"For real!," in modern slang / TUE 1-6-26 / Penalty box, in hockey lingo / In short supply, as energy / The only person to have the opinion / One-named Cuban-born designer who fashioned Nancy Reagan's red outfits / Amniocentesis targets / Spicy Sweet Chili chip / Country in which men traditionally wear robes called dishdashas

Constructor: Paul Coulter

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (**for a Tuesday**)

THEME: "THERE'S NO TWO / WAYS ABOUT IT" (17A: With 59-Across, "This is beyond a doubt" ... or a punny hint to 24-, 38- and 49-Across) — in each theme answer, inside three pairs of circled squares, you can find "NO" situated both forward and backward ("TWO WAYS") on either side of ("ABOUT") "IT":

Theme answers:

• A MINORITY OF ONE (24A: The only person to have the opinion)
• SET IN OPPOSITION (38A: Contrast)
• NO-WIN SITUATION (49A: Thing bound to end in failure)

Word of the Day: ADOLFO (10D: One-named Cuban-born designer who fashioned Nancy Reagan's red outfits) —

Adolfo Faustino Sardiña (February 15, 1923 – November 27, 2021), professionally known as Adolfo, was a Cuban-born American fashion designer who started out as a milliner in the 1950s. While chief designer for the wholesale milliners Emme, he won the Coty Award and the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. In 1963 he set up his own salon in New York, firstly as a milliner, and then focusing on clothing. He retired from fashion design in 1993. [...] With financial help from Bill Blass, Adolfo opened his first salon in New York in 1963, where he met many of the customers who would become his patrons when he gave up millinery to focus on clothing. He had met the Duchess of Windsor by 1965, through whom he met regular customers Betsy Bloomingdale, Babe Paley and Nancy Reagan. Adolfo would go on to become good friends with Reagan, and not only designed her dresses for both of her husband's inaugurations, but many dresses she wore during her time as the First Lady. After Mainbocher retired, one of his highest-profile clients, C. Z. Guest, came to Adolfo to make her clothes instead. Adolfo's clothes were designed to complement his hats, which the designer saw as an optional accessory rather than a wardrobe essential. [...] In 1993, at the age of 70, Adolfo decided to retire from fashion design and rely on the income from his licensing agreements with various manufacturers. Licensed Adolfo merchandise, including menswear, hats and accessories, luggage, sportswear, furs and perfume, was retailed widely at all consumer levels from Bloomingdale's through to J. C. Penney and the television shopping network QVC. In 1993, Adolfo's licensing agreements for perfume sales alone had a wholesale return of over 5 million dollars. By 2014, Adolfo was once again designing for his ready-to-wear clothing lines. (wikipedia)

• • •

***ATTENTION: READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** : It's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. 2026 is a big year for me, as Rex Parker Solves the NYT Crossword will celebrate its 20th birthday in September. Two decades. The big 2-0. A score of years. One score and no years ago, I brought forth on this Internet a new blog, conceived in ... I think I'll stop there, but you get the idea. I've been at this a long time, and while it has been my privilege and joy, it has also been (and continues to be) a lot of work. Very early mornings, no days off—well, no days off for the blog. I do have two very able regular subs (Mali and Clare) who write for me once a month, as well as a handful of other folks who stand in for me when I go on vacation. But otherwise, it's just me, every dang day, up by 4am, solving and writing. I've never been this disciplined about anything in my life. Ask anyone. "Is he disciplined about anything else?" "No, he is not. Just this one thing. It's weird." And it's because I have a responsibility to an audience (that's you). Even after nearly 20 years, I'm still genuinely stunned and exceedingly grateful that so many of you have made the blog a part of your daily routine. Ideally, it adds a little value to the solving experience. Teaches you something you didn't know, or helps you look at crosswords in a new way, or makes you laugh (my highest goal, frankly). Or maybe the blog simply offers a feeling of commiseration—a familiar voice confirming that yes, that clue was terrible, or yes, that themer set should have been tighter, or wow, yes, that answer was indeed beautiful. Whether you find it informative or comforting or entertaining or infuriating—or all of the above—if you're reading me on a fairly regular basis, there's something valuable you're getting out of the blog. And I couldn't be happier about that.

["That's upside-down, sweetheart"]

Hopefully by now you can tell that for better or worse, what you get from me is my honest, unvarnished feelings about a puzzle. There's an explanatory element too, sure, but this blog is basically one person's solving diary. Idiosyncratic. Personal. Human. I'm not interested in trying to guess consensus opinion. I'll leave that to A.I. All I can do, all I want to do, is tell you exactly what it was like for me to solve the puzzle—what I thought, what I felt. Because while solving may seem like mere box-filling to outsiders, crossword enthusiasts know that the puzzle actually makes us feel things—joy, anguish, confusion (confusion's a feeling, right?). Our feelings might not always be rational, but dammit, they're ours, and they're worth having. And sharing. I love that crosswords engage the messy, human side of you, as well as the objective, solution-oriented side. If I just wanted to fill in boxes, without any of the messy human stuff, I'd solve sudoku (no shade, sudoku fans, they're just not for me!).

