Jay Silverman is no stranger to the LAT, and today presents us with a cautionary tale. Watch your step!
57. Deep part of the outfield, and an apt description of 20-, 28-, 37-, and 49-Across: WARNING TRACK. A WARNING TRACK runs along the wall or fence and
is made of a different material than the grass field so that fielders
can sense when they are getting close without taking their eyes off the
ball. In this puzzle, however, each themed song TRACK issues a WARNING
of some sort.
20. 2019 Dua Lipa hit single: DON'T START NOW. DON'T START NOW means telling someone not to begin an annoying, or unwanted behavior that
they have a history of doing, particularly in a relationship context.
28. 1986 Kenny Loggins hit single: DANGER ZONE. A DANGER ZONE is a restricted area with limited access to reduce risk and protect people from injury.
37. 2018 Cardi B hit single: BE CAREFUL. BE CAREFUL is a phrase used to alert someone to take precautions and pay attention to avoid danger, accidents, mistakes, or damage.
Overall, I liked the theme, but DANGER ZONE seems different from the rest. It's something you'd read on a sign rather than something you'd say, but it does issue a WARNING. The downside of five long themers, however, is tons, lots, and even a lot of 3LWs & 4LWs, which made for a pretty easy Thursday.
Now, if you'll just follow me...
1. Grans: NANAS. My gramps was from Czechoslovakia and we called him Tata, which means dad. Here he is working on a giant ceramic insulator at General Electric's main plant in Schenectady, NY where I was born (in a hospital, not in the factory).
 |
| Tata (on left) |
6. Deceptive action: FEINT. Deceptive action: FAINT.
11. Trident-shaped letter: PSI. Ψ.
14. Exhaust: USE UP.
15. Heavy-duty cooler brand: IGLOO.
16. Shade tree: ELM. ELM is the 7th most popular street name in America because many towns and cities relied on them as a primary street tree. Unfortunately, by the 1970s, Dutch Elm Disease had destroyed millions of trees, fundamentally altering the landscape. That's the real nightmare on Elm Street.
17. __ rhythm: brain wave pattern: THETA. Φ.
18. Respectful refusal: NO SIR.
19. 2022 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee: TOP. The classic spinning TOP, along with Lite-Brite and He-Man dolls, were selected for their longevity, creativity, and impact on play. Longevity! Ha! I'd say that the TOP was in another league, one having been found in King Tutankhamun's tomb dating to 1300 BCE.
 |
| Tut's top |
23. Dense grove: THICKET.
25. Change one's story?: EDIT. Change one's story?: WAFFLE. With SYRUP, of course.
27. Marmalade bit: PEEL.
28. [theme]
33. Waffle topper: SYRUP. Insist on pure maple SYRUP. It's healthier and tastier than corn SYRUP - fit for a king! I know because archeologists stumbled upon a sticky TOP which led to the discovery of King Tut's tomb under this pyramid:
35. Irish designer Kiely known for her stem leaf print: ORLA. Keily ORLA began her career designing hats, and moved on to design work on handbags and a variety of other items including kitchenware and cars.
36. Some QB protectors: RGS. Right Guards protect quarterbacks from unsightly underarm stains.
41. Australian bird: EMU.
44. On-campus digs: DORM.
45. Grassy yards: LAWNS.
49. [theme]
53. Third-qtr. month: SEPT. SEPTember falls in the 3rd quarter of the year, along with July and August. Those Caesars! It's one thing to have a building or a road named after you, but to have a month like Julius and Augustus do, well, now you're somebody.
54. "Juno" actor Michael: CERA. I first saw the Canadian actor as child in Arrested Development (very funny show, BTW) and he's played many nerdy characters since.
55. 10,000 square meters: HECTARE. A HECTARE is also 100 ares (100 square meters).
57. [theme]
62. Canadian prov.: PEI. Prince Edward Island is one of eastern Canada's maritime provinces noted for its lighthouses and iconic red sand beaches.
