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”

Your support makes stories like this possible

From illegal war on Iran to an inhumane fuel blockade of Cuba, from AI weapons to crypto corruption, this is a time of staggering chaos, cruelty, and violence. 

Unlike other publications that parrot the views of authoritarians, billionaires, and corporations, The Nation publishes stories that hold the powerful to account and center the communities too often denied a voice in the national media—stories like the one you’ve just read.

Each day, our journalism cuts through lies and distortions, contextualizes the developments reshaping politics around the globe, and advances progressive ideas that oxygenate our movements and instigate change in the halls of power. 

This independent journalism is only possible with the support of our readers. If you want to see more urgent coverage like this, please donate to The Nation today.

More from The Nation

Still from “The Fence.”

Claire Denis’s Haunting Neocolonial Drama Claire Denis’s Haunting Neocolonial Drama

Compared to her other films, The Fence is a minor work. But it contains within it a set of expansive themes.

Books & the Arts / Lovia Gyarkye

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning New York Harbor.

What Would Happen if You Walked All of New York’s Shoreline? What Would Happen if You Walked All of New York’s Shoreline?

The art and architecture of New York’s vast and sweeping waterfront.

Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

T.S. Eliot inspecting manuscripts. Undated photograph.

Teaching Poetry in the Age of AI Teaching Poetry in the Age of AI

Poetry, perhaps more than any other genre, shows us how important it is to connect with a real human presence.

Lindsay Turner

Hand-colored lithograph of an early baseball game seen from behind home plate, 1887.

Robert Coover at Bat Robert Coover at Bat

The postmodern writer's 1968 baseball novel is strange and poignant—a work of fiction that ultimately argues for the vitality of fiction itself.

Books & the Arts / John Semley