Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Ricky J. Sirois

 Theme? To finish this puzzle, you must climb the MESA, or BUTTE, or PLATEAU, to arrive at the TABLELAND.

4 Down. One who switches sides: TURNCOAT.

Turn table

11 Down. Basic flotation device: POOL NOODLE.

Pool Table

21 Down. Brewery vessel?: COFFEE POT. (Maybe in Starbucks, but the clue seems out of place in your kitchen...)

Coffee Table

29 Down. Purse at a boxing match: PRIZE MONEY.

Prize Table

40 Down. Soccer pitch boundary: SIDELINE.

Side Table

55 Across. Like some game night games, or a feature of 4-, 11-, 21-, 29-, and 40-Down: TABLE TOP 

Because all the themers were Downs, the reveal indicates that the tables can be found on top...

Across:
1. Sticky and stinky sealant: TAR.  ( for turncoats, add feathers...)

4. Yank (on): TUG.

Carol Burnett

7. Agrees to: ACCEPTS.

14. Purple yam from the Philippines: UBE.

The Ube.

15. Game with red, yellow, blue, and green cards: UNO. And purple Ube chips on side for snacks...

16. Steel mill material: IRON ORE.

17. Barbecue choice: BEEF RIB. I wanted Baby or Back, but that would be Pork.

19. Find and remove: ROOT OUT.

20. "Across the pond" pond: ATLANTIC. A British euphemism for The Atlantic Ocean, because they would not want to make a tempest out of a teapot...

22. __ in comparison: PALES.

23. Hotel amenity: ICE.

24. Chooses to participate: OPTS IN.

27. Help desk techs: I.T. PROS. Stands for information Technology Professional, This field covers the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for processing and distributing data.

30. Bank charge: FEE. Do not cross go, Do not collect $200-

31. Got the highest score in golf, say: LOST. The average par for a standard 18-hole golf course is 72 strokes, which consists of a combination of par-3, par-4, and par-5 holes. For most newbies playing whack-a-mole, breaking 100 would be a good day...

34. Jazz pianist Chick: COREA.

Chick Corea

35. Execs focused on the bottom line: CFOS. Chief Financial Officers 

36. 10th grader, briefly: SOPH.  Sophomore. As opposed to Freshman, or Senior.

37. Singer-songwriter DiFranco: ANI. Name #2

38. Special skills: TALENTS.

41. Kaitlin's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" role: DEE. Technically names #3 and #4, because to know this, you must know one is real, and the other fictional... The A.I. Overview

42. Totally dismantle: RAZE.

44. California-based candy company: SEES. This name #5 must have been filled in by kind perpage, because if I saw it, I am sure I would have complained it was too regional. Unless you tossed me a candy...

(I can be swayed easily...)  Another A.I. Overview

45. Five Pillars religion: ISLAM. The 5 core acts are Faith, Prayer, Alms, Fasting, and Pilgrimage.

47. Grade sch.: ELEM. Elementary, 

Apparently, that's as far as Watson got...

48. Alternative to sparkling: TAP. (As in water, as in restaurants.)

49. Stick: ADHERE.

50. Fine wool: MERINO.

No comment

52. Summer sign: LEO.

53. Love, in Firenze: AMORE.

55. Theme Reveal

60. Some park employees: RANGERS.

63. Common oatmeal cookie ingredient: RAISINS.

64. First Amendment word: FREEDOM.

65. Place to spend the night: INN. (This could also have been out, as opposed to in...)

66. One-on-one chats on soc. media: DMS. DM stands for Direct Message...

67. Agrees: SAYS YES.

68. Easter egg need: DYE. (And rabbits for some strange reason...)

69. Up to now: YET.

Down:
1. Bulky horn: TUBA. Bulkier horn: Sousaphone 

Yep, definitely bulkier...

