Theme: $omething extra in your stocking.
Today's crossword puzzle comes to us from Katie Hale, assistant crossword editor of the Los Angeles Times, who lives in London, England. Thanks, Katie, for spreading Christmas cheer from across the pond! We have some lovely, long theme answers today, and four circled letters. The circled letters are added to English phrases, transforming the meaning of those phrases so that they match the clues.
16-Across. Produces apian-themed bedroom decor?: MAKES A BEE LINE[N]. Original phrase: Makes a beeline, that is, goes quickly and directly toward a specific goal. Adding N gives us MAKES A BEE LINEN, which is apian (bee related) sheets, pillowcases, and other fabric items that decorate a bed.
23-Across. Brand stylization such as camel case?: BUMP ON A LOG[O]. Original phrase: Bump on a log, that is, someone who sits idle. Adding O gives us BUMP ON A LOGO. The reference is to "camel case," a writing format that eliminates spaces between words and indicates separation with capital letters: PowerPoint, iPhone, FedEx, eBay. The capital letter sticks up like the hump on a camel, and is often used in brand names.
40-Across. Creates cabernet with mallets?: HAMMERS OUT A WIN[E]. Original phrase: Hammers out a win, that is, achieves a successful outcome through intense effort. Adding E gives us HAMMERS OUT A WINE. Imagine using mallets, which are hammers with large heads, to beat grapes into wine.
51-Across. English noble with an eyebrow ring?: PIERCED EAR[L]. Original phrase: Pierced ear, that is, an ear in which a hole has been made to allow an earring to pass through. Adding L gives us PIERCED EARL, a nobleman with additional body piercings.
61-Across. End-of-year perk, and what this puzzle's circled letters form: CHRISTMAS BONUS. The circled letters spell NOEL, which means Christmas, and comes from the Latin natalis meaning birth or birthday. A Christmas bonus usually connotes extra money added to one's paycheck at the end of the year, but in this case, we get some extra meanings thanks to NOEL. The extra Christmas is a bonus!
What other Christmas treats does Katie have in store for us? Let's open all the gifts.
Across:1. Extract in some dog treats, briefly: CBD. Cannabidiol (CBD) is an extract of Cannabis, and has been used to treat anxiety and pain, without much clinical evidence to support that usage. Still, anything to help Fido feel better.
4. Fare ways?: CABS. One way to get where you're going? Pay a fare to ride in a cab.
8. Blue Ribbon beer: PABST. Pabst claims that its beer was renamed Pabst Blue Ribbon following its win as "America's Best" at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Whether the brand actually won an award in 1893 is unclear, but the beer had won many other awards at other fairs, and Pabst had already started tying blue ribbons around every bottle. It was such a great marketing ploy that this was an easy answer for you today.
13. Mine material: ORE.
14. Tech gift-guide site: CNET. Check it out.
15. Uneasy feeling: AGITA. Agitation or anxiety.
16. [Theme clue]
19. Jessica of "The Better Sister": BIEL. Jessica Biel is an American movie and television actress. She co-starred with Elizabeth Banks in "The Better Sister," a 2025 Amazon limited series TV thriller. The premise: two estranged sisters, one married to and the other divorced from the same man, are forced together after he is murdered.
 |
| Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks |
20. London's prov.: ONT. London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Not the same London where our crossword constructor resides.
21. Step up from amateur night: GIG. A gig is a paid performance.
22. Cal. column: MON. Calendar column: Monday.
23. [Theme clue]
28. "R u 4 real!?": OMG. Are you for real? Oh my god! (Text abbreviations.)
29. 1860s prez: ABE.
30. Before now: AGO.
31. PG Tips and Barry's: TEAS.
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| British and Irish tea brands |
33. Odds partner: ENDS.
36. Contradict in court: REBUT.
40. [Theme clue]
43. Slumber: SLEEP.
44. Tip-top: ACME.
45. Element of cooled pudding: SKIN. Pudding skin is a rubbery film that forms on the surface of cooked puddings as they cool. In one episode of Seinfeld, George proposed to cut the skin off of puddings, wrap them in plastic, and sell them as "pudding skin singles," akin to Kraft Singles American cheese.
