Monday, August 24, 2026, Janice Luttrell

Theme:  You Gotta Have Soul

Crossword constructor Janice Luttrell frequently brightens our Monday mornings.  Today it took a little soul searching to grasp her theme.  Janice revealed it here:

66-Across. Ideal partners, and what can be found at the ends of 17-, 24-, 40-, and 52-Across?: SOUL MATES.  A person with whom you share a deep and natural connection is a soulmate and an ideal partner.  The words at the end of the cited entries are also MATES for the word SOUL.

17-Across. Fix for torn jeans, perhaps: KNEE PATCH.  SOUL PATCH -- the bit of facial hair beneath a man's lower lip.

Billy Bob Thornton rocks a soul patch.

24-Across. Foil-wrapped chocolate drop: HERSHEY'S KISS.  SOUL KISS -- an old fashioned term for a kiss involving the tongue.

40-Across. Gets a single, double, triple, and home run in one game: HITS FOR THE CYCLE.  SOULCYCLE -- a fitness company that offers indoor cycling workout classes.  It would have helped this blogger to know that in baseball, hitting for the cycle is when a single batter hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game.

52-Across. Accept unintended consequences: FACE THE MUSIC.  SOUL MUSIC -- a musical style dating to the late 1950s, with roots in African American culture. 

SOUL PATCH, SOUL KISS, and SOULCYCLE seemed a little obscure for a Monday theme.  Happily, SOUL MUSIC convinced this blogger that she had found the SOUL MATES.

And the beat goes on ...

Across:

1. "Dancing Queen" pop group: ABBA.  The lead single from ABBA's fourth studio album, Arrival, released in 1976.

5. "Wish I was there!" anxiety, for short: FOMO.  Fear Of Missing Out.

9. Department store chain headquartered in New York's Herald Square: MACY'S.

14. Crystal ball gazer: SEER.

15. Not of the clergy: LAIC.

16. Anticipate: AWAIT.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Dried beef snack: JERKY.

20. Small brawl: SET-TO.  I've seen this noun in literature, but never heard it IRL:  "Dad had a bit of a set-to with the neighbors about their loud music."

21. "Copperhead Road" singer Steve: EARLE.  "Copperhead Road" is a 1988 album by singer-songwriter Steve Earle.  The title track is about a young man from a moonshine making family who comes home from Vietnam, plants marijuana, and suffers flashbacks to the war when DEA helicopters search for illegal crops.

23. Near-failing grade: DEE.

24. [Theme clue]

27. Election season event: DEBATE.

30. Driver's approx.: ETA.  Estimated Time of Arrival.

31. Mined find: ORE.

32. Cartoon explorer with a talking backpack: DORA.  We talked a little about Dora the Explorer in this space two weeks ago.

36. "No big deal": IT'S OK.

40. [Theme clue]

44. Hay fever sound: ACHOO.  

45. Unwelcome campground visitor: BEAR.

46. Do some sums: ADD.

47. __ Angeles Sparks: LOS.   The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association, with home games at Crypto.com Arena.

49. Loves a bunch: ADORES.

52. [Theme clue]

58. Abbreviation on a toothpaste box: ADA.  An ADA-approved toothpaste has the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance.

59. Mexican coins: PESOS.

60. Many a Chopin piano piece: ÉTUDE.  An étude (French for "study") is a short musical composition designed to provide practice on a particular instrumental skill.

64. Phi Beta __: KAPPA.  Phi Beta Kappa (ΦΒΚ) is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, dating back to 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

66. [Theme clue]

68. Everglades wader: EGRET.  The Everglades is a subtropical wetland ecosystem in South Florida, and is home to the Great Egret, the Snowy Egret, the Cattle Egret, and the Reddish Egret.

I took this photo of a Snowy Egret in Venice, Florida.
Check out the yellow feet!

69. Jai __: fast-moving court game: ALAI.  Jai alai originated in the Basque area of Spain.  It's a form of handball that uses a wicker basket, worn like a glove, to catch and throw the ball.  I attended a jai alai game in Mexico City in the early 1970s and found it thrilling.  The ball moves very fast.