63. Pong platform: ATARI. Kong platform: NINTENDO
 |
| Donkey Pong |
64. Photo finish: MATTE.
67. Oft-redacted ID: SSN. Because of rampant identity theft, Social Security Numbers are often hidden.
68. High anxiety: PANIC. "My SSN has been stolen!"
69. Beg: PLEAD. "Please don't access my bank account!"
70. Gobbled up: ATE. "Hackers ATE my savings!"
71. Crept stealthily: SLUNK. This looks odd in the past tense.
72. Incline: SLANT.
Down:
1. Energy bar bit: NUT.
2. Once-common wood for Louisville Slugger: ASH. This one's not ASH yet.
3. Requiring more help: NEEDIER.
4. Motorist's group: AUTO CLUB.
5. Defeat soundly, in slang: SPANK.
6. Secret social media account, perhaps: FINSTA. A FINSTA (Fake INSTAgram) is a secondary, private Instagram account used by individuals—often teenagers—to share unfiltered or silly content with a close-knit group of friends.
7. Showbiz grand slam: EGOT. Winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.
8. Ingrid's "Casablanca" role: ILSA. Here's looking at her:
9. Pinot __: NOIR. Pee-no-more: see 11D.
10. Legal wrong: TORT.
11. Target of some air fresheners: PET ODOR. I had PEE ODOR at first, which is almost the same thing.
12. Hitting the brakes: SLOWING.
13. Little dickens: IMP.
21. Kristen's "The Good Place" co-star: TED. Kristen Bell starred alongside TED Danson.
22. Pince-__ glasses: NEZ. When I started needing reading glasses, I found them uncomfortable when using headphones. I bought a pince-nez (pinch nose in French) which sorta worked but they kept slipping off, so I went back to standard readers with temples. Besides, they didn't make me look cool like Morpheus.
 |
| Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus from The Matrix |
23. Pranks with rolls, for short: TPS. Toilet Paperings are usually messy but harmless, yet one was in the news this week when a teacher in GA was accidentally run over by some of his students. Sad situation.
24. "Watch it!": HEY. This could be another WARNING!
26. Your, in French: TES.
29. "__ Rae": Sally Field film: NORMA. NORMA Rae is based on the true story of a textile worker who fought a trade union over poor working conditions. Sally won the Best Actress Oscar in the 52th Academy Awards for her portrayal.
30. Univ. senior's test: GRE. Graduate Record Examination.
31. Sprite: ELF.
32. Actor Julia who played Gomez Addams: RAUL. He was the second to play the head of the "altogether ooky" Addams family.
 |
| John Astin, Raul Julia and Luis Guzman |
34. Mani-__: PEDI. Manicure and PEDIcure.
38. Foldable bed: COT.
39. Amount to: ARE. The verb "to be" is always tricky to define.
40. Announcement before closing time: LAST CALL.
41. And so on: Abbr.: ETC. The abbreviation of ET Cetera.
42. 1930s film star known for double entendres: MAE WEST. She certainly was known for her double entendres!
43. Kyiv's country: UKRAINE. I first learned of Ukraine, and the world at large, by playing Risk as a child.
46. Bad argument, informally: WEAK TEA.
47. "Fresh Air" airer: NPR. National Public Radio.
48. Sault __ Marie: STE.
50. Orecchiette shape: EAR. Orecchiette means "little ears" from Southern Italian cuisine. I never heard this.
51. Comedy routine: SHTICK.
52. "So's __ old man!": YER. "Same to you, buddy!"
56. Stays in tents: CAMPS. Stays intense: VIVID.
 |
| A vivid tent? |
59. Milan lang.: ITAL. ITALian is the language spoken at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games, which are currently in progress.
60. Orkan farewell syllables: NANU. Often repeated by Mork from Ork, played by Robin Williams. Not to be confused with Oaken farewell syllables by Treebeard (the Ent) in Lord of the Rings, "I'll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again."