46. Objective: AIM.
48. "Tinker Bell" voice actress Whitman: MAE. Mae Whitman has been acting since she was six years old. She has a long list of movie and TV credits; you may remember her from Parenthood (2010-2015).
 |
| Mae Whitman, Lauren Graham, and Miles Heizer in Parenthood |
50. Actress Mendes: EVA. Eva Mendes acted in a lot of movies before calling it quits in 2022, citing a lack of good roles that weren't specifically Latina. She has two daughters with Ryan Gosling.
 |
| Eva Mendez and Ryan Gosling |
56. 43-Across letters: REM. SLEEP letters? REM is a stage of sleep marked by -- you guessed it -- Rapid Eye Movement and vivid dreaming.
57. One point in gin rummy: ACE. Gin Rummy, or simply Gin, is a two player card game in which aces are always valued at one point.
58. DC villain Luthor: LEX. In DC comics, Lex Luthor is a supervillain with no superpowers. He's just a wealthy, evil genius, and he's the archenemy of Superman.
 |
| Even a supervillain can grow up to be President. |
59. Tie to a dock: MOOR.
61. [Theme clue]
66. Actor/director Waititi: TAIKA. Taika Waititi is a New Zealnd filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and more recently directed Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
 |
| Taika Waititi |
67. Beauty aisle brand: OLAY.
68. Unreliable stat from the chronically late: ETA. Adorable youngest daughter is not to be trusted regarding her Estimated Time of Arrival.
69. Like an intimidating climb: STEEP.
70. Eyelid issue: STYE.
71. Set: GEL. Gel as a verb is to change from a liquid into a thick, soft solid. Set is another way of saying the same thing. Are you thinking of 45-Across, pudding skin?
Down:
1. Burger, fries, and a drink, perhaps: COMBO MEAL.
2. Cognitive ability improver: BRAIN GAME. You're playing one!
3. Hockey feint: DEKE. A deceptive movement or feint that induces an opponent to move out of position. This seems to be an ice hockey specific term, and can be used as a noun or verb.
4. Includes, in a way: CCS. We used to do this with carbon copies! I still sometimes spell out the CCs at the end of an email when I want to the recipients to be aware of whose eyes will see a "reply all."
5. "Ballerina" actress de Armas: ANA. Ana de Armas grew up in Cuba, moved to Spain, and then moved to Los Angeles, playing leading film and TV roles along the way. She was the holographic AI Joi in Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Paloma in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021) and Marilyn Monroe in Blonde (2022), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Ballerina was a 2025 thriller.
 |
| Ana de Armas |
6. "__-a-Lula": classic Gene Vincent hit: BE-BOP. "Be-Bop-a-Lula" is a rockabilly song first recorded in 1956 by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.
7. Real-time record-keeper, for short: STENO. A STENOgrapher's job is to transcribe speech, as it occurs, using shorthand writing or a stenographic machine, especially in courtroom settings.
8. Good bud: PAL.
9. Form 1040 amt.: AGI. Adjusted Gross Income belongs on Line 11 of Form 1040. It reflects your income from all sources, minus certain allowable expenses.
10. "That's exactly right!": BINGO.
11. "Doctor De Soto" writer/illustrator William: STEIG. I know William Steig mostly for a little picture book called CDB! (1968). Doctor De Soto (1982) won the National Book Award. The plot features a mouse dentist who wants to help a fox with a toothache, and yet not be eaten by him.
12. Dance with figure-eight steps: TANGO.
17. Idris of "Hijack": ELBA. Idris Elba appears frequently in the puzzle. He's a hugely successful actor who gained fame through his role in the HBO series The Wire (2002–2004). Hijack is an Apple TV+ thriller series that debuted in 2023; a second season is set to premiere in January 2026.
 |
| Idris Elba |
18. Volcano where Bronte pistachios are grown: ETNA. Bronte, Sicily, Italy, is on the slopes of Mount Etna, the active volcano. The little pistachios grown there derive a sweet flavor from the volcanic soil.
 |
| Bronte, Sicily, with Mount Etna |
22. Wool-loving pests: MOTHS.
24. __ Eats: UBER.
25. Society for smarties: MENSA.
26. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.
27. Luxury hotel chain: LOEWS.
32. Spread, as peanut butter: SMEAR.
34. Sleepy housemate: DOC. From Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
35. __ cum laude: SUMMA. I imagine that many cruciverbalists earned this distinction in college.
37. Trail for cyclists: BIKE ROUTE.
38. Covering everything: UNIVERSAL.
39. Brunch date hr.: TEN AM. In L.A., people will invite you to brunch at 1 PM. 1 PM!! Does the language mean nothing any more? On the other hand, sure, I can be ready by 1 PM.
