Friday October 31, 2025 Wendy L. Brandes

BOO! MalMan here...not! That's your trick. It's actually RustyBrain and I hope the rest of this review is a treat!

In between constructing crosswords, Wendy L. Brandes uses her words to make sentences, them into whole books! But today she has offered us a Human Resources job. Wait a minute (or an hour), it's not that HR. It's the Halloween witching hour, in which we add "HR" to each answer to create a Humorous Result. 

20. Tees off closer to the hole in mini golf?: SHRINKS A PUTT. Sinks a Putt. I'd be teed off if I missed this tap-in. Since it's teed up, I probably should call it a drive-in.

28. Place to get rid of broken furniture and pictures of exes?: THROW AWAY ZONE. Tow Away Zone. This place is a dump.

42. Cars used to transport boxwoods and hydrangeas?: SHRUB COMPACTS. Sub Compacts. I think this used to be a Nissan Leaf.

48. Benefited from the end of daylight saving time, or a hint to 20-, 28-, and 42-Across: GAINED AN HOUR. Spring ahead; fall back. When you turn back the clocks in the fall, you get an extra hour's sleep. You're welcome. Don't forget to reset them this weekend! It's embarrassing to show up an hour late for church. (Don't ask me how I know.)

This puzzle has been haunting me into the wee hours of the night...

Across:

1. Oscar winner Sorvino: MIRA. MIRA Sorvino is an American actress, activist, and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador. She is best known for her Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning role in Mighty Aphrodite.

5. Tanqueray, Bombay, et al.: GINS. 

9. Rugby formation: SCRUM. Soap formation: SCUM. Here's where soap scrum comes from:

14. Scott Turow work: ONE L.

15. "Let me do it": I CAN. These aren't exactly equals. 

16. Word with party or guest: HOUSE. "Look, honey, there's light on. Maybe they have some gas. I'll be right back..."

17. Phishing line?: SCAM. What's your mother's maiden name? Just curious.

18. "99 Luftballons" singer: NENA. Lufballons are Air Balloons in English, but it was changed to Red Balloons since we simply call them "balloons" and an extra syllable was needed.

19. Country singer Keith: URBAN. 

20. [theme]

23. "Bad Romance" singer Lady __: GAGA.

24. Land on the sea?: REEL IN. Winner of "Best Clue" today...and 4th album in a row. It's a record!

28. [theme]

31. Borders on: ABUTS. 

33. Bedtime story, e.g.: TALE. I'm creating my own sub-theme for All Hallowed Eve. 

34. Catch: SEE. As in catch a movie.

35. More than a few: MANY.

36. Food for finches: SEEDS. This guy got dressed up but took his date to a seedy place and she's not impressed.

38. Cohort of cows: HERD. Or so I've heard.

39. "__ be an honor!": IT'D.

40. Actress Chaplin: OONA. I like the name OONA, it's fun and different.

41. Puts in order: SORTS. Better than being out of SORTS.

42. [theme]

46. Area around a fireplace: HEARTH.

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47. Woeful sigh: ALAS.

48. [theme]

54. "Is it too risky for me?": DARE I. Famous last words. Right up there with, "Watch this!"

57. Rowboat set: OARS. 

58. Ish: OR SO. 

59. Sue Bird's alma mater, for short: UCONN. The University of Connecticut Huskies are a perennial powerhouse in women's basketball. Although UCONN sounds like the Yukon where you find huskies, the mascot was chosen while the school was still named the Connecticut Agricultural College, so it's just a coincidence.

60. Arduous hike: TREK. 

61. Overflow (with): TEEM.

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62. Loo door sign: GENTS. 

63. Ice queen with more than 400,000 computer-generated strands of hair: ELSA. Amazing, considering the average person only has between 80,000 and 150,000 hairs on their head. Lament of the animator: "That's all I can't strand; I can't strand anymore!" 

64. Achy: SORE.

Down:

1. Rootless plant used in some street art: MOSS. Here's some appropriate "street moss."

2. Approximate diameter of a quarter: INCH. That's larger than a quarter-inch.

3. __ admiral: REAR. The term derived from the lowest-ranking junior admirals. They were assigned command of the REAR of the fleet, farthest from the action.

4. Omnipotent: ALMIGHTY.

5. Tree with fan-shaped leaves: GINKGO.

6. Arctic fishing tool: ICE SAW. ICE SAW one once.

7. Another name for Grandma: NANA. 

8. Insta post: SNAP. Just a quick pic on Instagram.

9. Z's: SHUTEYE. 

10. Nevada senator Catherine __ Masto: CORTEZ.

11. Barbecue blend: RUB. 

12. Letters on Katie Ledecky's suit: USA. Katie is the most decorated female swimmer in history. At the request of her competitors, the Olympic Committee keeps awarding her gold medals hoping to slow her down in the water. 

