Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Sala Wanetick & Dena R. Verkuil
Good Morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle by Sala Wanetick and Dena R. Verkuil. This is two-in-a-row for me recapping a puzzle by Sara and Dena and three-in-a-row for me blogging a puzzle by Sara. Sara and Dena, we really have to stop meeting like this. Or maybe not. It's been a whole lot of fun. Perhaps we'll do it again.
In today's puzzle, Sala and Dena riff on common activities during which we use our eyes to search, or LOOK, for things. The straight-forward unifier comes at:
61 Across: "Gotcha!," and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues: MADE YOU LOOK.
The gimmick is employed at these four places:
18 Across: *Book series with a character in red-and-white stripes: WHERE'S WALDO. In the books, readers LOOK for Waldo. Can you find him on this ski hill?
26 Across: *"Olly olly oxen free" game: HIDE AND SEEK. Children LOOK for one of their own who is hiding. "Olly olly oxen free" is a catchphrase used in children's games such as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game.
37 Across: *Presentation tool that doubles as a cat toy: LASER POINTER. The cat clearly LOOKs at the dot or, closer to the mark, in its intended use, the LASER tool points to things that we need to LOOK at.
52 Across:. *Document in some pirate stories: TREASURE MAP. The MAP shows you where to LOOK for the TREASURE.
This is how it all looks in the grid:
Here are the rest of the clues and responses. Please note that a reference to an answer as "often seen in our puzzles" (or similar) is not intended as a criticism. In fact, without these "usual suspects" a Wednesday puzzle would likely solve more as if it were a Saturday offering:
Across:
1. Daytona 500 org.: NASCAR. An automobile racing reference. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. Perhaps it should be NASCARL.
7. Poetic measure: IAMB. IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of one short syllable followed by one long syllable or of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
11. Hushed "Hey!": PSST. Frequently whispered in our puzzles.
15. Musical interval: OCTAVE. Imagine a piano. On it, the keys on the left are lower than the keys on the right. If you are pressing the white keys, starting from C, from left to right, the sequence will follow: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. From C to C is one OCTAVE.
16. Enunciate poorly: SLUR.
17. Stratford-__-Avon: UPON. Because it is the birthplace and burial place of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Stratford UPON-Avon is a popular tourist destination
20. Café or thé lightener: LAIT. Leçon de français d'aujourd'hui. Cafe = coffee, thé = tea and LAIT = milk. On first glance, this solver was wondering what the heck was the lightener.
21. "When pigs fly!": NEVER. A colloquial expression.
22. Gender-specific pronoun: HIM.
23. Florence of Florence and the Machine: WELCH.
25. Stage award: OBIE. TONY would have fit. OBIE derives from Off-Broadway.
29. More spent: WEARIER. Spent as in "I'm spent" meaning out of energy.
31. R&R provider for GIs: USO. United Service Organizations
32. Steamed bun: BAO. A treat often consumed in our puzzles.
33. Play-__: Fun Factory maker: DOH. DOH is often clued with reference to Homer Simpson.
34. Tally: ADD. Tally, used here, as a verb. As in the classic Harry Belafonte song:
36. Garment worn with a choli: SARI. A choli is an upper body garment (blouse or bodice). A SARI is a draped garment frequently donned in our puzzles.
41. Nautical call: AHOY. AHOY is derived from the Middle English cry, 'Hoy!'.The word fell out of use at one time, but was revived when sailing became a popular sport. AHOY can be used as a greeting, a warning, or a farewell
43. Decide (to): OPT. A choice frequently made in our puzzles.
48. "Spoon River Anthology" poet Edgar Lee __: MASTERS. No, not a Henry Mancini reference.
56. Radar image: BLIP.
57. Proprietor: OWNER.
58. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. A frequent visitor.
59. Orchestral pace: TEMPO.
60. Kristen of "Bridesmaids": WIIG.
64. Cozy quarters: INNS. Quarters, in the clue's context, could have been either single or plural making this one a bit more challenging.
65. Japanese noodle: UDON.
66. "That's a lie!": UNTRUE. That's a fact.
67. Put through the paces: TEST.
68. Petty quarrels: ROWS. The word ROW has several meanings (polysemy). Among them: Things in a line. To propel a boat with an oar. A succession without a gap. . . . and, here, a SPAT (no, not the kind you wear with a shoe).
69. Goes back to zero: RESETS.
Down:
1. "There, there": NOW NOW. Nice repetition in clue and answer.
2. "Things Fall Apart" novelist Chinua: ACHEBE. Unknown to this solver. Thanks, perps.
4. Opportunity for students to consider their futures: CAREER DAY.
5. State definitively: AVER. This solver often pauses over whether it will be AVER or Avow.
6. Hi-__ monitor: RES. HIgh RESolution
7. "To repeat ... ": I SAID. Do we really need to go over this again?
8. "I'll take complete credit, thanks": ALL ME. Time to pass on the obvious.
9. Mess around a sty: MUD. Mess in a sty?
10. Cleveland team: BROWNS. A football reference. Named after the original coach and co-owner, Paul Brown.
11. Drawer handles: PULLS. KNOBS would have fit.
12. Long key: SPACE BAR. . . . on a keyboard (typewriter or computer, not a piano keyboard)
13. "That's the word on the street": SO I HEAR.
