L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Michael Hobin

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Nov 10, 2025

Monday November 10, 2025 Michael Hobin

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with Michael Hobin's second LAT puzzle. His first one was published on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

Theme:

Here are today's themed clues and answers:

17 Across. Superhero nemesis, often: EVIL GENIUS.

I thought of Gru from the Despicable Me movies.
He is a supervillain. Is that the same thing?

24 Across. Massive dark spots in outer space: BLACK HOLES. NASA's Black Hole Basics

38 Across. Place for a "No Trespassing" sign: PRIVATE PROPERTY.

49 Across. William S. Burroughs work: NAKED LUNCH. goodreads link

The reveal:

62 Across. Unexpectedly enlightening, and what can be found at the starts of 17-, 24-, 38-, and 49-Across: EYE-OPENING.

Each of the OPENING (first) words of the themed answers can be placed in front of the word EYE to create an in-the-language phrase. In doing so we now have: EVIL EYE, BLACK EYE, PRIVATE EYE and NAKED EYE. (For the last one, think, "Visible to the NAKED EYE".)

Works for me!

Let's take a look at what else Michael has for us:

Across:

1. __ rug: small carpet: AREA. Two weeks ago I posted a Dear Modern video about Feng Shui. This time he teaches us about AREA rugs (2:48 min.):

5. "Cool!": NIFTY. Nifty is an informal word that means "very good". Merriam-Webster says it was first used as an adjective in 1865.

10. St. Louis landmark: ARCH.

14. Player's set of cards: HAND. I liked this less-common definition of HAND.

15. Peter of "The Maltese Falcon": LORRE. [1904 - 1964]

(l. to r.) Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet

16. Spotlight moment in a concert: SOLO.

19. Antlered deer: STAG.

20. Radio, TV, newspapers, etc.: MEDIA.

21. RR stops: STNS. Railroad and Stations

23. Passports, e.g.: IDs.

28. Tapioca source: CASSAVA.

Tapioca comes from the roots.

31. Brewery kilns: OASTS. They are buildings used for drying the hops. They have cone-shaped tops.

34. Athletic gp. for the Blue Devils: ACC. Duke University is one of a group of schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

35. Egg cells: OVA.

37. "That is perfect!": LOVE IT.

If we change the I to a T, we'd have Lovett, as in Lyle. Here is his 1988 song, Give Back My Heart.

42. Move to a different folder, e.g.: REFILE.

43. Schoolyard game: TAG. I recently learned that "Touch And Go" is a backronym.

44. Suffix with percent: -ILE. Percent and percentile are easily confused. In the example below, Sam's test scores earn him a 70%. Because his scores are better than most of his classmates, he ranks in the 82nd percentile of his class.

45. Last Supper question from Judas: IS IT I.

46. Beards similar to Vandykes: GOATEES. Sometimes people confuse a GOATEE with a Vandyke beard. A Vandyke includes a mustache that is not connected to the chin beard. A true GOATEE is just the hair on the chin, with no mustache at all.

Uncle Sam sported a GOATEE but Dick Van Dyke did not.

53. Number of players in Connect Four: TWO. It is an elaborate tic-tac-toe-ish game.

55. New York canal: ERIE.

56. Virtuous: MORAL.

60. Partake of: HAVE. Think "food".

65. Celebrates birthdays: AGES. and 63-Down. Having celebrated many birthdays: OLD.

Today is the Marine Corps' 250th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Marines!

66. Large member of the violin family: CELLO. Are you curious what modern day cello music sounds like? This song is off of Clarice Jensen's new album released last month. Clarice also collaborated with Taylor Swift on two of Taylor's albums. her website

Unity ~ Clarice Jensen ~ 2025

67. Dollop: GLOB.

68. Swollen mark: WELT.

69. Swap: TRADE.

70. Email folder: SENT.

Down:

1. Throat-clearing sound: AHEM.

2. Glowing review: RAVE.

3. Oklahoma home of Vance Air Force Base: ENID.

4. Goes off script: AD-LIBS.

5. Div. for the Phillies: NLE. The Phillies won the National League East division this year.

6. Lithium-__ battery: ION.

7. Pat down at a security checkpoint: FRISK.

"down pat" LOVE IT!

