Tuesday March 17, 2026 Sala Wanetick and Amie Walker

Let's Talk:

19-Across. Emotional plea in "Top Gun" and "Top Gun: Maverick": TALK TO ME, GOOSE.

26-Across. "I didn't hear a 'Please'!": SAY THE MAGIC WORD.

43-Across. "Why this course of action?": EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

And the unifier:

53-Across. Requests to Siri and Alexa, or what 19-, 26-, and 43-Across literally are: VOICE COMMANDS.

Across:

1. Lobby group for seniors: AARP.  American Association of Retired Persons.

5. "__ knew?": WHO.

8. Red light therapy venues: SPAS.  Red Light Therapy uses low-level, 630–700 nm wavelengths of red and near-infrared light to boost cellular energy, reduce inflammation, and promote tissue repair.  Sessions last 5–20 minutes and are used to treat acne, wrinkles, hair loss, and chronic pain. While generally safe, it requires consistent use to see results and may carry risks of eye damage if not used properly.  I think I'll pass on this therapy.

12. Pink's counterpart in "Wicked": GREEN.

14. Stranger __ fiction: THAN.

15. Work for: EARN.

16. Italian liqueur such as Aperol or Campari: AMARO.  Amaro is a family of Italian herbal liqueurs, (amaro means bitter) that are made by infusing a base spirit (like wine or neutral grain spirit) with a blend of botanicals such as herbs, roots, flowers, and citrus peels, resulting in a bittersweet, complex flavor profile.

17. Blow off steam: VENT.

18. Cogito, __ sum: ERGO.  Today's Latin lesson ... or, as René Descartes (Mar. 31, 1596 ~ Feb. 11, 1650) so succinctly stated:  I think, therefore I am.

22. NYC summer hrs.: EDT.  As in Eastern Daylight Time.  We just "sprung" forward over the weekend.

23. Most consecutive Super Bowls won by the same team: TWO.  Eight NFL teams have won 2 consecutive Super Bowls:  Green Bay Packers (I-II), Miami Dolphins (VII-VIII), Pittsburgh Steelers (IX-X & XIII-XIV), San Francisco 49ers (XXIII-XXIV), Dallas Cowboys (XXVII-XXVIII), Denver Broncos (XXXII-XXXIII), New England Patriots (XXXVIII-XXXIX), and Kansas City Chiefs (LVII-LVIII).

24. Italian fashion house: PRADA.  Prada means Meadow in Italian.  The Italian fashion house, however, was founded by Mario Prada (1894 ~ 1958).

31. "I __ a hunch!": HAD.

32. Insta upload: PIC.  As in Pictures.

33. Guitar Hero World Tour console: WII.

34. Helpful feedback: INPUT.

37. Fuel efficiency stat: MPG.  As in Miles Per Gallon (of gasoline).

38. Gives a hoot: MINDS.

40. Corp. leader: CEO.  As in Chief Executive Officer.

41. Wilmington's st.: DEL.  Wilmington is in Delaware.

42. __ rummy: GIN.  Gin Rummy is a card game.

50. Harbor Freight purchases: TOOLS.

51. "Hello, fellow sheep": BAA.

52. Stretch the truth: LIE.

57. Graduate of the CIA, perhaps: CHEF.  Not the Central Intelligence Agency, but the Culinary Institute of America.

59. Great Plains tribe: OTOE.

60. Corrosive compounds: ACIDS.

61. Subtle glow: AURA.

62. Numbered hwys.: RTES.  As in Routes.

63. "Girls5eva" co-star __ Elise Goldsberry: RENÉE.  I am not familiar with with either Renée Elise Goldsberry (b. Jan. 2, 1971) or Girls5eva.

64. Fishnet fabric: MESH.

65. Pops: DAD.

66. Covers with grass: SODS.

Down:

1. Rock shop options: AGATES.

2. Naval fleet: ARMADA.  The best known Armada is the infamous Spanish Armada, which set sail from Spain in 1588 in an effort to invade England.  It failed.