[conferring w/ my editor]

Over the years, I have received all kinds of advice about "monetizing" the blog, invitations to turn it into a subscription-type deal à la Substack or Patreon. And maybe I'd make more money that way, I don't know, but that sort of thing has never felt right for me. And honestly, does anyone really need yet another subscription to manage? As I've said in years past, I like being out here on this super old-school blogging platform, just giving it away for free and relying on conscientious addicts like yourselves to pay me what you think the blog's worth. It's just nicer that way. How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are three options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar on the homepage, as well as at the bottom of every write-up):

Second, a mailing address (checks can be made out to "Michael Sharp" or "Rex Parker") (be sure to date them with the new year, 2026!):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All Venmo contributions will get a little heart emoji, at a minimum :) All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I know snail mail is a hassle for most people, but I love it. I love seeing your (mostly) gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my (completely) awful handwriting. The human touch—it's nice. In recent years, my daughter has designed my annual postcards, but this year, grad school and NYC theater work are keeping her otherwise occupied, so I had to seek design help elsewhere. Enter Katie Kosma, who is not only a professional illustrator/designer, but (crucially!) a crossword enthusiast. She listened patiently to my long and disorganized list of ideas and in very short order was able to arrive at this year's design, inspired by film noir title cards. 

I'm very happy with how it turned out. The teeny boxes inside the letters, the copyright credit ("Natick Pictures, Inc."), and especially that pencil lamppost—mwah! I know most people solve online now, and many paper solvers prefer pen, but the pencil just feels iconic, and appropriate for the card's throwback vibe. That lamppost was entirely Katie's creation. She was a dream to work with. Can't say enough good things about her.

Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." 

Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership. Please know that your support means a lot to me and my family. Now on to today's puzzle... 

• • •

This puzzle started bad and stayed bad—creatively bad, but still ... not good. Let's start with the NW corner, where before I really got started I already felt like giving up. Throwing in the towel. Packing it in. I had to stop after UHURA RARIN' UTERI and take a deep, "come-on-buddy-you-can-do-it" breath. 

That is some high-density junk. No professional should be throwing that much cruddy crosswordese at you, in such quantities, so early. Things did not get much better in adjacent sections, with the preposterous "I LOST" and then SIN BIN, a term I've only ever seen in crosswords (is it old-fashioned? I'm not a hockey fan but I have watched my share over the years and don't think I've heard it). GIT behind me, SIN BIN! There's a repulsive OTS NEWO IMS LDOPA stack in the NE ... the whole puzzle is just thick with crud. So even if the theme had been amazing, the overall experience was never gonna get above so-so because all this tired, unpolished fill was weighing it down. 

Sadly, I can't say the theme was amazing. Ambitious, yes. Conceptually clever ... in its way, for sure. But there are several wobbly aspects. First, having the revealer first makes things slightly awkward and anticlimactic. I had a lot of trouble parsing THERE'S NO TWO, but once that "W" from MAW dropped in, the whole answer became obvious, and I ended up getting all these free letters on the other side of the grid:

All that remained was to figure out what the hell the revealer meant, which was not obvious to me at first, perhaps because A MINORITY OF ONE was perhaps the hardest-to-parse Tuesday answer I've ever seen. It's chiefly the "A," I think. Articles aren't usually parts of answers. Then there's the relative uncommonness of the phrase, which maybe I've heard before? Not sure. To go from dreck fill to this weird long answer with mysteriously circled squares in it ... it was just not a game I was happy to be playing. Once I finally got that answer, I could see the NO and IT and ON, but the "TWO WAYS" in the revealer at first had me thinking that something would have to be read backwards—which is true, but I went ahead and read all the circled squares backward and got "NOTION." Which left me with 10 or seconds of "well ... I guess a 'NOTION' is an opinion, in a way, and so if one opinion (A MINORITY OF ONE) goes one way, and then another opinion (NOTION) goes the other way, then ... there *are* two ways about it? ... uh ... hmm ..." Eventually I let the "punny" quality of the revealer sink in, decided to take it *very* literally, and once I saw that NO IT ON were going to be visitors in the second themer as well, I finally saw what was going on. "NO" is facing two different ways, and both of those "NO"s are on either side of "IT." A visual pun. Great.

