Saturday, January 24, 2026, Rafael Musa, Geoffrey Schorkopf

  Themeless Saturday by Rafael Musa & Geoffrey Schorkopf 

I had these collaborators on September 6, 2025 and had much more luck with that puzzle than I did with this one. I had to get help on a few cells and had an honest-to-goodness Natick at IRE_A/A_AND. The cluing left me out in the dark and some of the fill were not in my vocabulary. All in all it was a slog for this solver and came in the "close but no cigar" category.

As the graphic shows, Rafael (A software engineer for Airbnb in S.F.)  and Geoffrey (a software engineer at Fastly in Atlanta) had a lot of unique fill. The gentlemen had 104 open squares and only 28 blocks.

Rafael

Geoffrey

 

Across:

1. Emerge from the ashes, say: RISE AGAIN - Until last year, Indiana Unverstiy's football team had more losses (over 700) than another college program. But with the hire of coach Curt Cignetti they went to 16 - 0 and won the National Championship in 2026.

10. Violin stroke: UPBOW - We guitar players often use an upstrum stroke

15. Mammal with a protective shell: ARMADILLO - This easy 9-letter fill portended an easier solve than it turned out to be

16. Letizia, por ejemplo: REINA - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I didn't even know Spain had a King and Queen and no idea what the Spanish word for a queen was either.

17. Drafty places?: BEER HALLS 😀 Perhaps the most famous BEER HALL was the  Löwenbrau's Bürgerbräukeller in Munich where in 1923 Hitler attempted his famous putsch to oust the Weimar Republic.

18. 17-Across option: LAGER - Löwenbrau certainly made a LAGER beer even then

19. "Winners Take All" author Giridharadas: ANAND ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  and 2. Polish humanitarian Sendler: IRENA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The makings of my Natick.

     

20. Wife of Osiris: ISIS.

22. Drooping: LIMP.

23. Sea dogs: TARS.

24. Caterpillar counterparts: DEERES - This John DEERE starts at $1.2M before options

26. Dandy: FOP.

27. Following a pattern, perhaps: ORDERLY.

28. "Sorry, did I overshare?": TMI.

29. End one's Dry January, say: IMBIBE.

33. Rational process?: MEAL PREP - Rational meal prep combines smart planning (stocking up, mapping meals, focusing on protein/leftovers) with efficient cooking, often using technology.

35. Demeanors: MIENS - I see MIEN and its lovely vowels here more often than anywhere else

36. Potential reward for a top-seeded team: BYE - The top four rated teams get a BYE in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. In the last two years those teams with a week off have  a 1 - 7 record.

37. Danish fruit: PRUNE 😀 - That is only one filling option for the pastry known as a danish. They are so named because Danish bakers brought them to America. In Denmark they were known as wienerbrød (Vienna Bread).

 

38. They may trick or treat?: PLACEBOS 😀

40. Excel at another company?: SHEETS 😀

41. Guitar legend Paul: LES.

42. Tangy ramen toppers: SOY EGGS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

44. NYC setting: EST.

45. Fill a flat?: SUBLET - 😀 I abandoned any use of the word air quickly 

46. The "A" of NATO: ALFA - Putting AMER first did not help. Once I changed that mistake the whole SE corner filled in.

50. Note givers: ATMS.

52. First U.S. president to own a car: TAFT -The 1909 Model M is at the Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

 

53. Clear as day: PLAIN.

54. Like a flue: SOOTY.

56. "I'm dead serious!": NO FOOLING.

58. Over: ENDED.

59. Parts in two?: DUAL ROLES - I had a huge crush on Haley Mills in her DUAL ROLES in 1961

60. Considers: DEEMS.

61. Works outside?: STREET ART - Works is a noun here. ART came first in the fill for me.

Down:

1. North African capital: RABAT - Casablanca was the movie but RABAT is the capital of Morocco. Anyone else put Cairo first?

3. Bad mark: SMEAR.

4. Brings in: EARNS.

5. Med. condition treated with Vyvanse: ADHD.

6. "The Last Showgirl" director Coppola: GIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

7. Together: ALLIED.

8. Comment after a bad joke: I'LL SEE MYSELF OUT 😀

9. Folksy denial: NO SIRREE.

10. Short address: URL.

11. Toll: PEAL 😀

12. "That would break the internet!": BIG IF TRUE 😀 If Abe had really said this...

13. "Be right with you": ONE MOMENT.

14. Mario Bros. transports: WARP PIPES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

21. Ward in movies: SELA - How old am I? I put Ward BOND first.

24. Beats by __: DRE

 

25. Spirits of the air: SYLPHS.

27. Go deep, say: OBSESS.

29. "That makes me happy": I'M PLEASED.

30. Solid foods for a baby, e.g.: MILESTONE - The "potty trained" MILESTONE is monumental!

31. Competitive athletic state, colloquially: BEAST MODE - We had this a few Saturdays ago.

32. Business end?: INC.

34. School opening?: PRE.

36. Focus of the 2024 miniseries "Dirty Pop": BOY BANDS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

39. Spell: BOUT - I had a 10-day BOUT with a cold around Christmas 

40. Mil. rank: SGT - I had to muster out CPL, CAP and COL

43. Win at life: GET FAR.

46. Divvy up: ALLOT - The end of every family get together is the "divvy up" session for leftovers

47. Boxer Ali: LAILA - Here with dad.

48. Less coarse: FINER.

49. Inner turmoil: ANGST.

51. Academic acronym: STEM.

53. Toner target: PORE.

55. Passing concern, for short?: YDS - I, uh, passed on INT and TDS

57. Estádio do Maracanã cheer: OLE - The Estádio do Maracanã stadium is in Rio and OLE celebrates soccer goals rather than bull fighting success.