13. R&B's Boyz II __: MEN.

21. Luxury cosmetics brand: NARS. It's so exclusive that you can't even read their logo.

22. Eurasian mountain range: URALS.

25. Also-rans: LOSERS. First LOSERS try harder!

26. Like helium and xenon: INERT.

27. Has to have: NEEDS. Such as an occasional sip of blood!

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28. Arctic expanse: TUNDRA.

29. Starting five in basketball, e.g.: A TEAM.

30. Blob of gum: WAD. Most people hate when they step on a WAD on the sidewalk, but I don't mind.

31. Pennsylvania sect that embraces simple living: AMISH.

32. Take a dip: BATHE.

36. 2014 Winter Olympics city: SOCHI.

37. Ambient musician Brian: ENO. ENO's Music for Airports is recognized as the a seminal and influential release that defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. AKA background music.

38. Phenoms: HOTSHOTS. 

40. Procures: OBTAINS.

41. Read: SCAN. 

43. Requiring immediate attention: URGENT. I hope you have good insurance...

44. San Diego squad: PADRES.

45. State with no native snakes or lizards: ALASKA. Here's St. Patrick driving the snakes away during his visit to ALASKA.

49. Scribbled reminder: NOTE. That reminds me...

50. __ Grey tea: EARL. Charlie Grey became an EARL for inventing the tea bag. Later generations made them smaller.

51. Crumbled cheesecake topping: OREO. Seems like an OREO goes with anything nowadays. 

52. __ error: USER. 

53. City on the Tiber: ROME.

54. Was into: DUG. 

55. Good draw in blackjack: ACE. Just don't let the dealer catch you.

56. Pitcher Guidry who won a Cy Young in 1978: RON. RON Guidry, nicknamed "Louisiana Lightning" and "Gator," played 14 seasons for the New York Yankees.

Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 24, 2025 - Katherine Baicker and Laura Dershewitz

 Theme: Where's _aldo?

Puzzling thoughts:

Well, this one didn't cause the Chairman to do shots at a bar, but it did take a while to figure out where (and why) the dubyas went.  When you examine the grid, you see that two of them exited as a homophone (WRAP and WHOLE) and the other two exited to fulfill the play-on-words, (WHIP and WHEELS) as these two use the "W" sound

The "reveal" can be parsed two different ways but I think the constructors were referring to this one: 

60-across. Accept victory, however dubious, and a hint to 17-, 24-, 37-, and 52-Across: TAKE THE W IN.  Taking the W in (or from) the highlighted letters (see grid below) support the odd clues. However, if you add a W to the highlighted letters (see grid below) the four entries take on a much different meaning - and are actually the names of a brand of salad dressing (Miracle Whip), a type of packaging material (Shrink Wrap), the start of a refrain from a kid's song (Wheels on the Bus), and a very expensive grocery store (Whole Foods)

It is a clever concept and puzzle, but the reveal seems a bit of a stretch.  I almost feel as if I wanted a fifth entry with both a whacky clue and answer that followed the vanishing double-u

Oh well.  Maybe next time!  Here are the four entries:

17-across. Replacement joint that's even better than new?: MIRACLE HIP.

24-across. Linguistic battle between psychologists?: SHRINK RAP.

37-across. Jerks riding public transit?: HEELS ON THE BUS.

52-across. Donuts, bagels, et al.?: HOLE FOODS.

So, Moe, if you were adding a fifth entry to this puzzle, what might it have been?

"What Hawaiian greeters do with a lei to an unruly visitor?": RING HIS NECK

For the record, I thought all of the entry clues were hilarious 

Here is the grid:

Across:
1. Many Chi-town homes: APTS.  There are some crossword puzzle editors who insist the word in 1-across be a complete word, not an abbreviation - this puzzle has nearly a dozen abbr's, if you are also counting contractions

5. Sore with: MAD AT.  Having an abbreviated first word in the puzzle??? 😂😉

10. Sleep under the stars: CAMP.  "What groupies do" was too long to fit into this space (re-read the clue!)

14. Grab and go?: LOOT.  Clever clue

15. 14th century Russian ruler: IVAN I. Aka, Ivan Moneybags

16. Not even close: AFAR.  "Cold" could fit, yes?

[theme entry]

19. __ Reader: UTNE.  "Read all about it!"

20. Common lease period for 1-Across: ONE YEAR.  Two-year also fits (without the hyphen, of course)

21. Support column: PILE.  This is what my co-pilot says:

23. Journalist Lesley: STAHL.  She, along with Walter Cronkite, provided the news in a very unbiased manner for CBS - I hear that they (CBS) are trying to revert back to that position with their newly appointed news editor in chief

[theme entry]

29. Location of une bouche: TETE.  Tête

30. Actor Bridges: BEAU.  

31. Safe havens: ASYLA.

32. Color TV pioneer: RCA.  Three-letter and an abbreviation

34. Informed Delivery org.: USPS.  United States Postal Service

36. Ref. that added "horror show" in 2024: OED.  Oxford English Dictionary

[theme entry]

