Saturday, October 10, 2026, August Miller

Saturday Themeless by August Miller

Our physics student turned farmer from Massachusetts  returns. As usual, I'll point out some of his trickery but the key to the whole puzzle was his long fills, particularly the stack of three grid spanners

As you can see below, August had a lot of unique fills which earned him a "freshness factor" of 96%,

    

Across:

1. "__ Supreme": MARTY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The movie Marty I knew started Ernest Borgnine.

6. Hebrew name that means "who is like God": MICAH ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

11. Folks who are often recognized: CELEBS.

12. One who is recognized: HONOREE.

14. Like many John Cage compositions: ATONAL - If you'd really like to hear 2:22 of one of his compositions

15. Piece of crude machinery: OIL DRILL. 😀

16. Less ridiculous: SANER.

17. Drambuie cocktail: RUSTY NAIL - Two ingredients - Scotch Whiskey and Drambuie Liqueur. I don't think I could drink and blog!

18. Whole lot: SLEW.

19. Caresses: PETS.

20. Plum kin: SLOE.

21. Pretend: ACT.

22. Spanish dairy animal: VACA - From VACA to VACCINE

23. Journalist Cabrera: ANA.

25. Smart, in a way: VOICE CONTROLLED - It helps when my fat fingers can't get the job done.

31. Ankylosaurus, for one: ARMORED DINOSAUR.

32. "That's not so outrageous": SEEMS REASONABLE.

33. "Au revoir, __ amis": MES - Even I can see it that this is French for "Goodbye my friends"

34. Farm unit that may be round or square: BALE - The old square (really rectangular) were very labor intensive and involved made for a hot, unpleasant job. The new modern round balers are a one man operation. 

 

35. Sigur __: ethereal Icelandic band: ROS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

36. Zoë of "The Afterparty": CHAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

39. Need for some pan sauces: FOND - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The word FOND is a French term that refers to the browned bits of food in a pan after food has been sautéed or roasted.

40. Grand piano trio: LEGS 😀

41. Starts to look really cold: TURNS BLUE.

44. Hasbro toy that tests reaction speed: BOP IT.

45. Looping: ON REPEAT.

46. Traditional Chinese dumplings: JIAOZI - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

47. Giving nightmares, maybe: SCARING.

48. Spotless?: AD FREE 😀

49. "Be more here" hotel chain: HYATT.

50. Licks: BESTS.

Down:

1. Hybrid genre: METAL CORE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A combination of heavy metal and hard core punk.

2. Chance to recharge one's social battery: ALONE TIME - I love mine!

3. Commit to another year, say: RENEW.

4. Lift option: T-BAR.

5. Couture initials: YSL.

6. Drop down?: MOLT 😀 - Down is a noun: When a bird MOLTS, it drops down!

7. Fedora-sporting hero, familiarly: INDY - Ah yes, back when a movie actually made me want to go to the theater. The streaming services I already pay for want $3.99 more to see this many other entertaining movies.

8. Mix with kernels: CORN SALSA.

9. No-frills type: ARIAL - Our regular font. Arial font.

10. Trope starter: HELIO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Turns out it is not a tired plot device but is a flower. We astronomy buffs know of another HELIO word

11. Plants used to make tapioca: CASSAVAS.

12. Sibilant warning: HISS - That snake doesn't have to warn me twice!

13. Vogue rival: ELLE.

15. Not home: OUT AND ABOUT.

17. Deal with bugs, say: RECODE 😀

19. Some harness horses: PACERS.

22. Frost bit?: VERSE.

23. "Frog and Toad" series writer Lobel: ARNOLD.

24. "... said __ ever": NO ONE.

26. Modern dating phrase: COMMON ERA.

27. Herbal infusion: TISANE - Colonel Hastings did not care for Poirot's TISANE

28. Solution pages?: LAB REPORT 😀

29. Shares passing thoughts?: EULOGIZES.

30. Ascot alternative: DRESS TIE.

36. Some A.I. execs: CTOS - Chief Technical Officer

37. Suspicion: HUNCH.

38. Assortment: ARRAY.

39. Icon in a World Cup score: FLAG.

40. Doesn't work: LOAFS.

42. One taking turns cooking?: SPIT 😀

43. Kinked: BENT - The "water fountain" of my misspent yute.

44. __ one's time: BIDE.

