Thursday February 26, 2026 Patti Varol

As you know, Patti Varol is not only the LAT crossword editor, she is also an accomplished constructor. Today, she has delivered our paper by HAND with a well-themed crossword on the puzzle page, so let's start with the revealer:

33. Walk with one's sweetie, and what 16-, 23-, 49-, and 58-Across do?: HOLD HANDS. Each of the themed answers actually HOLD HANDS of one type or another. Very nice and straightforward.

16. See 33-Across: CLOCK FACES. When the big hand is on the 2, it means you're late for work.

23. See 33-Across: CARD PLAYERS. Got any 2s?

49. See 33-Across: RANCH HOUSES. Actually, bunkhouses hold the ranch hands, but close enough. 

58. See 33-Across: WOOL GLOVES. These were made for ewe.

I loved this theme, very well executed. At first I was bothered by the "See 33-Across" clues. Like many of you, I usually start at the top. This one required jumping down to discover the revealer first. Once the center was done, the rest of the themers fell into place. For most of them, I had the second word then asked myself, "How would these HOLD HANDS?" Each became a little AHA moment. Lots of fun! But what wasn't so fun was all the people's names - about a dozen of them, not counting a half-dozen other proper names. DIOS MIA!

Names of rivers or schools seem fair; a plethora of people do not. The NE corner was particularly troublesome with 2 short names crossing GIRARDI (assuming you don't know this off the top of your head, like me). Ida, Ila, Ima, Ina, Ira, Iva - nope, not one of those. Then Tala, Tama, Tana, Taya. None of those either. I eventually settled on an "M" at the intersection of TARA. Close, but no cigar.

Let's HOLD HANDS as we traverse the grid together.

Across:

1. Former "Top Chef" host Lakshmi: PADMA. Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated producer, television host, author, and activist. Oh, and she began her career as a supermodel. 

6. Imperfection: FLAW.

10. Tennis champion Swiatek: IGA. IGA Świątek was born in Warsaw, Poland, and has won the French Open four times, and the U.S. Open and Wimbledon once each. Her primary weapon is a powerful extreme-topspin forehand that is very difficult to return.

13. Second calling?: ALIAS. Good clue.

14. Untimely?: LATE. Another good clue.

15. Carpentry wedge: SHIM.

16. [theme]

18. "Educated" memoirist Westover: TARA. TARA s an American essayist and historian. Here she is receiving the National Humanities Award in 2023. 

19. Creative inspiration: MUSE.

20. "In __ of gifts ... ": LIEU. In LIEU of gifts...No! You may send me gifts!

21. Coffees, casually: JAVAS. "I'll have a cup of JAVA, please," said no one, ever (at least in this century).

22. Branch: ARM.

23. [theme]

25. Marcus partner: NEIMAN. I misread this as Marcus painter. I briefly wondered, "What famous painting is called Marcus?" Note to self: Buy new reading glasses.

Marcus Aurelius

27. __ baseball: esoteric knowledge: INSIDE. Knowing how to spell GIRARDI was INSIDE baseball to me.

28. Dove bar: SOAP. When my mom got mad and wanted to wash my mouth out with soap, I suggested this. It didn't help.

29. Pacific resort, casually: CABO. CABO San Lucas is at the southern tip of Baja California. You can get there via Tijuana Taxi or CABO.

32. "__ but a scratch": TIS. Here is King Arthur fighting the Black Knight who says "Ni" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

"We'll call it a draw."

33. [theme]

37. General on a takeout menu: TSO. He's only outranked by King Pao Chicken.

40. Financial services co. for mil. families: USAA. Originally called the United Services Automobile Association, it provides insurance, banking, and investment products exclusively to military members, veterans, and their families.

41. Checkout device: IPAD. Checkout device: BINOS.

44. Down counterpart: ACROSS. This could've had a meta clue, such as "This clue." But it plays nicely into the the next one...

