Theme: Someone knocking at the door ...
Beth Rubin and Owen Bergstein last teamed up in these pages in January 2025. Today they announce their return by making a racket at the door. Let's examine the theme, starting with the reveal:
60-Across. "Let's hope so!," or what is found in this puzzle's circled letters: KNOCK ON WOOD. Some ancient traditions call on tree spirits for luck, often by hitting or touching wood. In today's puzzle, a knocking sound is literally placed ON a tree or wood name, indicated by circles. Bless the circles! How else would we find these hidden features?
17-Across. Consciousness-raising discussions: RAP SESSIONS. You dig?
20-Across. West __: Williams-Sonoma subsidiary: ELM. West Elm is a furniture store.
The knocking sound, RAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ELM.
32-Across. Checkmate symbol: POUND SIGN. Anyone here familiar with chess notation?
35-Across. Volcanic depression: CALDERA.
The knocking sound, POUND, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ALDER.
45-Across. Member of the Syncopated Ladies, e.g.: TAP DANCER. Syncopated Ladies is a tap dance group from Los Angeles. Obvs I don't know the half of what goes on in this great city.
49-Across. Tennis icon Arthur: ASHE.
The knocking sound, TAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ASH.
Need a break from the racket? Let's see what the rest of the clues and answers have to offer.
1. Moves like a rabbit: HOPS. This clue and answer make a very cute corner with 1-Down.
5. First film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize: EBERT. DNK exactly, but name a celebrated movie critic!
10. Serving water in a dribble cup, e.g.: GAG. What a clever prank, to serve your guest a beverage in a glass with slits in the side! At least the suggestion is for water, not red wine.
13. Keep away from: AVOID.
15. Squabble: ARGUE.
16. "Sorry, but it's __ from me": A NO.
17. [Theme clue]
19. Pt. of USNA: NAV. A part of United States Naval Academy is Nav. for Naval. Would that be U.S. Nav. Acad.? I did not find this particular abbreviation in a quick Google search.
20. [Theme clue]
21. Wags: WITS. A cleverly humorous person may be called a wag or a wit.
22. Edge along: SIDLE.
24. Library patron: USER. In my former career as a librarian, we did indeed refer to folks using the library as either patrons or users.
26. Start of a cycle?: TRI.
29. God whose chariot is pulled by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr: THOR. Not only do the goats pull Thor's chariot, but Thor cooks and eats the goats every night, and then resurrects them using his hammer and their skins every morning, so that the goats provide daily transportation and a meal!
 |
| Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr pull Thor's chariot |
30. Always trying to get one's way: PUSHY.
32. [Theme clue]
34. Mideast leader: EMIR.
35. [Theme clue]
36. Entered quickly: RACED IN.
38. Brought (up) from the past: DREDGED.
42. Tamagotchi, e.g.: DIGIPET. Tamagotchi is an example of a virtual or digital pet.
32. [Theme clue]
34. Mideast leader: EMIR.
35. [Theme clue]
36. Entered quickly: RACED IN.
38. Brought (up) from the past: DREDGED.
42. Tamagotchi, e.g.: DIGIPET. Tamagotchi is an example of a virtual or digital pet.
44. Penne __ vodka: ALLA.
45. [Theme clue]
48. Squirrel away: STASH.
49. [Theme clue]
50. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL. Gallaudet University is a private university in Washington, D.C., for education of the deaf and hard of hearing. They use American Sign Language. Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer.
51. Musical note part: STEM.
52. The first "M" of MGM: METRO. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is a film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Culver City, California
54. Spot in the agua: ISLA. Agua is Spanish for water; isla is Spanish for island.
56. Genetic letters: RNA. One had to solve 39-Down to know whether this would be DNA or RNA. "Genetic messenger" would have been a more helpful clue. But that's Thursday for you!
59. "__ Maria": AVE. "Ave Maria" is Latin for "Hail Mary." It is the first line of a Catholic prayer, and also the title of various musical compositions based on that prayer.
