Tuesday October 27, 2026 Adam Shapiro

Up, Up, and Away ...

17-Across. Ecstatic, like a nursery rhyme cow?: OVER THE MOON.

24-Across. Ecstatic, like a tightrope performer?: WALKING ON AIR.

51-Across. Ecstatic, like a songbird?: HAPPY AS A LARK.

62-Across. Ecstatic, like a big pig?: IN HOG HEAVEN

And the unifier:

39-Across. Like exorbitant prices, and like 17-, 24-, 51-, and 62-Across?: SKY HIGH.

Here's the Grid:

Across:
1. Stories and Reels app, familiarly: INSTA.

6. 20s dispensers: ATMs.  A crossword staple.

10. That woman: HER.

13. Tot, to a Scot: WEE'UN.

14. Bath accessory: LOOFA.  A loofa is the fibrous skeleton of a tropical gourd plant.

16. Santa __, California: ANA.

19. North Atlantic fish: COD.  For the definitive word on Cod and the Cod industry, I recommend Mark Kurlansky's book, Cod.

20. Weaken, in gaming slang: NERF.  According to Webster's Dictionary, with respect to gaming, to nerf means to intentionally reduce the power, damage, range, or effectiveness of a character, weapon, ability, or item in a video game.

21. Low card in cribbage: ACE.  *

22. Chicken __ masala: TIKKA.  Yummers!  Chicken tikka masala is a curried dish made with charred, marinated chicken chunks (tikka) simmered in a rich, spiced tomato and cream sauce (masala).

28. Volcanic rock: BASALT.  Basalt is a dark, fine-grained, extrusive igneous rock formed by the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava.  It is rich in iron and magnesium.  Basalt makes up more than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth and forms the majority of the planet's ocean floors.

31. "... but I may be wrong": OR NOT.

32. Scare: ALARM.

33. Shark called the "cheetah of the ocean": MAKO.  The Mako shark is fastest known species of shark, reaching moving speeds of 31 mph with bursts up to 46 mph.  It looks pretty scary.

35. Larger __ life: THAN.

38. Animated response?: GIF.  As in Graphics Interchange Format.

42. World Cup shout: OLÉ.  A crossword staple.

43. Ladder rung: STEP.

45. Et __: and others: ALIA.  Today's Latin lesson.  Et alia is a Latin phrase that translates to and others.

46. "Li'l" resident of Dogpatch: ABNER.  Li'l Abner was an American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonists Al Capp.  It ran from August 1934, through November 1977.

48. Skin soother: SALVE.

50. Unfairly partisan: BIASED.

55. "Let me repeat ... ": I SAID.

56. Team transport: BUS.

57. Tardy: LATE.

61. Karaoke aid: MIC.

66. Sharon Olds' "__ to My Whiteness": ODE.  I am neither familiar with Sharon Olds (b. 1942) nor her poem.

67. Tolerate: ABIDE.

68. "Worth __ penny!": EVERY.

69. Month, in Mexico: MES.  Today's Spanish lesson.

70. Parroted: APED.

71. Cosmic fate: KARMA.

Down:

1. Victorious cry: I WON!

2. Campbell of "The Lincoln Lawyer": NEVE.  Neve Adrianne Campbell (b. Oct.3, 1973) is a Canadian actress.  She is probably best known for being a scream queen in many horror films.   She portrays Maggie McPherson on the Netflix drama series The Lincoln Lawyer.

3. Prophetic one: SEER.

4. Power struggle within a company, e.g.: TURF WAR.

5. Kitchen pest: ANT.

6. Smart __: ALECK.

7. Oscar winner Marisa: TOMEI.  Marisa Tomei (b. 1964) is a talented actress.  She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mona Lisa Vito in the 1992 comedy film My Cousin Vinny.  I can't believe the movie came out over 30 years ago!

8. "I'm a cow!": MOO.

9. NorCal airport: SFO.  As in the San Francisco/Oakland International Airport.

10. Collaborative coding events: HACKATHONS.  Okay, it's a real thing.

11. Japanese mushroom: ENOKI.

12. Plane-tracking tech: RADAR.

15. Writer Chekhov: ANTON.  Anton Chekhov (Jan. 29, 1860 ~ July 15, 1904) was a Russian playwright and physician.  He wrote a number of plays such as The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya, and The Seagull, that are still produced today.  To aspiring writers, he is known for saying the following:  "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off.  If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there."  This is known as Chekhov's Principle.

