Thursday, November 13, 2025, Stella Zawistowski

Theme:  Typography.

Stella Zawistowski is a super crossword constructor who is consistently ranked in the top ten solvers at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.  She loves a hard puzzle and used to run a website called Tough as Nails.  Stella has resolved to take it a little easier on solvers these days, and for me, this one went well until I hit a couple of crossing unknowns in the far southeast.  Let's dig into it and see how everyone else did.

The theme clues and answers, in symmetrically placed rows, are:

17-Across. Raised type?: STILT WALKER.  You may have imagined embossed letters on a page, but this is the TYPE of person who is raised up by stilts.

24-Across. Against type?: DEBBIE DOWNER.  You may have imagined someone opposed to the printing process, but this is the TYPE of person who is pessimistic and dampens the mood of others.

38-Across. Movable type?: NOMAD.  You may have imagined the individual metal letters used to print books, but this is the TYPE of person who moves from one place to another without a permanent home.

47-Across. Blood type?: COUNT DRACULA.  You may have imagined one of the classes of human blood distinguished by the presence of antigens on red blood cells, but this is the TYPE of person -- or really just one person -- who thrives on the consumption of human blood.

57-Across. File type?: OFFICE CLERK.  You may have imagined a filing cabinet, or a tool with ridges to smooth rough surfaces, but this is the TYPE of person who files documents in an office.

So far, you're thinking, my TYPE of puzzle, right?  Here come the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. Sega hedgehog: SONIC.  Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series developed by Sega to compete with Nintendo's Mario. The first Sonic game was released in 1991 and the franchise continues to be a flagship for Sega.

Sonic the Hedgehog

6. Mark of approval: STAMP.

11. Posed (for): SAT.

14. Cause of some food recalls: E. COLI.  Escherichia coli are bacteria: some good for us, some bad.

15. Wispy streaks in the sky: CIRRI.  Plural of cirrus, a wispy cloud formation at high altitude.

16. Blubber: CRY.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Regatta blade: OAR.  A regatta is a series of boat races, and depending on the type of boat, an oar might be required.

20. "That ship __ sailed": HAS.  Speaking of boats, "that ship has sailed" means the time for a particular opportunity has passed.

21. Connecticut university founded in 1701: YALE.

22. One of the four countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: ARUBA.  The Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.  The last three of these are Caribbean islands.

24. [Theme clue]

28. Gentleman's opposite: LOUT.

29. Snide snickers: HEHS.

30. Corset components: STAYS.  The stays of a garment are stiff pieces meant for shaping.  DH wears collar stays with his dress shirts.

Vertical stays are sewn into the fabric of this corset.

32. Catching in an ambush: WAYLAYING.

37. "Yuck!": EWW.

38. [Theme clue]

39. Short time out: NAP.

40. Opening-night event, often: CAST PARTY.

43. Realty ad count: BATHS.  ROOMS and ACRES would also have fit.  Or BDRMS if we're abbreviating.

45. Sad sigh: ALAS.

46. Mood: VIBE.

47. [Theme clue]

51. Abruptly cut contact with: GHOST.  This sort of thing didn't happen so much when human relationships were mostly in person.  

53. "Chill, will ya?": EASY.

54. Some TVs and fridges: LGS.  LG is a brand of electronic appliances.

56. Slam (into): RAM.

57. [Theme clue]

61. Intention: AIM.

62. "Go, me!": I ROCK.  I am filling in this puzzle!  I am such a smarty pants!

63. Chabert of "Party of Five": LACEY.  OK, whoops!  Who, now?  Party of Five aired on Fox from 1994 to 2000, with a total of six seasons.  Lacey Chabert played one of five siblings whose parents died in a car accident.  I have never heard of this show.

That's Lacey perched on her brother's lap at right.

64. Garment that rarely works with a backless gown: BRA.  Not a good look, unless you get creative like the lady in the picture below.

65. Doesn't shy from: DARES.  Who dares to do the Down clues?

66. "Come on in!": ENTER.  Let's enter the final phase of this puzzle.

Down:

1. Short meeting?: SESH.  "Sesh" is modern shorthand for "session," which could be a meeting.

2. Legs on a spider, e.g.: OCTAD.

3. Legal deterrents to loud parties: NOISE LAWS.

4. Feeling feverish or not so hot: ILL.  The wrong kind of E. coli can do this to you.

5. Commuting option: CITY BUS.

6. Get to the top of: SCALE.  Think of scaling Mount Everest ...

7. Like many New York City subway stations: TILED.  In recent years, white subway tile -- horizontal rectangles -- has been a big trend in home kitchens and bathrooms.  Don't ask me why!  I have never ridden the NYC subway system and am not acquainted with its charms.

