| G | E | A | R | T | E | E | T | H | I | N | A | P | P | |
| O | L | I | V | E | T | R | E | E | M | O | L | A | R | |
| T | I | L | T | E | D | A | R | C | H | I | P | P | O | |
| U | S | E | R | S | C | A | P | O | H | E | X | |||
| P | E | D | I | P | I | E | T | A | M | A | R | Y | ||
| P | E | O | P | L | E | S | E | L | B | O | W | |||
| M | I | C | A | N | O | S | S | A | L | I | V | A | ||
| A | G | O | U | T | I | S | R | I | V | E | T | E | R | |
| Y | U | P | P | I | E | L | A | T | E | S | R | S | ||
| B | E | Y | O | N | D | P | A | R | O | D | Y | |||
| E | S | P | N | U | R | B | A | N | E | S | T | D | ||
| P | S | A | E | P | I | C | F | L | I | E | R | |||
| I | N | S | T | A | M | O | M | F | R | I | E | N | D | |
| L | O | T | U | S | P | A | I | D | A | C | T | O | R | |
| E | T | E | X | T | S | T | A | R | T | H | E | R | E |
| S | P | L | A | T | T | E | R | S | P | I | N | A | W | E | B | |||||
| T | E | S | T | R | I | D | E | S | E | P | I | C | D | R | A | M | A | |||
| A | T | A | M | I | N | I | M | U | M | S | T | A | T | E | A | I | D | E | D | |
| G | E | T | S | S | C | A | R | E | T | A | C | T | I | C | D | E | E | D | ||
| E | R | S | P | O | T | T | E | R | Y | W | H | E | E | L | S | S | T | Y | ||
| F | A | L | S | E | I | M | P | R | E | S | S | I | O | N | ||||||
| C | U | R | D | S | A | E | E | D | M | I | F | F | ||||||||
| M | O | S | A | I | C | S | N | O | D | B | O | B | S | L | E | D | ||||
| A | R | M | S | D | E | A | L | S | M | O | V | I | E | R | E | E | L | |||
| P | R | A | Y | E | R | M | A | T | S | P | I | N | E | N | E | E | D | L | E | |
| H | O | N | E | S | U | N | R | I | P | E | N | I | N | G | F | L | A | P | ||
| I | B | E | A | M | S | T | O | N | E | A | X | E | S | B | E | O | N | E | ||
| D | O | C | T | O | R | S | K | E | E | T | E | R | L | A | R | T | E | R | ||
| T | I | E | R | E | D | E | S | P | Y | S | C | U | T | E | S | Y | ||||
| R | E | F | E | R | B | U | T | T | E | |||||||||||
| P | S | A | S | I | L | I | C | O | N | V | A | L | L | E | Y | L | O | L | ||
| R | U | S | T | T | E | C | H | N | O | C | R | A | T | S | N | A | N | A | ||
| E | N | T | E | R | T | H | A | T | S | R | I | C | H | H | O | O | E | Y | ||
| F | O | R | T | E | P | I | A | N | O | S | A | K | E | B | O | T | T | L | E | |
| E | C | O | R | E | S | O | R | T | S | O | R | E | L | O | S | E | R | |||
| R | O | S | A | M | U | N | D | P | O | N | Y | K | E | G | S |
Rafael Musa, of San Francisco, is a software engineer. His favorite kind of crossword to construct is themeless, like this one, because of the freedom it gives him in filling the grid.
This one has only 117 answers — the lowest ever for a Sunday Times puzzle, beating the previous record by one. It's full of long, colorful words and phrases not seen in puzzles before.
It's Rafa's 22nd construction for The Times since 2022.
| S | O | D | A | A | D | A | M | J | A | W | S | |||
| T | R | E | X | B | O | R | E | D | I | R | A | Q | ||
| A | C | C | E | S | S | C | O | D | E | M | E | N | U | |
| N | A | O | M | I | S | M | A | L | L | A | D | A | ||
| A | R | T | A | L | L | E | Y | C | A | T | ||||
| C | R | A | N | I | U | M | S | A | U | L | ||||
| L | O | L | B | A | I | L | S | M | O | R | E | |||
| A | M | B | U | L | A | N | C | E | C | H | A | S | E | R |
| M | A | U | V | E | Y | E | A | H | E | L | I | |||
| M | E | A | L | H | A | I | R | D | Y | E | ||||
| A | L | C | A | P | O | N | E | I | M | O | ||||
| L | E | O | S | C | O | L | D | A | L | L | O | T | ||
| L | A | V | A | A | L | A | R | M | C | L | O | C | K | |
| A | V | E | C | L | A | T | E | R | E | C | H | O | ||
| H | E | R | S | N | E | W | S | R | O | O | S |