41. Extraordinary: EPIC.
42. Feature of some distressed jeans: TEAR.
47. Turn to liquid: MELT.
49. Furry red Muppet: ELMO. The Tickle Me Elmo doll was a huge fad during the 1996 Christmas shopping season.
51. Promises between besties: PACTS.
52. Apple's old messaging app: iCHAT. iDON'Tchat. I'm not an Apple person.
53. Haunting: EERIE.
54. Short exhibitions: DEMOS.
55. Speak highly of: EXALT.
60. Pull felt on Earth: O NEG. Here I need your help. Are we dealing with gravity? With weightlessness? Is the first character a zero, that is, zero neg? Help, I'm falling! Or failing!
62. 1950s prez: IKE.
 |
| Eisenhower and Nixon |
63. Sucker: SAP.
64. Go: SAY. So I go, that movie is the best!, and Sharie goes, it was totally rad!
65. "Ta-ta": BYE. Ciao for now.
 |
| Yellowrocks, Dec 10, 2020 |
2) Happy birthday to Lorraine (Fermatprime) as well! I hope you're doing well. And "Hello" to Malcolm too - he reads our blog regularly and keeps me posted on how Lorraine is doing from time to time.
 |
| Fermatprime, Thanksgiving, 2015 |
29 comments:
I had wondered if
there was going to be a “topical” puzzle today, and there certainly was!
However, I must say that I personally did not find this puzzle easy at all with such abbreviations as “CBD” and “AGI” for instance.
Nevertheless, FIR, so I’m happy.
And happy to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
Methinks NaomiZ is pulling our leg @ ONE G.
OTOH, it could have been clued as "Jinx's blood type (O NEG.)"
Good morning and Merry Christmas!
My ANGST eventually gave me AGITA, and I slid home for the win. Nice entry, Katie. Enjoyed your expo, NaomiZ. I agree with Jinx's ONE-G. (I also agree with your editorial comment on "supervillain.")
FIR, but deek->DEKE, rare->EPIC, expos->DEMOS, and dde->IKE. DNK the tea brands, TAIKA, ICHAT, and that the TANGO had figure 8 steps.
SKIN as an element of pudding made me think of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Four-letter fill for "volcano blah, blah, blah" is going to be ETNA.
I don't remember for sure, but I think I was awarded DUMMA cum laude when I finally graduated college.
Patti finally taught me "pinky swear," now she wants "promises between besties" to be PACTS.
Nearly as irritating as "pinky swear" is "he goes...then she goes..." to describe dialog.
In the spirit of the day, here's Cheech & Chong's Santa Claus and his Old Lady.
Thanks to Katie for the Christmas challenge, and to Naomi for yet another fine tour. And Merry Christmas to all my fellow Cornerites!
NOEL!
Reminds me more of Ed Gein than Dahmer. He was big news (and the source of much dark humor) back in Wisconsin of '57.
P.U.to the nth degree. Titt. Nothing but names and abbreviations
60 down is "one g", not "o neg", g being gravity.
FIR. Merry Christmas to all, and in light of that sentiment I'll excuse the circles and obscure proper names. Noel, very clever!
This was a typical Thursday puzzle with the appropriate level of difficulty, but doable. My only misstep was to enter Alba before Biel.
So overall a quite enjoyable puzzle.
Merry Christmas to all!
and a shmear for cream cheese
Good Morning:
I appreciated a Christmas-themed puzzle, even though the theme type is not a favorite of mine. There was some crunch, e.g., Taiki because of spelling, and the unknowns, CBD, Steig, Mae, etc. Abe and Ike stood out but I could have done with fewer TLWs and the Valley Girl clue for Say. Noel was truly a nice Christmas Bonus, though.
Thanks, Katie, and thanks, Naomi, for your usual detailed and expert analysis of the theme and your informative commentary. I always enjoy your closing word play comments and questions to the solvers.
Merry Christmas to all!
Musings
-PABST sponsored a lot of early television events
-Being chronically late is one of many reasons we did not get along with ex-son-in-law
-Human STENOgraphers are more accurate than AI transcrpitioning
-Happy birthday Kathy and Lorraine.
-It is very foggy on the Great Plains today and that might affect our ETA in Lincoln.
-Lovely job, Naomi.
I had a sailing buddy in SoCal whose wife was always late. Didn't take us too long to learn to tell them to meet us at an hour earlier than when we expected to see them. Had to remember not to do that if we were just meeting the husband.
