NYT Sunday Crossword of June 15: Tossing and Turning

June 21, 2025

The New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle of June 15, 2025 was by Adam Wagner and Rebecca Goldstein and titled Tossing and Turning.

This puzzle had a few circled cells scattered about the grid. The Across clues that spanned a circle were in the form: [Clue A / Clue B]. The trick was that the answer would match Clue A, but if you reversed the answer and removed the circled letter, you’d get a valid answer for Clue B. For example, for 36-Across [Genetic repositories / Reel Big Fish or Sublime], the answer was DNA BANKS, where N was in the circled cell. Removing the N and reading the fill backwards yields SKA BAND.

Here are the others:

• 23-Across: [Device used to clear out nasal passages / Final part of a radio countdown]: NETI POT / TOP TEN. This was the hardest one for me, as I’ve never heard of a neti pot. I think in Japan these products are just called 鼻うがい, nasal rinse.
• 25-Across: [Brunch entrees / Figure with an eponymous fire]: OMELETS / ST ELMO. This was the one where I cracked the pattern.
• 40-Across: [Takes advantage of / Decoration painted on many a W.W. II aircraft]: TRADES ON / NOSE ART. Good.
• 54-Across: [Hit 1981 German language film / “What a shame!”]: DAS BOOT / TOO BAD. I haven’t heard of the film, but vaguely could conjure up this German-looking title with the help of the reverse clue.
• 58-Across: [Women abroad / Wrapped garmets]: SIGNORAS / SARONGS.
• 80-Across: [Offerings from Healthline / Roasting on an open fire, maybe]: DIET TIPS / SPITTED.
• 84-Across: [Pioneer in Modernist poetry / Throne]: TS ELIOT / TOILET.
• 98-Across: [Portmanteau drinking hangouts / Marine crustacean]: BARCADES / SEA CRAB. A bit challenging. I’m not sure I’ve seen the word barcade before, but it made sense once I got it.
• 101-Across: [Like some bikes / Sunken, as the eyes]: TEN SPEED / DEEPSET. This required an ah-ha moment.
• 115-Across: [Comparitively upper-crust, in a way / Wood cutter]: WASPIER / RIP SAW. Referring to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, WASPs.
• 118-Across: [Component of a Caesar salad / Captivate]: ROMAINE / ENAMOR. Clever one. I didn’t know the what defines a Caesar salad. ChatGPT says the salad must have crisp lettuce, tangy dressing, and croutons.

There was also a long down clue for the theme: [How a shirt might be put on in a rush … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme]: INSIDE OUT AND BACKWARDS. “Inside out” refers to dropping the circled letter, I believe.

Tricky clues

• [Inits on a food assistence card]: EBT, for Electronic Benefit Transfer, an American welfare system akin to a debit card for food stamps.
• [Mud]: JAVA. Because “mud” is old American slang for coffee. Who knew.
• [Craving]: JONES. Another slang word, apparently from 1960s American drug slang: “jonesing for a hit”.
• [Paper views?]: OP-EDS. This took me longer than it should have. So many puzzles have had variants of this clue.
• [Grasslike marsh plant]: SEDGE. Haven’t heard of this, but apparently it’s a common crossword answer.

Final thoughts

Pretty fun puzzle. The theme was accessible while not too simple.