Saturday, March 7, 2026, John Guzzetta

 Saturday Themeless by John Guzzetta

This is John's 14th LA puzzle and the third Saturday themeless I have blogged. In visiting with John for his last puzzle, he told me he was a minister in the Tampa Bay Area.

I flew through in 15 minutes but finished with one bad cell as you can see in the grid. The Italian words for numbers and Sam Raimi are not in my vocabulary. I'll write it off as a learning (forgetting) moment. 😊

Across:

1. Diplomatic terms?: CODE WORDS - As I'm sure you do in your business, we educators have CODE WORDS we can use and others know what is really meant. 

10. Lugosi of "Dracula": BELA - A crossword regular that rewards some of us with "some mileage on our tires" (CODE WORDS for senior citizens).

                     

14. Health insurance marketplace legislation, familiarly: OBAMA CARE.

15. Title that has a 31-Across: SĒNOR and 31. Squiggly diacritic: TILDE. 

16. Tea with a shot of espresso: DIRTY CHAI.

17. Place for some belt-tightening: WAIST 😀

18. Still: YET.

19. Displaces: BUMPS.

20. Advantages: EDGES - This All-American pitcher gives the nationally ranked Husker softball team a real EDGE

21. Navigational hazard: SHOAL - We call these sandbars on the Platte River seen here just south of m town of Fremont, NE.

23. Prepares for a funeral: EMBALMS.

25. "Show Boat" pair: ACTS.

27. Takes in more than: OUT EATS. 😀

29. Stopper: CORK.

33. Get even with?: TIE.

34. Spectrum maker: PRISM.

35. "Give Peace a Chance" collaborator: ONO.

36. Sam who created the "Evil Dead" franchise: RAIMI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

38. Actress Gadot: GAL - Two versions of Wonderwoman

Linda Carter            Gal Gadot

39. Beside: ALONG.

41. Boggle pieces: DICE.

42. Indigestion relief: ANTACID.

44. Craft store purchase: YARN.

46. Setting for Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" song: BATHTUB - Millions are still sold today

48. Tuned to: SET AT - Growing up, we all had our radios SET AT the same five AM stations 590, 890, 1110, 1290 and 1620.

51. Metric prefix: CENTI.

52. Device in olive oil extraction: PRESS - Here's a low-tech one.

54. Big D pro: MAVericks 

56. "Little Miss Sunshine" Oscar winner: ARKIN - I'm pretty sure you can pick Alan out of this poster

57. Something a customer service professional might need to wear: FAKE SMILE.

59. Brother from France: FRERE - Didn't we all sing this in grade school?

60. A bit too excited: OVER EAGER.

61. Thornfield governess: EYRE - This 1847 first edition of Jane Eyre will run you $9,500.

    

                                  

62. Has a clear conscience: RESTS EASY.

Down:

1. Yellowstone National Park gateway city: CODY.

2. Stage awards: OBIES - Off Broadway

3. Sith title: DARTH.

4. Expert who wears a Star of Life emblem: Abbr.: EMT.

 

5. Internet Archive initiative: WAYBACK MACHINE - More info ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Some of us remember a very different version

6. Section in some alternative bookstores: OCCULT.

7. Spanish golfer Jon: RAHM - and family. Jon has left the 34. Tour gp.: PGA to play on the LIV tour.

8. Fall gracefully: DRAPE.

9. Field concerned with movers and shakers: SEISMOLOGY - Here's the earthquakes of the last 24 hours

10. Minor parish official: BEADLE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More

11. Puzzling: ENIGMATIC.

12. Falls behind: LOSES TIME.

13. Song and dance: ARTS.

15. Stylish and cozy garb: SWEATER DRESSES.

22. Boat pair: OARS.

24. Pal: BUD.

26. Defended: STOOD UP FOR.

28. Half of dodici: SEI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  At a 50% off sale, a dodici euro book would cost SEI euros

29. Common juice blend fruit: CRANBERRY.

30. Shell ship by the seashore: OIL TANKER - What a cute turn on the tongue twister "Sally sells sea shells down by the seashore".

32. Stop for the night: INN.

37. "__ No Sunshine": Bill Withers hit: AINT.

40. On: LIT.

43. Threads: ATTIRE.

45. State with confidence: ASSERT.

47. Intrepid: BRAVE.

49. Latina bestie: AMIGA.

50. Armistead Maupin's "__ of the City": TALES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

51. Garçon's employer: CAFE.

53. Just scrapes (by): EKES.

55. Rather: VERY.

58. Whitman who voices Tinker Bell: MAE - The Tinker Bell of my misspent youth did not speak.

Notes from C.C.:

RustyBrain (Brian) and I made today's USA Today puzzle. It's edited by Amanda Rafkin. Give it a whirl. It's Brain's first USA Today puzzle. 

Saturday, February 28, 2026, Zhou Zhang & Rafael Musa

 Saturday Themeless by Zhou Zhang & Rafael Musa

There was a lot to like and struggle with in Zhou and Rafa's wonderful puzzle that features pinwheel stacks of 8. My solving experience started on the SE edge of the pinwheel and rotated clockwise to the NE  where incredibly clued  BRA PAD and GOT OPEN finished the solve.

