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BTS fandom / MON 6-29-26 / Vishnu avatar / Word after B or D / Big inits. in pickup trucks and vans
Monday, June 29, 2026
Constructor: Ginny Too and Rajeswari Rajamani
Relative difficulty: Easy (7:02 on my phone while waiting for my Popeye's order)
THEME: Repeating letters — Two word phrases where the second word is the same as the final syllable of the first word
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: CBGB (N.Y.C. club that hosted Blondie and the Ramones) —
- [Screen addiction, e.g.] for DEVICE VICE
- The final syllable of the first word is "vice" and the second word is the same: "vice"
- [Where boxers trade jabs] for SPARRING RING
- [Clever chap] for INTELLIGENT GENT
- [Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr. and so on] for NOBELIST LIST
- ["Meow, meow, meow!," e.g.] for FELINE LINE
Word of the Day: CBGB (N.Y.C. club that hosted Blondie and the Ramones) —
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal and his ex-wife Karen Kristal at 315 Bowery in the East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that it was a dive bar. The letters CBGB were for Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Kristal's original vision for the club, but CBGB soon emerged as a famed and iconic venue for punk rock and new wave bands [wiki]
• • •
I like a theme that has a revealer. I think it is the raison d'etre for a puzzle; it grounds and centers it. This puzzle didn't have one but I also acknowledge it didn't really need one. The reason for the theme is laid out for solvers and it is basically that... it's a neat pattern! I agree it's neat, by the way! I don't like puzzles where the entries are wacky, and this walked an interesting line where I could almost almost believe that these phrases might actually be used in a conversation. Maybe as a New York Post headline? (SPARRING RING was the weak link to me because I felt the clue was describing jargon and the entry was not the appropriate term (presumably it's just "boxing ring"?) but if someone in the comments knows better than me, please correct me if I'm wrong!)
It's a nice touch that this theme went with spelling and sounds. E.g. "vice" is the same as the last four letters of "device" and it also sounds the same. (Compare to something like "praline line" which has the same letters but different pronunciation, or "minnows nose" that has the same pronunciation but different letters.) The more constraints there are, the harder it is to come up with entries that work-- this was constrained, but at the same time I bet there are other entires not in this puzzle that would work just fine and I bet people in the comments will brainstorm some of them.
I was very briefly confused while solving because I thought JALAPENOS was going to be a theme answers. It's a little unusual to see such a long entry not part of the theme, but it does follow one of the unspoken rules: it (as well as PET PEEVES) is shorter (at nine letters) than all of the other theme entries (ten, twelve, and fifteen letters). Both are great entries, by the way!
Bullets:
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Bullets:
- [Long sandwich with cold cuts, maybe] for SUB — One of my favorite questions is: If you had a sandwich named after you, what it would it be? (There's a good Curb Your Enthusiasm episode about this.) Mine would be soppressata, genoa salami, fontina, olive tapenade, and pesto on a hero roll toasted. Then when it comes off the sandwich press, open it up and add some dressed arugula.
- [A quarter or more of one's life, typically] for SLEEP — This stat made me stop in my tracks. I love sleeping but wow, a whole quarter!!!??? Kind of feels like a waste!
- The CBGB / GMC cross was a total guess from me, and so was the IONE / ROUE cross. Really tough for a Monday!
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- Westwords (Berkeley, CA, Jun. 14, 2026)
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41 comments:
I came to grief downs-only on JALAPEÑOS - confidently entered Galapagos. Since I didn’t know Neal Stephenson, I thought “what very strange name is this? Also entered Roma for RAMA - so failed to finish downs-only over that section.
Medium.
No costly erasures.
I didn’t know LEILA, OSAKA, and NEAL
I did know CBGB and LUIGI.
No junk, cute/solid theme, liked it.
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #1126 was an easy-medium Croce for me with the most resistance coming from the SW. Good luck!
Normal (lack of) difficulty for a Monday, I thought...guessing GMC meant I didn't need an alphabet run at the top. I agree with Malaika that the theme didn't need a revealer. Good start to the week.
My five favorite original clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Mickey Mouse (7)
2. Biggest restaurant size that nevertheless is often topped? (5)(5)(5)
3. Bar of note? (4)
4. Current affairs? (15)
5. They shine during the day (4)(5)
TRIVIAL
EXTRA LARGE PIZZA
FRET
ELECTRODYNAMICS
SOAP STARS
My favorite encore clues from last week:
[Copy cats?] (3)
[Moves a lot] (4)
MEW
AWES
Cute early week theme - agree with Malaika that it really didn’t need a revealer. SPARRING is how boxers practice - SPARRING RING is valid. The non-theme longs were a little clunky.
