Monday, February 2, 2026, Zachary Edward-Brown, Jude White

Theme:  OBX.

Today's big reveal should be a gimme for our east coast crowd, or for fans of the Netflix series:

52-Across. Drama set on the North Carolina coast, and what 16-, 27-, and 39-Across have?: OUTER BANKS.  I have heard of NC's Outer Banks, a 200 mile stretch of barrier islands and deposition bars separating a series of lagoons and estuaries from the Atlantic Ocean.  I had not heard of the Netflix teen mystery that premiered in 2020 and will have its fifth and final season this year.  What do the OUTER BANKS have to do with 16-, 27-, and 39-Across?  Let's take a look.

Outer Banks AKA OBX (on TV and in general)

16. Work promoted by the American Library Association every autumn: BANNED BOOK.  It's been a while since I worked as a professional librarian, but this campaign still makes me proud.  Note that the OUTER edges of the answer spell BANK.

27. Color associated with tutus: BALLERINA PINK.  From prima ballerinas to tiny tots in tutus, pink seems popular.  Note that the OUTER edges of the answer spell BANK.

Prima Ballerina by Edgar Degas (detail)

39. Euphemism that conveys disapproval: BLANKETY BLANK.  Why, you darned blankety blank!  (You can mentally fill in the strong language of your choice when so addressed.)  Note that the OUTER edges of the answer spell BANK -- and that the BANK has been shifting from one side to the other, very much like the sand BANKS of the barrier islands in North Carolina, except that those shift westward, as the mainland retreats in the same direction.  Cape Hatteras Lighthouse -- the tallest in the country -- had to be moved 2,900 feet from its original location to avoid being swallowed by the ocean.

Are you feeling buoyed up by all this offshore banking?  Let's see what the rest of the clues and answers do for us.

Across:

1. Eisenberg of the "Now You See Me" heist films: JESSE.  This seemed like a tough start for a Monday puzzle, but since Mr. Eisenberg has starred in *three* movies in this series, they are clearly popular.  He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010), and has played Lex Luthor in two recent DC Comics superhero films, as well as many other roles.

Jesse Eisenberg

6. Disobey: DEFY.

10. Miso paste source: SOY.

This is the brand sitting in my fridge.

13. Fundamental truth: AXIOM.

14. Guthrie of folk: ARLO.  Son of Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie is a singer-songwriter known for songs of protest against social injustice.

Arlo Guthrie in 1979

15. Source of ruin: BANE.  BANE can mean a source of ruin, like a curse; it can mean death or destruction; or woe; or poison; or a more trivial cause of misery.  "Mosquitos are the bane of my existence."

16. [Theme clue]

18. Three or four: A FEW.

19. Texting format: SMS.  Short Message Service is a widely used mobile communication standard.

20. Deprives (of): ROBS.

21. "Shaqtin' a Fool" host: O'NEAL.  Also a little tough for Monday, but anything "Shaq" is likely to be O'Neal.  Shaqtin' a Fool is a weekly segment from the TV show Inside the NBA on ESPN.  The title is a play on "actin' a fool."  Shaqtin' highlights humorous and unusual basketball plays that have occurred during the past week.  O'Neal is the host and presenter, while other analysts in the studio react and provide commentary. 

23. Pumpkin picking time: FALL.

24. Turf: SOD.

25. Copacabana city: RIO.   Copacabana beach is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  There's a nightclub called the Copacabana in New York that has existed in various NYC locations since 1940.

27. [Theme clue]

30. Rice field: PADDY.

31. Narcissist's problem: EGO.

32. Foil alternative: ÉPÉE.  Modern fencing uses three types of sword:  foil, épée, and sabre.

Mind where you poke that thing!

33. Walks in shallow water: WADES.

34. Mover's vehicle: VAN.

35. Like horror movies: SCARY.

36. Classic soft drink: NEHI.  An American brand of soda pop since 1924.

37. Actor Beatty: NED.  Ned Beatty (1937-2021) acted in more than 160 film and television roles.  Married four times, he was a busy guy.  You may have seen him in Deliverance, Nashville, All the President's Men, Network, Superman (1978), The Big Easy, etc. etc.  RIP.

Ned Beatty

38. Asterisks: STARS.

39. [Theme clue]

42. Wong of "Beef": ALI.  Ali Wong and Steven Yeun star in Beef, a Netflix comedy series in which two strangers are involved in a road rage incident that escalates into a prolonged feud.  Originally broadcast in 2023, a second season is planned for 2026.

