Friday May 15, 2026 — It was so quiet you could hear a NEEDLEDROP ... er, something like that 😀

This was Maddy Ziegler's second NYTimes crossword. Her first appeared on Saturday, so it will very interesting to see on what day her third (which, based on her second, we are sure is going to appear sooner or later) pops up. With absolutely no insider information, we're betting on another Saturday. This was a pleasing Friday crossword — no theme to bedazzle, all the clues had to pull their weight, and they did so here. We had a debut at 31D, Dangerous ocean phenomenon, ROGUEWAVE; a blast from the past at 33A, MacMurray of "Double Indemnity", FRED; and the second time in  2 days that we've seen the answer to 13D, "I can't believe that price" bargain, STEAL.All in all, this was a fine puzzle: we give it a full 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.Show note imagery: Ah, the ol' Chevrolet 490: yours for the low, low price of $490 😀 😀 We love feedback! Send us a text...Contact Info:We love listener mail! Drop us a line, [email protected], we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!