December 16, 2025

Solution to the “Big Event” Crossword

If questions remain after reading this, please write to sandy @ thenation.com.

 1 TIPSY TIP, “the point” + S and Y

 4 PSEUDONYM P{S}EUDON{Y}M, DUE, “expected”<=“back” + ON, “over” inside PM, “afternoon” with S and Y inserted

 9 SATYRIC A + TRIC[-k] with S and Y inserted

10 OUTSTAY Anagram (“dilapidated”) of “auto” with S and Y inserted

11 DROWSY WORD<=“retro” + S and Y

12 NEW STYLE NEWT, “Salamander” + L(ake) + E, “last of JunE” with S and Y inserted

14 SIMPLICITY {S}IMPLICIT{Y}

15 OA[-t] with S to start and Y inserted

18 SONY {S}ON{Y}, ON being “working”

19 POSITIVELY LEVI “Strauss” + T(I)OP, “PuccinI ultimately inserted in high point” <=“in retrospect” with S and Y inserted

21 EASTERLY Hidden in Greater London with S and Y inserted

23 SLEEPY PEEL, “skin”<=“seen in the mirror” flanked by S and Y

26 CAT’S EYE CATE, “Blanchett” + E, “beginning to Exhibit” with S and Y inserted

27 SYMPTOM S and Y then MP, “British politician” + (British actor) TOM “Holland”

28 SURVEY MAP U, “turn” + anagram (“flawed”) of REVAMP with S and Y inserted

29 SANDY S and Y

 1 TASED T(AS)ED—That “Williams” is TED and “playing” is AS, as in “Christopher Reeve AS Superman“

 2 PATROLMAN Anagram (“ill-advised”) of “plan to arm”

 3 YARD SALE Anagram (“reorganized”) of “already” + S(alt)

 4 PICK Double definition

 5 EGOCENTRIC E(GO)(CENT)RIC

 6 DETEST Anagram (“tamed”) of “steed” + central letter of “wesTern”

 7 NUTTY Anagram (“decomposing”) of “Tut” inside N(ew) Y(ork)

 8 MAYBE BABY MAY, “Thirty-One Days” + B, “second-rate” + B, “alBum’s third [letter]” inside EBAY, “online auction site”

13 SCHOOL TERM Anagram (“Engineer”) of “colors the” + M, “western edge of Muslim”

14 SESTERCES “Crest” is a letter bank, its parts used and reused to make the answer

16 OVEREATEN Anagram (“Give order to”) of “a tenor Eve”

17 DIPLOMAS Anagram (“Cultivated”) of “damp soil”

20 SERENE SEREN[-AD]E

22 SITAR S(I)TAR, I being 1, “‘the first”

24 YUMMY Last letter (“finally”) of pastrY + UM, “er” + MY, “belonging to the author”

More from The Nation

Samuel Daniell, “Boers Returning From Hunting.”

What J.M. Coetzee Can Teach Us About ICE What J.M. Coetzee Can Teach Us About ICE

The world inside the South African novelist’s Waiting for the Barbarians bears striking resemblance to Trump’s racist empire.

Pamela Newton

Matt Damon as Odysseus in “The Odyssey.”

Impale and Cry: Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” Impale and Cry: Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey”

In the latest rendering of the epic, there is plenty to feel guilty about even if you did not mean it.

Books & the Arts / Christian Lorentzen

Odyssey

Nolan’s “Odyssey” Misses the Point Nolan’s “Odyssey” Misses the Point

The big-budget movie keeps much of the violence and spectacle but none of the nuance and wit of the classical epic.

Katha Pollitt

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (right) is interviewed by Jordan Peterson at the annual conference of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship in London, February 18, 2025.

What’s So Scary About the Frankfurt School? What’s So Scary About the Frankfurt School?

In “The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy,” A.J.A. Woods looks at how the Frankfurt scholars became the latest bogeymen for the contemporary right.

Books & the Arts / Michael Shorris

Janiform on display at the Louvre

Emily LaBarge’s Life Stories Emily LaBarge’s Life Stories

In “Dog Days,” LaBarge blurs the lines between memoir and criticism.

Books & the Arts / Sophie Poole

Robin Dembroff speaking at the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

What We Get Wrong About Patriarchy What We Get Wrong About Patriarchy

A conversation with philosopher Robin Dembroff about their new book, Real Men on Top, identity categories, and the possibility of undoing patriarchy.

StudentNation / Andrés Muedano