Friday, Oct 23rd, 2026 ~ Winston Emmons

UNDERSTAND A BLEAT

🙄

This is Winston's LA Times puzzle #15, and the first one I've had to blog - Chairman Moe had ths last one, here, back in April 2024.  This one kinda fizzled on me; even owning up to a single cell mistake, I found the construction & theme to be bland - in fact, 30D. is not even a unique crossword answer.  The rest of the fill contained little to make me go "RAH~!"; YMMV, but again, I think the editor is more to blame on this one - and not the first time I felt that way this week.  Standard grid, no circles, no outlier letters, far too many proper nouns ( names ) & "foreign"clues, and the same count of 3LW to 5LWs.  The Across themers and Down reveal:

18. Gospel music?: PRAISE BEAT - "Praise Be" being the base phrase; the addition of the "A T" does not really result in a 'punny' or 'alternate' themer, IMHO

The Yellow & Black attack of

Christian rockers Stryper, "To Hell with 9A."

30. Really, really sticky situation?: HONEY COMBAT - Honeycomb, a better redefining themer

46. Brag obnoxiously after winning a swabbing contest?: MOP AND GLOAT - Mop & Glo, the floor cleaning product

That'll work . . .

59. Generous Volkswagen promotion?: FREE PASSAT - Free Pass - I have a "free" VW Jetta in my backyard if you'll give me $1500 to get rid of it . . . 😜

48. "Finally!," or what can be found in 18-, 30-, 46-, and 59-Across: AT LAST - The theme answers all end with the additional letters A & T, or "at, last".  I see Mr. Emmons was able to slide "ETTA" into the grid as well "@" 31D.

But@ Wait@ There's@ More@~!

ACROSS:

1. "Ring out the thousand __ of old": Tennyson: WARS - no clue, tough way to start a puzzle - the poem

5. Hat holders: PEGS

9. Figure in a Faustian bargain: SATAN - A.K.A. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles

14. Name on a former lake in Central Asia: ARAL - Geo name #1, even if it's a crossword staple

15. Sandwich title: EARL - the Earl of Sandwich, credited with the "invention" of the meat-between-bread fare that now bears his name . . . and name(ish)

Wiki backs it up

16. __ keyboard: EMOJI - I do the Downs first, had E - - - I, so I got it, but didn't really "get it"

All I can say is 😝 or maybe 😖

17. Hayworth of "The Strawberry Blonde": RITA - name #2

20. Slogans: MOTTOS - If Nike came out with crossword apparel, the slogan would be "Just Clue It" 🙄

22. Ring topper: STONE

23. Screening org.: TSA - Transportation Security Administration

24. Chart-topper: HIT

26. High cloud: CIRRUS - made my "TRES" at 28D. wrong

34. Fiver: ABE - seen this before in crosswords; money, not moniker, but still, name (ish)

Hey, that's not Abe . . .

35. Uncomfortably honest: TOO REAL

36. Pulitzer winner James: AGEE - Popular in crosswords, still name #3

37. African language family: BANTU - "foreign" fill, first of many . . .

40. __ Atleos: big name in ATMs: NCR - Dah~!  Didn't get my "ta-DA~!", could not find my mistake - I had ECR, yet I am familiar with this company, as they made cash registers, initially - in fact that's what "N C R" stands for - National Cash Register - the history

41. Oscar, but not Big Bird: AWARD - two Muppets, one trophy - very clever clue / answer

42. Vicinity: AREA

43. Tenor Pavarotti: LUCIANO - Italian, name #4

45. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA

50. Gymnast Olga with four Olympic gold medals: KORBUT - Belarusian, name #5

52. 128 oz.: GALLon

53. Colorado Plateau Native: UTE - Indigenous, name (ish)

54. Model/actress Kate: UPTON - American Michigander, name #6

That's hubby Justin Verlander, retired WS-winning baseball pitcher

57. Mortar's partner: PESTLE

63. Panache: ÉLAN - Frawnche

64. Mexican meat: CARNE - Español

65. Period after Shrove Tuesday: LENT - Christian 😉

66. Toy (with): MESS

67. Break the rules: CHEAT - not a themer, as in Che AT . . .🙄

68. Eight, in combinations: OCTO

69. Minuscule: ITTY - AND - 49D. Minuscule: TEENSY - straight clecho

DOWN:

1. Affection: WARMTH - another great single-syllable fill

2. Oratorio solo: ARIOSO - Italian, and a Sunday dupe

3. Material for some patio furniture: RATTAN - South Asian, another Sunday dupe

4. Board on some patio furniture: SLAT - Not a "sl AT" themer, either . . . 🙄

5. Gatorade owner: PEPSICO - Twice (25D.) this month that a "Pepsi" phrase has made the crossword

6. Orecchiette shape: EAR - Italian again, for "little ears" - nailed it, but knew it from doing crosswords

7. Foie __: GRAS - Frawnche again, heard of it, never actually knew it translates as "fatty liver"

The image's connected website

8. Buttonhole, e.g.: SLIT - SLAT & SLIT in the same grid

9. Veto on movie night: "SEEN IT."

10. Cautionary color: AMBER

11. Spot for a metti: TOE - South Asian Indian, learning moment - the Wiki

12. Two-time WNBA Finals MVP Wilson: A'JA - name #7, coulda been clued as a Steely Dan album

13. Picky criticism: NIT - I had a fair number of  name "nits" in this grid today

19. Golden St. region: SoCal - Southern California - I am East coast, so this did not come readily to mind, but this song did after it filled in - I'd heard it growing up, but would've never guessed the artist

Albert Hammond

21. "Silly goose!": "OH YOU~!" - Oh, Twurd~!

25. Distraught: TORN UP - Dah~!  I simply did not see the option of the past tense version of this phrase, and I blanked on the crossing ECR not being correct - I'll take the one-cell hit on this one . . .

27. Sitar piece: RAGA - Asian Indian - You don't want to go raga . . . 

28. Very, informally: ÜBER - German - Dah~!  I tried TRES

29. Pomegranate bit: SEED

31. "__ Is Betta Than Evvah!": 1976 album: ETTA - an Easter Egg.  Etta James, crossword staple, and the singer associated with the muscial number that my future ex-wife chose for our wedding herself.  It's certainly a "numb-er" for me - thus, I am not a fan of the "theme"; I wanted "Leather & Lace" which was 'dismissed', but my brother snuck it in during his best man speech.   Name #8

32. Home of the Kaaba: MECCA - Arabic, Kaaba = 'cube', geo name #9

33. Revealing to all: BARING

36. Missing GI: AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave

37. Flavorful part of a cinnamon tree: BARK

38. View from the Uffizi: ARNO - No clue this was an art gallery; Italian again, geo name #10

Bottom center

39. Proximate: NEAR

41. Measurement given in degrees: ANGLE

43. Led Zeppelin's "Whole __ Love": LOTTA - Whole lotta yes, please~!  

Here's a cool story from Rick Beato's YouTube channel

about the recording of the track

44. Fit in with: ADAPT TO - Yeah, but Meh~?

46. Sesame Street denizen: MUPPET - see 41A

47. Current source: OUTLET

51. Lake __ Vista, Florida: BUENA - Español again, geo name #11

55. Capital west of Stockholm: OSLO - attempted obscurity, still got it, still Scandinavian, geo name #12

56. Fraction of a min.: NSEC - SEC was too short, filled it in and waited on perps

58. Big rig: SEMI

59. TV monitor: FCC - I almost went with CRT, but this is the "overseer" kind of monitor

60. Cheer syllable: "RAH~!" - I'm going with "MEH."

61. Poetic preposition: ERE

62. Pantry pest: ANT - we had ANT MAN on Tuesday

Splynter

Grid Flow 32.7

Friday, Oct 16th, 2026 ~ Yijing Chen

"A Minor" COMPOSITION in "B#"

The Circle of FIFTHS - A minor = C major: C = "B#" - get it~?