BEES
Overall fill was clean - liked SMEAR, EGRET, THONG and ESTEEM. Learned LEILA. Limited glue. Must have seen the Ramones 30 times over the years - never at CBs. It was a dump but the place to be for awhile.
The JIVE Five
An enjoyable Monday morning solve.
A Fine LASS You Are
It’s a Malaika Mmonday! If I could have a sandwich named after me, it would be peanut butter and jelly. Then I’d be a household name.
Very easy. Downs only was five minutes faster than my Monday overall average.
I thought the puzzle would be hard but was surprised how easy the theme and fills were.🎈🎈🎊🎊
Hey All !
YesterComments by me is further evidence of the ole brain just flowing away with the tide. Messed up a Themer, then complained about it. Dang. But I still stand by SNARF lately being the eating of choice in these puzs. 😁
A lot of grid space taken up by the Themers today. The constructors still managed to pull off a cleanly filled grid twixt all those Themers. Not an easy task.
Theme was OK, agree with Malaika that the sounds and spelling of the repeats being the same elevate the puz a bit.
Downs Only today seems like it would've been easy. I got more Downs than Acrosses on first pass through.
An F right out of the gate is nice too!
Realized that the pattern EG__T could be either EGYPT or EGRET today. Funny things one sees in crosswords.
Welp, hope y'all have a great Monday!
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
I went with NEiL and RiMI for the novelist and the avatar. I’m so terrible at trivia that even Mondays can be a challenge for me.
The theme jumped out at me early. I’m comfortable not wasting valuable space (and putting more strain on the grid) with a revealer when it’s not really necessary, and I agree with Malaika that today certainly seems to be in that category.
Downs only success! I love this puzzle!
I really don't understand what is going on at the times this month. This is the fourth recent 'theme' that just seems unworthy of the name. I guess there is a little credit due for all the repeats being four letters (so e.g. chrysanthemum mum would not do), but there must be thousands of options for themers. Doughnuts nuts, contraband band, wineglass lass, aftermath math ... that's less than thirty seconds of thought.
Perhaps there was a FUDD, MUTT, FINN mini-theme in there (ABCC), too, which I enjoyed. I might be reading too much into it, but that could be echoing the main theme, what with its repeated ending.
Cute enough theme and I love Malaika's comment about imagining the themers as New York Post Headlines - that is spot on!
Running with the New York vibe, it was nice to see CBGB in the grid (though I usually see it in plural). Truly an iconic NYC venue that was always just out of reach for me due to my age. I was old enough to listen to Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, etc... but way too young to venture down to the Bowery to actually see them there. Saw them elsewhere when I was old enough and there's always Youtube for their early years. 😊
Got a kick out of the LEVY/LEVI duo and thinking about the credits for M*A*S*H* evoked some nice early TV viewing memories for me.
Got a bit hungry looking at SUB, carne ASADA, MASH and JALAPENOS, I'd wash those down with a *vodka* GIMLET...
Thanks Ginny and Rajeswari for a breezy Monday and thanks for the write-up, Malaika! On to Hugh's Monday Haikus:
Calling Mom's sisters
A big FAT ARMY of AUNTs,
Her PETPEEVE, I'd SAY
Failed in the downs-only solve today over the NEiL/RiMA cross. Of course I should have known that would be RAMA, just missed it and had to look at the acrosses to get it. Nice puzzle. Other than that, down-only was helped a lot by those duplicating themers! Thanks, Ginny and Rajeswari!
My pet peeve is that every NYer of a certain age tells you they were a major part of the CBGB scene back in the day. The place is (was) tiny: the physics just doesn't add up.
Classic Natick on a Monday at NEaLxRaMA. Granted this looks better than neil/rima, but it's plausible. (Oh, hi Rick Sacra, & Southside).
Malaika, that sandwich sounded delicious until three sauces in the tapenade, pesto, and dressing all competing in the same flavor lane. Maybe it's just too early to think about that.
CBGB is a nice Monday answer. OMFUG is for Saturday puzzles.
Solving downs only, gALAPagOS, looked like a sure bet. I wonder if there are JALAPEÑOS there (hi @Queenoid. What are you doing up at 3:35 am? You know you're supposed to sleep a quarter of your life away).
I love both IONE Skye and her ballerina sister 2TWO.
I gotta run. My PETPEEVES needs his morning walk. Thanks, Ginny Too and Rajeswari Rajamani.
