Thursday, November 27, 2025, MaryEllen Uthlaut

 Theme: Moving on.

A broken heart is a painful malady, but constructor MaryEllen Uthlaut suggests there's a short path to recovery.  She writes:

61-Across. Terse advice for the brokenhearted, and what appears four times in this puzzle: GET OVER IT.  

Indeed, MaryEllen has placed GET over IT four times in the grid, even in the reveal at 61-Across!  Take a look:

Very clever, MaryEllen!  Now that we've gotten over it, let's get into it!

Across:

1. Christie's "Evil __ the Sun": UNDER.  A novel by Agatha Christie in which Hercule Poirot investigates a murder at a seaside resort.

6. Annual vaccine target: FLU.

9. Secret supply: STASH.

14. Bolsters: FORTIFIES.

16. Natural dye for some brides: HENNA.  Henna designs are applied to an Indian bride's hands and feet for a pre-wedding celebration.

17. Citrus-infused brew: ORANGE TEA.

18. Foodie site with a Dining Out section: EATER.  Eater.com has lots of suggestions.

19. Walk or trot: GAIT.

20. Seuss character who advocates eating green: SAM-I-AM.

Hello.  My name is Sam-I-am.  I like to eat green eggs and ham.

21. Bobby of hockey: ORR.

23. Some Ram pickups: DODGE TRUCKS.

27. A short way from: NEAR.

29. Condiment in Indian cuisine: RAITA.  A side dish or condiment made with yogurt, spices, herbs, and vegetables, that cools the palate when eaten with spicy foods.

30. K-pop rapper: PSY.  Best known for his 2012 hit "Gangnam Style," Park Jae-sang's stage name is PSY.  Click the image below for his viral video:

31. Major export of Côte d'Ivoire: CACAO.  Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer of cacao.  Cacao is the name of the tree and the raw beans.  Roasted cacao beans are ground into cocoa powder.  Chocolate!  Food of the gods!  That's the literal meaning of the tree's scientific name:  Theobroma cacao.

33. Valueless but valuable Scrabble tile: BLANK.

35. Reworks, as text: EMENDS.

37. Couch for sitting or sleeping: DAYBED.  A daybed is a sofa by day, and a bed by night.  Isn't DAYBED a confusing name?  

42. Some characters in "The Hobbit": ELVES.  In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, elves are a race of cool forest dwellers who are immortal -- with limitations.

Elves from the LOTR movies.

46. Needle: TEASE.  More English language confusion.  To needle can be to tease with goading remarks or behaviors.  And yet, there is such a thing as a "teasing needle" used to tear scientific speciments into tiny shreds, or to "tease out" a knot in threads or chains.

teasing needle

47. Siouan people: OTO.  The Oto or Otoe people are a Native Amercan Plains tribe, related to the Sioux language family.

50. Spine-tingling: EERIE.

52. Read hastily: SCAN.

53. Trick-taking spot: BRIDGE TABLE.  The object of the card game bridge is to win tricks.  A trick is four cards, one played from the hand of each player in rotation.  A trick is won by the highest card of the suit that started the round, or by the highest trump. Admittedly, I've never played bridge.  Does it show?

56. Allotted share: CUT.

57. Cleverly skillful: ADROIT.

58. Spanish appetizer: TAPA.

60. Some corporate jets: LEARS.

61. [Theme reveal -- see above]

66. "The Luncheon on the Grass" painter: MANET.  French title:  Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe.  It's a puzzling painting, and was quite controversial when the Paris Salon rejected it for exhibit in 1863.

67. Travel plan: ITINERARY.

68. Winter transports: SLEDS.

69. Capital of Georgia?: GEE.  The capital letter in the word Georgia is a Gee.

70. Discourage: DETER.


Down:

1. Sci-fi craft: UFO.

2. Neither partner: NOR.  "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" -- inscription on New York City's James A. Farley Post Office Building, 1914.

3. Show for queens: DRAG RACE.

4. Mediterranean peak: ETNA.

5. Inflexible: RIGID.

6. In very good shape: FIT.

7. "Da 5 Bloods" director Spike: LEE.

8. Letters on Erin Jackson's uniform: USA.  Erin Jackson is an American speed skater. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she became the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal in an individual sport, and the first Black American woman to win any Olympic medal in speed skating.  

Erin Jackson

9. Clip wool from: SHEAR.

10. Join forces: TEAM UP.

11. Buffoonery: ANTICS.

12. Hardly aboveboard: SNEAKY.

13. Injures: HARMS.

15. Wretched smell: FETOR.  A strong, offensive odor, usually emanating from a person.  Medical examples include fetor oris (bad breath), fetor hepaticus (where elements of liver failure pass into the lungs), uremic fetor (a urine-like odor on the breath of people with kidney disease), and others.  It can also be used more generally, like "the fetor of decay."  And yet I Did Not Know.

20. Place for witnesses: STAND.

21. Formerly: ONCE.

22. Paper quantity: REAM.

24. Smack-__ in the middle: DAB.

25. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" writer Scott-Heron: GIL.  Gilbert Scott-Heron (1949-2011) was an American jazz poet, singer, musician and author, known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.  His poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," delivered over a jazz-soul beat, is considered a major influence on hip hop music.  DNK.

Gil Scott-Heron

26. Brief prediction that accounts for traffic and weather: ETA.  Estimated Time of Arrival.

28. Took to the hills: RAN.

32. Tributary stream?: ODE.  Not the kind of stream that flows into a river as a tributary, but a poetic stream of words of tribute, which constitute an ode.

34. Dennings of "Shifting Gears": KAT.  Kat Dennings is an American actress known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film and television franchise beginning with Thor (2011).

36. Freezing shower: SLEET.

38. Word of affirmation: YES.

39. Casino card game: BACCARAT.

40. Biblical twin of Jacob: ESAU.

41. Lasting impression: DENT.  

43. Evaluate: VET.  A veterinarian, or vet, examines an animal.  Over the course of time, vet became a verb meaning to scrutinze a person or thing, or to examine for flaws.

44. Pitching stat: ERA.  Earned Run Average.

45. Blood relation, for short: SIB.  Sibling (brother or sister).

47. Difficult experience: ORDEAL.

48. Capital of Albania: TIRANË.  That's the Albanian spelling.  English spelling is Tirana.

49. Fragrant: ODORED.  Fragrant means having a pleasant smell, unlike fetor.

51. Taron's "Rocketman" role: ELTON.  Taron Egerton played Elton John in the 2019 film.

53. Some essential oils: BALMS.

54. Main ideas: GISTS.

55. Like chalet roofs: EAVED.

59. French father: PÈRE.

61. Club date: GIG.

62. Summer in Paris: ÉTÉ.

63. Form an attachment: TIE.

64. Wrath: IRE.

65. Norse war god: TÝR.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful:

• to the crossword constructors who challenge us with these wonderful puzzles; 
• to C.C., who created this Corner where mysteries of the puzzles are explained by dedicated bloggers, and who gave me the opportunity to join their ranks; 
• to all who read the blog, and especially to those who comment; 
• to DH, who smiles upon this activity and who proves that if the first marriage doesn't succeed, you should GET OVER IT and move on to something better.

I hope that Thanksgiving brings comfort to all of you.  Several of you have suffered great losses in the past year.  May you find thanks for what you had, and for what you still have.  Peace to all.

NaomiZ solving the puzzle a couple of Sundays ago.

-- NaomiZ