Friday, Mar 6th, 2026 ~ Patti Varol

 A BIGHT of WIGHT

And "a BITE of WHITE"

Two weeks running now, we've had a construction from the LA Times crossword puzzle editor Patti - and a better submission, IMHO, than the one from last Thursday, which had the names Natick in the NE corner.  Today's theme is a clever play on "~IGHT -becomes- ~ITE" words; my only nit would be the use of two "R" words - yet they are different.  I was quite impressed, however, with the two 10-letter Down fills that each crossed different sets of three themers without being "meh".  A solid Friday offering - most of the terse clues were in my wheelhouse.  Standard grid, no circles, 3 times the number of 4LWs to both 3- & 5-LWs, two yogurts, and a dozen names.  The themers, and no reveal; 

20. Ceremony that adorns dollar bills?: RITE ON THE MONEY 

Han Solo's shot was "right on the money"

26. Try to find pen pals in monasteries?: WRITE BROTHERS - these guys . . .

- not these guys, Wilbur  & Orville Wright

44. Lo-cal beers from Canada?: NORTHERN LITES - these guys . . . 

not these guys

52. Terse review of a wonky web page?: NOT A PRETTY SITE - not this guy . . .

But Wait - There's More in SITE~!

ACROSS:

1. Goes through a lot of tissues: BAWLS - I do the Downs first, had B - W L - , which did not look promising, but "Lo~!" and "Behold~!"

6. Chi-town paper: TRIBune - abbr for Chicago, abbr for the newspaper

10. Tibetan priest: LAMA

14. "If you say so": "UH-HUH."

15. New York university named for a Scottish isle: IONA - geo name #1, knew it 'cos I grew up in NY

16. Tudyk of "Resident Alien": ALAN - name #2 - I recall the show, though I didn't watch

17. Condiment served with biryani: RAITA - yogurt #1 - filled via perps

18. Survivor's struggle, briefly: PTSD - breifly indicating we're looking for an abbreviation; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

19. Tie: BOND

23. Foundry delivery: ORE - a good change-up clue for this fill

24. Lav: LOO - British bathroom

25. Dove home: COTE - learned by doing crosswords

32. "I mentioned the bisque" "Seinfeld" character: ELAINE - Seinfeld aired before I was old enough to understand the show; I do like watching them now, but this scene I do not recall . . .name #3

Yada, yada, yada

34. Take from the top: RE-DO

35. Intl. broadcaster since 1942: VOA - filled via perps; Voice of America - more from Wiki

36. Quash: VETO

37. Butter square: PAT

38. Leaning: BIAS

39. Info requested by brewery websites: AGE - you'll need to enter your info at 32D.

40. Store securely: STOW

42. Old Testament collection: PSALMS - had most of this via perps

47. Ticket info: SEAT

48. Santa __, California: ANA - geo name #4

49. Little dog: PUP

56. [I like these scritches!]: PURR - the brackets are a "meta-clue" hint; again, most was perps

57. Sworn statement: OATH

58. Deserve: MERIT

59. Designer Schiaparelli: ELSA - I tried e l L a; thus began my search for the "wrong" name, #5

60. Sticking point: TINE - a "right-on-the-money" definition

Tater Tot Shepherd's Pie recipe

61. Nimble: AGILE

62. Tiny splash: PLOP

63. Michelin award: STAR - the guide IS related to the tire brand; I did not know this

Through the years, and the revolution - pun intended - of the tire

64. Hoped-for Match.com outings: DATES - I had tried Match for many years, and got all of ONE connection; I am now trying my luck with Facebook - and so far, all I've gotten are A I fakes 😜

DOWN:

1. Small donkey: BURRO - I did not make an "ASS" of myself to start . . . 🙄

2. Slimmest of margins: A HAIR - Sigh, a twurd

3. Kayaking challenge: WHITEWATER - one of the two solid 10-letter down fills

4. Instrument in a Vermeer painting: LUTE - good WAG on my part

Technically, this is a paiting of a woman with a guitar, but the story might interest you . . .

