L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Aug 14, 2026

Friday, Aug 14th, 2026 ~ Katie Hale

FOURTH SUNDOWN & INCHES

Actually, it's #5, and Across, but . . .

LA Times assistant editor Katie Hale is back - her last crossword offering was a month ago, on a Monday, here. The last one I blogged was a co-authored puzzle that had too much of a cringe factor ( for me ) to be enjoyable. Today, however, was a pleasant, and partially humorous construction, with four themers, including two grid-spanners, that added our star, the three-letter word SUN, to common phrases, giving them 'solar' power. There were maybe a few too many 2-word entries, especially in the Downs, but it was Friday-level, if not easier. Standard grid, no "outlier add-ons" this week, with 10 names, no circles, and a near-perfect balance of 3-, 4-. and 5-letter words. The themers and reveal;

18. *Action figure at the bottom of a pool?: SUNKEN DOLL - I first thought maybe G.I. Joe~?

I had the 80's "action figures" the same size as the Star Wars ones

23. *Naval officer's very quiet "ahoy there"?: LITTLE BOSUN PEEP - Bosun, how one pronounces "boatswain"

35. *Jokes about miscellaneous items?: SUNDRY HUMOR

48. *Essential for authors who work at the beach?: WRITER'S SUNBLOCK

56. Clean energy option, or a hint to what the answers to the starred clues have?: SOLAR POWER

But Wait There's More~!

ACROSS:

1. "Cor, blimey!": "I SAY~!" - Brit-speak

5. Oxygen co-creator: OPRAH - Oxygen, the network, not the element from THE Creator - name #1

10. Mascaron image: FACE - filled via perps, WAGed the "C" - this architectural detail

14. Drive-__: THRU

15. Tricky tennis serve: SLICE - meh. It's called an "ace" where I play tennis

16. Traffic-dependent figs.: ETAs

17. Azaria of "Brockmire": HANK - I know him from the Simpsons; name #2

20. WSW reversal: ENE

21. Virtual citizenry: SIMS - Another good guess on my part - but I have played Sim City & The Sims

22. Dad's sister: AUNT

28. Outdoor dining spot: PATIO

29. "Oh, now I see": "A-HA~!"

30. TV controller?: FCC - The Federal Communications Commission - I cound not recall what the second "C" stood for

31. 19th Greek letter: TAU

33. Cryptography org.: NSA - Thursday dupe

34. Mineralogist who created a scale: MOHS - this puzzle's themers gave me a laugh, so I'm giving it the "other" kind of star, a 4 / 5⭐ from on the "other" Moe's Scale - name(ish)

38. 2025 WNBA champions: ACES - I follow no basketball at all, tried the SUNS - but knowing the theme after the fact meant it could not be - plus I missed the "W" part of the clue as well . . . 😜

40. Solstice mo.: DECember - Monday, the 21st of this year, 12:50pm on the LA Times coast

41. Live and __ live: LET - in 1973, Wings "used to say . . ."

Live & Let DIE~!, Mr. Bond - James Bond

42. "Starship Troopers" backdrop: WAR - had it, filled it in, then took it out . . . an overdone movie with egregious graphic violence - I loved it. The IMDb

43. Zing: PEP

44. Gives, but not forever: LENDS - I had perps from doing the Downs first, so it was not LOANS

53. Olympic swimmer Torres: DARA - name #3 - her website

54. Cruising: ASEA

55. __ leaf: stew herb: BAY - why you shouldn't eat one~!?

The YouTube link

59. Snitch (on): NARC

60. "Copacabana" bartender: TONY - had this Barry Manilow reference three weeks ago; name #4

61. Hugo or Edgar: AWARD - Both for literature, one Sci-Fi, the other Mystery and other genres

62. Wayfair rival: IKEA - I have bought home items from Wayfair, only shopped once at an Ikea

63. Referendum side: PROS

64. Like some buns: MESSY - Ah. Those kinds of bun

There's a red-haired beauty at my gym,

always on the Stairmaster when I am

65. Join (up): TEAM

DOWN:

1. Networking assistance: IT HELP - 2-word #1 - AND - 51D. 1-Down callers: USERS

2. Grammy winner Twain: SHANIA - name #5

A knock-off of Robert Palmer's video, which has more leg in it

3. "Is This Thing On?" star Will: ARNETT - name #6

4. Big laugh: YUK

5. Activist/actor Davis: OSSIE - learned by doing crosswords, name #7

6. Straight up: PLUMB - the same client with the pantry doors just got a new pocket door installed

7. Classic laundry soap: RINSO - I have heard of this brand, but I used Tide, then switched to soap flakes as suggested by the book "Laundry Love" which I learned of from sumdaze - name(ish)

8. "Jeepers!": "ACK~!" - Dah~! Not "EEK~!"

