Friday, Jul 31st, 2026 ~ Betsy Ochester & Andrew Gutelle

ACROSS & . . . 

DOWN  - ON THE CORNER

I do like an "outside the box" kind of puzzle - we had a similar Friday with "Sides Add LE" on April 24th this year from James Mattina.  Today we have a crossword from constructors Betsy O and Andrew G - this is their third LA Times collaboration; the others were (1) on Thursday, and (2) on Monday, both with Naomi at the helm to guide us.  Today's themers can be resolved by adding corner "around" the corner(s) of the grid, and Bob (Feller)'s Your Uncle.  Standard size, no Twurds, typical run of proper names, with TWO Leslies & Penguins today. The themers, reveal, and an expanded graphic of the grid:

1A. *Executive space with great views: [ corner ] OFFICE - Here's a "great view" of my executive blogging command center, taken from the corner at the ceiling 😜

I'm not done with the space yet - still working on the closet area

and a cool set of shelves for the opposite wall

7A. *Area in Westminster Abbey where Chaucer is buried: POETS [ corner ] - More from their website

65A. *Place to find a date?: [ corner ] STONE - ah.  That kind of 'date'

66A. *Stop sign locale: STREET [ corner ] - "Hey, baby, what's your sign~?"   "Stop."

12D. *Scoring opportunity in soccer: [ corner ] KICK

14D. *Defensive player who's often the fastest on the football field: [ corner ] BACK - The NY Jets used to have ESPN's #9 choice, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, but he's with the Colts now

47D. *Eeyore's home: POOH [ corner ] - "Winnie the" and friends' website

53D. *Challenging stretch at Augusta National: AMEN [ corner ] - more from the PGA Masters, here

37. Not far off, or where to look to make this puzzle's starred clues match their answers?: 

AROUND THE CORNER

And a shout-out to the all the Crossword CORNERITES~!

Grid Flow 34.5

    W
     a
     i
But
          There's
                   M
                    o
                    r
                    e(s)~!

ACROSS:

-

-

12. Quaint term for "patella": KNEEPAN - Google says it's one word, and a learning moment for me

13. Supporting Mideast unity: PAN-ARAB - I got stuck on NON-arab, which cost me 2 minutes of looking for my mistake; the Wiki

15. Björk's country: ICELAND - sssss, close - I know of her, went with FIN-land; name #1

16. Ferrera of "Ugly Betty": AMERICA - name #2 - I do the Sunday puzzle on Friday, since I had solved today's puzzle back on Sunday - here's a "slit" for Anon-T's write up 😁

Her Harness page

17. Winnow: CULL - ah; I was thinking M innow

18. Simple shelters: TENTS - made my "RIM OF FIRE" at 19 Down Bzzzzt

20. Rat (on): NARC

21. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" novelist: KESEY - I knew of Ken, name #3

23. Period: DOT - not the "ERA" kind of dot, this one . . . ↙

24. Albanian currency: LEK - Friday.  Vague.

25. "Tubular!": "RAD~!" - two weeks in a row for me

27. Fire (up): REV

29. Texter's "Just a sec": BRB - Be Right Back - I gotta "P"

30. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC - Centers for Disease Control

33. String of dried chile peppers: RISTRA - filled via perps - and a unique fill 😁

35. Reign: RULE

40. Jazz singer Sylvia: SYMS - no clue, name #4 - more here

41. One on parental leave, perhaps: NEW DAD

42. "A Boy Named __": Johnny Cash hit: SUE - name (ish)

43. Navy noncom: CPO - Chief Petty Officer

44. Simple shirt: TEE

45. Pained cry: "YOW~!!"

47. Kung __ chicken: PAO

48. Trippy drug: LSD - LySergic Acid Diethylamide - "acid"

50. Molten rock: MAGMA

Liquid Hot MAG - MA

54. Luxury hotel chain: OMNI

56. Label again: RE-TAG

58. Word: TERM

59. Wedding crasher's destination, perhaps: OPEN BAR - Crossing - 31D. College with an alcohol ban: DRY CAMPUS (a unique fill ) - how's that for a "mixer"~?

61. Pen pal's signoff: "WRITE ME." - Penguin's (#1) sign off - "White Me"

63. "House __": longtime HGTV series: HUNTERS - Here's an episode about a village near my old stomping ground of Long Island - about 20mins south of where I lived

Setauket to Patchogue

64. "Airplane!" star Leslie: NIELSEN - A gimme Leslie #1, name #5 - "I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you . . ."

DOWN:

1. At just the right moment: ON CUE

2. Senses: FEELS

3. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob who won the World Series in 1948 with Cleveland: FELLER - also no clue, name #6, more from the Hall of Fame here

4. Bitter brew, briefly: IPA - was not working with my FINLAND

5. Jargon: CANT - def.  #3b

6. Over and done: ENDED

7. Tennis player Shriver and actress Grier: PAMs - know both "names", #s 7 & 8

Pam #7 is not quite square to the net, but still a pretty cool A I image

8. Low digit: ONE - Dah~!  This time, it was not TOE

9. Merit: EARN

10. Dress rehearsals: TRIAL RUNS

11. French cry of surprise: "SACRE BLEU~!!" - Frawnche expletive

13. Spoke rapidly: PATTERED - I was not giving up N-attered

19. The Pacific __: NORTHWEST - not the "Rim of Fire"

Ah.  Pacific RIM was the movie . . .

22. Knitter's ball: YARN

26. Neglected to: DIDN'T

28. Holiday, casually: VACAY

29. Cool remark: "Brr~!" - I think this may have benefitted from a "?", but it filled via perps, so . . . 

30. __ in Charlie: 'C' AS . . . meh.  CHarlie is a "chuh" sound, not a "kuh", as in Careless editing mistake

32. Part: COMPONENT - solid vague one word 4-letter clue + 8-letter answer

34. Pittsburgh team: STEELERS - PENGUINS (#2) fit, too, name(ish)

36. Afore: ERE

38. GI show gp.: USO - United Service Organization

39. Leslie __ Jr. of "Hamilton": ODOM - Leslie #2, name #9

46. Turkey appendage: WATTLE - for some reason, I went with GIBLET, but thought it was spelled GIBBET - that's something else that "hangs" . . . 

49. New beginnings: DAWNS

51. Gaggle birds: GEESE

52. Mascot Hall of Fame inductee from Queens: MR. MET - I knew "him", forgot what he was called

I grew up with the Mets, did not know he had a "Mrs."

55. A fan of: INTO - I am more into hockey . . . The NHL Eighty-Four game season starts Sep 29th

56. Uncommon: RARE

57. Spunk: GRIT

60. "Severance" director Stiller: BEN - name #10, I "neglected to" know ( 26D. ) he directed; sounds like a thrilling TV series

62. Suffix with front or cash: IER - frontier, cashier

Splynter