#nytxw — Public Fediverse posts

Back on June 19th I learned about SHOWER BEER — new to me, but https://www.reddit.com/r/showerbeer/ (NSFW ofc) has been around since 2011 so I'm just way behind. But then Dinosaur Comics mentioned shower beer on June 26, so I'm guessing I'm not the only one with that particular #nytxw #til.

Back on June 19th I learned about SHOWER BEER — new to me, but https://www.reddit.com/r/showerbeer/ (NSFW ofc) has been around since 2011 so I'm just way behind. But then Dinosaur Comics mentioned shower beer on June 26, so I'm guessing I'm not the only one with that particular #nytxw #til.

Fastest solve time ever for a #nytxw. (A Monday, obvs, but still: this is mostly as fast as I can type them in.)

Fastest solve time ever for a #nytxw. (A Monday, obvs, but still: this is mostly as fast as I can type them in.)

I would just like to say that Katie Hoody's NYTimes crossword puzzle today has an absolutely beautiful grid. Nice puzzle too! But just look at that in black and white.
#nytxw

I would just like to say that Katie Hoody's NYTimes crossword puzzle today has an absolutely beautiful grid. Nice puzzle too! But just look at that in black and white.
#nytxw

#NYTXW Way too many natick opportunities for a Monday, but that's the least important complaint about the New York Times these days. Until everyone culpable resigns or a Charlie Hebdo act of heroism returns the newspaper to a reputable periodical that's more committed to journalism than competing with Nazis (I'm not picky about which),, I will no longer be publishing my thoughts on their puzzles. Today's solve music was Daniel Dlugosielski's 'Gargled Acceptance' (Moon Myst, 2017).

#NYTXW Imagine spending your 15th wedding anniversary constructing this instead of fucking. Today's solve music was Ovid's 'Fundamentals' (Amphibient, 2025).

#NYTXW Decent balance of difficulty and breeziness but not much parity of tone. Today's solve music was Anna Nacher & Marek Styczyński's 'Barycz' (Dolnośląska Fundacja Ekorozwoju, 2004).

#NYTXW I had a harder time than usual untangling some of this shit and I could blame the cluing but half of it is probably on me, too. Today's solve music was The Red Scare's 'Capillary Lockdown' (Hand Held Heart, 1999).

#NYTXW I appreciate that the gimmick behaved consistently and don't have any major complaints that aren't owed to my own fault with some clues not clicking for me as far as I'd prefer. Today's solve music was Lambsbread's 'Oral Stallion' (Maim & Disfigure, 2006).

#NYTXW Almost some AVCX energy on this one. Today's solve music was Merzbow's 'Sedonis' (Signal Noise, 2025).

#NYTXW I don't have much to complain about as far as the grid goes, but the clues that I'm at odds with today weren't even bad clues: they just really punched above the weight of a Monday. You have to treat every Monday like it's potentially someone's first puzzle because that's always going to be true for at least one person. Anything less becomes inadvertent and unnecessary gatekeeping. Today's solve music was Spyke Morph's 'Strangled Pairs' (American Tapes, 2008).

#NYTXW Some of the clues here just didn't hold water for me but otherwise, fine. Today's solve music was Landstander's 'A Place To Die' (Green, 2012).

#NYTXW Clever theme executed well without needing the surrounding puzzle to be a mess of bad fill to function. Today's solve music was Nathan Salsburg's 'Ipsa Corpora' (No Quarter, 2025).

#NYTXW I liked this grid on the whole. Would have amended a couple of clues, but otherwise no real complaints to speak of. Today's solve music was Sick Buildings' 'Sever, Defer, Withdraw' (Morbid, 2009).

#NYTXW Not bad! Any setbacks that I experienced were both minor and largely due to me not reading a few clues close enough. Today's solve music was Cyclops' 'Goat Volume' (IMD, 1994).

#NYTXW Lots of garbage here, honestly. Not satisfying, enough naticky bullshit to come across as untested, etc. There was the potential for something decent with this grid, but nobody cared enough to actualize it. Today's solve music was Cream Day's 'Kerplunk!' (Tranquility Denial, 2017).