9. Little laugh: HEE - waited on perps; HEE, HAW or TEE~?

10. Beyond irritated: FED UP - the name chosen for the new merger of Federal Express and UPS 😜

11. Try to make right: ATONE FOR - 2-word #2

12. Pasadena research univ.: CAL TECH - 2-word #3

13. Pre-naturalization test course, for short: ESL - "English as Second Language" - Do you have to take the test/course these days~?

19. Meemaw alternative: NANA - no one in my family has ever used either term for "Granny"

21. "McSorley's Bar" painter: SLOAN - John, name #8

24. "__ Andronicus": TITUS - T.I.L. this is a Shakespeare play, name #9

25. Ceremonial accessory: SASH - I tried VEIL first

26. Rental after closing, maybe: U-HAUL - I was thinking a place to sleep after closing on the sale of a house, but you haven't bought a new one, like "HOTEL"

27. Hardware for Xbox: PCs

32. Cow's milk source: UDDER - this is udderly true . . . 🙄

33. US Open locale: NYC - I figured it was the tennis Open

34. Interstate stopover: MOTEL - so my HOTEL was looking wrong now . . .

35. Fig. for ordering replacement parts: SERIAL No. - 2-words, yeah, but I like this fill, #4

36. Set pieces: REPS - at the gym. I am now 193.0lbs - I took a pic of the scale last Saturday; my trainer allows 3lbs for sneakers and clothes - when I picked up the phone for the image, it added .5lbs~!

Now my trainer thinks I can get down to 160lbs - Yikes~!

37. Peach __: MELBA - Pie & Cobbler didn't fit the dish

38. "So sweet!": "Aww. . ."

39. Side mirror spot: CAR DOOR - I clipped the one on the passenger side on my Dodge Grand Caravan, bought a replacement unit, but to get to the screws I have to strip out half the dashboard - I'm in no hurry, and the mirror isn't actually broken - it's the remote motor that doesn't work - 2-word #5

43. Cider source: PEAR - never heard of cider from pears - it's called Perry; a recipe here

45. Like some cheesecake: NO-BAKE - technically, there's a hyphen, so not a 2-word answer

46. Region with many Nats fans, briefly: D.C. AREA - 2-word(ish)

47. Overview producer?: SKYCAM - Big Brother is watching . . . 😶

49. Canteen stack: TRAYS

50. Perceived to be: SAW AS - aaaand Twurd~!

52. Uncool: NERDY

56. Auto care brand: STP - Crossword staple

57. Actress Grier: PAM - two mentions in three weeks for me, name #10

58. Come up short, maybe: OWE

59. Minor quibble: NIT - "can't you see that man is a nit~!"

No, dagnubbit~!

Splynter

Grid Flow an even 30.0 - and it was the Katie puzzle I blogged

where I first introduced this parameter

Aug 13, 2026

Thursday August 13, 2026 Desirée Penner & Jeff Sinnock

When Desirée Penner and Jeff Sinnock were standing at the altar, the minister asked them, "What's an oath of acceptance? Three letters." She immediately said, "YES," and he said, "VOW." The minister shook his head. "Try again." They eventually came up with, "I DO," and the Crossword Couple was born.

All these answers are answers...to questions from celebrities. The resulting common phrases end with a pun using the celebs first names.

18. Reply when Mr. Nicholson asks, "How do you like your coffee?": BLACK, JACK. JACK Nicholson. Like most of today's celebs, he needs no introduction. Yay!

24. Reply when Mr. Garfunkel asks how everyone is doing?: FINE, ART. ART Garfunkel. My favorite reply of the bunch.

39. Reply when Mr. Nye asks why there are so many wind turbines?: ELECTRICITY, BILL. BILL Nye, the Science Guy. Perhaps this phrase is more commonly known as an ELECRTIC BILL.

51. Reply when Ms. Deeley mentions her new TV gig?: COOL, CAT. CAT Deeley is a British television presenter? This is the only person I didn't know, but was very inferable. So, it's COOL.

60. Reply when Mr. Hamill says, "May the Force be with you"?: DITTO, MARK. MARK Hamill, AKA Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. A DITTO MARK looks like a double quote symbol " or " " under a word or words you want to repeat.

