Saturday, October 31, 2026, Kelly Morenus

Saturday Themeless by Kelly Morenus

Kelly provided a lot of nice treats and very few tricks with this fun puzzle.

          

Across:

1. Prince William, to Eddie Redmayne, at 51-Down 51. College founded in 1440: ETON.: SCHOOL MATE - The arrows point out Eddie and William, who is the very image of his mother.

11. Ask: POSE.

15. "This is news to me!": I HAD NO IDEA.

16. Quechua-speaking highlander: INCA.

17. Feeling that all roads lead to roam?: WANDERLUST.

18. Some Ivy Leaguers: ELIS.

19. Combine: ADD.

20. Some are plant-based: DIETS - Neither we nor our kitty Lily will ever be vegans

21. Winnow: SIFT - Letting a breeze help winnow the wheat from the chaff

22. Skye of "La Brea": IONE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I think you can pick out Ms. Skye below

24. Prince of Moscow from 1325 to 1340: IVAN I.

26. "And there it is!": BOB'S YOUR UNCLE.

31. Helps out with a job: ABETS.

32. "Waiting for Godot" role: ESTRAGON - As I mentioned last week, Godot is a no show

35. "You don't say!": GOSH.

36. San Juan's __ de la Princesa: PASEO - A PASEO is a tree-lined public walkway

38. Took home: MADE - I took home less than $400/month in my first year of teaching

39. Reserved: SET APART - My son-in-law's architecture firm got four $2,300 reserved seats from a construction firm for a Husker VB earlier this month and took the entire family. The tix came with great parking and a prime rib buffet.

                    

41. Many a "Hacks" guest star: COMIC - Here's a list. I don't know a lot of them.

42. Fixes a situation: STACKS THE DECK.

45. Needle: TEASE.

46. Strong: HALE.

47. Farm youngster: CALF.

48. Peter __ Steak House: LUGER - Here's the menu

51. Federal org. with a flower logo: EPA.

54. Dance in "Lilo & Stitch": HULA.

55. Topic for discussion: AGENDA ITEM.

58. Cartel headquartered in Vienna: OPEC.

59. List of attractions: PLACES TO GO.

60. Forward: PERT.

61. Fatal attractions?: SIREN SONGS - Sail on Odysseus!

Down:

1. "Boomerang" singer JoJo: SIWA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

2. African lake in four countries: CHAD.

3. Assistance: HAND.

4. Suspicious: ODD - Don't we all know this Sesame Street Song: "Three of these belong together, three of these things are kind of the same..."

5. Number of former public defenders who have served on the Supreme Court: ONE.

6. "Perish the thought!": LORD NO!

7. Environs: MILIEU - Not a word you might use in every environ 

8. Together, musically: A DUE.

9. Try out: TEST.

10. Starts to consume: EATS INTO.

11. Dishes that can be both hot and cold: PIES ALA MODE 😀

12. Minecraft, e.g.: ONLINE GAME - The ORE elements of this game are regularly used here.

13. "Dune" realm: SCI FI.

14. From Armenia to Azerbaijan: EAST.

22. "Oh, yeah?": IS THAT A FACT.

23. Kvetching cries: OYS.

25. Home entertainment staple, once: VCR.

26. Secures: BAGS - Hunters around here try to BAG a deer in season

27. Prominent instrument in "Swan Lake": OBOE - Here it is (1:01)

28. Novelist's goal: BEST SELLER.

29. Sits for a spell: RESTS.

30. Mistreat, maybe: USE.

33. Like much of Pindar's work: ODIC - I wonder if they were BEST SELLERS

34. Ukulele part: NECK.

36. Warmup stretches: PACE LAPS - The PACE CAR at the Indy 500 race a few years ago

37. Synagogue fixture: ARK.

40. Some med. professionals: PAS - My doctor and her PA are both former students

41. Film frame: CEL - The practice of making hand painted CELS ended in the late 1990's

43. From that point on: THENCE - As used by Emily Dickinson

44. Firm up: HARDEN.

45. Neutral tone: TAUPE.

47. Lamb cut: CHOP - Remember?

49. Citrus hybrid: UGLI.

50. Neutral, for one: GEAR.

52. Simon of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise: PEGG.

53. "The West Wing" actor John: AMOS.