3. "Million Dollar Listing" field: REALTY.

4. Fringe benefit: PERK.

5. Cry of delight: WHEE.

6. Kick back (with): HANG.

7. Good place for a lecturer to stay?: ON TOPIC.

8. Teeter-totter: SEESAW.

9. Streamline, perhaps: PARE DOWN.

10. Iguazu Falls land: Abbr.: ARG.  Iguaza Falls is a spectacular waterfall system that consists of over 275 individual drops spanning nearly 2 along the Argentina-Brazil border. 

11. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO.

13. "Anything else!": NOT THAT!  Not exactly sure how this answer fits.

14. Claire Dunphy, e.g.: TV MOM.  Claire Dunphy was the fictional mother on Modern Family.  She was programmed by Julie Bowen (née born Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer, b. March 3, 1970).

20. Carried a debt: OWED.

21. Goblinlike creature: ORC.  The Orc is a fictional creature from The Lord of the Rings.

25. Bone-dry: ARID.

27. Thanksgiving, e.g.: Abbr.: THU.  Thanksgiving is a holiday that always falls on the third Thursday of November.

28. Put on, as nail polish: APPLY.

29. Job for a DJ: GIG.

30. Prefix with loyal and service: DIS.   As in Disloyal and Disservice.

34. The "I" of the RICE method: ICE.  Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate.

35. Dismissive call: NEXT.

36. Puffy pastries: POPOVERS.  Yummers!

37. Guys: MEN.

38. San Diego neighborhood whose name means "sea view": MIRAMAR.

39. __ and outs: INS.

41. Lack of harmony: DISCORD.

42. U.S. Pacific island: GUAM.  Guam appeared in last Tuesday's puzzle.  [See clue 24-down.]  Since 1898, Guam has been a U.S. island territory.  It is the largest, most populous, and southernmost island in the Marianas archipelago and Micronesia.  Guam is known for its beautiful by tropical beaches, Chamorro villages and ancient latte-stone pillars.  Guam’s WWII significance is on view at the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, whose sites include Asan Beach, a former battlefield.

44. Bath scrubber: LOOFAH.

45. Oscar winner Mahershala: ALI.  Mahershala Ali (né Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore, b. Feb. 15, 1974) is an American actor who has two Oscars: One for his portrayal of a drug dealer in Moonlight and one for his portrayal of Don Shirley in Green Book.

46. Thin woodwinds: OBOES.  These woodwinds make frequent appearances in the puzzles.

47. Pacific climate phenomenon: EL NIÑO.  Everything you ever wanted to know about El Niño.

48. Heavy-__: sleepy: LIDDED.

49. Admits, with "up": 'FESSES.

54. Jazz great James: ETTA.  Etta James (née Jamesetta Hawkins; Jan. 25, 1938 ~ Jan. 20, 2012) is a frequent guest in the puzzles.

55. Like many dorms: CO-ED.  Last Tuesday this was clued as Not Single-Sex.  [See 16-Across.]

56. Top poker cards: ACES.

57. Kiss __: PDA capturer at a stadium: CAM.  The infamous Kiss Cam from last summer's Coldplay concert.

58. Shade on a color wheel: HUE.

חתולה

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Thursday, August 28, 2025, Sala Wanetick, Emily Biegas

 Theme:  Holy (rock and) rollers.

Hank Hill's thoughts on Christian Rock

I count seven puzzles in these pages co-constructed by Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas.  Is today's puzzle divinely inspired?  The theme entries are:

20-Across. *Depeche Mode song with the lyric "Reach out and touch faith": PERSONAL JESUS.  Released in 1989, this song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley.  It is surely no accident that Elvis and Priscilla show up in the clue at 3-Down!  The song is about how a lover becomes one's source of hope and tender loving care -- a god-like role that people fulfill for one another.

