Thursday March 19, 2026 Shannon Rapp & Will Eisenberg

Shannon Rapp has been a crossword constructor since 2021. She is also a co-director of the annual Midwest Crossword Tournament in Chicago. Will Eisenberg is a musician, music teacher, and puzzlemaker since 2019. Together, they're trying to bowl us over!

61. 1985 novelty hit for the Bears, with "The," or an apt title for this puzzle?: SUPER BOWL SHUFFLE. In 1985, the Chicago Bears were riding high when this song came out to benefit hungry families in the area. They went on to win the Super Bowl, having lost only one game* all season. For our purposes here, however, these BOWLs are the classic college football championship games - with their letters SHUFFLEd.

18. Ina Garten franchise: BAREFOOT CONTESSA. COTTON BOWL. Ina is famous for her dinner parties. Here she is preparing wine for the evening.

24. Video game series based on Dungeons & Dragons: BALDUR'S GATE. SUGAR BOWL. BALDUR'S GATE is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. I guess you've got to be into D&D to make sense of this.

38. Tomie dePaola book whose title evokes the Italian for "Grandma Witch": STREGA NONA. ORANGE BOWL. STREGA NONA is a 1976 Caldecott Honor-winning children's book about a kind "Grandma Witch" in a Calabrian town who uses a magical, ever-full pasta pot to help her community.

55. Cry after a triumphant return: WE ARE SO BACK. ROSE BOWL. WE ARE SO BACK is a popular phrase used to signal a comeback or relaunch.

Normally you  don't see circles this late in the week, but in this case they are needed. I'm not great at anagrams, and without the heads-up, I never would've found them, or even understood what the revealer was trying to say. Luckily, COTTON popped out at me early on, but then I started looking for textiles until I got down to the revealer.

Well, I was bowled over, all right. BALDUR"S GATE and STREGA NONA were either "know them or you don't." They mostly filled in by perps, but where they both crossed another name (ARIE) left me scratching my head for the intersecting letters. That's always the problem with too many names.

The rest of this was more up my alley.

Across:

1. Mensa stats: IQS. Intelligence QuotientS are used in Mensa statistics. I don't mean to brag, but I'm a perfect 10...is that good?

4. Deprive (of): STRIP. I once went to a poor joint where the women were deprived of clothes. I left them a few dollars so they could buy some.

9. T's, in Morse code: DASHES. "T" in Morse code is simply ( – ) because it represents one of the most frequently used letters in the English language. You guessed it, "E" is just ( • ).

15. "Is the Pope Catholic?": DUH. A classic rhetorical question.

16. Hawaiian letter that resembles an apostrophe: OKINA. The ʻOKINA ( ʻ ) is a consonant letter in the Hawaiian language representing a glottal stop, similar to the pause between the sounds in "oh-oh". It is distinct from an apostrophe or reversed comma.

17. "In my view ... ": I THINK.

18. [theme]

21. Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. AKIRA Kurosawa was a Japanese writer-director and filmmaker known for his innovative storytelling and cinematic techniques.

22. Species known as the Evolution Pokémon: EEVEE. EEVEE evolves into eight distinct forms ("Eeveelutions") based on stones, friendship, time of day, or location. Crazy!

23. Sanskrit for "goddess": DEVI. DEVI is the term for "divine female," representing the supreme feminine energy in Hinduism.

24. [theme]

30. Receptionist, often: GREETER.

32. Reasons: MOTIVES. Why do you ask?

33. YMCA class: ESL. English as a Second Language class at a Young Men's Christian Association facility.

34. Sam of "Peaky Blinders": NEILL. Sir Nigel John Dermot “Sam” NEILL is an actor with dual New Zealand and British citizenship. He is also well know for his role in the Jurassic Park movies.

37. On deck: NEXT. 

On deck at the DMV.

38. [theme]

42. "Not cool!": DUDE. Not, "That's not cool, DUDE," but "DUDE! That's not cool!"

45. Investment: STAKE. Investment: STEAK. Kobe Beef is the most expensive meat in the world due to its extremely high marbling and limited availability.