We have seen Rafa here quite often collaborating with others, especially Rebecca Goldstein. 

1. Superdome player: SAINT - I felt that knowing the Superdome is the home of the New Orleans SAINTS to be a good omen

6. Energy crisis?: BAD VIBES 

14. Some belly buttons: INNIES.

16. Result of doomscrolling, perhaps: BRAIN ROT - New to me but makes sense

 

17. Perform precisely: DO TO A T - 🤔 That hid for quite a while 

18. Maintain one's dignity: SAVE FACE.

19. Sanctions: ENABLES - Sanctions is a contronym where one definition can mean the exact opposite of another

21. Had no defense?: GOT OPEN 🤔 I assume this is when a football receiver GOT OPEN because the defense did not cover him.

22. Buggy site: DUNE.

23. SEC-regulated events: IPOS.

25. Farm worker: ANT.

26. M-W alternative: OED 🤔 - The Oxford English Dictionary can be an alternative to the Merriam-Webster version.

27. Surname of both founders of the fashion label The Row: OLSEN - They came to mind pretty quickly

29. Appears to point to: BODES - Seeing Rafa's name on a puzzle BODES that this could take some time!

31. Pan handler: OVEN MITT.

33. Animal with a white rump: ELK.

34. "A Court of Thorns and Roses," for one: ROMANTASY SERIES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  A portmanteau of ROMANce and fanTASY- Bill Maher did a recent monologue about this where he posits that the popularity of these books—which often feature intense, protective, supernatural male characters—stems from a sense of sexual or romantic unfulfillment among women in the modern world.

39. Apple product: PIE - It would be easier if clued this way: An apple product.

40. "You wanna fight!?": COME AT ME - 😡

41. Composer with a namesake horn: SOUSA

44. Ignored a scarecrow, perhaps: CAWED 😀

45. Take (down): JOT 😀

46. Reactions to stubs: OWS - Nothing to do with tickets 

47. Automaker Karl: BENZ.

48. Simple shelters: HUTS.

49. Left over, in a way: UNEATEN.

52. Pretend: ACT AS IF.

55. Pico de gallo, e.g.: RED SALSA.

57. Short person?: DEBTOR 😀 - If you're short of funds...

58. Suddenly gave way: CRUMPLED - We studied this bridge that eventually gave way and CRUMPLED into the Tacoma Narrows in physics class

59. Solution for wounds: SALINE.

60. Ingredient in carajillo and affogato: ESPRESSO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

61. En __: MASSE - East Germans exited en Masse when the Berlin Wall fell.

Down:

1. Something that might be right up one's alley: SIDE DOOR - A slight variation 

2. Nochevieja follower: ANO NUEVO - Spanish: 

Nochevieja (December 31st, Old Year's Night) is directly followed by Año Nuevo (January 1st, New Year's Day).

3. As one: IN TANDEM.

4. Weeping mother of Greek myth: NIOBE - I've planted a few of these NIOBE Weeping Willows.

5. Charlotte Hornets color: TEAL.

6. Not-so-big shots: BBS 😀

7. Catalonia neighbor: ARAGON.

8. Swiss host of the World Economic Forum: DAVOS.

9. "The Sympathizer" Pulitzer winner __ Thanh Nguyen: VIET ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

10. Skinny: INFO 😀

11. Push-up form?: BRA PAD.

12. Epoch whose name means "new dawn": EOCENE - The term highlights the "dawn" of modern mammalian fauna like horse, bats and whales around 40 million years ago following the extinction of the dinosaurs. You're Welcome. 

13. Artery inserts: STENTS.

15. Office building subdivision, for short: STE - Suite

20. Queen Latifah's "Nature of a __": SISTA.

24. Imaging technique: PET SCAN - Positron Emission Tomography

27. __ vincit amor: OMNIA - A proclamation in ink that Love Conquers All

28. Lo-cal: LITE.

29. Run: BLEED.

30. National vegetable of Pakistan: OKRA.

32. Quick outings?: NAPS 😀

33. "Hanna" star __ Creed-Miles: ESME - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Beautiful, young women with guns are standard TV and movie tropes these days.

35. "Holy cow!": YOWZA.

36. Unsatisfying response to "why?": IT JUST IS.

37. Love and hate: EMOTIONS.

38. Releases: SETS FREE.

41. Point of origin: SOURCE.

42. People with good deeds to their names?: OWNERS - This is a famous deed for a home in Memphis.

43. Finished: USED UP.

44. Perfumes during a rite: CENSES.

47. Quintet in London's Elizabeth Tower: BELLS - Big Ben is the largest of these five

48. "Se __ inglé": HABLA - English is spoken.

50. Video genre that may cause chills, for short: ASMR - Experience as much of this 3-hour example of eerie 

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

 as you like.

51. Box closer: TAPE.

53. S&L options: CDS.

54. Bears, e.g.: TEAM - They are threatening to move

56. Flap: ADO.