Saturday, February 7, 2026, Amie Walker

 Themeless Saturday by Amie Walker

Amie Walker is an attorney/current stay-at-home parent to three little girls in Chandler, Arizona. When she’s not thinking about puzzles, she loves spending time with her family and singing in her women’s choir. Here is a picture of Amie on Jeopardy on 3/28/22. 

The bottom of this puzzle was an 

tough sledding for me where gaming slang, three obscure names and my not remembering the spelling of CAESAREAN and its "AE" grouping. 😖 Sigh, I had one bad cell but let's move on and I'll give you my other 45. Ponder: MUS(E)ings.

Across:

1. Franciscan philosopher who inspired the main character in "The Name of the Rose": OCCAM -

William of Baskerville, the protagonist of Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel, The Name Of The Rose,

 is a fictionalized, homespun homage to the real-life 14th-century philosopher William of OCCAM. He embodies OCCAM's "razor" principle, using logic, empiricism, and skepticism to solve mysteries, reflecting the transition from medieval dogma to modern scientific thought. You're welcome!

6. Nap spot: SOFA.

10. Bands that stabilize knees, for short: ACLS - The natural bands and not these

14. "Care to explain?": WHAT IS THIS.

16. Grand: THOU - Slang for thousand

17. Squeals: NAMES NAMES - Our crossword regular Elia Kazan NAMED NAMES at the McCarthy HUAC committee and Hollywood remembered.

18. Stubbs of the Four Tops: LEVI - Second from right

19. Nurse: SIP.

20. Utter: TOTAL.

21. Pointer from a proofreader: CARET.

22. Possible start of a folktale: LEGEND HAS IT.

24. Volga __: Turkic people in western Russia: TATARS.

27. Body work?: TATTOOS.

29. Celebrity gossip show: E-NEWS.

30. High kicks: HEELS - Kicks is slang for shoes, so...

32. Howe'er: THO.

33. Director Coogler: RYAN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

34. Ninny: GOOSE - I am prone to call our kitty a silly GOOSE

35. Jalopy: HEAP.

36. "Newhart" production co.: MTM and Rhoda, Lou Grant, WKRP, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, among many others. 

37. Guy who made one helluva deal?: FAUST - My first thought was not of Goethe but of the musical Damn Yankees where Joe Hardy sold his soul to beat those Damn Yankees.

Devil     Joe Hardy                        Lola

 38. Western Australian port: PERTH.

39. Like things?: SIMILES - I was very happy to enter SIMILAR first.

41. Lofty nests: AERIES.

42. Get drinks on tap, say? MOBILE ORDER  More

45. Be worthy of: MERIT.

46. Swear off?: BLEEP - Theater critic Kenneth Tyan was on BBC and is given credit for the first person TV to get BLEEPED. He innocently used the word f*** as a synonym for intercourse.

47. Young dog: PUP.

50. Some, in Spanish: UNAS - Le regalaré UNAS rosas rojas para el Día de San Valentín. (I will give her red roses for St. Valentine's Day)

51. Challenges for some gamers: BOSS LEVELS.

53. Some flatfish: SOLE.

54. Takeout deliveries?: CAESAREANS - I am still upset with myself for not knowing the odd spelling of CAESAREAN. It would have unlocked the stack of these three female names below I did not know: 

41. Writer __ Rogers St. Johns: ADELA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

43. Actress Elizabeth: OLSEN - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ She was in six of these movies and said it ruined her chance at other roles

44. Journalist Maria who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021: RESSA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  She won for her efforts in the The Philippines

55. Meadow moms: EWES.

56. Volcano seen on "The White Lotus": ETNA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

57. Fender guitar, for short: STRAT - Their ranges from $15,000 to $80,000.

Down:

1. __ up to: OWNS.

2. Masala __: CHAI.

3. Stay out for the night: CAMP.

4. Grabbed a bite: ATE.

5. Welcome patio features on a hot day: MISTERS - Awnings did fit but alas...

6. Washington, but not Jefferson: STATE - Forming a new state is largely a symbolic idea by people of northern California and southern Oregon who feel they are ignored by Sacramento and Salem.

7. "Sheesh!": OH MAN.

8. Real-world experiment: FIELD TEST - Farmers are constantly FIELD TESTING new methods in their, uh, fields.

9. Burro: ASS.

10. "Took you long enough": AT LAST - After waiting 86 years for Red Sox to win the World Series.

11. "SNL" alum who played a Spartan: CHERI OTERI.

