Monday December 15, 2025 Doug Peterson

  

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's puzzle comes to us from the prolific constructor Doug Peterson. The theme is:  

We'll begin with the themed clues and answers:

17 Across. *"Tennessee Waltz" singer: PATTI PAGE.  [1927-2013]  Patti's version was released in 1950. I like how the song itself is a waltz.

24 Across. *Bottoms worn as loungewear: PAJAMA PANTS.  

They're certainly cozy, but are they a smart choice for the airport?

40 Across. *Maneuvering into a tight curbside spot: PARALLEL PARKING.  This was not a requirement when I took my driving test. I can do it but it makes me nervous. I'd rather walk a couple of blocks. 

 51 Across. *Wide receiver's route: PASS PATTERN.  

Football fans already know this; but for those of you who do not ...
The guys with the yellow helmets are on offence.
The two guys I circled in red are wide receivers. 
The WRs will run their PASS PATTERNs (See the yellow and black arrows.)
 and the QB will throw the ball to whoever is open.
Did you catch that?

The unifier:

65 Across. Paul Reiser sitcom, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues: MY TWO DADS.  My Two Dads was a TV sitcom that ran on NBC from 1987 to 1990. It is about a 12-year old girl whose mother dies and gives joint custody to two men whom she dated the summer she got pregnant. The girl's paternity was never revealed on the show. 

Paul Reiser is on the left.

I clocked the P* P* theme early -- or so I thought -- and eagerly looked forward to discovering what the unifier would be. As it turns out, I had failed to notice the A's next to the P's. The real gimmick is that all of the theme entries are in the pattern of PA*  PA*. 

PA is a synonym for "father". (Think of Laura Ingalls Wilder's father.) Putting together two PAs give us PA & PA or TWO DADS. Works for me!

Here are the remaining clues & answers:

Across:

1. First name of singers Levine and Lambert: ADAM.  

Levine (l.) [b. 1979] is known for being in the band Maroon 5
and for being a coach on The Voice.
Lambert (r.) [b. 1982] was a runner-up on Season 8 of American Idol.

5. Young fellows: LADS.  

Do you remember these LADS?
Hint:  That is Higgins in the middle.

9. Common merch table purchase: SHIRT.

14. Drop-down list: MENU.  Think "computers".

15. Many times: A LOT.

16. Brooklyn's __ Island: CONEY.  In 1867 Charles Feltman invented the hot dog at Coney Island. Learn more here:  Timeline of Coney Island (1609-1985)

This couple is riding the Brooklyn Flyer in Luna Park on Coney Island.

19. Open, as a vitamin bottle: UNCAP.  

20. Narrow openings: SLITS.

21. Shopping complex: MALL.  This time of year, it is where you can find Santa.  

23. Stack starter in solitaire: ACE.  I am particularly partial to alliterative clues.

28. "Quite possibly": IT MAY BE.  "Maybe" as one word, came easily. However, sussing the three-word answer took more thinking.

32. "Meant to tell you" shorthand: BTW.  By The Way

33. Honey liquor: MEAD.  Def.:  (noun) a fermented beverage made of water, honey, malt, and yeast.

34. In-flight figs.: ETAS.  figures and Estimated Times of Arrival

37. Island where "NCIS: Hawai'i" is set: O'AHU.  This is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands but it is also the most populated. The state's capital, Honolulu, is on O'AHU. About 70% of the state's population lives on this island.  

44. Brand that sells Braille Bricks: LEGO.  Braille Bricks are a play-based methodology that teaches braille to children who are blind or have a visual impairment. Cool beans!  

45. Paper quantity: REAM.

46. Finishes: ENDS.  

47. Source of sheep's milk: EWE.  

49. Put trust in: COUNT ON.  

Count von Count from Sesame Street 

56. Spigoted vessel: URN.  

This URN catches rainwater.

