Sunday, November 9, 2025 ~ Zhouqin Burnikel

Theme: "Academic Circles"

Or, as 77a indicates:
77. End-of-term cry, and an alternate title for this puzzle: SCHOOLS OUT.

Hi All!
Today, C.C. graces us with another Sunday puzzle. This time, she splits SCHOOLS on the OUTside of each theme answer and then circles them to provide what they call in Academic Circles, um, well, just that -- academies in circles. Let's study them:

XKCD

Oh, sorry, C.C.'s Academic Circles:

24. Seeking a seat: RUNNING FOR OFFICE. Houston's own Rice University.

38. Explains something in simple terms: BREAKS IT DOWN. Brown University.

55. "Roman Holiday" star: AUDREY HEPBURN. Auburn University.

Hepburn & Peck in the 1953 Classic.
 It was her debut.

81. Auto-erased item on a hard drive: TEMPORARY FILE. Temple University.

98. Connecticut state song: YANKEE DOODLE. Yale.

114. Fluffy brunch item baked in a skillet: DUTCH BABY PANCAKE. Duke University.
 

I had to Google the Dutch Baby variety.

3. "Oh boy, that's uncomfortable": HOW AWKWARD. Howard University.

Well, what do you non circle-haters think? Pretty neat, eh?
There's only one thing to do before moving onto the fill and that's introduce Detroit's Vincent Furnier:

Alice Cooper's Schools Out

Across:

1. Org. on workplace posters: OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

5. Sweet-toothed crawlers: ANTS.

9. Financial resources: MEANS.

14. Clubs for chips: IRONS. Golf. Woods to drive; IRONS for chip shots. And that's all I know. HG?

19. More than expected: ALOT.

20. Adversaries: FOES.

21. Group of eight: OCTET.

22. Unaccustomed to: NEW AT.

23. Mike of "Dirty Jobs": ROWE. Did you also know Rowe sang with the Baltimore Opera? I read it on the internet.

24. [See: Theme]

27. Pacific coast barkers: SEA LIONS.

Going Pro?

29. __ Estados Unidos: LOS. Translation: The United States.

30. Feeling of gloom: PALL.

31. Hard-to-split wood: ELM.

32. Comes out on top: WINS.

33. Not trans or enby: CIS.

34. Unsubstantiated: TENUOUS.

36. Staged: FAKED.

38. [See: Theme]

41. Playful growl: RAWR.

42. Yukon gold rush region: KLONDIKE.

What would you do?

43. Uses a sieve: SIFTS.

47. 401(k) alternatives: IRAs. Individual Retirement Accounts.

48. De-iced?: NEAT. Cute.

49. State flower of New Mexico: YUCCA.

Eatable?

53. Pucker-inducing: TART.

54. The Blue Jays, on sports crawls: TOR. Toronto, Canada.

If you know, you know.

55. [See: Theme]

59. GameCube successor: WII. One year, Santa brought a Wii for the girls. We played games all of Christmas break and then almost never again :-(.

Nintendo's Wii

60. Burned, in a way: ON DISC. Remember burning your data to CD?

62. "The Pioneer Woman" host Drummond: REE.

My copy of Dinnertime.

63. Bearing: DEMEANOR.

65. Scolding sounds: TSKS.

67. Tossed dish: SALAD.

A caprese I "tossed" together

70. Herring kin: SHAD.

71. Harmless fib: WHITE LIE.

75. Angry growl: GRR.

76. Time-honored maxim: OLD SAW. From One Word A Day: "The "saw" in old saw comes from the Old English word sagu, meaning "saying, speech, story, or report." This is related to Old Norse saga and Old High German saga - all stemming from the Proto-Germanic sagō ("saying, report")." Read more.

80. House Stark patriarch: NED. Game of Thrones reference [thanks Google!]

81. [See: Theme]

86. Exec overseeing accounts: CFO. Chief Financial Officer.

87. Healing ointment: BALM. Myrrh is a balm...

Monty Python's "Life of Brian" Manger Scene

89. Spacious hotel offering: SUITE.

90. Core constituency: BASE.

91. "Get outta here!": SHOO.