47. Margaret who was the first editor of the New York Times crossword: FARRAR. Her stint ran from 1942 through 1969, and she created many regulations that have become standards, such as limiting the number of black squares in the grid, creating a minimum word-length of three letters, requiring grids to be symmetric and forbidding unchecked squares. Great shout-out to a fellow editor from Patti.

49. [theme]

53. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA. RibiNucleic Acid.

54. "No fooling!": TRUTH. Believe it or not!

55. Mousetrap brand: D-CON.

56. Supermodel Hadid: GIGI. Supermodel? Yes. An Emmy-nominated producer, television host, author, and activist? No.

57. Land measure: ACRE.

58. [theme]

60. Take five: REST.

61. Ponte Vecchio river: ARNO. Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the ARNO in Florence, Italy.

62. "25" and "30" singer: ADELE. She names her albums after her age at the time of recording. I hope Van Halen doesn't do the same thing. I mean they're old, but not that old.

63. Afore: ERE.

64. 403(b) IDs: SSNS. Social Security Numbers.

65. Early PC platform: MSDOS. The MicroSoft Disc Operating System.

Down:

1. Arcade classic with ghosts: PAC-MAN. The "Ghost Gang" of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde chased after PAC-MAN, and made my wrist sore in the process. 

2. Draws: ALLURES.

3. "¡Ay, caramba!": DIOS MIO. "Oh my gosh!": MY GOD! Spanish exclamations.

4. Spice cookie spice: MACE. MACE is an aromatic spice derived from the covering of the nutmeg seed, offering a warm, delicate, and slightly sharper flavor. 

5. "Thought you'd never __": ASK.

6. 14-time WWE Women's Champion Charlotte: FLAIR. Charlotte is the daughter of popular wrestler Ric FLAIR. She is part of World Wrestling Entertainment.

7. Like most sneakers: LACED. These shoes are LACED with alcohol:

8. Devoured: ATE UP.

9. Bentley of "Yellowstone": WES. He's not just another pretty face! Well, okay, he's just another pretty face.

10. "Found a solution!": I HAVE IT. I'd prefer, "I've got it!" but you gotta fit what fits.

11. Yankees manager after Torre: GIRARDI. Joe GIRARDI managed the Yankees from 2008 to 2017, and winning the 2009 World Series. He was born in Peoria, that's why he played.

12. Racks up: AMASSES.

15. Hotel bookings: STAYS.

17. Custard dessert similar to crème caramel: FLAN. My daughter-in-law is of Cuban descent. She says FLAN is popular there because it can be made without baking when power is out, which is often.

21. First mo.: JAN. JANUARY is the first month.

23. Guitar accessory: CAPO. Yay! A guitar-related clue! A CAPO can be clamped onto the neck of a guitar, effectively shortening the strings and raising its pitch. 

24. Animal in the Premier League logo: LION. The Premier League is England's highest level of professional association football (aka soccer).

26. __-jongg: MAH. MAH-jongg looks like fun. I'll have to learn how to play it.

29. Pre-iTunes stack: CDS. Pre-CDs stack: LPs - although I cringe when I see records stacked this way. Years ago, my cousin ran a load of them through the dishwasher after a party! I'm still in therapy.

30. Cry with a finger snap: AHA. Vastly better than an "oho" moment.

31. Response to Bo Peep: BAA. That is, if she can find her sheep.

34. Rich: LUSH.

35. Semana parts: DIAS. Parts of weeks are days, en español.

36. Beautiful time of yr. at a botanical garden: SPR. It's almost SPRING! I'm sure those of you up north can hardly wait.

37. Raw preparation: TARTARE.

38. Harder to find: SCARCER.

39. Hosp. caregiver during surgery: OR NURSE. The Operating Room NURSE in a hospital.

42. Got somewhere: ARRIVED.

43. Beverly of the "Vacation" films: D'ANGELO. She was perfect playing the wife of the "expert in exterior illumination," Chevy Chase, in one of my favorite Christmas movies.

45. Largish jazz combo: OCTET.

46. "Quiet, you!": SHH.