Not as difficult as Katie sometimes dishes up, a theme fitting of the day, pretty straightforward clueing. Managed a FIR in 14:04 with perp help for STEIG, MAE and TAIKA. DNK that LOEWS is a luxury hotel as I’ve never seen one, thought it was a bygone movie theater chain. TEN AM seems early for brunch, to me it’s more like noonish. I’m pretty sure I’m not a candidate for MENSA. Thanks Katie for taking easy on us today with this enjoyable solve, and to NaomiZ for further brightening up this day with your write-up! I agree with you about the anonymous posters, we all recognize SS and of course Darren because he’s signatory, but there are a lot of others that post regularly that I wish there was some reveal as to who they are.
OMG, Jinx, I never saw it! D'oh! Thanks for parsing.
D'oh! I didn't see it.
The pull on earth answer is one G. One gravity. Good puzzle
Thanks, Jerry S at 10:07 AM! Jinx at 5:15 AM and Anonymous at 7:45 AM caught that, too. I'm amazed that I failed to parse the answer correctly, especially since I was considering gravitational pull. Oh, well! I liked the puzzle, too. Glad you did! Thanks for helping me out here.
Jinx's "dumma" cum laude line reminds me of eloquent former football player Shannon Sharpe's quip when someone assumes he was at the top of his college class: "I didn't graduate Magna Cum Laude. I graduated Thank You, Lawdy!"
Annoying clues were a real impediment to solving this puzzle (on damp newsprint; we got an inch of rain overnight). Somehow, I staggered through the impediments and FIR.
Here are the most annoying: Fare ways/CABS; the abbreviation for calendar/MON; the alleged synonyms Ru4 Real/OMG; the obscure TEAS examples; lack of abbreviations in the CCS clue; the BINGO clue that absolutely required perps; extraordinary/EPIC; PACTS not much related to “besties”; and, of course, go/SAY.
Simply difficult entries: AGI, AGITA, TAIKA Waititi ; ONE G (or maybe NaomiZ was right about “O-neg”).
OTHER DIFFICULTIES: I put ABE in 28A instead of 29A; lots of three-letter-name actresses I don’t know very well.
Happy holidays to all.
I liked that Katie's "ornaments" at the ends spelled NOEL.
Excellent review as usual, Naomi. I'm hoping that playing BRAIN GAMES will keep me from rusting out completely!
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and best wishes to everyone else.
A clever puzzle which included Katie’s usual annoying pop culture clues/answers.
I thought tip-top… Acme was clever.
But then we were offered the nose wrinkle at Go… Say!
Thanks for the detailed recap Naomi.
Merry Christmas to all.
As a former tax lawyer and occasional prof of tax law I had no trouble with AGI (but I did with AGI(TA)). Yes, I use TurboTax to prepare my return.
And a Merry Christmas to all!
Clever CW! And (don't faint) I even got the theme. Of course, the theme is pretty straight forward today. Best clue: "Sleepy housemate". I was not fooled, but did smile. On the negative side, too many names: 19 by my count, DNK 9, so a lot of perps needed all over the place. Also DNK: CBD ( I know what it is, but didn't know it was in some dog food). W/O: ANGST/AGITA. I forgot to mark my start time, but would guess 15 minutes to FIR. Thanx KH, for this nice Christmas themed CW. Thanx too to NaomiZ for the write-up. I, too, thought she was pulling our chains to not get ONE G. It happens to all of us from time to time, though. HBD YR, FMP and anyone else whose birthday has to compete with that of Jesus. And and the Santa stuff. I'm sure their births were quite the Christmas present for their parents!
Merry Christmas 🎄
Waiting for the out of town clan to arrive.
Made a mess of this one in the NE and NW. Had bumpanalogy It’s not Jessica Beal. Thought each circle contained the letter L
DOC was the dwarf leader. “Sleepy” was the somnolent dwarf
AGITA which is dialect corruption of “acido” (AH-chee-do) usually refers to stomach upset but also similar to another Italian word “angst” 😃
Apparently Dr De Soto has nothing to do with Dr Demento. Speaking of Demented I watched all 6 wacky seasons of “What We do in the Shadows” but didn’t remember that “Waititi” fellow.
Have a great day. Hope your stockings were filled .
Merry Christmas, cornerites! Todays puzzle put coal in my stocking with the overabundance of obscure (to me! YMMV) pop culture clues. DNF. Enjoyed some of it, disliked some more of it. And so it goes. Thanks to NaomiZ for the weightless recap! It helped keep me grounded.
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