This is Yijing Chen's fifth LA Times puzzle - I blogged her debut puzzle here, and today's offering may have led some Cornerites to a Circle of FITs, or even the fifth circle of hell - see 51A.  I however, loved this puzzle - I enjoy the extra challenge of trying to figure out the hidden, underlying meaning of a crossword's theme.  It took me about 8mins over my usual Friday time to finally figure out just the SW corner alone. Once I caught on to the reveal "NOTES" being the musical Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti vocalizations, it was enough to figure out that the theme answers were completely undefinable from the clues themselves - 45A being the most obscure & difficult to parse; I'm not even sure I am 100% correct, but there is no "sourson" word - the closest I could find was soursop - this fruit.  The solution is to take out the duplicate "notes", ( which had to be doubled to match the plural reveal ) and Bob's your uncle.  I am sure this construction is going to cause a fair amount of grumbling, but it's Friday, and it does have a theme, albeit a very cryptic one.  An over-sized 15 x 16 grid, no outlier letters, several names, no Twurds, sixteen 3LWs, and no circles, but perhaps "*" on the themers would have helped, as they coincided with other same-length fills:

17. Female sib: DOSIDOS - SISter, abbr in the clue, abbr in the answer, no relation to the actual fill of do-si-do, the dance step ( and now I see, a strain of marijuana, plus the Girl Scout cookie ); the same non-relation goes for all of the themers . . .

18. Cozy eatery: CAREFREE - CAFE, not the 'care-free' attitude, e.g.

23. Man of La Mancha: SEMI MINOR - SEÑOR, Español for "man" in the Spanish city - which we also learned from last week's clue/answer "Dulcinea" fiasco; filled mostly via perps, and I did not know what the definition of "Semi Minor" was;

the Wiki

38. The complete set: ALFALFA - ALL - strangely, a sorta dupe from yesterday . . .

45. Big flowerpot: SOURS ON - URN - "loses interest in"; almost impossible to fill in without understanding the theme

57. Extemporizes: LAVA LAMPS - VAMPS - the "musical improvisation" definition. The green one in my office -

67. Low-level laborer: PETITION - PEON, my first thought, but was obviously too short for the eight-letter fill in the grid

69. "Perfect!," or how to make seven answers in this puzzle match their clues?: NO NOTES - D'Oh~! A deer, a female deer - if you were able to "Be Sharp" and remove the doubled Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do pairings ( and I know it's usually referred to as "SOL" ) from the answers, what you're left with are explanations for the clues 😁

ACROSS:

1. Barnyard call: MAA - cows go "moo", sheep go "baa", so this must be goats

4. A pop: PER

7. Compels: FORCES

13. Like some pickup-only deals: IN-STORE

15. Prehistoric hand tool: STONE AXE - A uniquie fill

19. "Ferrari" actor Driver: ADAM - name #1

20. Second singer to be honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: SINATRA - and the first singer was~?  Answer at the end, name #2

22. Some laptops: PCs

25. Ernie's "Sing After Me" duet partner: ELMO - Good guess on my part; not BERT - name #3

28. Monument Valley formation: MESA

30. Winter layer: COAT - I was not fooled, didn't go with SNOW, RIME or HOAR

33. __ Nation: Jay-Z's conglomerate: ROC - name (ish)

36. Novelist Quindlen: ANNA - No clue, more here, name #4

40. Approximately: ABOUT

42. Many a K-pop singer: IDOL

44. Starting lineup: A-TEAM

47. Gaelic speaker: CELT

49. Cornerback Bly in the College Football Hall of Fame: DRÉ - No clue, name #5

50. Was gripping?: HELD - Har-har

51. Breathe fire, say: RAGE - the sin of the Fifth Circle of Hell

53. Inhale, maybe: EAT - slang for eating fast

55. Couple: DUAD - Not being DUET caused all sorts of grief 

62. "Thrilla in Manila" boxer: ALI - Crossword staple, name #6

64. Approached bedtime: LATENED - "got late"

66. Wife of Zeus: HERA - name #7

71. Peppers in some mole sauces: POBLANOS - oof.  I didn't know the name of this pepper, and it's a unique fill, so new to any crossword - more here

72. Writer/illustrator who often wrote in anapestic tetrameter: Dr. SEUSS - the rhyming 'pace', depicted as da - da - DUM.  My blogs are written in all-a-puzzle octalmeter . . . name #8

73. Villainous looks: SNEERS -  This fish, my S-i-L calls "Vegas", hovered in the corner of the tank and stared at me the whole time I was down on Long Island . . . 