70. Competes (for): VIES.

71. Get to, as a destination: REACH.

72. Ivy League school in New Haven: YALE.

73. Baby-voiced red Muppet: ELMO.

Down:

1. Inquires: ASKS.

2. "Molto __": "Very good," in Italian: BENE.  How are you?  Very well.  Come stai?  Molto bene.  Easy to see the Latin root of our English "benefit," "benevolent," "benefactor," etc.

3. Red root vegetable: BEET.

4. "Respect" singer Franklin: ARETHA.  The Queen of SOUL!

5. St. Pete's st.: FLA.  St. Petersburg is in the Tampa Bay area on the gulf coast of Florida.  An abbreviation in the clue tells you that there will be an abbreviation in the answer.

6. Hall's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame partner: OATES.  Daryl Hall and John Oates formed their musical duo in Philadelphia in 1970.  They wrote most of the songs they performed.

7. Old Testament book after Jonah: MICAH.  The twelve minor prophets of the Hebrew bible are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.  Micah prophesied from approximately 740 to 698 BCE, warning of the destruction of Jerusalem, which came to pass in 586 BCE.

8. Autumn colour: OCHRE.  The yellow/gold/burnt orange color of ochre is reminiscent of autumn leaves.

An ochre autumn scene.

9. Magnificent: MAJESTIC.

10. Bowl over: AWE.

11. Rapper __ B: CARDI.  Cardi B released her first studio album, Invasion of Privacy, in 2018, and with it, became the first solo female artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.  Here's a hit single from the album:  

12. "Yowza!": YIKES.  Or, a reaction to Cardi B's more recent looks.

Cardi B

13. Eyelid sores: STYES.

18. Ode writer: POET.

22. Caustic chemical: LYE.

25. Upgrade, as decor: REDO.

26. "Teenage Dream" singer Perry: KATY.  Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008, launching a stream of pop hits and industry acclaim. This might have been a bitter pill for her fanatically religious parents who fostered her singing for the sake of the church choir.  Teenage Dream is another song in a similar vein.  This one is just more fun:

27. Capital of Qatar: DOHA.  On the Persian Gulf.

28. "The Little Mermaid" prince: ERIC.  Disney gave the prince a name and made him a hero.  In the story by Hans Christian Andersen, the prince never recognized the mermaid's love and sacrifice for him.

Ariel and Eric in Disney's The Little Mermaid, 1989  

29. "Little Women" sister of Meg, Jo, and Amy: BETH.  The four sisters whose lives are the subject of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869.

33. Poetic sphere: ORB.  Not that an orb is poetic, but it is a poetic word for a sphere.

34. Numbered hwy.: RTE.  The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes) is a network of roads and highways in a nationwide grid.  Most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered.

U.S. Route 1

35. "Eureka!": AHA.  "Eureka" means "I have found it" in ancient Greek.

37. Injury reminder: SCAR.

38. Merrie __ England: OLDE.  This phrase dating to back to the Middle Ages conjures a utopian rural past -- much nicer in retrospect than the actual experience of living "at the mercy of disease and the weather ... with money to burn today from the sale of a bumper crop, plunged into debt tomorrow because of harvest failure."  [J. H. Hexter, On Historians (London 1979) p. 155 -- per Wikipedia]

39. Sneaker brand since 1916: KEDS.

These Keds would have been cute in Merrie Olde England --
but my mom would have bought the plain navy knockoffs even then.

41. One and only: SOLE.

42. Walking trail: FOOTPATH.

43. Timeline units: ERAS.

48. That lady: SHE.

50. Day, in Latin: DIEM.  Familiar from the fixed daily allowance or "per diem" that employers may grant to traveling employees.  My father worked with a "per diem" allowance on his research grants.

51. Eight-note interval: OCTAVE.

52. Fraud: FAKER.

53. Pithy bit of wisdom: ADAGE.

54. "It's a Wonderful Life" director Frank: CAPRA.  Born in Italy, Frank Capra was raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, and became a film director, producer, and screenwriter, creating major award winning films of the 1930s and 40s.  He won three Academy Awards for Best Director.  Films you may have seen include It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It's a Wonderful Life.

Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart
on the set of It's a Wonderful Life

55. Writing class assignment: ESSAY.

56. Simoleons: MOOLA.  Simoleon is slang for dollar.  First recorded around 1881, it likely mixed the old British slang "simon" (for a sixpence coin) with "Napoleon" (a French gold coin).  More recently, simoleons have been the fictional currency used in the SimCity and The Sims video games.

57. Typical: USUAL.

61. Gas or elec.: UTIL.  Gas and electric services are utilities.  

62. Consider to be: DEEM.

63. Gas brand in Canada: ESSO.

65. Chest muscle, for short: PEC.  Pecs are for tall people, too.

Arnold Schwarzenegger proves the point.

67. Fib: LIE.  No lies here!  Just the straight dope.

Here's the grid:

Solvers, 

Which of you ADORES this puzzle?  Who calls it MAJESTIC?

Do you DEEM it to be the USUAL fare for Monday?

Write me an ESSAY in the comments!

-- NaomiZ

Monday, August 17, 2026, Kelly Morenus

Theme:  Get back!

back-to-back meerkats

Constructor Kelly Morenus has authored four Friday puzzles in the New York Times, as well as one Saturday puzzle there.  She co-authored a puzzle in the LA Times on Saturday, November 8, 2025, with devilishly difficult co-constructor Erik Agard.  Today, Kelly's puzzle appears on Monday, the easy-peasy day of the week.  Let's see how that worked out.

Some solvers enjoy a puzzle where the theme is discernible and actually helps with the solve.  Yours truly found today's theme to be invisible until the big reveal.  That's OK, because some solvers like a theme that comes as a big surprise at the end.  The big reveal happened here:

58-Across. Consecutive, or a hint to what can follow the first parts and precede the second parts of 17-, 25-, 38-, 40-, and 49-Across: BACK TO BACK.  Let's break this down.  "Back-to-back" is a synonym for "consecutive."  Think of back-to-back meetings, one right after another.  That works.  Next, we look at the first and second parts of the cited entries, and see what happens when we stick "back" in there a couple of times ... back-to-back, so to speak.  Thus:

17-Across. Attraction in a neighborhood park: PLAYGROUND.  PLAYBACK / BACKGROUND.

25-Across. Illuminating item in an emergency kit: FLASHLIGHT.  FLASHBACK / BACKLIGHT.

38-Across. Phone history list: CALL LOG.  CALLBACK / BACKLOG.

40-Across. Fail to show up for: BLOW OFF.  BLOWBACK / BACK OFF.

49-Across. Outing for two couples: DOUBLE DATE. DOUBLE BACK / BACKDATE.

An elegant feature of the theme entries is their symmetrical placement in the grid.  Well done.

Across:

1. Magic: The Gathering fan's collection: CARDS.  Yours truly is not familiar with the collectible "Magic: The Gathering" cards, introduced in 1993.  Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, the game has attracted fifty million or more players.  

A game of Magic: The Gathering in process.

6. "You are __": map message: HERE.

10. Slugger Sammy: SOSA.  Sammy Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder.  He played in Major League Baseball for 18 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs.  He hit his 400th home run in his 1,354th game and his 5,273rd at-bat, reaching this milestone quicker than any player in National League history.  Sosa is one of nine players in MLB history to hit 600 career home runs.

Sammy Sosa

14. Capital of Ghana: ACCRA.  Formed from the merger of settlements around British Fort James, Dutch Fort Crêvecoeur, and Danish Fort Christiansborg, Accra served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957 and has since become a modern metropolis ... in spite of all the European colonizers.

Accra, Ghana

15. Yemen neighbor: OMAN.  Speaking of European colonizers, the Sultanate of Oman expelled the Portuguese in the 17th century.  It has been continuously ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744, and is an absolute monarchy with Islam as the state religion.

Note that the northernmost part of Oman is on the Strait of Hormuz.

16. Birds associated with wisdom: OWLS.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Skewed view: BIAS.

20. Flow slowly: SEEP.

21. General idea: SENSE.

22. Lobby group for seniors: AARP.  Originally an initialism for the American Association of Retired Persons, it's now just AARP, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization helping people aged 50 and older with concerns related to health, personal finances, and daily living.

