Saturday, February 14, 2026, Amanda Cook

Saturday Themeless by Amanda Cook 

 

Amanda is a music critic and digital editor who is a published crossword puzzle constructor that maintains a blog for refined sugar-free dessert recipes, and enjoys taking care of her growing collection of houseplants. Amanda lives in Minnesota with her husband Kenny, and together they enjoy hiking, playing board games, and cheering for the Cleveland Guardians. She added that she had certainly heard of C.C., had met her once and lives in a Minnesota city next to our lovely blogmistress.

Amanda had this to share with us after I asked her if SOCIAL BATTERY was a seed entry like BEIGE FLAG was for her last puzzle: 

Hi Gary! You’re correct about SOCIAL BATTERY! I’m very much an introvert, so I’m always conscious of mine when I’m out socializing. I also asked if my take on MINOR ROLE was right. She was shocked happy and replied, Yes!

 Across:

1. Grazing spots?: TAPAS BARS.

10. Classic Milwaukee brewer: PABST.

15. Holding back tears, perhaps: EMOTIONAL.

16. Cornmeal cake: AREPA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

17. Final act for a big star: SUPER NOVA 😀

18. Tiptoe: CREEP.

19. Phillies All-Star shortstop Turner: TREA - Here is TREA on the right with our cousin Alec Bohm from Omaha who plays third base next to him.

20. Salon sounds: SNIPS.

22. Squeaks (by): EKES.

23. Hermana de la madre: TIA - Mother's sister (Hermana de la madre) is my aunt (TIA).

25. Scoped out: CASED.

27. Resource that may be recharged with alone time: SOCIAL BATTERY - Amanda's seed entry is a metaphor for explaining how much energy a person has for socializing when recharging is necessary. What's your level today?

32. Alan Ladd Western: SHANE - In a 2005 poll, this was chosen as the 47th best movie line of all time.

34. Sphere: REALM - One sphere of influence has been decreased in size

35. Green shade: PEA.

36. 1990s fad item: POG - These were ubiquitous in my 90's classroom!

37. State gemstone of Minnesota: AGATE.

38. [Raises hand]: I AM.

39. Ferment, perhaps: AGE.

40. Cut back: PRUNE.

41. Alabama and Kansas: BANDS - One of them has a song whose music and lyrics are favs of mine:

43. Unapologetic self-promotion: SHAMELESS PLUG - Celebrities doing this are staples of the TV talk show business.

46. Infer: EDUCE.

47. "__ complicated": IT'S.

48. Big D cagers: MAVS.

49. David Oyelowo film set in Alabama: SELMA.

53. French head: TETE.

57. Covered in vines: IVIED.

59. Reason to cover a lot of ground quickly?: RAIN DELAY 😀

61. Come and go: RECUR.

62. Nonbillable work?: MINOR ROLE 😀 Harrison Ford's film debut was as a bellboy in Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round which was such a MINOR ROLE, his name did not appear on the bill.

           
 

63. Goomba, to Mario: ENEMY - An Italian word for friend came to become a derogatory for Italian-Americans.

64. Local cultural ecosystems: ART SCENES 😀

Down:

1. Exam: TEST.

2. River between Russia and China: AMUR.

3. Vatican City resident: POPE.

4. Carbo-loaded, say: ATE A TON.

5. Military address: SIR.

6. Art with a moyogi style: BONSAI - I thought it was Mr. Miyogi's BONSAI tree from Karate Kid but your humble blogger missed the fact that moyogi is not capitalized. It still would have worked. 🤔

7. Rando on a message board: ANON - Our ANONs on this site are not usually RANDOm

8. Sitarist Shankar: RAVI - He greatly influenced the Beatles, especially George Harrison, but did not play on any of their songs.

9. Give a hand?: SLAP - Anyone else CLAP first?

10. Campaign gp.: PAC.

11. Mesmerize: ARREST.

12. Sting operation?: BEEKEEPING 😀 

13. Cram for book club: SPEED READ.

14. Dances like Savion Glover: TAPS - Saturday cluing for a common word

21. Magnitude: SCALE - The magnitude of the space shuttle and the crawler taking it out to the launch pad is easier to see when you look at the trucks on the crawler way next to them.

24. Water cooler: ICE. 😀

26. Texter's "Currently": ATM - Today, At The Moment replaces our cash dispenser 

27. Words from a seasoned pro: SAGE ADVICE.

28. Engage in forensics: ARGUE.

29. Tilts: LEANS.

30. "Matlock" star: BATES - Kathy BATES stars in a reboot of the TV series made famous by Andy Griffith

31. Staple of Nigerian cuisine: YAMS.

32. Beauty spots: SPAS.

33. State of bliss: HOG HEAVEN - Talk about being happy! Humans might seek other avenues for a state of bliss. 

37. "Les Alyscamps" city: ARLES - A Roman necropolis in southern France. 

40. Burpee target: PEC

41. Club kin: BLT - My two favs!

42. Puritanical: AUSTERE.

44. Institution that may have a repatriation policy: MUSEUM - This happened in 2019

45. Moving challenges: PIANOS - The most famous PIANO movers that I'll wager most of us have seen in our "yute".

48. Wetland: MIRE.

50. Gospel singer Franklin: ERMA - Not Etta or Ella

51. Burrow: LAIR - As a noun

52. Bread maker: MINT - So many euphemisms for money

54. North Carolina college town: ELON - What a great athletic nickname.

55. Epic: TALE.

56. Emoji reaction to a hot take: EYES. 😳

58. Word with rub or run: DRY - Barbecue seasoning and a test 

60. Kinshasa's country, briefly: DRC - Its Atlantic Ocean shoreline is a little over 20 miles long.

Saturday, February 7, 2026, Amie Walker

 Themeless Saturday by Amie Walker

Amie Walker is an attorney/current stay-at-home parent to three little girls in Chandler, Arizona. When she’s not thinking about puzzles, she loves spending time with her family and singing in her women’s choir. Here is a picture of Amie on Jeopardy on 3/28/22. 