I'm watchin' you  . . . Creepy

74. With 27-Across, big name in watercraft: SEA - AND - 27A. See 74-Across: DOO.  Their website

75. Therapist's maj.: PSYchology

DOWN:

1. King with a touching story?: MIDAS - the golden touch of mythology - my first thought was ELVIS😜, #9

2. Battery part: ANODE

3. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - Dah~!  Not PEKOE

4. Pea sheller's discard: POD

5. Canyon former: EROSION

6. Amber, once: RESIN

7. "Seriously?": "FOR REAL~?" - Rhymes with . . .

8. "Gorilla Warfare" artist Shaquille: O'NEAL - Name #10, but that's who I figured - not too many people named Shaquille - and his "art"

9. NWSL official: REF - abbr for the National Womens' Soccer League; I ventured a guess at something something Sports League . . . enough to take a WAG

10. Didn't ride solo: CARPOOLED

11. Corp. bigwig: EXECutive

12. Goes out with: SEES - Crossword friendly "E"s and "S"s on the edge

14. Retiring: TIMID - Dah~!  Not IN BED, but an obscure definition

15. Shake: SCARE - Friday. Vague.

16. Ink spot, for short: TATtoo - so many ladies at the gym with ink art, but I just don't care for it; to me, it's like graffiti on the Venus De Milo

Yecht - looks "dirty"

21. Digital __: remote tech worker: NOMAD - I have not heard this phrase, but sounds like a great way to work in the 21st century

24. Deep defenses: MOATS - two weeks in a row on Friday

Caerlaverock castle, Scotland

26. MD-to-be's exam: MCAT - Medical College Admission Test

29. Clearance event: SALE

31. Not nearby: AFAR

32. No longer feral: TAME - this guy only gets feral when the FedEx guy pulls up . . .

Told you he was a licker . . .

33. Impetuous: RASH - I went with RUDE, only 25% correct

34. Clarinet kin: OBOE - about the only 'gimme' in the SW

35. "Do my eyes deceive me?": "COULD IT BE~?" - Solid, but tough to suss in the Down position, and no crossings to work with either

37. Totenberg of NPR: NINA - I don't listen, more here.  Name #11

39. Like some flaws: FATAL

41. Linguistic cousin of Hindi: URDU

43. One of a geographic quintet: OCEAN - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic & Arctic

46. Formally decrees: ORDAINS - that's the word I could not think of; I was stuck on ORATES

48. Galena, e.g.: LEAD ORE - I knew this, but for some reason, put in IRON - that's these ores

52. Bonny landscapes: GLENS

Aye, she's a bonny lass

54. Sierra Nevada lake: TAHOE - Geo name #12

56. Match point?: ALTAR - And I thought I was being clever with "FLAME" = tip, but this is the wedded bliss kind of point - the "location"

58. Sells: VENDS

59. Came together: MET UP

60. Olive oil maker: PRESS

61. Flip: SASSY - flip, the adjective, not the verb

62. Intro courses?: APPS - Ah.  The restaurant menu appetizers, that is

63. Swimmer Marchand who won four gold medals at Paris 2024: LEON - oof. Friday. Frawnche.  Name #13

65. "__ true!": TOO - I had "TIS" to start

68. __-de-France: Paris's region: ILE - Frawnche #2 - guessed it, put it in, took it out, put it right back in, and I shaked it all about . . . 🙄

70. Govt. cybersecurity monitor: NSA - No. Such. Agency.

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.0

answer to 20A << Bing Crosby >>

Notes from C.C.