2. Stand watch for, say: ABET. Yeah, but as a grandparent, watching a grandchild, would you say I was abetting?

3. Instagram feed feature: REEL. Not familiar with this...

4. Theme

5. Fuses together: UNITES. Strange clue for Unites. You would think unites would be a voluntary thing, where fuses, sounds kinda forceful...

6. Mongolian for "waterless place": GOBI.

7. Atmosphere: AIR.

8. __-Magnon: CRO.

9. Henhouses: COOPS.

10. Necessitates: ENTAILS.

11. Theme

12. "Good point": TRUE.

13. Hardens, as concrete: SETS.

18. Word with laissez or savoir: FAIRE. (Frawnch...) Should not be in an English puzzle, maybe a better clue would be Olde English Festivities.

21. Theme

25. Low-level workers: PEONS. A.I. Overview (of course, A.I. is not one of those...)

26. Trial: TEST.

27. "You matter to me": I CARE. (If A.I. ever says this to you,,, RUN!)

28. Like many Chinese dialects: TONAL.

29. Theme

32. Piece of fishing gear: SPEAR. Hmm, singular, 5 letter, could have been creel. But I find this unfair, because who ever heard of a singular piece of fishing gear...

33. Motif: THEME.

35. G-rated: CLEAN. (In the eyes of "who.")

39. Prosecco kin: ASTI. Sparkling wine that cannot be called Champagne...

40. Theme

43. Pops up: EMERGES.

46. Vans or Crocs: SHOES. Crocs I knew, Vans? Not so much, 

Apparently, these things I used to call "boat shoes."

49. Empire State capital: ALBANY.

51. Like a clarinet's sound: REEDY. (Really?)

53. Pet sounds: ARFS. (Or a great Beach Boys Album...)

54. Rooney of "Women Talking": MARA. (Name #,,, I dunno, I lost track...)

56. Like the 6-Down: ARID.  (6 down was Gobi Desert, if you lost track...)

57. Spruce (up): TIDY.

58. "I'm buying!": ON ME.

59. Hushed summons: PSST.

61. Blini topping: ROE. Apparently, a Blini is some sort of crepe, or thin pancake, that you could top with practically anything. So, why not Roe?  Hmm, what would you top your thin pancake with? I'm thinking cream cheese, bacon, scallions, and jalapeño, but I have an iron stomach...

62. Texting format initials: SMS. Short Message Service (limited to 160 characters) useful in customer service responses where they don't want you to complain too much...

And here's the Grid.

CE:D out...

≽(•⩊ •マ≼

Wednesday, Sep 24th, 2025 ~ Ricky J Sirois

 CAPTAIN'S LOG

STAR TREK: The Next Generation humor

Splynter here, coming to you from the Village of (which is better than just) Babylon, Long Island, NY - down here visiting my super-pooch buddy Cooper~!  It would appear that this is Ricky J Sirois' debut for the LA Times - I see three of his puzzles in 'another' publication ;7))  Congratulations~!  A quick and easy solve, with the rare black square to start us off at "1A."  A handful of names, most of them not too obsure, no circles, more than double the # of 4LWs over 3LWs today, and only a couple of unique fills for the theme answers;

16. Battle over a board: CHESS MATCH

Check - that's a "mate" for me - I'd be game to play her in chess, mate

24. "Peyton Place" and "Diamonds Are Forever" actress: LANA WOOD - I have seen the James Bond movie - not the best 007 of the franchise, IMO - where she plays "Plenty O'Toole; the names they used in those films.... anyway, Peyton Place is before my time - Her IMDb

The show's Wiki

37. Semester-long writing assignment: TERM PAPER - never had to do one

53. Film hitman played by Keanu Reeves: JOHN WICK - whenever a "John Wick" movie is playing on TV, my brother and I will text each other 

Mostly gratuitous violence, but I will stay tuned and watch

63. Place for a nonurgent issue, and what can be found at the end of 16-, 24-, 37-, or 53- Across?: BACK BURNER - each theme answer has something to "burn" at the end, or, "back"

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Home of the Colosseum: ROME - and now you can have one of your very own, in LEGO~!

