Thursday August 27, 2026 Rebecca Goldstein & Matthew Stock

Rebecca Goldstein and Matthew Stock have gotten together and bought stakes in a new steakhouse! 

3. Card game that's really taking off?: STRIP POKER. STRIP POKER is a card game where players forfeit clothing instead of chips...unless you call their buff. 

8. Namesake of Converse's All Star sneaker: CHUCK TAYLOR. Charles Hollis "CHUCK" TAYLOR (1901–1969) was an American semi-professional basketball player and an all-star shoe salesman. 

15. Dance around what's really important: SKIRT THE ISSUE. To SKIRT THE ISSUE means to avoid talking about a complex or awkward topic. As in, "Does this skirt make me look fat?" Umm...

23. Links activity: ROUND OF GOLF. A standard ROUND OF GOLF consists of playing 18 holes in sequential order, though a shorter 9-hole round is also common. It's also a drink order at the 19th hole!

And what do these seemingly unrelated answers have in common? I needed the revealer for this one:

31. With a lot on the line, or a phonetic hint to 3-, 8-, 15-, and 23-Down: HIGH STAKES. Even with the revealer, it still took me a moment to figure out that STAKES becomes STEAKS. Each of the four vertical themers begin (in the HIGH position) with a different cut of steak: STRIP steak; CHUCK steak; SKIRT steak; and ROUND steak.

Our two chefs have cooked up a meaty one today. Vertical themes are rare, and always seem a little tougher, but the rest of the fill was easy to cut through. Over all, I think it was well done.

Let's see what sides they're serving with this:

Across:

1. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" network: PBS. Fred Roger's show ran from 1968 to 2001 on the Public Broadcasting Service.

4. Collision sound: BAM. Also the sound when seasoning hits the steak!

7. Hill partner, in textbook publishing and country music: MCGRAW. Interesting parallel. Educational publisher MCGRAW Hill vis-à-vis Tim MCGRAW and his wife Faith Hill.

13. Big sellers: HOTCAKES. People scooped up pancakes quickly while they were still warm.

16. "That's old news": I HEARD. 

17. "Could there possibly be a good explanation for this?": DARE I ASK. 

18. Skating jumps similar to toe loops: LUTZES. Rightbrain grew up in her uncle's roller rink. The first time I met her family was at the rink, and they suggested she take her fiancé for a spin. Being my first time on skates, I'm sure they weren't thinking LUTZES but KLUTZES. That was 45 years ago, and I still appreciate that they somehow kept a straight face.

19. Ruckus: STIR. 

20. Motorcycle attachments: SIDECARS. SIDECARS are also cocktails containing brandy, orange liqueur and lemon juice. But best not to mix the two.

22. Hair line?: PART. My favorite PART was when they sang the Hair line, "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius."

25. Dangers: RISKS.

26. Disconnect: GAP.

28. "Get __ town!": OUTTA. No way!

30. Ski area near Reno: TAHOE.

34. Gold at the Milano Cortina Olympics?: ORO. Italian for gold.

35. Second, but not first: UNIT. A second is a unit of time. 

36. Getting the check: PAYING. ON ME per 57D

37. __ choy: BOK. Florida is so flat, that various entrepreneurs have erected towers (there are three of them) in the middle of nowhere to attract tourists. The most famous is the 205' BOK Tower built in 1920's during the state's land boom. The National Historic Landmark features a 60-bell carillon that plays a concert twice daily to visitors of the surrounding 250-acre gardens.

38. Every evening: NIGHTLY.

40. Prefix with political: GEO. GEOpolitical relates to how a country's physical location, size, and resources affect its politics, power, and relationships with other nations.

41. Revises: AMENDS.

43. Assessment, briefly: EVAL. A quick EVALuation.

44. Boater or bowler: HAT. In my business, a wear a lot of HATs, but neither of these.

45. Greta of classic Hollywood: GARBO. The great Swedish/American actress often just went by GARBO. In 1954, she was awarded an Academy Honorary Award "for her luminous and unforgettable screen performances."

