Both Sides Now: NYT Sunday Crossword of April 13

April 13, 2025

Here are my notes from solving the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle of April 13, 2025.

This puzzle by John Kugelman was titled Both Sides Now, and unlike recent puzzles, didn’t have an immediately obvious twist.

The long Across clues spanning the grid, however, all had a clue ending in “?”, and these were the theme clues. The first clue I got was 23-Across [Popcorn and pretzels at a parade?]. I could make out CONCESSIONS at the end, and could see the beginning half also had a similar letter formation, probably also ending in SSIONS. With some thought about “parade”, I could solve for PROCESSION’S CONCESSIONS. Adding the “S” to procession felt strange, but I suppose it’s a possessive, not a plural.

The other theme clues followed the same pattern, pairing two similar-sounding words:

• 42-Across [Someone who might excel at a Bible trivia game?]: PROTESTANT CONTESTANT. A bit unnatural.
• 67-Across [Tools of the trade?]: CONTRACTOR’S PROTRACTORS. OK.
• 86-Across [Police interrogator or priest?]: CONFESSION PROFESSION. Excellent.
• 110-Across [Angry words at a school assembly?]: I had the most difficulty with this one. I got PROVOCATION at the end, but couldn’t find the fill for the beginning ___V_CATION. I was thinking something about a vocational school, but nothing worked. I think I’ve seen the word convocation but didn’t know its definition as “a formal meeting or ceremony, especially for celebrating graduates”, so it was hard to find CONVOCATION PROVOCATION.

Update: Until I read another review of this puzzle, I totally missed the point that each pair is of words starting with “pro-” and “con-”. That’s clever!

Here are some things I learned or want to note for future reference.

Arts and culture

• The Flash and Kid Flash are DC Comics characters with a lightning bolt on their chest. Kid Flash is the sidekick of The Flash.
• Michigan J. Frog is a Warner Brothers character who is a frog with a top hat and cane.
• The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska.
• In Midnight Cowboy, Dustin Hoffman plays a con artist named Rico Rizzo, with the nickname “Ratso”. I have not seen this movie, but should.
• Sea Hag is a witch who is the nemesis and unrequited lover of Popeye.

Business

• Alcoa is a metal manufacturer based in Pittsburgh, with annual revenues of $10 billion.

History

• The Pinta, Santa Maria, and La Niña were the three ships used in Columbus’s 1492 voyage.

Medicine

• SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) is an antidepressant.

People

• Cyd Charisse (1922-2008) was an American dancer and actress.
• James Cash Penney (1875-1971) was an American businessman who founded the JCPenney stores.
• Mary I of England (1516-1558) was Queen of England, Ireland, and Spain. She was nicknamed “Bloody Mary” for persecutions and killings of Protestants during her reign.
• Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) was the first president of Russia, who became leader after the dissolution of the USSR. Before the formation of the USSR, Russia was ruled by Lenin who didn’t have a title like president, but was Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Places

• Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) was Chicago’s primary airport until O’Hare International Airport (ORD) opened in 1944. This crossword required knowing these airport codes.
• Lynn, Massachusetts is a suburb north of Boston. Who knew?
• Italy fully encompasses two countries: The Vatican and San Marino.

Religion

• Pan is the Ancient Greek god of the wild, shepherds, and flocks, often depicted with his namesake the pan flute. He was the answer to [Famous flautist].

Tricky clues

• [Cleans up after a dirty guest]: BLEEPS, as in censors profanity.
• [“i” completer]: not iMac or iPad, but DOT as in “dot the i’s and cross the t’s”.
• [Little tipple, cutesily]: I’ve never heard the word tipple which can be a verb for “drink alcohol” or a noun for “an alcoholic drink”. I also have not heard of DRINKY POO which it solves to.
• [Promote excessively]: FLOG. Flog usually means to beat someone with a whip or stick, but can also mean to “sell illegally” or “promote aggressively”.
• [“God does not approve!”]: IT’S A SIN. I’ve never heard of this as an official, set phrase.
• [Items being replaced]: OLD ONES. This also doesn’t seem like a recognized set phrase.
• [Common recyclable]: POP CANS. Where I grew up we called them soda cans.
• [Newcastle ninny]: A ninny is a foolish person, and chiefly British hence the “Newcastle”. The answer was PRAT, also chiefly British and meaning an incompetent or stupid person.
• [Food stickers?]: TINES. Tines are the pointy prongs on a fork. Who knew?
• [Keep rhythm, in a way]: TOE TAP. I can imagine the action, but hadn’t seen it as a recognized, crossword-worthy term.
• [Bad way something might go]: TO POT. To go to pot is an idiom meaning to “fail” or “fall into ruin”.

Words

• Inspo is online slang for “inspiration”.
• Mot is French for “word”.
• Nie is German for “never”.
• A poor box is a box found in most Christian churches in which to deposit alms for the poor. I thought the name was a joke but it’s real.
• A précis is a concise summary of something.
• A ringlet is a curled lock of hair.

Final thoughts

I did not find the alliterative answers in this puzzle as strikingly creative as those in recent New York Times Sunday Puzzles, like the spinning discs or Markdown-like clues. But I appreciate it more after realizing the “pros and cons” scheme, and knowing the basic pattern helped with the solution.

Looking forward to seeing what next week brings.