18. Sentry's shout: HALT.

23. Playing to break a tie, for short: IN OT.  As in In Over Time.

25. Offerings to Buddhist monks: ALMS.

26. Pioneer in mobile phone technology: NOKIA.  A brief history of Nokia.

27. Shipboard booze: GROG.

28. Reusable totes, e.g.: BAGS.

29. Came to rest: ALIT.

30. Judgment-free environments: SAFE SPACES.

33. NFLer Garrett who made a record 23 sacks in 2025: MYLES.  Myles Lorenz Garrett (b. Dec. 29, 1995), plays for the Los Angeles Rams.

34. Poke bowl tuna: AHI.  Yummers!  One of our favorite restaurants prepared the most wonderful Ahi towers.

36. Not aweather: ALEE.

37. Trivia champion, perhaps: NERD.  Not to be confused with 20-Across.

40. Intoxicating Polynesian drink: KAVA.  A kava drink is a non-alcoholic, psychoactive beverage made from the crushed or powdered root of Piper methysticum, a pepper plant native to the South Pacific.  I am familiar with neither this drink nor the pepper.

41. Brush target: HAIR.

44. Daddy, in Spanish: PAPI.

47. Layered pastry with honey and nuts: BAKLAVA.  It's too sweet for me.

49. Golfer Ko in the LPGA Hall of Fame: LYDIA.  That's Dame Lydia Bo-Gyung Ko (b. Apr. 24, 1997) to you.  Until 2017, she was the youngest ever to win an LPGA Tour event.  She won the event when she was just 15 years old.

50. Major shindig: BASH.

51. Classic handmade sign for TV cameras: HI, MOM!

52. Brief digression: ASIDE.

53. "Humble" quarters: ABODE.

54. Raced on a sled: LUGED.

58. Affirm as true: AVER.

59. Time in office: TERM.

60. Irish New Age singer: ENYA.  Her given name is Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (May 17, 1961).  No wonder she goes by Enya.