47. __ shui: FENG.

48. Hikes: RAISES.

50. Baking soda targets: ODORS.

51. NCAA school with the most first-round WNBA draft picks: UCONN. The women's team at the University of Connecticut is perennially top-ranked, leading many players into the professional Women's National Basketball Association.

52. Pilots' milestones: SOLOS. To get your pilot's license, you must fly so high and SOLO.

56. Mercury and Neptune: GODS. Roman gods and their namesake roamin' planets. "Planets" (from Greek planētēs) means "wanderers," a term used by ancient astronomers for five bright, naked-eye objects (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) that roam across the fixed starry background.

58. Once cost: WAS.

59. Go on the __: LAM.

Be good. RB

Monday, January 12, 2026, Patti Varol

Theme:  Multitasking.

Constructor Patti Varol has been editing and creating puzzles for more than twenty years, and is the editor of the Los Angeles Times crossword, so she knows the rules!  Today Patti has hidden the various functions of an "all-in-one" multifunction printer in four long grid entries.  This puzzle is perfect for those of you who hate circles; you'll have to find those printer functions yourself!  Luckily, they appear at the end of the long entries, so they're not too hard to see.

The theme clues and answers are:

17-Across. 1980s Atari racing game: SUPER SPRINT.  Super Sprint was a 1986 racing video game developed and published by Atari Games for arcades.  I watched my son play racing games at arcades, but have no specific memory of this title.  You can see from the illustration that it was a multiplayer game.  The last five letters spell out our first printer function:  PRINT.

29-Across. Minimally invasive surgical procedure: ARTHROSCOPY.  Arthroscopy involves inserting a tiny camera (arthroscope) into a small incision on a joint in order to examine and sometimes treat damage to the joint.  The procedure has multiple possible targets:  knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, hip, and wrist.  The last four letters spell out our second printer function:  COPY.

Ouch.

45-Across. Hall of Fame pitcher who threw four no-hitters for the Dodgers: SANDY KOUFAX.  Sandy Koufax is an American former baseball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, he played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Mr. Koufax is the last living member of the 1955 World Series-winning team.  His autograph appears on multi-signed memorabilia alongside other baseball legends.  And conveniently, his last name ends in three letters that spell out our third printer function:  FAX.

Sandy Koufax

60-Across. Cylinder in the snack aisle: PRINGLES CAN.  Pringles is brand of stackable potato-based snacks invented by Procter & Gamble in 1968. It is considered an "extruded" snack because of the manufacturing process.  The tubular can was designed to address customer complaints about broken chips and empty air in potato chip bags.  Kellogg's acquired Pringles in a multibillion dollar deal in 2012.  The last four letters of this answer spell out our fourth printer function:  SCAN.

Pringles can

A multifunction printer is suitable for most homes, but in my office, I find I get better functionality from a dedicated printer and a separate scanner.  Scanning and printing can substitute for copying in most cases.  And fax?  You can use an online fax if you need one.  That said, my mom is pretty amazing using her all-in-one for everything.

Let's see how the rest of the clues and answers function.

Across:

1. Awards such as Best Upset and Best Game: ESPYS.  The ESPY Awards, produced annually by ESPN since 1993, recognize athletic achievement during the preceding calendar year.  "Best Upset" and "Best Game" have been awarded in the past, but those specific awards do not occur every year. 

6. Have a spoonful, say: TASTE.

11. "Tsk!" kin: TUT.  Tsk! Tsk! (American) and Tut-tut! (British) are dental clicks used to express disapproval.

14. Fleece source: SHEEP.

15. Astronaut Ellen who was the first Latina director of the Johnson Space Center: OCHOA.  Ellen Ochoa is an inventor, former NASA astronaut, and former director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In 1993, she went to space on a nine-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Ellen Ochoa, first Hispanic woman in space

16. Activist Yoko: ONO.  I wonder if Yoko knows how often she shows up in crossword puzzles.  It's not a bad thing!

17. [Theme clue]

19. Air passenger screening org.: TSA.  An abbreviation in the clue suggests an abbreviation in the answer.  TSA = Transportation Security Administration.

