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Carnivorous cinematic alien / TUE 6-9-26 / Assists, in basketball slang / English soccer star ___ James / Sound of a cartoon hit / Sport in an octagon, for short / Sonic boom generator? / Where employees work on tips and receive tips
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Constructor: Rebecca Goldstein
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- RUBS RAW (21A: Chafes excessively)
- EXCEEDINGLY RARE (28A: Nearly unique)
- HAPPY MEDIUM (47A: Compromise that, ideally, leaves both parties satisfied)
- "THIS WON'T END WELL" (58A: Prediction of a negative outcome that is true of 21-, 28- and 47-Across)
Reece Lewis James (born 8 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Chelsea, which he captains, and the England national team.James joined the Chelsea academy as a youth and turned professional in 2017, a season where he captained the under-18s to victory in the FA Youth Cup and was named Academy Player of the Season. A productive loan spell with Wigan Athletic of the Championship saw him promoted to the Chelsea first team upon his return in 2019. He won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup with the club in 2021, and was appointed captain in 2023. He led Chelsea to victory at the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.
After representing England at various youth levels, James made his senior debut in 2020, and went on to appear at UEFA Euro 2020.
• • •
 |
| [at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, 2019] |
The few tough spots I had could best be expressed through a two-category Venn diagram: "People with names that sound like 'Reese'" and "Soccer-related things," with REECE James in the overlap. The guy looks / sounds familiar, but I think you really have to follow Premier League to know him. In the "Reese" category with him is Dee REES, whose name is more familiar, but still, I don't know if her name would've come to me right away (actually, she wasn't an actual "tough spot" at all because I never saw her—puzzle was so easy that her name just kinda filled itself in) (21D: Dee who directed 2017's "Mudbound"). Over in the "Soccer-related things" part of the Venn diagram, in addition to REECE we've also got USWNT (50D: Squad captained by Lindsey Horan to win Olympic gold in '24, for short). I find both USWNT and USMNT confusing as neither abbreviation contains a letter that stands for the damned sport that they play! The letters stand for U.S. Women's National Team. So every time I see either abbreviation, I think "... tennis? is the 'T' tennis? Is the 'N' ... netball? oh, I remember now: United Soccer-Winning National Team! That's it."
Bullets:
- 20A: Sport in an octagon, for short (MMA) — this one's a little too timely. (don't click through if you'd rather not think about the US president today)
- 55A: Sonic boom generator? (SEGA) — SEGA is the company behind the popular Sonic the Hedgehog video game, which gave rise to movie franchise and a whole Sonic universe ("boom!")
- 33A: Assists, in basketball slang (DIMES) — this, I knew. Speaking of basketball. Looks like the Knicks lost last night. Too bad. Oh well, at least this happened (again, don't click through if you'd rather not think about the US president today)
- 61A: "We feel the same way" ("US TOO") — reflexively wrote in "ME TOO." "US TOO" doesn't flow off the tongue quite as readily.
- 62A: Airport raced through in "Home Alone," in brief (ORD) — so, Chicago's O'Hare
- 64A: Sound of a cartoon hit (BOINK) — if you watch cartoons or read comics, you know, this could've been anything. SPLAT! THWAP! WHACK! Even with the "K" in place, I wasn't sure.
- 6D: Carnivorous cinematic alien (BLOB) — That's The BLOB, to you. I don't think I knew that the BLOB was an "alien" (as in, from outer space?). I thought it was just ... a BLOB ... wreaking havoc on Steve McQueen ... somehow. BLOB is part of a really nicely filled little section at the top of the grid where (almost) all the answers seem vaguely related to each other. BLOB ... SPRAWL ... ABSURD! Maybe the government is trying to track it with SONAR, which BLEEPs periodically. And maybe at the end of the movie they case the BLOB back into the ABYSS whence it came (again, to be clear, I have never seen the movie and have no idea what happens besides ... a blob blobbing around town and Steve McQueen somewhere nearby):
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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42 comments:
Easy-Medium. Pretty typical Tuesday.
* * * _ _
One Overwrite: At 53D, my very, very much was a lot before it was OH SO.
WOEs:
"Mudbound" director Dee REES at 21D
DIMES in the basketball sense (33A).
USWNT at 50D.
Soccer star REECE James at 54A.
This was cute - oddly attractive grid layout with varying themer lengths and a wonderful spanning revealer. The big guy rightly highlights the symmetry - it really provide the visual backdrop.