The second themer ended up being not much easier to parse than the first, largely because of the extremely terse and vague clue: 38A: Contrast. I came at it from the back end, and even having POSITION in place didn't help. So I've got a grid with relatively easy but extraordinarily ugly fill in it, and then I've got themer after torturous themer trying desperately to express the "punny" theme. The one themer that seemed to do so most naturally and fluidly was NO-WIN SITUATION. Unfortunately, that is the one themer that is disqualified because it contains "NO" as the word "NO" (whereas all the other "NO"s are hidden in their words). Worse, that "NO" actually crosses another "NO" (in NO CAP). If your theme is about hidden "NO"s, you have to do two things. One, actually *hide* all the damn "NO"s, and two, don't let any stray "NO"s appear in your grid. Because now you've got "NO" two ways about "IT" ... and also this other NO, don't pay attention to him, he doesn't count, not sure who invited him. I can see how this concept might've seemed like an interesting premise for a theme, but the execution of the theme made it all seem ... not worth it. I don't know if I'd be more kindly disposed to the theme if the fill hadn't been so terrible. It's possible. A clean grid goes a long way to helping me *appreciate* what you're doing with the theme. But even with a gleaming grid, I think the theme execution would've seemed ... ungainly. 

Almost all of the difficulty today lay in the themers. Even with the "help" from the revealer, those first two themers were a giant yikes. Otherwise, this was Tuesday-easy. But I'm not used to much of any resistance on a Tuesday, hence the "Medium-Challenging" rating (it was a little north of normal, difficulty-wise, for me). I assume NO CAP is no longer a mystery to any of you (49D: "For real!," in modern slang). Even if it's slang you somehow haven't heard from your kids or grandkids, you've definitely seen it in crossword grids now. Just two days ago, in fact. That means that NO CAP has appeared almost as many times this week (2) as it did all last year (3). Before that, it had appeared just once. I'm guessing NO CAP goes through the roof this year, as the newish five-letter phrase finally enters the wordlists of the constructing population and becomes more familiar to the solving population generally. Which means we'll be seeing NO CAP well after the phrase itself has stopped being used. See, for instance, PHAT, which has been chugging along steadily since 1998. As prevalent in recent years as it was then. Old slang never dies, it just haunts crosswords for eternity. It's rad!

Bullets:

• 1A: Lt. ___, communications officer on the original "Star Trek" (UHURA) — no Star Wars clues today (that's two whole days now!), but we do, sadly, get two Star *Treks*, which should count as one Star Wars (45A: Burton of "Star Trek: T.N.G." = LEVAR). Judges?  ... Sorry, judges say no violation, only a stern warning. Star Trek clues, like Star Wars clues, can also be tiresome and annoying and unimaginative, esp. if they come in bunches. LEVAR Burton has done other things! Vary your cluing! Get more creative with it! Anyway: Days Without a Star Wars or Star Trek Reference: 0.

• 3D: Amniocentesis targets (UTERI) — something about "targets" feels off to me. Like, I'm imagining a video game where our hero, Amniocentesis, has to shoot down giant flying UTERI. UTERI Flying Overhead! (UFO).  UTERI is already a silly plural to begin with, no need to call attention to it with weird clue phrasing.
• 32D: In short supply, as energy (AT A LOW EBB) — the puzzle's second four-word answer (after the six-word revealer). This one wasn't quite as hard to parse as the others.
• 23D: Spicy Sweet Chili chip (DORITO) — One is the loneliest DORITO that you'll ever do. Two can be as bad as one—they're the loneliest DORITOs since DORITO one. (a single DORITO always seems so sad) (not as said as VIEWAS, which really was not built to stand alone ... but pretty sad)

That's all for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================
✏️ Upcoming Crossword Tournaments ✏️

• American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (Stamford, CT, Apr. 10-12, 2026) (registration opens January 8!)

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)

Read more...

Spicy marinade with chili peppers / MON 1-5-26 / "Yikes!," to a Brit / 1976 film with Robert De Niro as an alienated cabbie / Passengers getting an illicit free ride / Fanny ___, central figure in Broadway's "Funny Girl" / Crazy Horse's people / Losing general at Appomattox / Meeting spot for a company's overseers / Bug killer that goes "smack!"

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)

THEME: TOUCHDOWN  (57A: Gridiron success ... or, when read as two words, the conclusion to the sequence formed by the starts of 16-, 24-, 34- and 48-Across) — first words of four themers describe an airplane trip:

Theme answers:

• BOARDROOM (16A: Meeting spot for a company's overseers)
• TAXI DRIVER (24A: 1976 film with Robert De Niro as an alienated cabbie)
• TAKE OFF FROM WORK (34A: Enjoy a vacation day, say)
• FLY SWATTER (48A: Bug killer that goes "smack!")

Word of the Day: ADOBO (20D: Spicy marinade with chili peppers) —

[Chipotles en adobo]

Adobo or adobar (Spanish: marinade, sauce, or seasoning) is the immersion of food in a stock (or sauce) composed variously of paprika, oregano, salt, garlic, and vinegar to preserve and enhance its flavor. The Portuguese variant is known as carne de vinha d'alhos. The practice, native to Iberia (Spanish and Portuguese cuisine), was widely adopted in Latin America, as well as Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia.

