Thursday May 7, 2026 Zachary David Levy

Zachary David Levy is a man with a plan. We last saw him here a few months ago in January with "Speak Up," another synonym theme where words spelled upwards on the grid.

The master plan becomes clear with the revealer:

37. "Let's do this thing!," or what can be said about each set of circles in this puzzle: SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN. The circled letters create made-up sound-alikes for words that mean PLAN. They all can fill in the blank, "What is your ____?" 

17. Some tissue in the central nervous system: GRAY MATTER. AYM sounds like AIM.

23. Quantum mechanics phenomenon: SUPER POSITION. PERPOS sounds like PURPOSE. For those of you that aren't physicists, a SUPER POSITION is the principle that physical systems can exist in multiple states, locations, or configurations simultaneously. Got it?

47. Sweet and tart fruit drink: MANGO LEMONADE. GOL sounds like GOAL.

58. Therapeutic canopy for some respiratory ailments: OXYGEN TENT. ENTENT sounds like INTENT.

I don't mind circles, but I'm bad at anagrams. However, the first one was easy, only three letters - either MAY or YAM. Now I'm looking for months or tubers. When I couldn't unscramble PERPOS, I figured it must be some foreign name I'd never heard of. Fortunately, the revealer came up in the middle and saved me from tearing my hair out on the rest of them. No anagrams, just imaginary homophones for synonyms of "PLAN". And you have to use your imagination to see beyond their spelling to hopefully pronounce them correctly. So, this puzzle was OKAY, although like last Thursday, it seems a bit easy for this late in the week.

Let's see how his strategy plays out:

Across:

1. Hajj destination: MECCA.

6. Foxtrot follower: GOLF. Actually, after the Foxtrot came the Charleston. But in this case, the letters "F" and "G" are from the NATO alphabet. 

10. Took off: LEFT.

14. Brilliance: ECLAT. ÉCLAT (pronounced "ay-KLAH") is a French term meaning doing something with great style.

15. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA. I liked ANYA in The Queens' Gambit, then was disappointed in The Gorge. She and a single Russian counterpart are tasked with protecting all of mankind from unknown evils that reside in a gorge. With humanity at stake, wouldn't you assign more than two people to do this?

16. Land division: ACRE. Land division: GORGE. 

17. [theme]

19. Brit's trunk: BOOT. Britt's trunk: BOOTY.

Brittany Spears

20. Not to be trusted, in slang: SUS. I SUSpect this sounds SUSpicious.

21. Condo gp.: HOA. HomeOwners Association.

22. Elusive picture book character: WALDO. Hiding in plain sight was a skill he learned as a child when there were chores to do.

Waldo, please take out the trash. Waldo? Waldo!

23. [theme]

28. Frozen gutter problem: ICE DAM. Not a problem in Florida.

30. "Saturday Night Live" unit: SKIT. "Saturday Night Live" is abbreviated SNL. Oh wait, it's usually the other way around.

31. "Ditto": SO DO I.

32. Not great, say: OKAY.

34. Sanskrit title of respect: SRI.

37. [theme]

41. Mont Blanc, e.g.: ALP. Mont Blanc, e.g.: PEN.

42. Mystery writer Buchanan: EDNA. In addition to crime novelist, EDNA is a journalist who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting "for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting."

43. Lego unit: BRICK.

44. Yogurt bowl berry: ACAI.

46. Homes: ABODES.

47. [theme]

52. Not of this world: ALIEN.

53. Messy class, often: ART. I've noticed that many artistic people seem to thrive in organized mess.

54. Uno y uno: DOS. 1+1=2 lección de matemáticas (math lesson in Spanish). 

57. __ diagram: VENN.

58. [theme]

62. Board VIP: EXEC. An EXECutive is a Very Important Person, or so they think.

63. McEntire of country: REBA. REBA, also known as "The Queen of Country," has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She's had over 100 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with 25 reaching number one. In spite of all that, she seems very down-to-earth.

She's a real VIP.

64. Italian bowling game: BOCCE. It's like curling without the ice!

65. __ a soul: NARY.

66. Tree of Knowledge location: EDEN.

67. A bit off: ASKEW. Just look up "RustyBrain" in the dictionary.

Down:

1. Gig segments: MEGS. My first thought was SETS, as in a band playing music for the evening. But this is a computer reference to Gigabytes which are made up of 1000 Megabytes.

2. Earth tone: ECRU.

3. Brought elegance to: CLASSED UP. It's what happens when I walk into any joint. So I'm told.

4. Sandy island: CAY. Same as a key. 

5. Outer bank?: ATM. Nice clue. Automated Teller Machine.

6. "Later, __!": GATOR. In a while, crocodile!