OH SO Many Years
Overall fill runs the gamut. I did like the RUBS RAW - BOINK pair for juvenile reasons. The NEW MEXICO - I MEAN CMON stack is solid. I didn’t know the REES + REECE pair - add RECEDE and it gets weird. We see EDY’S too often.
Ballyhoo!
There was something satisfying about this quirky little puzzle. An enjoyable Tuesday morning solve.
TONY’s Theme
Once again I never figured out the theme, but finished the puzzle without cheating anyway. I agree with Rex that USWNT looks wrong (what sport is it?), so I was surprised when the music sounded.
Is BOINK a real word? I had "boing" at first.
In pickup basketball, you might say "Nice pass" if one of your teammates set you up for an easy basket. I never have heard someone say "Good dime!" I've never heard it in watching the NBA.
Sweet theme!
I wanted to put Trump at 19 across. That said, the answer really fits!
12:12 for me last night.... so I guess it was medium-challenging for me FOR TUESDAY. I think the revealer, 58 A, was really the whole joy and the twist and the fireworks of this puzzle. Couldn't be better. I saw we were dealing with meat done-ness, thought -- how can this be, the revealer says it's a negative prediction.... that doesn't read like it's going to wrap this up nicely--but then it did... perfectly! "THISWONTENDWELL" was the perfect ending to this grid!!!! Totally agree about USWNT... totally had to rely on the crosses for that one, after the US... BYENOW, TONSIL, ALBUM, NEWMEXICO, all nice. Agree with @OFL about the story up top--the BLOB from the ABYSS.... 4 stars from me just for that incredible revealer. Thanks, Rebecca, that was fun!!! : )
I thought Rebecca did a nice job with this one. Easy enough to build up some early-week momentum, and the reveal tied it all together nicely. I agree with OFL - a solid three star effort.
I put the last letter in the grid and was told that something was amiss. I looked at every entry three times, and couldn't see anything wrong--and only then thought to check the clues. The basketball thing was in the present tense! So it was Dee REES/DIMES. A really tough crossing, if you don't know either one, and I didn't; I see and couple of others did not, either. And Dee REED would be a palindrome, so I was sad to see her go.
Other than that, a fine puzzle. For some reason, I had a hard time coming up with "MEDIUM." I tried ending and then MEDIan, but finally was led to the right answer by MEETS. Only then did I remember the old joke who goes to see a fortune teller. She tells him she loves her job, and he hits her--he has always heard that one should strike a happy medium.
Pretty challenging for a Tuesday, I thought, between the sportball references and the Reese homonyms. I was afraid I’m losing my touch for a minute there. But my mood improved when I followed Rex’s link to a clip from last night’s Knicks game. A heartwarming moment!
“The Blob” - scariest movie of my childhood! Was on a meteor, found by a farmer…always a farmer who finds things from outer space.
Given that you are such an amazing film buff (dare I say scholar!) you must watch "The Blob". It is truly one of the greatest (and campiest) of the 50s sci-fi flicks. Not as great as "Forbidden Planet" or George Pal's "War of the Worlds" but well worth a Friday night retro sci-fi party!
Definitely some non-Tuesday material today; I'm looking at you, REES and REECE.
Hand up for hAIrSALON before NAILSALON.
I was taught that DIMES comes from the days when phone calls at phone booths cost a dime, and if you needed to make a call you'd ask for a dime to help you out.
1) I have no idea if this is true; I tend to be skeptical of such explanations.
2) If I were making up an origin story, I'd relate it to 'stopping on a dime'.
3) A phone booth was a small, enclosed structure containing a landline telephone and a phone book, useful for making calls in the days before cellphones. Also useful for changing clothes if you are Superman.
Very very much clue having an answer of “ohso” … haven’t heard that before.
A few laudatory notes re the theme.
It’s original. That revealer? That gorgeous THIS WON’T END WELL? It’s hard to believe but true that it has never appeared before in any of the major outlets. High props to Rebecca for fixing that!
Its punchline perfectly caps its set-up. Not only does WELL superbly follow RAW, RARE, and MEDIUM, but the revealer also superbly puns on “ending well”. Brava!
It vibrates with spark. Just look at those theme answers – RUBS RAW, EXCEEDINGLY RARE, HAPPY MEDIUM, and THIS WON’T END WELL. Bam, bam, bam, bam!
Rebecca not only nailed the theme, but, intentionally or not, surrounded it with echoes:
• Food echoes: SALAD, WOK, penne ALLA vodka, EDYS.
• Sparky answer echoes: BLEEP, BOINK, BLOB, SPRAWL, I MEAN C’MON.