I liked the execution of this puzzle better than some punster themes we see. No awkward spellings or twisted phrases made to fit. And, with the possible exception of CAT, all the celebrities are well known. Good, clean fun all around!

And now, on with the show:

Across:

1. Biblical queen's land: SHEBA.

6. "Hurry!" letters: ASAP. As Soon As Possible. I can hear the groans already, and I mostly agree. So, I wrote STAT.

10. Mojito garnish: MINT. I wrote LIME and voilà! I had two of the first three answers wrong!

14. Cultured sort?: PEARL.

15. Interpretation: TAKE. What's your TAKE on this clue?

16. Chimps and gorillas: APES.

17. Like 11-Down and 27-Across, often: ON TAP. It's a "pony keg"-sized mini-theme!

18. [theme]

20. Lode load: ORE.

21. Bam Adebayo's team: HEAT. Bam Adebayo plays on the Miami HEAT basketball team. In March, he scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards (I guess they left their wands at home). That is the second-highest single-game scoring performance in NBA history!

23. Merchant stalls: KIOSKS. In related news, music KIOSKS are bandstands like the one in Henri Rousseau's painting at 2-Down.

24. [theme]

26. Beloved: DEAR.

27. Beer with a Grillo's Pickles flavor, briefly: PBR. Pabst Blue Ribbon. I've heard of people putting a pickle spear in their beer mug, but this concoction seems like a bad idea.

28. Short clip?: VID. Short for VIDeo.

29. Warbled: SANG.

33. Bicycle spokes, essentially: RADII. A single spoke is a radio. Or maybe I'm thinking of an antenna.

36. Grand-scale tales: SAGAS. Anyone seen The Odyssey yet?

38. Battle (for): VIE. Like Matt Damon as Odysseus, taking on giants.

Except this pic shows his stunt-double, Devyn Dalton, a woman!

39. [theme]

42. Yahoo! alternative: AOL. So last century...although my brother still uses ~~LOL~~ AOL.

43. Midsize car: SEDAN.

44. Great Grandma?: MOSES. I grew up with a Grandma MOSES print hanging by our dining table. I always thought it was just a winter scene of people playing in the snow. It wasn't until returning home as an adult that I really looked at it and noticed everyone was working, making maple syrup.

"Sugaring Off" 1955

45. Lat neighbor: DELT. Lats (Latissimus Dorsi) and DELTs (Deltoids) are upper body muscle groups.

47. "Mean Girls" screenwriter Tina: FEY. She of SNL fame, among other things.

48. Center prefix: EPI. EPIcenter - the exact spot on the ground above where an earthquake starts. Being at the epicenter was disastrous for the poor souls of Venezuela and Columbia recently.

49. Big bustles: ADOS. In the late 1800's, women with big ADOS were all the rage.

51. [theme]

55. One with an eye for dotting i's: EDITOR. EDITORs and proofreaders may correct a missing dot (called a tittle) on a lowercase "i", although in modern digital text it's usually caused by a font glitch rather than forgetfulness.

58. Downsides: CONS.

59. Director DuVernay: AVA. AVA is an award-winning director of TV and movies, including a Best Picture nod for Selma.

60. [theme]

62. Along for the ride, say: IN TOW. Kinda sorta.

64. Nerve: GALL.

65. Lake at the Detroit River's end: ERIE.

66. Track star Bolt: USAIN. He's just the fastest man alive.

67. Fashion monthly: ELLE. Unfortunately, my subscription ran out, so I'm left wearing t-shirts like this.

68. Informal claim: DIBS.

69. Moore of "This Is Us": MANDY. MANDY made a successful pivot from teenage pop star to Emmy-nominated actress.

Then and now.

Down:

1. "Weird Al" specialty: SPOOF. "Weird Al" Yankovic has four gold records and six platinum ones, and has won five Grammy's. "I Love Rocky Road!"

2. Postimpressionist painter Rousseau: HENRI. HENRI paints in a Naive or Primitive manner. He's like the Grandma Moses of France! They also have something else in common - they both started painting late in life.

"View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk" 1910

3. All finished, say: EATEN.

4. Wacoal garment: BRA. Wacoal is a major international manufacturer of women's lingerie and intimate apparel from Japan. But I didn't know this as my subscription to ELLE expired as noted earlier.

5. Cereal that once featured a crossword puzzle in magazine ads: ALPHA-BITS. This one came out in 1959. I'm still working on it because I can't find a Q.

