Friday, Jul 17th, 2026 ~ Alex Rossell Hayes & Brian Callahan

BRING 'B' RING

Now that's some "BLING"

We have seen Brian's name on crosswords before, but I do believe this is the first for Alex Rossell Hayes, so congrats on your debut~!  I loved this puzzle - solid fill, brilliant cluing, it made me smile, and not only is it clever, but in alphabetical order, too - paired A, E, I, O, & U five-letter words 'broken up" to provide some humorous results.  Friday level difficulty, but I was on the constructors' wavelength and breezed through, despite the chunky triple-7-letter plus corners.  An over-sized 15x16 grid, two handfuls of names, no circles, and an even spread of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- AND 7-letter words.  The themers, no reveal;

18. Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes?: "AVOID A VOID."

The Endurance approaching Gargantua, from Interstellar

26. Air travel that's the fifth-best option?: "PLAN E" PLANE

The captain has turned off the seatbelt warning . . . 

36. "My job is ranking people on a scale of 'miffed' to 'downright furious'"?: "I RATE 'IRATE'."

😑😕😖😠😡

"The in-flight meal was unacceptable~! 😡"

51. Juliet's response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond?: "ROME, O ROMEO." - "Wherefore art thou~?  Not in Rome, and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

60. Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble?: UTILE "U" TILE

Richard III - more Shakespeare humor

But Wait, There's More~? . . . 🤪

ACROSS:

1. Agreeing (with): SIDING - not the vinyl cladding on my house

7. Unleash (on): SIC - I had SET to start

10. Chemically quiet: INERT - like the rightmost column in last week's periodic chart

15. Rocker Dee: SNIDER - Name #1, but I knew him because his band, Twisted Sister, were from my home area of Long Island

16. "Industry" network: HBO - had the "H", WAGed the rest

17. Levi's Stadium player: NINER - What if they actually played IN Levi's~?

501-fly football

20. Prickly plants: CACTI 

21. Green prefix: ECO

22. Folk icon Joan: BAEZ - name #2, but fairly well-known

23. Washed-out: PALLID

24. Espresso froth: CREMA - we had this $6999 coffee-making machine in the office at my last drafting job - it grinds beans & boils water . . . I can do that and save seven thousand dollars 😁

Miele CVA7845 sold here if you must have one

28. Element of many English breakfast blends: ASSAM TEA - enough perps to WAG the rest

30. Sci-fi beings: ETs - AND - 60D. Sci-fi craft: UFO - clecho(ish) #1

31. Vehicle with sliding doors: VAN - I have a 20yr old Dodge Grand Caravan, and lately, there's been a rattle driving me nuts; turned out to be the plastic handle of the sliding door; the spring that holds it in place has gotten "tired", so the lever jiggles as I drive . . . 

Up here in CT, I can now register this as a "classic" - and the insurance drops

32. Waver: TEETER - and Tweeter in the same puzzle~!

33. Group of badgers: CLAN

35. Part of R&R: REST - the other "R" is Relaxation ( I have also seen Recuperation )

39. Catchall gp.: MISCellaneous

42. Bad-mouth: DISS - usually just "dis", as in disrespect, but 'acceptable'

43. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" singer: MONROE - Marilyn, name #3

47. Sun Devils sch.: ASU - Arizona State Uninversity - learned by doing crosswords

48. Snag: GET - AND - 6D. Snag: GRAB - straight clecho, #2

49. Treble-makers?: TWEETERS - Wow.  Old-school speaker reference . . . I almost didn't get it

Not your Twitter tweeter

54. Colorful South Asian dresses: SARIs

55. Running groups?: SLATES - Friday vague; those elected to run an organization; more here

56. Aphrodite's son: EROS - Name(ish)

58. Thai neighbor: LAO - the people, not the land

59. Places for soaks: BATHS - I do love to take a hot bath after I tear myself up at the gym

63. Pair of hearts?: ATRIA - the "other" pair are Ventricles

64. Enthusiast: FAN

65. Tickled: AMUSED - this puzzle tickled my fancy

66. Show emotion: REACT

67. Estadio cheer: OLÉ - Español; Spain & Argentina for the World Cup

My father was a HUGE soccer fan, so I had to root for England,

his ( and mom's ) home country

68. Most easygoing: LAXEST

DOWN:

1. Org. with a "Get Ready for Baby" page: SSA - Great new clue for this tired fill, but it took waaay to long for me to find that page on the Social Security Administration website

2. Multiplication, to division: INVERSE - You'd have to "subtract" a letter to fit 'opposite' . . . 🙄

3. Bishop's domain: DIOCESE - nailed it, spelling and all

4. Hard to translate, in a way: IDIOMATIC - "the whole nine ( letters ) yards"

5. Nancy Drew's boyfriend: NED - name #4, and I thought it was NED, but hesitated

7. Slip-ons lack: SHOELACES - nine-letters #2

8. Third-largest of the Balearic Islands: IBIZA - geo name #5

They're probably excited about the World Cup there, too

9. Fish oil source: COD

10. Like LOL, but not haha: IN CAPS - slighly Twurdish, but Friday clever - LIKE WHEN PEOPLE TEXT IN CAPS TO INDICATE THEY ARE SHOUTY~!!!!

11. Horan of One Direction: NIALL - no clue, filled via perps, name #6

12. Lesotho, for one: ENCLAVE - learning moment for me; the Wiki

13. Organ parts with rods and cones: RETINAS - I knew we needed an EYEpart, tried CORNEAS - Bzzzzt~!

14. Aquaman's staff: TRIDENT - seemed the logical answer for a "sea-based" superhero

Aquaman and his other A I-generated "staff" 🙄

19. __ pen: VAPE - ooof.  Friday vague - this thing

23. Honey or sugar: PET NAME - I figured we were looking for something like this

24. Feline: CAT - "Fe" line is sooo last week . . . 

25. Pt. of USA: AMERica

27. Far from far: NEAR - har-har

29. Goods people: TRADERS

34. Scope rival: LISTERINE - Solid fill, simple cluing, nine-letters #3

35. Wedding attire, for some: RENTAL TUX - nine-letters #4; I rented my tux for the premiere of  "The Golem", the movie I worked on back in 1997-8 - available on YouTube July 20th

37. "Mambo Birdland" Grammy winner Puente: TITO - two weeks in a row; name #7

38. Low digits?: TOES

39. Milky Way kin: MARS BAR

  40. Silo: ISOLATE - Phew~!  Friday vague - verb def. #2

41. Indonesian island crossed by the equator: SUMATRA - geo name #8

44. Bring up again: RERAISE - e.g. an issue, not the poker version of re-raise

45. Colorful songbirds: ORIOLES - nailed it

46. Sourdough starter?: ESS - Sourdough, meta-clue; my trainer put me on to sourdough bread

48. Charges: GOES AT 

50. Product removed by shear force?: WOOL - sheAr, not sheEr

The "other" sheer force

52. Value system: ETHIC

53. Heavy __: METAL - so, so last week . . . 

57. Shut tight: SEAL

61. Thurman of "Gattaca": UMA - crossword staple, name #9

62. Philly summer hrs.: EDT - Philadelphia, PA is currently observing Eastern Daylight Time

Splynter

Grid Flow 59.8 - high

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 71st birthday to dear Naomi, our brilliant Monday Sherpa! Her Monday write-ups are always thoughtful, informative, and beautifully crafted. Thanks for all you do for our blog, Naomi, and have a fantastic birthday!

NaomiZ 

2) Happy 73rd birthday to YooperPhil, another longtime member of our Crossword Corner family. Wishing you a wonderful birthday and many happy returns!