25. [Theme clue]

29. Word before metal and music: SHEET.

31. Buoyant: AFLOAT.

32. Kitchen tool needed for some potato dishes: PEELER.

34. Commuter's fee: TOLL.  DH and I have transponders on our cars to facilitate automatic payment of tolls on California toll roads, but it can be confusing to encounter tolls in other states, especially where there are no payment stations on the road.

35. Garden implement: HOE.  Hoes have been used since ancient times to clear weeds, shape soil, and harvest crops.

Weeding the vegetable garden with a hoe.

38. [Theme clue]

40. [Theme clue]

42. Streaming interruptions: ADS.  We tolerate ads on some streaming platforms, and pay for premium access without ads on others.  Television today has many options, and can be very expensive.

43. Argentine author Jorge __ Borges: LUIS.  Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, educated in Geneva, Switzerland, and returned to Buenos Aires as a young adult.  His groundbreaking short stories are surrealistic explorations of dreams, labyrinths, mirrors, and myths.  His eyesight dimmed as his career blossomed, and he became completely blind about the time he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires in 1955.  His familiarity with many languages allowed him to write his own stories with a view to their future translations, which were many.

45. Italian town with a namesake coast: AMALFI.

Amalfi, Italy -- a bit south of Naples,
and surrounded by towns just as lovely on the "Amalfi coast."

46. "Go Birds!" NFL team: EAGLES.  The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. 

48. Iron alloy: STEEL.  Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon.  It is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world.

49. [Theme clue]

53. Literary governess Jane: EYRE.  Jane Eyre is the heroine of an 1847 novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë.  Wonderful book.

54. Up to: UNTIL.

55. Love, in Spanish: AMOR.

57. Actor Estrada: ERIK.  Erik Estrada played Frank "Ponch" Poncherello, a California Highway Patrol officer, on the television series CHiPs, which aired from 1977 to 1983.  He was voted one of "The 10 Sexiest Bachelors in the World" by People in 1979.  Not an Oscar, but still flattering!

Erik Estrada poster from the 1970s

58. [Theme clue]

64. Country singer Lovett: LYLE.  Lyle Lovett has recorded 14 albums, released 25 singles, and won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album.

Lyle Lovett

65. Shrek, for one: OGRE.  Fictional ogre Shrek got his start in a book of the same name by William Steig, and then became the star of a series of animated films, in which he was voiced by Mike Myers.  The films are charming.  If you haven't seen them, start with Shrek (2001).  The stories make wonderful use of familiar fairy tale characters.

Shrek

66. Nintendo's The Legend of __: ZELDA.  Everything I know about Nintendo's video game adventure series The Legend of Zelda, I learned from watching my son play the game.  He was born in 1978.  The first game was released in 1986.  Could my son really have been only 8 years old?  Am I a bad parent?

The Legend of Zelda

67. Notices: SEES.

68. Some small dogs: TOYS.  Toy dogs have been bred to be so small they look like playthings.  Various kennel clubs list different breeds in the toy category, but none seem to give specific guidelines for qualification.  Almost all toy dogs will weigh less than 15 pounds as adults.  As with other breeds promoted by kennel clubs, breeding for appearance often outweighs breeding for good health or temperament.  Toy breeds have fragile bones and yet live in a world where they continually leap from tall furniture and laps.  Flat faced dogs experience severe breathing trouble.  Tiny spaniels suffer early onset heart disease.  And tiny "teacup" dogs live very short lives.

69. Official order: EDICT.

Down:

1. Lid: CAP.

2. Knee surgery target, for short: ACL.  The anterior cruciate ligament is a stabilizing element in the knee, connecting the thighbone to the shinbone. Tears or sprains occur with sudden stops, jumping, or rapid changes in direction.  Or in the case of my beautiful bonus daughter, when some guy coming down the slope behind you rams into you and knocks you off your skis.

3. Color TV pioneer: RCA.

4. Unproductive period: DRY SPELL.

5. Mint family herb: SAGE.

6. Fuss: HOOPLA.

7. Down Under bird: EMU.  "Down Under" is a nickname for Australia.  The emu is a tall flightless bird endemic to Australia.