5. Temple where Chan Buddhism began: SHAOLIN - no clue, perps and WAGs; but some might have recalled this fill from the story of a TV monk, and the real place where he trained.  Name (ish)

6. Tread carefully: TIP-TOE - almost alliteration

7. "Divergent" trilogy novelist Veronica: ROTH - name #7, but I knew her because I see the name on Kindle; could have been clued as a non-name, tho

8. On the sly: IN SECRET

9. Foul temper: BAD MOOD

10. Middle Eastern dairy product: LABNEH - yogurt #2 - good perps & WAGs - phew

It's Greek yogurt, strained; I'ma tryin' it - more here

11. Cream ingredient: ALOE - Ah; not "milk".  That cream

12. More than a few: MANY - at least it wasn't "A LOT", "A TON", A twurd

13. Furthermore: AND...

21. Post-it scribble: NOTE

22. Miranda of "Homeland": OTTO - name #8 - I read the books, saw the movies, don't recall her

27. Carnival city: RIO - D'Oh~!  I read this as "cry", not c-i-t-y - geo name #9

28. Muscle: BRAWN - Ha~! Nailed it.

29. Possessive type?: EVIL SPIRIT - the other great 10-letter fill

30. Travel aimlessly: ROAM - or ROVE~?  I chose . . . wisely

31. Cheek: SASS - I've learned over the years that whenever a clue implying "tart" language, and situated on the right edge of the grid, the answer is typically crossword-friendly "SASS"

32. __ Williams bourbon: EVAN - never heard of this liquor - name #10

The website, age resticted, of course

33. Toy company that acquired the online marketplace BrickLink: LEGO - Yada yada yada toys + bricks~? = Lego - but - I was surprised Lego didn't start this company - the history here

37. Printing choice: PORTRAIT - the alternative is LANDSCAPE - which is too wide 🙄

38. Main squeeze: BAE - Cringe.  I just don't like this word; are we really too lazy to finish the faint "b" sound at the end of babe~?

40. Former home of the Mets: SHEA - I grew up on Long Island, and my first 'live' baseball game was the Mets at Shea in the Keith Hernandez days - speaking of Keith and Seinfeld . . . 

"That - is one magic loogie."

41. Cozy spots: TEAPOTS - Ah.  A tea "cozy" could be found on a tea POT

Aww - you can buy them on Etsy here

42. Blood drive unit: PINT

43. Nurse a grudge: STAY MAD - first time appearing in a crossword = unique, like this fill

45. Feature of some sandals: T-STRAP

BTW, her name is Cecilia, JC

46. Suds: LATHER - bars, not beers

50. Serving a purpose: UTILE

51. "Oh, for __ sake!": "PETE'S" - oh for heaven's sake, name #11 - blasphemy LITE

52. __ and void: NULL

53. "In that neighborhood": "OR SO" - "ish"

54. Mediterranean volcano: ETNA - geo-name #10, yada yada yada 4-letter volcano = 😜

55. Game company with a hedgehog mascot: SEGA - name (ish)

56. Energy: PEP

Splynter

Grid flow a medium 40.1 - the 10-letter Downs helped

Friday, Feb 27th, 2026 ~ Sara Muchnick & Doug Peterson

 CROSS [ I ] EYED

Iron Maiden's Cross-Eyed Mary cover - I grew up with these guys,

but if you prefer the Jethro Tull orignal . . .