46. So-so, slangily: MID. Why not? We used to call this MOR, an abbreviation of Middle-Of-the-Road.

49. Cut without permission?: FAN EDIT. They tried to fool us with TRUANCY, but FAN EDITs are essentially unauthorized alternative versions of films made by fans.They may remove, reorder or add material in order to create a new interpretation of the source material.

53. Composer parodied in "Rabbit of Seville": ROSSINI. Gioachino Antonio ROSSINI not only composed the Barber of Seville opera, he was a friend and supporter of many of the greatest French chefs of his time, inspiring many dishes in his name. He was also believed to be an incredible cook and possess exquisite taste. Just like me! Not.

Beef Rossini - investment grade

55. [theme]

58. Burnt __: ENDS. Now, this is more my style!

Burnt Ends - ingestion grade

59. Comedy legend Burnett: CAROL. CAROL made a guest appearance a few years ago in Better Call Saul, and suddenly she's in demand again. She's presently starring in the Apple series Palm Royale, a period piece about the haves and have-nots in 1969 Palm Beach high society.

60. Toyota hybrid: PRIUS.

61. [theme]

67. Main dish: ENTREE. Like Beef ROSSINI or Burnt ENDS.

68. App for foodies: EATER. This puzzle is making me hungry! 

69. Game review site: IGN. "In-Game Name" describes a player's identity in virtual worlds. IGN is a leading online destination for video game and entertainment news, reviews, and guides. 

70. Untrustworthy sort: WEASEL. 

71. Run for fun, say: RHYME. This one took a moment to jog my memory.

72. Receive: GET.

Down:

1. Workplace accessibility issue?: ID BADGE. IDentification BADGE. In the abbreviation, I stands for I, and D stands for -dentification. Doesn't seem fair.

2. Society of Friends: QUAKERS. The Religious Society of Friends, or QUAKERS, is a 17th-century English-originated tradition focusing on direct, personal experience of God (the "Light Within") rather than rigid doctrines. They believe everyone has capacity for divine access. Core beliefs include spiritual equality, peace (pacifism), simple living, and social justice. These seem like tenets that more of us should espouse, even if we don't eat oatmeal. 

3. Dry (up): SHRIVEL.

4. Porch party fixture: SOFA. I guess porch parties are a thing now, building community support and generating momentum about local causes. Part of it is providing comfortable outdoor seating for potential prospects and donors, hence a SOFA.

5. Match stopper, briefly: TKO. Technical KnockOut.

6. Former Portuguese Royal Court city: RIO. From 1808 to 1821, RIO de Janeiro served as the capital of Brazil.

The Royal Palace in Rio de Janeiro today

7. Dirt from a bug, perhaps: INTEL. Basic spycraft.

8. Walked the floor: PACED. Worked the floor: MIXED, and mingled.

9. Mexican cheddar?: DINERO. "We're having queso (cheese) for DINERO (dinner)." Wait! That's not right. DINERO means money in $panish, as you remember from watching Westerns over the years. 

10. Swear (to): ATTEST. Yes, I can ATTEST that DINERO means money.

11. __/her pronouns: SHE.

12. Casual hellos: HIS. Not him/HIS.

13. Outskirts of New Haven?: ENS. A letteral clue. New Haven starts and ends with ENS.

14. Reggae kin: SKA.

19. Canal that runs 351 miles: ERIE. That's scary long.

20. Egg cell: OVUM.

24. Taproom pour: BEER. Taproom poor: BROKE.

"Maybe you should get the next round."

25. "Acoustic Soul" singer India.__: ARIE. India ARIE is an American singer and songwriter.

26. "Jane the Virgin" star Rodriguez: GINA. GINA Rodriguez is an American actress and producer.

27. "__ Maria": AVE. It's just down the road from Hallelujah Court.

28. __-Mex cuisine: TEX. 

