Café Au L.A.(IT)
or, the Times Crossword with your Morning Joe~?
Hi there~! Splynter here, commencing my new day blogging. Our first Friday puzzle of 2026 is a crossword from constructor Kevin Curry (alliteration), a regular, and what I gather is one of his three kids, Nate, who is 10(ish) yrs old - he and younger sister Kaela created a puzzle that made the NYT. Today's grid, an oversized 15x16 to accommodate the center spanner, consists of four themers that drop, or "knock off" the I & T at the end of common phrases to create punny new ones. A few too many names for me, a whole SLEW of abbrs, no circles, and a balance of 26 3LWs compared with the 24 five-letter ones. The themers and the reveal;
18. Warning on a note passed in a seminar?: NOT FOR PROF(IT)
more here
25. Crystal ball consulted atop Mount Everest?: HIGH EARTH ORB(IT) - A.K.A. Geosynchronous Orbit
37. The discovery of the Lucy fossils, for one?: SIGNIFICANT DIG(IT)
52. Beauty school treatment?: LEARNER'S PERM(IT) - I got my learning-to-drive permit at 16yrs old
61. "Cut that out!," or an apt title for this puzzle: "KNOCK IT OFF~!"
Two other thoughts:
Unruly CanadianEh!~? - Bad Hab(IT)
Robinson with his musicians~? - Smokey and the Band(IT)
But Wait~!
There's More~! ( all good, -T - Onward~! was my Saturday sign-in )
ACROSS:
1. Charges: BILLS - the contractor "charges" $$ for his time
6. During: AMID
10. House shower?: CSPAN - I wondered if this was "shOU-er", or shOH-er; I finally figured out it was the latter, with the channel that shows Congress, the US "House" of Representatives & Senate
15. More slick: ICIER - 'tis the season~! - I've cleared my driveway three times so far
16. 2024 NBA All-Star Game MVP "__ Time" Lillard: DAME - name #1, and I had "G-ame", since that made more sense at first, but I knew my "AD" at 6D. had to be correct - more about him here
17. In the loop: AWARE
20. Sew loosely: BASTE - I knew this 'cause my mom was a sewing master
21. Not gross: NET - weights and measures, as opposed to icky over sterile
22. Some Duracells: AAs - I'm an "AA" as well, but not a battery
23. Like many fiddle-leaf figs: POTTED - I had p-I-tted, which made sense at first - but figs have seeds, not pits - sigh.
All(IT)eration
24. Land south of Eur.: AFRica
28. Hawaiian for "white": KEA
29. Highest seed: ONE - as of this writing, the Denver Broncos are the #1 seed in the NFL
30. Regret: RUE
31. Marble __: RYE
32. Up and about: ASTIR - if you have to ASTIR, you might need AWHISK - found at 60A.
34. Mother with a Nobel Peace Prize: TERESA - even if we all know who this is, still name #2
42. Agree: ASSENT - all(IT)eration
43. Soccer star Sergio who scored more than 100 goals for Real Madrid: RAMOS - no clue, name #3
45. Audible sighs: "AHs"
48. Long. crosser: LATitiude, the grid of the globe - all(IT)iteration
49. "Rugrats" dad: STU - name #4, learned doing crosswords
51. Tiebreaker periods, for short: OTs - OverTimes
56. Opposite of oui: NON - yes/no - ah, my first Friday Franwche fill - all(IT)eration
Oui~! Oui~! Très Oui~!
57. Release: LET OUT - "who let the dogs out~?" woof, woof
58. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE - name #5, we see her a lot in crosswords
59. Paramount+ partner, briefly: SHO - SHOwtime, streaming services - all(IT)teration
60. Batter beater: WHISK - what a whip~! - all(IT)eration
65. Like déjà vu: EERIE
66. Cry of dismay: "OH NO~!"
67. Leaves for dinner: SALAD - my first thought was the leaf sections when expanding the dining room table, but it's the 'other' leaf - lettuce, romaine, etc.