This is the second LA Times collaboration between Sara & Doug; Moe had the other one two years ago.  Mr. Peterson is a regular, and I found this link to a crossword blog from Sara - I like the phrase she used to 'celebrate' her first published NYT puzzle.  We have a "sort-of" visual theme to the puzzle, as the sans serif font of the LA Times crossword makes a capital "I" look like a vertical line; when rotated, or "rolled", it becomes a hyphen.  Took me a bit to suss, but once "EYE" did, "EYE" smiled - a fresh, thought[ I ]provoking theme -AND - there are NO other wandering "I"s in the entire frame.  Well done, constructors~!  A standard grid, a handful of names, no circles, a balance of twenty 3LWs, and, having added in the "I"s, the 'straight definition' themers become unique;

17. *Inlay material, often: MOTHER [ I ] OF [ I ] PEARL - mother-of-pearl

28. *Not cooped up: FREE [ I ] RANGE - free-range

49. *Flexible: OPEN [ I ] ENDED - open-ended

61. *Lightheaded ones?: JACK [ I ] O' [ I ] LANTERNS - jack-o'-lanterns

37. Silent display of skepticism, or a phonetic hint for making sense of the answers to the starred clues: EYE ROLL - that is, one takes the "I"s in the themers and "rolls" them 90° ( either clockwise or counterclockwise, it works the same 🙄), and now they make sense~!

But Wate, There's More ~!

ACROSS:

1. After-dinner drink: DECAF - Oh, coffee; "EYE" went straight to alcohol 😜  A rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue, too~!

6. Players who may have to start over many times: NOOBS - short for 'Newbies', one who is unfamiliar with whatever they're involved in; here's my Revit T-shirt ( it's a drafting inside joke )

BIM = Building Information Modeling - essentially 3D CAD

11. Cannabis compound: THC - TetraHydroCannabinol - what gives the "buzz/high" of smokin' the (Cross-eyed) mary jane, weed, ganja, pot, herb, grass, dank, chronic, etc.

14. Tickle: AMUSE -  some of the slang for marijuana does tickle me

15. Home of the first jet bridge: O'HARE - EYE love clues/answers where EYE learn something new

16. Peach or plum: HUE - it was fruitless trying to fit FRUIT 🙄

20. Opposite of very: A TAD - Atwurd

21. "iZombie" setting: SEATTLE - no clue, but perps gave me all but the two "E"s

Never heard of this bizarre [ I ] but intriguing [ I ] concept for a show

22. Lip __: BALM

25. "The Phoenician Scheme" director Anderson: WES - name #1; more from IMDb

27. Surgical tool: LASER

32. Boris Johnson, for one: TORY - no ( British ) politics at the Corner~! Name(ish)

33. Keeps (off): FENDS

34. Treats embossed with flowers, dots, and dashes: OREOs - well, it's not just one OREO today

36. Blue: SAD - another color con clue 

40. Cash back?: COW - "Cash Cow"

Dunk your Oreos in your cash cow "output" 🙄

43. Leavening agent: YEAST

44. Lorna of literature: DOONE - NOT the cookies; name #2

46. Typical choice: GO-TO - e.g., when EYE get Chinese, my "go-to" choice is General Tso's Chicken

52. Totally believed: ATE UP - believe it - EYE "ate up" my egg roll, too 🙄 ( and a Thusday dupe )

54. Rx writer: DOC

55. Price points: TAGS

56. Moseys: STROLLS

59. "Poppycock!": "TOSH~!"

66. Short-horned bighorn: EWE - Another rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue, plus a change-up from the "ewe"sual 🙄

More from the San Diego zoo

67. Key in: ENTER

68. Acrobat's platform: ADOBE - oh so very clever; not a performing acrobat - Adobe Acrobat - the PDF managing software; EYE was stumped for a while

69. "¿Qué __?": Spanish greeting: "TAL~?" - Español, which filled via perps, but still doesn't look right; the literal translation is "¿~What [is] such~?"