29. Contractor's no.: EST. An ESTimate is a price quoted for a job. If it's too high, the contractor gets a "No."

31. Explosive stuff: TNT. We've blown this up many times before, so I won't spell it out.

35. Some kitchen appliances: LGS. LG uses the tagline, "Life's Good," but the Korean company's name is actually Lucky-Goldstar. Good marketing because otherwise it sounds like a Chinese restaurant.

36. Long. counterpart: LAT. Longitude and LATitude. My geography teacher helped us keep them straight by saying that LONGitudes are the LONG ones that go from pole to pole.

38. Oracle: SEER. I divined this answer.

39. Rat (on): NARC.

40. "Enough, I get it": OK OK.

41. Old console letters: NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System has a library of 1370 officially licensed games. I think I played Super Mario Bros. once.

42. Texas airport letters: DFW. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the 2nd busiest in the U.S. behind Hartsfield–Jackson in Atlanta.

43. Abu Dhabi's fed.: UAE. Abu Dhabi's federation is the United Arab Emirates.

44. Tiny twisted molecule: DNA. Though this clue is twisted, the answer is straightforward.

46. Lego character, informally: MINIFIG. Short for a MINIFIGure, it's a little plastic figurine that snaps onto Lego bricks. These guys look familiar, but I can't quite place them.

47. Humor: INDULGE.

48. Voice opposition: DISSENT.

50. Proclamation: DECREE.

51. "Violeta" novelist Allende: ISABEL. 

Violeta

(2022) is a sweeping historical novel by Chilean author ISABEL Allende.

52. Fatty tuna: TORO. TORO doesn't refer to the fish itself – just the fatty meat from the belly prized in sushi and sashimi for its buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich marbling. To me, TORO tuna sounds like a surf & turf entree - investment grade!

54. Vassal: SERF.

56. Shady garden spot: BOWER. New to me. Unlike a long, arched arbor, it's more akin to a covered garden seat.

57. God of Islam: ALLAH.

60. Unadulterated: PURE.

61. Use a Singer: SEW. Or HEM.

62. French article: UNE.

63. Book fair gp.: PTA. A Parent Teacher Association is a group that may run a book fair as a fundraiser. Maybe they should try a Porch Party!

64. Hesitant sounds: ERS.

65. Pigpen: STY.

66. Make shorter, maybe: HEM. Or SEW.

* The Bears only loss in 1985 was to Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins in an epic Monday Night Football showdown. I was there in the old ORANGE Bowl and was so hoarse from shouting that I could barely talk the next day. The thunderous noise from the fans created unheard of game stoppages when Chicago had the ball. The more the refs tried to quiet the crowd, the louder we got (with our players encouragement) and helped preserve the 1972 Dolphin's perfect season - a feat no other major American league team in any sport has equaled.

Be good. RB

Thursday February 19, 2026 Alisya Reza and Shannon Rapp

Newcomer Alisya Reza and up-and-comer Shannon Rapp have teamed to create a puzzle featuring some fancy swordplay. Be careful! You might get a paper cut!

I found this puzzle to be much harder than last week's. You remember, the one everybody thought was too easy? Be careful what you wish for! I blanked on most of the names in the NW when just getting started. If it weren't for circles, this could be a Friday. The 16 x 15 grid is over-sided, with bilateral (left-right) symmetry that always reminds me of Space Invaders.

18. "Espresso" singer: SABRINA CARPENTER. SABER. In 2008, she was one of 7,000 to enter the online singing contest The Next Miley Cyrus Project. She placed third, which opened doors for her, but my favorite CARPENTER is Karen.

30. Taking time off from school?: CUTTING CLASS. CUTLASS. RightBrain will always make time for a Brad Pitt movie. She calls him "a man with a view!" (Should I be worried? Nah! He's got nuthin' on me, except for wealth and fame and...)  Here he is in his first major role circa 1989 when he was 25.

49. Pet adoption that wasn't planned: FOSTER FAIL. FOIL. Despite how it sounds, a FOSTER FAIL just means their temporary home became permanent - a good thing! We adopted FuzzyBrain during COVID. A FOSTER success! Here's the puppy we fell in love with.