46. Vaccination, to a Brit: JAB - Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets a JAB

Friday, Oct 9th, 2026 ~ Jeremy Venook

AN AIM TO EFFACE

You Know My Name - Eyes Without a Face

This is my second review of a Jeremy Venook construction; the first one is here, and like that first puzzle, I have a similar "meh" feeling about today's crossword.  One could say it was a bit "LAME", and I don't mean the dress.  The 'names' theme was disappointing - perhaps due to the fact that I did not recognize two of them, and that they're, well, names, associated with a characteristic of a face; YMMV.  In addition, I found the crossings were of little help - I'm looking at you, 9D~!  Standard grid, no outliers, no circles, half as many 3LWs as Five-letter ones, two Twurds, and plenty of proper nouns, since that was the "name" of the "game" - the themers and centered reveal;

17. *Two-time Oscar winner with a stoic bearing?: EMMA STONE - Stone Face, usually the more common phrase being stone faced, or having a Poker Face - take it, Lady Gaga~!

😑

Emma Stone, stone face

23. *Nursery rhyme lad with one eye closed?: WILLIE WINKIE - My parents were born & raised in England, yet I've never heard of "Wee Willie Winkie" or the Scottish folk song; in fact, 'winkie' meant the "one-eyed willie" - if you know what I mean.  I guess this is the 'winkie face', which Google says should be "winky"

😉

Perhaps you prefer "We Willie Rock You"~?

46. *Fictional spy sporting a big yellow button?: GEORGE SMILEY - A learning moment for me, this character appeaed when I was just 3yrs old - but I have heard of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", the 1974 novel from author John Le Carré, which became a TV series ( 1979 ) with Alec Guinness as the lead intelligence officer ( after he played Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi in 1977, which I did see ); more here

😄

57. *NFL analyst with a sad demeanor?: HOWIE LONG - I know this guy - he's on the FOX network.

A horse walks in to a saloon, the bartender asks, "why the long face~?"

36. Finally meet in person, or how to make the starred clues match their answers:
PUT A FACE TO A NAME
My dad insisted when I filled out a job application to "put a face to the name",
and speak to a manager instead of just walking out

But Wait -  don't drop names - 

There's More to make a face over  😖
 

ACROSS:

1. C in shop class?: CLAMP - this thing; as a woodworker, one can never have enough clamps

Bar Top glue-up

6. Blu-ray precursor: DVD

9. South Asian crepes: DOSAs - Ugh. Crossing another name, double UGH

14. Hispaniola nation: HAITI - this Geo name has appeared in all four of Jeremy's LA Times puzzles

15. Outdoor co-op with an "Uncommon Path" blog: REI - learned by doing crosswords

16. Loosen, as laces: UNTIE - Odd that this counts as Friday-level, considering the rest of the clues

19. Recline atop: LIE ON - Twurdish #1

20. Charge: FEE

21. Horn sound: TOOT

22. Briquettes: COALS

26. Talk into a bigger purchase: UPSELL

29. Warped Tour sponsor: VANS - No clue; the Warped Tour Wiki; I knew a handful of the bands from the one in 1998; in 2012, despite having triple the performers, I knew not one of them . . . since it could have been a vehicle 'vans' answer, name #1 ( +4 if you count the themers . . . )

30. Protective trench: MOAT - I do love castles

Now that's a moat - Bodiam Castle

31. Golfing goof: SLICE - FORE~!

33. Lid: CAP - AND - 57D. Lid: HAT

40. Grads-to-be: SRs

41. Sarge's superior: LOOIE - oof.  Friday.  Lieutenant.  If it weren't for my voracious reading, I would not have gotten this one - also seen in novels as "LOO", "LOOT", "L-T", etc.

42. Hieroglyphic snakes: ASPs

43. Insider's argot: CANT - argot being the 'jargon', lingo and language of a small group, e.g. scientists

44. Check: ARREST

51. Partygoer who might stock up on glow sticks: RAVER - I grew up in the "mosh pit" era

52. Many a Yemeni: ARAB

53. Sweets: BAE - not candy, vague, and cringe, I can't stand this word - two of three Fridays now 😖

56. Carne __ burrito: ASADA

59. Romantic poet who died fighting for Greek independence: BYRON - interesting life, name #2

60. "Eddington" director Aster: ARI - I know none of  his work - IMDb, name #3

61. Caused: LED TO - Twurdish #2

62. Utter, as thou might: SAYST - canceled my SAYTH, which needed to be SayEth anyway - until I checked with our new friend A I, and found this . . . 