#NYTXW Aside from the timeliness of its theme, this is going to hit different people different ways: firstly, it's a Thursday on a Wednesday, which is always irksome. Secondly, on top of the rebus element already being unexpected owed to the above, younger solvers may not recognize some of the theme answers. I liked this, but can't fault anyone who doesn't. Today's solve music was Crushed's 'Extra Life' (ng+/Funeral Party, 2023).

#NYTXW Aside from rolling my eyes when I realized what I was going to be in for with the theme, I didn't hate this, but it stll certainly felt slightly above what the day calls for. No solve music.

#NYTXW Felt slow, but not bad. Today's solve music was End Result's 'The Seven Year Locust Returns' (private-press, 1982).

#NYTXW Lots of really onerous fill here in service of enabling a theme that fails to justify itself in grid. Today’s solve music was The Shadow Ring’s ‘Lindus’ (Swill Radio, 2001)

#NYTXW Definitely a real throwback to some older Saturdays. Hardest one in a while but back in the day this would be considered pretty average. No solve music.

#NYTXW I'd have clued 46-D slightly differently because the lesser kealoa is the correct answer in this grid and it dilutes the impact of the longfill it intersects to have to adjust for it, but otherwise this was largely a pleasant puzzle to solve with only a few small moments of greater contemplation arising below its equator. Today's solve music was Quinimine's 'Filaments' (Grey Flat, 2002).

#NYTXW Kind of an agonizingly bad puzzle owed to the unsolicitedly asinine and entirely unjustified gimmick. Today's solve music was Junior's Eyes 'Battersea Power Station' (Regal Zonophone, 1969).

#NYTXW So we're just cool with 45-A in grids again? Really? Charlie Hebdo. Today's solve music was Jeff Fuccillo & Ayal Senior's 'From 5pm To 5am' (Medusa, 2025).

#NYTXW Never heard of 57-A before. Hope that 40-A/41-A was paid product placement because that's obscene free advertising if not. Glad to see Shortz featuring grids by teenagers instead of people convicted of raping teenagers for a change. Today's solve music was Meadowlark's self-titled 7" (Highwater, 1998).

#NYTXW I liked 90% of this and loathed 10% of it. Grokking the theme was actually helpful in making certain inroads. Today's solve music was Noggin's 'Honesty Hope Notions Lotions' (Union Pole, 1994).

#NYTXW Mostly good, just a couple bits of fill that felt underserved by their clues. Today's solve music was Charming Hostess' 'Eat' (Vaccination, 1998).

#NYTXW There was so much going on with this that sucked for a Tuesday that I'm sure Will Shortz is due for appointment to the Ministry of Crossword Editing Proportionate to the Days of the Week. Today's solve music was Humble Ary's 'Seneca Falls? This Is Twin Falls!' (Ash From Sweat, 2005).

Did someone find a 20-year-old puzzle lying around in a couch? Big #nytxw oof today.

Not gonna lie, not having the #NYTXW games as a distraction—still supporting that strike!—isn't exactly helping.

RIP to my 1988-day NY Times crossword puzzle streak. #nytxw

https://bsky.app/profile/maggieastor.bsky.social/post/3la4qfb7vfr2q

Seen a few PBs smashed on today’s #NYTXW

#NYTXW 70-A is atrocious. Today's solve music was Decoy's 'In The Light Of Everything' (Roxton, 2001).

#NYTXW I have no real thoughts on this beyond it being somewhat of a chore that I felt compelled to rush through out of habit as opposed to deriving any joy from the solve. Life is generally joyless now so why wouldn't the crossword also spark no joy? We're all sons of bitches complicit in the murder of anyone who lacks the foresight or ability to sequester from society. Today's solve music was Merzbow's 'Mukudori' (No Holiday, 2024).

#NYTXW I don't think anyone reads my crossword posts anymore, but if someone does, I'd love to split the cost of any literature that addresses the topic of how to clue a Monday puzzle; I think it'd make a lovely gift for Joel Fagliano. Today's solve music was Jara's self-titled 7" (Ebullition, 1995).

#NYTXW For me, this was a decent challenge, and if I was less up on the trivia involved, it might have been impossible, but it didn't take me long in grand scheme of things and if a Saturday isn't presenting a challenge, it's not really all that satisfying, so at least the right mental muscles caught a bit of a burn today. Today's solve music was Unherd's self-titled LP (Assorted Porkchops, 1993).

That was impressively constructed and not even a little bit fun. #NYTXW #Sunday