Steven Yeun and Ali Wong

43. Google : Android :: Apple : __: iOS.  Google phones run on the Android operating system.  Apple phones run on the iPhone Operating System.

44. Drei minus zwei: EINS.  Three minus two is one in Germany, just like here.

45. "No Time To Die" actress Ana de __: ARMAS.  This beautiful lady has shown up in several puzzles I've blogged recently.  She looks just like I do -- in my imagination.

Ana de Armas

47. Seething: IRED.  Some folks are IRED by the use of IRED as the past tense of IRE, to make angry.  After all, IRE has not been used as a verb since the year 1500 or so.

48. Duracell size: AAA.

51. Off-the-neck style: UPDO.

Ana de Armas with an updo

52. [Theme clue]

55. Sir counterpart: MA'AM.  "Sir" and "ma'am" (short for madam) are traditional English honorifics used to show respect for men and women, respectively, especially when their names are unknown or they are in authority.

56. The "U" of CPU: UNIT.  A central processing unit (CPU) is the primary processor in a computer.  Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of computer programs.

57. Some high-end coolers: YETIS.

$300 for this one.

58. "__ second now": ANY.

59. Defeat: LOSS.

60. Fragrance: SCENT.

Down:

1. Boxing punches: JABS.

2. Crammer's concern: EXAM.

3. Biblical don'ts: SINS.

4. Male offspring: SON.

5. Green gemstones: EMERALDS.

6. Work casually: DABBLE.  Many of our Cornerites dabble in guitar playing.  Others are serious rockers.

7. Deity often depicted as a winged youth: EROS.  The god of love -- renamed Cupid by the Romans.

Eros

8. Cheery aproned agent in Progressive Insurance ads: FLO.  Flo is a fictional salesperson portrayed by comedian Stephanie Courtney in advertisements for Progressive Insurance.

Flo

9. John Lennon's "Unfinished Music" series collaborator: YOKO ONO.

10. Zoolike attraction: SAFARI PARK.

11. Short jokes: ONE LINERS.

12. Evergreen with poisonous berries: YEW.

15. Sweetie: BAE.

17. "Queen of Country" Parton: DOLLY.

22. Sensitive info doc: NDA.  A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract that outlines confidential information that two or more parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but to which they agree to restrict other access or uses.

23. Cinematic transition: FADE IN.

24. Autograph: SIGN.

26. "__-dokey!": OKEY.

27. Reason to don a cap: BAD HAIR DAY.

28. "__, set, go!": READY.

29. Pie nuts: PECANS.

30. Spanish rice cooking vessel: PAELLA PAN.  Paella is prepared in a wide, shallow pan, typically on a grill or over an open fire.

Paella in the pan

33. Caitlin Clark's org.: WNBA.  Caitlin Clark is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Caitlin Clark

34. Longtime players on a team: VETS.

35. Travelers not guaranteed a seat: STANDBYS.  Standby passengers may have arrived early for their flight, or arrived too late to board, and they wait at the gate to see whether a seat becomes available on another flight.

37. Genre for Maxwell and D'Angelo: NEO SOUL.  A couple of one-named musical artists associated with neo soul in the late 1990s.  Proving that even 30 years ago, this blogger was completely un-hip.

38. Foxier: SLIER.  We had this in last Monday's puzzle!  As noted last week, this answer works in the USA, but Brits are slyer.

40. Sportage automaker: KIA.

41. Flat French hats: BERETS.

46. Parenting blog visitor, maybe: MOM.

47. "No kidding?": IT IS.  "No kidding, the peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world?"  "It is!"

48. Poker buy-in: ANTE.  Jinx sometimes reminds us that the buy-in happens earlier, when a player buys chips, but the ante is the buy-in for any given hand, is it not?

49. Similar (to): AKIN.

50. Exec's helper: ASST.  An abbreviation in the clue calls for an abbreviation in the answer.

51. Actress Thurman: UMA.  Uma Thurman is an American actress.  Known for her collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, she has performed in over fifty film and television productions since the 1980s.

Uma Thurman

53. Draw Four card game: UNO.  In UNO, the Wild Draw Four (+4) is a special action card that forces the next player to draw four cards and skip their turn.

UNO cards

54. Nuclear agcy. depicted in "Oppenheimer": AEC.  Atomic Energy Commission.

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did you find A FEW of today's clues to be tough for a Monday puzzle?

Were some of them SCARY?  

Or did you pass this EXAM easily and get a big EGO boost from the experience?

Let us know in the comments section!  It's the friendliest place on the internet.

-- NaomiZ