57. Cookie used in many desserts: OREO.  

recipe

58. Marisa of "The Big Short": TOMEI.  This is the trailer for that 2015 movie. Marisa did not make it into the trailer -- unless that is her at 1:35???  

63. Heat's home city: MIAMI.  I like this team's name because it suggests, "Bring on the heat," plus it fits the region's weather. As of this writing, the forecast for today is 78° F with a chance of rain.

68. "Evita" surname: PERON.

69. Bosc, for one: PEAR.  

(l. to r.)  Anjou, Asian, Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, and Seckel

70. Foreboding sign: OMEN.  Some of you know that I'm a fan of Rhett Miller's wordplay in his song lyrics. This one fits:

Old 97's     ~     Curtain Calls     ~     1997

"I don't believe in cards, I don't believe in signs.

But I'll be leavin' soon, I'm here tonight."  🎵🎵  

71. Dozed: SLEPT.

72. Avant-garde: EDGY.  

73. Monopoly payment: RENT.

Down:

1. Concert boosters: AMPS.  Not people raising money to support the event but equipment to boost up the noise level.

2. Hand out cards: DEAL.  Think "casino DEALer".

3. Not for: ANTI.

4. Mixed-breed pooch: MUTT.  National Mutt Day encourages us to embrace, save, and celebrate mixed breed dogs twice a year on July 31 and December 2. If you've ever known one then you know they are ready to be your best friend. 

5. Once around a skating rink, e.g.: LAP.

6. Pie __ mode: À LA.  

7. Religious doctrine: DOGMA.  This is sort of random, but I was trying to think of Avril Levigne for 1-Across, ___ Levine and I sometimes mix her up with Alanis Morrisette who played God in the 1999 Kevin Smith movie Dogma.  

8. "Full __ ahead!": STEAM.  This phrase means to move forward with as much speed or energy as possible.  

Titanic    ~    1997    ~    1:11 min.

9. Artist with a chisel: SCULPTOR.  

Michelangelo's David is 17 ft. (5.17 meters) tall.

10. Sweetie: HON.

11. Like Machu Picchu: INCAN.

12. Blink, say: REACT.  The blink reflex is an involuntary action to protect the eye.

13. Strikes keys: TYPES.

18. "__ with my little eye ... ": I SPY.  This is a children's guessing game.

22. Chemist's workplace: LAB.  

25. Eve's second son: ABEL.  

Cain was a farmer. Abel was a shepherd.
They had to work because their parents were expelled from 61-Down.

26. 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Derek: JETER.  [b. June 26, 1974]  his Hall of Fame page  

Side note:  I noticed that Doug also put JETER in his grid last Tuesday. (See Hahtoolah's helpful commentary for 31-Down.) I am wondering if this was a coincidence or if Doug is a fan and assigned JETER a high word score in his constructing dictionary. 🤔

27. Rouse from slumber: AWAKEN.  

28. Devilish kid: IMP.

29. Greenish-blue color: TEAL.

30. Stallion's mate: MARE.  A MARE is a female horse of breeding age.

31. Wise old sayings: ADAGES.  From the Grammar Girl podcast:  ADAGES are similar to maxims. Both are often metaphorical, and both are rooted in universal truth. But adages are primarily distinguished by their age and traditional quality. In fact, many people consider the phrase "an old adage" to be redundant since adages are, by definition, traditional sayings.

For those of you who want to do a deep dive into the difference between proverbs, maxims, adages, dictums, and truisms, this is the episode link. Start at 7:50.

35. Taproom drink: ALE.

36. The "S" of NASA: SPACE.  National Aeronautics and Space Administration  

NASA was established in 1958 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

38. Helpful suggestion: HINT.  

39. "Go back!" computer command: UNDO.     and     50 Across. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO.

41. Darkest hour: LOW POINT.  Also, Death Valley National Park is America's hottest, driest and lowest national park. Its LOW POINT in Badwater Basin is 282 ft, (85.5 meters) below sea level.