65. Metaphor for something with positive and negative consequences, or what 18-, 30-, and 49-Across literally are?: DOUBLE EDGED SWORD. Each of the theme answers begin and end in letters that spell out types of swords. That is, both "edges" of the answers.

I thought the theme was fine, but got dragged down by too many names, only half of which I knew off the bat. A game show contestant?!

Let's see if the pen is mightier than the sword:

Across:

1. Wood used by luthiers: ALDER. I own a lot of guitars, but this one eluded me as I was thinking of traditional acoustic guitar woods, such as cedar and maple (which both fit), spruce, mahogany and rosewood. Lesser-known ALDER is used in making solid-body electric guitars, primarily those by Fender. Note the light grain of the ALDER Stratocaster body on the left vs. the pronounced grain of an ash body on the right. (Don't get me started talking about guitars!)

 6. High-five sound: SLAP.

10. One of many in Indonesia's Kepulauan Seribu: ISLET. Kepulauan Seribu means "Thousand Islands."

15. He-Man's twin: SHE-RA. I don't see the resemblance. I think they were switched at birth.

16. Area: ZONE.

17. "I have a good lawyer and I'm not afraid!": SUE ME. Unfortunately, in today's litigious society, we hear that more and more, instead of, "Let's work this out."

18. [theme]

21. 2024 Korean Air merger partner: ASIANA.

22. More haunted: EERIER.

23. "Jeopardy!" champion Amodio: MATT. MATT is a mathematician who won $1.5 million over 39 games, ranking him third in winnings. And who cares? 

24. Collectible card protector: SLEEVE.

29. Wee: ITTY. I had the "Y" of TERRY Gross, so wrote "TINY," then replaced that with "ITSY," before reaching the promised land.

30. [theme]

33. Flavor of fermented foods: UMAMI. The "fifth taste" wasn't known to me in the 20th century. Back in the olden days, we had to rely on MSG for our meat fix.

35. Secure, as a boat: MOOR.

36. Mississippi formation: DELTA.

39. Something to shoot for: PAR.

40. Start to fix?: PRE. PREfix, meaning before it's been fixed, i.e. still broken.

42. Tub with jets: SPA. Tug with jets: SPRAY

44. Product of a redox reaction: ION. Redox reactions frequently produce IONs through the transfer of electrons, where one species is oxidized (loses electrons to become a positive ion or higher oxidation state) and another is reduced (gains electrons to become a negative ION or lower oxidation state). Got it? Here, let me draw it out for you.

45. Tranquil: SEDATE. I entered "serene" first, which seems like a better answer.

47. "Make it __!": SNAPPY. And for you tap dance aficionados:

49. [theme]

54. Infield call: SAFE.

56. Taquería drink: AGUA. A taqueria is a Mexican restaurant specializing in tacos - and glasses of water, apparently.

57. European range: ALPS. "Beyond the Alps lies more Alps. And the Lord 'Alps those that 'Alps themselves." Groucho Marx in Horse Feathers, 1932. I watched all the Marx Brother's movies when I was in high school, hence what's wrong with me today.

60. Pachakamaq worshippers: INCA. Pachacamaq was a major creator deity worshipped by pre-Inca coastal cultures as a powerful god of earthquakes and fertility.

61. Quick look: GLANCE.

63. Mammal with a saddle patch: ORCA. Mammal with a saddle bag: MULE

65. [theme]

68. Freelancer's targets: OUTLETS.

69. Gave meaning to: DEFINED.

70. Knight rider's companions?: STEEDS. This knight got his STEED in the mail.

71. "Nothing yet!": NO NEWS. 

Down:

1. Tea in masala chai, perhaps: ASSAM. Masala chai is a fragrant Indian tea made by brewing strong, robust black tea—typically ASSAM—with a mixture of aromatic spices, milk, and sweetener.