70. Run-down: SEEDY - rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue

71. Rub it in: GLOAT - EYE did not have to reach out to the other Corner bloggers for help with an explanation of the theme; EYE figured it out all by mEYEself~! 😁 🙄

DOWN:

1. Reservoir creator: DAM - a dam good way to start the Down clues 🙄

2. Punk subculture: EMO - three-letter "music" genre~? = EMO

3. Share of the profit: CUT - members of Ocean's Eleven got an even cut of . . .

"My advice to you is this [ I ] run and hide"

4. Fearing disgrace: ASHAMED - slighly meh; feeling seems to work better

5. Stanza units: FEET - LINES and IAMBS were just inches too long . . . 🙄

6. "Ask someone else": "NO IDEA." - what do you call a blind Bambi~?  no "EYE" deer 🙄

7. Exultant cry: "O-HO~!"

8. Bumblers: OAFS

9. "The Marvels" star Larson: BRIE - the EYE in her name was my one error; EYE had BREE, ergo, did not get my "ta-DA~!".  It took a while to find my mistake; once I grasped the theme and changed the vowel - "O-HO~!" name #3

Got started in acting at six years old - her EYEMDb 🙄

10. Floral leaf: SEPAL - had this one two weeks ago

11. "For real?": "THAT SO~?"

12. Starter, e.g.: HURLER - baseball reference; one of the team's pitchers

13. Sticks in the refrigerator: CELERY - Ah.  Not BUTTER

18. Cutesy growl: "RAWR~!" - this is becoming acceptable, I guess

19. Divisions d'une nation: ETATS - Franwche for states ( of the nation )

22. Pair sharing halves of a heart charm, informally: BFFs - Best Friends Forever

23. Environs: AREA

24. Furnish temporarily: LEND - I had LOAN, which is {teeth-suck} close, but 50% wrong

Close, but, definitely wrong

26. Expressed contempt: SNORTED

29. "10-4": "I SEE." - eh, a bit meh, but a rolled eye [ I ] in the clue again

30. Miracle-__: GRO - another rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg clue; EYE ordered new house plants through Amazon; they sat on my cold February porch for a few hours - but it looks like they'll be OK . . .

They came with this packet - is it plant food~?  No labels or instructions on the thing

31. Serpentine creature: EEL - ASP would work, too

35. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE

38. NBA legend Ming: YAO - name #4, crossword staple

39. Predict-ability?: ESP - Har-har; ExtraSensory Perception - another rolled-eye [ I ] in the clue

40. Musical conclusion: CODA - and Led Zeppelin's "last" studio album

Bonzo's Montreaux

Jimmy Page's "trick" to get the steel drum sound

41. Earth's pull, for short: ONE G - one (unit) of gravity

42. Settles down, in a way: WEDS - I used to blog WEDs

43. "Just checking in": "YOU OK~?"

45. Discreetly, in slang: ON THE DL - the "Down Low" - not a unique fill

46. Chemistry lab fixture: GAS JET - "HAL" doesn't like this; EYE kept getting GAS KET suggestions

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do jet"

47. National Gallery of Canada locale: OTTAWA - nailed it, but six-letters Canada~?

48. Old Toyota subcompact: TERCEL - had it, took it out; crossing 'go-to' eluded me at first

My buddy Mark in Florida called his the "turbo Tercel"

50. Public figure?: NOTARY - that person at the bank, e.g., that can attest to your signature

51. Symbol: ICON - Dah~! Not RUNE

53. Works at, as a trade: PLIES

57. Solitary: LONE

58. Venue: SITE

60. __ beetle: STAG - EYE am not posting a picture of this insect 😝

62. Took charge: LED - Zeppelin - no, wait . . . we had that already 🙄

63. Joey of fiction: ROO - Winnie the Pooh, and Kanga's "Roo"

64. "Space Jam" org.: NBA - Not a basketball fan, but I did know this

65. Fully taken care of: SET - win the lotto, and you're "SET" for life~!

Splynter

Spent a few minutes looking for my error

Grid Flow a very low 17.4

Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 ~ Benjamin Panico

RECIDIVIST

  Offender Criminal "Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog" - and, yes, he's NSFW insulting