25-Across. *Bon Jovi song with the lyric "Take my hand and we'll make it, I swear": LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.  Recorded in 1986 and regarded as Bon Jovi's signature song, this song is about a working class couple struggling to make ends meet.  I'll bet many of you can hum a few bars.

44-Across. *Hozier song with the lyric "I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies": TAKE ME TO CHURCH.  Irish singer-songwriter Hozier's debut single in 2013.  Kind of an anti-religious song, in which a lover offers the only true redemption.

52-Across. Bible camp genre, or what the answers to the starred clues could be mistaken for?: CHRISTIAN ROCK.

The only one of these songs that I knew was LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.  Now that I've looked at the lyrics of all three, I realize that our constructors selected songs that are anything *but* traditionally devotional.  They have suggested as much with the reveal at 52-Across.

Let's see what other revelations appear in the rest of the puzzle.

Across:

1. Included digitally: CC'ED.  "Carbon copied" on an email.  Some of us are old enough to have used carbon paper between sheets of regular paper on a typewriter to create copies.

5. Ryder Cup org.: PGA.  The Ryder Cup is played in odd-numbered years between teams from the United States and Europe.  On our side of the pond, it is organized by the Professional Golfers' Association of America.

8. Not quite: ALMOST.

14. Prefix with port: HELI.  A heliport is a landing place for helicopters that provides a range of services like maintenance and fueling.  A helipad is just a designated place where a helicopter can land safely.

15. "Toy Story" dinosaur: REX.  If you could picture this fellow in memory, you could guess his name.

Rex is the green fellow.

16. Snicker sound: TEEHEE.  Finally!  Someone has spelled this correctly in a puzzle!

17. Totalitarian control: IRON RULE.

19. Heartless fellow in Oz?: TIN MAN.

20. [Theme clue]

22. Down: SAD.

23. Power drill insert: BIT.

24. Bird with large green eggs: EMU.

25. [Theme clue]

32. Subj. with a lot of reading: ENG.  A subject that involves a lot of reading is English.

33. "Home on the Range" animal: ANTELOPE.  "Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play ...."

34. Arab leader: EMIR.

37. "The Marvelous __ Maisel": MRS.  Great show, appeared on Amazon Prime Video over five seasons from 2017 to 2023.

38. Phil or Lil of "Rugrats," e.g.: TWIN.

Phil and Lil

39. Vinegar that may be drizzled over caprese salad: BALSAMIC.  'Tis the season to enjoy ripe tomatoes with fresh basil and mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

42. Undeclared: Abbr.: TBA.  To Be Announced.

44. [Theme clue]

48. Afore: ERE.

49. Gender-specific pronoun: HER.

50. In medias __: RES.  Latin for "in the middle of things."  In fiction, it is the technique of dropping the reader into the midst of the action without preamble.

52. [Theme clue]

56. Narrow waterway: STRAIT.

58. Erodes bit by bit: EATS INTO.

59. Persuade forcefully: COERCE.

60. Toronto-to-Quebec dir.: ENE.

61. Filmmaker Buñuel: LUIS.

62. [Skull emoji]: I'M DEAD.

63. Team ldr.: MGR.  Team leader could be a manager.

64. Mark for good: ETCH.


Down:

1. Nail polish nicks: CHIPS.

2. Lucky Charms, e.g.: CEREAL.

3. Jacob who played Elvis in "Priscilla": ELORDI.  Jacob Elordi is an Australian actor who portrayed Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s biographical drama Priscilla in 2023.  Did Not Know.

Jacob Elordi

4. Loud noises: DINS.

5. Trimming: PRUNING.

6. Tartufo ingredient: GELATO.  Tartufo is Italian for truffle, a fabulous edible fungus, but is also the name of an Italian frozen dessert that looks sort of like the fungus.  The dessert is a gelato ball with a filling, coated in cocoa powder, a hard chocolate shell, or ground nuts.