Archaic spelling of "archaic" . . . uhhh

63. Pewter component: TIN - about 85-99%, according to Wiki

64. Eye sores: STYES


DOWN:

1. Many a cooking show host: CHEF

2. Fabric with metallic threads: LAMÉ - Some of this puzzle may be "lame", but not this dress . . . 🙄

Hey, 56% off~! Buy it now~!

3. Love, in French: AIME - does not rhyme with LAME, more like ay-MUH in the Frawnche

4. NYC transit org.: MTA - I grew up on Long Island, so I'm familiar with this organization; name(ish) and abbr, but here's a video from the B1M on a NYC project ahead of schedule, AND below budget

Park Ave rebuild

5. Flower part: PISTIL

6. Salivate: DROOL - Makes me think of Odie from Garfield

I'm down here with Cooper, who is not a drooler - but he does like to lick

7. Starbucks order: VENTI

8. Drop to 0%: DIE - Ah. Like phone batteries

9. Woman of La Mancha?: DULCINEA - Crossing two themers, and name #4 - Don Quixote's imaginary girlfriend; Why stop at one~?  I have a dozen imaginary girlfriends . . .  😁 the Wiki

10. Mirepoix vegetables: ONIONS - Frawnche. no clue, filled via perps

11. Swordfish cut: STEAK - solid WAG on my part, but then again, I know salmon is sold as 'steaks'

12. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI - learned by doing crosswords

13. Intuit: SENSE

18. Per-axle charge: TOLL - I just got a class-action settlement statement from a legal firm in Suffolk County, NY - the state owes me $144 for "illegal" fees on red-light camera tickets - Take THAT~!!

23. Large New Zealand cricket in the name of an Oscar-winning digital effects company: WĒTĀ - zero clue, didn't want one -  I have zero interest in "bugs" - I prefer ETymology over ENTOmology - 😝

24. Paperless Post alternative: eVITE - Ugh.  I tried eSite, thinking capitalized Post = newspaper, not the Postal, federal mail system , and a Tuesday dupe

25. Baylor University city: WACO - Geo name #5

26. Pros who work at home: UMPs - I think this clue needed an "?" - for home PLATE, that is . . .

27. Really come down: POUR - I tried HAIL, TEEM, PELT - Bzzzzt on all of them . . .

28. College Board exams: SATs

31. Many Highland Games participants: SCOTS - I had CELTS, so I was only 40% correct

32. Fragrant garland: LEI

33. Instance: CASE

34. Boxes in an arena?: AMPS - Boxes being the 3D noun, not the 'sparring' verb kind; I play guitar, and this is still too vague, even for a Friday . . .

35. Annoyance: PEST

37. Like a foul that might earn an automatic ejection: FLAGRANT - PERSONAL fit as well

Half the distance to the goal, automatic first down

38. Super-duper: A-ONE

39. Less than hardly, quaintly: NARY - I tried RARE, got me enough

43. Assertions of faith: CREDOS

44. Jai __: ALAI

45. Fights back: REBELS - the verb, not the noun

46. Snatches: GRABS - reminds me of this scene from Ocean's Eleven

Linus calls it a "smash & grab", but it's

slightly more complicated than that . . .

47. GPA booster: EASY A

48. Egg-producing organ: OVARY

49. Language of a haka chant: MAORI - same language as the bug above 🠉 - name(ish)

50. Conservationist Bindi: IRWIN - No clue, WAG on the "I" crossing the theme name - turns out to be Steve Irwin's daughter - still, it's #6

53. Hair quality: BODY - sadly, my hair quality is "thin", my body, "thick" - I'd prefer the reverse . . .

54. Upfront stake: ANTE - poker [face], not poking

55. Obstacles to teamwork: EGOs

58. Permit: LET - the verb, not the noun

Splynter

Gri(n)d Flow 21.4

Thursday October 8, 2026 Rebecca Goldstein

She's back! And this time, Rebecca Goldstein has given us a puzzle that won't tear your hair out.