12. Relish a paradoxical passion: LOVE TO HATE.

13. "__ yourself": SUIT.

15. Smooches in a lorry, say: SNOGS - or a quick kiss in a lift on the way up to a flat to watch the Beeb on the telly

21. Animals with righting reflexes: CATS.

22. Pink flamingo spot: LAWN.

23. "Veep" Emmy winner Tony: HALE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

24. Stretch-y things: TERMS - You can stretch these TERMS as long as you want as seen below. 

I also thought of our constructors stretching out TERMS for clever cluing 😀

25. "We don't have all day": ANY TIME NOW.

26. Magic spirit, say?: TEAM MORALE 😀 The NBA TEAM the Orlando Magic

28. Some on the JV squad: SOPHS.

30. Home on the water: HOUSE BOAT.

31. Lip balm brand: EOS.

34. "Coco" voice actor __ García Bernal: GAEL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

35. Title for Beethoven: HERR.

37. Move like a hummingbird: FLIT.

38. Eyes: PEEPERS - Jeepers, creepers...

40. Nile birds with curved bills: IBISES.

47. Cider choice: PEAR - This is also called Perry and is made from fermented pears

48. Radius neighbor: ULNA.

49. "C'mere!": PSST.

51. Dating letters: BCE.

52. Lab doc: VET. 😀

Friday, Feb 6th, 2026 ~ Brian Callahan & Geoffrey Schorkopf

 GRAPH WHERE SOLUTION HID

- OR -

Clever Hints; Answers Due 

Today's accomplished authors have teamed up on a clever theme, with a handful of impressive clues & answers somewhat lost among other, crummier ones.  The three, even-length four-letter words of the reveal required an oversized, 15 x 16 grid, with only two fills that are unique (°).  We have circles that, IMO, might not have been necessary in this instance, as the "ends meet" hint seems to be enough - and it's Friday; so let us solvers work through the challenge~!  A mere ten 3LWs, a handful of names,  a couple that did not need to be clued as such, no Natick crossings as far as I can see, but a little too much dreck - and I can't fault the constructors, since some of the clues may have been "editorialized".  The themers and reveal; 

17. *Get one over on: PULL A PRANK ° - "PU-NK" - I am not a fan of shows that belittle people for the sake of a gag; while Candid Camera was light and funny, the current "in that vein" kind of shows such as Punk'd  or Jackass, just seem cruel and immature - another commentary here

23. *Action blockbuster with several sequels: THE TERMINATOR - "TH-OR" - I have seen most of the Aaaahnald series movies, none of the MCU ones - I find the excessive use of CGI waaay too much

46. *Antioxidant-rich treat: DARK CHOCOLATE - "DA-TE" - the fruit, but the 'going out' meaning of "date" could be interpreted as "a treat" - not sure about the antioxidant part though . . .

56. *Chin-wag: CHEW THE FAT - "CH-AT" - I almost went with this as my title last week, on the "speak up" crossword theme, but "chew" doesn't quite have a homonym I could effectively use

35. With 36- and 37-Across, get by, or how to find a second answer to each starred clue: MAKE

36. See 35-Across: ENDS

37. See 35-Across: MEET - as the two-letter 'ends' of the themers 'meet' to create a second word with the same meaning - I did enjoy this as a theme concept

Bure Mot Theit Ware's 

ACROSS:

1. Android, for one: ROBOT - I do the Downs first, ONUS was in place; "PHONE" was not gonna work

My two favorite androids - C-3PO and Marvin, from The Hitchhiker's Guide...

6. Cat's eye, often: SLIT - At first I thought "meh.", but it turns out that the species at 25D. has round pupils; so does the Pallas Cat of Asia

10. Genesis name: ADAM - AND - 33D. Genesis name: SEGA - clecho, but not the same Genesis; the second one is the gaming console - names #1 & #2

14. Dazzled: IN AWE - Twurd - and our weekly dupe, this time from Wednesday.

15. Goals for some Olympians: TENS - Score.  Golds, Silvers, Medals, etc., did not fit

16. Frozen Four game: SEMI - vague; Friday - a round in college hockey finals. Thanks for the SO Moe~!

19. Mountain abode: CABIN - another negative temperature day here in Tolland, CT - which is giving me CABIN fever - I can't get certain projects done when it's this cold, even down in the garage . . .

