Wednesday, December 31, 2025 - Rebecca Goldstein

CrossEyedDave here... When CC asked me to fill in, it was a Saturday morning, and i thought, "Great! I can do this instead of the Saturday Stumper!"  Well, right from the get go, 1Across just screamed out "Cube!" And with that, my Saturday turned into a Wednesday Stumper... I did finally work my way out of a DNF/FIW/TiTT, and was looking forward to reading the write up for someone to explain it all. (Wait! What! I have to splain this!! Aw nuts and dang it all...)

Well, at least Rebecca provided a title:

16. Intentionally delaying, or a punny title for this puzzle?: PLAYING FOR TIME.

"Playing For Time."

Now unless you can play Tetris blindfolded, i don't want to hear any complaints in the comments about circles. I would still be trying to solve this puzzle, if it were not for these life saving theme circles, that helped me discover all of the "off my wavelength" clue/answers that tripped me up.

The Reveal:

54. Constant reshuffling of one's schedule, or what's depicted in this puzzle's circles: CALENDAR TETRIS

The Calendar items circled included: Gala, Game, Work, Yoga, Call, Date, and Trip. You could possibly turn this into another puzzle by trying to find "another" calendar item that wasn't circled. Please let me know if you find any, I'm already too exhausted by Rebecca's offering to even try...

Here is a short Bio:

Link

Across:
1. Sugar serving: LUMP. My horse sense told me this should be "Cube." I mean, you don't give a horse a lump of sugar, you give him/her a sugar cube! Which led to disastrous stabs at the early downs.

5. Crockery flaw: CHIP.

Hmm, i wonder what was wrong with the kid "before" the spell?

9. Paper or plastic items: BAGS.

13. Microbiology lab gel: AGAR.

14. "__ that the truth!": AINT.

15. "At your earliest convenience," less politely: ASAP. (Not STAT!)

19. Error message?: SIC. Latin, literally ‘so, thus’. used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original.

20. NYC nabe near the Bowery: NOHO. (Not SOHO, or South of Houston, but North of...)

21. Added to the team: HIRED.

22. Kicking sport: SOCCER.

24. Actress Palmer: KEKE. The second K was a personal Natick with 9 Downs Batik, and caused and alpha run ending to this almost DNF/FIW/TiTT...

25. The Queen of Pop: MADONNA.

27. Network featured in "Good Night, and Good Luck": CBS. (3 letters awaiting a perp)

30. Low voices in a women's choir: ALTOS. (Really?)

33. Lav: LOO. (What?  Not Water Closet? Hmm, which reminds me...)

34. Sailor's assent: AYE.

35. Shabby: WORN.

36. Rare opening in 54-Across: SLOT. (A Clecho! Or Clue Echo...)

37. Screen writing?: BLOG.

38. Squeak (out): EKE.

39. Tom, Dick, and Harry, for example: MEN. (Not "anybody"...)

40. Name after peach or before toast: MELBA.

41. Mom, to Auntie: SIS. (I don't know why I wanted "Tia" here...)

42. "Be glad to": SURE CAN. Or put another Glad Bag in the Trash Can...

44. Image file format: JPEG.

46. Like the pick of the litter?: CUTEST.

49. Beefy, casually: SWOLE. Learning moment, i can't complain if it's legit...

51. Move like a hummingbird: DART.  (Not flit)

52. D-backs, in box scores: ARI. (A crossword fill staple...)

54. [Theme Reveal]

57. Shawkat of "Search Party": ALIA. (Either you know her, or you dont. Perps to the rescue...)

58. Team with a red-tailed hawk mascot named Swoop: UTES. (If you say so...)

59. California county with a wine train: NAPA. More info here:

60. Ran in the wash: BLED.

61. "__ there, tiger": EASY.

62. Gender-fluid pronoun: THEY. (Could have been Them, I could blame Them. But I can't blame They...)

Down:
1. Slurps (up): LAPS.

2. Uniq fruits: UGLIS.

3. Body shop franchise: MAACO. I must have misread this clue, because Maaco with lump and laps turned this corner into a nightmare...