46. Hustle genre: DISCO. Did you do the Hustle?

47. Texting tech: SMS. Short Message Service.

48. Some natural hairstyles: AFROS.

50. Part of QED: ERAT. "Quod ERAT Demonstrandum," said Pliny the Elder in Latin class. "It is proven. Any questions?"

52. Trench coat, wig, and big sunglasses, maybe: DISGUISE. 

Yep, she'd blend in anywhere.

55. Sando spread: MAYO. A sando is a Japanese-style sandwich. The word comes from a shortened form of sandoitchi, the Japanese loanword for sandwich. 

58. Patchy-patterned horses: PINTOS. This patchy PINTO only had 54 horses. On a quiet night, you can hear it rusting.

59. Tacit: UNSPOKEN.

62. Certain spot: LOCALE. 

63. Application that combats dark circles: EYE CREAM. I scream, you scream, we all scream for EYE CREAM?

64. Gobbles (down): SNARFS.

65. Some GEs: ACS. General Electric Air Conditioners.

66. __/her/hers: SHE.

Down:

1. Degs. conferred after defenses: PHDS. Knowing me as you do, can you believe I have a brother with Doctor of Philosophy degree?

2. Large sushi order: BOAT. 

Yum! Hand me the chopsticks!

3. [theme]

4. "WonderWater" brand: BAI. So many brands to keep track of...

5. Alias letters: AKA. Also Known As.

6. "Cleanup on aisle five" impetus: MESS. It's always aisle five. If I ran a store, I'd skip 5 like they skip the 13th floor in tall buildings. 

7. Half marathon's 13.1: MILES. Athens to Marathon is 26.2 MILES.

8. [theme]

9. Participate in decision-making: GET A SAY.

10. Motorola phone: RAZR. Cell phones kept getting smaller, and my RAZR was the smallest one I owned. Then screen size became a thing and now they are bigger than ever.

11. Combative Olympian?: ARES.

12. Dict. entries: WDS. Dictionary entries are words.

14. Michael of "Juno": CERA. I think he'll still look like a young boy when he's an old man.

15. [theme]

21. Opposite of noite: DIA. It's the difference between night and day! In Portuguese, that is.

23. [theme]

24. North African capital: TUNIS. 

26. Emergency kit: GO BAG. It usually contains enough basic supplies to sustain you for three days after a disaster.

27. Sweet smell: AROMA.

29. Comedian Notaro: TIG. TIG Notaro is an Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar-nominated comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. She's gotten the nod for 75% of an EGOT! 

31. [theme]

32. Wee hour: ONE AM. Two am is the wee wee hour. 

33. Showbiz quartets: EGOTS. The grand slam of winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.

36. Come in second: PLACE. Win, PLACE, and Show are bets in horse racing. A Win bet wins only if your selection finishes 1st. A Place bet wins if it finishes 1st or 2nd (so not just "come in second"). A Show bet wins if it finishes 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. 

39. Sports bar sets: TVS. You can sometimes watch horse racing on sports bar Televisions.

42. Supreme court presence?: NBA STAR. Fun clue...and holding court on TVS in another sports bar.

46. Eager agreement: DO I.

49. Tricks: RUSES.

51. "Te quiero, __ mio": AMOR. "I love you, my love," in español. Sounds a bit redundant.

52. Singer Celine: DION. Her heart will go on and on and....

53. Empire also known as the "Realm of the Four Parts": INCA. The INCA Empire was a vast pre-Columbian state in South America divided into four administrative regions.

54. New Age singer who speaks Irish: ENYA. Everyone's favorite New Ager in crosswords.

56. "Totes": YEAH. "Totes" is slang for "totally", so YEAH seems like a weak equivalent.

57. "I'll get the check": ON ME. PAYING like 36A.

