Saturday, April 4, 2026, Matthew Luter

Saturday Themeless. by Matthew Luter

Dr. Matthew Luter is a writer and teacher in Jackson, MS. Originally from Laurel, MS, he is an alumnus of Millsaps College and of the University of North Carolina. He teaches courses in American literature at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.

I got a great toehold in the NE, flew through the SE and then the SW and then the NW proved to be a swamp for this solver but I availed myself of a little help and got 'er done. Missing 1 Across for this NASA educator was a tough pill to swallow. There were some other fills in the NE that defeated me - MATT?, that Sister, RSS FEED? CLIOS as clued, A PLUS PLUS just seemed like green paint and that deodorant, really?. Yeah, I know, "It's a game not a test!!"

Across:

1. National Air and Space Museum relic: MOON ROCK - Houston, I had a problem, even with most of the letters filled. I went through all the vehicles I could think of but came up empty.

               

9. Coastal landmark: PIER.

13. "Better than perfect!": A PLUS PLUS - 🤨 I remember Mrs. Thomsen telling us sophomores that nothing can be better than perfect and I agree. Other non-comparable adjectives - Unique, Flawless, Ultimate...

15. Top spot: ACME.

16. 1990s deodorant brand whose name inspired a Nirvana song: TEEN SPIRIT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Ain't no way.

18. Harvest: REAP.

19. Cardinal pts.?: TDS - The Arizona Cardinals of the NFL not compass points. 😀

20. Helper in a Cinderella story: FOOTMAN.

22. Game cube: DIE.

23. Detective Monaghan in Laura Lippman novels: TESS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

24. Target that may have chalk marks: CUE BALL 😀

26. "Seconded": I AGREE.

29. Tam pattern: TARTAN.

30. Short strings?: STRAD - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My learned Lincoln friend Dr. Fred Ohles told me, STRAD is a common shortening among musicians for violins and violas made in Italy between about 1670 and 1730 by Antonio Stradivari and other members of his family. Highly prized, more than 600 of them are still being played today. 

31. Part of a security check: VIRUS SCAN.

34. Tabloid duo: ITEM.

35. Sunders: RENDS - The more familiar use of that word is, "What God hath joined together, Let no man put asunder."

36. Extremely dry: SERE.

37. Crunchy legumes: SNAP BEANS.

39. "The Sound of Music" heroine: MARIA - A 4. Sister: NUN of whom the other sisters sang "How do you solve a problem like MARIA?"

40. With no sense of urgency: SLOWLY.

41. Seiko brand: PULSAR - PULSAR is not the same brand as Seiko, but they are closely related as Pulsar is a subsidiary brand owned and produced by Seiko Watch Corporation. 

42. Future maple syrup: TREE SAP.

44. Symbol on a staff: NOTE.

45. Call the shots?: REF.

46. Maker of Scribble Scrubbie Pets products: CRAYOLA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

48. Low digit: ONE.

51. O'Keeffe flower: IRIS.

53. Water park?: DROP ANCHOR 😀 - Loved this one!

55. Remedy: CURE.

56. Final novel of Willa Cather's "Prairie" trilogy: MY ANTONIA - Nebraska's most famous author

57. Joint with crossed cruciate ligaments: KNEE.

58. "The Great Gatsby" term of endearment: OLD SPORT - Leo DiCaprio uses the phrase 55 times in the movie.

Down: 

1. Actor Bomer: MATT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Due to his uncanny resemblance, MATT was selected to play Montgomery Clift in an HBO biopic but it was never made.

2. Page full of takes: OP-ED 😀 All right, this was really fun once I saw it was about the takes various people have on topics. 

3. La Liga cheers: OLES - La Liga translates to The League in Spain which has 20 soccer teams.

5. Source of some updates: RSS FEED ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format that allows users to automatically receive updates from websites, blogs, and podcasts without visiting each site individually

. You're welcome.