42. "__ Prohibido": 1994 Selena hit: AMOR.  [1971-1995]  Born Selena Quintailla, Selena was a Grammy-winning American performer who achieved huge success in the Latin music world before her tragic murder by the president of her fan club. I did not know the song but I did feel comfortable guessing the Spanish word for "love".

43. Channel with "Press Your Luck" reruns: GSN.  Game Show Network

48. Knack for music: EAR.  This definition of EAR is a sensitivity to musical tone and pitch.  

51. Machines at gas stations: PUMPS.  I overthought this one until a perp appeared.

52. Disney princess with red hair: ARIEL.  The font is spelled arial. Memory trick:  shE has an E.

53. Entrap: SNARE.

54. City near Phoenix: TEMPE.  Tempe is 10.3 mi. (6.4 km.) east of Phoenix.  some ideas for things to do in Tempe

55. Fiddled around (with): TOYED.

59. Scent: ODOR.

60. Broadway "Auntie": MAME.

61. Old Testament garden: EDEN.  Luckily for us, the internet never runs out of EDEN comics.

62. "My heart just __ in it": ISN'T.  ...said the Tin Man to Dorothy.

64. Messy head of hair: MOP.  From wikiHow (updated last week):

Also called the “mop top,” the wet mop haircut is a messy, medium-length cut with parted fringe. It was popularized by The Beatles and Justin Bieber, but it has recently resurfaced in popularity thanks to TikTok.  

66. Graffiti signature: TAG.  Perhaps one of the most famous graffiti artists is Banksy. This 1:03 min. video tells a fun Banksy story. In the TV show The Outlaws a major plot point in the finale involves Christopher Walken's character painting over an original Banksy artwork -- for real!!

 

67. Amusingly ironic: WRY.  See the Christopher Walken scene above.

The grid:  

Well, that was my two cents. You can add yours in the comments below.

Have a great week, everyone!

Monday December 8, 2025 Brian Gubin

  

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Today's theme is:  

This is constructor Brian Gubin's third LAT puzzle. We'll begin with the three themed clues and answers:  

18 Across. Sleuth for hire: PRIVATE EYE.  

28 Across. Important tool in weather prediction: DOPPLER RADAR.  This was my favorite of the three themers.  DOPPLER RADAR is named for the DOPPLER effect, which is named for Austrian physicist Christian Doppler [1803-1853]. He was "the first to describe how the observed frequency of light and sound waves is affected by the relative motion of the the source and the detector."

National Science Foundation info. about DOPPLER RADAR  

49 Across. Tour guide off the coast of Washington or Maine, e.g.: WHALE WATCHER.  

And now for the reveal:

62 Across. "Sounds about right," and what can be said about 18-, 28-, and 49-Across: THAT TRACKS.  This phrase means that something matches what one would expect it to be.

Also, the three themed answers all TRACK something. That is, they follow the trail of something with the intention of making a discovery. Works for me!

Next we'll follow the remaining clues:

Across:

1. Advertising award named for a Greek goddess: CLIO.  Clio was one of the nine muses. She was known as "the proclaimer, glorifier, and celebrator of history, great deeds, and accomplishments."

Clio on an antique fresco from Pompeii.

5. "It __ me to say ... ": PAINS.  

10. Apex: ACME.  

14. Rather wealthy: RICH.  

Pink Floyd     ~     Money     ~     1973

Hi unclefred!

15. Sound that clears a path in traffic: SIREN.  This made me think of carriage dogs. They were bred to trot alongside the horses pulling a carriage, both for protection and to help clear the path with their barking -- like a SIREN. Dalmatians were good at this so they were used for fire carriages.  

16. Alum: GRAD.  alumnus and GRADuate

17. Reddit Q&As: AMAS.  Ask Me Anythings  

From the reddit website:  It is an event where creators, celebrities, public figures, or regular folk with interesting experiences or specific knowledge, and the like can answer any questions the general public has within a certain timeframe. 

