Saturday, January 31, 2026, Mark Axel

 Saturday Themeless by Mark Axel

My OCD refused to let me give in and I got a hard earned "got 'er done"! The colored grid here shows that Mark had a plethora of unique fill, two 10-letter horizontal stacks or three,  two vertical 9-letter stacks of three and two very unique grid spanners. The informal horizontal grid spanner was fun and the impossible vertical one revealed itself one letter at a time.

Across:

1. Orbit City mom: JANE JETSON.

11. Throw (together): SLAP.

15. Home page?: AMAZON ECHO - As an iPhone user, I would page SIRI but PC users page ECHO

16. Crop from which the word "luau" originates: TARO - Four-letter Hawaiian food, what else?

17. Budget rentals: MOVING VANS.

18. Vegas team: ACES - WNBA

19. Fiber source: BRAN.

20. Nautical adverb: ALEE - In sailing, "ALEE" (or "leeward") refers to the side of the boat sheltered from the wind.

21. Terrarium pet: NEWT.

22. Tennis great who won three consecutive French Opens in the 1990s: SELES - Her first was when she was 16.

24. Boyos: LADS.

26. Sedge-friendly habitat: FEN.

27. "Preach!": SING IT.

30. 2024 LPGA Tour Player of the Year Nelly: KORDA - seen here with another pretty good golfer

32. Donkey: ASS.

35. Casual Japanese expression of thanks: DOMO.

36. Take hold again: REROOT.

37. Start of some casual advice: YOU'RE GONNA WANNA.

40. Big name in boxed mac and cheese: ANNIE'S ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

41. Dish often prepared with Maui onions: POKE - Ahi Hawaiian POKE with Maui onions

42. No. on a store awning: TEL.

43. Profile detail: HOBBY.

44. "Les Misérables" role: JAVERT.

Jean Valjean                       JAVERT

46. Tony winner Hagen: UTA.

47. Nobel Prize subj.: ECON.

49. Satirist Baron Cohen: SACHA.

53. Makes moves: ACTS.

55. Fundamentals: ABC'S.

57. Spiced tea: CHAI  - 

Chai tea, more accurately referred to as 

masala chai ("mixed-spice tea"), is a traditional South Asian beverage made by brewing black tea with a mixture or aromatic spices, milk and sweetener. While "chai" simply means tea in Hindi, in the West, it has come to represent this specific, spiced, and often creamy drink. You're welcome.

58. Home of NYC's Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art: SOHO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It mainly collects, preserves and exhibits visual arts created by LGBTQ artists or art about LGBTQ+ themes, issues, and people.

59. "Forgive the imposition ... ": I HATE TO ASK.

62. Like many intramural leagues: COED.

63. Streaming accessory with a purple tag: ROKU REMOTE - I was stumped until I looked down in my hand.

64. "M*A*S*H" star: ALDA - One episode of M*A*S*H featured three ALDA's: Alan, his half-brother Antony and his dad Robert

65. Period of unchecked criticism: OPEN SEASON.


Down:

1. Vertical supports: JAMBS - The meaning of “door jamb” literally comes from the French word jambe, which means “leg” - a fitting name, since the jambs support the door like legs.

2. Italian endearment: AMORE - Cue Dean Martin...

3. Part of NCIS: NAVAL - NAVAL Criminal Investigative Service was a star vehicle for Mark Harmon and has engendered many spinoffs 

From Season One 2003

4. Some mags: EZINES.

5. "Garfield Minus Garfield" character: JON - JON Arbuckle

6. Lang. of Sierra Leone: ENG - The “official” language of Sierra Leone is English, but most of the population here can’t speak it. This is a nice allegory displaying how disconnected the government’s policies are from how people live here. Speaking English is a sign of wealth and aristocracy, and the locals will speak (usually poor) English to display their high level of education. You're welcome.

7. Maker of Tirra Sport hiking sandals: TEVA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

8. Pajeon or cong you bing: SCALLION PANCAKE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Pajeon (Korean) and Cong You Bing (Chinese) are both savory scallion pancakes. Pancake filled in and then I got SCALLION letter by letter.

9. "Look at that!": OH NEAT - OH SNAP was my first choice.

10. Edged (out): NOSED.

11. Fervent supporter, informally: STAN - Fervent supporters can be undesirable. STAN is a portmanteau for STalker and fAN. Yikes!

12. Like some natural wigs: LACE FRONT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It had to fill itself in 

13. "Anything else?": ARE WE DONE.

14. After birth: POST NATAL.

23. Subtle disapproval: SIDE EYE.

25. Kebab need: SKEWERS.

28. Eggy quaffs: NOGS.

29. Del Monte's Pinkglow pineapple, e.g., for short: GMO.

31. __ pro nobis: ORA - Pray for us

32. Brew in some healing ceremonies: AYAHUASCA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  From the Amazon region

33. Totally uncalled-for: SO NOT COOL.

34. Went for the bronze: SUNBATHED 😀

36. Part of a fall clearance event: RAKE 😀 A fun clue/fill

38. Rack unit: RIB 😀

39. Native American Heritage Mo.: NOV.

44. Change positions often: JOB HOP - A former relative has been dismissed by every architect firm in Lincoln 

45. Toyota pickup: TACOMA - The TAC in Seattle's SEATAC airport

48. Capital north of Memphis: CAIRO - Uh, that's not Tennessee 

50. "We adore __ because we love to produce order": M.C. Escher: CHAOS - This picture hung in the front of my room for years.

51. Can't refuse: HAS TO - Steve Martin in the wonderful movie Parenthood

52. Singer whose fans are called Claymates: AIKEN.

54. __ bread: SODA - Uses baking SODA instead of yeast

56. Floor: STUN.

60. Backpedaling sounds: ERS - ER, what I meant to say was...

61. "Fore!" site: TEE - Still at least two months away. My former partner has about given up the game and so I get to play league with a new person.

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.