Wednesday, November 4, 2026 - Ricky J. Sirois

 

 Theme: "Scary-go-round"

 

First off, my apologies for this recap being as brief as it is.  I have been traveling across the country to meet with family and friends and had just a fleeting moment to throw this together before today ...

Puzzling thoughts:

Ricky J Sirois is no stranger to the followers of the LA Times Crossword Corner as he has had several puzzles published here as well as @ NY Times, and perhaps others.  Not much out there on him via Google, but if you'd like to know how much $ he made as an assistant director of Library Sciences, please click on the hyperlink above

Today's puzzle is somewhat timely as the autumn provides many explorers and adventurers the opportunity to engage in exploring a corn maze, for example.  And a corn maze may be considered a form of a:

52-across. Mysterious patterns in fields, or what 15-, 22-, 31-, and 44-Across are?: CROP CIRCLES

All of today's entries combine a kind of crop and a type of circle 

15-across. Pungent breakfast choices: ONION BAGELS.  This one works, as [according to Wikipedia] "Onions are a widely cultivated vegetable crop, produced in the second largest quantity after tomatoes. In 2021, the top global producers of onions were China, India, United States, and Turkey ..." and Bagels (while generally thought of as being round, like a circle) are geometrically known as a torus 

22-across. Aids in makeup removal: COTTON BALLS.  Cotton is often referred to as an "and crop" because a single harvest yields multiple commercial products—primarily textile fiber, alongside cottonseed oil for food and feed for livestock; top global producers include China, India, the United States, and Brazil [cottontoday dot com].  Balls are generally circular although YMMV

31-across. Alternatives to cinnamon buns: COFFEE ROLLS. Coffee is one of the world's largest produced crop - my AI computer identified these attributes:

Key Facts About Coffee as a Crop

Botanical Source: Coffee grows on woody, evergreen shrubs and small trees belonging to the genus Coffea and the family Rubiaceae.
The Fruit: The plant produces red or purple stone-fruit berries called coffee cherries.
The "Bean": What people call a coffee bean is actually the seed found inside the coffee cherry.
Global Scale: According to NOAA Climate.gov, coffee is one of the most valuable tropical export crops in the world, cultivated on over 27 million acres across more than 70 to 80 countries
.
Specialty Crop Designation: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) explicitly classifies coffee as a specialty crop

Rolls are also generally round in shape unless it precedes the word "-Royce"

44-across. Car parts that may be repurposed as swings: RUBBER TIRES.  As a crop "natural Rubber is an elastic polymer harvested mainly as milky latex sap by tapping the inner bark of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, which thrives in tropical climates across Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America" [Wikipedia].  But given the global demand for the use of rubber-based items, synthetic rubber is more widely produced.  Tires are generally known to be round, except of course, when one goes flat

 

Here is the grid: 

 

Thanks Ricky for the puzzle - and to honor you for your effort may I offer the following "Moe-ku":

        Onions, cotton, joined

        Rubber, coffee, socially;

        Formed a crop circle 

 

On to the rest of the clues and words!          

Across:
1. Shot in the dark: STAB.  A much gentler clue for this word, perhaps?

5. News story intro, in journalism jargon: LEDE.  I imagine that many people misspell this word; according to [Webster's] the full definition is: "the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story" - it goes on to say that it is an alteration of "lead story" and was first used in 1947

9. Secondary social media acct.: ALT.  According to AI, the number one reason for using an ALTernative account for social media is for "posting candid thoughts, joining niche communities, or venting without connecting the activity to a real-life identity"; maybe why we have so many "anonymous" users here

12. Drive: URGE.  As a golfer, I was thinking of something else but TEE-OFF was too long to fit into 4 squares

13. Judy of "Scrubs": REYES.  First time for me:  I will count the proper names in today's puzzle - this is #1

14. Caviar: ROE.  

[entry]

17. Time for many countdowns, briefly: NYE.  Had Ricky chosen "TV Scientist Bill" instead, this would have been proper name number two - instead, he went for an abbr. for New Year's Eve

18. Making out while out and about, for short: PDA.  Public Display of Affection

19. Like some columns: IONIC.  It was either this or DORIC

20. Great Lakes diving bird: LOON.  My first sighting of a LOON was at one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes

21. Carol contraction: 'TIS.  

[entry]

25. Mouths off to: SASSES.  

27. February 29: LEAP DAY.  I personally know just one person who was born on LEAP DAY but I have never asked him if he chooses to celebrate on February 28 or March 1 on the off leap years

28. Ablaze: LIT.  

29. Grammy winner Estefan: GLORIA.  Proper name #2

[entry]

