Thursday, September 4, 2025, Beth Rubin, Owen Bergstein

Theme:  Someone knocking at the door ...

Beth Rubin and Owen Bergstein last teamed up in these pages in January 2025.  Today they announce their return by making a racket at the door.  Let's examine the theme, starting with the reveal:

60-Across. "Let's hope so!," or what is found in this puzzle's circled letters: KNOCK ON WOOD.  Some ancient traditions call on tree spirits for luck, often by hitting or touching wood.  In today's puzzle, a knocking sound is literally placed ON a tree or wood name, indicated by circles.  Bless the circles!  How else would we find these hidden features?

17-Across. Consciousness-raising discussions: RAP SESSIONS.  You dig?

20-Across. West __: Williams-Sonoma subsidiary: ELM.  West Elm is a furniture store.

The knocking sound, RAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ELM.

32-Across. Checkmate symbol: POUND SIGN.  Anyone here familiar with chess notation?

35-Across. Volcanic depression: CALDERA.

The knocking sound, POUND, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ALDER.

45-Across. Member of the Syncopated Ladies, e.g.: TAP DANCER.  Syncopated Ladies is a tap dance group from Los Angeles.  Obvs I don't know the half of what goes on in this great city.

49-Across. Tennis icon Arthur: ASHE.

The knocking sound, TAP, is placed directly ON the name of the wood, ASH.

Need a break from the racket?  Let's see what the rest of the clues and answers have to offer.

Across:

1. Moves like a rabbit: HOPS.  This clue and answer make a very cute corner with 1-Down.

5. First film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize: EBERT.  DNK exactly, but name a celebrated movie critic!

10. Serving water in a dribble cup, e.g.: GAG.  What a clever prank, to serve your guest a beverage in a glass with slits in the side!  At least the suggestion is for water, not red wine.

13. Keep away from: AVOID.

15. Squabble: ARGUE.

16. "Sorry, but it's __ from me": A NO.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Pt. of USNA: NAV.  A part of United States Naval Academy is Nav. for Naval.  Would that be U.S. Nav. Acad.?  I did not find this particular abbreviation in a quick Google search.

20. [Theme clue]

21. Wags: WITS.  A cleverly humorous person may be called a wag or a wit.

22. Edge along: SIDLE.

24. Library patron: USER.  In my former career as a librarian, we did indeed refer to folks using the library as either patrons or users.

26. Start of a cycle?: TRI.

29. God whose chariot is pulled by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr: THOR.  Not only do the goats pull Thor's chariot, but Thor cooks and eats the goats every night, and then resurrects them using his hammer and their skins every morning, so that the goats provide daily transportation and a meal!  

Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr pull Thor's chariot

30. Always trying to get one's way: PUSHY.

32. [Theme clue]

34. Mideast leader: EMIR.

35. [Theme clue]

36. Entered quickly: RACED IN.

38. Brought (up) from the past: DREDGED.

42. Tamagotchi, e.g.: DIGIPET.   Tamagotchi is an example of a virtual or digital pet.

44. Penne __ vodka: ALLA.

45. [Theme clue]

48. Squirrel away: STASH.

49. [Theme clue]

50. Communication sys. at Gallaudet: ASL.  Gallaudet University is a private university in Washington, D.C., for education of the deaf and hard of hearing.  They use American Sign Language.  Abbreviation in the clue calls for abbreviation in the answer.

51. Musical note part: STEM.

52. The first "M" of MGM: METRO.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is a film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Culver City, California

54. Spot in the agua: ISLA.  Agua is Spanish for water; isla is Spanish for island.

56. Genetic letters: RNA.  One had to solve 39-Down to know whether this would be DNA or RNA.  "Genetic messenger" would have been a more helpful clue.  But that's Thursday for you!

59. "__ Maria": AVE.  "Ave Maria" is Latin for "Hail Mary."  It is the first line of a Catholic prayer, and also the title of various musical compositions based on that prayer. 

60. [Theme clue -- the big reveal]

64. Hi-__ image: RES.  High-resolution images have greater detail and clarity than others.

65. Maui neighbor: LANAI.

The Hawaiian islands

66. Bones at the bases of spines: SACRA.  The sacrum (plural sacra) is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1–S5) between ages 18 and 30.

Note the sacrum in red at the base of the spine.

67. Works at a studio: ART.

68. "Get Smart" role: AGENT.  Get Smart was a television series parodying the secret agent genre that was popular in the early 1960s. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and had five seasons from 1965-1970.

Agent 86 and Agent 99

69. Take from the top: SKIM.  One meaning of skim is to quickly and lightly remove something from the surface, like a cook who skims fat from the top of a stew, or a bird that skims the surface of water for food.