20. Heaven-sent food: MANNA.     and     22-Across. "For heaven's __!": SAKE.

23. Cargo weight: TON.

24. Binder flaps: TABS.  

26. Michael C. Hall crime drama with a "Resurrection" sequel series: DEXTER.  The original Dexter series consisted of 8 seasons on Showtime (2006-2013). The Resurrection sequel series premiered on July 11, 2025.

32. Tech sch. in upstate New York: RPI.  Technical school and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It is a private research university in Troy, New York. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere.

33. Sicilian volcano: ETNA.     and     64-Down. Hawaii's Mauna __: KEA.

34. Rests one inside another: NESTS.  

38. Curved paths: ARCS.  

40. Like the bottoms of beach house pools, often: SANDY.

43. Aching: SORE.

44. Youngsters: TYKES.

46. "Pop! __ the Weasel": GOES.

48. Teeny-tiny: WEE.

53. Upload a new version to the cloud, say: RESAVE. to SAVE again, often in the same location  

55. __ Lee desserts: SARA.  

56. Long, slithery fish: EEL.  How long? This spotted moray EEL can grow up to 6.6 ft. (2 meters).  

I like how the inside of its mouth matches the outside. 

57. Storm relief org.: FEMA.  organization and Federal Emergency Management Agency

The FEMA website has some good winter weather preparedness tips.

59. "And yet ... ": BUT NO.  Thank you, perps!

66. Salon sound: SNIP.  ✂

Now, if the clue had been "Barbershop sound", we might have something like this video:  

67. "Toodles": TA-TA.  Both are casual ways of saying 'goodbye'.

68. Unkind smile: SNEER.  

69. Vocal quality: TONE.     and     31-Down1. Singer's span: RANGE.

70. Aid and __: ABET.  

71. Writing class writing assignment: ESSAY.  I recently came across this newspaper clipping from when I won a writing class assignment (but not for an ESSAY). I was in the 6th grade. My teacher was proud that my handwriting was so neat that they did not re-type it for the newspaper. (Taking notes in college later destroyed my handwriting.)

72. Graceful long-necked bird: SWAN.  SWANs are large birds. Just how large are they? The trumpeter swan is tenth on this list of 55 bird species ranked by size. They are about the same size as a Great Blue Heron but weigh 20 pounds (9 kg.) more. Mute swans are about a foot shorter than trumpeter swans. BTW, the collective nouns for SWANs is bevy, flock, game, lamentation, or wedge.

comparing a trumpeter swan (l.) to a mute swan (r.)

Down:

1. Hit the books hard: CRAM.  Think, "CRAM for a test".

2. Peruvian city founded as Ciudad de los Reyes: LIMA.  Translation:  City of the Kings

Last Monday we learned that LIMA is the eponymous city for the beans.

3. "Both options are too good to take just one": I CAN'T PICK.   

Watch this 18 sec. video to see how a family's dog helped to PICK their baby's name.

@beaunosebones Who knew choosing a tennis ball could be this hard! #fyp #foryoupage #dogsoftiktok #namereveal ♬ Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez

4. "Sick burn!": OH SNAP.  an ESSAY on the origin of OH SNAP  

5. Bygone handheld game console, for short: PSP.  Handheld is supposed to be a hint that the answer is PlayStation Portable ... but I was still clueless. Sony released PSP in N. America in 2005. The introductory price was $250.

6. Balloon filler: AIR.  "Helium" is too long.

7. Early spring flower: IRIS.  

8. The Silver State: NEVADA.  This nickname is a reflection of silver's importance to Nevada's history and economy.  In 1859, two miners Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin discovered silver near Virginia City. Twenty thousand people followed, hoping to strike it rich. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864.

Do we have any Cornerites from Nevada?

9. Created a serpentine path: SNAKED.  

10. Sit in the cellar, perhaps: AGE.  Speaking of AGE, our part-time Wednesday blogger JazzBumpa has a new one today. Happy birthday, JzB!!  

11. Most populous Greek island: CRETE.  It is also the largest Greek island. As of this writing, the weather forecast for CRETE for today is 55-65°F with rain showers.