No Comment.  Alas, I must comment - it's the "krow" I do here at the Corner - and I am going to "crow".  This was just too much of a stretch to be enjoyable, and the solve itself was fraught with ALOT of meh/vague/cringe. It looks to be the author's debut LA Times crossword; I found one other, I believe, a NYT here, and a blog review of said puzzle.  Methinks he is a very cerebral constructor.  Names slowed me down, and unlike last week, getting any "?" themer did not necessarily help me elsewhere in the grid.  A scarce nine 3LWs, and no circles, at least.  The themers, and reveal;

20. *Aircraft marshaling?: PROJECT RUNWAY - "Runway Project" - but this clue~? Meh.  "Tarmac resurfacing" - now that's more like it.  The actual fill is about this show

The Wiki of the show

34. *Lifeguarding?: LABOR POOL - this is the only themer that makes sense, too me - "Pool Labor".  The actual fill is  "the source of trained people from which workers can be hired"

40. *Bounty hunting?: JOB SEARCH - "Search Job" - i.e., "skip trace"; Cletus Purcell, a character in the Dave Robicheaux books, does this sort of work as a P.I.  The actual fill is, well, a job search

54. Advice to a problem solver, or an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: WORK BACKWARDS - and the title of a self-help, motivational, life-affirming book as well

The website is here

Did I miss some deeper meaning~?

But Wait, unfortunately, There's More


ACROSS:

1. "Catastrophe" writer/star Delaney: ROB - speaking of catastrophe, name #1 - not a good start, but I begin by doing the DOWN clues, so that I might have some perps for the themers - didn't help today. His IMDb 

4. Power unit: WATT - a measure established by James Watt who adopted "horsepower" to compare to his steam engine, which improved on the existing design; more here

8. School assignment: ESSAY - I want you to write . . . a "theme"  Awww

A Chrstmas Story

13. Filter target: SPAM - my NW was a mess; I had SMOG

15. 2025 Pixar film about a boy who meets aliens: ELIO - name #2, never heard anything about this movie

16. Hollers: YELLS

17. Nix: VETO - my vote.

18. Big pig: BOAR

19. Windows shopping: eTAIL - Ah.  a subtle play on "window" shopping - OK, a good one

23. Grammy winner Baker: ANITA - name #3, but we see her frequently in crosswords

24. Thus far: AS YET

25. Lara Croft target: TOMB - the "Raider" from the video games, and movies; name(ish)

27. Taoism founder: LAO TZU- name #4 - more here

31. Couch surfer's spot: FUTON - Ugh.  Even IF you accept this definition of couch surfing, still makes me cringe as a clue/answer

37. Ore. neighbor: IDAho - it seems that the Cornerites are not fond of three-letter state abbrs

38. Pressed sandwich that's part of a friendly rivalry between Miami and Tampa: CUBAN - too local to be a fair clue/answer, IMHO, but here's a newsletter/blog for your perusal

39. Quaint quarters: INN - it's Friday; the slight mismatch of singular/plural is a bit meh.

43. Accordion-heavy music: POLKA

45. Latin for "as originally positioned": IN SITU

"Hey, what is that~?"

46. One on the Mohs scale: TALC - The mineral talc rates a low "1" on the hardness scale - I don't have to tell you what this crossword rates on the Moe's scale

48. Spills the beans: TELLS

51. "Let's maybe take it down a __ or two": NOTCH - can we maybe bring it UP a notch~?

57. Country singer Rimes: LEANN - name #5

59. Lemon-shaped: OVAL - when the LA Times gives you lemons . . .

60. Choose yea or nay: VOTE - Nay.

61. Bright and airy courtyards: ATRIA

62. Relocate: MOVE

63. Icicle locale: EAVE - I see just one icicle hanging from my gutters - blessed with no ice dams

64. Streisand film with the song "The Way He Makes Me Feel": YENTL - name #6

65. Imp: BRAT

66. Scolding sound: TSK

DOWN:

1. Choose yes or no: RSVP - Ugh.  Vague

2. Place for binoculars: OPERA - I tried VISTA - like this 

James Bond using them in "The Living Daylights"

