Saturday, October 3, 2026, Tom Pepper

 Themeless Saturday by Tom Pepper

Today, C.C.'s good friend and occasional co-constructor, Tom Pepper, has provided us with a very nice Saturday puzzle. Tom is the retired finance director for Eagan, MN. and spent time with C.C. and Boomer. He also was a great source of comfort for her after Boomer's passing.

In this picture you can see Tom's wife Terri, Boomer, Tom and C.C. C.C. told me that Tom could probably beat me at golf, which really wouldn't be all that hard. 😀

I am very grateful that Tom was nice enough to include a very informative note about his construction of this puzzle:

Hi Gary, 

  

Nice to hear from you again! 

  

I don't always start themeless puzzles with a specific grid pattern, but I did with this one. It was a grid shape that Rex Parker had said he liked in someone else's puzzle because it was conducive to that whoosh-whoosh feeling you get when a couple gettable long entries lead to gettable long crosses. So when I made this puzzle, I placed the four longest entries (13s and 14s) in first, and filled around them. From the start, I had hoped to get both GRAMMAR POLICE and ROOKIE MISTAKE into the puzzle, and it worked out. 

When the puzzle was accepted, the editors let me know they were going to make a couple small changes to improve the short fill in the middle section of the puzzle. They even wrote the new clues for me!

  

Take care, 

Tom

Across: 

1. Item dropped in the drink: STRAW 😀

6. Chiromancer's target: PALM - Yes, chiromancer is another name for a palm reader.

               

10. Overwhelm: SLAM - I once SLAMMED a cafe with two buses with 60 kids. We sponsors took orders, served the food, took the money and bussed the tables for them. It turned out great and they were so grateful. 

14. Hair extension: WEAVE.

15. Cookies and cream treat: OREO SHAKE.

17. Baseball's all-time RBI leader: AARON.

18. Rescuers on the run?: SKI PATROL 😀

19. Bases for busts: PLINTHS - A PLINTH is a stand or base that can hold a bust. You've got a few miles on your tires if you remember this bust of Voltaire in the office of 50's/60's Perry Mason TV show. You've got a heck of a memory if you remember his secretary Della Street played by the lovely Barbara Hale.

21. Not accidental: MEANT - The hear kids today use the phrase "on accident" instead of "by accident". Did that happen at the same time "could care less" replaced "couldn't care less"?

22. Oft-redacted fig.: SSN.

23. Many an adoptee: HOUSE PET - I can't go into an animal shelter. I'd want to take all of them home.

27. Ones correcting they're gaffes, perhaps?: GRAMMAR POLICE - My favorite clue/fill. This was so clever because the clue had the grammatical gaffe of they're instead of their. 

32. French "deadly": FATALE - Mata Hari is said to be the most famous Femme FATALE (deadly woman) of all time.

34. Christmas song: NOEL.

35. "Pass": NAH.

36. Tough to form a bond with: ALOOF - This science guy first thought of INERT

37. Media that led to record losses: CDS.

38. "What she said": DITTO.

40. WoW, for one: RPG - My last fill. This "R" was nearly a natick with FARR crossing RPG but Role Playing Game made sense to me and so I earned a "got 'er done".

41. Visit a souk: SHOP - Souks are common to North Africa. This is one is in Morocco. 

43. Steer clear of: ESCHEW.

44. Product of green energy?: ROOKIE MISTAKE 😀 - It can be said that a ROOKIE can be green and apt to make a MISTAKE. My first blogs had them but C.C. was encouraging. 

47. Relatively helpful business practice?: NEPOTISM 😀 If your relative is hiring, "it couldn't hurt!"

48. Hip-hop figures: MCS.

51. Groundwork: BASIS.

54. Neighborhood blot: EYESORE.

56. Open: ALL-COMERS - Technically anyone can try but...

60. "Enough's enough": OK NOW.

61. "Truth!": YOU KNOW IT.

62. "Gigi" composer: LOEWE - Can you find him on the poster?

63. Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway: SEES - A favorite confection of Warren Buffet

64. Ginormous: MEGA.

65. Samsung appliance: DRYER - You'll have to look close to see the manufacturer 

Down:

1. Pulls a switch: SWAPS.

2. Birds for whom a color is named: TEALS.

3. More than ready: RARING TO GO.

4. Bath water: AVON - I learned AVON is a word meaning river in the U.K. Here is the city of Bath on AVON in England.

5. Split evenly, informally: WENT HALFSIES ON - WENT FIFTY FIFTY fit very nicely also

6. Play __: POSSUM.

7. Ararat lander: ARK - Could this shape on Mt. Ararat be the resting place of Noah's ARK?

8. Island ring: LEI.

9. Messy locks: MOP.

10. "Yentl" setting: SHTETL - A SHTETL is a Yiddish word meaning "little town" that refers to small market towns in pre–World War II Eastern Europe with a large, Yiddish-speaking Jewish population. 

11. Spencer of "Good Morning America": LARA.

12. "Don't Matter" singer: AKON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

13. Move to another state?: MELT 😀 Very amusing for this physics teacher who is also a fan of classic movies.

16. "Nothing new under the sun": SAME OLD SAME OLD.

20. Heart's location?: HOME 😊

24. Long jumper's destination: SAND PIT - Bob Beamon shocked the world in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics by beating the old record by almost two feet!

25. Olympic archer?: EROS.

26. Safety gear for ER workers: PPE - We all got familiar with Personal Protection Equipment during covid 

28. "The White Tiger" actor Rajkummar: RAO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

29. On easy street: IN THE MONEY.

30. Sandra's "Ocean's 8" co-star: CATE.

31. DIY help site: EHOW.

32. "Fire Country" actress Diane: FARR ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

33. Chewy brand: ALPO - Our kitty Lily gets her food from Chewy.com 

37. Lombardy birthplace of Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger: COMO - Looks like a nice place for the Pliny's

39. "Ugh!": ICK.

42. Not square: HEP.

43. Spot for unique gifts: ETSY.

45. Mike Brown's NBA team: KNICKS.

46. Afternoon outing?: SIESTA.

49. "Almost Famous" director: CROWE.

50. Underground government operation?: SEWER.

51. Reddish-brown horses: BAYS.

52. Toner additive: ALOE.

53. Turn on an axis: SLUE 😀

55. Toffee bar: SKOR.

57. Certain parent: MOM and 58. 57-Down in a meadow: EWE.

59. Semi: RIG.

Saturday, September 26, 2026, Adrian Johnson

 Saturday Themeless by Adrian Johnson

  

Our Wyoming native who went to college in Minnesota is now doing greatwork for a startup group called BetterFi, a nonprofit working to end predatory lending in Tennessee.

I made great progress and soon had the NW to SE swath done and then had to go in to finish off the other corners which was a fun challenge with a lot of international cuisine and filmakers. 

Across:

1. Releases: EMITS.

6. Ardent supporter: MEGAFAN - This Raider fan qualifies

13. Island country that changed the shape of the International Date Line by skipping December 30, 2011: SAMOA.

14. "Anything you say": SURE SURE.

15. Guttural sound: CROAK.

16. Outermost meningeal membrane: DURA MATER.

17. Hot: IN DEMAND.

19. "Bad idea": DON'T.

20. High return: LOB.

21. 41-Across teacher: SENSEI and 41. Dojo discipline: KARATE.

23. Army __: ANTS.

24. Double-reed woodwind related to the shawm: OBOE - Adrian muddied the waters by adding a shawm in the clue 

26. Seldom seen: SCARCE.

28. Racing headgear: CRASH HELMET - 76-year-old comedian Andy Huggins says at his age he worries about falling and so he wears a HELMET. To keep from looking foolish, he also carries a skateboard.

30. Tailgating area: LOT.

33. Angiogram image, perhaps: AORTA - It kinda stands out, doesn't it

34. "__ bien": MUY.