In the Philippines, the name adobo was given by colonial-era Spaniards on the islands to a different indigenous cooking method that also uses vinegar. Although similar, this developed independently of Spanish influence.

• • •

***ATTENTION: READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** : It's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. 2026 is a big year for me, as Rex Parker Solves the NYT Crossword will celebrate its 20th birthday in September. Two decades. The big 2-0. A score of years. One score and no years ago, I brought forth on this Internet a new blog, conceived in ... I think I'll stop there, but you get the idea. I've been at this a long time, and while it has been my privilege and joy, it has also been (and continues to be) a lot of work. Very early mornings, no days off—well, no days off for the blog. I do have two very able regular subs (Mali and Clare) who write for me once a month, as well as a handful of other folks who stand in for me when I go on vacation. But otherwise, it's just me, every dang day, up by 4am, solving and writing. I've never been this disciplined about anything in my life. Ask anyone. "Is he disciplined about anything else?" "No, he is not. Just this one thing. It's weird." And it's because I have a responsibility to an audience (that's you). Even after nearly 20 years, I'm still genuinely stunned and exceedingly grateful that so many of you have made the blog a part of your daily routine. Ideally, it adds a little value to the solving experience. Teaches you something you didn't know, or helps you look at crosswords in a new way, or makes you laugh (my highest goal, frankly). Or maybe the blog simply offers a feeling of commiseration—a familiar voice confirming that yes, that clue was terrible, or yes, that themer set should have been tighter, or wow, yes, that answer was indeed beautiful. Whether you find it informative or comforting or entertaining or infuriating—or all of the above—if you're reading me on a fairly regular basis, there's something valuable you're getting out of the blog. And I couldn't be happier about that.

["That's upside-down, sweetheart"]

Hopefully by now you can tell that for better or worse, what you get from me is my honest, unvarnished feelings about a puzzle. There's an explanatory element too, sure, but this blog is basically one person's solving diary. Idiosyncratic. Personal. Human. I'm not interested in trying to guess consensus opinion. I'll leave that to A.I. All I can do, all I want to do, is tell you exactly what it was like for me to solve the puzzle—what I thought, what I felt. Because while solving may seem like mere box-filling to outsiders, crossword enthusiasts know that the puzzle actually makes us feel things—joy, anguish, confusion (confusion's a feeling, right?). Our feelings might not always be rational, but dammit, they're ours, and they're worth having. And sharing. I love that crosswords engage the messy, human side of you, as well as the objective, solution-oriented side. If I just wanted to fill in boxes, without any of the messy human stuff, I'd solve sudoku (no shade, sudoku fans, they're just not for me!).

[conferring w/ my editor]

Over the years, I have received all kinds of advice about "monetizing" the blog, invitations to turn it into a subscription-type deal à la Substack or Patreon. And maybe I'd make more money that way, I don't know, but that sort of thing has never felt right for me. And honestly, does anyone really need yet another subscription to manage? As I've said in years past, I like being out here on this super old-school blogging platform, just giving it away for free and relying on conscientious addicts like yourselves to pay me what you think the blog's worth. It's just nicer that way. How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are three options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar on the homepage, as well as at the bottom of every write-up):

Second, a mailing address (checks can be made out to "Michael Sharp" or "Rex Parker") (be sure to date them with the new year, 2026!):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All Venmo contributions will get a little heart emoji, at a minimum :) All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I know snail mail is a hassle for most people, but I love it. I love seeing your (mostly) gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my (completely) awful handwriting. The human touch—it's nice. In recent years, my daughter has designed my annual postcards, but this year, grad school and NYC theater work are keeping her otherwise occupied, so I had to seek design help elsewhere. Enter Katie Kosma, who is not only a professional illustrator/designer, but (crucially!) a crossword enthusiast. She listened patiently to my long and disorganized list of ideas and in very short order was able to arrive at this year's design, inspired by film noir title cards. 

I'm very happy with how it turned out. The teeny boxes inside the letters, the copyright credit ("Natick Pictures, Inc."), and especially that pencil lamppost—mwah! I know most people solve online now, and many paper solvers prefer pen, but the pencil just feels iconic, and appropriate for the card's throwback vibe. That lamppost was entirely Katie's creation. She was a dream to work with. Can't say enough good things about her.

Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." 

Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership. Please know that your support means a lot to me and my family. Now on to today's puzzle... 