Tartufo

7. Olympic jump: AXEL.

8. Shot: ATTEMPT.

From Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

9. Duty-free time: LEISURE.

10. Word with beer or wine: MENU.

11. Units of resistance: OHMS.

12. __ urchin: SEA.

13. Perfect score in some rating systems: TEN.

18. Bird with small blue eggs: ROBIN.

21. Mom __: JEANS.  Denim pants with a high waist, relaxed hip and thigh areas, and tapered legs were popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Later, they were ridiculed by younger folks as a style only their moms continued to wear.  And then these whippersnappers imitated them in the mid-2010s to the present.  Now they are actually marketed as "mom jeans."

Mom jeans

26. Sonnets, odes, et al.: VERSE.

27. Drug bust figure: NARCO.  "Narco" refers to someone who traffics illegal drugs, deriving from the word "narcotic."

28. Vow locale: ALTAR.

29. Cry of pain: YOW.

30. Prefix with center: EPI.

31. "__ Faire": 2024 HBO docuseries: REN.  Ren Faire is a three-part HBO documentary series that explores a succession crisis at the Texas Renaissance Festival.  I didn't know this, but I've been to a Renaissance Faire once or twice.  I know some folks who still love to dress up for these things.

Ren Faire costumes are all about the bodice.

34. SNAP system: EBT.  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budgets.  Electronic Benefit Transfer allows state welfare departments to issue benefits via a magnetically encoded payment card.

35. Barnyard bleat: MAA.  A bleat is the sound of a lamb, kid, or calf calling for its mother.  Lambs (baby sheep) are usually represented as saying "baa," kids (baby goats) as saying "maa," and calves (baby cattle) as saying "moo."  

36. Kind: ILK.

37. Tick relatives: MITES.

40. Ferrera of "Barbie": AMERICA.  America Ferrera played a Mattel employee in the 2023 Barbie movie directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie.  She delivered a monologue that resonated with many people.  

An excerpt from the monologue:

"It is literally impossible to be a woman. ... Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.  You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. ... You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. ... You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault."

41. Warranted: MERITED.

42. Broadway building: THEATER.

43. Ruins by overcooking: BURNS.

45. __ Mai: city in northern Thailand: CHIANG.  Chiang Mai is a major city in northern Thailand, known for its ancient temples, bustling markets, and vibrant cafe scene, all nestled within a backdrop of mountains and natural beauty.

Chiang Mai

46. Hybrid pastry since 2013: CRONUT.  A Cronut is a trademarked, croissant-doughnut hybrid pastry invented by French pastry chef Dominique Ansel in 2013, featuring a delicate, flaky interior with a caramelized, crispy exterior.

Cronut

47. Frenzied: HECTIC.

51. Ambiguous recipe amount: SKOSH.

52. Street __: CRED.

53. Aesop racer: HARE.

54. Swarm (with): TEEM.

55. Peeve: RILE.  I'm familiar with the noun, as in "pet peeve" or annoyance, but the first meaning seems to be a verb, to annoy, which matches up with rile, which means to make angry or to upset.

56. Ecol. or geol.: SCI.  Ecology and geology are sciences.

57. Colicchio of "Top Chef": TOM.  Tom Colicchio co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as co-owner and executive chef. He is the founder of Crafted Hospitality, which includes Craft (NYC and Los Angeles), Temple Court (NYC), Craftsteak (MGM Grand Las Vegas) and Small Batch (Long Island) restaurants. Colicchio is the recipient of five James Beard Foundation Awards and has been the head judge on every season of Bravo reality TV show Top Chef, as well as Best New Restaurant which he executive produces.  Sorry to say I DNK any of that, Tom!

Tom Colicchio

Here's the grid:

OK, solvers, I have to ask:

Did the puzzle TEEM with unknowns for you, so that it RILEd you up?

Or was it a pleasant LEISURE activity that MERITED praise for the constructors?

Let us know in the comments.

-- NaomiZ