real nightmare fuel:
90A: Sewer in American history (ROSS) —just in case you couldn't figure out how "Sewer" = ROSS, think Betsy. "One who sews," not "waste management system."
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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21 comments:
Happy Anniversary, @Rex!! Enjoy the movie!
Easy, even though I'm not a big fan of Friends.
Overwrites:
My 20A Arizona county was Mojave before it was MOHAVE
I had AGE Limit(?) before LEVEL for the game box info at 48D
My rap battle (50A) involved djS before MCs, but the real DJS showed up later, at 79D
77A: ANDRA Day, née AuDRA
For X at 80A, chi before TEN
@Rex SEEthes before SEES RED for the rage at 92D
It took three tries to get the puzzle-preferred spelling for LITCHI at 97D
T-noteS before T-BillS before T-BONDS at 99D
WOEs:
The game GEO Guessr (63A)
Retailer WEST ELM (120A)
Had SEETHES before SEESRED. And RESECT before ABLATE. Both messed me up for a while especially since I do the puzzle in pen.
I have never watched an episode of Friends in my life. I know some of the names through the zeitgeist, but the puzzle did nothing for me. Thankfully, it was easy.
Double Natick at 120A? W_STEL_. Never heard of a HEN party, and SYMS was well outside my service area. Not knowing WEST ELM was extra punitive.
No friend of Friends, so the theme was lost on me, not that it mattered. A festival of short fill, largely due to the odd grid. Why that cutoff central space?
Fun fact - I’ve never watched or had the desire to watch an episode of Friends. It’s ubiquitous at this point - and my wife watches reruns all the time so I was able to INFER most of the trivia here. When the tribute has absolutely no interest to a solver - it makes for a long slog.
FEMME Fatale
Rex highlights the highs and lows - I really dig it when he states the write up will be short and then goes off on a Tolstoy-like tear - outstanding. The cocktails usually dictate.
The Star Room Boys
Thankfully this was TV Guide LEVEL easy. One full pass and a few fill-ins and done. The grid art or whatever that is in the center doesn’t help matters - a lot of that fill is grid restricted.
Mere Pseud Mag Ed
Huge pass on this one.
The WHISKEY Makes You Sweeter
Probably posting the obvious but Ronald McDonald was none other than Willard Scott, later the Today show weatherman.
This is was a very easy and not very pleasurable solve. I’ve never seen a single episode of that show so those character names were totally meaningless to me, and I was left pondering what on earth the non-word CEANOS might have to do with the phrase “Central Perk.” I like puzzles where the theme helps the solve. Maybe this did for some, but definitely not me.
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!
People love to brag that they have never watched Friends. 🙄
Funnily enough, as I already had worked out the theme, I was just “huh, I guess there’s a ROSS Sewer in American history, Rex will probably let me know what he’s famous for later..”
Am I the only person who has never heard or seen the word “redound” before?
Hey All !
The ICEMAN cometh. Har.
Silly brain never got the fact of them being the friends of "Friends". How is that possible? Especially with CHANDLER and PHOEBE. My goodness. So, of course, never got the fact that the crossers were "benefits", ala from work. Man, I told you the ole brain is fastly petering out.
Cool puz after the Rexplanation, thanks for telling it to me like a 5 year old. I know it was quite difficult to fill cleanly with all that Theme running about. Good job, Rich.
Already had MCS in at 50A, but did that stop me from putting it in at 79D? It did not. Managed to change it to the correct DJS.
Lots to like in this puz. Very well made, left/right symmetry, good fill. BONUS points for you, Rich!
Have a great Sunday!
Five F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Déjame comprobarlo. Les preguntaré.
Someone who lives in my house enjoys Friends and so we have watched all 236 episodes multiple times and I have never once laughed out loud, except for the "PIVOT!" scene. I suppose privileged white people who drink wine and have struggles is not my genre. So I turned to the benefits here and phew those are struggling even worse. Way to ruin the idea of friends with benefits.
More importantly, REDOUND? Do you serve it with LITCHI on a SYMS with a heapin' helpin' of EMPTOR mixed with ABLATE at a HEN party? I dunno. Just love a gunky Sunday puzzle angst-athon.
I am suspicious an entire country's spice palette comes down to PAPRIKA. And, in the other problematic spice clue, our pantry has all kinds of wonderful smells in it.