58. [Praying emoji]: PLS. Please! 🙏🏻Some people use this as a "high five" emoji...don't get me started! 😂

60. Org. with LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers, and Missouri Tigers: SEC. All these college teams are copy cats, and are members of the the Southeastern Conference of the NCAA.

61. WFH devices: PCS. People who Work From Home often use Personal Computers.

Okay, I'm done grilling these guys.

Be good. RB

 

Notes from C.C.

Happy Birthday to Lemonade, our Friday sherpa for a long long time. Hope all is well with you and Oo!

Sunday July 19, 2026 Rebecca Goldstein

 

Theme: "WHIRLWIND TOUR" - Popular bands appear backwards in the theme entries.

22. Sign on rural roads: DEER CROSSING. Creed.

28. Stays with a series of friends: COUCH SURFS. Rush.

47. "I've seen worse": IT'S NOT SO BAD. Boston.

50. Savory potato patties in Indian cuisine: ALOO TIKKI. Tool.

61. Find common ground: SEEK A COMPROMISE. Cake.

79. "How rude!": EXCUSE YOU. Yes. 

81. Project that kindergartners need to use their noodles for: MACARONI ART. Train. 

Reveal: 

98. With 107-Across, reunite a musical group, or a hint to this puzzle's circled letters: GET THE BAND.

107. See 98-Across: BACK TOGETHER.

Perfect reveal, which also works as a perfect title. I think they're all rock bands, right? 

We also have a bonus fill: 67. Product of Chicago?: ROCK ANTHEM.

Across:

1. Two-headed muscle, informally: BICEP.

6. Witchy words: SPELL.

11. Kinney who writes the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books: JEFF. He also illustrated the books.

15. Singular pronoun: SHE.

18. Earthy colour: OCHRE. We use ocher. 

19. Sugar substitute?: DEARIE.

20. R&B's India.__: ARIE.

21. Dory mover: OAR.

24. University of Montana's home: MISSOULA. Looks like a beautiful place to visit.

26. Key hit in panic: ESC.

27. Was more consuming?: OUT-ATE.

30. Six-time NBA MVP Abdul-Jabbar: KAREEM.

32. Juice option: PULP.

33. College Park athlete, for short: TERP.

34. Instruments in string quartets: CELLI. Cellos are more common outside the orchestra world.

36. Many a beach scavenger: SEABIRD.

39. In the left lane, say: PASSING.

42. Vegetables that may be chopped while wearing goggles: ONIONS. I've never needed the goggles.

44. Actress Jessica: BIEL.

45. Curved line: ARC.

46. Bronco or Mustang: CAR.

53. Lavish celebration: FETE.

54. Flatbreads served with saag paneer: ROTIS. Saag paneer traditionally uses mustard greens, while palak paneer uses spinach.

55. Spun records: DJED.

56. Sat around: IDLED.

57. Almost-grads: SRS.

58. Drive or park: GEAR.

59. Semana seventh: DIA.

60. Race: SPEED.

66. Put pen to paper, say: PRINT.

68. Contains: HAS.

69. Thread-bearing?: ROPY. Oh, having threadlike fibers.

70. "Breaking Bad" org.: DEA.

73. Living space?: BIOME. Ecological space. We also have 95. Safe spaces?: BANKS.

74. Hilarious human: RIOT.

76. Crunchy salad bits: BACOS.

78. Shade source: TREE.

83. Startled syllable: EEK.

84. Kyoto currency: YEN.

85. Dance that tells a story: HULA.

86. Bean: NOGGIN.

87. Bursts of light: FLASHES.

90. Sleepover duds: JAMMIES.

93. Site of a Herculean task: NEMEA. The Nemean Lion.

94. Digital extension?: NAIL. Also loved these clues: 3. Task managers?: CHECKLISTS. 31. Peerless?: ALONE.34. Bobs and weaves?: COIFS. 43. Drive way?: STREET.  