60. [Theme clue -- the big reveal]
64. Hi-__ image: RES. High-resolution images have greater detail and clarity than others.
65. Maui neighbor: LANAI.
 |
| The Hawaiian islands |
66. Bones at the bases of spines: SACRA. The sacrum (plural sacra) is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1–S5) between ages 18 and 30.
 |
| Note the sacrum in red at the base of the spine. |
67. Works at a studio: ART.
68. "Get Smart" role: AGENT. Get Smart was a television series parodying the secret agent genre that was popular in the early 1960s. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and had five seasons from 1965-1970.
 |
| Agent 86 and Agent 99 |
69. Take from the top: SKIM. One meaning of skim is to quickly and lightly remove something from the surface, like a cook who skims fat from the top of a stew, or a bird that skims the surface of water for food.
Down:
1. Critter that moves like a rabbit: HARE.
2. Like some hand mirrors: OVAL.
3. Chappell Roan genre: POP MUSIC. Chappell Roan is the stage name of American singer-songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known for her drag queen-inspired aesthetic. Her lyrics often address relationships and lesbian identity. I often want to use Husker Gary's emoticon: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 |
| Chappell Roan |
4. Certain sib: SIS. A sibling is a brother or sister -- and more choices, these days.
5. The right way to go on a map?: EAST. East is usually to the right on a map.
6. City near Bath: BRISTOL.
7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. Ego Nwodim has been a cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2018. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5. The right way to go on a map?: EAST. East is usually to the right on a map.
6. City near Bath: BRISTOL.
7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. Ego Nwodim has been a cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2018. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 |
| Ego Nwodim |
8. Become messy, as mascara: RUN.
9. Model Holliday: TESS. Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is a plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles. Oh, come on! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 |
| Tess Holliday on the cover of Cosmopolitan |
10. Leader who was nominated for but never won a Nobel Peace Prize: GANDHI.
 |
| Surely he's earned a photo on this page. |
11. Like grandfather clocks: ANALOG. Usually.
 |
| If you can have digipets, you can have digigrandfather clocks. |
12. Rule: GOVERN.
14. __ decimal system: DEWEY. My career in librarianship started with shelving books in my elementary and middle school libraries using the Dewey decimal system.
18. Polite address: SIR.
23. "We're on!": IT'S A DATE.
25. Surfer who rips: SHREDDER. Shredding or ripping is when a surfer makes a lot of spray with big turns that shred or rip the water on the wave using their surfboard. Shredding displays impressive control of the board.
27. Steering option: RUDDER.
28. Like neon: INERT.
30. Pay-__-click: PER. Pay-per-click is an online advertising model whereby advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It is commonly used on Google Search and social media networks.
31. Thurman of "Red, White & Royal Blue": UMA. Uma Thurman plays a supporting role in this 2023 romantic comedy about a love affair between the son of the president of the United States and a British prince. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Happily, Uma is the only Thurman I know.
32. Loses it: PANICS.
33. "Black-ish" father: DRE. Black-ish was a sitcom that aired on ABC for eight seasons from 2014 to 2022. It followed the family of Andre "Dre" Johnson, a successful advertising executive, and his wife Rainbow "Bow" Johnson, an anaesthesiologist. DH and I enjoyed the show, which tackled issues of race and identity along with the normal drama of family life.
35. Aetna rival: CIGNA. Health insurance companies.
37. __ de los Muertos: DIA. Dia de los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that pays homage to loved ones who have died.
39. Campy genre: GLAM ROCK. Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians.
40. Aboveground trains: ELS.
41. Morse mark: DAH. Morse code is a telecommunications method which encodes text characters as sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs.
43. Image on Louisiana license plates: PELICAN. The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.
45. Tunie of "Beyond the Gates": TAMARA. Tamara Tunie is a film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not to diminish her career achievements, but I just can't with all the entertainers today!
 |
| Tamara Tunie |
46. "Sincerely" alternative: AS EVER.
47. Acidity check: PH TEST.
48. Huge supporters, in slang: STANS. Learned in crossword puzzles.
51. __-mo: SLO.
53. Ark. neighbor: OKLA.
55. Short routine: SKIT.
57. Makimono layer: NORI. Makimono can be a Japanese scroll, or a type of sushi. The latter would be sushi rice and other ingredients wrapped in nori (thin sheets of seaweed) and sliced. DH and I gobble up the vegan versions at Planta Cocina.