20. Bilingual subj.: ESL - English (as a) Second Language

21. Touch off: CAUSE

22. Handle: MANAGE - this filled entirely via perps for me

25. Going-out outfits?: PAJAMAS - as in putting "out" the light and sleeping

28. World-weary: BLASÉ - Frawnche

29. Annual Queens sporting event: US OPEN - Ah. I read this as "Queen's", as in the royal persona, thinking maybe POLO . . . but no~!  It's the borough of NYC, where the tennis tournament is played

30. "Let's see if you're bluffing": "I CALL." - poker

32. Wanders around ORD?: TSA - Good one - the Wand-ers of the Transportation Security Admin., working at Chicago's O'Hare airport, code abbr (ORD)

38. Big primate: APE

39. Enclosures in a 19-Down: LOCKS - AND - 39D. Highlands waters: LOCHS - I am ambivalent on words spelled this closely in crosswords

41. Nutty Alpine cheese: ASIAGO - filled via perps

43. Rushing sound: WOOSH - my spelling is WHOOSH, Wich is WHrong

45. Women's liberal arts college in Atlanta: SPELMAN - name #3, spelled wrong (😜); author Geoffrey works in Atlanta - here's his last LA Times contribution and the write-up from HuskerG

50. Actress Cuthbert: ELISHA - name #4

51. Lingering scents: ODORS

52. Penny prez: ABE - abbr in the clue, abbr in the ans - name(ish)

55. Ultrasound subject: FETUS - First Extra-Terrestrial of the United States~?

GORT, from The Day the Earth Stood Still

58. Done: OVER

59. Went down: FELL

60. Doctoral hurdle: ORALS - Dah~!  I read this as "doctor's", so I put in MCATS

61. "Razzle Dazzle" singer in the 2002 film "Chicago": GERE - Richard, name #5

62. Just: ONLY

63. Running behind: TARDY

DOWN:

1. Rank: RIPE - Like the lingering scents of 51A.

2. Weight: ONUS

3. Sitcom pioneer: BALL - could have been LUCY, or DESI, so I waited - name #6

4. Parliament member: OWL - Ah - parliament, the "animal grouping" - good one

5. "I want to learn how to do that!": "TEACH ME~!" - Twurd

6. Walks with confidence: STRUTS

Watch Sheena Easton "Strut" in Tokyo, back in 1989, singing "Strut"

7. Crib sheet?: LEASE - semi-clever; the 'paper' one signs to rent a 'crib', slang for the place one lives

8. __ beauty: INNER - vague, Friday

9. Judgy sound: TSK - judgy~?  The river 'meh' is rising

10. Yoga poses: ASANAS - I think I have had this fill now in three of my Fridays

11. Student group that may encourage members to go pro?: DEBATE TEAM° - this one was clever.  The "side" in a debate, that being either "pro" or "con" 

12. Compañero: AMIGO - Español lesson

13. Worker in a rush?: MINER - Gold rush, that is

18. Hymn of praise: PAEAN - Its etymology here

19. Waterway with 39-Across: CANAL

22. Move (about): MILL

23. End of some races: TAPE

He's across the finish line~!

24. Chicago Booth degs.: MBAs - I had no idea what "Booth" meant; the university website; name(ish)

25. Big mountain cat: PUMA - A.K.A. "cougar" - two others 'cats' that fit: Lion and ???? - see below

26. "Right this second!" letters: A.S.A.P. - again, the blasé, cliché, mis-representation of STAT

27. Part of a crack team?: JOKE WRITER - OK, kinda funny

30. Doodle medium: INK - meh

31. LP successors: CDs - or, did cassette tapes, and even eight-tracks, 'succeed', as in "follow"~?

34. Oodles: A TON - one of the two the most over-used crossword Twurds - ALOT being the other

36. Fun word to shout into a canyon: ECHO

37. Unit with Roman and "country" varieties: MILE - I know about a "country mile", as in 'longer than a typical distance', but was curious about the Roman one - the Wiki

40. Gp. concerned with NSFW material?: OSHA - I took the OSHA 30 hour course, and while it does have a harassment section, the government 'group' is more about safety; hence the "S" in the acronym Occupational Safety and Health Administration, so 'meh'

41. In pieces: APART - in keeping consistent, this should be: one piece = A PART

42. Free throw, e.g.: SET SHOT - Basketball, which I don't care for

44. "Fine, whatever": "OK SURE." - Twurd

45. At a snail's pace: SLOWLY

46. Clear up, as a windshield: DEFOG - I had DE-ICE

47. Naproxen brand: ALEVE - it was a toss-up between this WAG and ADVIL; name(ish)

48. Poet Leonard: COHEN - name #7 - his Wiki

49. Scott who wrote "Island of the Blue Dolphins": O'DELL - I had no clue; more here - name #8

52. Way off: AFAR - "The sheriff is A NEAR~!" - Blazing Saddles

"No, dagnubbit, the sheriff is . . . " Now that's NSFW~!

