Thursday January 15, 2026 Michael Hobin

Let's catch some Zs! 

Michael Hobin''s third LAT crossword uses an oversized 16x15 grid to accommodate four long themers plus a reveal.

39. "We're dressed the same!," or a phonetic feature of 18-, 25-, 51-, and 62-Across: TWINSIES. The homophone of the revealer is TWIN Zs, as in a pair of Zs, which all the themers have in common. Here's a pair of TWINSIES who also happen to be identical "cuzzins!"

18. Humvee or motor home, typically: GAS GUZZLER. Vehicles that get few miles-per-gallon, or even gallons-per-mile like this M1 Abrams tank driving through a neighborhood on its way to a gas station.

25. Cookies-and-cream Dairy Queen treats: OREO BLIZZARDS. Different sort of way to sneak our old fav OREO in to the puzzle, but I'll bet it tastes good!

51. Exciting points in time?: BUZZER BEATERS. These are successful last-second shots, usually in basketball, where the ball leaves the player's hands and time expires while it's traveling in the air.

62. Pi Day celebration, perhaps: PIZZA PARTY. Pi Day is March 14th, sometimes written 3.14, which happen to be the first three digits of the irrational number π. So, I guess PIZZA pies are in order (or on order!).

Pretty straightforward puzzle and all those Zs made for some interesting crosses without making me sleepy! Huzzah!

Across:

1. Pitiful cry: MEWL.

5. Treaty: PACT.

9. "__ the bag!": IT'S IN. Sometimes, these are "famous last words."

14. Many an April baby: ARIES. I'm an ARIES from late April in the cusp of Taurus, known as the Cusp of Power. I am all powerful! RightBrain says, "Great. Can you also unclog the sink?"

16. Dubliner's home: EIRE. EIRE is the Irish Gaelic name for Ireland.

17. Awaken: ROUSE. 

18. [theme]

20. Fruit in a fritter: APPLE. A fritter is a portion of meat, fruit or vegetables that have been battered and deep-fried. 

21. Caterer's heat source: STERNO.

22. Ace stat: ERA. An ace baseball pitcher has an Earned Run Average under 3.0. The league average is 4.50 based on the number of runs allowed during 9 innings, so the lower the better.

24. Listen to: HEED.

25. [theme]

29. Ski lodge drink: COCOA. Perfect for warming up après-ski.

32. Believes (in): HAS FAITH.

33. Golfer Jon who won the 2023 Masters Tournament: RAHM. Jon RAHM Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf League. He also won the 2021 U.S. Open.

34. [Finger over lips]: SHH. 🤫

35. Capt. Kirk crewmate: LT. SULU. Captain is abbreviated, therefore Lieutenant is too. I just saw George Takei on the Star Trek float in the Rose Bowl Parade celebrating 60 years since the first voyage of the Starship Enterprise. It drizzled in Pasadena, so he deployed an old-fashioned force field to stay dry.

38. Sashimi choice: AHI. AHI tuna.

39. [theme]

42. Smith and Jones sci-fi film: MIB. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones play the main characters in the science fiction film Men In Black, Agent J and Agent K, respectively. They could've used the common aliases Smith and Jones instead. 

43. Ball State University city: MUNCIE.

45. NBC founder: RCA. The National Broadcasting Company established the Radio Corporation of America as a subsidiary in 1926.

46. Willing: GAME.

47. Huge storage unit: TERABYTE. I wonder how many TERABYTEs this huge storage unit could hold?

50. Patron: DONOR.

51. [theme]

54. Home to billions: ASIA. But New York City is home to the most billionaires.

55. Four-sided figs.: SQS. Squares are four sided figures.

56. Obviously a fan of needlework?: TATTED. Great misdirect meaning tattooed, playing on the use of needles in tatting, which is making lace.

60. Many new drivers: TEENS. Like 28D: Jeremy in ZITS.

62. [theme]

65. Egypt's Mubarak: HOSNI. HOSNI Mubarak was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st prime minister from 1981 to 1982. 

66. Meeting proposal: IDEA.

67. Nobility: ELITE.

68. Execution key: ENTER. 

69. Half a salad grabber: TONG. I initially wanted a fork or spoon.

70. Oath of old: EGAD.

Down:

1. Periodicals, briefly: MAGS. Remember when all magazines were printed?

2. The "E" of QED: ERAT. From the Latin phrase Quod ERAT Demonstrandum meaning "that which was to be demonstrated" or proven.

3. Learned: WISE.

4. First-class feature: LEGROOM. I enjoy extra LEGROOM on planes, but seatbacks that reline into "my" space are a buzzkill.

5. Treat from a dispenser: PEZ. It is estimated that over 1500 unique designs were made. Collect them all! 

6. Feel unwell: AIL.

7. Angler baskets: CREELS. Wicker baskets for carrying fish.

8. "Totes fab!": TERRIF. One bad slang leads to another...

9. Tax efficient fund, for short: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

10. Headgear for Jiminy Cricket and Scrooge McDuck: TOP HATS. Jiminy Cricket and Scrooge McDuck famously interact in Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol, where Jiminy plays the Ghost of Christmas Past.

11. All-powerful: SUPERHUMAN. Me, as a result of being born during the Cusp of Power! Muahaha!!

12. Marooned, perhaps: ISLED. I never used this as a verb, and neither did Gilligan.

13. "Who __ them?": NEEDS. I do!

15. The Arkestra jazz band leader: SUN RA. SUN RA was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy and prolific output.

19. "Lioness" actress Saldaña: ZOE. The constructor needed someone with pizazz.

23. "Fancy" artist Iggy: AZALEA. And someone with frizzy hair.

26. Surprised greeting: OH HI.

27. German route: BAHN. Their AutoBAHN is equivalent to our interstate system, except some sections have no speed limit.

28. Comic strip about a high schooler: ZITS. ZITS centers on teenager Jeremy Duncan as he endures the insecurities, hormones and hilarity of adolescence.

29. Study feverishly: CRAM.

30. Honolulu locale: OAHU.

31. Most tacky and cheap: CHINTZIEST. It's definitely not snazzy!

34. Takes an oath: SWEARS.

36. Prom rental: LIMO. Prom is short for promenade while limousine is long for LIMO.

37. Company that succeeds by driving its customers away: UBER. Good one!

39. Hankook product: TIRE. Hankook is a major South Korean TIRE manufacturer.

40. Sp. miss: SRTA. A senorita is a Spanish miss.

41. "The Coldest Rap" rapper: ICE T.

44. "The Card Players" painter: CEZANNE. "The Card Players" is a series of five oil paintings by the French artist, one of which sold in 2011 for $250 million. Got any 5s?

46. Age badly, in a way: GO STALE.

48. Grill master's spot: BBQ PIT. A place to sizzle!

49. "That's true about me": YES I DO. I wanted YES IT IS.

50. Hang over: DRAPE.

51. Get into hot water: BATHE. Fun clue.

52. Apply to: USE ON.

53. GPS calculation: ETA. The Global Positioning System can provide an Estimated Time of Arrival.

57. Subj. where teachers go off on tangents?: TRIG. In the subject of TRIGonometry, the tangent function relates the angles and sides of a right-triangle, as seen in this simple diagram:

58. Blues Hall of Famer James: ETTA. 

59. Like the Chicago River on March 17: DYED. That's St. Patty's Day so I wanted "green," but it didn't fit. 

61. Round Table title: SIR.

63. __ garden: ZEN. A little Z word.

64. Take a turn?: ZAG. And a final Z.

The quizzing has ended. Were you dazzled, or did this fizzle? 

Be good. RB 

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.