35. Durable fabric: CHINO.

37. Drug featured in the Dock Ellis biopic "No No: A Dockumentary": LSD.

38. "How's it hangin'?": WHAT'S SHAKIN'

42. Bernie Sanders' mittens, for one: MEME.

What's shakin' Bernie?

43. Singer known as the "Goddess of Pop": CHER - Depends on who you ask. 

  

47. Harsh critics: HATERS.

49. PC IDs: IPS.

50. Martinican poet Césaire who helped found the Négritude movement: AIME ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

51. Dessert often made with espresso: TIRAMISU.

53. "Chocolate in every bite" cookie maker: CHIPS AHOY.

56. Sonicare rival: ORAL B.

58. Herb in fines herbes and herbes de Provence: TARRAGON - Fines Herbes (fēnz erbs - literally fine herbs): Made with a specific combination of four fresh herbs in equal parts: parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil.

59. Bring up: RAISE.

60. Welcome words?: IT'S OPEN.

61. Wrapped: ENDED.


Down:

1. Key hit in panic: ESC.

2. Platform game that debuted in 1983: MARIO BROS - I loved playing their lo-res game on my Apple IIe

3. "You sold me": I'M ON BOARD.

4. Bufotoxin source: TOAD - Bufotoxin is a milky, poisonous defense chemical secreted by the skin and parotoid glands of true toads in the genus Bufo.

5. Array at an izakaya: SAKES Izakaya (居酒屋) are casual drinking establishments, similar to tapas bars, where customers order a variety of small dishes of food that can be shared at the table. 

6. Genre in which readers are clued in to the plot?: MURDER MYSTERY.

7. Time to study: ERA. 

8. Beaut: GEM.

9. Taqueria option: ASADA - When you're done at the izakaya, you can drive on over to a taqueria for some carne ASADA (grilled meat) food.

 

10. Guest room fixture: FUTON.

11. "__ you sweet!": AREN'T.

12. "Aw, phooey": NERTS.

14. Vinyasa sequence also called Surya Namaskar: SUN SALUTATION ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  - Vinyasa is the movement between poses. This slowly revealed itself.

16. Event one must prepare for exhaustively?: DANCE MARATHON - A DANCE MARATHON was the subject of this movie 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The trailer

18. Vibe well: MESH.

20. Word in many union names: LOCAL - Hormel's LOCAL 22 Union has sponsored champion softball teams here in town for years.

22. Halo-halo base: ICE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More exotic food! This is a Filipino shaved ICE treat.

25. Part of i.e.: EST.

27. Make a lasting impression?: ETCH.

29. Skateboarding star Tony: HAWK - Tony now "hawks" Qunol products

30. "This bears repeating ... ": LIKE I SAID.

31. Instinctively: ON IMPULSE - I bought a Mazda Miata on impulse many years ago and regretted it. It always needed repairs and wouldn't handle snow.

32. Hues: TONES.

36. Muffuletta ingredient: HAM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More unknown (to me) food. The classic New Orleans sandwich combines a homemade olive salad with layers of thin-sliced Italian cold cuts. Man it looks so good!

39. Derisive laugh: HAH.

40. "Buona __": SERA.

43. Tacos de nopales need: CACTI - Our buffet continues: 

To make cactus tacos, scrape thorns off nopales (duh), boil them for 15 mins with onions, bay leaves, and cilantro, then sauté with chilis and jalapeños.

44. Percussion set: HI HAT.

45. Dubai rulers: EMIRS.

46. High-quality proof, for short: REPRO - Repro stands for reprographics (or reproduction), but in publishing, printing, and design, a REPRO specifically refers to a high-quality proof of text and images. It is used as the final checkpoint to verify that everything looks perfect before the final print run.

48. Camping treat: SMORE.

52. Home country of filmmaker Asghar Farhadi: IRAN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

54. Chump: SAP.

55. Sit in a cellar, perhaps: AGE.

57. Sack: BED.