Down:

1. Critter that moves like a rabbit: HARE.

2. Like some hand mirrors: OVAL.

3. Chappell Roan genre: POP MUSIC.  Chappell Roan is the stage name of American singer-songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known for her drag queen-inspired aesthetic. Her lyrics often address relationships and lesbian identity.  I often want to use Husker Gary's emoticon:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Chappell Roan

4. Certain sib: SIS.  A sibling is a brother or sister -- and more choices, these days.

5. The right way to go on a map?: EAST.  East is usually to the right on a map.

6. City near Bath: BRISTOL.

7. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO.  Ego Nwodim has been a cast member on Saturday Night Live since 2018.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ego Nwodim

8. Become messy, as mascara: RUN.

9. Model Holliday: TESS.  Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is a plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles.  Oh, come on!   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tess Holliday on the cover of Cosmopolitan

10. Leader who was nominated for but never won a Nobel Peace Prize: GANDHI.  

Surely he's earned a photo on this page.

11. Like grandfather clocks: ANALOG.  Usually.

If you can have digipets,
you can have digigrandfather clocks.

12. Rule: GOVERN.

14. __ decimal system: DEWEY.  My career in librarianship started with shelving books in my elementary and middle school libraries using the Dewey decimal system.

18. Polite address: SIR.

23. "We're on!": IT'S A DATE.

25. Surfer who rips: SHREDDER.  Shredding or ripping is when a surfer makes a lot of spray with big turns that shred or rip the water on the wave using their surfboard.  Shredding displays impressive control of the board.

27. Steering option: RUDDER.

28. Like neon: INERT.

30. Pay-__-click: PER.  Pay-per-click is an online advertising model whereby advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.  It is commonly used on Google Search and social media networks.

31. Thurman of "Red, White & Royal Blue": UMA.  Uma Thurman plays a supporting role in this 2023 romantic comedy about a love affair between the son of the president of the United States and a British prince.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   Happily, Uma is the only Thurman I know.

32. Loses it: PANICS.

33. "Black-ish" father: DRE.  Black-ish was a sitcom that aired on ABC for eight seasons from 2014 to 2022.  It followed the family of Andre "Dre" Johnson, a successful advertising executive, and his wife Rainbow "Bow" Johnson, an anaesthesiologist.  DH and I enjoyed the show, which tackled issues of race and identity along with the normal drama of family life.

35. Aetna rival: CIGNA.  Health insurance companies.

37. __ de los Muertos: DIA.  Dia de los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that pays homage to loved ones who have died.

39. Campy genre: GLAM ROCK.  Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians. 

40. Aboveground trains: ELS.

41. Morse mark: DAH.  Morse code is a telecommunications method which encodes text characters as sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs.

43. Image on Louisiana license plates: PELICAN.  The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.

45. Tunie of "Beyond the Gates": TAMARA.  Tamara Tunie is a film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   Not to diminish her career achievements, but I just can't with all the entertainers today!  

Tamara Tunie

46. "Sincerely" alternative: AS EVER.

47. Acidity check: PH TEST.

48. Huge supporters, in slang: STANS.  Learned in crossword puzzles.

51. __-mo: SLO.

53. Ark. neighbor: OKLA.

55. Short routine: SKIT.

57. Makimono layer: NORI.  Makimono can be a Japanese scroll, or a type of sushi.  The latter would be sushi rice and other ingredients wrapped in nori (thin sheets of seaweed) and sliced.  DH and I gobble up the vegan versions at Planta Cocina.  

Makimono

58. Scott of "Severance": ADAM.  Severance is an intriguing TV series about employees at a large corporation who have had a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and have no recollection of their jobs once they leave.  Adam Scott is excellent in the lead role.  You can watch Severance on Apple TV+.

Adam Scott as Mark S in Severance

61. Really bug: NAG.

62. "I, for __ ... ": ONE.

63. Had the job of: WAS.  She was a singer, songwriter, actress ...

Here's the grid:

Solvers, did all that KNOCKing ON WOOD bring you luck?

Or were you at your WITS' end with all the celebrities?

Let us know in the comments.

And BTW, apologies/thanks to Husker Gary.  I stole your adorable shrugging emoticon today!

-- NaomiZ

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Jayce sent me this loving picture of him and his wife Christina. The picture was taken in 1997. 

 

 

Tuesday, January 14, 2025, Beth Rubin, Owen Bergstein

 Theme:  FOURced entry.

In today's puzzle by Beth Rubin and Owen Bergstein, the theme entries are arranged symmetrically among the Across answers.  

16. Surfaces for playing board games: TABLETOPS.  As kids, we played board games on the floor, but now that we are old and creaky, we play them on top of the table.  In keeping with today's theme, we give a shout out to the FOUR TOPS, who helped establish the Motown sound in the 1960s.