• • •

Very easy and a little FLAT (36D: Off-key, in a way). Not off-key FLAT, but old soda pop FLAT. It seems well crafted enough, but there's not enough sparkle, and the theme is actually kind of pedestrian. It's weird that the puzzle has a revealer at all. I guess TOUCHDOWN needed to be a revealer because it didn't follow the pattern of the other themers (which all involved just the first word, not the whole answer). But still ... this is the kind of theme that the NYTXW used to let you figure out yourself. I solved Downs-only (as I always do on a Monday), and I was able to figure out the theme from just looking at the answers. I thought it was a revealer-free puzzle, and was surprised to find that the theme spelled out in the TOUCHDOWN's clue. Unnecessary hand-holding. I think I felt the contrast between the old (semi-sadistic) ways of doing things at the NYTXW and the newer (hand-holding) ways of doing things  more sharply than usual because I had just finished solving a Saturday puzzle from 1986, which I discovered while looking at the movie listings for Jan. 4, 1986 (I'm doing a little "40 years ago" movie-watching project this year). That puzzle ... dear lord. Brutal. 

I "finished" with four wrong squares (see the dark "X" squares, above). Total guesses. There were at least that many other total guesses that turned out to be correct, much to my surprise. AZLE? There's a "city" near Fort Worth called AZLE!?!!? Amazing. I looked it up and it turns out I just happened to stumble upon the only NYTXW puzzle in history to include AZLE. What luck! I always think of Maleska-era puzzles as being far less reliant on proper nouns and pop culture trivia, but this one was loaded. [Rock star John or J.J.] for CALE (I got that one). [TV actor Willie] for AAMES (got that one too—watched a lot of Eight Is Enough as a kid). Anyway, I got Naticked four times in one puzzle. Probably should've been three, maybe even two. But still, yikes. I don't want puzzles to be like that any more, but there's gotta be some happy medium between the often too-easy puzzles of today and the arcane torturefests of yore. I mean, a [Parrot's facial feature] is a CERE!? What am I, a parrotologist? I guessed correctly, but again, I repeat: yikes (or, in the words of today's puzzle, BLIMEY!) (43D: "Yikes!," to a Brit).

["A fleshy or waxlike membrane at the base of the upper beak in certain birds, such as parrots, through which the nostrils open." (American Heritage Dictionary)]
 [CERE has appeared just once in the past 33 years, in 2010, when it was clued [Smear with wax, old-style]. Old-style? What is [Smear with wax, new-style]!?!?! Why were we smearing things with wax in 2010?]

Sorry to talk so much about a 40-year-old puzzle. It was a bad puzzle, but at least it was fascinatingly bad. Today's puzzle just didn't interest me that much. Solid. Workmanlike. A placeholder. No real ugliness. No real difficulty. No real wows. I appreciated STOWAWAYS (28D: Passengers getting an illicit free ride) and PATROLMAN (15D: Police officer who monitors an assigned area)—they gave the grid a little color. And I always like thinking about TAXI DRIVER, one of the greatest movies of all time. But nothing else about this puzzle was very exciting. The feeling I experienced was something closer to ENNUI (13A: Listlessness). 

As I was solving Downs-only, I had to infer the themers, which was a bit of a crapshoot today. That is, my first guess was wrong over and over again. This didn't hold me up too much, but it was a little surprising how many times my first instinct, even with many letters and even entire words in place, was wrong. BOARD GAME before BOARDROOM. TIME OFF FROM WORK before TAKE OFF FROM WORK. And most strangely, TAXI DANCER before TAXI DRIVER. I blame that last one on the fact that "Taxi Dancers" is the theme for my Movie Club this week, and I am currently in the middle of watching the movie we ended up choosing: Deadline at Dawn (1944). Susan Hayward stars as a dancehall girl (i.e. taxi dancer) trying to help a young sailor prove he didn't kill a woman during a drunken blackout. It's a fantastically entertaining if completely preposterous movie. If any other Downs-only solver out there thought of TAXI DANCER before TAXI DRIVER, I'd like to hear about it. I'm pretty sure I'm alone on that one.

Bullets:

• 53A: Fanny ___, central figure in Broadway's "Funny Girl" (BRICE) — solving Downs-only, I was staring at BRIC- here and of course wanted BRICK. Once I got BRICE, I thought, "Oh, right, BRICE Harper" (8x MLB All-Star and 2x NL MVP, currently a member of the Philadelphia Phillies)  But he spells his name BRYCE. I've ... never seen Funny Girl, on Broadway or on film. More of a baseball fan than a Streisand fan (though I realize those are not mutually exclusive). I do kinda like her in What's Up, Doc?, I'll say that.

[and you thought the car chase scene in Bullitt was good...]

• 42D: Overly refined (EFFETE) — I know this is a real word with non-derogatory uses, but it always reads like a (slightly dressed-up) slur to me, suggesting that someone (or something) is not properly masculine. I think the word "effeminate" is running interference in my brain a little here. Anyway, can't imagine ever using this word. But it was easy to get today, as (from a Downs-only perspective), -ILIAL, made FILIAL obvious (teaching about FILIAL piety in the Aeneid every semester didn't hurt me here) (52A: Relating to a son or daughter). And since I had the other "F" from FLY SWATTER, EFFETE went right in ... and closed things out.
• 33D: Actor McGregor with a Golden Globe for "Fargo" (EWAN) — they could have clued him as [McGregor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi] (as they often do, as they did back in June), but then the "Number of Days without a Star Wars Reference" counter would've stayed at its familiar "zero" position. Instead, we take our first step into the unknown, toward a glorious, Star Wars-free future. You might even say that today we have ... a new hope. You might. Please don't. But you might.

