Monday, June 22, 2026, Robbie Cottom

Theme:  Avian journeys

We are just at the tail end of spring migration for birds.  How nice for constructor Robbie Cottom to remind us of it.  His birds, however, are rather down-to-earth.

16-Across. Flightless migration on a farm?: CHICKEN RUN.  A chicken run is an enclosed outdoor space where chickens can safely roam and forage.

Chicken run

35-Across. Flightless migration on a pond?: DUCK TOUR.  A duck tour uses amphibious buses to take visitors on land and sea.

It only *looks* like a disaster.

60-Across. Flightless migration on Thanksgiving?: TURKEY TROT.  A turkey trot is a short race held around Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

Macabre costumes optional

10-Down. Flightless migration in Toronto?: JAY WALK.  Jaywalking refers to a pedestrian crossing a street unlawfully.  Toronto because of the Toronto Blue Jays, a baseball team.  In Toronto, the most common jay bird is the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata).

Blue Jay

40-Down. Flightless migration in a cornfield?: CROW HOP.  A crow hop can be a short, quick jump -- or, if you are sports minded, it can be a footwork technique used by baseball outfielders.

Crow hop

WALK with me now -- or HOP, RUN, or TROT -- on a TOUR of the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. Channel that brings tears to one's eyes?: DUCT.  There are two sets of tear ducts in each eye.  On the upper outer side of each eye is a lacrimal gland producing tears, which flow through ducts and over the eye.  Excess tears drain into lacrimal ducts in the inner corner of each eye, flowing thence into the nose.  That's why your nose runs when you cry.

Note the ducts at left and right.

5. Grow frantic: PANIC.

10. "__ my memory": "Remind me": JOG.

13. Worker protection org.: OSHA.  Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

14. Unavailable: IN USE.

Do not enter!

15. Serving success: ACE.  In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, winning the point for the server.

16. [Theme clue]

18. "Despite that ... ": YET.  I took you on that fabulous bus tour of the pond, and yet ...

19. Tempts: ENTICES.

20. Nobel Peace Prize winner Sadat: ANWAR.  Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) was an Egyptian military officer who served as the third president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination in 1981.  In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed a peace treaty in cooperation with U.S. President Jimmy Carter, for which they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Anwar Sadat

22. "Who even __ you?": ARE.

23. "Where babies come from" class, briefly: SEX ED.

25. The __ of one's existence: BANE.  A source of misery; a curse.

26. On a smaller scale: LESS SO.  I thought this was going to be LESSer, and was excited to tell you about one of my backyard birds.  But it was LESS SO ...

Lesser Goldfinch in my garden

28. Sicilia's country: ITALIA.  This is how Italians say Sicily and Italy.  Isn't it funny how they don't know the real names?

30. Thought: IDEA.

31. Animal life of a region: FAUNA.  Birds are fauna, too.  Even TURKEYs.

34. Penn of "Harold & Kumar" films: KAL.  Kalpen Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Obama administration.  He is known for his portrayals of Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series, Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, and Kevin, a psychologist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother.

Kal Penn

35. [Theme clue]

38. __ and cheese: MAC.

41. Tempos: PACES.

42. Letters not found on a 24-hour clock: AM PM.

46. Under threat: AT RISK.

48. Also: AS WELL.

50. Clump of earth: CLOD.

51. "Your food is getting cold!": EAT UP.

54. Puffin kin: AUK.

55. Maya of "Stranger Things": HAWKE.  The daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Maya Hawke made her screen debut as Jo March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women. She starred as Robin Buckley in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2019–2025).  She has also recorded three musical albums.

Maya Hawke

57. Bugs Bunny fare: CARROTS.

59. "Kinda like that": ISH.

60. [Theme clue]

63. "New" prefix: NEO.

64. Nordic noir novelist Larsson: STIEG.  Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer, best known for The Girl with the Dragon Tatooo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, all of which were published posthumously, starting in 2005, after he died of a heart attack.  

Stieg Larsson

65. Some poke fish: TUNA.  Poke (POH-kay) is a dish of raw fish cubes tossed with soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onions.

Tuna poke

66. Telepathy, e.g.: ESP.  Extrasensory Perception.

67. "Got it?," slangily: YA DIG?

68. Do as one's told: OBEY.

Down:

1. Rx writer: DOC.

2. Guided (in): USHERED.  Better than the "ushed" we sometimes see in these pages.

3. Like dim sum and bao buns: CHINESE.  Perhaps nostalgic items for our blogmistress.

4. Diplomatic skill: TACT.

5. "Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!": PIECE OF CAKE.

6. Granny flat, maybe: ANNEX.

7. Breastfeed: NURSE.

8. The Cyclones of the NCAA: ISU.  The Iowa State Cyclones are the NCAA Division I collegiate athletic teams representing Iowa State University.

And YET Iowa's state bird is not the Northern Cardinal (depicted)
but the American Goldfinch.

9. Wrestler/actor John: CENA.  John Cena was a professional wrestler with the WWE for 24 years, and a 17-time world champion, before becoming an actor.  Cena is also known for his charity work, granting more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the most in the organization's history.

10. [Theme clue]

11. Australasia's region: OCEANIA.  Oceania inlcudes Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

12. "Be reasonable": GET REAL.

17. O : hug :: X : __: KISS.  XOXO means hugs and kisses -- even though the X for kisses comes first.

21. Org. with Cavs and Mavs: NBA.  The Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks are teams in the professional National Basketball Association.

22. Boxer Muhammad: ALI.  

Muhammad Ali

24. Paleontologist's prize find: DINOSAUR EGG.

The small feathered dinosaurs with beaks designed to crack seeds
survived the famine when an asteroid collision killed most plant life on Earth
and gave rise to today's birds.

27. Unhappy: SAD.

29. Greek "T": TAU.

32. Org. that oversees NYC's Museum of the Dog: AKC.  American Kennel Club.

33. Sport-__: auto for rugged terrain: UTE.

36. Delivery company with brown trucks: UPS.

37. Like some poke fish: RAW.  See 65-Across.

38. The "M" of ATM: MACHINE.  Automated Teller Machine.

39. Geography texts: ATLASES.

40. [Theme entry]

43. Barbecue chef's coat?: MEAT RUB.  The coat goes on the meat, not the chef.

44. Wedding guest's date: PLUS ONE.

45. Civil rights leader honored in Jan.: MLK.  Martin Luther King.

47. Brief "No clue": IDK.  I don't know.  Here in the Crossword Corner, we often write "DNK" for "did not know."

49. Light on one's feet: SPRY.

52. Bitter-smelling: ACRID.

53. "Star Trek" legend George: TAKEI.

George Takei as Sulu on Star Trek

56. "Keep commerce human" website: ETSY.

58. Director Preminger: OTTO.  Otto Preminger (1905-1986) was an Austrian-American film and theatre director, producer and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films, and was one of the most influential directors in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s.

Otto Preminger

61. The Jazz, on scoreboards: UTA.  The Utah Jazz compete in the NBA.

62. Swift, to Swifties, when doubled: TAY.  Taylor Swift fans ("Swifties") call her Tay Tay.

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Did you need perps (perpendicular entries) to JOG your memory regarding the celebrities named in this puzzle?  Did you PANIC at any point?

Or was the whole thing a PIECE OF CAKE?

We want to hear from you in the comments.  YA DIG?

-- NaomiZ