2. Tibet's capital: LHASA.

3. Payment method: DEBIT CARD.

4. Printing gaffe: ERRATUM. This is normally seen in plural: ERRATA.

5. Part of the water cycle: RAIN. Part of the water cycle: SNOW. With the Winter Olympics in progress, I've become an armchair judge of ice skating routines. But, as usual, I'll soon forget my expertise in Salchows and Lutz's for another four years. Go Team USA!

6. Kendrick Lamar's Grand National Tour co-headliner: SZA. I don't like when there are so many names and I have to find photos of all these people.

7. Follower of wisdom or love, in hairstyling: LOC. LOC as in lock of hair. It's usually just a single dreadlock, often placed in the back to signify spiritual, personal growth (wisdom) or to honor someone (love). Cool concept; I'll have to keep my eye out for it
.

8. Actress Gasteyer: ANA. Like many comedians, ANA Gasteyer got her start on SNL.

9. A pop: PER. A pop: PERE (in France, anyway).

10. "Got it": I SEE. Uh-huh.

11. Daily spectacle: SUNRISE. Here's a photo I took last year of the SUNRISE on Fort Lauderdale beach. I later found out that the sun comes up every day.

12. Accidentally reveal: LET IT SLIP.

13. Do a virtual interview, say: E-MEET. Turns out you can add an "E " to just about anything.

14. "Fresh Air" co-host Gross: TERRY. She's been at NPR (National Public Radio) since 1975 and has interviewed thousands of guests. 

19. Condé __: NAST.

20. Orange skin: PEEL. Lime skin: PEEL.

25. Citrus fruit: LIME. Citrus fruit: ORANGE.

26. Indigenous people of North Carolina: ENO. I don't know the ENO. 

27. Alter __: EGO. But I do know the EGO!

28. Devices for watching old home movies: VCRS. Video Cassette Recorders were once a household staple, but they made lousy clocks.

31. Sneak (around): TIPTOE. 

32. "Minor Detail" novelist Shibli: ADANIA. ADANIA Shibili is a Palestinian author and essayist. Her award-winning crime novel Minor Detail was controversial because of its portrayal of Israelis.

33. Shipper with brown trucks: UPS. Brown is the least used color for corporate identities, but I thought UPS used it because it looked like cardboard boxes. They say it imparts "reliability and stability." OK, if they say so...

34. Astronaut Jemison: MAE. MAE Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. You go girl!

37. Be better than: TOP. Better than that: ZZ TOP!

38. Whichever: ANY.

41. In medias __: RES. Latin for "in the middle of things," it's a literary technique where a story begins in the midst of the action to immediately engage the reader, with backstory revealed later through dialogue or flashbacks. Its been hijacked by the film industry, where it seems every movie opens with an action scene known as a "cold open."

43. Educational ad: PSA. Public Service Announcement. 

46. Warm: AFFABLE.

48. Admit: ALLOW IN.

50. Lore: TALES. Lore: HEADS. "Lore heads" are passionate, dedicated fans who deeply analyze the backstories and universes of fictional worlds, primarily in gaming.

51. "Holy moly!": EGAD. 

52. Step on a ladder: RUNG. Step on a rake: RUNG (one's bell).

53. Stood up to, say: FACED.

54. Aardvark feature: SNOUT. Aardvark feature: CLOUT. It's the first animal alphabetically. Name your locksmith shop after it and everyone will call you first!

55. Like some accents: ACUTE. In English, the mark over an é is called an ACUTE accent and changes the 'e' to an 'ay' sound, as in cliché and passé.

58. Given (to): PRONE.

59. Item in an Ikea kit: SCREW. This refers to what happens to you if don't follow their "simple" directions - you're SCREWed.

60. Wedding exchanges: I DOS. I DOS seem to be getting more popular than VOWS in xwords.

61. Understands: GETS. I see it now.

62. Starter home?: EDEN. Fun clue.

64. Puts together: ADDS. This one ADDS up.

66. Was in charge: LED. 

67. NorCal hub: SFO. SFO is the airport code for San Francisco International Airport in Northern California. The "O" is for Oakland.

Be good. RB