20. Future counselor's maj.: PSYCH.  Another abbreviated clue calling for an abbreviated answer.  To become a licensed counselor, you may need to major in psychology.

21. Hallucinations: VISIONS.

23. Salt Lake state: UTAH.

25. Black dialect, for short: AAVE.  African American Vernacular English.  Developed over centuries through the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants, AAVE is a distinct variety of English with its own grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

27. "Doggone it!": DRAT.

28. Tree goo: SAP.

29. [Theme clue]

32. Mop target: SPILL.

34. Old photo hue: SEPIA.  Sepia ink comes from a cuttlefish called Sepia.  Old black and white photos were treated with sepia toner to make them last longer, resulting in a warm brown hue.

NaomiZ's grandparents in a Sepia toned photograph

35. Amuses, as with anecdotes: REGALES.

38. Elementary school shoebox project: DIORAMA.  Every fourth grade public school student in California has to construct a diorama of one of the early California missions as homework.  This was true for me six decades ago, true for my children, and continues today.  The 21 missions were built by indigenous slaves under the control of Spanish priests.  Approximately 62,000 indigenous Californians died through the mistreatment they experienced in the mission system.  No one told us that in school.  Today, kids in California can go to local craft stores and purchase pre-made kits to build their dioramas.

mission in a shoebox

42. Actor Nick: NOLTE.  Nick Nolte is an American actor with many movie and television credits, a Golden Globe Award, and three Academy Award nominations.

Nick Nolte

44. Calf's suckling spot: UDDER.

udderly adorable

45. [Theme clue]

50. Industrial tank: VAT.

51. __ vera gel: ALOE.

52. Front of a ship: PROW.

53. Like some high-fiber breakfast bars: OATY.  DH has been baking oatmeal applesauce bread, which makes a lovely breakfast for me, and a nice foundation for lunchtime peanut butter for him.

54. Snug apartments: STUDIOS.  A studio apartment is one room with a separate bathroom.  Same thing as a bachelor apartment.  It's like living in a hotel room.

57. Times New __: ROMAN.  Times New Roman is a font (or typeface) designed for the British newspaper The Times in 1931.  It is one of the most popular typefaces of all time.

59. Give in to gravity: SAG.

60. [Theme clue]

64. Notable time: ERA.

65. Texas A&M athlete: AGGIE.  Texas A&M University is a public research university in College Station, Texas, founded in 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.  The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University.

66. Cathedral city in Tuscany: SIENA.

NaomiZ dwarfed by family members in Siena, January 2014

67. Summer hrs.: DST.  Daylight Saving Time.

68. Frowned-upon acts: DON'TS.  Younger son eats lots of DONuTS.  His daddy DOZEN't.

69. Analyze, as ore: ASSAY.  Investigate to assess presence of a target entity.  One thinks of gold rush propectors visiting the assayer's office to find out whether they'd found something of real value.

Down:

1. Start to sneeze?: ESS.  The letter "s" (spelled out as ESS) is the start to the word "sneeze."

2. Moo __ pork: SHU.  Stir-fried pork, eggs, and veggies, served in a thin pancake.

moo shu pork

3. British cartoon character who loves muddy puddles: PEPPA PIG.  Peppa Pig is an animated British preschool television series.  I am aware of it because my 11-year-old twin grandchildren were fans.

4. "Oof, that's not good": YEESH.  Used to express diselief or exasperation.

5. Quick and nimble: SPRY.

6. Monopoly token sported by the game's mascot: TOP HAT.  The tokens, or playing pieces, of this popular board game have changed over the years, but the top hat has survived as a token since the first Parker Brothers edition in 1935.

7. Crossword dir.: ACR.  Crossword direction:  Across.

8. Shook with cold: SHIVERED.

9. Novelist Morrison: TONI.  Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was an African-American novelist and editor.  In 1988, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved, and in 1993, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. 