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================
✏️ Upcoming Crossword Tournaments ✏️

• American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (Stamford, CT, Apr. 10-12, 2026) (registration opens January 8!)

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)

Read more...

Wicket and Teebo of Endor, e.g. / SUN 1-4-26 / Ixnays from Irkutsk / Ultimate end, to Aristotle / Obnoxious fratty sort, colloquially / Combine using heat without melting, as particles / Certain drink + what that drink has a lot of = women's lifestyle website / Elf portrayed by Cate Blanchett in "The Fellowship of the Ring" / Where idols go head-to-head? / Queen ___ Land (region of Antarctica claimed by Norway) / Titular role in a 2024 Disney prequel / Word before winner or after Wonder

Constructor: Gene Louise De Vera

Relative difficulty: Medium

[20D: Wicket and Teebo of Endor, e.g. = EWOKS]

THEME: "Base Pairs" — famous people who were DOUBLE-CROSSED (33D: Like five Across answers by five Down answers in this puzzle, literally and figuratively)—the double-crossers literally double-cross their victims (i.e. cross their victims twice in the grid) [curiously, as someone in the comments has noted, with each double-crossing pair, the double-crosser who is actually *clued* as the double-crosser crosses his victim each time at the last letter (or “back”), making him a kind of “back-stabber” (!!)]:

Theme answers:

• CAESAR (35A: General who crossed the Rubicon)
• BRUTUS (3D: Name of Ohio State's buckeye mascot)
• BRUTUS (30D: Believing his friend and ally had too much power, he led a party of conspirators to put an end to him)
• OSIRIS (8A: Egyptian god of the underworld)
• SET (9D: Ready ... or a word after ready)
• SET (13D: He scattered his brother's remains across the land and usurped his throne)
• MUFASA (61A: Titular role in a 2024 Disney prequel)
• SCAR (50D: Traumatize)
• SCAR (52D: He led his brother to his demise by endangering his nephew)
• JESUS (91A: The Lamb)
• JUDAS (91D: 2011 Lady Gaga hit)
• JUDAS (69D: He sold out his master in exchange for silver)
• OTHELLO (119A: Whence the phrase "wear one's heart on one's sleeve")
• IAGO (105D: Jafar's parrot in "Aladdin")
• IAGO (107D: Driven by envy toward his comrades, he fabricated events that led to their downfall)

Word of the Day: SET (13D) —

Set (/sɛt/; Egyptological: Sutekh - swtẖ ~ stẖ or: Seth /sɛθ/) Ⲥⲏⲧ (Coptic) is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. In Ancient Greek, the god's name is given as Sēth (Σήθ). Set had a positive role where he accompanied Ra on his barque to repel Apep (Apophis), the serpent of Chaos. Set had a vital role as a reconciled combatant. He was lord of the Red Land (desert), where he was the balance to Horus' role as lord of the Black Land (fertile land).

In the Osiris myth, the most important Egyptian myth, Set is portrayed as the usurper who murdered and mutilated his own brother, Osiris. Osiris's sister-wife, Isis, reassembled his corpse and resurrected her dead brother-husband with the help of the goddess Nephthys. The resurrection lasted long enough to conceive his son and heir, Horus. Horus sought revenge upon Set, and many of the ancient Egyptian myths describe their conflicts. (wikipedia)

• • •

***ATTENTION: READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** : It's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. 2026 is a big year for me, as Rex Parker Solves the NYT Crossword will celebrate its 20th birthday in September. Two decades. The big 2-0. A score of years. One score and no years ago, I brought forth on this Internet a new blog, conceived in ... I think I'll stop there, but you get the idea. I've been at this a long time, and while it has been my privilege and joy, it has also been (and continues to be) a lot of work. Very early mornings, no days off—well, no days off for the blog. I do have two very able regular subs (Mali and Clare) who write for me once a month, as well as a handful of other folks who stand in for me when I go on vacation. But otherwise, it's just me, every dang day, up by 4am, solving and writing. I've never been this disciplined about anything in my life. Ask anyone. "Is he disciplined about anything else?" "No, he is not. Just this one thing. It's weird." And it's because I have a responsibility to an audience (that's you). Even after nearly 20 years, I'm still genuinely stunned and exceedingly grateful that so many of you have made the blog a part of your daily routine. Ideally, it adds a little value to the solving experience. Teaches you something you didn't know, or helps you look at crosswords in a new way, or makes you laugh (my highest goal, frankly). Or maybe the blog simply offers a feeling of commiseration—a familiar voice confirming that yes, that clue was terrible, or yes, that themer set should have been tighter, or wow, yes, that answer was indeed beautiful. Whether you find it informative or comforting or entertaining or infuriating—or all of the above—if you're reading me on a fairly regular basis, there's something valuable you're getting out of the blog. And I couldn't be happier about that.