8. Vessel in Genesis 7: ARK.

9. Emergency food ration, for short: MRE.  Meal Ready to Eat.  Used by the US Armed Forces where other food is not available.

10. Orinoco biter: PIRANHA.  The Orinoco river flows through Venezuela and Colombia, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.  It is home to over 1,000 fish species, one of which is the black spot piranha.  Not to worry:  more people eat piranhas than piranhas eat people.

Pygocentrus cariba, or black spot piranha

11. Clean with elbow grease: SCOUR.

12. Many a Moroccan: ARAB.

13. Banks with style: TYRA.  Tyra Banks is a supermodel, actress, producer, and writer.  She broke color barriers on the covers of Sports Illustrated and GQ, appeared in a host of TV shows and movies, and won an Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show for The Tyra Banks Show.

Tyra Banks

18. Hostess's estimate: WAIT.  Oh, a restaurant hostess!  

23. OpenTable alternative: RESY.  OpenTable and Resy are software companies that sell reservation and table management systems to restaurants.  If you've made a restaurant reservation online recently, you've probably used one or the other.

25. Son: BOY.

26. "Wunderbar!": OH YAY.

27. Join together: WELD.

30. Crimson Tide org.: SEC.  The University of Alabama (Crimson Tide) is in the Southeastern Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

31. Pan Am rival: TWA.  Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) and Trans World Airlines (TWA) were American airlines that once dominated global air travel.  

32. "Do your __!": WORST.  Go on!  Let's see if you DARE.

33. Invoice fig.: AMT.  A figure on an invoice is probably an amount.

34. Brainy one: INTELLECT.

35. "Not my thing": NAH.

36. Waymo tech: GPS.  Waymo, the self-driving rideshare vehicle, uses a Global Positioning System.  We have lots of them in West Los Angeles, and they are great drivers.

38. Bread served with raita: NAAN.  Yummy Indian food.

41. Volkswagen that shares a name with a New Mexico town: TAOS.

42. Faraway dwarf planet: PLUTOID.  A plutoid is a dwarf planet that orbits the sun farther than Neptune.  Eight objects are classified as plutoids: Pluto, Orcus, Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar, Sedna, Gonggong, and Eris.

43. Commuting option: BICYCLE.

44. __ Simbel, Egypt: ABU.  Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two enormous rock-cut temples in Upper Egypt.  Carved out of a mountainside in the 13th century BC, they feature rock relief figures of Ramesses II.

Abu Simbel

46. Ming collectible: VASE.

47. One in 1,000?: COMMA.  Yes, there is one comma in 1,000.

48. Clear, as a windshield in winter: DE-ICE.

49. Holders of barbells: RACKS.  A handy way to keep your barbells off the floor.

barbell rack

50. Feel similarly: AGREE.

51. Screen __: GRAB.  A screen grab is a still image of a frame from a video, whereas a screenshot is an image of a computer or mobile device's screen at a particular moment.  

52. Subject of the r/Tressless subreddit: HAIR.  This online discussion group is actually devoted to issues of hair loss.

55. Icelandic dairy product similar to yogurt: SKYR.  I have purchased skyr and should have known it, but I could not recall the vowel.  I tried A, E, I, O, and U, forgetting that Y sometimes acts as a vowel.

58. __ diavolo sauce: FRA.  This spicy tomato sauce takes its name from an 18th century Italian guerrilla leader nicknamed Fra Diavolo or Brother Devil.

59. In favor of: FOR.

60. "The Wheel of Time" role: LAN.  The Wheel of Time is a 14-volume series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan.  It was adapted into an Amazon Prime Video series which aired for three seasons from 2021 to 2025.  Lan is a warrior and last survivor of a fallen kingdom.  All of which is even further from my knowledge base than LACEY in "Party of Five."

Here's the grid.  The red triangles mark the ones I flubbed.

Dear Reader, did you have the INTELLECT to solve this puzzle correctly?  Did you find it EASY?

Or did you think it was the WORST puzzle ever?

In either case, you'll find someone to AGREE with you in the comments.

-- NaomiZ

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to Big Easy (George), husband of Louisiana Tennis Hall of Famer Diane! George has been such a caring friend, always checking in on my RA and housing worries. Hope it's a beautiful day where you are, George!

Big Easy and his wife Diane