Congrats to Ben Tausig on his NYT debut! Highlights include REALITY TV, THIRD RATE, and "follower of cow, pig or horse" = EIEIO. The answering-machine message theme didn't thrill me, though, and I prefer the snarky vibe of the puzzles Ben publishes each week in independent weeklies.

Speaking of puzzles that appear in independent weeklies, Matt Jones's Jonesin' crossword is also out there in assorted towns (but not mine). The one I just did through the website, "Spare Parts," had PEE clued as "Number one concern?" (Ha!) I also did one dated September 2 that had some great fill, such as LUMMOXES, KLUTZ, KATMANDU, and CARROT JUICE, not to mention "NPR Puzzlemaster Will" = SHORTZ.

I like birds, but baseball? Not so much. Randolph Ross's "Baseball for the Birds" in the NYS had some good clues, such as "Person who would not be a good sumo wrestler" for BEANPOLE, "Place to swim or take classes" for THE Y, "Four-fifths of diez" for OCHO, "Country records?" for ATLAS, and "Trunk line" for AORTA.

NYS 5:24
NYT 4:37
LAT 4:14
CS 3:10 updated