9,036 pieces, about $1799 - that's 19￠a piece . . . .

5. Muffin fiber: BRAN - I prefer my "fiber" to be chocolate and/or chocolate chip - I had chocolate chip cream cheese on my egg everything bagel Sunday - and it was good

9. Actor Omar: EPPS - name #1, in crosswords all the time

13. Cut off: SEVER

14. In __ parentis: LOCO - not "crazy", but in "place" of an adult/teacher, though it might be hard to tell the difference . . . . last week my ex-wife sent me a friend request on Facebook - crazy.

15. "Star Wars" heroine: LEIA - name #2

ah, the stuggles of being a parent....

18. Performed at a karaoke party: SANG - I need to find a place to do some karaoke

19. Broadcasts: AIRS

20. Super-: UBER - the prefix, not the taxi service seen Monday

21. Pt. of some school names: TECH- I attended Rensselaer PolyTECHnical Institute up in Troy, NY, for one unpleasant semester; then Island Drafting and TECHnical Institute in Amityville on Long Island some 15 years later

22. Places for plugs: DRAINS - think sinks & tubs, not ads & ears😜

27. Filming location: SET - here's me "on set" back in 1997 making stones from chunks of foam

28. "__ go time!": "IT'S"

Hey, John Wick is on . . . 

30. Sigh, say: EXHALE - I am House/Dog/Cat/Fish-sitting for my brother and his new wife as they are on their honeymoon down at Cape May for the week; they are active THC 'consumers', and I discovered "instructions" on one of the "products" label;

Really~?!?!

31. School administrator: DEAN - don't let them catch you with that joint~!

33. Tiny bit: IOTA - I used to 'inhale', but just a tiny bit...

36. Summers on the Seine: ETES - Did you know that estivate is the opposite of hibernate~?  I'd do it every summer if I could get away with it

40. Be rife (with): TEEM

43. Bump from office: OUST

44. Baseball feature: SEAM

47. __ film: ACTION - Hey, John Wick is on . . . 

49. Apropos: APT

51. Plead: BEG

56. Dog star: LASSIE - not "Sirius" - name(ish)

58. Shift key toggle: CASE - as in UPPER and lower 

59. Increase: RISE

61. 17-time WWE champion: CENA - crossword staple, name #4

His Wiki

62. Spa treatment, for short: MANIcure - also becoming a crossword staple

65. Yankee nickname of the 2000s: A-ROD - name(ish) - Alex Rodriguez

66. Paul who wrote the lyrics to "My Way": ANKA - name #6, but I knew this one

67. Burlap bags: SACKS

68. Land in the sea: ISLE

69. Home for a heron: NEST

70. Fencing blade: ÉPÉE

DOWN:

1. Brought back on board: REHIRED

2. Took in too much: OVERATE - not over-rate

3. World Cup superstar Lionel: MESSI- name #7

4. Hosp. areas: ERs

5. Squeal: BLAB

6. Canned brand often used in chili con queso: RO✯TEL - filled via perps, but I see this at my Big Y

7. Ghana's capital: ACCRA - geographic name(ish)

8. Japanese drama: NOH - I know noh, but it doesn't stay in my head

9. Some other place: ELSEWHERE - meanwhile, back on planet Earth . . . 

10. Woolen outer layer: PEACOAT

11. Small puncture: PINHOLE

12. Droop: SAG

13. Oodles: SCADS

17. "You __ be joking": "MUST"

21. Price addition: TAX

23. Cloud __: NINE - My buddy Cooper was on Cloud Nine when we went to the park

That's mybrother trying to get Cooper to sit before the ball toss

25. Kind of tide: NEAP

26. __ Moines, Iowa: DES - geographical name #2

29. Liu of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings": SIMU - Ah. Not "Lucy" - his IMDb, name #9

32. Sign at a convenience store: ATM INSIDE - good fill

34. Curtailed missions?: OPS - 'shortened' OPerationS 

35. "Bye-bye!": "TA-TA~!"

