Monday, February 16, 2026, Betsy Ochester, Andrew Gutelle

Happy Presidents' Day!  NaomiZ here to MC a marvelous Monday puzzle by Betsy Ochester and Andrew Gutelle.  This puzzle has five theme entries, symmetrically placed in rows across, with one spanning the grid.  And today's puzzle is not just the luck of the draw, but as the grid spanner makes clear, it was designed for a Monday morning.  

The key to the theme is in the very last Across clue:

65-Across. Ceremony host, or a phonetic hint to 17-, 23-, 37-, 45-, and 58-Across: EMCEE.  EMCEE is a phonetic spelling of the initialism MC, which means Master of Ceremonies.  The hint suggests that the letters M and C will play important roles in the listed entries.

              NZ as MC

17. Communication system with dots and dashes: MORSE CODE.  This entry sets the pattern for the rest.  The two words of the answer begin with M and C.  When solving, I failed to see the pattern until 65-Across enlightened me.  Were you quicker to catch on?

"Samuel Morse, stop fooling with that telegraph thing.
People will never talk to each other with their fingers."

23. "Aladdin" transport: MAGIC CARPET.

37. Early-week newspaper feature: MONDAY CROSSWORD.  Here's our grid spanner!  It tells us that our constructors hoped this puzzle would run on a Monday.  

45. Actor who plays Allan in "Barbie": MICHAEL CERA.  Allan is Ken's red-headed buddy, and so rare a doll that in Greta Gerwig's Barbie, there are multiple Barbies and Kens, but just one Allan, played by Michael Cera.  Admittedly, I didn't remember any of that from the movie, but perps (perpendicular entries) were helpful.

Michael Cera as Allan in Barbie

58. Nickname for Detroit: MOTOR CITY.  I learned Detroit's nickname from X's album More Fun in the New World (1983), specifically from the song "The New World":

"Don't forget the Motor City, this was supposed to be the new world!"

Let's maneuver carefully through the rest of the grid.

Across:

1. Expenses: COSTS.

6. Happy __ clam: AS A.

9. "Judy" Oscar winner Zellweger: RENÉE.  Renée Zellweger won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this 2019 biographical film based on the life of Judy Garland.

14. Software company that makes InDesign and Acrobat: ADOBE.  I use Adobe software to view and edit PDFs, but if you know a good alternative, I am interested!

15. Captain's record: LOG.  My generation's favorite example of a captain's log:  Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise recording his observations and noting the stardate.

William Shatner as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, the original TV series

16. Garlicky spread: AIOLI.

17. [Theme clue]

19. "I'm chipped" collar attachment: ID TAG.  A good idea!  Add this tag to your pet's collar to let folks know that the animal has a microchip which will lead to your information.  Our dogs always had their address and phone on their collars as well as the local dog license.

20. Peel or pare, say: PREP.  DH and I have learned to prep ingredients for the meal before we start cooking, so that things are less frantic as we go along.

21. Artist Yoko: ONO.

22. Miss Marple, e.g.: SLEUTH.  A fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime stories, Miss Marple is an amateur consulting detective.

Miss Marple

23. [Theme clue]

25. One little piggy's destination: MARKET.  We'll be playing piggies on our new grandson's toes any day now.  A strange cultural inheritance!

29. Cap: HAT.

30. Look forward to: AWAIT.

31. Bike part that can be raised and lowered: SEAT.

33. Rickman of "Love Actually": ALAN.  Alan Rickman (1946-2016) was an English actor of stage and screen.  You may remember him as Severus Snape, the potions master, in the Harry Potter movies.  Love Actually was a 2003 holiday season romantic comedy.  DH handles the rom-com viewing in our home.  

Alan Rickman in Love Actually. 
His character cheated on Emma Thompson's character.
Some people are still mad at Alan Rickman for that!

37. [Theme clue]

40. Side social media accounts, informally: ALTS.  Some folks set up more than one account on a social media platform.  You could have a very public Instagram account where you try to attract lots of followers, and you might have an ALT(ernate) account for close friends and family.  Or you might market to different audiences through your ALTS.  This is new to me.  I remember that before the world wide web became public, Usenet ALT groups were a way to chat with like-minded folks online.  I still use recipes I gleaned from alt.veg.

41. Many moons: EONS.  My Usenet activities occurred EONS ago.

42. Temporary body dye: HENNA.

43. Mini owner: BMW.  BMW owns the MINI brand, including MINI Cooper, MINI Countryman, and MINI Electric.

MINI lineup 2026

44. TikTok content: VIDEOS.  TikTok is another platform where some folks maintain ALTS.

45. [Theme clue]

51. NYC subway between Inwood and Far Rockaway: A TRAIN.  My brother lives in Inwood at the north end of Manhattan.  I've been there, but not to Rockaway, because it's Far.

52. Chem class locale: LAB.

53. Exchange: SWAP.

57. Queen's tenure: REIGN.

58. [Theme clue]

60. Permeate: IMBUE.

61. Be in debt: OWE.

62. Supporter of the arts?: EASEL.  Cute clue!

63. Donkeys: ASSES.

64. "Bel Canto" novelist Patchett: ANN.  Ann Patchett is an American writer whose fourth novel, Bel Canto, received the Orange Prize for Fiction (UK) and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (USA).  The novel is based on the Japanese embassy hostage crisis of 1996-97 in Lima, Peru, and focuses on the relationships between terrorists and hostages.

Ann Patchett

65. [Theme clue]

Down:

1. Summer sleepaway site: CAMP.

2. Smell: ODOR.

3. Achy after exercise, say: SORE.

4. Meas. on the wrapper of a stick of butter: TBSP.  An abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.

5. "Catch my drift?": SEE?