4. Ask too much, say: PRY.

5. Paddled about: CANOED.

6. One regularly experiencing bettor days: HIGHROLLER. Not familiar with this, I wonder why...

7. IT part: INFO. (New to me)

8. Vacay from work: PTO. Paid Time Off (another tricky clue/answer)

9. Patterned fabric that originated in Indonesia: BATIK. I'll let A.I. explain this Learning Moment

10. "If memory serves": AS I RECALL. (Without the spaces, reminds me of nothing...)

11. Up for a challenge: GAME.

12. Went a mile a minute, maybe: SPED.

17. Quechua speakers who didn't have a written alphabet: INCAS. Not entirely true They used ropes!

18. Seehorn of "Pluribus": RHEA. (If you say so, but I say its just a smaller Emu from a different country)

23. "Please be serious": CMON. (I am serious about the Rhea/Emu's)

24. Twist into a pretzel: KNOT.

26. "Sounds like a you problem": NO ONE CARES.  (Ouch!)

28. Notation on an invite: BYOB. Bring Your own Bottle/Beer.

29. Sonic the Hedgehog developer: SEGA.

30. Leaves speechless: AWES.

31. Norse god of mischief: LOKI. Around long before The Marvel Universe took over his image on the internet. And is now invading politics?

32. "Ooh la la!": TRES JOLIE. It's French...

36. Self-satisfied: SMUG.

37. Good start?: BENE. Italian. Curiously, when I went to research, 

IT WASN'T Bene Nota?

(I get this confused with Bella Notte.)

40. Low-gloss: MATTE.

42. Checked out: SEEN. This nose wrinkle really gave me angst crossing 49A. Swole

43. Bow alternative: CURTSY. (Not bow,,, bow...  AhNuts!)

45. Be appealing?: PLEAD. (Cute)

47. One of the Torah's four matriarchs: SARAH. (Perped in, because i always leave off the H.)

48. Type of offal: TRIPE. (Anyone want a picture?) Offal is the internal organs and parts trimmed off an animal for food, although tripe has other meanings as well...

49. Sign of healing: SCAB.

50. Muralist's canvas: WALL.

51. Target of some mining: DATA.

53. "My word": I SAY. (Sounds kinda British to me, an I do say so myself...)

55. Expected any minute: DUE.

56. Explosive used in some mining: TNT.

Well, that about does it for this year. On to the next!

Happy New Year!

CE:D Out...

Tuesday, December 30, 2025 Susan Gelfand

Don't leave mad, just leave.  

20-Across. Departure instructions for an ornithologist?: LEAVE THE NEST.  Birds leave the Nest.

35-Across. Departure instructions for a railway worker?: MAKE TRACKS.  Railway workers leave the Tracks.

42-Across. Departure instructions for a student pilot?: TAKE FLIGHT.  Pilots leave when they take Flight.

And the unifier:

53-Across. Plan for ending involvement, or an apt title for this puzzle: EXIT STRATEGY. 

Here's the grid:

Across:
1. Closes, as a parka: ZIPS.

5. Animal that may sleep upside down: SLOTH.  Sloths are interesting creatures.  They are so incredibly slow that it can take them a month to digest a leaf.  Did you know that they can swim?  They are faster in water than on land.

10. Morning joe: JAVA.

14. Prepare for publication: EDIT.

15. Secret stash: CACHE.

16. Decorative pitcher in still lifes: EWER.

Still Life with Ewer, by Willem Kalf

17. Silicon Valley city Palo __: ALTO.

18. Catchall option on a survey: OTHER.

19. Smartphone message: TEXT.

23. Keyboard key with an arrow: ENTER.

24. Behr product: PAINT.

28. Zodiac sign boundaries: CUSPS.

31. Green vegetable in a pod: PEA.

33. Soccer star Hamm: MIA.  Mia Hamm (née Mariel Margaret Hamm, b. Mar. 17, 1972) is an American former professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. She played as a forward for the United States national team from 1987 to 2004.

34. Not in support of: ANTI.

39. Box office bomb: FLOP.

40. Stadium: ARENA.

41. Eccentric fellow: COOT.  Also a water bird.

44. Play part: ROLE.

45. Blackjack card: ACE.

46. Spearheaded: LED.

47. Back tooth: MOLAR.

48. Gumption: NERVE.

50. Tiny bits: IOTAS.

59. Bowl over: STUN.

62. Unpleasant, as weather: NASTY.

63. Speck in the ocean: ISLE.

64. Machu Picchu country: PERU.  //  And 54-Down. Machu Picchu native: INCA.  Machu Picchu will really take your breath away.