95. Makes illegal: BANS.

96. Mexican bucks: DINERO.

101. "Foundation" trilogy novelist Isaac: ASIMOV.

103. LAX gatekeepers: TSA.

106. Blissful: IN HEAVEN.

110. Compete: VIE.

111. Water-resistant wood: TEAK.

112. Rights activist Hernandez: AILEEN. Learning moment for me. She served as the president of NOW from 1970 to 1971. 

113. Fun aunt's movie date, maybe: NIECE.

114. The Oilers, on sports crawls: EDM. Edmonton.

115. Some 35mm cameras: SLRS.

116. Fastened, in a way: GLUED.

117. Small pastries: TARTS.

Down:

1. Portend: BODE.

2. Keeps cold: ICES.

4. "I'd rather __ on the side of caution": ERR.

5. Cheese with a Romano variety: PECORINO.

6. Bagel variety: SESAME.

7. History: PAST.

8. Canal in upstate New York: ERIE.

9. "Encanto" songwriter __-Manuel Miranda: LIN.

10. Hamstring exercise: LEG CURL.

11. Obstruct: JAM UP.

12. Celebrity chef Adjepong: ERIC. New name to me. He's of Ghanaian heritage.

13. Tilapia-and-tortilla dish: FISH TACO.

14. Admits, with "up": FESSES.

15. Deli spear: SOUR PICKLE. Claussen is the way to go.

16. Soccer period: HALF.

17. History chapters: ERAS.

19. Loves (on): DOTES.

23. Regret: RUE.

25. Plural pronoun: OURS.

29. Not new: OLD.
 
32. Splotchy: PIED.

35. Head in: ENTER.

37. Jacobson of "Long Story Short": ABBI.

38. Cut on the __: BIAS.

39. Poke: PROD.

40. Undressed: NAKED.

41. Crossword diagram: GRID. This is a 21x21 grid.

45. Pint glass serving: ALE.

48. Linger in the tub: SOAK.

49. Other, in Spanish: OTRA.

50. Not entirely open: AJAR. And  51. Not entirely sober: TIPSY.

52. Nice concept?: IDEE. Nice the French city.

55. Party bowlful: DIP.

58. Chromosome units: GENES.

59. Private convos: DMS.

60. Nurses: SIPS ON.

61. Actor Liu: SIMU.
 
62. French cabbage: CHOU. Napa cabbage is called "chou chinois". Chinese cabbage.

63. Cereal grain: OAT.

64. Swimmer with a saddle patch: ORCA.

65. "Wuthering Heights" setting: MOOR.

66. Google phone: PIXEL.

70. Parental figure for a queen: DRAG MOTHER, who mentors a DRAG DAUGHTER.  

71. Unsettling: EERIE.

72. Cigna competitor: AETNA.

73. Feud: BEEF.

74. Some seeded loaves: RYES.

75. Particle in a stellar wind: ION.

76. Salve: BALM.

77. Puree in a breakfast bowl: ACAI.

78. Striped big cat: TIGER.

80. Where one may set their sights: EYE LEVEL.

81. "__ the word!": MUM'S.

82. Insignificant occurrence: NON-EVENT.

85. Fanny pack alternative: HANDBAG.

88. Fill up: SATE.

89. Drummer's cymbals: HI-HATS.

90. Stan and __ Berenstain of kid-lit: JAN. Stan and Jan created the Berenstain Bears.

91. Provided clarity, in a way: EDITED.

92. Alvin and Theodore's brother: SIMON. Alvin and the Chipmunks.

97. Eggy drink: NOG.

98. Donate: GIVE.

99. Oklahoma city: ENID.

100. Winter hibernator: BEAR.

101. Anti-censorship org.: ACLU.

102. __-Ball: arcade game: SKEE.

104. Breakaway group: SECT.

105. Trojan War god: ARES.

108. Need a sick day, say: AIL.

109. Argentine aunt: TIA.

C.C.