When emus go rogue.

8. Appeared in print: RAN.

9. Cease: END.

10. "That's that, then": SO BE IT.

11. In debt: OWING.

12. Cut drastically, as prices: SLASH.

13. Valuable quality: ASSET.

18. Gridiron official: REF.

21. Ski races with gates: SLALOMS.  Slalom gates are flexible plastic poles used in alpine ski racing. Skiers must turn around each pole in a specific order.

slalom skiing

22. Pet welfare org.: ASPCA.  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

23. On track to win: AHEAD.

24. Film spools: REELS.

26. Away from the bow, on a boat: AFT.

27. Untidy one: SLOB.

28. Say hi, in slang: HOLLA.  An urban slang variant of "holler."  

30. Dishy memoir: TELL ALL.

33. Cheek colorer: ROUGE.

35. Like moth-eaten clothing: HOLEY.

The holes in this toy dog's sweater are caused by moth larvae.
Eww!  Time to clean the closet.

36. Buyer's proposal: OFFER.

37. Submit taxes online: E-FILE.

39. __ the lily: add unnecessary decor: GILD.  A popular phrase based on a misquotation from Shakespeare's play King John:

To gild refinèd gold, to paint the lily,

To throw a perfume on the violet,

To smooth the ice or add another hue

Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light

To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

41. Sloshy mattress: WATERBED.  Waterbeds accounted for more than one out of of five mattresses sold at the height of their popularity in 1987.  Having to run a hose into your bedroom to fill the mattress, pump the water out to move it, and risk flooding in case of a leak, reduced their popularity.

44. Salty expanse: SEA.

46. Chargeable two-wheelers: EBIKES.

47. Poles in a tomato garden: STAKES.

49. Old-fashioned showdowns: DUELS.

50. Sandwich request: ON RYE.

51. Purposeful: UTILE.

52. First responder: Abbr.: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician.

56. Flow slowly: OOZE.  Imagine sap oozing from a tree.  A waterbed leak is likely to go faster.

58. Droid: BOT.  Droid is short for android, a humanlike robot.  Bot is short for robot.  A droid is always a physical robot.  A bot is usually a software program that runs online.  So ... not the same.

Droids ... or robots ... but not bots!

59. In the past: AGO.

60. Get weepy: CRY.

61. "__ Baba and the Forty Thieves": ALI.  "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is an Arabic folk tale that was added to the other tales of the One Thousand and One Nights by French translator Antoine Galland in the 18th century.

62. Public health agcy.: CDC.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the national public health agency of the United States.

63. Dennings of "WandaVision": KAT.  Kat Dennings has appeared in a long list of films and TV shows.  She is best known for starring roles in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films.

Kat Dennings

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Did Kelly's puzzle end a DRY SPELL for you?  Or give you BACK TO BACK wins?

Did it all make SENSE to you?

HOLLA at your fellow solvers in the comments!

-- NaomiZ

Monday, August 10, 2026, David Ding

Theme:  Let the good times roll!

Constructor David Ding works in electrical and computer engineering, and because that is not sufficiently challenging, he also engages in creative writing and crossword puzzle construction.  Today is David's Los Angeles Times debut!  Congratulations, David!  You can learn more about David at www.davidyding.com.  While there, if you listen closely, you might still hear the Whoosh! sound of his articles and riddlers going right over the head of yours truly.

Today is Monday, and even this blogger should be able to solve the puzzle.  The clue and answer that reveal the key to today's theme appear here:

59-Across. Call for action, or what one might say before using the ends of 20-, 33-, and 43-Across: LET'S GET ROLLING.  This expression suggests it's time to get started on a task or begin a journey.  How does it relate to the ends of the listed answers?

20-Across. Formal event attended in costume: MASQUERADE BALL.  The end of 20-Across is BALL, and you might say LET'S GET ROLLING if you want to bowl, or play bocce, or skeeball -- that is, to roll a BALL.

masquerade ball

33-Across. Last film starring Daniel Craig as James Bond: NO TIME TO DIE.  The end of 33-Across is DIE, which can be a noun referring to a small cube with numbered faces, used in games.  The plural of DIE is DICE, of course.  You might say LET'S GET ROLLING if you want to start a game of dice -- that is, to roll a DIE.

