Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - Nate Curry and Zhou Zhang

 Theme:  I'm on pins and needles

I will admit that Hatoolah's Rat tat cartoon from yesterday made me chuckle when I knew this was my opening cartoon today! 😉

Puzzling thoughts:

Did anyone else feel tingly whilst filling in this puzzle?  Not I.  Nothing prickly about it, either.  Just a few jabs, here and there, and I really didn't feel the stick when the needle was finally administered ...

OK, enough of the cheap barbs.  Today's puzzle is a family collaboration between mom (Zhou) and son (Nate).  The dad, Kevin Curry, and son Nate had a collaborative puzzle earlier this year on Friday January 2. And when I poked a bit further, [according to some notes I found while searching the internet] I learned that Zhou and Kevin are a Seattle-based couple with three sub-teenaged children.  Nate is the oldest of the three.  Four of the five family members have had puzzles published by the NY Times - all as collaborations.  And the "legacy" that's building for this family (as crossword puzzle constructors) is quite recent - all post pandemic

The reveal for today's puzzle is: 51-across. Make a measurable difference, or what the answers to the starred clues do: MOVE THE NEEDLE.

The supporting entries are:

20-across. *Tailor's tool: SEWING MACHINE.  The history of the sewing machine is pretty fascinating

34-across. *Inker's tool: TATTOO GUN. The history of tattoo guns is also quite fascinating

39-across. *Intelligence agent's tool: POLYGRAPH. A brief outline of the history of a polygraph is not as interesting as the previous two entries, but certainly, it was a learning moment for me

All three of the devices above have a movable needle as a part of its design.  Pretty straightforward 

Good job by mom and son - the fill was tight and clean

Here is the grid and then on to the rest:

The Grid - see how "clean" it is? No mistakes, today!

Across:
1. Excerpt from a film: CLIP.  Often times Chairman Moe will use a film clip - also known as a "trailer" - to support, visually, a clue/entry.  Today is no different, though I had to revise my search a bit as the only movie called "Clip" was NSFW.  So, I found something that is related to "clip" in this trailer:

 

5. Like back legs: HIND. 

9. Wanders: ROAMS.  Do you recall when the word roams just meant "wanders", and not something related to placing/receiving a cellular phone call?  And for the record, does anyone pay a roaming fee anymore, with these all-inclusive cell phone plans?

14. Highway division: LANE.  

15. Purple berry in healthy smoothies: ACAI.  One of a few crosswordese entries, but I am OK with this one

16. Illuminated from below: UP LIT.  This might be the lone use of green paint in today's puzzle.  Backlit is a more recognized term; if you try to google uplit (one word or two) it takes you to uplift instead

17. Food thickener made from seaweed: AGAR. Another stale crossword entry but sometimes a constructor has to resort to these to keep other words in place

18. Takes a snooze: NAPS.  Something that this retiree looks forward to

19. __-gritty: NITTY.  Did anyone else think, immediately, of this band?  Spill the dirt!

[theme entry]

23. Get ready: PREPARE.  Now that all of my tax stuff is here, it's time to prepare for filing

24. Word before bar or drink: ENERGY.  As one who's been known to imbibe, the word energy did not immediately come to mind with "bar" and "drink" 😉

27. Contents of a barn stack: HAY. 

28. Nursing spot: TEAT.  A more "fun" clue could have been: "Nursing spot for a kid" (as in a baby goat)

30. WNW's opposite: ESE.  Ese has also been clued as a language suffix (as in Japanese)

31. Very pale: ASHEN. 

[theme entry]

36. The sun, for one: STAR.  And also, an image used in rating things. As in, my rating for today's puzzle is a solid, ⭐⭐⭐ and 1/2⭐

Imagine my surprise when I got to 58-across: Gives stars to: RATES.  Aren't we constructors supposed to avoid using an entry word in a clue?