53. Like Mr. Johnson on "Abbott Elementary": BALD - oof.  Friday cluing, his IMDb - name(ish)

54. Site with a Home Favorites section: ETSY - good WAG on my part

Highlighted in red

56. Fiscal exec: CFO - Chief Financial Officer

57. Flop __: period of setbacks, in slang: ERA - no clue, but I shoulda guessed; at least it's a new clue for this tired answer.  Below is what came up first in a Google search - commentary on our Social Media obsession; it's a bit annoying, but spot on . . .

Flop Era - Akita Neru

Splynter

Grid Flow 33.4

From 25D. - "Lynx"

Notes from C.C.:

The ORCAS season is here. I'm so happy that our own Sumdaze (Renee) has been nominated for Best Crossword Commentary. This year, all of the ORCAs-nominated puzzles will be available together in one special pack. The voting is open there through midnight Thursday, February 19.

Thursday February 5, 2026 Rich Katz

Rich Katz is relatively new to the crossword game, but has been coming on strong and has built a reputation of being inventive and humorous. Today, he has something shady going on.

Rich Katz (maybe)

Here are the themers. Don't scratch your head too hard trying to figure out how the answers are related, because they're not. It's clues that are BLUE.

18. "Aquaman" star: JASON MOMOA. Aqua blue. 

23. Cocktail that may be made with Bombay Sapphire: GIN AND TONIC. Sapphire blue.

36. Band with the hit "In the Navy": VILLAGE PEOPLE. Navy blue. 

52. Microsoft Azure competitor: GOOGLE CLOUD. Azure blue. 

57. Children's show whose title character leaves paw-print hints, and what 18-, 23-, 36-, and 52-Across have in common: BLUE'S CLUES. BLUE is an animated puppy who leaves a trail of paw print CLUES that her human co-host (and viewers) must follow to solve riddles.

So, the theme refers to the CLUES and not the answers on the grid. This seems tangent to what a crossword is supposed to be and falls in the gray are between themed and themeless. Shades of blue in the clues can be fun, but their associated answers are obvious, except for knowing Microsoft Azure is akin to GOOGLE CLOUD if you're not a techie. All in all, a pretty easy Thursday. In fact, I blew right through it!

Double your pleasure, double your fun! Note all the doubled letters!

Across:

1. Title said with a hat tip, perhaps: MA'AM.

5. Daddy: PAPA. Who's your PAPA?

9. "__ out!": PEACE. 

14. Photographer Geddes: ANNE. The "Queen of Baby Photography."

15. Wasn't colorfast: BLED.

16. Complete: UTTER.

17. Sign gas: NEON. Gas sign: NEON.

18. [theme]

20. Out of order: AMISS.

22. "Hey, Soul Sister" rock band: TRAIN. This smash hit has sold over 10 million units in the U.S.  Released in 2009, it was the top-selling single of 2010, reached the top 10 in multiple countries, and has surpassed 1 billion streams...which means I probably should've heard of it.

23. [theme]

26. PC pioneer: IBM. The usual M.O. (modus operandi) of us contributors is to spell out abbreviations in case someone doesn't understand the clue or answer. Informal poll - should I spell out ultra-common abbreviations like these? Personal Computers and International Business Machines?

29. Chow down: EAT. Chew up: EAT.

30. Small battery, or an org. that may help with a car battery: AAA. American Automobile Association.

31. Iditarod racer: SLED DOG.

33. Suomi speakers: FINNS. Suomi means Finland in Finnish, but can also mean the language.

35. Ages and ages: EONS. Many, many, ERAS.

36. [theme]

41. Gyro bread: PITA.

42. Give a bit more: TOP UP. Brit-speak for adding more to an existing level of something. We usually TOP off here in the States.

43. Accounts with round numbers?: BAR TABS. As in a round of drinks that may need TOPPING UP.

47. Spy-fi novelist Deighton: LEN.

48. Visitor in a knock-knock joke that ends, "It's nothing to cry about!": BOO. 
        Knock, knock. 
        Who's there? 
        BOO. 
        BOO who? And hilarity ensues...