799 boxes later...

6. Currently hitting: AT BAT.

7. Curing agent: SALT.

8. Otherwise called: AKA. Also Known As the answer to this clue.

9. Like a bird feeder: PECKED AT.

10. College paths: MAJORS. College paths: DESIRE. Desire to graduate and get a good job? Maybe, but desire paths are unofficial trails leading more directly to a destination, as often seen on campuses.

11. Some craft pours, for short: IPAS. India Pale Ales.

12. Make out: NECK. This is canoodling, but if you crane your NECK, you can make out a couple in the back row.

13. Tuts: TSKS.

19. Korean automaker: KIA. "Who makes that new KN car?" KIA's redesigned logo created quite a controversy when it was unveiled in 2021. But all publicity is good publicity, and the confusion generated millions of free internet searches.

22. Go amiss: ERR.

25. Grand-scale tale: EPIC. A clecho of 36A, but singular.

26. "Bon appetit!": DIG IN. French cuisine vs. American in a nutshell.

28. Short trip?: VACAY. A little vacation.

30. Rental car giant: AVIS. This may be needed on one's VACAY.

31. River near the Great Pyramid: NILE. Looks more like a pool to me...wait, that's the Luxor in Las Vegas.

32. Meshes well: GELS.

33. Interpretation: READ. It's cleco day. What's your READ on this?

34. Spiky succulent: ALOE.

35. "Hi-ho, the derry-o" locale: DELL. From "The Farmer in the DELL".

36. Heads and tails: SIDES. Although there's a small chance a coin will land on its EDGE.

37. Academic gathering: SYMPOSIUM.

40. Back on the straight and narrow: REFORMED.

41. Fume: BOIL.

46. Be a rat: TATTLE. I didn't know rats could sing.

48. One billion years: EON. However, in formal Earth geology, an eon is a variable block of time lasting hundreds of millions to billions of years rather than an exact number.

50. "Yabba-dabba-__!": DOO. People from Dubai don't watch the Flintstones, but people from Abu Dhabi do! I'll be here all weekend.

51. Classic colas: COKES. In another case of all publicity is good, Coca-Cola's' failed introduction of New COKE in 1985 created a backlash that propelled sales of the original "Classic" COKE. Conspiracy theorists have suggested they did this on purpose to revitalized sales.

52. Board game with settlers: CATAN. Back when my boys lived closer to home, they'd come by on Sundays and we'd play board games. We liked CATAN, and apparently so did everyone else - it has sold over 45 million copies worldwide and is available in more than 40 languages.

53. Dance around: AVOID. I learned to play the guitar so I could AVOID dancing around at school hops.

54. Like some port: TAWNY. TAWNY port gets its name from its warm, amber-brown color, which develops from long aging in oak barrels.

55. Perimeter: EDGE. Heads or tails? I call EDGE!

56. Body wash brand: DIAL.

57. "C'mon, __ be fun": IT'LL.

58. Spot for a tot: CRIB. Some are nice than others.

61. Cal. neighbor: ARI. California and Arizona.

63. Codebreaker Challenge org.: NSA. The National Security Agency. The Codebreaker Challenge is an annual, cybersecurity competition offered to high school and college students who try to solve realistic threat scenarios.

Be good. RB

Aug 12, 2026

Wednesday, August 12, 2026, Erik Agard

SWISH! Or Nothin' but Net!

Another slam dunk from Erik Agard!

While "hat trick" is not used, basketball has other milestones based on the number three or achieving three feats:

The Triple-Double: Getting double-digit numbers in three out of five categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals) in a single game.

Three-Peat: Winning three championship titles in a row.

Three-Pointer: Scoring a field goal from beyond the three-point arc.

The Reveal:

53 Across. Distance shot in basketball, or what 16-, 26-, and 39-Across are altogether?: LOGO THREE.

A logo 3 in basketball is a three-pointer shot taken from extreme range, specifically at or near the mid-court center circle where the teams floor logo is painted.

How is this represented in the 3 themers you ask? Why, it's simple! The first word of each begins with LO, and the last word begins with GO. Coming up with a new and fresh theme after more than 100 years of crossword puzzles is a long shot, I just didn't expect Erik to do it literally!

16 Across. "I like it!": LOOKS GOOD. (Like a long shot that goes "swish.")

26 Across. Bucket list item, perhaps: LONG TIME GOAL. (Long air time that is...)

39 Across. Not rigid: LOOSEY-GOOSEY. (Absolutely necessary to make those long shots....)

Let's see if there is anything in the fill that could block our shot at this theme...

