Saturday, August 29, 2026, Geoffrey Schorkopf & Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Geoffrey Schorkopf & Rafael Musa

Rafael

Geoffrey

This is my 3rd collaborative puzzle I have had with these transcontinental constructors. I was very pleased to earn a "got 'er done" and really enjoyed some of the cluing and fill. 

Birds of a feather: Rafael is a software engineer for Airbnb in S.F.  and Geoffrey is a software engineer at Fastly in Atlanta. 

Across:

1. Chance to refuel after a run: APRES SKI - Oh, APRES (after) a SKI run! 

9. Cruelty-free target of poaching: PEAR. 😀

13. Contributes to: GOES IN ON.

14. Ncuti who plays the Fifteenth Doctor: GATWA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

15. Mobile vendor?: APP STORE. 😀 The vendor is not mobile, the device for which it is intended is mobile 

16. Extravagant: WANTON.

17. Chiang Mai residents: THAIS - Chiang Mai is the name a city in NW Thailand that is also the capital of the Chiang Mai province.

 

18. Bath bomb component: EPSOM SALT.

20. Place that's all abuzz: HIVE.

21. The Refined Feline purchase, perhaps: CAT TREE.

22. Did brunch, say: ATE.

23. Like crosswords, hopefully: FUN.

24. Vicuòa kin: ALPACAS.

28. Folks who are so last yr.: SRS 😀

29. Spanish for "the gilded one": EL DORADO - A legend of South America 

30. Pilots on the air: SERIES PREMIERES - Can you name these pilots that became regular SERIES after this PREMIERE. * Answer at bottom

34. Conflict involving customs: TRADE WAR.

35. Y as in Yucatan?: AND - One of my all time favorite clues! The letter Y is Spanish serves as the conjunction AND and Spanish is certainly spoken in Yucatan. 

C.C. Y yo somos amigos desde hace años. (C.C. and I have been friends for years). Even after I had AND filled in, it took a small bolt of lightning for me to get it! DOH!

36. Japanese leader: EMPEROR.

37. On point: APT.

38. Deg. from Goizueta: MBA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

41. Causes a scene?: DIRECTS - He directed many a memorable scene.

43. Snippy: CURT.

44. Physical procedure?: BLOOD DRAW 😀

47. Husk-steamed fare: TAMAL - Tamale is an anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal (plural: tamales ). The English "tamale" is a back-formation from tamales. You're welcome.

Here is a TAML on a plate with 
some tamales in the background

48. Freshens, in a way: REDOES.

49. New York university: COLUMBIA - COLUMBIA is about 4 miles north of Ground Zero

51. Swears: AVERS.

52. Cutesy name for the squishy parts of a paw: TOE BEANS.

53. Trash: DISS.

54. High-minded one: IDEALIST.

Down: 

1. Name on a literary award: AGATHA - The Agatha Awards are annual literary prizes named after AGATHA Christie and present by Malic Domestic Ltd to honor traditioanal "cozy" mystery and crime fiction. These are books featuring no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence. 

2. Chart-topper: POP HIT.

3. Fix a lot, say: REPAVE - Uh, perhaps a parking lot

4. Polish brand: ESSIE.

5. Takes a load off: SITS.

6. __-Cat: SNO.

7. Like gochujang and jjimjilbang: KOREAN - The former is a culinary item and second is a bathhouse. 

  

8. Bumbling: INEPT.

9. With a crispy crust, say: PAN-SEARED.

10. Piedmont blues guitarist Baker: ETTA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

11. Unaccounted for, for short: AWOL.

12. Tirade: RANT.

14. Important part of a set: GAME POINT - Unusual tennis scoring for a game is 15, 30, 40, GAME POINT. You win the set if you win 6 games (7 games if there is OT). Tennis peeps will understand this scoreboard:

16. Country homes?: WORLD MAPS 😀

19. Played out: STALE - Same old, same old

21. Swears: CUSS WORDS - Producer David O. Selznick fought the censors hard in 1939 to get this word into one of the most famous lines in film history. 

23. Full scholarships, informally: FREE RIDES.

25. Mercury or Saturn: CAR.

26. Gator tail?: ADE.

27. Short cry for help: SOS.

28. Means of indirect access: SIDE DOORS.

29. Stray: ERR.

30. Femme canonisée: Abbr.: STE - The abbr. for a French female saint (Femme canonisée) is STE

31. Hesitant sound: ERM.

32. Art form that originated in the Bronx: RAP.

33. Knife block insert: PARER.

37. "Oryx and Crake" novelist: ATWOOD.

 

38. Capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra: MUMBAI - Originally MUMBAI, Portuguese Bombain, British BOMBAY, Back to MUMBAI to get rid of all British influence in 1995.

39. Processing centers?: BRAINS - Some process better than others.

40. "About dang time!": AT LAST - Nobody does it better than our cwd friend Etta James.

42. Sustainable landscaping options: CACTI.

43. __ Up: board game with a desert motif: CAMEL. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

44. Slender fastener: BRAD.

45. Stubbs of the Four Tops: LEVI - Of all their great tunes, this is my fav.

           LEVI

46. Some Olds works: ODES - Sharon's ODE to Dirt

47. Polka horn: TUBA.

50. Suni honored with the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award in 2025: LEE.

 

*Friends     Big Bang Theory     Golden Girls     Seinfeld

Saturday, August 22, 2026, August Miller

Saturday Themeless by August Miller

August is a constructor we have seen very often here in the last 12 months and having a puzzle by August in August just seems right. I blogged his first LA Times themeless just last year and now this is the 8th one I've solved/blogged. He is a former physics Ph.D. candidate turned farmer who lives in Berkshire County, MA.