8. Verified fact: TRUTH.

9. Binary type of question: YES/NO.

10. Donkey: ASS.

11. One that takes turns making dinner?: ROTISSERIE. This clue had a little misdirection with the meaning of turns.

12. Dressed (in): CLAD.

13. Leaves none for others: HOGS.

18. Fundraising fete: GALA.

22. Sailboat with one mast: SLOOP.

Sloop John B ~ The Beach Boys ~ 1966

This song was adapted from an old Bahamian folk song.

25. "Let's put it to __": "Show of hands": A VOTE. Speaking of 32-Down TITLE, this answer reminds me of Charles Grodin's memoir, It Would Be So Nice If You Weren't Here. In this case, the "you" is the indefinite article. Oh, well, sometimes that is what it takes to make a grid work.

26. Spelunking site: CAVE.

27. Roof projection: EAVE.

28. __ pants: calf-length garment: CAPRI.

29. Agricultural measures: ACRES.

30. Work of fiction considered for a Hugo or Nebula Award: SCI-FI NOVEL. Stellar fill!

The Hugo Awards are annual literary awards for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous year. They are voted on by fans. The Nebula Awards recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the U.S. They are voted on by writers. The 1965 book Dune is an example of a book that won both awards.

32. Book name: TITLE.  25 Beautiful Unique Book Titles What would you add to this list?

33. Eyelid sores: STYES. Easter Egg Alert!

36. Tending (to): APT.

37. Enter one's user name and password: LOG ON.

39. "La Dolce __": VITA. Translation: The Sweet Life. The quotation marks indicate it is a title. Wiki says it is a 1960 film by Federico Fellini. Here is the trailer. It looks like a wild ride!

40. Similar: ALIKE.

41. Prego competitor: RAGU. Both are spaghetti sauces.

47. Maker of rocket-powered roller skates, in cartoons: ACME.

48. Suits found on many a beach bum?: THONGS.

50. Not hunched over: ERECT.

51. Renovation project enthusiast, casually: DIYer.

52. "Futurama" captain with one eye and purple hair: LEELA. The first L could be troublesome here for solvers unfamiliar with both this character and the W. S. Burroughs book. The show's title tells us to expect nontraditional names so any guess from A to Z is possible for _EELA. Fortunately, the book title narrows it down a bit. The letters B, H, L, and P all had potential for _UNCH.

Leela of Futurama

53. Spring melt: THAW.

54. Salary: WAGE.

57. Agitate: RILE.

58. Short story writer?: ANON. The question mark indicates wordplay. On the surface, it looks like the clue is asking for the author of a short story. However, in this case short refers to a shortened form of the word ANONymous. Fun!

59. Pride parade inits.: LGBT.

61. Ballpark fig.: EST. figure and ESTimate ... not umpire

64. American writer Edgar Allan __: POE.

The grid:

👁 cannot believe we are finished. Looking forward to reading your comments below!

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 79th birthday to Husker Gary's loving wife Joann and her twin sister Joyce. Here they're with their mom Martha, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 100.

Nov 5, 2024

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 Michael Hobin

I'll Take Critters that might say "I Hop" for $1000, Alex.

19-Across. Venue where a fair trial is impossible: KANGAROO COURT. When I was a kid, I used to watch Captain Kangaroo hold Court with Mr. Greenjeans.

30-Across. Destinations for some bargain hunters: FLEA MARKETS.

40. Like a half-baked scheme: HARE BRAINED.

50-Across. Fried egg-and-bread breakfast dish: TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE. Toad-in-the-hole is a traditional British dish of sausages baked in Yorkshire pudding batter and typically served with onion gravy. The American version is an egg cooked into a cut-out in bread.

And the unifier:

64-Across. Breakfast chain known for flapjacks, or what the first part of 19-, 30-, 40-, or 50-Across might say?: IHOP. Also known as the International House of Pancakes.

Across:

1. Gyro bread: PITA.

5. Letters that start some URLs: HTTP. As in HyperText Transfer Protocol.

9. Sunny window spot for a cat: SILL.

13. Japanese noodle: UDON.

14. Toledo's lake: ERIE.

15. What "two" meant to Paul Revere: BY SEA. The British are coming! The British are coming! It's all about the ride of Paul Revere (Jan 1, 1735 ~ May 10, 1818).