3. Track and field handout: BATON - handout~?  Ugh . . . better = hand OFF

4. Zoom lens?: WEBCAM - Zoom, the internet meeting app; we used it for AA meetings during COVID

5. Bundles: A LOT - Atwurd

6. Quinceañera crown: TIARA - good WAG on my part; the Español part, which refers to a 15year-old girl's passing into womanhood, was 'irrelevant'; I ran with a crown synonym

7. Doughnut shape: TORUS

8. Monocle, for one: EYEWEAR - that it is, I guess; so spectacles & glasses are EYES wear~?

9. Put on: SET ATOP - No comment; technically, it's a unique fill

10. "You __ me!": "SLAY" - Friday vague

11. Actor Mahershala: ALI - I'll have to add this name, #7, to the Muhammad / Laila list - and a dupe with Tuesday

12. Fashion monogram: YSL - Yves Saint Laurent, a double whammy abbr/name, #8

14. Cocktail garnished with mint: MOJITO - I tried GIMLET first; but that's a lime garnish - gimlet appared on Tuesday, too

A different kind of "spirit" from Minnesota~!

21. __ collar: ETON - Dah~! Not BLUE

22. Synthetic fabric: NYLON - goes without saying . . .

26. Fuzzy memory: BLUR - I tried HAZE

28. Slog away: TOIL - like during this solve

29. Pass (out): ZONK - Ah.  Another clever clue; I was in DOLE/METE mode

30. Fibula counterpart: ULNA - leg-to-arm bone comparison; semi-deceptive, but four letter bone~?

I like the other leg pic . . . 

31. Pacific nation that exports water: FIJI - I did not know that this was the actual case; some interesting environmental info here; I'll stick with the 5gal jugs from BJs - and geo-name(ish)

32. Nagoya noodles: UDON - crossword staple

33. Pop-top tops: TABS - I found several pieces of art made from these, including "chain mail"...

...and a cool dragon

35. Pre-K sequence: ABC - yeah but meh.

36. Thai coin: BAHT - name(ish), but I knew this from doing crosswords

38. Sealing substance: CAULK - Catchy Clue - alliteration

41. "Happy Days" retort: "SIT ON IT~!" - two 70's sit-coms this week ( Welcome Back, Kotter )

42. Everlasting: ETERNAL - Excellent Entry - alliteration

43. Bulldoze: PLOW - I tried RAZE

44. Interval of eight notes: OCTAVE

47. Jewelry often worn with sandals: ANKLET - I put in TOE RING but ran out of spaces; I've seen anklets with heels, so a bit of a 'meh' clue.

49. Relationship-deepening word, informally: L BOMB - did this get dropped last Saturday💕~?😜

50. Really relish: SAVOR

52. Slovenian neighbor: CROAT - name(ish), but I nailed it; the 'inhabitants'

53. Man cave fixtures: HDTVs

54. Alert: WARN

55. Vena __: major blood line: CAVA

56. Switch roles after hiding: SEEK - the kid's game of HIDE & SEEK

57. __ of the land: LAY

58. Beach season in Marseille: ETE - ah, there's my Frawnche~! Summer on Cote d'Azur

Splynter

Forgot to start the timer; it took about 10 minutes that

I can't get back

Grid Flow 27.9

Friday, February 13th, 2026 ~ Barbara Lin

 CATWALK-ING

Superstitious~?  The Quadruple Whammy

THIS is what a real crossword looks and solves like - with gratitude from my heart to our constructor, whose last appearance for the LA Times was here.  The puzzle has a standard 15 x 15 grid, no gimmicks, no circles, a level of difficulty hinting at what's to come with the Saturday themeless ( I'm looking at you, 11D. ).  Just six names, maybe a few too many abbrs ( and a high 3LW count ), with with two pairs of nines in the Downs, and enough vagueness/deception to make me have to think about the answers.  The themers, "add-ING" to common phrases, are all unique, and such that if a solver can get a hold on one, they can go back and get some assistance for the others; no contrived reveal or 'forced' fill, either.  I give it Four Moe ⭐ stars~!  The themers;

19. Reservation with impeccable timing?: THE GOOD BOOKING - The Good Book, better known as The Bible; add ING, and you get the last room available at Comic Con - I so want to dress up and go~!

