Sunny Sunday

Timothy Powell makes his Sunday NYT debut with "Reverse Effects," in which phrases are reversed, and the last word that becomes the first word gets pronounced differently (mostly—DISCOUNT as a verb may be pronounced the same as the noun form, or with an emphasis on the second syllable). My favorite themer was SAKE FOR OLD TIMES ("Drink at a Kyoto reunion?"). The best clue was "it runs down the leg" for INSEAM (not INSECT), but I also liked "common aspiration" for AITCH, "made multiple" for PLURALIZED, "certain Arab" for DAPPLE (the linked illustration is a dapple-grey figurine of a Shire horse—remember when SHIRE and SPODE crossed and some people cried foul?), "Construction financed by a hedge fund?" for MAZE, and "Donald Duck, e.g." for DRAKE. Interesting fill, including X FACTOR, CRUX, HOTTIE, DESPOND (part of the sad mini-theme story, with AMISS, I LOSE, LAMENTABLE, and CRY), PROVERB, and DRIP FEED.

Updated:

Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon's LA Weekly puzzle is one of those rare quote puzzles that I actually like. Today's themeless CrosSynergy puzzle by Martin Ashwood-Smith features two triple-stacks of 15-letter entries.

NYT 9:27
WaPo 8:28
LAT 7:53
LA Weekly 7:05
Newsday 6:25
CS 3:55