Paul Revere was a silversmith by trade.

16. Barnes & Noble purchase: BOOK.

17. Levi's alternatives: LEEs. Levi Strauss (Feb. 26, 1829 ~ Sept. 26, 1902) revolutionized work pants in 1873. Henry David Lee (Dec. 9, 1849 ~ Mar. 15, 1928) established the HD Lee Mercantile Company in 1889. The company later went on to manufacture work clothing.

18. Map detail: INSET.

22. Mex. neighbor: USA.

24. Feedbag morsel: OAT.

25. Overnight flight: RED EYE.

26. Polite denial: NO, SIR.

28. Exchanges: SWAPS.

33. Fan setting: LOW.

36. "Ghostbusters" director Reitman: IVAN. Ivan Reitman (Oct. 27, 1946 ~ Feb. 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director, but he was born in Komárno, Czechoslovakia, now known as Slovakia. He also directed such movies as Kindergarten Cop, Dave and Twins.

37. 1990s fitness fad: TAE BO.

38. Peru's "City of Kings": LIMA. // and 60-Across. Highlander of ancient Peru: INCA.

39. Vietnamese New Year: TET. Tết, short for Tết Nguyên Đán. It is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar, which will fall on January 29, 2025 in the Gregorian calendar.

42. French cap: BERET.

43. Precipice: LEDGE.

44. "Star Trek" character whose first name is Hikaru: MR. SULU. The original Mr. Hikaru Sulu was portrayed by George Takei (b. Apr. 20, 1937).

47. Isn't without: HAS. Cute clue!

49. Not great: BAD.

54. "Give me the car keys": I'LL GO.

55. Ancient alphabetic character: RUNE.

56. Killer whale: ORCA.

59. Showers love (on): DOTES.

61. Private nonprofits: Abbr.: NGOs. As in Non-Governmental Organizations.

62. Admin. aide: ASS'T. As in an Assistant.

63. Gave the thumbs-up: OK'ED.

Down:

1. Trivia night venue: PUB.

2. Wedding promise: I DO.

3. Couldn't stand it anymore?: TOOK A SEAT. Another cute clue.

4. Crooner Paul: ANKA. Paul Anka (b. July 30, 1941) is another Canadian. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

5. Hägar the Horrible's wife: HELGA.

6. Special reward: TREAT.

7. Wedding cake layer: TIER.

8. Mexican money: PESO. Did you know that there are currently eight countries that use the peso, as its monetary unit? With the exception of the Philippines, the other countries are in the Americas: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Uruguay

9. Religious councils: SYNODS. The word comes from the Ancient Greek σύνοδος, which means assembly or meeting.

10. Time of the week?: ISSUE. Time is now a bi-weekly magazine. It published weekly until 2020, when it began to publish every other week.

11. Suspicious (of): LEERY.

12. Hot drink with foam art: LATTE.

15. Muscles shown off by muscle tees: BICEPS.

20. Standard: NORM.

21. Memorable speaker: ORATOR.

22. Ill-suited: UNFIT.

23. Find a solution for: SOLVE. Could you find a solution for all the clues in today's puzzle?

27. "The Vampire Diaries" actor Somerhalder: IAN. The Vampire Diaries was a supernatural teen drama television series that aired from 2009 until 2017. Ian Somerhalder (b. Dec. 8, 1978) portrayed one of the supernatural teens on the series even though he was in his 30 when the show ran. He was born in Covington, Louisiana.

28. Shooting sport with clay pigeons: SKEET.

29. NASA telescope launched in 2021: WEBB. The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. James Webb (né James Edwin Webb; Oct 7, 1906 ~ Mar. 27, 1992) was the Undersecretary of State during the Truman administration. In February 1961, he became the second Administrator of NASA.

31. Galloping: AT A RUN.

32. Like a steak with a very red center: RARE.

33. "Gift From the Sea" writer Anne Morrow: LINDBERGH. Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 ~ Feb. 7, 2001) was an aviatrix in her own right. She was also the wife of Charles Lindbergh.