63. Org. with Hornets and Bulls: NBA.  As in the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls in basketball.

64. Cool: HIP.

65. Shriek after a squeak: EEK.

~~~~~~

*  Einstein and Bohr debate about G'd playing dice.

חתולה

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 Joe Deeney

The Private Eye is on Your Trail.

17-Across. Pregame activity in a parking lot: TAILGATING.

25-Across. Cursor control on some older laptops: TRACKBALL.

36-Across. Like a place with free treats and a full water dish, presumably: DOG FRIENDLY.

50-Across. Wells Fargo rival: CHASE BANK.

And the unifier:

59-Across. Point to future plot developments, or a feature of 17-, 25-, 36-, and 50-Across: FORESHADOW.  The first word in each theme answer is another term for "shadowing" someone.  This theme caught me off guard at first.  The words Tail, Dog, and Chase, made we think we were looking at some type of animal, but how did Track fit into that?  Then it dawned on me, I was being Shadowed

Here's the Grid.

What else is in today's puzzle?

Across:

1. Snack (on): NOSH.  Today's Yiddish lesson.  To Nosh means to take a bite of food.

5. Muscle twitch: SPASM.

10. Endure: LAST.

14. Really feel yesterday's workout: ACHE.

15. Country singer Tucker: TANYA.  Tanya Denise Tucker (b. Oct. 10, 1958) was big in the country scene in the 1970s and 1980s.  She had her first big hit in 1972 at age 13 with her rendition of Delta Dawn.

16. Suspecting: ON TO.

19. Place in the overhead bin, say: STOW.

20. Disconnect from work, colloquially: UNPLUG.

21. "__ the season ... ": TIS.

23. "The Simpsons" bartender: MOE.

24. Silky semisynthetic fabric: RAYON.  A brief history of Rayon.

28. Oral health org.: ADA.  As in the American Dental Association.

29. Indigenous language with Dakota and Lakota dialects: SIOUX.

31. Charged particles: IONS.

32. Ulrich of Metallica: LARS.  Lars Ulrich (b. Dec. 26, 1963) is a Danish musician.  He is the drummer and a founding member of the heavy metal band Metallica.

34. Well-worn pencil: NUB.

35. London's __ Gardens: KEW.  Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London founded in 1759.  It claims to house the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world. 

40. Language similar to Thai: LAO.  Thailand and Laos are neighboring countries.

41. Couple: TWO.

42. __-care: SELF.

45. Senior-year dance: PROM.

47. Hilarious folks: RIOTS.

49. "U slay me!": LOL.  Textspeak for Laughing Out Loud, or as some people think, Lots Of Love.

52. "Deck the Halls" plant: HOLLY.  'Tis the Season ...

54. Use oars: ROW.

55. Daily grind: RUT.

56. "The Situation Room" co-host Brown: PAMELA.  Pamela Ashley Brown (b. Nov. 29, 1983) is currently CNN's chief investigative correspondent and anchor.  Since March 2025, she has served, together with Wolf Blitzer, as the co-host of The Situation Room.

57. "Waterloo" pop group: ABBA.  The Swedish band was formed in 1972.  It  took its name by using the first initial of each member:  Agnetha Fältskog (b. Apr. 5, 1950), Björn Ulvaeus (B. Apr. 25, 1945), Benny Andersson (b. Dec. 16, 1946) and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (b. Nov. 15, 1945).  Agnetha was married to Björn. and Benny was married to Anni-Frid.

62. Small glass container: VIAL.

A Vile Vial.

63. Energy sources: FUELS.

64. California wine region: NAPA.

65. __ Grey tea: EARL.  I am not keen on Earl Grey tea.  The addition of Bergamot oil gives this tea its distinctive flavor.  The tea is named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey (Mar. 13, 1764 ~ July 17, 1845),  He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from November 1830 to July 1834.

66. Clown's perch: STILT.

67. Tiny: ITSY.

Down:

1. One with innate talent: NATURAL.

2. Anthem played at Blue Jays home games: O CANADA.  A shout out to our very own CanadianEh!

3. Boat-building spot: SHIPYARD.

4. Word of welcome: HELLO.

5. Male deer: STAG.

6. Butter square: PAT.

7. Singer DiFranco: ANI.  Ani DiFranco (née Angela Maria DiFranco; b. Sept. 23, 1970) has released more than 20 albums.  

8. Grammar subject: SYNTAX.  Syntax is the set of rules that govern how words, phrases, and symbols are arranged to form well-structured sentences.

9. Facetious response to "How did you do that?": MAGIC.

10. Part of LAX: LOS.  The Los Angeles airport code

11. Marvel superhero who shrinks to the size of a bug: ANTMAN.

12. Bar seats: STOOLS.

13. Spa handout: TOWEL.

18. Revs, as an engine: GUNS.

22. Hit the slopes: SKIED.

25. Guided visit: TOUR.

26. Add insult to injury: RUB IT IN.

27. Soup dishes: BOWLS.

30. Deets: INFO.  I need the Details!

33. Jam band highlights: SOLOS.

35. Pretzel shape: KNOT.

37. Fortnite enthusiast, e.g.: GAMER.

38. "Return of the Jedi" creature: EWOK.  Ewoks are the fictional species of small, furry, critters that are native to the forest moon of Endor in the Star Wars movies.

39. Gave quite an earful: YELLED AT.

43. Bounces clumsily: LOLLOPS.  Not to be confused with Lollipops.  According to Webster's Dictionary, "Lollop is an intransitive verb meaning to move or run in an awkward, unhurried, bounding, or rolling way."

44. Take off: FLYAWAY.

Flyaway hair

45. Extreme fear: PHOBIA.

46. Venue that sells shellfish: RAW BAR.

47. Squeal on: RAT OUT.

48. Iranian ruler until 1979: SHAH.  I just read Marjan Kamali's novel The Stationery Shop, which is about the 1953 uprising in Tehran.  The Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown in a coup d'état that strengthened the rule of the Shah.

50. Really yen for: CRAVE.

51. Enthusiasts: BUFFS.

53. Muscat resident: OMANI.

56. Hissed "Hey!": PSST.

58. __-purpose flour: ALL.  Who knew there were so many types of flour.

60. Big name in camping gear: REI.  This company makes frequent guest appearances in the puzzles.  REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc.

61. Pipe bend: ELL.

חתולה