6. Antagonize: OPPOSE.

7. Perks of big promotions, maybe?: CLIOS - A CLIO Award is the perk for big ads or promotions.

8. Cobain of Nirvana: KURT.

9. Course standard: PAR.

10. Winter Olympics pairs: ICE DANCERS.

11. "Inbox zero" obstacle: E-MAIL - More if you must know

12. Ward off: REPEL.

14. Some chip holders: SIM CARDS - Where we frequently encounter them

17. Sign of spring: TAURUS - It appears CROCUS was wrong.

21. Clears: NETS.

23. Stomp all over: TRAMPLE -  No aliens necessary for crop circles. 

25. Beer whose logo was the U.K.'s first registered trademark: BASS ALE - 1876

26. Goddess of the Great Ennead: ISIS - If you must know...

27. Abbr. on a memo: ATTN.

28. Serious cooking mishap: GREASE FIRE - Don't use water to extinguish it!

29. Like cheap speakers: TINNY.

31. Italian entree, familiarly: VEAL PARM.

32. Covent Garden solo: ARIA - 

The Royal Opera House is located on 

Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

33. At hand: NEAR.

35. Poster heading: REWARD - The territory of New Mexico paid Sheriff Pat Garrett the bounty for killing William Bonney.

38. Pear variety: BOSC.

39. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters attendees: MUTANTS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

 is a fictional, private educational institution in the Marvel universe founded by Professor Charles Xavier to train young mutants to control their powers and live in harmony with humans. You're welcome.

41. Marie Curie's homeland: POLAND.

42. Take in: TRICK.

43. Many an episode on MeTV: RERUN - Desi Arnaz insisted I Love Lucy use 35mm film instead of using crude kinescopes so the episodes could be rerun.

44. Pad in Mexican cuisine: NOPAL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

47. Ma who founded the arts organization Silkroad: YOYO.

48. "This can't be good!": OH NO - Mr. Bill and his catchphrase first appeared on SNL 50 years ago

49. Cain genre: NOIR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  His novels became the source for many film NOIRS.

50. Basic Latin verb: ERAT - We often see "Quod ERAT demonstrandum." (Which was to be demonstrated). 

52. Last word of the first verse of "Amazing Grace": SEE - ...was blind but now I SEE

54. Procedural figure: COP - 

A 

police procedural is a sub-genre of crime fiction focusing on realistic, team-based investigations—including detectives, forensics, and patrol officers—rather than a single hero. 

Saturday, March 28, 2026, Grant Conley

  Saturday Themeless by Grant Conley

I found Grant on FaceBook and he was kind enough to share this:

• This is only my second puzzle published, with the first being in the WSJ. (I'm currently waiting to see if the same paper will accept my latest themed puzzle.)
• Outside of work and crosswords, I enjoy reading, bouldering (new to me hg), and participating in local trivia nights. I also bake a pretty good sourdough.

As for seed entries, DRUMROLLPLEASE and LANDSPEEDRECORD were the first set in this puzzle, though I originally had them in the opposite order; I thought it would make for a snappy solve with the "drum roll" leading into the big stunt. This was eventually sacrificed for a better grid flow and some easier letter pairings. Aside from these, I enjoyed creating the puzzle's few parallel entries, like DOODAD/NOODLE, since such a late-week grid really asked for a little playfulness to lighten it up.

Grant said he did not see the connection I made with the first three clues but for some reason they just came together.

Across:

1. Stratagem: ARTIFICE - Devices used to trick or deceive. One ARTIFICE used by the allies just before D-Day was Operation Fortitude. They assembled to be what appeared to be an actual army "commanded" by General George Patton to fool Hitler into thinking the invasion would take place further east near Calais and not Normandy. Interesting reading

9. Farce: SHAM - Operation Fortitude was a SHAM but it made Hitler divert a lot of firepower away from the Normandy beaches.