Thursday April 9, 2026 Rebecca Goldstein

 Rebecca Goldstein has been creating square grids for a very long time, but today she has us going around in circles. 

63A. Waste time and effort, in a way, or progress as this puzzle's circled letters do?: REINVENT THE WHEEL. Looks like we are going to build a WHEEL, one letter at a time.

:3D. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" novelist: L. FRANK BAUM. This gives us one letter of the word WHEEL.

6D. Smallest Central American country: EL SALVADOR. Now we have two letters, building a WHEEL from the bottom up.

9D. Durable material made from hagfish skin: EEL LEATHER. Three letters - we're halfway there!

Pacific hagfish are not eels, but they produce fine leather.

12D. Sideways jump flourishes: HEEL CLICKS. With the four letters, we've almost come full circle. 

I thought this worked out wheel well. The letters built up like stacking blocks, each themer adding one more as you worked across the puzzle. I also liked that each partial WHEEL was the stand alone first word of its answer: L., EL, EEL, and HEEL. The fact that all the themers were the same length did my OCD good, and justified the unique layout. 

Black hole department: I tried to discern some sort of image in all the black squares and large crosses, but they are simply part of the grid.

Mirror image department: Kudos to Rebecca for using the reflective symmetry to place INCAS opposite MAYAN, and the video game answers LUIGI and ATARI next to those.

All set? Let's roll!

Across:

1. Designation for some food carts: HALAL. HALAL is an Arabic term meaning "permissible" or "lawful" under Islamic law, governing all aspects of life including food.

6. Outer space?: EDGE.

10. Portal name with an exclamation point: YAHOO. YAHOO! was one of the Internet pioneers 32 years ago, but has lost relevance since. However, it's still worth $7.4 billion, so there's that.

15. Actress Woodard: ALFRE. I didn't know ALFRE, but she is very worthy. She has graced the stage and screen, winning four Emmy's, a Golden Globe, and three Screen Actors Guild awards. She's even been nominated for two Grammy's and and Oscar!

16. Tales as old as time: LORE.

17. Justice Kagan: ELENA. ELENA was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and is the fourth woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

18. Needing a nap: TIRED.

19. Pot filler: SOIL. Pot filler: ANTE.

20. Put in a seat, say: ELECT.

21. Travel approx.: ETA. Your Estimated Time of Arrival is an estimation and subject to change. I often drive to Miami, and the ETA is an hour. A half-hour later, I'm still an hour away as traffic builds up like I'm in a backwards time machine!

22. Crushes underfoot: TRAMPLES.

25. "__ Misérables": LES. "The Miserables" describes Russell Crowe's singing in the movie.

26. Orange variety: NAVEL. 

28. Work __: ETHIC.

30. Kinds: ILKS.

32. Online image: AVATAR. Mine is a sunburst Fender Stratocaster. I have two from the 60s.

35. Poetry event: SLAM. A poetry SLAM is a competitive event in which poets perform original spoken-word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges.

38. Much-used pencils: NUBS. My dad always said, "Beware of people with long pencils and short erasers."

39. One with good taste?: PALATE. 

40. Falafel bread: PITA. But it doesn't taste falafel.

41. Langley org.: CIA. I grew up in the Tidewater area of Virginia and my dad worked at Langley AFB, so when I hear Langley, the Central Intelligence Agency is not the first thing that comes to mind.

42. "The lady __ protest too much, methinks": DOTH. One of hundreds of quotes attributed to Shakespeare. "Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

43. Small island: CAY. CAY is pronounced "key" as in Key West.

44. Orinoco flow: AGUA. The Orinoco River flows through Columbia and Venezuela, hence the Spanish word for water. The phrase "Orinoco Flow" was made popular by a song from new-age artist Enya. 

46. Having more wiggle room, say: LOOSER.

48. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA.