92. Starting lineup: A TEAM.

94. Crude structures: OIL WELLS. Cute.

97. Spot for solar panels: ROOF.

98. [See: Theme]

102. Hilarious sorts: RIOTS.

103. Leaves high and dry: MAROONS.

104. Calendar divs.: WKS. Weeks.

105. Noble above a viscount: EARL.

106. High euchre card: ACE.

108. Classical closing: CODA.

109. Copa Mundial cheer: OLE.

110. Products that help prevent chapping: LIP MASKS. For the uninitiated: "Lip masks and lip 87a [balms] are both formulated to hydrate your lips, however lip masks are generally thicker and more intensive than a lip 87a." [Google again]

114. [See: Theme]

118. Wind like a snake: COIL.

119. Solo: ALONE.

120. Anne of fashion: KLEIN. Nee Hanna Golofsky (3 AUG 1923 - 19 MAR 1974)

121. __-Ball: SKEE.

History here.

122. "Shogun" streaming service: HULU.

123. Lightheaded?: BLOND. Cute.

124. Put in stitches: SEWED. Also cute.

125. Leaves in hot water: TEAS. Hat Trick!

126. Really small matter: ATOM.

Down:

1. Steering implements on dragon boats: OARS. Every Fall, the community just north of me has a dragon boat race.

The Woodlands' Dragon Boat Race

2. Blackthorn berry: SLOE. Flavors the SLOE gin in the fizz.

3. [See: Theme]

4. Drawing rooms?: ATELIERS. WikiP says "An atelier (French: [atəlje]) is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect."

5. Picked hairstyles: AFROS.

6. Plus or minus: NOUN.

7. Change for a 20, maybe: TENS.

8. ID with hyphens: SSN.

9. Snowboard cousin: MONOSKI. So it's a snowboard but with your feet side-by-side(?)

A Monoski.

10. Heart charts, briefly: ECGS.

11. Org. concerned with traffic: ATF. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

12. Virtual animal such as Xweetok: NEO-PET. I'll just let the internet explain what a Xweetok is. Here's an image for the TL;DR:

Xweetoks

13. Leave high and dry: STRAND.

14. Tributary streams: INFLOWS.

15. Penalty caller: REF.

16. Injuries, to a tot: OWIES.

17. Salt, in a chem lab: NACL. Na (Sodium) + Cl (Chloride) = salt.

Salt's Crystalline Structure 

18. Thorn's spot: STEM.

25. "Odyssey" prequel: ILIAD.

26. "Be a Revolution" author Ijeoma: OLUO.

Her WikiP

28. Neither Rep. nor Dem.: IND. An Independent is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

33. Part of CDC: CENTERS. Centers for Disease Control (and Prevention).

34. Traffic jam: TIE UP.

35. Newton or tesla: UNIT.

36. Corn chip: FRITO.

37. "The West Wing" creator Sorkin: AARON.

His WikiP

38. Ran in the wash: BLED.

39. Crowd noise: ROAR.

40. "The __ Boat Song": classic Scottish ballad that opens "Outlander": SKYE.

42. Oft-cracked joints: KNUCKLES.

44. Babe in the woods: FAWN.

45. Destiny's Child, for one: TRIO.

46. Mix: STIR.

50. Chem. in some dispensary products: CBD. Cannabidiol derived from hemp.

51. Sticks in a pool hall: CUES.

52. Tank top openings: ARM HOLES.

55. Good thing to have: ASSET.

56. Vote in favor: YEA.

57. "Hey Arnold!" bully: HELGA.

Helga G Pataki

58. Writer Zora __ Hurston: NEALE.

Neale's WikiP

61. Hairy Addams cousin: ITT.

64. Contribute: ADD.

66. Shang-Chi player Liu: SIMU.

Simu's WikiP

68. Flight board abbr.: ARR. Arrival.

69. Signs of drought: DRY BEDS.

71. Org. for the Fever: WNBA. Indiana's Women's National Basketball Association team.

72. Preliminary race: HEAT.

73. Doing nothing: IDLE.

74. Prefix with dermis: EPI. Skin.

77. [See: Theme]

78. Underway: AFOOT. "Come, Watson, come!' [Holmes] cried. 'The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!'"

79. Dog sounds: WOOFS. What the dog says when asked, "Where do the solar panels go?"

82. Great Plains Natives: OTOES.

83. Tara of "Sharknado": REID.

Tara's WikiP

84. Leaf-peeping season: FALL.

85. Archipelago part: ISLE.

88. Guatemala native: MAYA.

91. Hot sauce served with pho: SRIRACHA. A buddy loves this stuff and puts it on everything. Yes, even ice cream.
 

93. Moved in step: MARCHED.

95. Area prone to flooding: LOW LAND.

96. No longer asleep: WOKEN.

99. Gaming greenhorn: NOOB. Typed n00b; the opposite of 1337.

100. Some classic cameras: KODAKS.

101. Make possible: ENABLE.

102. Sheep with horns: RAM.

103. "Same here!": ME TOO.