The bottom of this puzzle was an 

tough sledding for me where gaming slang, three obscure names and my not remembering the spelling of CAESAREAN and its "AE" grouping. 😖 Sigh, I had one bad cell but let's move on and I'll give you my other 45. Ponder: MUS(E)ings.

Across:

1. Franciscan philosopher who inspired the main character in "The Name of the Rose": OCCAM -

William of Baskerville, the protagonist of Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel, The Name Of The Rose,

 is a fictionalized, homespun homage to the real-life 14th-century philosopher William of OCCAM. He embodies OCCAM's "razor" principle, using logic, empiricism, and skepticism to solve mysteries, reflecting the transition from medieval dogma to modern scientific thought. You're welcome!

6. Nap spot: SOFA.

10. Bands that stabilize knees, for short: ACLS - The natural bands and not these

14. "Care to explain?": WHAT IS THIS.

16. Grand: THOU - Slang for thousand

17. Squeals: NAMES NAMES - Our crossword regular Elia Kazan NAMED NAMES at the McCarthy HUAC committee and Hollywood remembered.

18. Stubbs of the Four Tops: LEVI - Second from right

19. Nurse: SIP.

20. Utter: TOTAL.

21. Pointer from a proofreader: CARET.

22. Possible start of a folktale: LEGEND HAS IT.

24. Volga __: Turkic people in western Russia: TATARS.

27. Body work?: TATTOOS.

29. Celebrity gossip show: E-NEWS.

30. High kicks: HEELS - Kicks is slang for shoes, so...

32. Howe'er: THO.

33. Director Coogler: RYAN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

34. Ninny: GOOSE - I am prone to call our kitty a silly GOOSE

35. Jalopy: HEAP.

36. "Newhart" production co.: MTM and Rhoda, Lou Grant, WKRP, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, among many others. 

37. Guy who made one helluva deal?: FAUST - My first thought was not of Goethe but of the musical Damn Yankees where Joe Hardy sold his soul to beat those Damn Yankees.

Devil     Joe Hardy                        Lola

 38. Western Australian port: PERTH.

39. Like things?: SIMILES - I was very happy to enter SIMILAR first.

41. Lofty nests: AERIES.

42. Get drinks on tap, say? MOBILE ORDER  More

45. Be worthy of: MERIT.

46. Swear off?: BLEEP - Theater critic Kenneth Tyan was on BBC and is given credit for the first person TV to get BLEEPED. He innocently used the word f*** as a synonym for intercourse.

47. Young dog: PUP.

50. Some, in Spanish: UNAS - Le regalaré UNAS rosas rojas para el Día de San Valentín. (I will give her red roses for St. Valentine's Day)

51. Challenges for some gamers: BOSS LEVELS.

53. Some flatfish: SOLE.

54. Takeout deliveries?: CAESAREANS - I am still upset with myself for not knowing the odd spelling of CAESAREAN. It would have unlocked the stack of these three female names below I did not know: 

41. Writer __ Rogers St. Johns: ADELA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

43. Actress Elizabeth: OLSEN - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ She was in six of these movies and said it ruined her chance at other roles

44. Journalist Maria who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021: RESSA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  She won for her efforts in the The Philippines

55. Meadow moms: EWES.

56. Volcano seen on "The White Lotus": ETNA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

57. Fender guitar, for short: STRAT - Their ranges from $15,000 to $80,000.

Down:

1. __ up to: OWNS.

2. Masala __: CHAI.

3. Stay out for the night: CAMP.

4. Grabbed a bite: ATE.

5. Welcome patio features on a hot day: MISTERS - Awnings did fit but alas...

6. Washington, but not Jefferson: STATE - Forming a new state is largely a symbolic idea by people of northern California and southern Oregon who feel they are ignored by Sacramento and Salem.

7. "Sheesh!": OH MAN.

8. Real-world experiment: FIELD TEST - Farmers are constantly FIELD TESTING new methods in their, uh, fields.

9. Burro: ASS.

10. "Took you long enough": AT LAST - After waiting 86 years for Red Sox to win the World Series.

11. "SNL" alum who played a Spartan: CHERI OTERI.

12. Relish a paradoxical passion: LOVE TO HATE.

13. "__ yourself": SUIT.

15. Smooches in a lorry, say: SNOGS - or a quick kiss in a lift on the way up to a flat to watch the Beeb on the telly

21. Animals with righting reflexes: CATS.

22. Pink flamingo spot: LAWN.

23. "Veep" Emmy winner Tony: HALE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

24. Stretch-y things: TERMS - You can stretch these TERMS as long as you want as seen below. 

I also thought of our constructors stretching out TERMS for clever cluing 😀

25. "We don't have all day": ANY TIME NOW.

26. Magic spirit, say?: TEAM MORALE 😀 The NBA TEAM the Orlando Magic

28. Some on the JV squad: SOPHS.

30. Home on the water: HOUSE BOAT.

31. Lip balm brand: EOS.

34. "Coco" voice actor __ García Bernal: GAEL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

35. Title for Beethoven: HERR.

37. Move like a hummingbird: FLIT.

38. Eyes: PEEPERS - Jeepers, creepers...

40. Nile birds with curved bills: IBISES.

47. Cider choice: PEAR - This is also called Perry and is made from fermented pears

48. Radius neighbor: ULNA.

49. "C'mere!": PSST.

51. Dating letters: BCE.

52. Lab doc: VET. 😀