Oops! Wrong picture! This is an orca.

49. A lot alike: SIMILAR. I liked this a lot!

51. Arrives casually: ROLLS IN.

53. Free (of): RID.

54. Small tweak?: MOD. Just a little MODification.

55. Spots to let sleeping dogs lie: PET BEDS. This bed seemed so big when Buster was a pup. We adopted him during COVID, and he turns 6 today!

59. Small spot: SPECKLE. Small spot filler: SPACKLE

63. [theme]

66. Part of UAE: ARAB. United ARAB Emirates. The UAE has ARABs in it.

67. Not as grim: ROSIER. As in the Grim Reaper's kid sister, ROSIER Reaper.

68. Large vases: URNS.

69. Green carpet: MOSS.

70. Boggy places: SWAMPS. This one mired me down.

71. Teeny bit: MITE.

Down:

1. Abhor: HATE. This clue is detestable.

2. Settled: ALIT. 

3. [theme]

4. "All bets __ off": ARE.

5. Streaming device, maybe: LED TV. This one seemed off, so I turned it on.

6. [theme]

7. Tragic fate: DOOM. 

8. Strong hold: GRIP.

9. [theme]

10. "Oof": YEESH.

11. Every last one: ALL. ALL at ONCE.

12. [theme]

13. A single time: ONCE. ONCE and for ALL.

14. Quaker grains: OATS.

23. Sow's counterpart: REAP. Ah, the verb, not the noun. I wanted "boar."

24. To be, in Paris: ETRE. 

Vous êtes ici.

27. Donkey: ASS.

29. Co. for surfers: ISP. An Internet Service Provider is a company that connects individuals and businesses to the internet.

30. Natives of pre-Columbian Peru: INCAS.

31. Super Mario brother: LUIGI. 

33. Potatoes, in Urdu: ALOO.

34. Body art: TATS. People get TATS (tattoos) of the weirdest things...

36. Arcade pioneer: ATARI.

37. Like the ruins in Tulum: MAYAN.

45. Some short-term rentals: AIRBNBS. A very good friend lives just blocks from the Atlantic. Three houses surrounding him have become AIRBNBS, turning his quiet neighborhood into a party zone. Residential zoning laws need to be updated to prevent this.

46. Corporate structures: LADDERS.

47. Tots' playwear: ROMPERS. Tots' quandary - where should we wear our ROMPERS?

48. Buddy from way back when: OLD CHUM. OLD CHUM is also useful for luring orcas.

50. Actor Schreiber: LIEV. LIEV Schreiber is an acclaimed American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He's known for his roles as Sabertooth, Wolverine's brother, in the X-Men series and the titular Ray Donovan in the TV series.

52. Theater eponym: LOEW.

55. Brit's stroller: PRAM.

56. Wireless router brand named for a Finnish architect: EERO. EERO Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer, famous for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the TWA Terminal at JFK in NYC. He also designed iconic furniture. I guess if he were around today, he'd have come up with a router casing?

1956 Tulip Chairs and Pedestal Table

57. Spanish aunts: TIAS.

58. Winter coat?: SNOW.

59. Herding dog name: SHEP. Here's the most faithful border collie, SHEP. After watching his master's coffin leave on a train in Montana in 1936, he waited in vain for years at the station.

Now Buster wants a bronze statue!

60. Russell of "The Diplomat": KERI.

61. Mardi Gras follower: LENT. LENT follower: EASTERTIDE, the 50 days following Easter, culminating in Pentecost.

62. "How __ can I say it ... ": ELSE.

64. Org. that operates AIT scanners: TSA. The Transportation Security Administration primarily monitors aviation, but also does rail and mass transit. And until recently, the organization worked without pay as they were used as pawns by Congress.

Advanced Imaging Technology

65. Actor/comedian Meadows: TIM. Another SNL alum. 

 

Rebecca spoke and now I'm tired. Wheel see you 'round!

Be good. RB