35. Songs of praise: PAEANS.  Moe-ku:

        Group of laborers

        Performed in their church choir;

        Peons sang PAEANS 

36. Calendar divs.: MOS.  

38. Poor rating: ONE STAR.  This doesn't fit my rating for today's puzzle; I think it deserves at least ⭐⭐⭐and 1/2 ⭐s

41. Subtle difference: NUANCE. Moe-ku:

        Dad's brothers went through

        A gender change; "old uncles"

        Are now called NUANCE 

[entry]

47. Tax-efficient fund, for short: IRA.  Once again, Ricky chose the abbr. rather than use another proper name

48. Pinkberry rival: TCBY.  This tells you how "out of touch" Moe is; I know of The Country's Best Yogurt but had no idea about Pinkberry

49. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. Sort of a CSO to Husker Gary

50. Court divider: NET.  Neither the word "LIBERAL" or "CONSERVATIVE" fit here ...

51. Ivy League nickname: ELI.  Proper name #3, and a Moe-ku:

        Harvard grads never

        Play Three Dog Night. Who wants to

        Know, ELI's Coming??

[reveal]

55. Intro to Xer, Yer, and Zer: GEN.

56. With passion: HOTLY.  See 46-down for a similar clue/entry

57. Signify: MEAN.

58. Multinational insurance co.: AIG.  American International Group

59. In need of a massage, say: ACHY.

60. Trees whose wood is used for lutes and bows: YEWS.

Down:
1. Old timer?: SUNDIAL. Key to this clue is the lack of a hyphen between old and timer.  And for the record, if you ever wondered how these are "adjusted" for daylight savings time ...

 

Speaking of clocks ... my alter ego had a puzzle published this past Friday.  Click on the link and chose October 30 for the date to solve ... the title is: It's That Time Again"

Newsday Crossword Puzzle October 30

2. Period during which mammals first appeared: TRIASSIC.  Rumor has it that these mammals all had three rear-ends

3. In the past: AGO.  

4. "No fighting!": BE NICE. 

5. Bona fide: LEGIT.

6. Disparate features of someone with heterochromia: EYE COLORS.  

7. Rehoboth Beach's st.: DEL.  Located in the map below.  As I kid I used to go to either Rehobeth Beach, Bethany Beach, or Ocean City, MD for my shore trips

8. End of most plural words: ESS.

9. "The Neighborhood" actress Tichina: ARNOLD.  Proper name #4

10. Common name for a Jesuit school: LOYOLA. [Loyola Marymount Univ. website] "The name Loyola most commonly refers to private, Catholic, Jesuit universities in the United States named after Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)".  Loyola University Chicago has the largest enrollment of the four primary Loyola colleges

11. Itty-bitty: TEENSY.      

13. Leave a scathing review, perhaps: RANT.  No rants from me today; maybe one of our posters will, though

15. Makes a selection: OPTS.

16. Responses to bad calls: BOOS.  We aren't that far removed from either the World Series or Halloween to have heard a fair number of these.  And another Moe-ku:

        One thing I can’t stand:

        A ghost, three sheets to the wind,

        Who can’t handle BOOs

20. Home of Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands: LA PALMA.  This seems like the kind of clue that would require more than casual knowledge to solve without perps (closest to a RANT)

23. Fictional sleuth Wolfe: NERO.  Proper name #5

24. Take off: BAIL.  

26. Visits: STOPS BY.

29. Clockwork bit: GEAR TOOTH.

30. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN. Proper name #6

32. Lot: FATE.  Not THIS Lot

33. Cause of some tremors: FEAR.

34. Kin by marriage: SON-IN-LAW.  I visited my s-i-l on this trip; along with daughter and grandson

37. Multitude in a multiplex: SCREENS.

38. "Wednesday" actress Jenna: ORTEGA. Proper name #7

39. Microbiology research centers?: NUCLEI. 

40. On the decline: EBBING. 

41. Classic soda brand: NEHI. Radar O'Reilly's favorite drink was a Grape NEHI

42. G.I.'s org.: U.S. ARMY.  Radar was a corporal in the U.S. ARMY

43. Puts away: EATS.

45. Get at: IMPLY. 

46. R-rated, say: RACY. See 56-across for a similar clue/entry

52. The Hornets, on a sports ticker: CHA.  As in, CHArlotte

53. Retinol Correxion maker: ROC.

54. Middling grade: CEE.  Or, a 2.0 on the GPA scale

A closing limerick (aka, Moe-'lick) for a final grin:

        Sea cow sought a place that is turnkey

        Where he hoped to spend eternity.

        Help from skilled volunteers

        Built his home; so now here's

        A habitat for Hugh Manatee

See ya in December