38. Rice-A-__: RONI - found not far from the  RO-TEL, usually

39. Spanish "this": ESTA

40. Blues guitarist __ Mahal: TAJ - not much difference between the place or the person, IMO - his Wiki - name #10

41. Green vehicles: ECO-CARS - meh.  I had HYBRIDS first

42. Gas additive: ETHANOL - usually 10%, and isn't good for small engines, like snowblowers and lawn mowers - so I have been told

45. Attendance record spoiler: ABSENCE

46. "Trust your keys with ... " car care chain: MEINEKE - I know this brand, but I don't recall this catch-phrase from the ads

48. Be in debt: OWE

50. Commoner: PLEB - seen it before in crosswords

52. Clock innards: GEARS

54. Origami figure: CRANE - I made a squirrel a couple of months back, left it in the "Art Box" that's in front of a house on my morning walks - I have left other creations in there before, too - and we have a "library" that's similar to the Art Box around the way in another part of the neighbothood, as well.

55. Shoes, casually: KICKS

Some zip-up, high-heel, high-top "kicks"

57. Consign to the dustbin: SCRAP

60. Three-player card game: SKAT

62. "Heart on My Sleeve" singer Ella __: MAI - no clue, filled via perps, name #11 - more here

63. Block: BAN- had to wait to see if it was baN or baR

64. Purpose: USE - Dah~! Not AIM

Splynter

Hey, John Wick is on . . . .

Thursday, April 10, 2025, Ricky J. Sirois

Theme:  Bad intentions.

Constructor Ricky J. Sirois reveals a tendency to see the bad in everything.  Perfectly innocent English phrases are reinterpreted as dastardly designs.

The theme clues and answers, all Across, are:

17. Devious ploy to swap fries for a salad?: SIDE HUSTLE.  There's nothing bad about having a side hustle, an activity that brings in extra income beside your regular job.  But here, someone is hurrying or misleading the owner of a side dish of tasty French fries to give them up in exchange for a boring salad.  Or is it the other way around?

26. Devious ploy to obtain a beefeater's headgear?: HAT TRICK.  A hat trick is usually a good thing:  it means repeating a positive feat (perhaps scoring a goal) three times, within a limited period.  But here, someone is scheming to get a Yeoman Warder's hat through trickery.  

36. Devious ploy to swipe someone's crayons?: COLOR SCHEME.  Color schemes are used to create pleasing interior spaces, beautiful gardens, and festive celebrations.  But here, a heartless scoundrel conceives a plan to steal crayons.

51. Devious ploy to put on a bogus open mic night?: COMIC CON.  At an open mic(rophone) night, you might be excited to try out your comic routine on a live audience.  But what if it's not a legitimate open mic night?  The whole thing might be a con -- a ruse, a shake down, a total ripoff.

60. Devious ploy to get down?: PILLOW SHAM.  It's not a bad thing to put pillows in decorative shams.  A sham is just a fancy pillow case that fully covers a pillow, making it handy for an occasional backrest in bed, or other supportive purpose.  But imagine that someone only wants the natural down filling in your pillow, and is willing to use deception to get it from you.  Chicanery!  Duplicity!

Finding five examples of phrases that might be repurposed this way is impressive.  Fitting them symmetrically into a crossword puzzle is amazing.

And now, the less devious clues!

Across:

1. Agreement: PACT.

5. Feature of an old home, perhaps: DRAFT.  A draft is a current of cold air inside a room.  This occurs in old homes due to gaps around windows, poorly sealed doors, and lack of insulation.

10. Book jacket part: FLAP.

14. Unexciting: BLAH.

15. Sovereign: RULER.

16. Liberty __: BELL.

The Liberty Bell on display in Philadelphia.