["That's upside-down, sweetheart"]

Hopefully by now you can tell that for better or worse, what you get from me is my honest, unvarnished feelings about a puzzle. There's an explanatory element too, sure, but this blog is basically one person's solving diary. Idiosyncratic. Personal. Human. I'm not interested in trying to guess consensus opinion. I'll leave that to A.I. All I can do, all I want to do, is tell you exactly what it was like for me to solve the puzzle—what I thought, what I felt. Because while solving may seem like mere box-filling to outsiders, crossword enthusiasts know that the puzzle actually makes us feel things—joy, anguish, confusion (confusion's a feeling, right?). Our feelings might not always be rational, but dammit, they're ours, and they're worth having. And sharing. I love that crosswords engage the messy, human side of you, as well as the objective, solution-oriented side. If I just wanted to fill in boxes, without any of the messy human stuff, I'd solve sudoku (no shade, sudoku fans, they're just not for me!).

[conferring w/ my editor]

Over the years, I have received all kinds of advice about "monetizing" the blog, invitations to turn it into a subscription-type deal à la Substack or Patreon. And maybe I'd make more money that way, I don't know, but that sort of thing has never felt right for me. And honestly, does anyone really need yet another subscription to manage? As I've said in years past, I like being out here on this super old-school blogging platform, just giving it away for free and relying on conscientious addicts like yourselves to pay me what you think the blog's worth. It's just nicer that way. How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are three options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar on the homepage, as well as at the bottom of every write-up):

Second, a mailing address (checks can be made out to "Michael Sharp" or "Rex Parker") (be sure to date them with the new year, 2026!):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All Venmo contributions will get a little heart emoji, at a minimum :) All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I know snail mail is a hassle for most people, but I love it. I love seeing your (mostly) gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my (completely) awful handwriting. The human touch—it's nice. In recent years, my daughter has designed my annual postcards, but this year, grad school and NYC theater work are keeping her otherwise occupied, so I had to seek design help elsewhere. Enter Katie Kosma, who is not only a professional illustrator/designer, but (crucially!) a crossword enthusiast. She listened patiently to my long and disorganized list of ideas and in very short order was able to arrive at this year's design, inspired by film noir title cards. 

I'm very happy with how it turned out. The teeny boxes inside the letters, the copyright credit ("Natick Pictures, Inc."), and especially that pencil lamppost—mwah! I know most people solve online now, and many paper solvers prefer pen, but the pencil just feels iconic, and appropriate for the card's throwback vibe. That lamppost was entirely Katie's creation. She was a dream to work with. Can't say enough good things about her.

Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." 

Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership. Please know that your support means a lot to me and my family. Now on to today's puzzle... 

• • •

OK, this puzzle is kinda funny, in that its basic premise violates a basic rule of crosswords, namely that you can't have the same entry appear twice in the grid. You're not even supposed to have variants of the same word in the same word (say, JUMPED and JUMP START). But today, the puzzle flagrantly violates that rule ... for a reason! And a good one. The "double"ness is baked into the thematic concept. Double-crossers literally double-cross their victims. Conceptually, it's pretty fantastic. You gotta do some pretty weird things with the cluing to get the whole thing to work. The clues on those doubled answers are sometimes a ssttrreettcchh. The OSU mascot? How is that guy not named Bucky? Bucky the Buckeye! Whose idea was BRUTUS? BRUTUS either killed Caesar or molested Olive Oyl. There are no good BRUTUSes (Bruti?). Why would you name your mascot that? And what about this 2011 Lady Gaga song? How big a "hit" was it? Admittedly, in 2011 I was probably as un-pop savvy as I've ever been. Looks like it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100—definitely a "hit." But totally unknown to me. But it doesn't matter how well known the song is because if you don't know it, you can infer it from the theme, if nothing else. I guess the "Base Pairs" of the title are the "pairs" of names that double-cross the Across themers. It's kind of weird to imagine OTHELLO double-crossed by a parrot, or Caesar stabbed by the Buckeye mascot, but I'd say that's more a wacky feature than a bug. Everything about the theme is pretty ingenious. Not sure why OTHELLO is clued as the play and not the character, since it's the character who is DOUBLE-CROSSED (the character who says "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve" is actually IAGO). But ... shrug, if that's a flaw, it's a pretty minor one.