37. Common living room piece: COUCH.  Did anyone else use the word DIVAN in this spot? I did

38. Big name in volleyballs: VOIT. My 5-1/2 year-old grandson has taken a liking to volleyball (mainly due to his having a crush on one of the star players on his grandpa's alma mater's team).  If you've never watched a match (NCAA Women) in person you're missing out on what (to me) is the most entertaining form of college athletics (the colors of the image below will be a hint to Moe's alma mater)

And here is an example of my grandson's girlfriend making an emphatic kill and setting a school record; which she then broke a few matches later when she scored 43 kills in a 5-setter

[theme entry]

41. Jai alai basket: CESTA.  I remember when both the sport (Jai Alai) as well as the crosswords (jai and alai) were popular.  I lived in Connecticut for several years and during that time period there was a jai alai fronton (the venue where the game is played and a former, oft-used crossword entry) in Hartford.  I would occasionally go there to watch and wager ... below is a clip about the rules of jai alai but if you'd prefer to open a hyperlink instead ... take your pick of which one to click 

42. Shorthand in a coffee order: CAF.  As in caffeine 

43. Went as a passenger: RODE.  TRAVELED was too big to fit 

44. Only Canadian MLB city, for short: TOR.  A CSO to our regular poster, CanadianEh! And yes, C Eh!, I know you've been waiting since 1967 for another Stanley Cup - your Blue Jays should've won a World Series last year, but the LA Dodgers were the best team $ could buy ... FWIW, I remember attending a Blue Jays game in TOR in the summer of 1992.  I think at the time, TOR was tied for first place but their win that evening gave them sole possession; they never relinquished their hold on first place, and they went on to win the World Series that year.  You've got very rabid fans there!

45. Consumed uncooked: ATE RAW.  I know there are those who'd frown at this, but one of my favorite raw consumables is an oyster on the half shell - maybe a dozen or two

47. Look of the recently woken: BED HEAD.  I couldn't decide whether bed head was one word or two until I found this:

I guess it's two

 

[reveal]

54. Honeycrisp, e.g.: APPLE.  One of the sweeter apple varieties, I've been told

56. Shoe bottom: SOLE.  Moe-ku:

        Korean monks walked

        Barefoot when leaving country.

        Forfeited their SOLE

57. Hubbubs: ADOS.

[see above with 36-across]

59. Work with yarn: KNIT.  Are any of our regular posters or anonymous visitors into knitting? 

60. NHL venue: RINK.  CSO to our Friday blogger, Splynter

61. Romantic meeting: TRYST.  Moe-ku #2:

        Famous love romance

        Should've been called: "Tristan

        TRYST and Isolde"

62. Goes out with: SEES.  DATES was too long to fit

63. Disappointing report card grades: DEES.  I'm pretty sure that I had a couple of these during my college years; don't recall having one in HS

Down:
1. Jewelry fastener: CLASP.  Question for all of the guys out there:  is it just me or do you also have trouble unfastening one of these when your wife asks you to unclasp her necklace?  Maybe I should have watched this video first:

2. Golden beer: LAGER.  The word Lager in German is actually Lagerbier.  We shortened the name when the brew was introduced to the US by German immigrants.  The most famous American Lager is Budweiser; but when I choose to drink a lager these are my two favorites: 

3. Amazed: IN AWE.  I am in awe that an 11-yr old boy (Nate) could be a such a talented crossword puzzle constructor; this is seriously a very good puzzle

4. Outer edge: PERIPHERY.  Not an oft used crossword entry - nice!

5. Grumpy due to lack of food: HANGRY.  A portmanteau of Hungry and Angry

6. Start of Caesar's boast: I CAME.  Moe-l'ick (and not his best "boast"!) A bit lewd, but hey, it's a limerick!

        Julius Caesar (we all know his name)

        Was also a lover, part of his fame.

        He was boastful in bed

        Must have been his swelled head

        His go-to exclaim? "I (already) CAME"

7. California wine valley: NAPA.  Despite its well-known image, I find other California wine valleys (and regions) more enjoyable to visit - this past summer we went to the Sierra Foothills, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, and Paso Robles wine regions.  Loved each of them.  "Old-time" Paso Robles is still enjoyable but other parts of that area are quickly becoming the southern sister of Napa (which means, too crowded and too expensive)

8. Many a drink coaster: DISC.  An unusual clue for this word.  When I checked the Crossword Tracker website to see the frequency of its use, today's marks the first!

9. Encounter: RUN INTO.  I'm sure we all have stories about a time and place where we have run into a friend and/or famous person during our travels.  For me, probably the most unusual one was when I ran into an old friend - whom I hadn't seen in well over 6 years - in the A Terminal at the Atlanta airport.  We were both heading towards the escalator that descends to the inter-terminal train to make a connection; his incoming flight and mine obviously arrived simultaneously, but think of the odds of both of us disembarking in a manner that would allow us to sync our movements through the busiest airport in the world?  And then recognize each other and say "Hi!" ... 