This was, for me, not only fun to fill, but a tour of beauty in the box. A high-quality outing through a high-quality creation. Thank you, Rebecca!
Well, be advised that this comment won't end well ... but at least it started that way.
Hey All !
Nice puz. Good way to solve your non-symmetrical Themers, put 'em in a left/right symmetry grid. Nice Theme, going from RARE to WELL. Personally, I like my steaks WELL done, I never feel comfortable eating undercooked food. Just give me some steak sauce, and I'll be fine.
That USWNT is quite the abbr. I thought it was verboten to have a five letter abbr. in your grid.
Good fill, not as easy as most TuesPuzs, provided a bit of a pushback . SPRAWL is a fun word.
Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!
No F's - I MEAN, C'MON!
RooMonster
DarrinV
Well done.
Guess you stopped reading Rex’s blog. But as he mentioned it’s soccer. The most popular sport in the world.
Even though I felt this puzzle was harder than Rex did (alas), it was enjoyable to solve.🎈🎈🎊🎊
The term "dime" includes the "good"--so it's just a dime. But I would have said I heard that about an accurate pass in football before I heard it in basketball, no??? (what I see online is that it started in B-Ball before spreading to football... probably just shows that I was watching a lot more football than basketball for a long time!)
Agree. DIMES is something you seen captioning a vid of a great play
Saw what was going on after RAW and RARE and wondered how the degrees of doneness would appear, which was accomplished with an elegance I couldn't see coming. Great stuff.
Being a sports guy helped with this one--I knew DIMES and the USWNT (which is always abbreviated this way, the men are, guess what, the USMNT) and have heard REECE's name but never seen it so I started with REESE, easy fix. Not to be confused with Dee REES, of whom I had not heard.
Some fun words in this one SPRAWL, ABYSS, BOINK.. Re TONSIL--years ago I had an infected TONSIL and the TONSIL was removed so now I have just one. This makes me feel EXCEEDINGLYRARE.
I liked this one a lot, RG, a Real Gem. Thanks for all the fun.
Somewhat harder than MEDIUM, I think. Nice puzzle! I agree with Rex over I MEAN, C'MON -- the usual way I hear "I mean, come on" is emphatic, almost imploring, whereas the only way I hear MEAN, C'MON as sounding natural is by making it more clipped and less emotional, as if the addressee is normally reasonable but is just having a momentary lapse. The only other thing I didn't enjoy is USWNT. Initialisms (and I don't mean acronyms) are usually the junkiest of the gunk, in my opinion.
But if that's all I'm complaining about, then no complaints, and I think I'd even add an extra half-star. To make a good Tuesday, and one that's not too easy -- that's saying something.
RAW means EXCEEDINGLY RARE, don't you think? ;-)
Georgia O'Keefe is a nice way to clue NEW MEXICO, much better than Los Alamos say. It's a beautiful state, one I hope to return to.
Anyway, WELL DONE, Rebecca Goldstein!
Worried parents' lament: ARSON keeps playing with matches.
I had such a blast talking to my dead Uncle Morty that I left a big tip for the woman who conducted the seance. The result was a HAPPY MEDIUM.
Two names I never heard of!!?? -- I hate those REES/REECEs to pieces! It was a SOAR spot for me.
My lawn has so many bald areas on it, I should probably RECEDE.
BLEEP! That's what not-so-little Bo Peep said when she lost her fricken sheep.
I have definitely heard NBA announcers refer to dimes. Not quite in the way of your sample sentence, but talking about assists as stats (“he’s got four dimes already” or “another dime from this guy”).
REES/DIMES cross at the S and the clue for DIMES is plural, so it seems pretty fair to me.
True story: Just last night I had occasion to ask a City councilman how much was being collected these days on an old city tax on telephone land lines. His answer was "A couple of DIMES a month".
No love for the theme song from The Blob? I mean, c'mon!
Not knowing basketball terms or the director caused my DNF. DIMED and REED looked right, so I never questioned it while scanning the puzzle for ten minutes trying to figure out what was wrong.
The rabid but slightly eccentric group of fans that roots for the USWNT is the U.S. Team of Oddballs (USTOO).
I appreciate @Lewis' comment that starts with WELL. I'm sure THISWONTENDWELL-related jokes in today's comments.
When the Seahawks released Richard Sherman he was ALLPRO and no team.
I have so many pictures of the author of Tuesdays with Morris that I started a Mitch ALBUM.
IRATE this puzzle GNU and OHSO good. Thanks and BYENOW, Rebecca Goldstein.