61. Crack a smile: GRIN.
62. "The More You Know" TV spot, e.g.: PSA. A Public Service Announcement that lets me know more.
65. Get some sun: TAN.
66. Philly summer hrs.: EDT. Philadelphia summer hours. We switched to Eastern Daylight Time this past Sunday, in case you're wondering why you've been late to work every day this week. You're welcome.
Be good. RB
37 comments:
Maybe I’m just not
“with it,” but I only knew one of the four songs. Fortunately, they were pretty easy to figure out, and the perps were more than kind.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Hand up for only recognizing one of the four. Still, everything filled nicely. No hiccups. Thanx, Jay and R-B.
FIR, but oat->NUT. Knew DANGER ZONE and TAKE IT EASY, the latter from just the "t" in EASY.
DNK know (as clued) THETA, FINSTA, TED, TES, WEAK TEA, and EAR.
Thanks to Jay for the fun Thursday exercise, and to our Rusty one for the chuckles.
Nothing but names, the total waste of ink
The "T" in "IT"
I didn't catch the WARNING TRACK connection on the songs, with two unknowns taking perps. DON'T START NOW and Cardi-B's BE CAREFUL.
It took a lot of perps to FIR today. DNK THETA, ORLA, CERA, FINSTA, TED, Pince-NEZ, TOP and Lite-Brite and He-Man dolls) and the two songs.
No Instagram for me, so I guess I don't need a fake one either.
MAE WEST- "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
ELM- why is it a 'shade' tree but if the tree is strong it's an oak tree. Almost every tree is a shade tree including other three letter ones FIG and YEW.
An A&E name fest puzzle.
FIR, but it was a struggle and expected for a Thursday. Lots of proper names, and even two crossing, Orla and Raul, a definite no-no.
The only song I knew was the Eagles one. Fortunately they are one of my favorite bands, Journey is number one though.
So overall a so-so puzzle.
I always like a music theme, I knew two of the TRACKs, but perps needed for Cardi B’s and Dua Lipa’s. I knew the Greek letter PSI, but not THETA (as clued). TES and CERA were all perps, my last fill was a correct WAG at the A in the ORLA/RAUL Natick. Managed a FIR in 12:44, didn’t find it too difficult, and not really a name fest as some refer to it, have seen a lot worse in that regard. Thanks Jay for the enjoyable solve, and to RB for the humorous review. DNK that “tata” meant grampa, but I can think of a couple other meanings, bye bye being one of them.
Yooper Phil ⬆️⬆️
The emerald ash borer is another invasive pest that devastated the ash tree, so many baseball bats are now made of maple.
My father and several uncles worked at the Schenectady GE plant, and I did for four summers, in the buildings making generators for electric companies.
Woman: Goodness, what a beautiful diamond!
MAE WEST: Goodness had nothing to do with it.
Didn't know any of the songs, but somehow finished it right, which doesn't always happen on a Thursday. Lucked out on getting Orla.
Thank you, Jay and RustyBrain.
I liked the WARNING TRACK theme. 4 songs with a warning in their title. I didn't know the Cardi B and Dua Lipa songs, but they perped in easily enough.
Nice segue, RustyBrain. And overall, I think this was your best review to date. Nice job.
D-O doesn't live too far from a big THICKET.
Italy SPANKed Mexico in the World Baseball Classic last night. With Italy's win, the USA advances to the next round. Their next opponent is our neighbor to the north.
TTP, sadly the Big Thicket is getting pretty thin. Not a lot of it remains.
Musings
-Not knowing the songs was not any problem as the titles were common phrases uniquely clued as tracks from recordings
-ORLA, on the other hand, seems to be an “any port in a storm” fill
-Baseball players who can’t quite the ball over the fence are said to only have WARNING TRACK power
-My hometown put bands of tar around the ELM trunks to keep the beetles from climbing up the trunk. It did not work and all those beautiful trees died.