37. "Why must you overcomplicate everything?," or what can be said about 16-, 24-, 49-, and 58-Across: IT'S NOT THAT HARD. Each of the following themed answers are not "hard" in one way or another.

16. Christ the Redeemer veneer material: SOAPSTONE. SOAPSTONE ranks very low on the Mohs hardness scale. Made mostly of talc, it is a very soft rock that is easy to carve.

24. Hoppy brew with a low ABV: SESSION IPA. A SESSION IPA is a lighter beer with only a 3% to 5% Alcohol By Volume. Definitely not a hard drink, so you can enjoy a longer SESSION without getting drunk.

49. Contents of a cheese pull, often: MOZZARELLA. MOZZARELLA is a semi-soft, unaged Italian cheese with a high moisture content versus a hard cheese like parmesan. 

58. Genre originally known as the West Coast sound: YACHT ROCK. YACHT ROCK features clean vocals, sophisticated studio production, and mellow melodies, as opposed to hard rock.

IT'S NOT THAT HARD is an apt title for this puzzle. Rebecca's puzzles can be challenging, but not today. I like that the themers utilized a different kind of "hard" in each. That plus a low proper name count made for smooth yachting. The grid is a bit unique as it is narrower than usual with only 14 squares across.

I did have one hang-up though. I wrote DUH at 55A and never went back to check where it crossed 47D BAHT, so I had BADT instead. Bzzzzt! But in my defense, I've never bought anything in Thailand. 

The rest isn't so hard either:

Across:

1. Hydrocortisone target: ITCH.

5. Glissade garb: TUTU. In mountaineering, a glissade is a technique used to descend a steep ice or snow field quickly. HUH? Oh, it's also a sideways glide in ballet. That makes more sense.

9. "Wanna hear a secret?": PSST. Present Some Secret Things?

13. Animated blue tang of film: DORY. DORY's friend in the Pixar movie was Hunky Nemo.

Nemo is a Clownfish and Dory is a Regal Blue Tang.

14. Heavy burden: ONUS.

15. Behind schedule: LATE.

16. [theme]

18. Gets lawyers involved: SUES. Lawyers seem to get involved way too often.

19. Sound heard around a crib: COO. If your crib is full of doves.

20. Places that are all fun and games: ARCADES. My company installed the data cabling for the Blockbuster Golf & Games entertainment complex in Sunrise, FL back in the '90s. It had multi-story all-digital ARCADE that featured a virtual reality flight simulator. 

The future 30 years ago.

22. Verbal finger wag: TSK.

24. [theme]

27. Cut with an axe: HEW.

28. Tree in the name of a Bay Area city: OAK. As in Oakland, California on the San Francisco Bay. 

29. Palindromic family member: DAD. Coulda been MOM.

30. Line of symmetry: AXIS.

32. Palindromic family member: SIS. A clecho of 29A. There are several palindromic family members including a TOT.

34. Part of a routine: STEP.

37. [theme]

41. Perceived: SEEN. This answer may be SEEN as correct.

42. Instrument in a "Baker Street" riff: SAX. Gerry Rafferty's single was a huge hit in 1978 with it's repeating earworm SAX riff. Unfortunately, none of the other songs on the album sounded like it.

43. Body image?: X-RAY. An X-RAY of a brain can reveal everything except if it is rusty.

44. Brain scan letters: EEG. An ElectroEncephaloGram records the electrical activity of the brain. I'll have to try it and see if I have any.

46. Spider's spinning: WEB. 

48. 5G predecessor: LTE. 5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology, offering significantly faster speeds, lower latency, and higher capacity than 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution). It's 1 better! 

49. [theme]

53. "You know it!": YES.

54. Surf shop?: ETAILER. Winner: Best Clue.

The famous Ron Jon Surf Shop is also online.

55. "Well, whaddaya know!": HUH. I though DUH would fit.

57. __ Whip: frozen pineapple treat: DOLE. DOLE Whip is a line of frozen soft-serve deserts with flavors that include pineapple, mango and orange. Now in stores, it was first available only at Disneyland.