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| Makimono |
58. Scott of "Severance": ADAM. Severance is an intriguing TV series about employees at a large corporation who have had a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and have no recollection of their jobs once they leave. Adam Scott is excellent in the lead role. You can watch Severance on Apple TV+.
 |
| Adam Scott as Mark S in Severance |
61. Really bug: NAG.
62. "I, for __ ... ": ONE.
63. Had the job of: WAS. She was a singer, songwriter, actress ...
Here's the grid:
Solvers, did all that KNOCKing ON WOOD bring you luck?
Or were you at your WITS' end with all the celebrities?
Let us know in the comments.
And BTW, apologies/thanks to Husker Gary. I stole your adorable shrugging emoticon today!
-- NaomiZ
Notes from C.C.:
Jayce sent me this loving picture of him and his wife Christina. The picture was taken in 1997.
32 comments:
It seemed about
average for a Thursday. A little challenging, but not too tough. It helped that I knew a “pelican” was a symbol for Louisiana. Anyway , FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
It was nice to have an easy pairing at 1a/1d, but things got sticky toward the middle of the grid. I'm glad I never noticed DIGIPET -- I probably would have erased something trying to fix that area. Classy that the "knock" and the "wood" are all of matching lengths. Thanx, Beth, Owen, and NaomiZ.
MAKIMONO: Sounds like a brand of Japanese cultured pearls.
PELICAN: I see many LA license plates around here, but can't remember ever seeing one with an image on it, just characters.
AVE Maria: Evokes the late Tom Lehrer, "Ave Maria, gee it's good to seeya."
Woke up early and decided to give the puzzle a go. I was impressed with the theme, must have been very difficult to find enough appropriate entries and fit them into the grid. The circles made sense of the reveal. Overall, a fun and Thursday-appropriate solve!
Bunny HOPS was a nice place to start, and bonus points for crossing with HARE. I do not miss the ridiculousness of GLAM ROCK, and mostly ignore POP MUSIC. IDK many of the proper names, but the perps were largely friendly.
Thanks to Beth and Owen for a lovely puzzle, and to Naomi for the entertaining review!
The theme is aggressive and takes up a lot of space, which puts strain on the fill (witness DIGIPET). It “seemed” like we had a lot of trivia today - but that might be a wheelhouse thing.
Learned what a caldera is (spell check didn't know either) which was nice, but too many obscure names for my liking though as was noted perps were fair.
Good Morning:
Another well-hidden theme, at least to me. It was clever and well-executed, as per DO’s observance of the knock and wood letter count. There were several unknowns, i.e., Digipet, Shredder, Caldera, etc., but, as mentioned, the perps were fair, so no complaints. I like the symmetrical placement of Pop Music and Glam Rock.
Thanks, Beth and Owen, and thanks, Naomi, for the detailed expo and commentary.
Jace, what a lovely keepsake that photo must be for you.
Have a great day.
FIR, but not->A NO, end->ELM, uni->TRI, chief->AGENT, and dio->DIA.
MGM reminded me of Berlin's hit song.METRO.
The theme reminded me of the old tune by Eddie Floyd Knock on Wood. The Dave Clark Five had a big hit with their cover, and Eric Clapton did a good rendition as well.
Is AGENT a role on Get Smart? AGENT 86 or AGENT 99 is a role. Don't think anyone went to the casting call and said "I'm trying out for AGENT."
A RUDDER isn't a steering option. "Wheel" and "tiller" are steering options if you have a RUDDER.
Can't say that I enjoyed this one. Too much A&E, and iffy cluing. But thanks to NaomiZ for the laughs and new information, except for the world's worst Hol(l)iday photograph.
FIR. Circles and proper names, oh joy. This pattern these past few weeks is getting old. I ignored the circles and proceeded to solve a typical Thursday puzzle. Difficult but doable.
Being from the south I knew pelican for the Louisiana license plate. Here in Florida we have literally dozens of license plate designs. But only on the back of the vehicle.
So overall not a terrible puzzle, better with no circles.
Took 8:25 today for THUMPer to arrive.
Fortunately, I had a MAPLE donut to enjoy.
I didn't know one of the Actresses of the Day (knew Uma & Ego, didn't know Tamara or her show/movie), and, I suppose like many of us, I didn't know the model (Tess).
Clever gimmick, but it came at the expense of the overall enjoyment of the puzzle. For my liking, we had too many 3LWs, abbreviations, foreign words, and proper names.