51. Tricky: SLY.

52. [theme]

55. Herb in caprese salad: BASIL. I love caprese salads with the bright colors of the Italian flag. So simple to make yet so fancy on the table.

56. Upper crust: ELITE.

57. [theme]

62. "Sad to say ... ": ALAS. 

63. Goodyear products: TIRES. One of the three Goodyear blimp bases is right here in nearby Pompano Beach, FL. 

64. Legendary rebuke: ET TU.

65. Memory units, for short: MEGS. MEGAbyteS.

66. Branch of Islam: SUNNI.

67. Leader whose address ends with .edu: DEAN.

68. Bailiwick: AREA. A bailiwick is one's sphere of operations or particular AREA of interest.

Down:

1. Run: MANAGE. 

2. Condition often treated with iron supplements: ANEMIA.

3. Tap, as one's successor: ANOINT.

4. High-IQ society: MENSA. I had to drop out when my brain got rusty.

5. Many a school sammie: PBJ. The classic Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I looked up "sammie" and found most people hate the term, unless they are in grade school. Here's the gourmet version. It's cut on a diagonal. Ooh la la. 

6. In the style of: ALA. Borrowed from French, à la, means “according to” or “in the manner of.” As in a PBJ ALA Cordon Bleu. 

7. 55-Across sauce: PESTO.

8. Decorates: ADORNS.

9. Pedicure stone: PUMICE. 

10. Harry and William's alma mater: ETON.

11. Convenience in a cash-only venue: ATM. Automated Teller Machine.

12. Corp. leader: CEO. A Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking executive in a corporation.

13. Shaded section of a timeline: ERA. Here's the famous ERAs Tour:

19. Execute perfectly: NAIL. Perfectly executed NAILs:

21. Slug kin: SNAIL.

24. Comedian Carvey: DANA. Meet Garth, one of  DANA's most famous characters from Wayne's World, originally an SNL skit.

25. Punchy flavor: TANG. 

26. Pop sensation: IDOL.

27. Barbecue discard: BONE. 

28. Booker T.'s band: M.G.'S. Sadly, Steve Cropper, songwriter and their original guitarist, died this past December (thanks for reminding me, MalMan!). I dabble on the keyboards, and one of my favorite songs to play is Green Onions, written by Cropper, with its distinctive Hammond B3 organ sound.
 

32. "Nosferatu" actress Lily-Rose: DEPP. You guessed it, Lily-Rose is Johnny DEPP's daughter.

33. No longer fizzy: FLAT. 

34. Game, __, match: SET. Tennis’s notoriously bizarre scoring system (using love, 15, 30, 40, and “deuce” instead of 0-1-2-3-4) likely stems from medieval clock-based scoring, where quarters (15, 30, 45) marked points.

36. Lab container: VIAL.

37. "It was nothing": I TRY.

38. Exit __: POLL.

39. Fencing blade: EPEE. Whee! It's EPEE...again.

40. Light weight: OUNCE. Actually, light has no weight. It consists of photons, which are massless particles. However, because light possesses energy and momentum, it behaves as if it has a relativistic mass and is affected by gravity. I watch NOVA!

41. "Nova" network: PBS. For over 50 years, NOVA has the most popular prime-time science series on American television.

44. Tennis star Andre: AGASSI. Tennis players often place a small silicone dampener in their strings to reduce vibration. RightBrain has a bunch that look like anything from ladybugs to smiley faces, but I use a simple rubber band because AGASSI does. 

45. Anjou alternative: BOSC. Members of your pear group:

46. Dirtied: SOILED.

48. Tank in a basement: BOILER. Tanks in a basement: AQUARIUMS.

49. Service interruption: OUTAGE. I hope none of you had a power OUTAGE during the winter storms last week.

50. Black Sea port: ODESSA.

53. Posterior muscle, informally: GLUTE. Know your GLUTEs:

54. Many a denizen of Machu Picchu: LLAMA.

55. "It's __ a minute!": BEEN. 

57. "Mic Drop" K-pop septet: BTS. This South Korean sensation is known to me only by xwords.

58. Actor Simu: LIU. He's kicked Lucy LIU out of the xword rotation, but it seems like they're still friends!

59. Samovar: URN. Universal Remains Niche. (This might not be an abbreviation!)

60. Due-in hr.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

61. Phoenix NBAer: SUN. National Basketball Association is abbreviated, but the team is still just the SUNs.

I hope this chased some of your BLUES away!
Be Good. RB