65. Crossword hints: CLUES.

66. Old Testament brother: CAIN.  //  And 56. Old Testament brother: ESAU.  So many choices here.  I had to wait for the down answer to find Cain, who slew Abel.  This biblical story is the basic theme of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden.  Esau was the fraternal twin brother of the patriarch, Jacob.  Jacob and Esau were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah.

67. Wheel shaft: AXLE.

68. Bright-eyed: ALERT.

69. Underwater vessels: SUBS.

Down:
1. Unbridled enthusiasm: ZEAL.

2. Loafing around: IDLE.  Not to be confused with Eric Idle, who is anything but.

Eric Idle (b. Mar. 29, 1943)

3. Bread with a pocket: PITA.

4. Hat worn by Abraham Lincoln: STOVE PIPE.

5. "Severance" star Adam: SCOTT.  Adam Scott (né Adam Paul Scott) also portrayed Ben Wyatt on Parks and Recreation.  I tried watching Severance, but quickly got bored.

6. Spinning shaper in a woodshop: LATHE.

7. Earthy pigment: OCHER.  This pigment contains ferric oxide, which gives it varying shades light yellow to brown or red.

8. Every now and __: sporadically: THEN.

9. Roll-call response: HERE.

10. Volkswagen sedan: JETTA.

11. Fill with wonder: AWE.

12. Irk: VEX.

13. Museum collection: ART.

 

21. Coast Guard rank: Abbr.: ENS.  As in Ensign.  The Coast Guard Ensign is the most junior commissioned officer rank.

22. Practice boxing: SPAR.

25. "That works for me": I'M COOL.

26. Inventor Tesla: NIKOLA.  Nikola Tesla (July 9, 1856 ~ Jan. 7, 1943) was a Croatian-American inventor and futurist.  He is best known for designing the AC electrical system, the global standard for power transmission. In 1898, he also invented a remote-controlled boat.

27. Many a winery visitor: TASTER.

28. Flowy robe with long sleeves: CAFTAN.

29. Loosen, as a shoe: UNLACE.

30. Novelist Bram who created Dracula: STOKER.  Bram Stoker (né Abraham Stoker; Nov. 8, 1847 ~ Apr. 20, 1912) was an Irish novelist.  He is best known for writing the 1897 novel Dracula, the Transylvanian vampire.   and the creator of the fictional character Count Dracula.  Stoker never went to Transylvania, but did a lot of research to create its environs.

31. Phnom __, Cambodia: PENH.  Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia.

32. Coup d'__: sudden regime change: ETAT.

35. Like green-headed mallards: MALE.

36. Extremely dry: ARID.

37. Beer barrel: KEG.

38. Word puzzles with hidden messages: ACROSTICS.

43. Move a muscle: FLEX.

47. Goat's bleat: MAA.

49. Event site: VENUE.  Radio City Music Hall is the venue of the Rockettes.  Did you know that the Rockettes are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year?  The dance troupe was actually founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1925 before moving to New York in 1932.  They were first known as the Missouri Rockets.  The venue has a seating capacity of just under 6,000!

50. Magazine edition: ISSUE.

51. Furry swimmer: OTTER.

52. Lovers' meeting: TRYST.

55. Like skyscrapers: TALL.

57. Smooth-talking: GLIB.

58. Cravings: YENS.  Not to be confused with the currency of Japan.

59. Pampering place: SPA.

60. __-Mex cuisine: TEX.

61. Web address: URL.  As in Universal Resource Locator.  This has become a crossword staple.

~~~~~~~

Apropos of yesterday's puzzle, and of special interest to Lucina, Idris Elba has just been knighted.  According to the chart that Sumdaze provided, being a knight is a lower ranking noble, but still an honor to our dear actor.

We will miss you dearly, Sumdaze.  All the best to you and I hope you pop in to see us on occasion.

I make tracks now on this Penultimate day of 2025.  Wishing you all joy and health for 2026.  See you in January.

חתולה