NYT Crossword Answers for Feb. 25, 2025

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

TUESDAY PUZZLE — We all fall victim to a little cultural nostalgia. Things were just cooler when we were young! Modern trends seem invariably tethered to days gone by. Right now, cassette tapes are cool again, the teens insist they’re Luddites and chunky ’80s jewelry is making a comeback 40 years later. Heck, ritual wassailing is the new clubbing.

In keeping with societal trends, this crossword from Greg Snitkin brings us another artifact of the past. I still see these things around, so I don’t think they’ve been made obsolete just yet — but time will tell. I mean, it really will.

Today’s Theme

The revealer at 56A is a double entendre. It’s a way to say [“I forbid this” … or what a smart device wearer might claim regarding the ends of 20-, 30-, 40- and 48-Across?]. The answer is NOT ON MY WATCH — as in, something not found on a smart watch.

When I say that your enjoyment of this theme may depend on your age, I’m not being glib: Some people aren’t learning how to read analog timepieces anymore and thus could hardly be expected to know wristwatch anatomy. I had to look up a few terms myself! BILLY CRYSTAL — [Meg Ryan’s co-star in “When Harry Met Sally …”] (20A) — refers to watch crystals, the protective coverings on watch faces. A [Call after last call?] (30A) is a DRUNK DIAL (heh, heh); the dial of a watch is its circle of hourly markings. Who knows these terms? Maybe you do. I guess what I’m saying is, different clock strokes for different clock folks. If you haven’t got the time to solve the others, click to reveal them below.