Monday, June 29, 2026, Zachary Edward-Brown

 Theme: So many greens!

I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be

When winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things that I have never seen:

In every wood, in every spring, there is a different green.

-- Bilbo Baggins in Book II, Chapter 3 of The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Glacier National Park -- photo by NaomiZ

Zachary Edward-Brown is back and this time he's contemplating the many shades of green in the theme clues and answers, which are:

16-Across. *University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: WAKE FOREST.

24-Across. *Hall of Fame wide receiver who was drafted by the Vikings in 1998: RANDY MOSS.

49-Across. *Person looking for employment: JOB HUNTER.

60-Across. *Major coin producer in Colorado: DENVER MINT.

And the big reveal, smack in the middle of the grid:

37-Across. Strive to reduce one's carbon footprint, or what the answers to the starred clues do?: GO GREEN.

Forest green, moss green, hunter green, mint green ... here are samples:

Hopefully these green hues put you in a relaxed mood to explore the rest of the clues and answers.

Across:

1. Tapioca pearls in some tea: BOBA.  Boba tea is a choking hazard!  Remove the tapioca pearls for young children and serve them in a bowl with a spoon.  You can remove mine, too!  Blech!

Boba tea

5. Trades jabs in the ring: SPARS.

10. WNBA stat: Abbr.: PTS.  NBA players also earn PTS.

13. Forget to mention: OMIT.

14. Cut equally: HALVE.

15. Spoiled kid: BRAT.  

16. [Theme clue]

18. Norse god of mischief: LOKI.  All I know about Loki, I learned from watching Vikings on the History Channel.

Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings

19. "That's all __ wrote": SHE.  "That's All She Wrote" is a song written by Jerry Fuller, and recorded by various artists including Ernest Tubb, Johnny Mathis, and Ray Price.

Dearest baby may I thank you for being a friend of mine

And while you're reading these words I'll be gone like a bird in the winter time

And I'm taking with me the few sweet memories we made as my souvenirs

And it's a shame that the laughter couldn't outweigh all the tears

That's all she wrote

Everything that I own in a small envelope

Leaving me so alone that I wanted to die

The momеnt that I read her note

That's all shе wrote

20. Mountaintop: APEX.

21. Forty-__: NINER.  A prospector in the California gold rush of 1849, or a member of the San Francisco Forty-Niners, a professional football team.

22. Dry as a bone: ARID.

24. [Theme clue]

27. Name of 12 popes: PIUS.

29. Production amount: OUTPUT.

30. Nearly five billion people: ASIANS.

33. Rugged ride, briefly: ATV.  All-terrain vehicles have agricultural, military, and recreational uses.

ATVs

34. Stanley Cup org.: NHL.  The championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoff champion.

Evolution of the Stanley Cup

36. Yoga roll: MAT.

37. [Theme clue]

40. Corp. head: CEO.  Chief Executive Officer.

41. "Thx" counterpart: PLS.  "Thanks" and "please" in text-speak.

42. Cherry center: PIT.

43. Handouts at a spa: TOWELS.

45. Nonreflective finishes: MATTES.

48. "Hey, over here!": PSST.

49. [Theme clue]

51. "Othello" villain: IAGO.  In Shakespeare's play, Iago is a soldier under Othello's command, and is very much trusted by Othello.  Iago is jealous when he is passed over for promotion and manipulates Othello into killing Othello's wife and commiting suicide.  Nasty guy.

Othello and Iago

54. Like new candles: UNLIT.

55. Italy's capital: ROME.

57. Astonishment: AWE.

59. __ queen: DRAG.  A drag queen uses extravagant clothing, wigs, and makeup to celebrate and exaggerate female gender attributes.

A drag queen in and out of a green costume

60. [Theme clue]

63. Talk effusively: GUSH.

64. Fire sign of spring: ARIES.  As the first sign of the astrological year, Aries represents creative spark, passion and initiative.  Isn't fire more destructive than creative?  Anyway, astrology ...

Aries

65. Load to bear: ONUS.

66. Middle-earth's Treebeard, for one: ENT.  J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings again!  Ents are giants who resemble trees, and Treebeard is their leader.

Treebeard in the green woods

67. Put on clothes: DRESS.

68. Athletic award: ESPY.  Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards produced by ESPN.

Down:

1. Gift toppers: BOWS.

A green bow

2. Nebraska city: OMAHA.

3. Motorcyclist: BIKER.

4. Grabbed a bite: ATE.

5. Boutique: SHOP.

6. Small kitchen knives: PARERS.

The paring knife is the little one at bottom.

7. Apple : Siri :: Amazon : __: ALEXA.

8. Motor homes, for short: RVS.  Recreational vehicles.  Jinx, is your rig moving with you?

9. Tennis match part: SET.

10. Sound out, as a word: PRONOUNCE.

11. Admits defeat, informally: TAKES THE L.  "Take the L" means to accept a LOSS.  I'm glad I solved 34-Across. Stanley Cup org.: NHL, because I would have had to take the L on this answer otherwise.  "Cup" in the Across clue had me thinking about sailing competitions instead of hockey.  Nearly sunk me!

12. Keeps from sticking to the pot, perhaps: STIRS.

15. Goodyear airship: BLIMP.

I took this photo from my front garden!

17. Growing dim: FADING.

21. Empire St. paper: NYT.  New York Times.  Famous for challenging crossword puzzles.

23. Hoppy beer letters: IPA.  India Pale Ale.

25. Post-it __: NOTE.

26. Bed covers: DUVETS.  I grew up ignorant of duvets.  Now I spend a good part of my life underneath one.

This duvet is ready for its cover.

28. Last Grand Slam event of the year: US OPEN.  Tennis tournament.

30. Concert device: AMP.  Amplifier.  Rusty, show us yours!

31. Upstream migration that feeds grizzly bears: SALMON RUN.

Unlucky leap

32. "This party rocks!": IT'S A BLAST.

33. Museum display: ART.

35. __ Angeles: LOS.  I had the home team advantage on this one.

38. Main point: GIST.

39. More meddlesome: NOSIER.

44. Tour gp. for Coco Gauff: WTA.  Cori "Coco" Gauff is an American professional tennis player.  She made her Women's Tennis Association Tour debut in 2019.

Coco Gauff on a green court

46. Quadriceps locale: THIGH.

47. "Tsk!" kin: TUT. Clicking tongue sounds of reproof.

48. Shows beyond doubt: PROVES.

49. Courtroom decision-maker: JUDGE.

50. Orange Muppet who sings "When Bert's Not Here": ERNIE.

Bert and Ernie with a green background

52. Obtains: GAINS.

53. Admit (to): OWN UP.  Take the L, perhaps?

56. State of disarray: MESS.

58. Site with vintage items: ETSY.  Known for handmade items, you'll find some vintage things as well.

60. Stereotypical teller of terrible jokes: DAD.

61. Make a goof: ERR.

62. Barkeeper who is a frequent target of Bart's prank calls: MOE.

Bart Simpson loves to prank call Moe.

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Did you ERR anywhere?  Did you find yourself FADING?  Did you throw in the TOWEL?

Or would you say of this puzzle that IT'S A BLAST and your flawless grid PROVES it?

GUSH all about it in the comments!

-- NaomiZ