As ever, oh joy, circles!
Finishing wasn't hard but this puzzle should have been published on some entertainment magazine. The Cosmo cover with the grossly obese TESS (unknown), EGO, TAMARA, ADAM, POP MUSIC, GLAM ROCK, UMA, DRE, and EBERT as fills.
RAP SESSIONS could describe a seance with the strange noises.
I noticed the stacked circles but RAP over ELM didn't make sense until POUND was over C-ALDERA. My TAP DANCER was a guess after enough perps were filled.
DIGIPET- I knew of Tamagotchi but not the term. Let's hope that species dies out.
PELICAN- the white pelican is on the state flag but the brown pelican is the state bird. We have too many ridiculous specialty plates. Every college, HS, fraternal org., vanity plates. I've never seen the one pictured. My car has a very faint pelican on the white background; DW's car's plate doesn't have a pelican but a copy of Andrew Jackson's statue (the one in front of the White House).
Not bad for a towards-of-the-week challenge. Kind of an odd theme KNOCK WOOD and I’m sure drove the anti-circlers crazy. (“DEWEY hafta have circles?”) Maybe there’s more to it than same number of letters: KNOCK sounds over trees?
In Italy you “touch metal” for good luck “tocca ferro” (iron)”
Inkovers: uni/TRI, not/ANO, signa/CIGNA, Evert/EBERT (that was dumb)
Waiting for ADAM Scott and the next season of “Severance”
“Tamagotchi” I didn’t “getchi” but think we’ve had it before.
# is the “checkmate” symbol? West ELM? Didn’t know TESS, “Chappell”, or TAMARA. UMA is currently starring in “Dexter Resurrected”
Anyway, have a nice THOR’s Day 😊
It’s been á very Long time since there’s been á PELICAN on LA license plates.
NaomiZ, I was at my WITS ends I’m afraid. I got irritated with this CW early on, so not in á mood To finish it. So many names I don’t know, phrases to complete, slang to deal with………
Thank you NaomiZ for your usual nice, informative and spirited review. lovely picture of Jayce and his wife.
Musings
-Obscure cluing and fill were offset by adequate escape hatches. I enjoyed it!
-At one time I had ROUND over ALDER and was so proud I saw (Richard) ROUNDTREE. Uh, no…
-Any wind can put drop leaves, twigs and small branches from my neighbor’s dying ASH tree into my yard
-RACED IN: First responders are true heroes
-My SACRUM and bicycle seats could not get along so my 20-year-old bike went to Goodwill yesterday
-The movie Casino showed mobsters making big money in Las Vegas by SKIMMING
-ANALOG: Part of my yearly checkup requires me to draw a clock face and put hands on it for a certain time of day
-STANS is a portmanteau for STALKER and FAN.
-Steal away, Naomi! I can’t remember where I found it! :-)
-Fore!
fun theme and mostly fun fill but man that top right corner was brutal for me. The dribble cup (????) had me totally baffled and I really did not care for the phrasing on SIDLE but the entertainers felt pretty reasonable today, in terms of like. I didn't know who Tamara Tunie was but I knew that there aren't really a lot of names that start TAM___ haha
I think the current usage of STANS actually comes from an Enimem song called "Stan", about a fictional obsessive fan of the same name (although I guess it's possible that the name in the song could have come from stalker+fan haha)
I didn't enjoy this puzzle very much.
Almost every day, as I slowly (and carefully) declutter our house, I find stuff that DW had STASHed away that I didn't know about. The more treasures I find, the more I admire her.
FIR despite the plethora of obscure names. Too many WTF?s, too few AHA!s, too little enjoyment until I got around to NaomiZs recap. AAH! That's more like it!
A mix of pop culture, names, and slang terms that usually turn me off a puzzle.
However the perps were fair and the reveal was clever.
I quite liked this puzzle.
Thanks for the informative and entertaining recap Naomi.
The difficulty level seems to be progressing as it should this week for me, incrementally by a minute or two each day, today resulting in a 13:57 FIR. DNK TAMARA, Tamagotchi or DIGIPET (or that there was such a thing). I know THOR, but not his goats, that was extra baggage in the clue. SACRA took perps. I know ADAM Scott the golfer, not the actor. The reveal helped with the solve, figuring out the theme may have been hard without the circles. Thanks to Beth and Owen for your fine collaboration. NaomiZ ~ you were in fine form today with your picturesque blog, very informative. As the resident Corner librarian, I thought of you when I saw the reference to the DEWEY Decimal system. I can’t remember anything about it now, other than the endless rows of cabinets with drawers containing index cards in the university library. Everything is probably digital these days.