14. Demolition letters: TNT. What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with TNT? Dino-mite
19. Sound like a fan: WHIR. See also 38 Down (clever).
24. Tokyo, long ago: EDO. A place visited frequently in our puzzles. EDO was renamed in 1868.
26. "lol": HE HE. Laughter
27. A5 and Q5 automaker: AUDI. As the clue says, an automotive reference.
28. Colorful carp: KOI. When I returned from a trip to Japan about a year ago my son asked if I had seen any KOI fish. I said no, the fish there were actually pretty sociable.
30. Safari platform: IOS. An Apple Computer reference.
37. LGBTQ+ rights slogan: LOVE WINS. Also the title of a song by Carrie Underwood.
38. Sound like fans: ROAR. See also 19 Down (clever).
39. Quarter-moon tide: NEAP. NEAP tides occur in puzzles far more often than do SPRING tides.
40. Covers with sheets?: TPS. Not bed sheets.
41. __ deco: ART. Shouldn't deco have been capitalized? From Wkikpedia: "Art Deco, short for the French Arts décoratifs, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished internationally during the 1920s to early 1930s, through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including clothing, fashion, and jewelry. Art Deco has influenced buildings from skyscrapers to cinemas, bridges, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects, including radios and vacuum cleaners."
42. Princess Leia, e.g.: HEROINE. A Star Wars reference. Why didn't Princess Leia have a boyfriend? She kept looking for love in Alderaan places.
46. Word before "force" or "the Force": USE. The second part of this clue is also a Star Wars reference.
47. Cooing sound: MURMUR.
48. Quite a few: MANY.
49. Blues guitarist __ James: ELMORE. For many of us, the reference by George Harrison on the Beatles recording of "For You Blue" might have been the first we had heard of ELMORE. For others, the Grateful Dead cover of It Hurts Me Too may have provided the introduction. The blues aficionados among us, of course, have known all along.
50. Remove, as knitted stitches: RIP OUT.
51. Rods in bike wheels: SPOKES. Radii, as a clue, would have made it even easier.
53. High anxiety: ANGST. MOVIE would have fit the allotted space....but anxiety would have to have been capitalized in the clue.
54. Supply funding for: ENDOW.
55. Attitudes: MIENS. I before E except after C (note that this comment was written before C.C.'s puzzle ran last last Sunday. Small world).
59. Song: TUNE. "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", for one:
60. Wisdom partner: WIT. As in the many book titles that begin The WIT and Wisdom of ...
62. Fuss: ADO. A common commotion in our puzzles.
63. Possessive word: OUR. OUR time, this morning, is now drawing to a close.
Whatever it is that you are looking for today I hope that you find it.
ACHEBE was unknown, and looked wrong after it filled. Buy d-o let it stand. Yay. Dad called it coffee "whitener" rather than "lightener." The Wite-Out got a rest again today; perps were friendly. Thanx, Dena, Sala, and Mal-Man. (Alderaan places, indeed.)
FIR. Once again a bunch of proper names, and even two crossing, Masters and Elmore. But at least no circles, so that's a plus. And there were perps where needed. This wasn't as difficult as yesterday, thank goodness. The theme was clever but I needed the reveal to connect the dots. Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Hey MalMan - Otto Correct changed Sala to Sara three times on your intro. Bad Otto - bad. No more vowels for you!
I also thought of Moon River. Andy Williams was must-watch TV for my parents.
I hope that CARRER DAYs are now including CARRERs in the trades. Around here there is a large deficit in shipbuilding skills. Instead of going deeply into debt, you can actually get paid while learning a trade (such as welding or pipefitting) and land a six-figure job when you graduate - debt free.
I wonder if a pro cyclist calls his/her wheel rod specialist a SPOKESperson?
The Allman Brothers Band included a rendition of ELMORE James' One Way Out on their fantastic album Eat a Peach.
Thanks to Sala and Dena for the fun Monday puzzle. Just right for a hump day too. And thanks to our MalMan for all the chuckles.
Not too tough (in fact, I thought it was easier
ReplyDeletethan yesterday’s). And the reveal was clever and fun.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteACHEBE was unknown, and looked wrong after it filled. Buy d-o let it stand. Yay. Dad called it coffee "whitener" rather than "lightener." The Wite-Out got a rest again today; perps were friendly. Thanx, Dena, Sala, and Mal-Man. (Alderaan places, indeed.)
FIR. Once again a bunch of proper names, and even two crossing, Masters and Elmore. But at least no circles, so that's a plus. And there were perps where needed.
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't as difficult as yesterday, thank goodness. The theme was clever but I needed the reveal to connect the dots.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
FIR, but dunn->WIIG, and ennui->ANGST.
ReplyDeleteHey MalMan - Otto Correct changed Sala to Sara three times on your intro. Bad Otto - bad. No more vowels for you!
I also thought of Moon River. Andy Williams was must-watch TV for my parents.
I hope that CARRER DAYs are now including CARRERs in the trades. Around here there is a large deficit in shipbuilding skills. Instead of going deeply into debt, you can actually get paid while learning a trade (such as welding or pipefitting) and land a six-figure job when you graduate - debt free.
I wonder if a pro cyclist calls his/her wheel rod specialist a SPOKESperson?
The Allman Brothers Band included a rendition of ELMORE James' One Way Out on their fantastic album Eat a Peach.
Thanks to Sala and Dena for the fun Monday puzzle. Just right for a hump day too. And thanks to our MalMan for all the chuckles.