Daniel Craig in No Time to Die

43-Across. Official record on a ship: CAPTAIN'S LOG.  Thanks to Star Trek, yours truly is familiar with the CAPTAIN'S LOG.  But a LOG is not always a record book.  We usually think of a LOG as a bulky section of a tree trunk or branch.  You might say LET'S GET ROLLING if you want to start a rolleo -- that is, a LOG rolling competition.

Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise recording an entry in his log

Note that the theme answers appear in symmetrically placed rows, and two of the four are just one square short of spanning the grid.  Lovely construction, perfectly befitting the Los Angeles Times.  

Shall we talk about the rest?  LET'S GET ROLLING.

Across:

1. Train for a boxing match: SPAR.

5. Love deeply: ADORE.

10. Follow directions: OBEY.

14. "Beloved" novelist Morrison: TONI.  Toni Morrison (1931-2019) won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved (1987).  It is a gut wrenching exposé of the horrors of slavery in the United States.

15. Kitchen gadget for apples: CORER.

16. Locale: SITE.

17. Bygone GM division: OLDS.  The automobile brand Oldsmobile was founded in 1897 and acquired by General Motors in 1908.  The brand was discontinued in 2004.

18. "Understood": ROGER.  In early radio and Morse code communications, the letter "R" stood for "received."  If spoken, the word "Roger" was used for clarity, based on the military "Able Baker" alphabet, which preceded the NATO alphabet.  If the NATO alphabet had been in use in 1941, we'd be saying "Romeo that" instead of "Roger that."

19. Prize grabber in an arcade game: CLAW.

an exercise in frustration and loss

20. [Theme clue]

23. Like a parent at graduation: PROUD.

24. "Man of Steel" director Zack: SNYDER.  Zack Snyder has made a bunch of comic book film adapations, as well as horror and sci fi films.  His Army of the Dead won the Oscars Fan Favorite at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Zack Snyder and the Man of Steel

25. Geological span: EON.

27. Scissors sound: SNIP.

30. Wimbledon org.: ATP.  Here yours truly hit a fatal snag.  DNK (Did Not Know) that the Association of Tennis Professionals is the global governing body of men’s professional tennis.  I learned (from researching for this blog) that the ATP provides ranking information to Wimbledon, but Wimbledon is owned by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).  So the relationship of ATP to Wimbledon is tenuous. 

I rank this clue "thumb down."

 
33. [Theme clue]

39. Cardamom-infused tea: CHAI.

41. Subscribe again: RENEW.

42. Turn down: DENY.

43. [Theme clue]

46. Broke bread: ATE.

47. Trace of smoke: WISP.

48. Baby goat: KID.

50. Humiliated: ABASED.

55. Walkie-talkie, e.g.: RADIO.  A walkie-talkie is a portable, handheld radio transceiver that can send and receive voice messages.  This can be handy for short range connections where cellular networks do not reach, like when you're out hiking.

walkie-talkie time

59. [Theme clue]

62. College admissions office offering: TOUR.

63. Garden pest: APHID.

64. Hideout: LAIR.

65. Bilingual cartoon explorer: DORA.  Dora the Explorer is the title character of an animated series that ran on Nickelodeon from 2000 to 2019, and then spawned sequels, a feature film, and a series reboot.  Dora is Latin American, and the programs teach a little Spanish language.

66. Kitchen gadget for flour: SIEVE.  This simple mesh tool helps break up lumps in flour.

sieve

67. Poker buy-in: ANTE.

68. "Don't come any closer!": STOP.

69. Cuts (down): PARES.

70. Talk back to: SASS.

Down:

1. Tread heavily: STOMP.

2. __ opposites: POLAR.

3. "Consequently ... ": AND SO.