Across:
1. Succeed in a class: PASS. (Or succeed in basketball, don't hog the ball...)

5. With 47-Down, tropical shade providers: PALM.

9. Content warning letters: NSFW. Not Suitable For Work.

13. Two-tone apex predator: ORCA.

Pass me the ball!

14. Inventor's jumping-off point: IDEA.

15. Underwater detector: SONAR.

16. [Theme]

18. Location: PLACE.

19. Out like a light: ASLEEP.

20. Vintner's harvest: GRAPES.

21. Top stripe of a pride flag: RED.

Hmm, not always red...

22. Lousy grade: DEE. (I always wait, could be C or F...)

24. "Gosh!": GEE.

25. Channel with music videos and "Reba" reruns: CMT. Country Music Television.

26. [Theme]

29. Statistical average: MEAN.

There ya go, now it's about s clear as mud...

31. Jokes: GAGS. (I never joke about statistical averages...)

32. Cunning plan: RUSE.

Not really a ruse, but I couldn't resist..

33. "A Change Is __ Come": GONNA. The sad history behind this song can be found here.

34. Victor Wembanyama's org.: NBA. (Is this a Clecho?)

35. Features of 4c hair: KINKS. Ten hairstyles Suitable for type 4c hair.

36. A single time: ONCE.

37. Plant anchor: ROOT.

38. CPR pros: EMTS. (Crossword staple.)

39. [Theme]

42. Seasonal vaccine target: FLU.

43. Some undergrad degs.: BAS. Bachelor of Arts degrees.

44. Fleeting snooze: NAP.

45. Pvt. trainer: SGT.

48. Chicken __ bleu: CORDON. If you ever get tired of making chicken salad from your leftover chicken:

TRY THIS!

50. Throw trash away, but not in a trash can: LITTER. (Please dont...)

52. An additional time: AGAIN.

53. [Theme Reveal.]

56. Sport with scrums: RUGBY. This may be difficult for Americans unfamiliar with the game to comprehend, but it is a way to restart play fairly after a minor infraction.

Can you predict what side will regain control of the ball?

57. Component of steel: IRON.

58. Lack of difficulty: EASE.

59. Simple tops: TEES.

60. Domestic four-leggers: PETS.

61. "Their __ Were Watching God": EYES. Tough one if you don't know luckily 4 perps to the rescue...

Down:
1. Big name in seltzer water: POLAR. Tough one, as not really seen in my area. And now with the hard seltzer market, Polar gets lost in the crowd.

2. Came up: AROSE.

3. Give a talking-to: SCOLD.

4. "For goodness' __!": SAKE.

5. Animal enclosure with a namesake cipher: PIGPEN. The Wiki Explanation.

6. "And now, without further __ ... ": ADO.

7. Sign before Virgo: LEO.

8. Ticked off: MAD.

9. Mardi Gras city, familiarly: NOLA. New Orleans.

10. Signals called by a quarterback before each play: SNAP COUNT.

11. Protections against respiratory illnesses: FACE MASKS.

12. Competes on a mat: WRESTLES.

15. Shopping jag: SPREE.

17. Arizona city near the Seven Sacred Pools: SEDONA.

17 minutes worth of sightseeing.

20. Precious stones: GEMS.

23. Creamy Christmas concoctions: EGGNOGS.

24. Huge unit of mass: GIGATON. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

26. Pool divisions: LANES.

27. Like a dirty word: TABOO. I dunno.. (see below.)

28. Dirty: GRIMY. (Is grimy taboo?)

29. Actor's audition selection: MONOLOGUE.

30. Spur on: ENCOURAGE.

33. Transport on the way to sink a putt: GOLF CART.

35. "You hang on to that": KEEP IT.

37. "Sinners" director Coogler: RYAN. Ack! A Name!

40. Dark wood: EBONY.

41. Makeover sites: SALONS.

45. Wander off: STRAY.

46. V-formation flyers: GEESE.

47. See 5-Across: TREES.

49. "I call it!": DIBS.

51. Old-school "you": THEE. (Or thou, or ye, but don't get too hung up on thyself...)

53. Guff: LIP.

54. Metallic resource: ORE.

55. Duped: GOT.

And, The Grid.

There you have it. Was it a slam dunk for you (or thou.) or did you jam your thumb?

Let us know in the comments...