17. [Theme clue -- see above.]

19. Rae of "Insecure": ISSA.  DH and I enjoyed watching Issa Rae in "Insecure," not least for glimpses of the Windsor Hills area, close to our neighborhood.

Crossword favorite Issa Rae in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.

20. Articles: ITEMS.

21. Vegas opener?: LAS.

23. Guy: MAN.

24. Grinding teeth: MOLARS.  Not the action of grinding your teeth, but the teeth you use to grind.

26. [Theme clue]

28. Actor Kilmer: VAL.  Val Kilmer is an American actor who found fame through films including Top Secret!, Real Genius, and Top Gun. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever.  His voice has been altered by throat cancer, and had to be digitally modified for the 2022 film, Top Gun: Maverick.

Val Kilmer in 2005

29. Paycheck boost: BONUS.

31. Radiates, as charm: OOZES.

32. British nitwit: PRAT.  Prat is a derogatory term for a stupid person.  It also means buttocks, and a pratfall is a fall onto one's buttocks, or more generally, an embarrassing mistake.

34. DJ's stack, once: LPs.  A Disc Jockey used to play recorded music on Long Play vinyl discs.

35. __-Magnon: CRO.  Cro-Magnons were the first early modern humans (Homo sapiens) to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They interacted and interbred with the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe and Western Asia.  

36. [Theme clue]

40. Subj. for some MFA students: MUS.  Some Master of Fine Arts students study Music.  The abbreviation of "subject" in the clue suggests that there will be an abbreviation in the answer.

41. Drink suffix: ADE.  Squeeze some citrus juice, stir in water and sugar, and add ADE to the name!  Lemonade, limeade, orangeade.

42. Place to play b-ball: YMCA.  You'll find a basketball court, and other sports facilities, at your local Young Men's Christian Association.  And of course, it's fun to stay at the YMCA.

The Village People released the song YMCA in 1978.

45. Otherworldly: ALIEN.

48. Travel documents: VISAS.

50. Some laptops: PCs.  A laptop or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC).  An Apple laptop is a PC, but people usually refer only to Windows-based computers as PCs, and refer to Apple computers as Macs.

51. [Theme clue]

53. Defeat decisively: THRASH.  To thrash is to beat with a stick or a whip, but in the context of sports, it means to defeat easily or by a large margin.

55. Flaky fish: COD.

56. Selling quickly: HOT.  Selling like hotcakes!

57. Skedaddle: SCOOT.

58. "Enough! I get it already!": OK OK.

60. [Theme clue]

64. Nevada gambling town: RENO.

65. Step around: AVOID.

66. Isolate, in corporate jargon: SILO.

67. Eins und eins und eins: DREI.  "One and one and one" in German makes DREI (three).

68. "Fiddler on the Roof" matchmaker: YENTE.  Yente is a character in Fiddler on the Roof, a 1964 musical and 1971 film set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia around 1905. It is based on "Tevye the Dairyman" and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. Tevye, a milkman, must deal with his daughters' wishes to marry for love, and with Yente, who suggests potential husbands to the parents.  "Yente" or "yenta" is Yiddish for a busybody, gossip, or meddler.

Tevye and his family leave their village after a pogrom.

69. Coffee specification: ICED.

Down:

1. Viewer-supported network: PBS.  The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia.

2. Wong of "Beef": ALI.  Beef is a Netflix series starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, two strangers whose involvement in a road rage incident escalates into a prolonged feud. 

Ali Wong in Beef

3. Escalade producer: CADILLAC.  An eco-Caddy?

2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is all-electric.

4. Greek letter that may represent an angle: THETA.  In mathematics, the Greek letter θ (lowercase theta) is commonly used to represent an angle, particularly in trigonometry, geometry, and polar coordinates.  