105. Swords with bell guards: EPEES.

106. Tiny amount: A DAB.

107. Cherry-pick: CULL.

109. Mayberry boy: OPIE. Ron Howard but y'all knew that.

110. Michigan, for one: LAKE.

111. Store with a Swedish food market: IKEA.

112. Metric weight: KILO.

113. Urban renewal target: SLUM.

115. "Inside Politics" channel: CNN.

116. Wood used in cabinetry: YEW.

117. Duluth winter hrs.: CST. Central Standard Time

The Grid:

The Grid

My $0.02:

WO: HaLGA @57d
ESPs: ATELIERS, OLUO, DUTCH BABY (but I inked DUKE from just the K in IKEA :-))
Fav: ROOF crossing WOOF 'cuz of the implicit dog joke.

There you have it folks. Have a great Sunday and, for those of you in the path of the Polar Vortex, stay warm tonight!*

Cheers, -T
*Forecast where I am: Today is in the 70's; tomorrow I'll wake to 38F.
 

Tuesday October 28, 2025 ~ Samuel A. Donaldson

Ordinary Ordinals

It doesn't take a SIXTH SENSE to figure out this puzzle's theme.

Today, Samuel presents an ordered list of ordinal numbers.

If you're not familiar with number nomenclature, cardinal numbers, such as One, Two, Three, indicate quantity. Ordinals, used in this puzzle, indicate position or rank but not quantity. Numbers such as single, double, and triple are called multipliers. Nominal numbers are used as a name - e.g. Number 42 [Jackie Robinson].

Enough of that. Let's get on with it.

15. Spendy flying option: FIRST CLASS.

23. Dating option not recommended by Madonna in "Express Yourself": SECOND BEST.

In case you forgot the song.

33. Topic to avoid, metaphorically: THIRD RAIL. The third rail is the electrified middle track used in mass transit systems and, like a topic to avoid, you don't touch it.

49. Imaginary barrier that might be broken by a stage actor: FOURTH WALL. The fourth wall is an imaginary barrier between the performers and the audience. The audience sees through this wall to observe the play/movie/show but the performers presumably can't. Breaking the fourth wall is when a performer acknowledges the existence of the audience.

59. Double date tagalong: FIFTH WHEEL. When not speaking of RVs (or trailers in general) pulled by a hitch in the bed of a pickup, fifth wheel means useless or superfluous -- such as a fifth wheel on a wagon [Moby Dick, 1851 (cite)].

Having beat the theme into submission, let's explore how Samuel filled the rest of the grid.

Across:

1. "Later, gang!": SEE YA. Caio.

6. Winter ailment: FLU. I got my vaccine. You?

9. Chats online, briefly: IMS. Instant MessageS.

12. At a distance: APART.

13. Pull a pre-final all-nighter: CRAM.

14. Cabbage-based side: SLAW.

15. [See: Theme]

17. __ to self: NOTE.

18. Ga. airport code: ATL.

19. Arts and crafts, to a grammarian: NOUNS. Cute.

20. "Oppenheimer" or "Anora": MOVIE.

21. Corner chess piece: ROOK.

Chess Humor

23. [See: Theme]

25. "Sheesh, what a day!": I'M BEAT.

27. St. Francis of __: ASSISI. Patron saint of animals and founder of the Franciscan order.

Statue at Xavier University

28. Drips through slowly: SEEPS.

29. Picked up the tab: PAID.

32. Concert souvenir that may list tour stops: TEE.

33. [See: Theme]

37. LLC alternative: INC. Limited Liability Company / INCorporated.

40. Scrap: TOSS.

41. Peony part: PETAL.

45. Danish or Swedish: NORDIC.

48. Vietnamese sandwich: BANH MI.

There's no shortage of good Bahn Mi in Houston!

49. [See: Theme]

53. The "D" of NYPD, for short: DEPT.

54. Start: ONSET.

55. Celebrity's hotel check-in name, perhaps: ALIAS. Checking into hotels, Sir Paul famously used the alias Paul Ramone. The alias was used by the punk band The Ramones as an homage.

57. Sandwich with three key components: BLT. Bacon, Lettuce, & Tomato.

58. Moreno with an EGOT: RITA.

Rita's Wikipedia page.