I got Sonic boom generator as SEGA because Sonic Boom is the name of a Sonic franchise tv show (and game I guess) I grew up on. The “boom” being the rise of a major franchise also makes sense given that it isn’t capitalized.
@Anon 6:29, I was going to thank Rex for taking a much-needed day of respite from seeing/reading anything about the corrupt buffoon in the White House (which was expected after seeing MMA in the puzzle).
But your comment about the aptness of his name as the appropriate clue for 19A gets my two thumbs up.
I live w a large German Shepherd and I would not feed her raw steak, although she might enjoy. I missed the steak theme; thank you Rex. USWNT is a new one on me. Nice Tuesday; Well done and medium challenging.
@kitshef, I looked up the origin of "DIMES" as a basketball term. It's lingo that broadcasters use (overuse, to try to sound hip, in my view). Not as ridiculous as when they say "scoring the basketball" (instead of...just..."scoring"), but it gets a technical foul for excessive lingo from this ref.
But you are spot on, at least if the AI-generated response is to be believed.
There is an annual reenactment of the panic scene in front of the theater, which remarkably still exists, in Phoenixville, PA. Don't ask me the date, or the reason for that matter, maybe THE Blob premiered there, anycow it makes the Philly news every GD year!!!
The best part about this puzzle is 47A when I had HAPPY_ _ D _ _ _ and I put in 'HAPPYENDING' thinking no way they coulda put this in the puzzle. Turns out if it seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Also, no idea Steve McQueen was in The Blob. I'm gonna watch that soon.
I felt the use of a common unrelated catch-phrase to pull together the theme was pure fun. Very worthy of @egs heaping of puns. Aside from the REES/REECE duo and maybe USWNT, most clues did not require specialized knowledge. OK, maybe throw DIMES in there too if you are not a sports fan.
Esto no terminará bien. Nosotros sentimos lo mismo.
USWNT ... amirite? ... where's the auto-reject button.
Tough puzzle for me today, but I was watching the basketball game while trying to solve it. Another tepid theme, but the fill was kinda fun.
NEW MEXICO representing! On the TV news last night they reported we have been 50th in education for, get this, ten straight years. Last for a decade. I should mention we have two national labs here, and yet with all that brainpower floating around, we can't teach these kids to read. Maybe it's the green chile making us dumb, but it's really good. On the other hand, the Georgia O'Keeffe museum is great and the skies and the landscape here kinda make up for everything else. Who wants to read when the sunsets say everything you need to know. Oh, and there's no doctors here either. (But, it's still mostly lovely with those minor issues withstanding.)
ABYSS is on my favorite word list right under PIÑATA.
❤️ Put a sock INIT. BLOB.
People: 3
Places: 3
Products: 6
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 18 of 75 (24%)
Funny Factor: 3 😐
Tee-Hee: RUBS RAW. LSD. BOINK.
Uniclues:
1 What I need all carbohydrates to do.
2 Phrase we utter here to replace the phrase, "This is stupid."
3 Git yer act together Port-au-Prince.
4 Talking jock.
5 My favorite medieval character.
1 ENTER WAIST
2 OH SO NEW MEXICO (~)
3 I MEAN C'MON HAITI
4 ABSURD ALL PRO
5 SPRAWL MAIDEN
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: My unspoken thought when I listen to the future plans of my arty-farty daughter. DREAM BIG PSYCHO.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Along with the Star Wars clue counter, there should be two more that show up whenever the grid has ARSON or ELOPE.
NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE "ARSON" APPEARANCES WITHOUT A "?" CLUE: 0
The ELOPE counter is at 4 (last appearance Mar 18 2026, last "?" clue Jan 24 2025)
I really liked your puzzle, Rachel, despite solving as a themeless & seeing the theme here - thank you :)
On the tough side for me.
I did not know USWNT, REES, DIMES, and REECE.
We too have been to the O’Keeffe museum.
Not knowing DIMES made CMON tough to see.
Costly erasure - BYE bye before NOW.
Cringe - USWNT
Cute theme with some sparkle. liked it except for the cringe part. .
Found this to be a lovely Tuesday. The revealer revealed well, in both ways. I smiled when I saw it—I tried to pick up from Lewis the habit of trying to guess early-week themes before I got there, which makes revealers more fun when they come (I absolutely did not see this one coming). And all the various non-Tuesday-appropriate things were fairly crossed, so it ultimately “ended well.”
Just have to throw in that my dad always says, “Good steaks are rare these days.” You’re welcome.
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