7. Ready to go: ON TAP.

8. NaOH, more familiarly: LYE. RightBrain took a break from perfecting sourdough breads and decided to try her hand at Bavarian pretzels. The recipe called for soaking them in LYE (sodium hydroxide), just like bagels. It's highly caustic so she made a baking soda bath instead, but if used, the LYE will break down in the oven. 

The knots were hard to do...but they tasted great!

9. Not walkable, say: FAR.

10. Canadian brewery: LABATT. LABATT is now part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev family.

11. Cause of some food poisoning: E. COLI.

12. Baggins of the Shire: FRODO. This also could have been Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is Bilbo's second cousin, once removed, but Bilbo affectionately considers him a nephew.

13. "Grand" peak visible from eastern Idaho: TETON.

18. "Standing right here!": AHEM. "You know I can hear you, right?"

22. Mario Kart platform: WII. WII was a popular Nintendo gaming console discontinued in 2013. It lives on here because it has two "I"s. Like most of us.

24. Soba alternative: UDON. UDON and soba are staple Japanese noodles with distinct differences: Udon is thick, chewy, and white (wheat-based), while soba is thin, earthy, and brownish (buckwheat-based).

25. No longer in arrears: PAID.

26. Port city east of Kobe: OSAKA.

27. __ terrier: SKYE. SKYE Terriers were originally bred in the 1600s on Scotland's Isle of Skye to protect farms and livestock by hunting and killing predators, such as foxes and badgers. Their low-slung, sturdy bodies,, tough, long double coats, and fierce, intelligent nature allowed them to tackle prey and thrive in harsh, rocky Scottish weather.

28. Actress Rae: ISSA. ISSA Rae is an Emmy-nominated actress, writer, producer, director and entrepreneur. And she has lots of usable letters in her name.

29. Refrigerate: COOL.

32. Tune rarely played on Top 40 radio: OLDIE. Unfortunately, every song I used to listen to on Top 40 radio is now an oldie. I wonder what that says about me?

33. Family: KIN.

34. PowerPoint file, essentially: SLIDE DECK.  I wanted SLIDE SHOW.

35. Zoom: RACE.

36. Signs, as a contract: INKS.

38. Animal that goes with the floe?: SEAL. Winner: Best Clue.

39. "Fernando" band: ABBA. Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, and 400 million albums later...

ABBA won singing "Waterloo"

40. Egg on: PROD.

44. Ability to shape one's own future: AGENCY.

45. Fleece: CON.

46. Poker stake: ANTE.

47. Whiz: MAVEN.

48. Wrestler Bliss known as "Five Feet of Fury": ALEXA. What made her furious was her Amazon Echo that answered every time someone called her.

49. West Coast NFLer: NINER. The San Franciso 49ers, named after the thousands of prospectors who flocked to Northern California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. "Dwelt a miner, forty-NINER..."

50. "It's always possible": MAYBE.

51. Church fixture: ORGAN. I love the massive sound of a pipe organ in a large church. And if one ever breaks, call 1-800-SPLYNTER.

55. __ in a while: ONCE.

56. Hearty bowlful: STEW.

58. Seam contents: ORE.

59. Crossed (out): XED. "X" is often used as shorthand for "cross," as in xwords.

60. Org. for Jazz quintets?: NBA. The Utah JAZZ from the National Basketball Association. Basketball is played with five players on each side.

61. Talking-__: TOS. And in the "terrible twos," the tots talk back!

Be good. RB

Wednesday, May 6, 2026 - Sita C. Palepu & David Y. Lin

 

Theme:  Texas "Fold'em"

Puzzling thoughts:

Chairman Moe here for his monthly recap.  Unlike the April Fool's Day puzzle, the first Wednesday of May puzzle is a bit more straight-forward.  Maybe too easy as I don't recall having much difficulty solving it

 

Today's constructors appear to have had one other collaborative puzzle published (@ WSJ last August). A Google search for their names did not offer much additional information; perhaps one or both will stop by, read the blog, and offer their comments

 

The puzzle's reveal was probably unnecessary as the starts to 18-23-37-47 Across are all very common POKER terms.  Maybe using CHECK as a fifth term would have made more sense, and eliminate the reveal completely.  Also, POKER NIGHT sometimes consists of playing DRAW POKER and/or 5-card and 7-card STUD POKER - all of which do not feature an "ALL-IN" play as does TEXAS HOLD EM.  But I bet they didn't think of that ... care to wager if they did or didn't? 