10. Breaks bread: EATS.

11. Miyazaki's "My Neighbor __": TOTORO.  My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.  Looks amazing -- now I have to watch it.

My Neighbor Totoro

12. Open, as a onesie: UNSNAP.  We have been snapping and unsnapping onesies since the newest grandson appeared four months ago.

13. Nice and warm: TOASTY.  Our daughter-in-law explained to us that blankets pose a suffocation risk to babies, and our grandson should rely on onesies or sleep sacks to stay TOASTY.

18. Emotional wound: SCAR.

22. 19-Across request: ID CARD.  Remember 19-Across, TSA?  These folks ask for your ID CARD as you go through the airport security checkpoint.

23. Spy-fi side: USSR.  Spy fiction sides included the USA versus the USSR.

24. See 26-Down: TAPE.  Next clue, please!

26. With 24-Down, outmoded media format: VHS.  The dominant format for home recording of video and audio from the 1980s through the 1990s, VHS tapes were replaced by DVDs, then by Blu-ray discs, and finally by digital files.

29. Mixture of metals: ALLOY.

30. Nail salon brand: OPI.

31. __ City, Iowa: SIOUX.

33. Terse text sent while taxiing to the terminal: LANDED.  DH and I text each other when we land, assuming we are not flying together.

36. Large ruminant in the Rockies: ELK.  A ruminant is an herbivorous mammal whose digestive system requires it to regurgitate and re-chew tough plant matter as "cud."  Here are 59 seconds of an elk chewing its cud:

37. Octagon at an intersection: STOP SIGN.

39. Prepayments in some big book deals: ADVANCES.

40. Ravioli filling, sometimes: MEAT.

41. Highbrow: ARTY.  Highbrow means highly cultured and sophisticated.  An arty person is very interested in the arts.  The latter term is more often used to suggest that such a person is pretentious.

43. Benelux continent: EUR.  Benelux is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring countries in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  Since Benelux is sort of an abbreviation -- a portmaneau, really -- for BElgium, NEtherlands, and LUXembourg, I suppose it's OK for the continent of EURope to be abbreviated in the answer.

45. Got smart with: SASSED.

46. Sites for some rites: ALTARS.

47. Chewy candy: NOUGAT.

48. Blacksmiths' workplaces: FORGES.  This word takes me back to "The Village Blacksmith," a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which I committed to memory as an elementary school assignment.  

And children coming home from school

    Look in at the open door;

They love to see the flaming forge,

    And hear the bellows roar,

And catch the burning sparks that fly

    Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

49. Mil. truant: AWOL.  Military truant = AWOL = Absent WithOut Leave.

53. Desert watering hole: OASIS.

55. AirPlay and AirDrop tablet: IPAD.

56. Challenging chem course: ORGO.  Recent crossword puzzles insist that Organic Chemistry courses are called ORGO, but our crossword solvers insist that this is nonsense.  Google likes it, though.

58. Phoenix suburb: MESA.

61. Petty peeve: NIT.  Nits are the eggs of parasitic insects like lice.  People pick nits out of their childrens' hair.  This sort of concern with tiny things has translated into picking on other folks over small matters:  "I have a nit to pick with you."  "Stop nitpicking me!"

62. Actress de Armas: ANA.  Ana de Armas grew up in Cuba, moved to Spain, and then moved to Los Angeles, playing leading film and TV roles along the way.  She was the holographic AI Joi in Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Paloma in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021) and Marilyn Monroe in Blonde (2022), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.  

Ana de Armas

63. Yea's opposite: NAY.  Voice votes.

Here's the grid:

Solvers, what did you think of Patti's puzzle?

Did it SAP your strength?  Did it SCAR you for life?  Did you have a NIT to pick with it?

Or perhaps you LANDED this one, and found it to your TASTE.

C'mon, SPILL in the comments!

-- NaomiZ