The fill was not nearly as enjoyable as the theme. A PLUSSES looks nuts with two "S"s (although the dictionary tells me this is an acceptable, if less common, plural) (21A: High marks). I'd say "PISH!" to PISH, for sure. I don't think I've ever heard it not followed by "POSH," and even then, I've barely heard it (80A: "Horsefeathers!"). I have seen EASE ON in the puzzle before, but I still don't believe it's real. You can EASE OFF a pedal, but EASE ON, er, not so much (95D: Touch lightly, as a gas pedal). A Scooby-Doo partial (!?) is never welcome ("Ruh-ROH!"). The insane clue on POP SUGAR tells you it's not exactly ready for prime time (also, not all POP has SUGAR, so the clue is bad) (76A: Certain drink + what that drink has a lot of = women's lifestyle website). Then there's SINTER, which ... what the hell? Looks like a typo for SINNER. Or WINTER. First time I've ever seen this alleged "word" (83A: Combine using heat without melting, as particles). 

I also had no idea there was a place called SESAME PLACE (18A: Theme park with attractions like The Count's Splash Castle and Oscar's Rusty Rotten Rockets). I had SESAME WORLD in there for a bit. It's a better name, frankly. SESAME PLACE just kinda dies. Not exciting at all. Where the hell is this so-called "Place"? Huh, looks like there are two of them now: the original in Philadelphia (since 1980), and another in San Diego (as of 2022). So it's real. Not enjoyable to me, but real. HAS A BEEF may as well be HAS A BEEF SANDWICH for how standalone-worthy it is (not very) (81D: Disagrees (with)). And there are at least four (4!) fantasy/scifi answers in the grid. Lord of the Rings characters, not my thing (77D: Elf portrayed by Cate Blanchett in "The Fellowship of the Ring" = GALADRIEL). There's also all the short gunk I haven't even mentioned yet (ESSE NAM ALAI ATS OSS AMA SLR CFO NYS SGTMAJ NOLI etc. etc.). But gunk aside, most of my dislike for the fill is a matter of my own ignorance and also my own (dis)taste. And some of it was actually pretty good. "STOP IT, YOU TWO!," for instance (22A: "That's enough bickering!"). Or "IT'LL BE FUN" (2D: "Come on and let loose for a while!"). Or LATE BLOOMERS (109A: They'll get there eventually). If the fill took the overall quality of the puzzle down, it didn't take it down much. I still think this is one of the better Sundays I've seen in recent months—a good Sunday theme concept is a rare and valuable thing. 

The SINTER / POP SUGAR / GALADRIEL area (i.e. the SE) was the only part that threatened to derail me. Got a little anxious there for a bit. Oh, I also didn't really know SET. As a mythological figure, he kind of rang a bell, but I definitely needed every cross to be sure. PAOLO v. PAULO (43A: ___ Veronese, "The Wedding at Cana" painter) was interesting there for a bit, before I figured out TOTEM (39D: Where idols go head-to-head?). Then there was the large, literal kealoa* at 15D: Hawaiian for "long mountain" (MAUNA LOA). I was lucky enough to know the Greek word TELOS (39A: Ultimate end, to Aristotle), as well as the word AIT (small island in river or lake—chiefly British; learned it from crosswords) (44D: British isle). Without those two answers, that LOA / PAOLO / TOTEM section could very well have been a disaster. 

Bullets:

• 25A: Sci-fi protagonist who says "I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life" (NEO) — one of the many sci-fi/fantasy figures populating the grid today (joining the elf and the EWOKS and ALF). Not sure how I feel about the cross-reference with Morpheus today (28A: Morpheus, to 25-Across = MENTOR). With the theme being all about the relationship between people in the grid, something about having an additional, non-thematic pairing of people in the grid felt like static. Interference. Static interference. You know what I mean. Or you don't. Which is fine.
• 45A: Queen ___ Land (region of Antarctica claimed by Norway) (MAUD) — pfft, no idea. Absolutely none. Considered Queen MAUI Land before I double-checked the clue and saw "Antarctica" and "Norway" in there.
• 49A: With warts and all (AS IS) — first, you don't need the "With," not sure what it's doing here. Second, I had A TO Z here at first. Something about the "all" made me think of "the whole shebang," "all of it," "everything ... from A TO Z!"

• 19D: Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon ___" (PYM) — I knew this. How did I know this? I couldn't tell you anything about this story. Sometimes you just get lucky. There's also a Barbara PYM. I also couldn't tell you anything about her (except that she's an author).
• 84D: Ixnays from Irkutsk (NYETS) — I don't know what kind of alliteration or sing-songiness this clue was trying for, but I think it misses. Luckily, it misses wildly, and wackily, which makes me love it. Good effort! Nice hustle! You'll get 'em next time!

That's all for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

**kealoa = a pair of words (normally short, common answers) that can be clued identically and that share at least one letter in common (in the same position). These are answers you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] => ATON or ALOT, ["Git!"] => "SHOO" or "SCAT," etc.    

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