CE:D out.

(˵◝ ⩊ ◜˵マ

P.S. A Crossword Corner Blog Interview with Erik Agard from 2013 can be found here.

Aug 11, 2026

Tuesday August 11, 2026 Rena Cohen

Shape-Shifters:

4-Down. Aspiring actor's asset: STAR QUALITY.

8-Down. Trustworthy sort: SQUARE SHOOTER.

17-Down. Intensely shocking events: HEART STOPPERS.

27-Down. Peak physical condition, or a feature of 4-, 8-, and 17-Down: TIP-TOP SHAPE. Each of the the theme clues is in the down position, making the Shape at the Tip-Top of the answer.

Here's the Grid:

Which personality shape helps you complete this puzzle?

Across:

1. Colorful violet kin: PANSY. I love these flowers.

6. Suga and Jung Kook's band: BTS. BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. The band makes frequent appearances in the puzzles.

9. "__ the Cat": children's book series: PETE. Pete the Cat was not around when I was a child.

13. Give a speech: ORATE.

14. Atty.'s title: ESQ.

15. And others, in a bibliography: ET AL. We had a discussion about this Latin phrase just two weeks ago.

16. Highly sensitive person: EMPATH.

18. Kitchen deputy: SOUS CHEF. The Sous Chef was in last Tuesday's puzzle and is visiting us again today.

20. Old Russian ruler: TSAR.

21. Bothers greatly: EATS AT.

23. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Obi-Wan Kenobi wearing an Obi. // And 56-Down. Offspring of Leia and Han: KYLO. References to the Star Wars franchise.

24. Thigh muscles, familiarly: QUADS.

26. Exposes, in a way: RATS ON.

28. Treat that may be dipped in dulce de leche: CHURRO. Yummers! A churro is a type of fried dough from Spanish and Portuguese cuisine, made with choux pastry dough piped into hot oil with a piping bag and large closed star tip or similar shape.

30. Indiana University basketball coach Moren: TERI. Teri Marie Moren (b. Apr. 14, 1969) is the current head coach of the Indiana University women's basketball team. Unknown to me.

31. Flexible: PLIANT.

32. Amusement park time-saver: FAST PASS.

36. Former first lady Biden: JILL. Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (b. June 3, 1951) was Second Lady from January 2009 to January 2017 and First Lady from January 2021 to January 2025.

37. Winter migration direction: SOUTH.

39. Tried's partner: TRUE. Tried and True ...

40. "Hear me out ... ": SO, LISTEN. I initially tried Listen Up.

42. Woodwind section player: OBOIST.

44. Norse god of thunder: THOR.

45. Two-door cars: COUPES.

46. Neaten: TIDY UP.

49. Many shelter dogs: MUTTS.

50. Astonishment: AWE.

51. Soft drink brand with a "lymon" logo: SPRITE.

53. Creative solution: HACK.

57. Spinning toy: PINWHEEL.

59. "Are you serious?": REALLY.

61. "Let It Go" singer: ELSA. A reference to the Disney film Frozen. Elsa is the fictional character in the film. The actual performer is Idina Menzel (b. May 31, 1971).

62. Genetic transcription molecule: RNA. Another last Tuesday repeat.

63. Thread holder: SPOOL.

64. Snow day ride: SLED.

65. Daughter's brother: SON.

66. Canine command akin to "drop it": LET GO!

Down:

1. Expert concerned with feet?: POET. Everything you ever wanted to know about poetic feet.

2. Octopus octet: ARMS. Octopuses are Remarkably Bright Creatures.

3. Auto parts giant that shares a name with a California wine valley: NAPA. The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) was founded in Detroit in 1925 by 28 independent auto parts suppliers to fix an unorganized parts market.

5. So far: YET.

6. One-ups: BESTS.

7. General __ chicken: TSO'S. General Tso's chicken is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish. It supposedly was first created in the 1950s in Taiwan.

9. Delt neighbor: PEC. Deltoid and Pectoral muscle groups.

10. Shared ideology: ETHOS.

11. Martial arts-based fitness regimen: TAE-BO. Everything you wanted to know about Tae-Bo.

12. Like Santa's helpers: ELFIN.

19. One end of a maze: START.

22. Ruckus: ADO.

25. Spot where there's no trouble brewing?: URN.

28. Advertising award: CLIO. The Clio Awards were first awarded in 1959 for advertising. The name is derived from the Greek mythological muse, known as the recorder and glorifier of great deeds and accomplishments.