Another hand up for careless NEiL/RiMA cross, tho if brain had focused sooner would have realized RAMA was the right answer. More coffee please! Had no trouble with SPARRINGRING but would agree “boxing ring”is probably the more common expression.
I needed some Downs to get going on this one (did not come up with USERS for Clientele, or CBGB for NYC Club) and kind of wish I'd tried solving Downs-only. But once I got going it was quite whooshy and I enjoyed it. Nice to include the INTELLIGENT GENTS and Ladies on the NOBELISTIST.. And fun to think about a spicy GIMLET made with JALAPENOS!
But your themers don't make much sense, and the ones in the puzzle are clever. I think you're being very critical of a cute Monday puzzle.
Not familiar with IONE Skye and still unsure what ROUE is and how it relates to hedonism, so I was looking at that last cross for a while before finally figuring the best guess was “O”. Was genuinely surprised when the solved screen popped up.
Once he cleared the wading birds off the property, the developer said he had no EGRETs.
Julianne's gender: Moore is LASS.
Skye's hubby: IONE have eyes for you.
For the Jewish version of the puzzle:
SMEAR -- schmear
CBGB -- Temple Beth Shalom
GIMLET -- Manischewitz
CAVER -- You go. I'll stay here on the tour bus.
THONG -- Seriously? You can't go with us to the beach like that. AUNT Estelle will have another stroke.
SMEAR??? The word is SCHMEAR!!!
Easiest Monday ever ... not complaining, just saying. I solved so quickly now I gotta find my typo :(
BTW - to all constructors - please keep MUTT out of puzzles - no dog is a MUTT - thank you.
samsies.
Forgot to attempt Downs-only, probably due to starting the puzzle before starting coffee. In hindsight, at first glance this looked like it would be a near-impossible solve that way, as the theme answers weren't familiar standalone phrases. But I suppose once you got one theme answer, and deduced the replication, it was solvable, as attested to by others here.
Fairly low three-letter word count, and pretty solid entries, both especially for a Monday. No idea about CBGB, but fairly crossed. Assume someone here may object to SMEAR, versus Schmear.
Google says LEILA means "night" in both Arabic and Hebrew.
Had the same issue but GIVES and GEAL eventually assisted. Also couldn’t decide between LEILA, LEELA, and LEALA - none seemed to mean “night”.
Freestyle 1126 was medium, and a one-letter DNF at 5D/15A. If you don't know 5D, the that's a 50/50 square.
@RooMonster 7:16 AM
The passion displayed over SNARF v. SCARF vis-à-vis the NYTXW is a testament to the important and in-depth conversations waged here in 🦖-less land. Personally, I will scarf or snarf anything left unsupervised.
Malaika, if you find yourself in New York City, you must go to Milano‘s on the upper west side (Near Columbia University) they will make a version of your sandwich that will bring tears to your eyes
So true.
Amen!
In Yiddiish, not English.
Yep, Monday easy (checks calendar) so just right. The trick was obvious after DEVICEVICE so the other themers pretty much filled themselves in. Unlike Malaika, I like a revealer because I like trying to guess what it is based on the themers. Not today
I'm old enough to remember CBGB so that was a gimme. Guessed right on the NEAL/RAMA cross, only minor speed bump was ISLAS before ISLES. Should have got that from Majorca instead of MALLORCA, oops. Thanks to DAVinHOP for googling LEILA. I was wondering about that.
OK Mondecito, GT and RR. A Good Time but Really Ran through this one. Thanks for some speedy fun.
Possibly the easiest downs-only Monday I have done. I may have mentioned this before but I’m not a speed demon. I prefer to stroll. I have been known to check the clock, but not very often. So it wasn’t necessarily a time thing; it just felt really easy.
Just a couple of notable hesitations at NEAL Stephenson and LEILA, both names but the second one clued in new, to me, way. I liked that.
Oh, and I skipped SMEAR for as long as possible because I thought it should be SchMEAR. I think I would have clued it differently.
of course you would be listed as PB&J....not to be confused with the legendary New York City venue CPBJ that features Punk, Blues and Jazz.
In parts of Brooklyn, it's "schmear." Everywhere else on the planet Earth, the word is SMEAR. In fact, my system changed "schmear" to SMEAR at first.
pbandj is part of our email address. I'm PB and my wife is J, but we had to add some other stuff as just pbandj was already taken, probably by vandals under the cover of darkness.
English is spread, for butter and jam.
New Yorkish is schmear.
Nobody says SMEAR except when it's on the chin or your tie.
Yes it's picky but to me SPARRING RING just doesn't scan like the other themers. Many other ending in -ring words sound better (caring, boring, adhering,etc)
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