27. Task for a pet store with too many cats?: KITTY HAWKING - I thought this might be an outlier, with Kittyhawk being one word, but no - the town in North Carolina is Kitty Hawk - more here

A kitty hawking "real estate"

45. Sport that combines football and sparring?: TACKLE BOXING - Sounds like this could be fun - but then again, I think we have this sport already - it's called MMA

54. Night when one leaves the closet?: COME OUT EVENING - Gaming, gambling, etc., where one "buys in" and leaves at the end with the same 'investment'; I have had many a poker night where I was glad to have "come out even"

But Waiting, There's Moreing

ACROSS:

1. Elevator choice: FLOOR - Ah.  Clever; I was thinking brand name, then "LOCAL", as opposed to express; overthinkING it, so my NW was messy

6. Tech giant headquartered in Armonk, N.Y.: IBM - I did not know the home office was residING in my old state; name(ish)

9. Mixes in: ADDS - no mixing, just tackING on ING

13. Future family member: FIANCÉ -  Ah. The groom side of the equation; fiancée is the lass

14. Cal. neighbor: ARIzona

15. Sniffed item in some tastings: CORK - I pondered "NOSE"  - more here - the aroma ( not odor ) of a wine at a tasting; cork sniffer has a negative connotation these days

16. Intelligence, sense of humor, etc.: ASSETS

17. Aunt's sis: MOM - my step-grandfather married my grandmother and his brother married her daughter, my mother's sister - figure that one out 😜

18. Like half of an MLB team's games: AWAY - not just baseball, most team sports have half their season played at another team's arena, not on/at their home field

22. Med. nation: SYR - I had the "Y" in place from doing the Downs first; Mediterranean / Syria

23. WNBA player: PRO - clever deception; NBA players are PROfessionals, too - I was overthinkING again, that the "W" factored into the answer

24. Forensic drama franchise: CSI - totally misread this clue, put in NSA 😝

25. "Christopher Robin" hopper: ROO - from Winnie The Pooh, name #1

30. "Frozen" character with antlers: SVEN - The reindeer in the Disney animated film; name #2

33. "Told you!": "SEE~!"

34. One metal in bimetallism: SILVER - LearnING moment for me; I thought bimetallism referred to the two metals, typically brass and steel, that make an old thermostat work - more on the financial "standard" here

Technically, I am correct - help me out here, HuskerG

35. Peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand and the Strait of Malacca: MALAY - geo name #3

37. Fuel additive brand: STP - crossword staple

39. Prolonged battle: SIEGE

40. Polar mass: ICE CAP

42. Facial twitch: TIC

44. Indoor rowers: ERGS - I knew this because my brother has one in his basement

48. Sinus specialist, briefly: ENT - Ears, Nose, Throat - crossword staple

49. Not well: ILL

50. "Or so __ heard": "I'VE"

51. Soccer great Hamm: MIA - name #4, but a frequent visitor to crosswords

58. Drive: FIRE - Friday cluING; drive has several definitions; cars, golf, passion, etc

59. Ironman competition, for short: TRIathlon; SwimmING, CyclING, RunnING 

60. Brainstorm: IDEATE - $2 word

61. Light up: BEAM - think facially, like 'happy' tics

62. Crew blade: OAR - Crüe Axe

Mick Mars - Mötley Crüe - I have a similar BC Rich "axe"

63. Tickled pink: ELATED - This one cost me two minutes trying to find my error;  I went with "S" at the end, not "D", never noticed the "tense" of either crossing

