Friday, Aug 21st, 2026 ~ Megan Heneke

ANTHONY'S LATHE

Anthony's Law, but not Anon-T - and - OUCH~!!

I could not find any online links to our crossword constructor, Megan Heneke, so I do believe this is her debut puzzle - congratulations~!  While I enjoyed solving this one, I am still kinda stumped; did I miss a layer~?  Is there something about the theme that I am not seeing~?  I can see the correlation between the "scientist" ( or mathematician ) and the 'object' of the clue, but I'm baffled that both LATTE an LATKE were acceptable - but that's not on the author, that's shame on the editor for not sending it back for revision; YMMV.  I even tried a different parsing - as in LA WAND OR DER, since the themers all have their objects starting with "LA"; perhaps Ms. Heneke will pop by our Crossword Corner and give us some insight.  I would not rate this as Friday-level, though the prevalence of single-word cluing/answers does give it that feel.  Standard grid, no circles, a handful of names, a mere ten 3LWs, and no Twurds. The themers and the reveal;

21. "A bottle where the rapid decrease in pressure upon opening creates foam, please" request?: BOYLE'S LAGER - Robert Boyle is credited with discovering the inverse relationship between pressure & volume; the Wiki

26. "A light coffee, and do not drop it, please" request?: NEWTON'S LATTE - Sir Isaac Newton and his "discovery" of gravity - his Wiki

43. "I'll take my potato as a pancake (but you'll probably bring fries)" request?: MURPHY'S LATKE - Murphy's Law, which in general states that if something can go wrong, it will - I did not know he was a 'real' person - more here

50. Strict enforcement of the rules for a civil society, or how to process the requests in 21-, 26-, and 43-Across?: LAW AND ORDER - the "law" man and his "order" at a bar, restaurant, and diner/cafe

Quite possibly the best TV show theme song, IMHO

But Wait There's Moore's Law~!

ACROSS:

1. Graduate from a balance bike: PEDAL - T.I.L. that a balance bike lacks pedals, ergo one would have to learn the skill of pedalling to 'graduate' - and a Thursday dupe

6. "Zounds!": "EGAD~!"

10. "Not only that ... ": "PLUS . . ."

14. Sauce for chipotles: ADOBO - I always thought of adobo as a marinade or rub, not a 'sauce'

15. German automaker: AUDI

16. Nana's daughter: AUNT

17. Collar clip-on: ID TAG - Think "dog" - still no canine companion, Irish Miss, struggling with establishing a set schedule, but I am visiting Cooper for the extended Columbus Day weekend in October~!

My S-I-L had their patio enclosed - Cooper approves~!

18. Hard punch: SLUG

19. Big name in morning TV: RIPA - Kelly, name #1

20. Get the gray out, say: DYE - Since changing my diet, I have noticed my hair is "less grey" than it used to be . . . 

24. Caitlin Clark's home state: IOWA - Sheesh.  This WNBA Indiana Fever basketball player is so unknown to me, it's practically asking  me where does John Doe live~?  Filled via perps, name #2

25. Topical antiseptic: IODINE

31. Small flower?: CREEK - the "flow-er", 'long O' version we see towards the end of the week

My creek, shot in January 2023

32. Raw minerals: ORES

33. "Nature" airer: PBS

36. Biblical name of ancient Syria: ARAM - Geo name #3

37. Wolverines and Badgers: TEAMS - NOUNS would have worked, too - I looked at what is most likely the "relationhip" of wolverines to badgers, came across Michigan & Wisconsin, at the extreme opposite ends of - 26D. Bracket org.: NCAA - the National Collegiate Athletics Association - more basketball, which is not my thing, and yes, I live 5mins from UCONN and their famous B-ball teams . . .

39. Canada Goose garment: COAT - filled via perps; the website

40. Inquire: ASK

41. Head of a museum?: BUST - Har-har

The Bat Bust

42. Full of passion: FIERY

46. Future resident: INTERN - Think doctors, not neighbors -I caught my new neighbor stealing soil from my creek; I hope I put an end to that~!

49. Cringeworthy, in Gen Alpha slang: OHIO - Gen X here, so this one is new to me; I not only lived in Ohio, but it's where The Golem movie was shot - so I guess it really is "weird" in Ohio . . .

53. Greek T: TAU

56. Tofu nutrient: IRON

57. Drama honor: OBIE - the Off-Broadway Theatre Award

58. Feature of some accents: TWANG

60. Smoothie berry: ACAI

61. Merino, e.g.: WOOL

62. "Pale Blue Dot" subject: EARTH - Carl Sagan, who had a "law" of his own, ( a standard ); "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"

63. Top of many an indoor stadium: DOME

64. Trawling equipment: NETS

65. Clothe: DRESS 

DOWN:

1. Took care of, say: PAID - like "the bill"

2. Circular current: EDDY - NOT a name 

3. Shower with love, with "on": DOTE

4. Old hoops gp.: ABA - American Basketball Association; more basketball

5. Daily record: LOGBOOK - I have kept an 'electronic' journal since January 2005

6. Causes of some grade inflation: EASY As

7. Beach party?: GULL

The gulls in "Finding Nemo" were hysterical

8. For two voices, in music: ADUE - Dah~!  Not DUET

9. Archaeologists' workplaces: DIG SITES - Nailed it

10. Mardi Gras event: PARADE

11. Video game brother: LUIGI - MARIO fit, but wasn't playing nice with others; name #3

12. Let out, as pigs: UNPEN - I really hoped this was not going to be "UNSTY"

13. Try to decipher a stereogram, perhaps: STARE - try to find the objects in the 3D images here

22. Have: OWN

23. Auction units: LOTS - better than defined as "A TON" 

24. Bullet point: ITEM 

27. Messes up: ERRS

28. Ineffective: WEAK

29. Unwilling (to): LOATH

30. Branch: ARM - Trunk: Leg~?

Maybe not a tree pattern, but the tights are "dee-vine" 🙄

33. Ballad writer: POET

34. Oak exterior: BARK

35. Ocular woe: STYE - how does one get an eye "UNSTYED"~?

37. __ service: TURN-DOWN - A luxury hotel amenity, where you get the mint on the pillow

38. Medium ability: ESP

39. "Ta-ta!": CIAO

41. Cutting comeback: BURN - I tried BARB, 50% correct

42. Toyed (with): FLIRTED

43. "Stop being such a jerk!": "MEANIE~!" - my mother's old email was mrsmeanie

44. Singing in some Ricola ads: YODELS

Riiiii - co - laaaaa~!

45. Shakira's "__ Wolf": SHE - More like "She-esh"; name(ish)

46. "Odyssey" prelude: ILIAD - It's all Greek to me . . . 🙄

47. Many a "Breaking Bad" figure: NARCO - I had NARCS

48. Clock-changing hr.: TWO AM - you have 71 days until Nov 1st, 2026

51. Cor anglais kin: OBOE - learned by doing crosswords, "English horn" orchestral instrument

52. Real hoot: RIOT - Not LULU

53. Scale button: TARE - I am officially 50lbs lighter than when I started at the gym in May last year

I was carrying around the equivalent of this whole shelf of sugar 😧

54. Tunneling pests: ANTS - they're a mild pest in my house, but they don't tunnel - the chipmunks do

55. Cries of disgust: UGHs

59. Tug-of-__: WAR

Splynter

Grid Flow the lowest I've recorded, just 12.1