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Sam Ezersky
NY Times, Sun Aug 31, 2025 Puns and Anagrams
Author:
Sam Ezersky
Editor:
Will Shortz
Rows: 15, Columns: 15, Words: 68, Blocks: 30
Notepad: In print, the clue for 32-Across has the letters J O U R N E Y arranged in a circle.
| 1 S | 2 E | 3 M | 4 I | 5 N | 6 A | 7 R | | 8 A | 9 B | 10 L | 11 E | 12 S | 13 T |
14 S | E | A | R | C | H | M | E | | 15 B | R | A | N | C | H |
16 C | A | T | H | O | L | I | C | | 17 B | E | T | R | A | Y |
18 R | E | C | O | N | | 19 G | Y | 20 R | A | T | I | O | N | S |
21 A | E | R | O | | 22 L | O | C | H | S | | 23 N | U | D | E |
24 G | L | O | P | | 25 I | S | L | E | | 26 T | O | T | A | L |
| 27 S | W | E | 28 P | T | | 29 E | T | 30 C | H | | 31 E | L | F |
| | | 32 R | O | U | 33 N | D | T | R | I | 34 P | | | |
35 R | 36 E | 37 V | | 38 K | P | O | P | | 39 E | S | I | 40 G | 41 N | |
42 E | L | I | 43 T | E | | 44 F | L | 45 A | W | | 46 L | O | O | 47 T |
48 D | E | B | I | | 49 P | E | A | R | S | | 50 E | T | T | U |
51 P | A | R | C | 52 H | E | E | S | I | | 53 S | I | T | A | R |
54 I | N | A | T | I | E | | 55 T | A | 56 K | E | N | O | F | F |
57 N | O | T | A | L | L | | 58 I | N | E | R | T | G | A | S |
59 E | R | E | C | T | S | | 60 C | A | R | T | O | O | N | |
© 2025, The New York Times
Across
1
8
Most stable for the job :
ABLEST14
15
Q: What's your favorite salad dressing? a) Italian ___ c) Thousand Island :
BRANCH16
Someone who *really* loves cats :
CATHOLIC17
18
19
21
___-head (aviation chief) :
AERO22
Bodies of water with fish, according to report :
LOCHS23
Without 'is undies on :
NUDE24
Part of Anglophile's unappetizing dish :
GLOP25
Land that lies in the ocean :
ISLE26
Lotta money to pay :
TOTAL27
Took every win in September :
SWEPT29
Carve, etc., at hospital :
ETCH31
32
35
38
Texter's "All right, Dad!" :
KPOP39
"Exit" or "Emergency stopping only" :
ESIGN42
Top-notch 'E' tile :
ELITE44
Problem surrounding federal law :
FLAW46
48
Girl I'd be happy to meet :
DEBI49
Audibly cuts fruit :
PEARS50
Words that Caesar could almost utter back :
ETTU51
53
One-star instrument :
SITAR54
Even dressed for the office, maybe :
INATIE55
57
Some backing in poll at onset :
NOTALL58
Angriest one that doesn't react well :
INERTGAS59
60
Down
1
2
3
Human "Sesame Street" character in her promo :
MRHOOPER4
Symbol on a coin, e.g. :
ICON5
Breathe vowellessly :
NHL6
Spanish friends in Miami gossiping :
AMIGOS7
8
Belonging to a noted Swedish band :
ABBAS9
10
Many a NoLita resident :
LATINO11
12
Two states that border GA :
SCANDAL13
Felt shy about using an old pronoun :
THYSELF14
__ __ __ __wny __uy :
SCRAG20
The arty Clark Gable character :
RHETT22
26
28
Nudge a bowl of Hawaiian food :
POKE30
Announcement of cruise groups :
CREWS33
__ __minally __r__ __ :
NOFEE34
35
36
First lady who was a real one :
ELEANOR37
A verb: It means "swing rapidly back and forth" :
VIBRATE40
Tricked an African country I'm leaving :
GOTTOGO41
Not interested in the Fontana di Trevi, say :
NOTAFAN43
Bit of strategy with halves switched :
TICTAC45
Grande singing an aria :
ARIANA47
Domains of fluorine and rust :
TURFS49
52
Handle in long tools, initially :
HILT53
Un artista de tres murales :
SERT56
Answer summary: 5 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.
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