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.

Saturday, August 15, 2026, Barbara Lin and Jess Rucks

 Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Barbara Lin and Jess Rucks

Me and Jess

Barb

I was very pleased to see Jess's name come up today as a co-constructor. I have had the fun of blogging her Saturday themeless puzzles before and am always amazed by her work and, uh, creative clues 😀, a tradition she maintained here as well. As you can see in the picture at the left, Jess and I met up on a very cold night in Lincoln for a delightful dinner last year and hashed over a lot of crossword minutiae. She lives in Colorado with her husband and son and  is retired from the Air Force where she was an Urdu translator. Yes, she was a Division 1 volleyball player as well.

Her partner in crime construction is Barb Lin who lives just outside Philadelphia, PA, where she dabbles in gardening and excels in computer engineering. Here is a lovely interview of Barb Jess conducted.

 

                                  

Across:

1. Teddy bear: SOFTY - I thought this might be a brand name but no, it's just a tender-hearted person. Even Elvis knew this: "Oh let me be, your teddy bear". Hey, I heard you sing along! 😊

6. Carousel rider?: BAG 😀

9. Basaltic plain on the moon: MARE - MARE is latin for Sea and here we see the location of  The Lunar Sea Of Tranquility which hosted Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969.

13. Roadside snack: STREET TACO.

16. Driver on a movie set: ADAM - 😀 The answer below is no.

17. Sign that means it's time to turn around: NO ENTRANCE - How it's done in the UK

18. Spam musubi wrapper: NORI - Musubi (結び), translates to “tie” or “bind,”

19. White-hot: SEETHING.

20. Lights up: SMILES.

22. Quick kiss: PECK - Not a BUSS

23. Useful spot: PSA - Here's a Public Service Announcement from the 50's about saying Good Night after a date

24. Some sci-fi villains: ETS.

25. Multipurpose tool: SPORK - We really like KFC, but we opt for real silverware.

27. Verb coined in "Stranger in a Strange Land": GROK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Author Robert Heinlein said GROK is a Martian word that literally means "to drink" .Metaphorically, it means to understand something so completely and deeply. Jess is fluent in Urdu but not Martian. 😀

28. Hindi honorific: SRI.

29. Berry grown in Ohio?: HALLE - She took her stage name from Halle's Department Store in Cleveland.

30. Jordan who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay: PEELE.

31. Org chart leader: CEO.

32. "Sure, that tracks": I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN.

35. "J to __ L-O!": 2002 remix album: THA - Some hip hop slang 

36. Replacements after leaving marks?: EUROS - Germans now use EUROS for currency after having used marks since 1876.

37. Huffs and puffs: PANTS and 40. Huffs and puffs: RANTS.

38. __ de deux: PAS - a ballet duet, literally translating from French as a "step of two", typically performed by a male and a female dancer. Below is the Grand PAS de Deux from the Nutcracker. Play as much of this 5:37 cut that you like to beautify your day.

39. Mass agreement: AMEN 😀

41. "Yes, captain": AYE.

42. Clear (of): RID.

43. Clear of contaminants: PURE - Clear in the clue is an adjective and not a verb

44. Varied: RANGED.

46. Opportunities to learn the hard way: MISTAKES - Do guys like this ever learn?

50. Mil. no-show: AWOL.

51. "Mine! Mine! Mine!": I WANT IT ALL.

53. "The Goonies" role for Ke Huy Quan: DATA - Saturday cluing for sure, Ke is in the bottom row, second from the right. 

54. Brings the temperature down, maybe: TALKS SENSE.

55. Googly-__: EYED - From a cartoon first published in 1919. A popular song of the day was, "Barney Google With the Goo, Goo, Goo Googly Eyes"

56. Fashion letters: YSL.

57. Trapped, in a way: TREED.

Down:

1. Fed. IDs: SSNS.

2. Della Warrior's heritage: OTOE is the first and only woman to date to serve as chairperson and chief executive officer for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.

3. Priceless?: FREE.

4. One-night stand, perhaps?: TENT POLE 😀

5. Frustrated expression: YET HERE WE ARE.

6. [All of a sudden!]: BANG.

7. Stanford's gp.: ACC - With all the conference alignments up in the air, Stanford and  Cal Berkley (formerly in the Pacific 10) had to get into some conference even if it was on the other coast (Atlantic Coast Conference).

8. Disbands?: GOES SOLO - Michael Jackson had great success when he left this brothers 

9. Digital art, informally?: MANI 😀

10. Juvenile: ADOLESCENT.

11. Special indulgences: RARE TREATS.

12. Targets of smog checks: EMISSIONS.

14. Bridge unit: TRICK - 😀 A trick in a card games is a single round of play where each person plays one card, and the highest card wins.

   
15. Choke: TANK - These are both failures. In sports, if a player chokes, he might fail to make a winning play even though he is trying. If a player TANKS, he also fails but might be trying to lose or throw a game.

21. One who tries not to overshadow the star?: MAKE UP ARTIST 😀 Gotta love this one!

23. Feeds (on): PREYS.

25. "Shantay, you stay" opposite: SASHAY AWAY - During our dinner in Lincoln, Jess said she enjoyed RuPaul Drag Race and this phrase is part of that show.

  

26. "This is important": PLEASE NOTE.

27. Mount: GET ON - How The Lone Ranger accomplished this with Silver.

29. Top tunes: HIT PARADE - When The Lone Ranger was mounting Silver in the 50's, The Hit Parade was telling us the top songs of the week. Listen to as much of this 30-minute show (complete with cigarette commercials) as you like from over 70 years ago.

30. Trimmed (down): PARED - By the first game, NFL teams must have PARED down to a 53 man roster from the 100 or so that are trying out.

33. Hair curler?: HUMIDITY.

34. 1982 Hall & Oates song: MANEATER.

40. Shows signs of age: RUSTS.

43. Chappell Roan's "__ Pony Club": PINK - A fav of my granddaughters. 

45. Chuffed: GLAD - This is more of a UK expression.

46. Edina, Minnesota is home to the first U.S. indoor one: MALL - 1956. This would go along with The Lone Ranger and Your Hit Parade!

47. Lucci role: KANE - Susan Lucci played Erica Kane on All My Children for 41 years.

48. Conditional word in Python: ELSE - Barb is a computer engineer

49. Blair Braverman vehicle: SLED.

52. Portrayed: WAS - I first had DID, as in an impersonator DID Cary Grant.

More from Jess: Barb and I met at ACPT in 2025, and since then have been wanting to make a puzzle together. We finally made that happen with this one! Barb did a lot of the heavy lifting on the gridding and we collaborated on the clues. Hope you enjoyed it :) This one was fun to make. Barb is a great constructor, so I felt some pressure to push myself working with her -- I tried to clue with more wordplay and generally at a higher difficulty than I may have on my own. She clued, too, but I clued more of the entries since she ended up making more of the grid.