59. [See: Theme]

61. Like many dorms: CO-ED.

62. Raison d'__: ETRE. French for "Reason to be."

63. Disparage: ABASE.

64. Finish: END.

65. Lingo suffix: ESE.

66. Some dessert wines: PORTS. Why is it called port? Here's what Quora says.

Down:

1. African expeditions: SAFARIS. On your Mac, take a virtual one with your Safari browser.

2. Textbook example: EPITOME.

3. Piercing place: EARLOBE.

4. Soph and jr.: YRS. SECOND and THIRD years of high school or college.

5. Memo header abbr.: ATTN.

6. Swiss currency: FRANC. Sweden has not adopted the euro.

7. Rodeo ring?: LASSO.

8. Gap-filling sounds: UMS.

9. "What a wonderful gift!": I LOVE IT.

10. French painter Henri: MATISSE.

11. Honey bunny: SWEETIE.

13. Board game with weapons, suspects, and rooms: CLUE.

14. Supercilious types: SNOBS.

16. Price to pay: COST.

20. GPs, e.g.: MDS. General Practitioners / Medical Doctors.

22. Retained: KEPT.

24. Zip: NADA.

26. Volcanic residue: ASH.

29. Whiz: PRO.

30. Streaming annoyances: ADS.

31. Org. featured in the book "Many Unhappy Returns": IRS. Internal Revenue Service. The subtitle of the book is "One Man's Quest to Turn Around The Most Unpopular Organization in America." Apparently, it's non-fiction by IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti.

34. Bug bite symptom: ITCH.

35. Craft beer letters: IPA.

36. Extend credit: LEND.

37. Legally effective: IN FORCE.

38. Request from a diner concerned about bad breath: NO ONION. Took a second for this not to parse as NOON ION.

39. Like many baked goods: CRUSTED.

42. Jeremy Allen White series featuring the oft-repeated line "Yes, chef!": THE BEAR.

I've not seen it but heard it was good.

43. Most bountiful: AMPLEST. Ooof. Any port in a storm, I guess.

44. Children, slangily: LITTLES. Ooof again? Anyone refer to kids that way, ever?

46. Feeling of foreboding: DREAD.

47. Cousin in "The Addams Family": ITT.

Cousin Itt

48. "Borrrring": BLAH.

50. Stays on hold: WAITS.

This American Life tracked down Cisco's hold music composer.

51. Emmy winner Woodard: ALFRE.

Alfre's Wikipedia page

52. Lo-cal label word: LITE.

56. Trade: SWAP.

59. Transaction charge: FEE.

60. "Euphoria" airer: HBO.

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: Loan -> LEND; EPITOMy [sic]
ESPs: ALFRE
Fav: I'll go with SNOB for the clue - supercilious is just a fun word.

There you have it folks. Were you in SEVENTH HEAVEN after finishing the grid? Did you think Samuel's offering was the EIGHT WONDER?

Me? I thank Samuel for the enjoyable puzzle and I hope y'all enjoyed the NINTH INNING wrap-up.

It's now up to you to provide the TENTH AMENDMENT.

Cheers, -T

Monday, October 13th, 2025 Ginny Too

Theme: Bear Necessities?

Bare Necessities

G'Day Cornerites!

Today, Ginny front loads the theme answers with a type of BEAR on the LEFT.

18. "Dream a Little Dream" singer: MAMA CASS. Papa bear, MAMA BEAR, Baby bear.

24. Symbol on a difficult ski run: BLACK DIAMOND. Black Bear.

40. Daily paper in the Windy City: CHICAGO SUN TIMES. Tribune didn't quite fit. The Sun Times is a daily nonprofit newspaper and the former home of Roger Ebert. Last Thursday NaomiZ illustrated a SUN BEAR (and SUN isn't far enough left) so...
 

Da Bears

52. Fast-casual Chinese restaurant chain: PANDA EXPRESS.

Good for a lunch at the airport

63. One option at a fork in the road, and an apt description of 18-, 24-, 40-, and 52-Across: BEAR LEFT.

Yogi is another BEAR on the LEFT

Due to the government shutdown, we didn't have:
Stubb's BBQ sauce flavor: SMOKEY MESQUITE [14] nor
"Being With You" Artist: SMOKEY ROBINSON [14]

We at The Corner hope SMOKEY BEAR resumes his National Parks duties soon.

Across:

1. Get plenty of sleep before a big event: REST UP.

7. Quick and nimble: SPRY.

11. __ Lock: PC key: NUM.

