Fellow Travelers: Universal Sunday Crossword of March 9

March 16, 2025

The Universal Sunday Crossword for March 9, titled Fellow Travelers, was constructed by Rebecca Goldstein.

The twist to this puzzle involved four clues with an asterisk. I noticed that the answers to these clues didn’t make immediate sense, and 67-Across hinted there would be a special way to fill them: [Decent dudes, or a hint to understanding the starred clues’ answers].

By the time I figured out 67-Across as STANDUPGUYS, I had already filled in or partially completed the starred clues using crossings. [*“It’s quite sad”] was SUPITY which made no sense, and [*Pressure-tested medical storage vessel] was OXYTANK which looked odd, but could possibly be shorthand for “oxygen tank”. For [*Many a character in “Charlotte’s Web”], I wanted to use FARMANIMAL, but there were not enough squares, and it looked like [*Seafood dish on bread] was shaping out to be CRABROLL but again would need some letters removed. My problem was I didn’t know which letters.

Once I guessed SUPITY was “such a pity” and OXYTANK was “oxygen tank” with missing letters, and noted the 67-Across hint, I could surmise the answer pattern was that the missing letters together with the subsequent filled letter spelled a “guy” word:

• SU(CHA)PITY
• OXY(GEN)TANK
• FAR(MA)NIMAL
• CRA(BR)OROLL

This scheme felt a little inelegant—why keep the last letter in the fill? I’m also not sure if the “standup” part of STANDUPGUYS has anything to do with the hint, or if it’s just the “guy” part.

I very nearly solved the puzzle without outside assistance, but, like the last Universal Sunday crossword I did, I ended up with interlocking clues that I could not make progress on. For 81-Down’s [Opposite of WNW], I had assumed WNW was an unfamiliar acronym. I decided to look it up, only to find it most likely just meant “west northwest”. With that, I could fill ESE for “east southeast”, which exposed some incorrect guesses and allowed the deadlock to be broken. For 80-Across’s [Fundraiser whose 2025 theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”], I had put ARTGALA, missing that “art gala” is a generic term and “Met Gala” was the specific one needed. With ESE crossing it, I could correct the R to an E and found METGALA. The M was needed to crack 80-Down’s [Certain parental pair], which I had A_MANDDAN for, and could not figure out what parents were named “A_m” and “Dan”. Once I changed the A to an M, the answer became M_MANDDAN, and I realized it was MOMANDDAD. The last N was wrong because for 125-Across’s [Zilch] I had incorrectly used NONE instead of NADA.

Here are some things I learned or want to note from this puzzle.

Words

• The Italian word arte (“art”) was the answer to [Works in la Cappella Sistina] (the Sistine Chapel).
• The word celiac means “relating to the abdomen”. I’d only previously heard the term to refer to people who cannot eat gluten, but that is more properly called “celiac disease”.
• The word cryptesthesia means “an experience of clairvoyance or telepathy”.
• A pontoon is a type of boat.

People

• D’arcy Carden is an American actress and comedian.
• Teri Garr (1944-2024) was an American actress known for comedic roles.
• Simu Liu is a Canadian actor.
• Ali Wong is an American comedian and actress.

Peoples

• The Ute are a Native American people in western U.S., also known as the Núuchi-u.

Products

• Alpo is a dogfood sold in the U.S.
• The Kestos bra was one of the first modern bras with separate cups, introduced in the 1920s or 1930s. Kestos was a British lingerie brand.
• Regiis Ova is a brand of caviar founded by Thomas Keller, the renowned Michelin-starred chef (The French Laundry, Per Se).

Food

• Elote (“eh-LOH-teh”) is a popular Mexican street food consisting of grilled corn on the cob served with a creamy spread and toppings. In Mexican Spanish, elote generally means corn on the cob.

Art and music

• Aida is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, that premiered in 1871.
• Arista is a record label, and the answer to [Record label for Lola Brooke], a rapper known for her 2021 single “Don’t Play with It” which gained popularity on TikTok.

Nature

• Bougainvillea is a genus of vibrant, flowering plants, known for bright colors. The answer to [Shade of some bougainvillea] was HOTPINK.

Places

• Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia.

Other

• [Not quite right, maybe?] was ACUTE, referring to the sense of “not a right angle”.
• [Quarreling] was ATIT, the nth time I’ve seen a variant of this clue.
• The answer to [Wire for the Caped Crusader] was BATROPE. I was looking for “Bat-Signal”. Apparently “Bat-Rope” is really the name of the wire Batman uses to climb and swing between buildings.
• [JV squad, e.g.] was BTEAM, which I also have seen many times in crosswords.
• The answer to [Like serving wine in a teacup, in Topeka] was ILLEGAL. I see some references online about such a law, but their accuracy seems dubious.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed this puzzle—it was fair and a good difficulty level for me overall. I thought the “guy” clue scheme was an interesting twist, though it didn’t affect much of the puzzle.

P.S. After reading another review of this puzzle, I finally understand the “stand-up guys” theme. The missing letters are visible on a cross of the fill. It’s like the guy word is standing on top of the fill.