12. Big city bigwig: MAYOR.  When I was growing up, my dentist was our MAYOR. Yes, we had fluoridated water.  

13. Genesis garden: EDEN.  

19. Houston resident, for one: TEXAN.  Houston residents reside in the most populated city in Texas and the fourth most populated city the U.S.   more data

21. Up to the challenge: ABLE.

25. Tennis match units: SETS.  Ah yes, the bewildering world of tennis scoring! A SET consists of at least six games, but it can be more than six because the winner has to win by at least two games. For example a win of 6 to 0 means they played six games; a win of 6 to 4 means they played ten games; and a win of 7 to 5 means they played 12 games. In the last example, they were probably at 6 to 5 but they had to play another game so someone could win by two games. A match is usually the best out of three SETS.

Did I say that right, Big Easy?

27. Uno, dos, __: TRES.

28. "Fiddlesticks!": DRAT. These two expressions of frustration share the same vibe.  

Dick Dastardly and Muttley (8 sec.)

"Drat! Drat! Drat! and a double drat!"

29. The Grand Ole __: OPRY.

30. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA.

35. "Where do we go from here?": SO WHAT NOW.  

36. __ frog: TREE.  Tree frogs are a diverse family of amphibians that includes over 800 species. Not all tree frogs live in trees. Rather, the feature that unites them has to do with their feet—the last bone in their toes (called the terminal phalanx) is shaped like a claw. Tree frogs also have toe pads to help them climb and many have extra skeletal structures in their toes. Tree frogs can be a variety of colors, but most of the species found in the United States are green, gray, or brown. Some of them, like the squirrel tree frog (Hyla squirella), are chameleon-like in their ability to change color.  <source>  

red-eyed tree frog

37. Visionary: SEER.  Hear, hear! Steer clear if your SEER SNEERs!

39. Uses needle and thread: SEWS.

41. The "D" of DJIA: DOW.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tracks thirty of America's biggest and most established companies, acting like a quick temperature check of the U.S. economy.  more from Investopedia

42. Pro votes: YEAS.

45. Elevator passage: SHAFT.  

47. Attempt: STAB.  as in "Let me take a STAB at it"

50. Opposed (to): AVERSE.  Do not vote YEA if you are AVERSE to the proposal.

51. French city known for a 24-hour car race: LE MANS.  While I'm not the sort of person who would know about car races, this one was in the punchbowl.

The Le mans 24h race takes place on a ~8.5 m. (13.6 km) circuit. All teams must rotate three drivers through the car during the race, with no single driver behind the wheel for more than 14 hours in total. They cleverly schedule it in June on one of the shortest nights during the year. The winner is the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. There are different categories, but just to give you a rough idea, one of this year's winners managed 387 laps.

52. Sandwich leftovers on many a kid's plate: CRUSTS.  Were you ever told by an adult that the CRUSTS are the healthiest part of your sandwich? The jury is still out on this one. A 2002 study found that bread CRUST contained more cancer-fighting antioxidants than bread crumbs. Then another report said the extra heat that forms the CRUST may form a carcinogenic chemical.  Read more here.  

crusty bread

53. Postop therapy: REHAB.

54. Make happy: ELATE.  

56. Jazz great James: ETTA.

58. Las Vegas WNBA team: ACES.  

60. Singer Simone: NINA.  [1933-2003]  She was known as "the high priestess of soul".  National Women's History Museum page

61. "__ sesame!": OPEN.  

63. Skin pic: TAT.   If you are thinking of getting a TATtoo, you might want to consult this picture showing the areas of the body that will hurt the most.

65. Texter's "My bad": SRY.  sorry

The grid:  

That's all for today. I gotta go catch a train!  

Note from C.C.:

As Renee mentioned earlier. today is the birthday of dear Jazzbumpa (Ron), our faithful and cool Wednesday Sherpa. Ron never fails to entertain us with his humor and wits.