68. Freezing temps: TEENS
69. Large number: SLEW - Hercules "slew" a whole slew of heads off the - - -
70. Monster with regenerative heads: HYDRA
1. Recycling container: BIN - my blue recycling bin goes out every other week - my garbage, rarely once a month
2. Admission of guilt: "I CONFESS."
3. Well-read individuals: LITERATI - filled via perps
4. Not right?: LEFT - I am a LEFTY, so I nailed this one
5. Sold-out letters: SRO - crossword staple, Standing Room Only
6. Magazine income source: AD PAGE - I had figured it being "AD" something . . . .
7. Swampy habitat: MARSH - I had BAYOU to start; been reading a lot of James Lee Burke books that take place in Louisiana, so this 'hab(IT)at' was on my mind; I did get a David Weber Sci-Fi book, "Off Armageddon Reef", and finished "Hail Mary" from Andy Weir; great book - thank you all for the reading suggestions
8. Texter's qualifier: IMO - In My Opinion
9. Pt. of HDTV: DEFinition; High and TeleVision were too long
10. Novelist Meg: CABOT - name #6, had no clue, learned she is the author of "The Princess Diaries", and the "O" does seem more likely than the "I" that I had from p-I-tted
11. Broad strip: SWATH - as in a swath of destruction laid down by a tornado
12. Tacos al __: PASTOR - never heard of this, so the NE corner was messy; name (ish) - the Wiki
13. Aorta, for one: ARTERY
14. (If) necessary: NEED BE - in hockey playoffs, games 5,6 and 7 may be "if necessary"
19. Picnic spoiler: RAIN - I pondered "ANTS" first
23. Groom feathers: PREEN
24. Pseudonym preceder: A.K.A. - Also Known As
25. Features of orchestras and rhinos: HORNS - clever
26. Upright: ERECT
27. Spiritual glow: AURA - it was either HALO or AURA, and I guessed correctly
33. Four-time French Open winner Swiatek: IGA - name #7, learned doing crosswords
34. Window shades: TINTS - slightly meh; I think windows GET tinted - OR - treatments like drapes, curtains, blinds, shades, etc.
35. Play guitar: STRUM - well, that is part of the mechanics - there's also picking, fretting, tapping, bending, sliding - did I miss anything~?
Eddie would have turned 71 on Jan 26th
36. Org. for orthodontists: ADA - American Dental Assoc.
38. Key: ISLET - That kind of key
39. Dread: FEAR
40. Comment from someone listening to elevator music, perhaps: "I'M ON HOLD."
41. Push beyond acceptable limits: GO TOO FAR - "you've gone far, Ted" was a classic Benny Hill gag
44. ID with two hyphens: SSN
45. Totally wrong: ALL WET - I had heard this phrase before, usually from my mother
46. [Giggle]: HEE-HEE - I had TEE-HEE, so 5/6ths correct - and technically, our Monday dupe~!
all(IT)eration
47. Many a mockumentary: SATIRE - this ROCK-umentary comes to mind
49. Manatee, e.g.: SEACOW - Awww, this puzzle shoulda been blogged by MM~!
50. Taxing trip: TREK - All(IT)eration
53. Gymnast's gripping aid: ROSIN - Dah~! Not CHALK
54. Zaps: NUKES - Ah. I use this term all the time when referring to the microwave
55. Susceptible (to): PRONE - as in "prone to lying down while sleeping" 😜
59. "Don't go!": "STAY~!"
61. MMA stat: KOs - Mixed Martial Arts, a sport I do not watch, and Knock Outs
62. Kraken's realm, briefly: NHL - the 'briefly' should have clued me in to the abbr, but I went with "SEA" - yet this is also correct , as the Kraken of the National Hockey League hail from SEAttle
63. "Or so": "ISH." - I'll be over about nine"ish"
64. HHS agency: FDA - Health & Human Sevices, and the Food & Drug Administration; here's the hierarchy on the website
Splynter
Grid Flow 29.9
8 comments:
I got the “gimmick”
right away, which helped me solve this fun puzzle.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Also, I figured “Cabot” was much more likely than “Cabit” so I didn’t get fooled by “pitted/potted.” Thank goodness!
Good morning!
Tough one. D-o suffered a mind-meld with Splynter on gAME, tEEHEE, and SEA. I also wanted my tacos al CARBON at first. Everything finally worked out. Clever, Nate and Kevin. You'll be a welcome addition to the permanent Friday rotation, Splynter.
GRRRR! Was nearly done with my daily ramblings and fat-fingered my browser closed. To make a long entry shorter, FIW @ CABiT x PiTTED. alas->OHNO, bayou->MARSH, carbon->PASTOR, needed->NEED BE, teehee->HEEHEE.
I wanted Hawaiian for white to be haole, but it wouldn't fit.
Until today I didn't know that there are two types of SEA COWs, the manatees and the dugongs. Don't know if both are malodorous.
Thanks to Nate and Kevin for the fun Friday challenge, and to Splynter for another fine review.
A tough one to FIR today. It didn't help my cause filling AD RATE, then AD SALE, before finally getting AD PAGE in the North. Then starting with AGENT for the House shower. CABOT and PASTOR were both unknown, as was 'fiddle-leaf figs', but the V8 hit me. The House of Congress. Duh! POTTED was guessed after CSPAN. Like SubG, potted & Cabot made more sense than pitted & Cabit.
DAME Time- I wanted DIME; gotta rhyme to be a real nickname. Perps.
LITERATI- only if you read what 'they' think should be read to join that club. I'm not in it.
Swampy habitat. BAYOU is a slow river. SWAMP has trees. MARSH is a grassland under water.
Kraken-I filled SEA until the manatee clue gave me SEA COW. Then I remembered the hockey team.
FIR. I got fooled by giggle and threw down tee hee before realizing ats couldn't be right. Hee hee! Finally saw the light.
I got the theme early on which was confirmed when I filled in the reveal.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
What does FIR E
Finished it right
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