Saturday, September 6, 2025, Rafael Musa, Geoffrey Schorkopf

 Themeless Saturday by Rafael Musa & Geoffrey Schorkopf 

BRICK went in immediately and then I raced down the eastern seaboard with just Florida to fill in. That did take a little doing but I came back and finished there. Cutesy cluing and modern slang provided some speed bumps but I did get a satisfying Congratulations message when I "got 'er done". 

As the graphic shows, Rafael (A software engineer for Airbnb in S.F.)  and Geoffrey (a software engineer at Fastly in Atlanta) had a lot of unique fill including all of a triple horizontal stack of 9's in the NW. Its matching triple stack in the SE had one unique fill and the symmetric double vertical 10's each had one. 

Rafael

Geoffrey

 

Across:

1. Showers with affection in a manipulative way: LOVE BOMBS - I was happy to learn this. It seems to be an example of "too much, too soon".

10. Classic surface for the Indy 500: BRICK - My first confident fill. The last vestige of the old brick surface is a strip just after the finish line.

15. Option at a Mediterranean bakery: OLIVE ROLL - Unknown to me but makes perfect sense.

16. Art print, for short: LITHO - A very nice one minute video about the LITHO (rock) GRAPHY (picture) process. 

17. Hero in a 2018 Thai rescue operation: CAVE DIVER.

18. Photographer Adams: ANSEL.

19. Fertility clinic donations: OVA.

20. Piggy back?: LOIN - I had _ O I N and thought GO IN as you piggy back on someone else's idea or gift purchase and GO IN on it. 😀

21. Not spotted: UNSEEN.

22. People taking steps together: LINE DANCERS 😀

24. Pro pitcher, perhaps: AD MAN - Pitcher is one of those clue words that warn you this is might not be a baseball player or a container of lemonade.

27. Symbol of statistical deviation: SIGMA - Yes, 𝛔 is a lower case SIGMA. 𝜇 is the mean or average.

28. One who might run a Lab's labs: VET. 😀

30. Host who fielded many, many questions: TREBEK - It just ain't the same without him

32. New beginning?: NEO.

33. Aura: VIBE.

34. Water under the bridge: BYGONES.

36. Medium for pop art?: SODA CAN - Andy Warhol's Campbell's SOUP CAN came to me first

38. Cracked: AJAR - This door can be said to be slightly cracked or AJAR

39. Long-nosed fish: GAR.

41. Fights off: REPELS.

42. Primary ingredient in the Nigerian dish āmālā: YAM - When I saw it wasn't OCA I entered YAM

43. Conceive: BEGET - The Book Of Matthew chronicles 40 generations of BEGETTING! 

45. Church walkway: AISLE.

46. Butler honor: NEBULA AWARD.

49. Arm-twisting: DURESS.

50. Coin featuring Hagia Sophia: LIRA.

51. Interior designer's deg.: BFA - This is the degree my youngest granddaughter is currently pursuing 

54. Parties hearty: RAGES.

55. One-in-a-million personality: RARE BREED.

57. Goddess of peace: IRENE.

58. Departing words: ALL ABOARD before they 21. Cast off: UNMOOR.

59. Guy Fawkes Night structures: PYRES - What is this all about?

60. Updos that might be carefully arranged to appear casual: MESSY BUNS.

Down:

1. Set into -motion?: LOCO - I never miss a chance for some great 60's rock 'n roll!

2. Norwegian ruler known as Folkekongen, "the people's king": OLAV.

3. " ¡__ la fiesta!": VIVA - "Long live the party!" or "Hooray for the festival!" 

5. Set for retirement?: BED LINEN 😀 Set is a noun

6. Spacecraft of NASA's Artemis program: ORION - Yeah, I knew it! The ORION spacecraft that will carry astronauts sits high atop this massive rocket. The vast majority of rocket below the ORION craft simply carries fuel and two boosters.

 

7. Things pushed by trailers: MOVIES. 😀

8. Become one with the crowd: BLEND IN.

Hint to find Waldo at bottom of write-up

9. Snap decision, for short?: SLR - Yes, you can use a Single Lens Reflex camera to take a snap (photo)

10. Bahía __: city whose name means "White Bay": BLANCA.

11. Dishwasher setting: RINSE.

12. Field for one with their head in the cloud?: IT SERVICES - Uh, the virtual cloud (singular in the clue)

13. Lacking taste: CHEESE BALL - He is so CHEESE BALL

14. City on the Rhein: KOLN - In Germany they say KURN in English we say Kuh LOWN. Koln or Cologne?

22. When one might hope for same-day delivery?: LABOR 😀

23. Quite a stretch: AGES.

24. No longer dangerous: AT BAY.

25. Nondrinking age?: DRY JANUARY.

26. Very big deal: MEGA MERGER.

29. All knotted up: TENSE.

31. Pelvic exercises: KEGELS.

33. Jejune: VAPID.

35. Hardly a digest: SAGA.

37. Advice column with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: DEAR ABBY.

40. Cask beer in traditional British pubs: REAL ALE.

43. Kisses: BUSSES.

44. Shows off a new dress, say: TWIRLS 47. Geoffrey of fashion: BEENE. Here is a TWIRL in a Geoffrey Beene dress.

ee

48. Fields: AREAS.

49. Stalactite origin: DRIP  - The DRIP can make them grow as fast as 1" per 100 years.

51. Main squeeze: BEAU.

52. Scottish comedian Brady: FERN - She's a hoot who says, "I am an intelligent woman trapped in a Scottish accent". Here's a 29 second clip.

53. Does the math: ADDS.

55. Mac spec: RAM.

56. Hold up: ROB.

Here's Waldo!