29. Lateral handsprings: CARTWHEELS.  Harking back to youth again, CARTWHEELS were popular with the girls, but this blogger never learned the trick.  But I did see the theme here:  FOUR WHEELS are typical of wheeled vehicles.

34. Collections of episodes overseen by showrunners: TV SEASONS.  IMDb says: "Showrunner is the unofficial title given to the top-level creative decision maker and manager overseeing all episodes of an individual season of a television/episodic series."  I didn't know that a showrunner typcially controls an entire season, but I did know the FOUR SEASONS.

Artist Diane Getty made this quilt called "Green's View" featuring one scene in four seasons. 

45. Triangular snack chips from PepsiCo: POPCORNERS.  Have you seen or heard of PopCorners?  Although this snack has only three corners, a typical room in a house has FOUR CORNERS.  Four Corners is also the place where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet.

My kiddos at the Four Corners Monument in 1990.

58. Round after the Elite Eight, and what the ends of 16-, 29-, 34-, and 45-Across are?: FINAL FOUR.  In the NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. The winners advance to the Final Four.  There are further distinctions made for the various Divisions.  For purposes of today's puzzle, the FINAL part of each theme answer can be paired with the word FOUR to form a common phrase:  FOUR TOPS, FOUR WHEELS, FOUR SEASONS, and FOUR CORNERS.  

Let us now go FOURth to solve the rest of the puzzle:

Across:

1. Misses: GALS.

5. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.

9. In addition: PLUS.  Not "also" this time.

13. "The Reader" actress Lena: OLIN.  In "The Reader," Swedish actress Lena Olin played a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz death march at a trial in the 1960s, and as the woman's daughter twenty years later.

Lena Olin in "The Reader"

14. Pedicure targets: TOES.

15. Tuscan city: SIENA.  Since darling daughter married a Tuscan man, we have had the opportunity to visit a few Tuscan cities.  I wouldn't know the towns of other regions in Italy off the top of my head.

The Ex, the Daughter, her F-I-L, NaomiZ, and the Groom in Siena before the wedding.

P.S.  I am not short!  These people are tall.

16. [Theme clue]

18. Disconnected: APART.

19. Actor Vigoda: ABE.  Abe Vigoda (1921-2016) was an American actor known for his roles in The Godfather and Barney Miller. 

Abe Vigoda

20. "Super cool": RAD.

21. Homeric journey: ODYSSEY.

23. Zeroes out for container weight, say: TARES.  To TARE is to adjust a scale on which an empty container has been placed so as to reduce the displayed weight to zero.  I do this with the kitchen scale to weigh what I'm going to put into a container without having to subtract the weight of the container.  Until this moment, I didn't realize TARE could be used as a verb.  

25. One that might get turned into stone?: SCREW.  Really?  To screw into stone, you generally have to drill a hole and sink an anchor in there for the screw.  A little forced, if you ask me!

27. That girl: HER.

28. Big name in cinema: IMAX.  IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating.

29. [Theme clue]

31. __ Alto, California: PALO.

32. "__ seen worse": I'VE.

33. Finishes up: ENDS.

34. [Theme clue]

38. Help (out): BAIL.  You can BAIL someone out of jail by providing a security deposit, or BAIL them out of a predicament by lending assistance.  You can also BAIL water out of a boat, and if you are in a boat with a friend, I guess you're bailing them out at the same time.

40. Rap battle VIPs: MCS.  MC, or Master of Ceremonies, is a term used to describe a rapper who is also a performer with a variety of skills, including crowd control, stage presence, and hosting abilities.

41. Collection of Norse poems: EDDA.  EDDA is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is known as the Prose Edda and an older collection of poems now known as the Poetic Edda. Both works were recorded in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching back into the Viking Age. The books provide the main sources for Norse mythology.

45. [Theme clue]

48. Greek god of war: ARES.

49. Freezer cubes: ICE.

50. Crystal-lined rock: GEODE.  A hollow, spherical rock that contains masses of minerals, often in the form of crystals.

51. Material: CLOTH.

52. Like futuristic tech: NEXT-GEN.

54. Govt. org. employing ecologists: EPA.  Environmental Protection Agency.

56. Poker prize: POT.

57. Harsh light: GLARE.

58. [Theme reveal]

61. Bull on glue bottles: ELMER.  The brand was introduced by Borden Inc., and Elmer was meant to be the mate of advertising mascot Elsie the Cow.  The original Elmer's glue contained dairy products, but it is now synthetic.

62. Once more: ANEW.

63. Energy field read by a psychic: AURA.

64. Spinal column element: DISK.

65. Little bits: TADS.

66. Marketplace with personalized gifts: ETSY.

Down:

1. "Care to share your expertise?": GOT A TIP?  Right at 1-Down, you are going to annoy some solvers with this conversational prompt.