-KYIV can be pronounced with one or two syllables
-Nicely done, RB.
Took 4:52 today to heed the warnings.
I knew the Actress of the Day (MaeWest) and the roles (Ilsa & Norma) and even the actors (Ted & Raul). I didn't know "nez" and struggled with the Greek letters (psi & theta).
I nominate "Irish designer Kiely known for her stem leaf print" as a potential worst clue of the month candidate. "So's ___ old man!" isn't far behind.
If you like The Eagles music, I very strongly encourage you to see them perform at The Sphere in Las Vegas. It's amazing.
I should've mentioned I didn't know the Dua Lipa or Cardi B songs either, but the short fill made them obvious.
BTW, we pronounced tata as "tuh-tuh," unlike saying "tah-tah" meaning bye bye.
Good Morning:
I know a lot about baseball, especially its jargon, but nothing about pop music. However, the songs were easy to guess with generous perp aid. As RB mentioned, the grid suffered with too many 3LWs, due to the themers and resulted in a simplistic solve for a Thursday. Overall, I thought the theme was clever, but I could do without the pop culture references, i.e., Spank, Finsta, and Weak Tea. To be fair, though, Last Call, Nanu, Mae West offset them rather nicely. Orla was the only completely unknown. Imp and Elf make a cute twosome!
Thanks, Jay, and thanks, RB, for the overview and detailed expo and commentary. Your unique humor was a little subdued today, but present, nonetheless.
Have a great day.
Thank you RustyBrain,
Oat b/4 nut, oak b/4 ash, and a quick alpha run to find the R in Orla...
The reveal popped out without any warning... songs were very perpable...
Makes me wonder if I should preface my reviews...
Honorable Mention...
(Sigh) Another A&E trivia contest instead of a crossword puzzle. Very disappointing.
O.K., had to revert to the online CW; too many names, 20, DNK 9. Crossing names: EGOT/ILSA/IGLOO; CERA/MAEWEST; and NORMA/ORLA/RAUL. Naughty, naughty, JS. FWH (looked up songs) in ~15.
FINSTA? Is that a thing? Oy. Another DNK. And PEI didn't ring a bell until RB 'splained it. I thought I knew Canadian provinces but forgot about Prince Edward Island being a province. Also never heard the expression "WEAKTEA". I did get the theme and appreciate its cleverness, but overall just too many names. This CW gets 2 stars out of five.
Thanx RB for the great write-up. "The Matrix" is my all time fave movie. Too many follow-ups, though. Next favorite: "Apocalypse Now".
What, no birthdays lately?
Another Mae West quip: "Is that a jack-knife in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
I knew the Eagles and Loggins songs. Perped the rest. The crossing names was saved cuz I remembered Raul. I don't think I've ever used "slunk" anywhere. I've never heard of "weak tea". I certainly knew Mae West. I knew "pince-nez" from old movies. I thought this one was OK but near as entertaining as RustyBs recap.
Interesting Thursday puzzle, many thanks, Jay. And your commentaries and pictures are always a pleasure, Rusty, so thanks for those too.
We get a lot of alarms from the WARNING TRACK on this puzzle, like BE CAREFUL, DON'T START NOW, TAKE IT EASY, and more. So, I guess we'd say NO SIR, we don't want to use a FEINT on our NANAS, if we don't want to USE UP their good will. Let's do our best to stay away from any emotional DANGER ZONE. I'd recommend that we just wait until we can put some SYRUP on our waffles. That might be the best way to avoid any PANIC this morning.
So, have a lovely breakfast, and a great day, everybody.
Hola! No grousing about this puzzle from me; I finished in good time with help from the perps. The only song I know is TAKE IT EASY as I am a great Eagles fan. The others were easy enough to guess.
P.E.I. was recently an answer on Jeopardy! The question was "What is the Canadian province named for King George's son?"
I vaguely recall Michael CERA in "Juno" which came out in 2007. I can't believe it's been almost 20 years!