 

The entries and reveal:

 

18 Across. "I say we're square now": CALL IT EVEN.  Sounds like a compromise, to me

 

23 Across. Set new, higher standards: RAISE THE BAR.  Sometimes, after reading a few of my fellow blogger's recaps, I wonder if they (or I) have raised the bar for how clever or unique.  Today's recap will definitely "lower" the bar 😀

 

37 Across. Versatile home office device: ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER.  Good choice of entry as the term "all-in" (for Texas Hold em) is hyphenated

 

47 Across. Do a wash day chore: FOLD LAUNDRY.  As my cartoon depicts, folding a fitted sheet should be part of a contest.  Miss M and I choose to make the bed with the sheets we wash, thereby avoiding the dreaded fold of the bottom sheet

 

55 Across. Evening when one hopes to get a good deal, and when one might hear the starts of 18-, 23-, 37-, and 47-Across: POKER NIGHT.  As I said in my "puzzling thoughts", poker night is not just playing Texas Hold em.  But hey, everything fit into place and after reviewing each additional word or phrase in today's puzzle we can comment on how fun it was to solve

 

Here is the GRID: 

 

 

Across:
1. Copious quantity: SEAS.  Not an often used clue for this word; I have seen the clue used to describe the word "OCEANS", though

5. Kiss or slap: SMACK.  Sometimes one follows the other ...

10. Fashion designer Cassini: OLEG.  [Wikipedia] "Oleg Cassini was a fashion designer born to an aristocratic Russian family with maternal Italian ancestry. He came to the United States as a young man after launching his career as a designer in Rome, and quickly secured a position with Paramount Pictures. Cassini established his reputation by designing for films"

14. Crawl (along): INCH.  "Slowly I turned ... step by step ... INCH by INCH ..." Anyone care to guess who said this, and to what response?

15. Host: EMCEE. 

16. Bird symbolizing peace: DOVE.  An old Moe-ku, but appropriate:

        A DOVE flew by and

        Landed on a church steeple,

        Uttering high coo    

17. Canvas bag: TOTE.

[entry]

20. Uncomfortably unfamiliar: ALIEN.  Adjective form; not a noun in this context

22. Handy tool for the error-prone: ERASER. Back when I solved my crossword puzzles on paper, I used an ink pen; never used an ERASER

[entry]

27. Pianist in "Casablanca": SAM.  "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'" [Ilsa Lund]

 

29. Egrets, e.g.: HERONS.  Eries: HURONS

30. Flout openly: DEFY. At first glance I thought this clue read: "Flour openly" - for which I almost entered COAT 

31. Family doctor, for short: PCP.  Moe-l'ick:

        My new doctor is a hippie, you see;

        Hallucinates, when examining me

        For anything that's weird.

        No worries; I'm not sceered 

        Because my PCP's on PCP 

 34. Juicy gossip: DIRT. 

35. Conjure up: CREATE.  See my comments to 16 and 31 Across ... (ps: there'll be a few more ... )

[entry]

40. Leavening agents: YEASTS.  Also, agents that trigger the start of fermentation in wine, as these little buggers convert sugar to alcohol

41. Spool: REEL.  Regurgitating another Moe-l'ick:

 

        Going fishing, it has its appeal

        At least that's what I thought; my gut feel.

        Until seas got so rough

        I said, "That's quite enough!

        I can't handle the rod when I REEL"   

42. Grads-to-be: SRS.  I'm one of many SRS I know who ain't graduating from anything - been there, done that

43. Floor oppositions: NAYS.  CEILINGS was too big of a word to fit

44. Appeared: SEEMED.  Moe-ku:

 

        Tailor was shocked! Man

        Came back to fix loose cuffs. His

        Pants SEEMED to be seamed ...

  

46. Hesitant utterance: ERM. I call "foul"!  The clue needs to suggest that this refers to a British interjection.  No one that I know on this side of the pond uses the word/term "erm"

[entry]

52. "The Daily Show" genre: SATIRE.  Can't comment; no use of politics or religion allowed on this blog site

54. Throwback diet: PALEO.  I had to hunt (via Google) why the term PALEO would be a "throwback" diet.  And after gathering the information, I immediately knew ... 

[reveal]

59. Journalist Lisa: LING.  It took a while before there was a last/proper name in this puzzle.  Kudos!  (I don't count "SAM" as the clue was rather easy to suss)

60. Power source: FUEL.  Speaking of which, I feel myself "running out of energy", so I am going to finish the Across words and take a break.  Might fuel myself with an adult beverage and see if that helps

61. Big bullies: OGRES. Crossword-ese

62. Against: ANTI. Crossword-ese

63. __-Alt-Del: CTRL. The old "three-finger salute"! 