13. Phrase shouted after some extras?: READ ALL ABOUT IT - People selling newspapers the next day might be shouting, "Extra, Extra READ ALL ABOUT IT"

16. Critical component of fast response times: CAT LIKE REFLEXES.

18. Fall bloom: ASTER.

19. Chronicle: ANNAL - D-Day was one of the major events in all of the ANNALS of history.

20. Polo alternative: TEE - Better golf courses require players to wear collared shirts.

21. Common feature of a grandfather clock: DOOR.

22. Astaire and Rogers: FREDS - It was fun when I realized Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were really Fred Astaire and Fred Rogers! 😀

23. Hamlet, for one: DANE.

24. Capital One's virtual assistant: ENO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Western outfit: POSSE.

26. Fatty compound: LIPID - Liposuction physically removes adipose tissue (fat cells/lipids)

27. Place for pints: BAR - PUB seemed to be more likely 

28. Intern, often: TRAINEE - We educators call them student teachers or cadets 

30. Closely affiliated with: WED TO.

32. Drops: SINKS.

33. Location without an outlet: DEAD END.

35. "L.A. Law" actress: DEY.

36. Like cappuccino: FOAMY.

37. Wind farm structures: VANES.

39. Tune paired with a silent movie, often: RAG.

42. "My bad!": OOPS.

43. Raptors, e.g.: DINOS.

44. "If This Is a Man" author Primo: LEVI.

45. Turmoil: ADO.

46. Podcast medium: AUDIO - Add two more vowels to previous fill

47. Gainbridge Fieldhouse player: PACER - It is home to the NBA Indiana PACERS and the WNBA Indiana Fever.

48. Achievement last set in 1997 in Nevada's Black Rock Desert: LAND SPEED RECORD.

51. Dramatic introduction: DRUMROLL PLEASE 😀 - One of Grant's seed entries

52. Olden days: YORE.

53. Two quarters, perhaps: SEMESTER - I got my B.A. from Wayne State College that was on a trimester schedule. 

Down:

1. Location with an array of cabinets: ARCADE. 😀

2. Work (out): REASON - We solvers have to use REASON to work out tricky fill

3. Heart on one's sleeve, perhaps: TATTOO - I loved this when I finally worked out what Grant was going  for.

4. One unlikely to have long to-do lists: IDLER - I was first looking for the opposite: Someone who had mostly already done the chores.

5. "Good point": FAIR 🤔

6. Kind: ILK.

7. Busses: CLEARS - The dent in my forehead will heal from when it got hit after I had my DOH moment. I thought I was being so clever with KISSES, then I tried to think what transport vehicle it might be and then the right answer jumped up.

8. From the heart: EARNEST.

9. Places to lounge: SOFAS.

10. Naval base: HULL 😀

11. Consumed: ATE.

12. Cassettes that may spark nostalgia: MIX TAPES 😀

14. Binges: BENDERS.

15. Adjective for a bikini, in a 1960s hit song: TEENIE - Chant it with me - "One, two, three, four, tell the people what she wore..." I love 60's music but this would not make it onto my MIX TAPE.

17. Growing need?: SEED - My radish SEEDS are already sprouting in this record hot Nebraska weather.

22. Specialty: FORTE.

23. Less than impressive: DINKY - The aforementioned bikini might also add this adjective

25. Rice field: PADDY.

26. Most of a stick figure: LINES.

27. Part of a support system: BEAMS - This past Wednesday, Mutual of Omaha celebrated the "topping out of its new 44-story headquarters in downtown Omaha by placing the last BEAM.

29. Interns, often: AIDES - I suspect you can name this intern who started as an unpaid AIDE for Universal Studios in 1969.

30. Phaser banks on the Enterprise, e.g.: WEAPONRY.

31. Captured, in a way: ON VIDEO.

33. Whatsit: DOO DAD.

34. "Dumb & Dumber" co-star: DANIELS.

36. Little horse: FOAL.

38. Noggin: NOODLE.

39. Apply again, as paint: RECOAT.

40. Disinclined (to): AVERSE.

41. Part of a support system: GIRDER - A lovely spot for lunch in 1932

43. British cellist Jacqueline: DUPRE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

44. Corset tighteners: LACES.

46. Whispery genre, for short: ASMR - 

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

 (ASMR) is a calming, static-like tingling sensation triggered by soft sound like whispering, tapping or gentle visuals. It has become a frequent fill in our puzzles.

47. Brazilian soccer legend: PELE.

49. Pair: DUO.

50. Dashboard stat: RPM.