14. Starting squads: A-TEAMS.

15. French peak: ALPE.

16. CBS forensic franchise: CSI.

17. Hip-hop dance move: NAE NAE.

In case you need a refresher before rehearsal ;-)

18. [See: Theme]

20. Home project initials: DIY. Do It Yourself instead of hiring a contractor.

21. Thumb drive ports: USBS. Universal Serial Bus(es).

Quantum States of USB Connectors

23. Asian grocery chain: H-MART. The H is for Han Ah Reum (한아름), which means "an armful" in Korea [cite: WikiP]. We have two in Houston.

24. [See: Theme]

28. __ beer float: ROOT.

The Root Beer Bear

29. Pep talk target: MORALE.

33. House of Lords title: BARON.

36. Part of a superhero costume: CAPE.

Edna on why "No Capes"

39. Soccer great Hamm: MIA. Not only a soccer superstar but now a marrow & cord blood transplant awareness.

40. [See: Theme]

44. Nashville awards org.: CMA. Country Music Association.

45. Clock toggle: AM/PM.

46. Home: ABODE.

47. Dojo instructor: SENSEI.

50. Where to find "Campbell's Soup Cans" in NYC: MOMA. Museum of Modern Art.

52. [See: Theme]

58. ICU hookup: IV BAG.

61. Wet and squirmy: EELY.

62. Genetic messenger molecule: RNA. Ribonucleic acid.

63. [See: Theme]

65. French cake: GATEAU. In France it's just cake, in English there's a difference.

"Yummers, gateau," said no one I know.

68. Sports doc's scan: MRI. Magnetic resonance imaging -- difference from a CT scan.

69. __-steven: EVEN. Squared-up.

70. Draw out: ELICIT.

71. Plopped down: SAT.

72. Skating commentator Lipinski: TARA. Youngest (15yro) Gold Medalist.

73. Stinging weed: NETTLE.

Down:

1. Mary J. Blige's music genre: R AND B. Rhythm AND Blues (and SMOKEY's genre too!).

2. Etsy business: E-TAIL.

3. "Bye now": SEE YA.

4. Sun shade?: TAN.

5. Actress Thurman: UMA. I know her from Brooks' 2005 The Producers.
 

6. Bogus: PSEUDO.

7. Lively Afro-Brazilian dance: SAMBA.

8. Suffix with proto-: PLASM.

9. Turntable letters: RPM. Revolutions Per Minute.

10. "You'd think so, but ... ": YEAH, NO.

11. Org. covered by ESPNU: NCAA. ESPN (known as Entertainment and Sports Programming Network until 1985) Universities covers the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

12. Cold War initials: USSR. The CCCP (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик) is Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to English speakers.

13. Fine spray: MIST.

19. Nav. rank: CMDR. Commander.

22. "Friends" or "Girlfriends": SITCOM. A portmanteau of SITuation and COMedy.

25. Lightweight clog: CROC.
 

A croc with a CROC?  What a crock!

26. Hawaiian coffee district: KONA.

27. Harbinger: OMEN.

30. Snowball pile, say: AMMO.

31. Stretched the truth: LIED.

32. Soften: EASE.

33. Emails discreetly: BCCS. Blind Carbon Copy.

34. [Sigh]: AH ME.

35. "Glass Onion" director Johnson: RIAN.
 

37. Egyptian cobra: ASP.

38. Beat with one's fists: PUMMEL.

41. Make a profit: GAIN.

42. Pack (down): TAMP.

43. Vowel-shaped beam: I-BAR, U-bar, We-bar :-)

48. Practice in the boxing ring: SPAR.

49. Young bird of prey: EAGLET.

51. Gas with the symbol O: OXYGEN.

53. Put off: DEFER.

54. Health insurance giant: AETNA. Not to be confused with the Italian giant Etna.

55. Put up: ERECT.

56. Mollusk that's a symbol of slowness: SNAIL.

57. Pan fry: SAUTE.

58. Some early PCs: IBMS.

59. "Up in the Air" Oscar nominee Farmiga: VERA. Costars include George Clooney and Anna Kendrick.
 

Vera Farmiga

60. Fly, in fly-fishing: BAIT.

64. Actress Longoria: EVA. I only know her from Only Murders in the Building.
 

Eva Longoria

66. Blonde brew: ALE.

67. __ for tat: TIT. I'll leave this one to our Corner limerickists.

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: cap -> NUM Lock, lure -> BAIT
ESPs: NAE NAE, RIAN, VERA, RARA
Fav: SNAIL next to SAUTE - escargot anyone?

Cheers, -T