58. [theme]

63. College town in Iowa: AMES. Home of Iowa State University.

64. Figs. that may be delayed by weather: ETAS. Estimated time of...oh, you know this.

65. Territory "where America's day begins": GUAM. GUAM is west of the International Date line and has it's own time zone (Chamorro Standard Time). Residents wake up 14 or 15 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, depending on Daylight Saving Time.

66. Lean to one side: LIST.

67. Glum: DOWN.

68. Blows it: ERRS. Blows it: AIRS.

Down:

1. Cards at a casino?: IDS. You must be 21 years old to gamble at most casinos, so they may check your Identification card. 

2. Also: TOO.

3. Act the class clown: CRACK WISE. I've never heard this phrase reversed like this (it's usually wisecracking) but it makes sense. 

4. Prefix with -dermic or -thermic: HYPO. Hypodermic (under the skin) and Hypothermic (low body temperature). The prefix HYPO- comes from Ancient Greek meaning under or below, and is the opposite of Hyper- (over or excessive).

5. Little one: TOT. A little palindromic family member.

6. Spanish one: UNO. When playing UNO, you shout this to indicate you only have one card left.

7. Bluefin, yellowfin, and blackfin: TUNAS. With canned TUNAS, I prefer skipjack. Skipjack is a smaller, faster-growing species, meaning it naturally accumulates far less mercury than larger species like albacore or bluefin, making it safer for frequent consumption.

8. Password preceder: USER ID. You must be 18 to use a computer, so it checks your USER ID. Wait, that's not right.

9. Texting etiquette?: PLS AND THX. Textspeak for Please and Thanks.

10. Riyadh resident: SAUDI. Riyadh is the capital and largest city of SAUDI Arabia.

11. Pricey: STEEP.

12. Thompson of "Hedda": TESSA. TESSA starred in the film based on Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler about a woman trapped in a marriage she doesn't want. 

17. Not great, not terrible: SO SO. This answer is meh.

21. Take the path of least resistance, say: COAST.

22. Pad see ew cuisine: THAI. I saw "pad" and knew it was THAI. Pad simply means "stir-fry," so it applies to many dishes.

23. Suggestive messages: SEXTS. These seem to always come back around and bite the senders.

25. Only cardinal direction not in a state name: EAST. There was an EAST Florida from 1763-1821. It split from West Florida after the Seven Years' War in Europe when Spain ceded it to Great Britain in exchange for the release of Havana.

26. Funny sketches: SKITS.

31. Most susceptible to collecting dust?: SNEEZIEST. This is another word that I'm sure exists but I've never heard uttered. Gesundheit. 

33. Prayer __: SHAWL.

35. Four or five, maybe: EARLY HOUR. It's also EARLY BIRD HOUR!

36. Ramble on: PRATE.

38. Lakers legend Shaquille: ONEAL. Before LeBron James brought his talents to South Beach, Shaq teamed up with Dwayne Wade to win Miami Heat's first national championship.

2006 NBA Champs

39. Rink leap: AXEL.

40. Lends color: DYES. If one washes a new red t-shirt with whites, it DYES them pink. If only it lends color, it would be fine, but usually its permanent.

45. Lost colour: GREYED. In England, they spell "gray" with an E (and "color" with a U). Those crazy Brits!

47. 22-Down currency: BAHT. I got this one wrong because of the aforementioned cross. DUH! I mean HUH!

49. Wearable prize: MEDAL.

50. Some indigenous Mexicans: OTOMI. Unlike the Mayans and the Aztecs, the OTOMI people still inhabit central Mexico.

Costumed OTOMI performing a traditional folk dance

51. Diamond chain: ZALES. "Every kiss begins with Kaye" is a much better slogan than "Zales starts with Zzzz."

52. Muse of poetry: ERATO.

56. Spur to action: URGE.

59. Murder-ous cry: CAW. The call from a murder of crows. I'm fascinated by the odd names ascribed to various groups of animals. Recently, China gifted us an embarrassment of pandas.

60. Sales channel: HSN. With so many online options now available, the Home Shopping Network (and sister QVC) faced financial challenges leading to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

61. Vehicle that may be self-driving: CAR.

62. Tour de France distances, informally: KMS. Kilometers.

Be good. RB

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 85th birthday to dear Jayce (John)! Your warmth, kindness, and steady presence make our little crossword family a better place. Wishing you a wonderful day filled with good memories and plenty of love. Sheng Ri Kuai Le, John!