2. The Crimson Tide of the NCAA: ALABAMA.  DH's cousin's daughter went to 'Bama, so I sorta knew this.  Anyone else with a sports allergy find this difficult?

3. Generous: LIBERAL.  Liberal usually means broad-minded or tolerant, but it can also mean generous.  Perhaps you are liberal with the olive oil, or the salt, or pepper?

4. NBC skit show, for short: SNL.  Saturday Night Live.  

5. "__ baby!": "Way to go!": ATTA.  We've had ATTA boy and ATTA girl in the puzzle before.  I have not heard ATTA baby, but Urban Dictionary says it is "A congratulation for doing something beasty or awesome."  I thought this was forced, but it seems I was just uninformed.

6. "Talked your way out of trouble there!": GOOD SAVE.

7. Gym unit: REP.  Short for repetition.  So commonly used in the gym that there was no prompt for an abbreviation, although I guess "gym" is short for "gymnasium."

Forced reps require a spotter to assist.

8. Arrange by category: ASSORT.  To distribute into groups of a like kind.  "Sort" means the same thing.  Do you use ASSORT as a verb?  Or do you sort things to create an assortment?

9. Gladys Knight & the __: PIPS.  An American R&B, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.

Gladys Knight & the Pips

10. Like a dog in a crowded park, ideally: LEASHED.

11. Lets out, as a fishing line: UNREELS.  Unwinds from a reel.  Fishing with my dad, I performed this motion, but did not know this word.  I thought this answer was forced, but maybe I should have been forced to learn more verbs.

12. Mythical forest folk: SATYRS.  Lustful, drunken woodland gods. In Greek art they were depicted as men with horses' ears and tails, but in Roman art as men with goats' ears, tails, legs, and horns.

Greek Satyr

Roman Satyr

15. Drink pourer's words: SAY WHEN.

17. Hectic hosp. areas: ERS.  Emergency Rooms.  Abbreviated clue calls for abbreviated answer.

22. Morning drops: DEW.

24. Otherworldly: EXOTIC.  From another country; unusual; alien.

26. __ spinach: CREAMED.  How to take a healthy vegetable and make it not that.

29. Lead-in to gender: CIS.  Cisgender describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, that is, someone who is not transgender.

30. Ratify with a stamp, quaintly: ENSEAL.  Enseal is an obsolete verb that means to impress a document with a seal.  As a teenager, I loved to seal the envelopes of letters I sent to friends with sealing wax, but obvs I was missing this verb.

35. Many a YouTuber: VLOGGER.  Vlogger is a portmanteau of video and blogger. Anyone who posts video updates to an online journal or weblog can be described as a vlogger.

36. Sifted through, as candidates: SCREENED.

37. CIA predecessor: OSS.  The Office of Strategic Services was an intelligence agency of the United States during World War II.

38. Italian tenor Andrea: BOCELLI.  Andrea Bocelli was born with congenital glaucoma, and lost his eyesight completely at age 12 after being hit in the eye with a football.  He has had a brilliant singing career in spite of these difficulties.

Andrea Bocelli

39. HS tests taken for college credit: AP EXAMS.  Many colleges offer course credits for High School Advanced Placement tests.

42. Quit school: DROP OUT.

43. Roundabout routes: DETOURS.

44. Container in a smoking lounge: ASHTRAY.

45. Made unwanted sounds, as an engine: PINGED.  An engine can ping (or knock) due to an improper combustion process, because the engine is too hot, or because of improper gasoline octane.

46. Food Network host Drummond: REE.  Anne Marie "Ree" Drummond is an American blogger, food writer, and television personality. Known for her blog, The Pioneer Woman, which documented her life in rural Oklahoma, Drummond has starred in her own television program, also titled The Pioneer Woman, on The Food Network since 2011.

Ree Drummond

47. Like some yogurt: NONFAT.

51. Nev. neighbor: CAL.  Nevada is next door to California.

53. Lengthy hike: TREK.

55. Rabbit's feet: PAWS.

59. Food Network host Garten: INA.  Ina Garten is an American television cook and author. She is host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa and is a former staff member of the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Ina Garten

60. Neopronoun sometimes spelled "fey": FAE. Fae/faer/faers are gender-neutral pronouns. Which would be great, as an alternative to using cisgender plurals for singular persons, but there are too many new ones to be practical.  Besides fae/faer/faers, there are ze/zir/zirs, xe/xem/xyrs, ae/aer/aers, ve/ver/vers, ne/nem/nirs, and per/per/pers, among others!

Are we done yet?  I found this to be a tough Tuesday.  It was also:

Here's the grid:

Did you DROP OUT?  Were you CREAMED by this puzzle?

Or did you finish with an ATTA baby?

-- NaomiZ

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 81st Birthday to dear JD! Here's a picture of Jill, Garlic Gal, Chickie and JD, all of them used to read our blog regularly.