Here is part of a very nice interview with August:

Once upon a time I was going to be a physics PhD. I studied physics in undergrad and tried graduate school (twice), but ultimately that environment just didn’t work for me. And now I come home at night smelling of cows and hay, and it feels so much better.

As you can see by the grid below, August's puzzle is full of unique fill.

Across:

1. Camera setting with a moon icon: NIGHT MODE - Earlier this year, I used the NIGHT MODE on my iPhone which enabled me to photograph northern lights from our deck. They were not visible with the naked eye.

 

10. Makes a run for it: BOLTS.

15. Like rocks and minerals: INORGANIC.

16. "Farewell, mon amie": ADIEU.

17. Literary figure who rings a bell: QUASIMODO.

18. Remote spots?: SOFAS 😀 My remote always winds up down in the cushions. 

19. Finesse: ART.

20. Beach Soccer World Cup org.: FIFA.

 

21. Overly caffeinated: WIRED.

22. Nancy Drew chum: BESS - Bess Marvin is one of Nancy Drew's closest friends  and a core member of her sleuthing circle.

24. Lab infestation: FLEAS - A canine issue

26. "Foxy Brown" do: FRO.

28. Middle set: ABS 😀 Muscles of your midsection 

31. Cousin with floor-length hair: ITT.

32. Heads out: GOES.

33. "Ugh, I'm so sorry!": THAT'S THE WORST.

36. Some transformations: CHARACTER ARCS.

37. "I know, right?!": YOU'RE TELLIN' ME - An elided version of a familiar phrase

38. Mackey of "Ella McCay": EMMA.

Jamie Lee Curtis   Emma Mackey

39. "Ceci n'est pas __ pipe": UNE - Crosswords have taught me of Rene Magritte's This Is Not A Pipe but is just a picture of a pipe.

40. Confidentiality doc: NDA.

41. One bro to another?: SIB 😀

42. Takes to heart: HEEDS.

44. Some "Call the Midwife" figures: NUNS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

48. Exclaims: CRIES.

50. Crushed: ACED - I had finished my physics minor but had to take a class called Electricity For Industrial Arts Teachers to get my hours for my diploma. I ACED those tests.

53. Pause to catch up?: NAP.

54. Essential fatty __: ACIDS - Some of the sources

55. Avoid having to hoof it: SNAG A RIDE.

57. Things to avoid: NONOS.

58. Like some high-flying performers: ACROBATIC.

59. Point of view: ANGLE.

60. Jargon in a video game chat, maybe: LEET SPEAK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Substituting numbers for similarly shaped numbers

Down:

1. Muslim face covering: NIQAB.

2. Harden: INURE.

3. Nannies and kids: GOATS 😀

4. Work wk. units: HRS - My teacher work was for a year but my summer jobs were by the hour

5. Work wk. conclusion: TGIF.

6. Term of affection para una chica: MAMI - Haría cualquier cosa POR UNA CHICA como tú (I'd do anything FOR A GIRL like you)

7. Switch positions: ON OFF.

8. Celebrated, perhaps: DID A LITTLE DANCE.

9. Italian scholar Umberto: ECO.

10. "On the __ of Sex": 2018 biopic: BASIS - A bio of RBG

11. Baking soda target: ODOR.

12. Chi: LIFE FORCE.

13. Cocktail party attire: TEA DRESS.

14. Kinda sketch: SUS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  "Kinda sus sketch" is a casual slang phrase meaning a person, place or situation feels slightly suspicious, shady or untrustworthy. It combines kinda sus (a bit suspicious) with sketch (short for sketchy), doubling down on the idea that something is off. 

21. Hydrate right after planting, as seedlings: WATER IN.

23. Source of siroccos: SAHARA.

25. Journalist Payne known as the "First Lady of the Black Press": ETHEL.

27. German "east": OST.

29. Uncovered: BARE.

30. Hall of Fame figures: STATUES - Next year, Pete Rose will be eligible for the MLB Hall Of Fame (probably with an asterisk for his gambling). Until then, he has a very unique STATUE outside of the ballpark in Cincinnati.

32. First poet to perform at the Super Bowl: GORMAN ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Here she is presenting it before Super Bowl LV (1:34).

33. Comparatively large band: THUMB RING 😀

34. Theater section: SCENE - Seems like it's more of a play section...

35. Mascara applicator: WAND.

36. Gathering that celebrates DC icons: COMIC CON - It took me a while to abandon our national capital for Detective Comics.

37. "Love that!": YES.

42. "Siddhartha" novelist: HESSE - Siddhartha is a Sanskrit name meaning "one who has attained his goals" or "he who has accomplished his aim"

“Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom." Herman Hesse, Siddhartha

43. "We __ because we care": Monsters, Inc. motto: SCARE.

45. Bring together: UNITE.

46. "Russian Doll" protagonist: NADIA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

47. Mote: SPECK.

49. Object of reverence: IDOL.

51. Spielberg quartet: EGOT.

52. Tends to a stain, maybe: DABS.

54. De Armas of "Ballerina": ANA. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

55. Actor Mineo: SAL - His most famous role was as James Dean's best friend in Rebel Without A Cause.

     Sal                 James

56. Knock: RAP.