THICKET is unknown here in the SW desert.
And I'll take a CSO at NANA(s). Have a great day, everyone!
Fun and amusing theme
PEI is well known to those of us who are "Anne of Green Gables" fans - it's on my bucket list for places to visit
I like Michael CERA in "Juno" but most of the movies he is in he seems to play the same role - very humorous in "Barbie" as the only non-Ken - Alan
My neighborhood growing up had the beautiful old ELMs but that all came down with Dutch ELM - they replaced them with the scraggly little replacements - but wild to drive down that street now with the tall shady trees again , of course they're 50+years old. It didn't decimate our yard though as the other trees were oaks.
I always remember photos of Teddy Roosevelt with Pince-NEZ glasses
Thanks RB for the blog and Jay for the puzzle
We were warned about this puzzle. Kenny Loggins is the DANGER ZONE (1986) I worry about. Cyndi Lauper gave it a whole other meaning in “She Bop” 🤭
Never heard SPANK used that way. Slink, Slinked, SLUNK? FINSTA was a perp fill. Michael Cera (wax) and John Cena (supper) lately both fairly common CW entrées. Have only heard (seen?) WEAK TEA in our puzzles
Our restaurants call orecchietti “hats” cuz that’s what us locals know them best by. With peas in a light cream sauce yum …. (orrechino “earring”)
While recently watching the 2025 version of the 1985 film “Kiss of the Spider Woman” looked up the original star: the late RAUL Julia.
But a quick study otherwise. Often foreshadowing a difficult Friday.
The symbol shown after the 17-across answer, THETA, is a capital phi, not a capital theta.
You are correct, sir! It should be Θ. I guess it was Greek to me. LOL
Here's my listing of the names in this puzzle, not including the themers:
1. Kiely ORLA
2. Michael CERA
3. ILSA
4. TED Danson
5. NORMA Rae
6. RAUL Julia
7. MAE WEST
Good reading all your comments.
Like RB, I entered pee odor, and unlike RB it stayed! I paid no attention to the “top” in the toy hall of fame. And like Lucina, I’ll take a CSO for Nana! Enjoyed puzzle and review. Thanks Jay and RB!
Yes, Canada best Cuba to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time!
Testing Thursday. Thanks for the fun, Jay and RustyBrain.
I’m late to the party because I was stuck in the NW corner this morning, and didn’t get back until now.
I had no idea what Grans was referring to (I rejected Grands since the D was missing). And I had Oats in that energy bar. Then I SkuNKed the other team, leaving me lost in the NW. (I really liked my Skunk rhyming with SLUNK.)
But I did get all the WARNING themers.
I knew that it was a WAG to put an E in that Natick cross of ORLA and RAUL.
SHTICK held me up with that unusual consonant trio.
Favourite was the clue for TPS.
Anything but pure maple SYRUP on pancakes and waffles is a travesty in this land of Maples (ASH and ELMS have both been lost to disease), but my kids only liked the Pearl Milling Company (under the old name back then).
I’ll take a Canadian CSO with PEI. A lovely little province, even if you don’t want to see all the Anne of Green Gables tourist areas.
Wishing you all a good evening.
It’s too bad Raul Julia died so young. I thought he was a great actor.
And here the syrup of choice is cane syrup.
FIR this morning, enjoyed RB's review this afternoon, and have been trying all day to find a moment to comment! Thanks for waiting for me! Jay Silverman gave us a nice puzzle today. Sure, I DNK Kiely ORLA, but more problematically, I DNK RGS (Right Guards) or WARNING TRACK. Like most of you, I perped two of the songs but knew the Eagles number. I also had oat before NUT and ton before TES. All in all, an enjoyable, solvable puzzle.
Tea (slang):
Weak tea - a poor or bad argument.
Spill the tea - gossip
Sip (or sipping) tea - quietly or secretly listening in on gossip or other peoples private discussions.
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