56. Donkey: ASS.

57. Manga artist Junji: ITO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

I'm off to get out the bags of candy for tonight's 250+ trick or treaters who I don't think will look much like ITO's images!

Friday, Oct 30th, 2026 ~ Patti Varol

 AMERICA'S MOST HAUNTED

Wanted Dead, or . . . Undead~?

We have a Halloween-themed puzzle a day early; I was unaware that we would have a similar theme yesterday, as I wrote today's blog earlier in the week, but solve the rest of the week's puzzles as they come out . . . The LA Times editor, Patti Varol, is back again with a crossword that takes common in-language phrases and gives them a trick-or-treat-ment . . . 🙄 Five themers, including a grid-spanner, totalling 61 squares, that become "creepy" puns in a timely fashion.  A solid Friday construction, maybe more names than I would care for, but I did some historical research, and found even our host & crossword master C.C. has "bemoaned" them - on Halloween, no less.  Huh.  Standard grid, no circles, no outliers, a Twurd, and thirteen names - we have a Friday the 13th coming in November.  The themers, no reveal;

17. Suggestion at the start of a Halloween decoration workshop?: MAKE-A-WITCH - Make-A-Wish; I don't have a tree in my front yard, or I'd put one of these up . . .

Here's how to make "witch crash witch craft"  🙄 

23. Expectation during a Halloween concert?: RHYTHM AND BOOS - Rhythm & Blues

Atlanta Rhythm Section - "Spooky" - but they weren't the original band

Bminor, same key as Hotel Cali- . . .

36. Apparition who only appears on Halloween in the Golden State?: CALIFORNIA GHOST - I had ghoul first - as in California girl, but no, it's the California Coast, which I see is currently threatened

Ghost,  "Faith" 🠟

49. Got separated from a spooky friend at a Halloween party?: LOST ONE'S GHOUL - Lost One's Cool - the "nameless Ghouls" are the members of the Swedish rock band Ghost, behind "Papa Emeritus V".  Now for a song about that vampire from Transylvania . . . not the Muppet, the other one

Nosferatu, off "Spectres", from Blue Öyster Cult

59. "My Halloween monster costume is so disappointing!"?: I DON'T SCARE - "I. Don't. Care."

"We're Ready to Believe You"

Buuuuuut Waaaaaait There's Mooooooan~!

ACROSS:

1. Oodles: ALOT - A Twurd to start us off

5. Mattress material: FOAM - I do the Downs first, had perps

9. Tablet downloads: APPs

13. Kidney-related: RENAL - my dad had a kidney transplant, so I heard this word ALOT growing up

15. Red inside, maybe: RARE

16. Victory lap speed: TROT 

19. Depend (on): RELY

20. Sugar suffix: OSE - fructose, sucralose ( OK, that's fake sugar ), etc.

21. Shoreline shaper: TIDE - The King Tide is the threat to the west coast

22. Yaz's team from 1961 to 1983: BOSOX - abbr for abbr - Carl Yastrzemski, played for the Boston Red Sox - not a baseball fan, but I knew this name, #1

27. Athletic honor: ESPY - The award given out by ESPN, the sports network; I see our favorite crossword WNBA player made the list . . .

28. Horn of Africa nation: ERITREA - Geo name #2

31. Omnia vincit __: AMOR - Latin, "love conquers all"

34. "Right on!": "AMEN~!"

These Halloween tights are right on

35. Dragon boat steerer: OAR - Chinese "ship", but when I punched "Dragon Boat" into Google, I get more Chinese restaurants than rowers; more here

41. Meadow mouthful: CUD - cow candy - alliteration 😜

42. Turn off the security cameras for, maybe: ABET

43. Iowa college town: AMES - Geo name #3

44. Accessory that may match cuff links: TIE CLIP

46. Sportages and Tellurides: KIAs - autos

54. Copious: AMPLE

56. Covent Garden solo: ARIA - yada yada four letter solo~?  ARIA - more about the centre here

57. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO - Sno-cone, sno-caps, sno-balls, etc.