4. Racy: RISQUÉ.  Naughty, suggestive, improper, indecent. 

5. Zoning unit: ACRE.

6. Opportunities, metaphorically: DOORS.

7. Church instrument with pipes: ORGAN.  Shout out to fellow blogger Splynter!

8. Like the sound of an oboe: REEDY.  An oboe is a double reed instrument.  The oboist blows air between two pieces of cut cane (reeds) that are strapped to a metal pipe.  Cane is a type of large grass.  Yours truly has never played the oboe, but has produced some annoying sounds by blowing on a large blade of grass held taut between her thumbs.

9. Made a blunder: ERRED.  

10. Nomination from the Academy: OSCAR NOD.

11. Bar tab, e.g.: BILL.

12. List-shortening abbr.: ET AL.  Latin "et alia," meaning "and others."

13. Source of some flexible wood: YEW.

21. Thick Japanese noodle: UDON.

22. Breezy email sign-off: BEST.  Short way of saying "Best regards."

26. Sushi wrapper: NORI.  Nori is a dried, edible seaweed.  Rolled sushi uses nori to wrap up rice and fillings.

Vegetarian sushi rolls wrapped in nori -- yum!

28. Brainchild: IDEA.

29. Ice cream purchase: PINT.

30. UNC's athletic gp.: ACC.  This blogger's loyal followers may recall that I am allergic to organized sports.  At the long-ago time that I was born, my father had his first professional position, teaching anatomy at the School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, so University of North Carolina did not throw me, but I DNK (Did Not Know) ACC, the Atlantic Coast Conference.  30-Down crossed with the unknown-to-me 30-Across ATP (loosely affiliated with Wimbledon), so the space numbered 30 remained blank.

31. Defrost: THAW.

32. Big __: David Ortiz nickname: PAPI.  This blogger's troubles continued here.  Have I ever heard of  David Ortiz, the Dominican-American former professional baseball player nicknamed "Big Papi"?  That would be a NO.  32-Down crossed with the unknown-to-me 30-Across ATP, so the space numbered 32 remained blank.  I had two blank spaces -- on Monday!  ATP / ACC / PAPI are to blame.  I would say David Ding got dinged here ... or I did.

34. Perfect score in diving, or half a score: TEN.  A "score" is a group of twenty, so half a score is ten.

35. Connections: INS.

36. EGOT-winning Brooks: MEL.  Comedic actor, director, songwriter and playwright Mel Brooks has won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards, making him a rare EGOT recipient.

Mel Brooks receives his first Oscar in 1967

37. Furry "Star Wars" creature: EWOK.  These fictional cuties defied the evil Empire in 1983's Return of the Jedi, in spite of their technological disadvantages.

an ewok

38. Potato spot: EYE.

40. "We've been duped!": IT'S A TRAP.  How I felt about the center left block of the puzzle today.

44. Emer. alerts: APBS.  All-Points Bulletins are alerts sent between law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for wanted persons or vehicles.

45. "You go, __!": GIRL.  This phrase from African American culture went mainstream in the 1990s.  It's a way to praise a woman or girl for an accomplishment.

49. Texas city known as "Big D": DALLAS.

51. Audibly shocked: AGASP.

52. Vintage photo tone: SEPIA.

53. Early anesthetic: ETHER.

54. Motivation: DRIVE.

56. Taurasi who holds the WNBA record for career points: DIANA.  Diana Taurasi is an Argentine and American former professional basketball player. She played 20 seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association, spending her entire WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury.  She holds the all-time WNBA scoring record, and is the most decorated Olympic athlete in any team sport, winning six Olympic gold medals with the United States women's national basketball team.  Perps (perpedicular entries) helped here.

Diana Taurasi

57. Monogram pts.: INITS.  Monogram parts are initials.

58. Fairy tale baddies: OGRES.

59. Stolen goods: LOOT.

60. Capital of France?: EURO.  Not Paris -- the euro is the currency (oh, that kind of capital) of France.

61. Poems of tribute: ODES.

62. QB stats: TDS.  Quarterbacks score touchdowns.

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Were you PROUD of your performance today?  Did you ADORE the puzzle and enjoy your TOUR of the grid?

Or perhaps you ERRED as I did, and it wasn't your BEST experience.  Maybe you got STOMPed!

Don't DENY me the gift of your thoughts!  Please comment below.

-- NaomiZ