10. State one's view: OPINE.  

11. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, e.g.: ALTER EGOS.  Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, et al are all alter egos of Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Peter Parker ... but as I looked up both of the characters in the clue (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) and read their biography it dawned on me that Zhou (and/or Nate) was describing their own family, in a way 😉

12. Cambridge univ.: MIT. One of the things I liked most about today's puzzle was the limited use of abbreviations

13. Total dump: STY. I wonder if Nate's bedroom has the sty look of this famous cartoon son:

21. Flat bread served with curry: NAAN.

22. Toffee bar brand: HEATH.  The dark chocolate variety's the one I prefer:

Are you a dark chocolate fan, too?

25. "Top Gun" outfit: G SUIT.  Image below is from Luke AFB, here in Arizona.  I dunno what happened to their torsos and heads ... maybe it's the result of pulling 9 G's

26. Gossipy sort: YENTA.  Do we have any yentas among our regular posters and/or anonymous viewers?  And for the record, does a yenta have to be Jewish?

28. Brownish gray: TAUPE.  This was one of two "starting" words that I use(d) when I solve the daily Wordle puzzle - unfortunately, the day that this one "hit" I tried the other starting word (which has none of the same letters as taupe).  Imagine my surprise when I used taupe as my second guess and saw all green ... 

29. Engrave: ETCH.

31. Pet adoption org.: ASPCA.  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (I can see why they choose to use the acronym!)

32. Weasel with a short, black-tipped tail: STOAT.  Moe-ku #3: 

        Weasel entered an

        Anagram contest and lost.

        "Told you he was TOAST!"

        
33. Pessimist's description of a glass, perhaps: HALF EMPTY. 

34. Super Mario character who looks like a mushroom: TOAD.  I wonder if this was Nate's clue?

35. Picked up, in a way: OVERHEARD.  Moe-ku #4: (using the intransitive verb form and two extra syllables)

        Gossip sought new "dirt".

        Couldn't make out their words. "Psst!

        Overhear over here, please!"

           

37. Director Cameron: CROWE.  Jerry Maguire is my favorite of his movies.  Yours?

40. Most serious: GRAVEST.

41. Girls Who __: nonprofit that supports STEM initiatives: CODE. Learn all about this great organization

44. Religious beliefs: TENETS. Stealing a page from Ray-O-Sunshine's playbook:

Beliefs found at the International UFO Museum in Roswell, NM? TenETs

46. Parts: ROLES.

47. Contradict: BELIE.

48. Pearl Jam vocalist Vedder: EDDIE.  As a band that formed in Seattle, WA (Zhou Zhang's current city) it would not surprise me that this is her (and maybe the whole family's) favorite group.  Here is one of their songs featuring the vocals of Eddie Vedder

49. Without company: ALONE. Company, as in companionship.  If read differently, could the answer be "Sole Proprietorship"?

50. Classroom workspaces: DESKS. The traditional way of organizing desks in a classroom is in a grid pattern (rows), with the teacher's desk at the very front of the room.  One of my early memories of a non-traditional way to organize was when I was in the third grade - our teacher, Mrs. Neimann, decided to arrange the desks in a U-shaped pattern.  There was no escaping being able to see her or each other.  She remains perhaps my most favorite elementary school teacher ... 

One example of a U-shaped desk arrangement

52. Sounds of disapproval: TSKS.  Moe-ku #5:

        Certain Egyptian

        Boy king never said "TSK, TSK",

        Quite obviously ...

53. Sharpen, as a knife: HONE.  I wonder if this applied to young Nate, many years ago! 😉

54. Gallery display: ART.  A sophomoric joke just came to mind ...

55. Golf course standard: PAR. Once upon a time, this blogger was skilled enough to have completed an 18-hole round of golf with a score below par - did it a few times, actually.  My golfing skills have long since atrophied.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've played over the past three years and have a couple of fingers remaining ... maybe in 2026 I will attempt to play more often

Well, it's off to the supermarket today (first Wednesday in the month = 10% senior discount).  See y'uns (that was for TTP) in March 

ps: to Anonymous PVX - regarding the age survey a week ago ... you and I may share the same exact birthday (month/year, for sure) or be very close.  Drop me an email if you can ... Moe