I confuse expiating with spitting. Dunno why. I am a fan of walruses. And I have been asleep many times without LAIN-ing as I love to sleep at my desk. [Sun bloc?] is a delightful clue. I found out today SEETHES and SEES RED unfortunately have the same number of letters.
I'm a LEFTIST, but I have plenty of less-than-liberal leanings too. I guess I can be an INTHEMIDDLEIST sometimes.
ASTRAL is on my favorite word list between ERUDITE and ANALOG.
People: 18
Places: 5
Products: 14
Partials: 9
Foreignisms: 6
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 52 of 140 (37%)
Funny Factor: 6 😐
Uniclues:
1 Why the Indian oral surgeon drives a Lamborghini.
2 Extra art holder-uppers under the sea for the mustachioed.
3 The SSRs whether they liked it or not.
4 Bleeding Visa cards on a girls' weekend away.
5 The scent of a happy galaxy.
1 DELHI DENTAL HEALTH (~)
2 WALRUS BONUS EASELS
3 LEONID TRIBES
4 FEMME VACATION MOOLAH
5 ASTRAL WELLNESS SMELL
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: The museum of arsery on 🦖. BLOG'S RUMP BLAB.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe that central space is supposed to represent Central Park?
A weird solving experience for me today. I dropped in the revealer just off of the F in FEMME, finished the grid, stared at the theme entries for a while, and nothing. I doubt I had much of a chance since I’ve never seen an episode of Friends. From CrossWorld, I usually recognize the names from the Seinfeld and occasionally the Cheers shows, and I need to be reminded that JA was on Friends - but that’s pretty much the extent of what I have to draw on there.
The rest of it was a pretty enjoyable excursion. I haven’t read the comments yet, but I’m guessing that a few personal records will fall today - which worked out fine for me as I could progress through the grid pretty much oblivious to the presence of the theme.
Nope
Did it in the magazine for a change. Easier than most Sundays, but I had a problem in the NW because I had "relocates" and "relegates" before RESETTLES. I also had "seethes" before SEESRED. Didn't understand all the italicized clues and answers, because I have never watched "Friends." (There! I said it!)
Once again a disappointingly easy Sunday. I remember when this puzzle used to take me a week to do, and now I blast through it under 30 minutes. 25 today. I guess because I'm much better at it, or I'm old enough to get more cultural references, but still disappointed when my fun is over so quickly. Got the gimmick kind of mid-way through, but it's another one of those themes where you don't need to figure out the theme to solve the puzzle which always bums me out.
Hiccuped at the very end with REDOUND - a word I didn't know. I had REmOUND because mENTAL seemed plausible but once I fixed the EyrE/EMMA mix-up and finally got OVERALL then it was a matter of figuring out what other letter besides "M" might work and voila. My coffee is still hot, which means the puzzle went too fast. I guess that's the norm now.
Also just noticed that BONUS is in the very center of the puzzle. So it's a "Central Perk" which is impressive.
This puzzle was pathetically, fill-in-the-blanks easy; a rote exercise. It did not dispose me to it (since Rex asked). In fact I thought that RP was going to SET UPON it, lay waste to it, in view of how simplistic it was OVERALL, that with the extra "BONUS" of eat-a-sandwich vibe that was so evident and on such Central display. Perhaps I should have known better. Perhaps I should have remembered how Friends is a SEWER (sic -- I'm deliberately punning) of division between those who love it and those who feel contempt for it -- and I am decidedly in the latter camp.
(I hasten to add that I don't feel contempt for the people who love it, by any means. My brother for instance, whom I love like a brother -- he and his whole family are absolutely devoted to it. And there are some good moments, that I grant. Tempted though I am, I shan't detail the reasons why I think it's not a great show that also hasn't aged very well.)
I don't know why I thought at first that it was MojAVE, but PHOEBE of all people set me straight. One glance at the puzzle title and I knew she'd be in there -- that was an easy INFERENCE.
Structurally, the puzzle did have a pleasing symmetry in the placement of the principals' names. So that's a plus, I guess. I admit I overlooked the perky aspect of the puzzle (like HEALTH, which they say causes some high-schoolers to blush), because really I wanted to get the puzzle over with. In retrospect, I grant that was another plus (or perk if you will), how those were also placed symmetrically with respect to the center line. So in that respect, I SEE better why Rex was so appreciative, and additional kudos are due to Rich Katz for his construction.
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