58. Rich soil: LOAM - AND - 53. Windborne sediment: LOESS - Both good for wine-making, it seems

62. Dough for pupusas: MASA

The website

63. Alaskan gold rush town: NOME - Geo name #4

64. __ fun at: POKES - hard to see the 'plural'

65. Mystery writer?: ANONymous - frequent visitors to the Corner comments section

66. "The Crying Game" writer/director Jordan: NEIL - Friday vague, and I did see the movie, back in 1992; name #5

67. Intervals: GAPS

DOWN:

1. Medieval museum display: ARMOR - When I build my castle, I'll have a suit of armor on display

2. Spot checker?: LEASH - Dog humor, har-har

Cooper-checker

3. Harmonious, in a way: ON KEY - a bit meh.

4. __ kwon do: TAE

5. End of the workweek, for some: FRIDAY - Technically, it's the "start" of my "work" week 😜

6. Like some breakfast bars: OATEN - I made my own granola, but the calories in a tray are outrageous

I divvy it up into 20 squares, 238cals each

7. Part of a circumference: ARC

8. Underwhelmed review: MEH - Friday's puzzles have been 50/50 Yeah/Meh of late

9. Intrinsically: AT ROOT

10. Briefing setting: PRESSROOM - Brief setting = Dressing room

For the ladies

11. See 24-Down: POLO - AND - 24. With 11-Down, "The Fosters" actress: TERI name #s 6 & 7

12. River that made Achilles (mostly) invincible: STYX - dipped all but his "heel", hence the "weak" term

14. Plastered strips: LATHS - Meh in the plural

18. Fraidy-cat: WIMP - fitting clue/answer

22. Sound of spring?: <<BOING>> - Har-har

25. Lovato with the 2025 album "It's Not That Deep": DEMI - name #8; her website

26. City near Anaheim: BREA - west coast, again - I get it - it's the LA Times . . . 😑Geo name #9

29. Smooth sailing: EASE - Dah~!  I tried CALM

30. Newspaper section: ARTS - not op-ed

31. Checkbook no.: ACCT

32. Home of Kahului Airport: MAUI - sounded Hawaiian, tried OAHU to start - Geo name #10

33. Tex-Mex brand: OLD EL PASO - I usually buy their flat-bottom taco shells

34. Echidna snack: ANT - learning moment; did not think of Echidna as an animal, but a place . . . turns out it's another Greek mythology figure, and the mother of Cerberus, for one

37. "F" on a test: FALSE - Five letters, therefore, not "FAIL"

38. Notice in passing?: OBITuary - Standard crossword humor

39. Credit report blot: REPO - A repossession, typically of a vehicle - I own my two cars

40. Leftovers dish: HASH - I toyed with STEW but waited on perps

45. "The Favourite" Oscar winner Olivia: COLMAN - looks like it might be a funny movie; name #11

46. Seed: KERNEL - corn - candy corn

47. Skeptical reply: "IS IT~?"

48. Showing shock: AGASP - Dah~!  Not AGAPE

The Scream

50. With 51-Down, 2019 and 2021 Australian Open winner: NAOMI - AND - 

51. See 50-Down: OSAKA - tennis, a Corner shout-out, and name #12

52. General Assembly fig.: UN REP - United Nations representative - the list, here

54. __ mater: ALMA

55. Bellyache: MOAN - Bark at the Moan . . .

OZZY~!!!

59. Travel stop: INN - How about a stop at "The Stanley Hotel"~?  it's the one from The Shining

60. Generic surname: DOE - lucky #13, didn't hafta be one . . .

61. Horologist's piece: COG - I was thinking astrology, but this is a watchmaker

Splynter

Grid Flow 24.1