6. "Run __ now!": ALONG.

7. "Likewise!": SO DO I!

8. Stone or Iron follower: AGE.

9. Berate: RAIL AT.

10. Puffer jacket filler, often: EIDER.  The Common Eider is a large sea-duck of the far north, famous for the insulating quality of its down.  Mother birds pluck their own down feathers to create warm nests for their young.  In Iceland, some folks build small huts for the birds to nest in, and collect the down when the nests are abandoned.

Male and female Common Eiders of Hudson Bay

11. Still snoozing: NOT UP.

12. Exhilarate: ELATE.

13. Twice four: EIGHT.

18. Paint layer: COAT.

22. Sings like Sarah Vaughan: SCATS.  Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist.  The recipient of two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, she was known to improvise wordless syllables -- scat singing -- which is typical of vocal jazz.

Sarah Vaughan

23. Self-referential: META.  "Meta" is something that refers to itself or its own category, such as a movie about making movies.  We sometimes see "meta" clues and answers in the crossword puzzle, like "Start to see?" for ESS.  BUT THE BEST META CLUE AND ANSWER I'VE EVER SEEN IN THE LA TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE IS TODAY'S GRID SPANNER, 37-ACROSS!    

24. Utter mess: CHAOS.

25. Three Bears matriarch: MAMA.

26. Mil. truant: AWOL.  A military truant is Away WithOut Leave.

27. __ and rave: RANT.

28. Nanny's offspring: KIDS.  Baby goats.

31. Grimace: SCOWL.

32. Directional suffix: ERN.  Eastern, western, northern, southern.

33. Amazed: AWED.

34. __ Star State: LONE.  Texas!

35. River of Florence: ARNO.

I took this photo of the Arno from Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy.

36. Confidentiality contracts, for short: NDAS.  Non-Disclosure Agreements are used to protect sensitive or proprietary information from being disclosed by employees, partners, and others.  An NDA protects trade secrets, client lists, and other confidential information.

38. Sanaa's country: YEMEN.  The capital and largest city of Yemen.

The red flag marks Sanaa.

39. Branch of Islam: SHIA.  Not long after the death of Muhammad in the year 632, his followers split into two camps:  Shia Muslims who believed that Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib was the rightful successor, and Sunni Muslims, who appointed Abu Bakr, Muhammad's closest friend and father-in-law, to succeed him.  Shia Muslims account for 10-13 percent of all Muslims.

43. The "B" of LBJ: BAINES.  Finally, a President for Presidents' Day!  Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908- 1973) was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969.  He accomplished a lot for civil rights, education, Social Security, and the space program, but lost popular support for escalating involvement in the unpopular war in Vietnam.

LBJ

44. Airbnb competitor: VRBO.  Vrbo is an online marketplace for vacation rentals.  It was originally an initialism for Vacation Rentals By Owner, but is now just Vrbo.  DH and I have never used Airbnb (though our adult offspring do), but we have rented spacious cabins for the whole family through vrbo.com (and through HomeAway, which was absorbed by Vrbo in 2019).

This three-level cabin with turret was *inside* the boundaries of Glacier National Park!

45. Tennis star Sharapova: MARIA.  Maria Sharapova is a Russian former professional tennis player who won five major titles and the Career Grand Slam in singles.  

Maria Sharapova

46. Action __: post-meeting list: ITEMS.

47. Baby beds: CRIBS.

48. Peace Palace site, with "The": HAGUE.  The Peace Palace is an international law administrative building in The Hague, Netherlands.  It houses the International Court of Justice (the main judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague Academy of International Law, and the Peace Palace Library.

Peace Palace

49. Bozo: CLOWN.  Bozo the Clown was a character created for children's entertainment, popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to television in 1949, later appearing in franchised television programs of which he was the host.  Bozo was played by numerous performers.  The Bozo Show aired nationally from 1960 to 2001.

Kids today are afraid of clowns.  Not old cruciverbalists!  We grew up with Bozo.

50. Devoured: EATEN.

53. Con: SCAM.

54. The Badger St.: WISC.  In the 1820s, Wisconsin lead miners lived in their mines, very much like badgers, burrowing into hillsides to keep warm in the winter.

A badger in a burrow.

55. Suit to __: fit perfectly: A TEE.

56. Gomer of TV's Mayberry: PYLE.  More old TV.  Gomer Pyle was a fictional character, played by Jim Nabors, who originally appeared on The Andy Griffith Show.  A naive auto mechanic turned US Marine Corps private, he became a recurring character, and then was spun off to his own show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1964, which ran until 1969.  The character was from the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina.

Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle

58. Extinct New Zealand bird: MOA.  Moa are an extinct group of flightless birds formerly endemic to New Zealand.  There were likely a couple million of them circa 1300 CE when Polynesians settled New Zealand.  Some species were 12 feet tall!  Extinction occurred within 100 years of human settlement, thanks to overhunting.

Moa and human nemesis

59. Food writer Drummond: REE.  Ree Drummond is a food blogger whose site, The Pioneer Woman, documents her life in rural Oklahoma.  Her blog led to a television show of the same name on The Food Network.  I tried out some of her cookie recipes several years ago.  If she could do it on the ranch, surely I could do it in my urban kitchen!

Ree Drummond

Here's the grid:

Solvers, were you ELATEd by this MONDAY CROSSWORD?  Did it suit you to A TEE?

Or did you find some ITEMS you'd like to RANT about?

We AWAIT your comments below!

-- NaomiZ