64. Spot in the sea: ISLE - this corrected my other messy corner; I had "ATF" for 63D.

65. Bill addressing climate change?: NYE - filled via perps, but "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" is also a regular visitor to crosswords; name #5

66. Flower part: SEPAL

DOWN:

1. Suspicious: FISHY - Ah.  I was thinkING human perspective, went with LEERY - this is somethING generally soundING questionable - but not my "Y"

2. Hair-removal option: LASER - HOT WAX did not fit.  Ouch.

3. Thou: ONE G - the slang for a thousand, one Grand, not the Biblical thou / thee / thine

4. Army creatures?: OCTOPI - Clever, but perhaps this is better clued as Arm-y~?   I did get it

5. Vacation spots: RESORTS

6. Foot that's part of a meter: IAMB - poetry, e.g.

7. Jewelry box item: BROOCH - Earring, Necklace, Bracelet were too expensive in terms of letters

8. Brunch cocktails: MIMOSAS

9. Nutrient-rich berry: ACAI

10. With the current: DOWNRIVER - Dictionary says it's one word

11. Unhatched prize in Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series: DRAGON EGG - name(ish), complete unknown, but I had enough crossings to figure it out; here's the Wiki

I'm going to try out this read

12. Much of a sunset photo: SKY - Dah~!  I went with "RED"

Surreal - and a contest winner - more here

13. Jazz legend Waller: FATS - name #6, no clue.  We are in Feb, Black History Month; more here

20. Lavishes affection (on): DOTES

21. Auckland residents, informally: KIWIS - Aussies are too fat to fit

26. Big brutes: OGRES - unless you're Shrek

27. Special skill: KNACK - I have a knack for complicatING simple things

28. "__ Come": BTS hit song: "YET TO" - no clue; here's the video link if you care to watch

29. Big name in bright lights: KLIEG - this one I knew, from working on movies - more here

30. Dispatch, biblically: SMITE - lots of Bible today

31. Openings: VACANCIES

32. __ college: ELECTORAL

36. New Haven undergrad: YALIE - Ah.  Eli didn't make the grade . . . 

38. Short cut: PIXIE - Haircut - I call my Pruis C 2 "Pixie"

Short cut - Short car - both cute

41. Pack of cyclists in a race: PELOTON - Tour de Frawnche taught me this word

Now that there's a piece of equipment called Peloton, it's

all that comes up on a Google search 😜

43. Out-of-uniform garb: CIVVIES - Ha~! Nailed it, the rare double "v" spelling and all; civilian attire

46. DVD alternative: BLU-RAY - I have a Blu-Ray player and a few movies

47. Pine leaf: NEEDLE - Yup, that's what the needles are - leafs; they're Leafs in Canada, Eh~?

51. Mazda roadster: MIATA - One of the employees of the pipe organ company has a 2005 model - he let me drive it to get coffee; no power steerING, and manual shiftING - a true drivING experience~!

I'll have the 2026 - in blue, with the fold-away hard top - Vroom-Vroom~!

52. Recon acquisition: INTEL - GatherING whilst spyING

53. Like wine and cheese: AGED - PAIRED didn't work - DUET~?

55. Eager volunteer's cry: "ME~! ME~!" - not the internet meme

56. Lose steam: TIRE - It's Friday, I pondered "FLAG"

57. Semimonthly tide: NEAP

58. DOJ arm: FBI - Department of Justice, and "Fart, Barf & Itch" ( from the Dave Robicheaux series books ).  Also possible were ATF and DEA; not fitting in were the Bueau of Prisons and the US Marshals

** Thanks to all at the Corner for the B-day comments, and I truly appreciate "Eh!" who had me down for five years younger 😁 I am surprised at the number of folks who said that "double nickel" was in the rearview mirror for them - keep on solving crosswords~!  I do miss the pipe organ job - such a cool place to work, and I am still planning on getting my very own Cooper - loved the links and pics; my brother's card said "I can't drive 55~!" **

Splynter

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