41. Novelty lips stuff: WAX.  These? 42. "__ it obvious?": ISN'T.

43. Clinch: ICE.  Friday worthy clue

44. Marshmallow spread: FLUFF.

46. Bluish green: TEAL. <== this was as close as I could come

48. Howard, for one: Abbr.: HBCU.  Historically Black College or University

[theme entry]

54. "Oppenheimer" director: NOLAN.  Looks a bit like Alec Baldwin here

55. Word with stress, or a common source of stress: TEST.

56. One who might take a stand: WITNESS.  Can I get a Witness?  (2:15 through 2:35, but listen to it all)

58. Like some contracts: ORAL.  Unlike some toothbrushes that are ORAL B

[reveals the theme]

63. "La Brea" actress Skye: IONE.  

64. Dark doings: EVILS.

65. Tech company that owns the Chinese microblogging app Weibo: SINA.  Are there any Weibo followers here?  Not I

66. Fantasy franchise letters: LOTR.  Lord Of The Rings

67. Answer: REPLY.

68. Firebird roof option: T-TOP.

Down:
1. Nearly: ALMOST.  Here is a trailer to a movie with the word "Almost" in it

2. Ballet class: POINTE.

  

I hope Splynter doesn't sue me for showing some "leg" 😀

3. Attempted to rip open: TORE AT.  When I looked at crosswordtracker.com to see the frequency of the use of this phrase, the last 5 venues to accept it were LA Times Crossword - must be a favorite expression for Patti

4. "Don't leave!": STAY HERE.  From what I am told, the length of a Minnesota "goodbye" is measured in hours (or even days), not minutes ... 

5. Actress Kunis: MILA.  Her IMDB page

6. Unwilling (to): AVERSE. Moe-ku:

        You think the Chairman

        Dislikes other's poetry?

        I am not AVERSE 

7. Mark longer than a dit: DAH.  As in Morse Code characters ... the "dit" represents the dot, and the dah represents the dash

8. Padm 's beloved: ANI.  First off, the clue refers to a character in Star Wars - Padmé Amidala.  Don't follow Star Wars?  You're SOL, because you're likely then to not know that she was married to Anakin Skywalker (Ani is his nickname) and is the mother of both Luke Skywalker and his sister Leia

9. Hedren of "The Birds": TIPPI.  Quite the cast of actors

10. Doesn't let anything fall through the cracks?: CAULKS.  Hah Hah.  Moe-ku:

        "Home Alone" actor's

        Nickname inspires plumbers:

        Macaulay CAULKS-in

        

11. "Please, go first": AFTER YOU.  Just being polite

12. Guy: MAN. 

13. Start to check?: PRE-. If pre means before (as in pre-check), and post means after (as in post-script), what would it mean if both of these were used together? Why, it would be pre-post-erous 

18. Goofy frame: CEL.

22. "Be right there!": IN A SEC.

25. Plagued: HAUNTED.  Halloween is coming soon

26. Sign of aging: RUST.  As in rust bucket 

27. Drafts that are lighter than stouts: ALES.

28. Sketchy area?: PAD.

30. Striped __: BASS.  In the Cheasapeake Bay, these swimmers are known as Rockfish

33. Precipitous drops: CLIFFS.  Moe-ku:

        Book report grade took

        Precipitous drop. Teacher

        Found I used CLIFFS Notes

35. Alpine skier Mahre who won 27 World Cup races: PHIL.

37. Virtuous circle: HALO.

38. Thrilled: EXULTANT.

I suppose I can accept "thrilled" as a synonym (adj.)

39. Glom __: ONTO.  Seems to be a British phrase

40. "I can handle the truth!": BE HONEST.  

41. Skip the daily commute, for short: WFH.  [sigh] It seems that there is a text shortcut for everything these days ... Work From Home

45. Tentative inquiry: FEELER.  Moe-ku:

        Crustaceans would make 

        Great detectives. They're equipped

        With many FEELERs

47. Too: AS WELL.

49. Choked: BLEW IT.  Back when Europe actually lost the Ryder Cup (on American soil) this was known as one of the all-time choke jobs ... Langer would go on to become the most winning golfer on the Senior/Champions PGA Tour, and still regularly shoots a score lower than his age (68) for 18 holes.  The Chairman regularly shoots 68 or lower when golfing, but then has to play the remaining 5 or 6 holes

50. Sin City attraction: CASINO.  Sin City = Lost Wages, NV

51. Open up: UNSNAP.  I wonder how many takes that scene took?? 😀

53. Marine scamp: OTTER.

54. Some degree: NTH.  BFA fits, yes?

57. Teeny: ITSY. 

 

58. Frying need: OIL.  Make mine extra virgin olive

59. Kanga's kid: ROO.  Milne character

61. St. crosser: AVE.  BLVD was too wide to fit

62. Currency of Laos: KIP.  Do you remember how I felt about the clue/answer for 1-across?  No different for 62-down.  All perps

See you next month