64. Heavy landing sound: THUNK.  Really?  I thought this word was the conjugation of "think and thank" - you know, like "drink, drank, drunk"

65. First lady between Eleanor and Mamie: BESS.  This first lady was known for her privacy and had a few classic quotes (at least that's what AI said)

[time for a drink and a break and to begin fixing dinner - 4/30/26, 5:30 pm MST]

 

[OK, I am back - 5/01/26 10:30 am MST - dinner last night was stuffed peppers and a nice Beaujolais] 

Down:
1. Instrument that may have 21 strings: SITAR.  So, after a quick Google check, sitars can have between 18 and 21 strings - found this YouTube video that will explain

 

2. "__ Holmes": Millie Bobby Brown film: ENOLA.  Enola Gay, I've heard of; Enola Holmes? Nope

3. Brand of microwave popcorn: ACT II.  I like to make my microwave popcorn using a device similar to the one shown below:

 

4. "Gimme a break!": SHEESH. 

 

 

Ha!

 

5. "Gimme a __!": SEC.  

6. UFC sport: MMA.  Ultimate Fighting Contest = Mixed Martial Arts

7. Oft-torn knee pt.: ACL.  Anterior Cruciate Ligament

8. A-listers: CELEBS. Lots of abbreviated words in the "Down" section

9. Knightley of the Netflix series "Black Doves": KEIRA.

 

 

Best known for "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies

10. Lyrical tributes: ODES.  This is how you clue a mid-week level use of the word "ode".  When I solved today's puzzle (May 1st - Friday) the clue was a title ("An ODE We Own")

11. Small sofas: LOVE SEATS.  I wonder if the term love seat came from the shape of one's butt?  Keeping this "clean" here, the person in the middle definitely has a heart-shaped tush; could you say that it's a "love seat"?? 

12. Until the end of time: EVER AFTER.  Sounds like a fairy tale, to me

13. __ X: GEN. "SPACE" had too many letters to fit

19. Road goo: TAR.  I'm guessing now that winter has finally passed, the road crews will be filling in some potholes with road goo 

21. "You __ worry": NEEDN'T.  Ok, I won't

24. Charlie's Angels and the Powerpuff Girls: TRIOS.  I'm guessing that this clue was trying to appeal to both Boomer's and GEN Y's

25. Traffic jam sound: HORN.  I suppose you could use HONK or TOOT, too

26. Joined: ENTERED.  As in a Zoom meeting or Chat room?

28. Austin Powers player Mike: MYERS.  International Man of Mystery

 

 

30. Study: DEN.  Study (noun), as in a room; not study (verb), as for an exam

31. Writer/director Alexander with two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay: PAYNE.  This clue really got my knickers in a twist; "Golfer Stewart:" would've been a far easier clue for this solver 

32. Empties completely: CLEARS OUT.  ERASES was too short

33. Team leader on offense: PLAY-MAKER.  Usually a wide receiver or running back

35. Mexican condiment: CREMA.  CSO to Lucina - perhaps she could elucidate this for us?!

36. Agitate: RILE UP.  Never the intention of my blogs

38. Facility that may see 16 sunrises a day, familiarly: ISS. International Space Station

39. Fruit covering: PEEL.  RIND also fit

44. Santa's ride: SLEIGH. Moe-ku:

 

        Santa "crushed" Christmas. 

        Folks 'round the world called it a

        One-horse open slay 

45. Paternity testing site: DNA LAB.  When I did the math, there are 12 abbreviations in today's puzzle. That seems to be a bit on the high side

47. Aromatic tree: FIR. Aromatic hair: FUR

48. "... never mind, then": OR NOT. Hmm

49. NFL tackling gp.: D-LINE.  They are ones trying to restrict 33 Down from making a big play (Defensive LINE)

50. Monopoly income: RENTS.  Really?  Rent can be pluralized? IMHO, this would have been a perfect spot to use a clue that yielded an abbreviated word ... 'rents - as in the slang for one's mom and dad

51. Ashram leaders: YOGIS.  

 

53. Unintentional giveaway: TELL.  Good use of this clue today as the theme is based upon poker

 

55. Rank below cpl.: PFC.  Private First Class

56. Steve Carell voice role: GRU. Gru is a grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical supervillain and the boss of the Minions, who also serves as a secret agent in order to fight other supervillains [Wikipedia]

 

57. Coop resident: HEN. I prefer my hens to be "free range"

58. Judgy sound: TSK. [sigh]

Epilogue:

First off, you might have noticed that I used zero hyperlinks today.  I figure you all need a while to get over last month's recap

Second, my score for today's puzzle is ⭐⭐and 1/2⭐'s.  I would like to give it a higher mark but the nicks are for assuming that POKER NIGHT consists only of Texas Hold Em, and the over-use of abbreviations.  Positives for the entries; my favorite was ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER