Thursday September 10, 2026 Alex Rohrer & Rodrigo Kerlegand

While Alex Rohrer has published here before, I believe this is Rodrigo Kerlegand's LAT debut. Together, they're troublemakers, but I guess rules were meant to be broken!

38. Cheating, or what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 11, and 13 are doing: BREAKING THE RULES. This phrase clues us in that the theme words are BREAKING i.e. being divided by a black square. The end of the first word on the line plus the beginning of the second create synonyms for RULES: ORDER, BYLAW, EDICT and MANDATE.

When the revealer is in the middle, as a rule it spills the beans and the rest of the puzzle isn't as fun. But not in this case. I mean, what do HIT RECORD and LAWN MOWER have in common? The theme was so well hidden I had to discover it upon completion. I know some people don't like themes that are of no help in the solve, but I liked this one nonetheless. What does bother me a bit is when I have to spend half my review time looking up bios of various celebrities.

I'll now rule on the rest.

Across:

1. With deftness: ABLY.

5. Clogs (up): DAMS. Some damn big clogs!

9. Typical Stan Lee role: CAMEO. Stan Lee, creator of many comic book superheroes, made CAMEO appearances in dozens of films, TV shows, and video games, most famously appearing in 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films. 

14. Manitoba people: CREE.

15. Vinaigrette ingredient, initially: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the good stuff.

16. Throw shade at: HATE ON.

17. Start filming, say: HIT RECORD. And as a noun, a HIT RECORD is a chart-topping album.

19. Like a drive deep in the woods?: ERRANT. It's how many golfers spend their Saturdays.

20. Pioneers of old-school rap, for short: OGS. Original Gangsters. Initially, this was used in specific street and hip-hop contexts, but over time, it was shortened it to “OG” and the meaning broadened to “original” or “authentic,” often without any criminal connotation. As in: C.C. is the OG!

21. "__ Lisa": MONA. Da Vinci's painting has a nice frame per Mr. Bean, but it's also a classic song by one of the greatest singers of all time, Nat King Cole.

Talk about smooth vocals!

22. React to meeting one's hero, perhaps: SWOON. It's an occupational hazard of being a crossword blogger, but I'm getting used to it.
 
23. "Wowza!": OH BABY. "Is it really you, RustyBrain?!" 

25. One pushed to make cuts?: LAWN MOWER. Winner: Best Clue.

29. Mega- times mega-: TERA. Prefixes for a million x million = trillion.

30. Disaster response org.: FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency.

31. Actress Polo: TERI. I guess Polo is the new Garr, but she does look very familiar. I think I first saw TERI Polo in the Meet the Parents movies with Ben Stiller.

32. Bombeck who advised, "Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth": ERMA. Great quote from a funny woman.

34. Situated on: ATOP.

37. Sass: LIP. Don't gimme any of that!

38. [theme]

43. Abbr. in calculus class: LIM. A LIMIT in calc is the value that a function approaches as it's input gets closer and closer to some value.

44. "Ditto!": SAME.  Ditto machines were early duplicators that used liquid alcohol to dissolve a bit of purple wax dye from a master copy and stamp it onto a page. Each time it was used, a little more wax was removed, so after a while the copy quality degraded.

I remember the smell from ditto sheets in school.

45. Paradise: EDEN. 

46. Celebrity pair: ITEM. 

48. Son of Hera: ARES.

50. Padre's hermanos: TIOS. A Spanish father's brother is your uncle.

53. First responder: PARAMEDIC.

56. Game played in the trunk before a road trip?: TETRIS. I'm so good at this 3D TETRIS "game" that I'm in high demand. I've helped many friends load up a truck for a move and they're always amazed how much I can fit in.

58. Mark: GRADE. Back in the day, tests in school were often printed on Ditto machines.

59. Bait: LURE.

61. Medical pen prefix: EPI. An EPIpen is a disposable, pre-filled auto-injector device used to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine (adrenaline) in an emergency to treat severe, life-threatening allergic reactions.

62. Val Kilmer's "Top Gun" role: ICEMAN. Too bad Val died at 65 due to complications from throat cancer. I liked him as Jim Morrison in The Doors biopic.

64. Couple's outing: DATE NIGHT.

66. California wine valley: SONOMA. SONOMA County vineyards and the broader California wine industry are facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Driven by declining wine consumption, oversupply, and rising operational costs, many generational vineyards have closed, leaving their grapes to rot.

67. Spot for dirty dishes: SINK. 

Reminds me of college, for some reason.

68. Corner chess piece: ROOK. The ROOK is the second most valuable piece on the board (after the queen) because they can move rapidly and cover any row or column.

69. Actress who voices Bo Peep in the "Toy Story" franchise: POTTS. Annie POTTS, now 73, has performed on both TV and the big screen. I remember her from Ghostbusters.

70. "__ bien!": TRES.

71. Chlumsky of "Veep": ANNA. ANNA is an American actress who has appeared on Broadway and in movies, but she's mostly known for her TV roles.

Down:

1. Hay fever sound: ACHOO. Gesundheit! (Which means "health" in German.)

2. Quick-witted: BRIGHT. I'm so bright, my mom called me "son." I'll show myself out...

3. Doesn't bother: LETS BE. 

4. "__ darn tootin'!": YER.

5. Distraction: DECOY.

6. Stratford-upon-__: AVON. The town of Stratford on the AVON river was The Bard's old stomping ground.

7. Team spirit: MORALE. Rah.

8. Turf: SOD.

9. Pool bounce: CAROM.

10. Fundamentally: AT ROOT. This phrasing may be used in formal writing, but is less common in everyday speech.

11. Have the best of intentions: MEAN WELL.

12. Extremely long time: EON.

13. Toronto's prov.: ONT. Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of ONTARIO.

16. Chopped down: HEWN. I wonder why after chopping down a tree, I have to chop it up.

18. Sets off: EMBARKS. 

22. Wraps tightly: SWATHES.

24. Neighborhood: AREA.

26. Amo, amas, __: AMAT. Amo, amas, AMAT, amamus, amatis, amant is the present tense conjugation of the Latin verb amare. I love, you love, he (she, it) loves, we love, you (plural) love, they love. Three years of Latin in high school!

27. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. ERIE averages 62 feet deep vs. Superior's 483.

28. Features of some jeans: RIPS. RIPS in a old pair of favorite jeans are well earned, but I can't see buying new ones that are pre-ripped.  

30. Like some unauthorized editions: FANMADE.

33. "Mamma __!": MIA. Mamma MIA! is a jukebox musical featuring ABBA songs that has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation was released in 2008.

35. Wordsmith's ref.: OED. Ye olde Oxford English Dictionary is a huge reference work. You'll need a library cart to check it out.

36. Many a Little Leaguer: PRETEEN.

38. Minor disruption: BLIP.

39. Pop star Ora: RITA. RITA Ora is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress.

40. Up-and-coming: EMERGENT.

41. Mel B and Mel C bandmate: GERI. Dang! I wanted Mel A. GERI Halliwell et al. were Spice Girls.

42. Second, for one: UNIT. I liked last week's clue better: "Second, but not first."

47. Squirrel kin: MARMOT. MARMOTs are known as "whistle pigs," because they use loud, high-pitched whistles to alert their colonies to danger.

This one just watched The Lion King.

49. Pastry choice: ECLAIR.

51. The Beaver State: OREGON. 

52. Suction tube: SIPHON. 

54. Polite addresses: MA'AMS.

55. Crime novelist Buchanan: EDNA. EDNA Buchanan is an American journalist and writer.

56. Long journeys: TREKS. Like the one through the stars many moons ago...

57. First capital of Alaska: SITKA. I knew of this because SITKA spruce is the most common wood used for guitar tops because it offers an ideal balance of light weight and high stiffness.

My Martin D-42

60. Eclectic magazine: UTNE. The UTNE Reader is an American digital and print digest of alternative media, politics, and culture created in 1984 by Eric UTNE (pronounced UT-nee). 

62. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider.

63. Murmur: COO.

64. Summer hrs.: DST. Daylight Saving Time.

65. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

Hopefully, I didn't break any rules along the way!

Be good. RB 

Friday, Jan 16th, 2026 ~ Alex Rohrer

 MANOR, CHATEAU, PALACE, [ CASTLE ]*

Gilette Castle, right here in my home state of Connecticut

This was a great crossword puzzle theme - a clever use of ordinal numbers and homonyms ( I also found the term "polysemy" - bank & run, e.g. ), words that sound and spell the same, but have two totally different definitions.  My research into constructor Alex Rohrer led me to some other pages of crosswords ( click the green "read" button ) but I cannot be sure who "they" are - if they be man or woman  - and I am not going to assume, as I made that 'foe pah' last year with "Dana" Edwards - sorry, man.  Anyway, this was Friday-level difficulty in a standard grid, no circles, just twelve 3LWs, but a tad too many names & abbrs ( at least in the clues; I'm looking at you 58D. ).  The themers;

17. [Math], science, gym, English: FIRST CLASS - the [ brackets ] are a hint as to the "position" required to finish the fill; here, "math" is the opening, or first, instance of four school "classes" listed - not the combination of the two words being 'posh section of an airplane'.  The "M" is capitalized just because it's the opening letter of the clue - which threw me at first.

30. Allegory, [fable], anecdote, parable: SECOND STORY - the word in brackets is now found in the 'second' place, one of four synonyms for "story" - not the 'level of a house'

46. Walkout, slowdown, [picketing], sit-in: THIRD STRIKE - the third word, in brackets, is a synonym for strike, in the 'union' sense, not the "yer out~!" of baseball, or say, convictions; ya know what they call manners in prison~?  Con etiquette, get it~?

62. Safari lodge, island property, destination spa, [all-inclusive beach hotel]: LAST RESORT - finally, we have four examples, or definitions, of places, as opposed to the ultimate act of extreme decisiveness, like nulcear war

* FOURTH ESTATE - known collectively as 'the press' - I did not know about the first three estates

Let's keep this theme going~!

sodium, carbon, lead, tin, [ iron ] - Fifth Element

Great movie, 1997 - about "love", not atomic structures on the periodic chart

But

Wait

There's

More

ACROSS:

1. Lemon piece: WEDGE - I do the Downs first, had SOAR at 1D., so I filled in SLICE;  Bzzzt~!

6. Shoe with a "Sport Mode": CROC - don't own, don't care

'dad mode', 'marriage material', uh, OK, kinda funny

10. Sunscreen ingredient: ZINC - I had - IN -, thought TINT at first 😜

14. Far from familiar: ALIEN - I knew this was the answer, but my NW corner was a jumbled mess

15. Off-white hue: ECRU - Ah. The Monday dupe.  On Tuesday.

16. "Pick me!": "OH, OH~!"

19. Simplicity: EASE

20. Start of a long drive, perhaps: TEE SHOT - the "H" my last letter to fill, highlighted red in the grid below; I was trying to parse this as TEES OFF, which the crossings denied

21. Available sans Rx: OTC - Over-The-Counter, Frawnche "without" prescription, but only avec argent

23. Craps cube: DIE

24. Journalist Katie: COURIC - name #1, knew this one

26. Formal expulsion: OUSTER

28. Well-suited: APT

32. Tasks: CHORES

34. Doja Cat's signature song: SAY SO - not my thing, but I listened and liked it - has a 70's disco vibe, and the video does, too; * warning *- the rap in the middle contains foul language, of course - name(ish)

35. Zipped, or ripped: TORE

36. "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" airer: Mtv - the channel ran its last actual music video in 2025, sorta

37. Kardashian matriarch: KRIS - name #2, no clue, tried "I-ris"

41. Sailor Moon headpiece: TIARA - Anime / Manga; it's her weapon - name(ish)

44. Benoit Blanc, e.g.: SLEUTH - name(ish)- more here; I have the DVD, haven't watched it yet . . . 

50. Pigpen: STY

51. Tried to improve one's score on, perhaps: RETOOK - think 'test'

52. Rat: SNITCH - I had PARIAH, as the "H" was in place

54. "__ longa, vita brevis": ARS - this helped me get a foothold in the SW; thanks to four years of Latin in high school~!

55. Cat seat: LAP - Here's my buddy from LI, now living in CT as well, at home New Year's Day

Matt "The Hat" and cat

57. Some bagels: SESAMES - I like mine Everything Egg - which a friend suggested were the bagels that got dropped on the floor in the kitchen . . . 

60. Masjid prayer leader: IMAM

64. "Bob's Burgers" girl: TINA - Watched the show for a while; I like Louise more - name #3

65. Redhead of classic TV: OPIE - I had LUCY, of course, but how can you tell hair color in Black & White~?  Name #4

66. Features of some lobbies: ATRIA - I would fly into Singapore just to see this one

More here

67. "Quit it!": "STOP~!"

68. Rain delay sight: TARP - a C.C. baseball clue - what, two months to Spring Training~?

69. Small: TEENY

DOWN:

1. Travel by air: WAFT - Dah~! Not SOAR; think of aromas

2. Lebanese fashion designer Saab: ELIE - Friday-cluing for name #5 - not the usual culprit, Mr. Weisel

3. Chloé Zhao, for one: DIRECTOR - name #6 - her IMDb, as I do not know any of her movies

4. Bas-relief medium: GESSO - Argh~!  My first thought, hesitated; learned about gesso from Bob Ross

I love Bob - I bought his paints and did this

5. Gush: ENTHUSE - Ah; think emotionally

6. Boston player: CELTIC - All I could think of were Red Sox and Bruins - I am no basketball fan

7. TV producer: RCA - a company that produced the actual appliances; who else remembers the TV repair guy using a mirror to see the screen while he adjusted the settings~?

I do remember the hardboard back panel with the holes in it, too~!

8. Ish: OR SO

9. Guardianship: CUSTODY - I was on the wavelength with "parentage"

10. Elmo's orange friend: ZOE - name #7 - Never heard of her

11. "Couldn't resist!": "I HAD TO." - due to inflation and the rising cost of crossword fill, there will be an upcharge for "Thwurds"; we also have  - 43D. Have high expectations: ASK A LOT - AND - 48D. "I'll have to pass": "IT'S A NO."

12. More likely to pry: NOSIER

13. Chipper: CHEERY - alliteration

18. Targets of some workouts: CORES - my "core" has gone south on me; I slacked off during the holidays.  But I did some fasting, and gotta get to trying those new dishes~!

22. Swear: CUSS - Ah.  CURSE didn't fit, but I was "correct"

25. People who get half the credit: CO-STARS

27. Stir up: STOKE

28. Do one's part: ACT

29. Soup with rice noodles: PHO - I pondered NAM, like we had last Friday

31. Pt. of USNA: NAV - meh.  U. S. Naval Academy

33. In vogue again: RETRO - I'm "retro" simply because I'm old, and never changed . . . 

36. B.A. Baracus player: Mr. T - from "The A-Team", 80s TV; name #8

38. Mount with southeast-facing faces: RUSHMORE - name(ish), but a gimme

What's the price of admission to this park, CandianEh!~?

39. Addams cousin: ITT - name #9

40. Reserved: SHY

42. Object of admiration: IDOL

44. One with two poles: SKIER - and here I thought I was clever filling in "EARTH"

45. Cry of hunger?: "LET'S EAT~!"

46. Qualities: TRAITS

47. __ crab: HERMIT

49. Foot part: INSTEP

Foot parts ON steps

53. Isabel Wilkerson's "__: The Origins of Our Discontents": CASTE - more here, name(ish) 

56. Dada: PAPA - a bit meh for Friday, IMHO

58. Former "DWTS" co-host Andrews: ERIN - I had no idea what DWTS is - Dancing With The Stars.  She & partner came in third, then she was one of the 25D. until 2020; name #10

59. Hotel visit: STAY

61. World view?: MAP

63. "Aaron Burr, __": "Hamilton" song: SIR - name(ish), and not needed for this 3LW

Splynter

Grid Flow 32.2