Wednesday, January 7, 2026 - Joe Deeney

 Theme:  I wish it would rain

Puzzling thoughts:  Happy New Year Crossword Cornerites!  I know you've heard this said over and over the past week, but as this is Chairman Moe's first appearance as a blogger in 2026, I figured it was OK for me to reiterate

As C.C. mentioned at the end of December, I will be doing just one blog a month; the first Wednesday.  Today's puzzle is by none other than a noted crossword constructor, Joe Deeney.  I am not certain, but this might be the first Deeney puzzle that I have recapped

I am pretty sure that Mr. Deeney did not intentionally cast a cloud on the expanded 16x15 grid, but his goal was to have a bit of rain fall on us with four entries and a reveal.  60 letters make up the five longest clue answers, so trying to squeeze that into a 15x15 grid would be impossible

The reveal:  64-across. Perfectly satisfactory, or an apt description of 18-, 26-, 39-, and 54-Across: RIGHT AS RAIN.  All four of the entries have a type of rain on the RIGHT side of the phrase

18-across. 1991 operation that ended with the liberation of Kuwait: DESERT STORM

26-across. Celestial event such as the Perseids: METEOR SHOWER

39-across. Communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing: BIT TORRENT.  This was an unknown and filled in via perps

54-across. Sweet finish for fried chicken: HONEY DRIZZLE

STORM, SHOWER, TORRENT, and DRIZZLE are all terms associated with rain

Here is the grid:

On to the rest of the clues/words ...

Across:
1. Running sport: TRACK.

6. Thrown for a loop: AWED.

10. Lure (in): ROPE.

14. Moves like a fleeing deer: BOUNDS.

16. Sushi wrapper: NORI.

17. Rep on arm day: CURL.  There are such things as an "arm day"?  My idea of a curl with my arm is lifting a pint of IPA or a bottle of ________

[entry]

20. Molecule part: ATOM.

21. Focus to win a contest?: STARE.  I think I could out-stare most anyone if challenged

22. Flower bed tool: HOE.  

23. Sault __ Marie: STE.

24. Sushi option: AHI.  I tried eel before ahi

[entry]

30. "Succession" actor Culkin: KIERAN.  

Macaulay (left) and Kieran - the Culkin brothers

32. Steal from: ROB.

33. Prototype: Abbr.: ORIG.  Short for original

34. Basilica niche: APSE.  This word seems to find its niche only in crossword puzzles

35. __ economy: GIG.  I was an Economics major in college and don't recall this ... 

 

37. Structure whose roof begins near its foundation: A-FRAME.  I tried lean to at first

[entry]

42. Two __ and a lie: icebreaker game: TRUTHS.  Is this anything like truth or dare?

The rules

44. Leb. neighbor: ISR.  I tried SYR at first

45. Frittata need: EGGS.  Along with other ingredients

49. Lucky acorns, eventually: OAKS.  Just imagine if ALL of the fallen acorns turned into oak trees.  Want to try to grow your own?  Here is a brief tutorial, courtesy of YouTube

50. Superlative suffix: EST.

52. Balance sheet column: ASSETS.  DEBITS also fit but I chose to be positive

[entry]

57. Large load: TON.  

58. Cards, in NFL scores: ARI.  CSO to all of us who live in ARIzona, although the way the Card(inal)s have been playing the past few years none of us are probably following them as intently

59. "__ got it!": I'VE.

60. Freeze over: ICE UP. 

62. Make a bad impression?: DENT.  With all of the fancy cameras on automobiles these days, a simple dent still requires a lot of cash to repair, especially if it's on the front or rear bumper

[reveal and theme entry]

68. Puts away the dishes?: EATS.

69. Taiwanese computer company: ACER.  A decent, entry level machine

70. Stewpot with a conical lid: TAGINE.  Never used one

71. Chow for a sow: SLOP.  

72. Surrender, as territory: CEDE.

73. Stiletto alternative: WEDGE.  I tried HEELS at first

Down:
1. Up in the air, briefly: TBD.  To Be Determined

2. Fish-to-be: ROE.  I wonder if the same tutorial for growing an oak from an acorn would work for growing a fish from a roe?

3. Down Under denizens: AUSSIES.

4. Site with tech reviews: CNET.

5. Hwang Dong-hyuk's "Squid Game," e.g.: K-DRAMA.  We don't subscribe to Netflix (believe it or not) so this one had to fill in by itself

6. Hill worker: ANT.  SEN and REP also fit

7. Happy holler: WOO HOO.  I had YOO HOO at first

8. Representation of uncertainty on a graph: ERROR BARS.  A function of Excel

9. Assists, in hoops lingo: DIMES.  All you ever wanted to know about this phrase can be found in the hyperlink

10. Type of A/V connector: RCA.  The history of RCA cables

11. Best in a pool: OUTSWIM.  Not a commonly used word in crossword puzzles - according to Crossword Tracker it's been seen just four times, between 2008 and 2014

12. Mentee: PROTÉGÉ. Merriam-Webster defines this as: "one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence"

13. __ Fudd: ELMER.  One of many Warner-Brothers cartoon characters voiced by Mel Blanc

15. Area of expertise: STRENGTH.

19. Good to go: SET.

24. Alias lead-in: AKA. William H. Bonney, Jr. - AKA, "Billy the Kid" Kind of resembles (67-across. Once called:) NEE.  

25. With it: HIP.  Moe-ku:

        Maynard G Krebs shaved

        His goatee, when prepping for

        A hip replacement

27. Conclusion starter: ERGO.

28. Beeper?: HORN.

29. Provides an address: ORATES.

31. Chew out: REBUKE.  Our Thesaurussaurus concurs

36. Hardware and software support: I.T. SERVICE.  According to Crossword Tracker, this phrase has been used just once before (in 2019) and was clued as:  PC support

38. Feline in an alley: FERAL CAT.  Moe-ku:

        "Talladega Nights" 

        Actor's known for being hip:

        A true, Ferrell Cat

40. Wee: ITSY.  As in the itsy-bitsy-teenie-weenie-yellow-polka-dot-bikini

41. Nabisco cracker: RITZ.  Or, the last word in an Irving Berlin song, made famous by Dr. Frankenstein and the monster:

42. Painfully close to home: TOO REAL.  

43. Met by chance: RAN INTO. 

46. Make bank: GET PAID.  Not counting the theme entries, Mr. Deeney used a total of nine two-word phrases in this puzzle

47. Classic Pontiac: GTO.  One of many General Motors' A-Body cars of the 1960's

48. Oft-protected fig.: SSN.  Never give out your Social Security Number to a stranger; but since I know all of you through many recaps I've done, here's mine:  123-45-6789

51. Completely surrounded: SIEGED.

53. Move back and forth: SEESAW. A Moe-ku from the archives:

        Jacob and his twin

        Discovered the first fulcrum,

        Called:  Esau's SEESAW

54. God of the underworld: HADES.  More info on HADES

55. Nobel-winning physicist Paul: DIRAC.  

P.A.M. Dirac was an English theoretical physicist who was one of the founders of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics

56. Skin blemish: ZIT.  Everything was going rather smoothly in today's puzzle until this one popped up

61. Encourage: URGE.  

63. Baking meas.: TSP.  

65. Ancient Eur. realm: HRE. Holy Roman Empire

66. Bank corp. with an orange lion logo: ING.

See you again on February 4th