L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Oct 3, 2026

Saturday, October 3, 2026, Tom Pepper

Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper

Today, C.C.'s good friend and occasional co-constructor, Tom Pepper, has provided us with a very nice Saturday puzzle. Tom is the retired finance director for Eagan, MN. and spent time with C.C. and Boomer. He also was a great source of comfort for her after Boomer's passing.

In this picture you can see Tom's wife Terri, Boomer, Tom and C.C. C.C. told me that Tom could probably beat me at golf, which really wouldn't be all that hard. 😀

I am very grateful that Tom was nice enough to include a very informative note about his construction of this puzzle:

Hi Gary,

Nice to hear from you again!

I don't always start themeless puzzles with a specific grid pattern, but I did with this one. It was a grid shape that Rex Parker had said he liked in someone else's puzzle because it was conducive to that whoosh-whoosh feeling you get when a couple gettable long entries lead to gettable long crosses. So when I made this puzzle, I placed the four longest entries (13s and 14s) in first, and filled around them. From the start, I had hoped to get both GRAMMAR POLICE and ROOKIE MISTAKE into the puzzle, and it worked out.

When the puzzle was accepted, the editors let me know they were going to make a couple small changes to improve the short fill in the middle section of the puzzle. They even wrote the new clues for me!

Take care,

Tom

Across:

1. Item dropped in the drink: STRAW 😀

6. Chiromancer's target: PALM - Yes, chiromancer is another name for a palm reader.

10. Overwhelm: SLAM - I once SLAMMED a cafe with two buses with 60 kids. We sponsors took orders, served the food, took the money and bussed the tables for them. It turned out great and they were so grateful.

14. Hair extension: WEAVE.

15. Cookies and cream treat: OREO SHAKE.

17. Baseball's all-time RBI leader: AARON.

18. Rescuers on the run?: SKI PATROL 😀

19. Bases for busts: PLINTHS - A PLINTH is a stand or base that can hold a bust. You've got a few miles on your tires if you remember this bust of Voltaire in the office of 50's/60's Perry Mason TV show. You've got a heck of a memory if you remember his secretary Della Street played by the lovely Barbara Hale.

21. Not accidental: MEANT - The hear kids today use the phrase "on accident" instead of "by accident". Did that happen at the same time "could care less" replaced "couldn't care less"?

22. Oft-redacted fig.: SSN.

23. Many an adoptee: HOUSE PET - I can't go into an animal shelter. I'd want to take all of them home.

27. Ones correcting they're gaffes, perhaps?: GRAMMAR POLICE - My favorite clue/fill. This was so clever because the clue had the grammatical gaffe of they're instead of their.

32. French "deadly": FATALE - Mata Hari is said to be the most famous Femme FATALE (deadly woman) of all time.

34. Christmas song: NOEL.

35. "Pass": NAH.

36. Tough to form a bond with: ALOOF - This science guy first thought of INERT

37. Media that led to record losses: CDS.

38. "What she said": DITTO.

40. WoW, for one: RPG - My last fill. This "R" was nearly a natick with FARR crossing RPG but Role Playing Game made sense to me and so I earned a "got 'er done".

41. Visit a souk: SHOP - Souks are common to North Africa. This is one is in Morocco.

43. Steer clear of: ESCHEW.

44. Product of green energy?: ROOKIE MISTAKE 😀 - It can be said that a ROOKIE can be green and apt to make a MISTAKE. My first blogs had them but C.C. was encouraging.

47. Relatively helpful business practice?: NEPOTISM 😀 If your relative is hiring, "it couldn't hurt!"

48. Hip-hop figures: MCS.

51. Groundwork: BASIS.

54. Neighborhood blot: EYESORE.

56. Open: ALL-COMERS - Technically anyone can try but...

60. "Enough's enough": OK NOW.

61. "Truth!": YOU KNOW IT.

62. "Gigi" composer: LOEWE - Can you find him on the poster?

63. Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway: SEES - A favorite confection of Warren Buffet

64. Ginormous: MEGA.

65. Samsung appliance: DRYER - You'll have to look close to see the manufacturer

Down:

1. Pulls a switch: SWAPS.

2. Birds for whom a color is named: TEALS.

3. More than ready: RARING TO GO.

4. Bath water: AVON - I learned AVON is a word meaning river in the U.K. Here is the city of Bath on AVON in England.

5. Split evenly, informally: WENT HALFSIES ON - WENT FIFTY FIFTY fit very nicely also

6. Play __: POSSUM.

7. Ararat lander: ARK - Could this shape on Mt. Ararat be the resting place of Noah's ARK?

8. Island ring: LEI.

9. Messy locks: MOP.

10. "Yentl" setting: SHTETL - A SHTETL is a Yiddish word meaning "little town" that refers to small market towns in pre–World War II Eastern Europe with a large, Yiddish-speaking Jewish population.

11. Spencer of "Good Morning America": LARA.

12. "Don't Matter" singer: AKON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

13. Move to another state?: MELT 😀 Very amusing for this physics teacher who is also a fan of classic movies.

16. "Nothing new under the sun": SAME OLD SAME OLD.

20. Heart's location?: HOME 😊

24. Long jumper's destination: SAND PIT - Bob Beamon shocked the world in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics by beating the old record by almost two feet!

25. Olympic archer?: EROS.

26. Safety gear for ER workers: PPE - We all got familiar with Personal Protection Equipment during covid

28. "The White Tiger" actor Rajkummar: RAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

29. On easy street: IN THE MONEY.

30. Sandra's "Ocean's 8" co-star: CATE.

31. DIY help site: EHOW.

32. "Fire Country" actress Diane: FARR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

33. Chewy brand: ALPO - Our kitty Lily gets her food from Chewy.com

37. Lombardy birthplace of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger: COMO - Looks like a nice place for the Pliny's