5. Musical performances that hit all the beats?: DRUM SOLOS.  Ba-dum-tss!  (Drum sound effect.)

6. Former Wisconsin senator Feingold: RUSS.  Russell Feingold is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. 

Russ Feingold

7. Prefix in some genre names: ALT.  In music, "alt" as a prefix (e.g., "alt-rock", "alt-country") signifies a deviation from a genre's traditional aesthetics, indicating a more alternative or independent approach.

8. Guys: FELLAS.

9. Buy a round, say: TREAT.

10. Org. with agents: FBI.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and security organization of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency ... with agents.

11. "On My Own" B'way musical: LES MIZ.  Les Misérables, commonly called Les Mis or Les Miz, is a long-running musical, and 2012 film, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo.

Lea Salonga - On My Own (Les Misérables)

12. French region on the Rhine River plain: ALSACE.

13. Core exercises that resemble pushups: PLANKS.

18. Sage, for one: HERB.

22. Retail outlet: STORE.

24. Athletic VIP: MVP.  A Very Important Person in sports may be named the Most Valuable Player.

25. Rowing implement: OAR.

26. Chef Nadiya who won "The Great British Baking Show" in 2015: HUSSAIN.  Eldest daughter loves this show.

Nadiya Husain on The Great British Baking Show

27. Not too tight: ROOMY.

30. Ayesha Rascoe's network: NPR.  Ayesha Rascoe hosts Weekend Edition Sunday on National Public Radio.

33. "My Cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI.  My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film starring Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, and others.  Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny

35. Gamer's secret: CHEAT CODE.  I remember eldest son playing Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo and using cheat codes to get extra powers.  For instance, at one point in the game, you can jump on a particular turtle repeatedly, bouncing it, while your points multiply just from hopping in place.  With enough points, you earn extra lives that help you make it through the game.  Some of these tricks my son discovered for himself, and others were shared by friends.

37. Day break?: LUNCH.

38. DJ's stack, once: CDs.  A clecho (clue echo) with 34-Across.  After LPs came CDs (compact discs).  Now most folks acquire musical recordings through digital downloads.  

39. Attuned to the feelings of others: EMPATHIC.

43. Includes on an email: CCs.  Putting someone in the CC area of an email means they'll be informed, but are not required to take action.  Everyone included on the email will see that person's name or email address.  It comes from "carbon copy."  In the days of typewriters, we used sheets of carbon paper between sheets of regular paper to create (blurry) copies of the original correspondence.

44. Barbecue residue: ASH.

45. Diplomatic achievement: ACCORD.

46. Knockout: LOOKER.

47. "No more for me": I'M DONE.

48. Small candle: VOTIVE.  A votive candle is about 2 inches tall and is meant to be used in a glass container.  An even smaller candle is a tealight, only half an inch tall, which usually comes in a metal container that is discarded when the candle burns out.

votive and tealight candles

49. Demonstrate: SHOW.

52. Pharmacy figure: COPAY.  A copay is a fixed amount you pay for a health service or for filling a prescription.

54. Big name in vermouth: ROSSI.  Make my martini dry!  Just wave this bottle over the glass.

Martini & Rossi vermouth

57. Paper cut: SLIT.

59. Splash in a garden pond?: KOI.  Koi are colorful variants of carp kept in ponds. For some people, they are beloved pets.

61. Horror master Chaney: LON.  Leonidas "Lon" Chaney (1883-1930) was an American actor, widely regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors in film, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque, characters. He starred in silent horror films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."  His son, Lon Chaney, Jr. (1906-1973) played Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, and others.

Lon Chaney, Sr.

62. Keg pour: ALE.

63. Subreddit admin: MOD.  Reddit moderators are unpaid volunteers who dedicate their time to maintaining and moderating communities on the platform.  Subreddits are niche communities on Reddit where users discuss specific topics.  We would never participate in niche communities online, would we, Cornerites?  😉

Here's the grid:

Well, was it a TREAT for you, as it was for me?  Or did you find it BLAH?

NaomiZ