Hola! What a nicely challenging puzzle by the duo of Beth and Owen. It took a while longer than usual since I had to refill my coffee cup! But I enjoyed the mental workout. BRISTOL forced me to change UNI to TRI and CALDERA emerged.
How very well I recall the DIGIPET fad of tamagochis! My fourth graders loved them.
TAMARA Tunie has been in many TV shows that I've seen.
Thanks to books by Grisham, PELICAN immediately came to mind. Does anyone recall The PELICAN Brief?
What a lovely photo of Jayce and his late wife; thank you for posting it.
Thank you, NaomiZ, for your valuable insights. Have a great day, everyone!
Delightful challenging Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Beth and Owen. And your commentary and pictures are always a pleasure, thanks for those too, NaomiZ.
There were a lot of distinguished figures in this puzzle, like THOR, and EBERT, and EMIR, and even ASHE, a more recent figure. But I'd rather focus on that TAP DANCER, who I'm sure does a lot more than she just HOPS around. She has pretty sharp WITS and is PUSHY, and she's raced in international dance competitions and was even introduced to GANDHI once. We should get her an AGENT and KNOCK ON WOOD that they could help her get even better than that. Hopefully she'll soon have earned a big STASH at the METRO, and will soon be a big star in GLAM ROCK. Hope we'll all get to see her do big performances on TV before too long.
Have a healthy, sunny, delightful day, everybody!
A lovely, lovely lady, Jayce.
Gotta say, the theme GAG in this puzzle by Mssls Rubin & Bergstein was pretty unique, what with the stacking “knock on wood” bit. Pretty snazzy!
Not so snazzy, however, we’re a few of the clues. Shouldn’t 16A “Sorry, that’s A NO from me” have two blanking lines, since it’s a two-word fill? Also, I agree that NAV is not very stylish as “Pt. of USNA” — at one pt. I was trying to think if the Academy is set on Pt. Nav geographically… as HG and NaomiZ said, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 😎
DIGIPETS — a waste of a bunch of perfectly good chips…
Finally, I’d wonder how many people under age 60 or so even know what the Dewey Decimal System is. At least now I know where NaomiZ got her writing chops!
====> Darren / L.A.
“were”…sorry, lousy proofreading
I definitely recall The PELICAN Brief. I think I have read just about every book that John Grisham wrote.
You got me to thinking about whether folks under 60 would know what a tube caddy was. For younger Cornerites, TV fix-it guys would show up at your house, then guess which tubes were most likely causing your problem. They would swap one or two tubes fresh from the caddy, check whether the problem was fixed and of not, change one or two more. The new tubes never came back out during your repair, regardless of whether they fixed the problem. If tubes (or a magic elixir called "tuner cleaner") didn't fix the problem, the sad news that "it's gotta go back to the shop" was passed to the homeowner.
Is it Saturday already?
Thanks to Beth and Owen! FAVs were HOPS X HARE; DEWEY Decimal System, and PELICAN. True story...last Friday a Brown PELICAN flew over me while I was on my kayak. While in flight, it used its leg to scratch its cheek the same way a dog reaches with its back leg to scratch its cheek. Very cool to see up close.
The NE was completely blank so I used the gimmick to suss POUND then that area shook loose. I didn't know who TAMARA was so I guessed lAMARA then the gimmick helped me change lAP DANCE to TAP DANCE. LOL!
FLN. I saw your reply, Splynter. Thanks!
Jayce. Thanks for sharing your Valentine's Day(te) photo.
Thanks to NaomiZ for researching all those answers! That's good advice about not putting red wine in a dribble glass! I also liked your SACRA .gif.
Too late for anyone to read and meant to put in yesterday but got busy and forgot (seems that might be a more common occurrence but I forget :-). Anyway I wondered about the placement of caldera in about the center and just above the black ⬛️ in the center as if the puzzle had collapsed in around it to form a...too fanciful. You decide.
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