Happy Birthday to our dear Dave (CrossEyedDave)! He's always there when I need a helping hand with the blog, and he never misses a chance to celebrate our regulars with his wonderful birthday cake pictures. Thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness, and all the smiles you bring to our little crossword family. We're so lucky to have you in our corner, Dave!

 

 

 

Friday, Oct 9th, 2026 ~ Jeremy Venook

AN AIM TO EFFACE

You Know My Name - Eyes Without a Face

This is my second review of a Jeremy Venook construction; the first one is here, and like that first puzzle, I have a similar "meh" feeling about today's crossword.  One could say it was a bit "LAME", and I don't mean the dress.  The 'names' theme was disappointing - perhaps due to the fact that I did not recognize two of them, and that they're, well, names, associated with a characteristic of a face; YMMV.  In addition, I found the crossings were of little help - I'm looking at you, 9D~!  Standard grid, no outliers, no circles, half as many 3LWs as Five-letter ones, two Twurds, and plenty of proper nouns, since that was the "name" of the "game" - the themers and centered reveal;

17. *Two-time Oscar winner with a stoic bearing?: EMMA STONE - Stone Face, usually the more common phrase being stone faced, or having a Poker Face - take it, Lady Gaga~!

😑

Emma Stone, stone face

23. *Nursery rhyme lad with one eye closed?: WILLIE WINKIE - My parents were born & raised in England, yet I've never heard of "Wee Willie Winkie" or the Scottish folk song; in fact, 'winkie' meant the "one-eyed willie" - if you know what I mean.  I guess this is the 'winkie face', which Google says should be "winky"

😉

Perhaps you prefer "We Willie Rock You"~?

46. *Fictional spy sporting a big yellow button?: GEORGE SMILEY - A learning moment for me, this character appeaed when I was just 3yrs old - but I have heard of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", the 1974 novel from author John Le Carré, which became a TV series ( 1979 ) with Alec Guinness as the lead intelligence officer ( after he played Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi in 1977, which I did see ); more here

😄

57. *NFL analyst with a sad demeanor?: HOWIE LONG - I know this guy - he's on the FOX network.

A horse walks in to a saloon, the bartender asks, "why the long face~?"

36. Finally meet in person, or how to make the starred clues match their answers:
PUT A FACE TO A NAME
My dad insisted when I filled out a job application to "put a face to the name",
and speak to a manager instead of just walking out

But Wait -  don't drop names - 

There's More to make a face over  😖
 

ACROSS:

1. C in shop class?: CLAMP - this thing; as a woodworker, one can never have enough clamps

Bar Top glue-up

6. Blu-ray precursor: DVD

9. South Asian crepes: DOSAs - Ugh. Crossing another name, double UGH

14. Hispaniola nation: HAITI - this Geo name has appeared in all four of Jeremy's LA Times puzzles

15. Outdoor co-op with an "Uncommon Path" blog: REI - learned by doing crosswords

16. Loosen, as laces: UNTIE - Odd that this counts as Friday-level, considering the rest of the clues

19. Recline atop: LIE ON - Twurdish #1

20. Charge: FEE

21. Horn sound: TOOT

22. Briquettes: COALS

26. Talk into a bigger purchase: UPSELL

29. Warped Tour sponsor: VANS - No clue; the Warped Tour Wiki; I knew a handful of the bands from the one in 1998; in 2012, despite having triple the performers, I knew not one of them . . . since it could have been a vehicle 'vans' answer, name #1 ( +4 if you count the themers . . . )

30. Protective trench: MOAT - I do love castles

Now that's a moat - Bodiam Castle

31. Golfing goof: SLICE - FORE~!

33. Lid: CAP - AND - 57D. Lid: HAT

40. Grads-to-be: SRs

41. Sarge's superior: LOOIE - oof.  Friday.  Lieutenant.  If it weren't for my voracious reading, I would not have gotten this one - also seen in novels as "LOO", "LOOT", "L-T", etc.

42. Hieroglyphic snakes: ASPs

43. Insider's argot: CANT - argot being the 'jargon', lingo and language of a small group, e.g. scientists

44. Check: ARREST

51. Partygoer who might stock up on glow sticks: RAVER - I grew up in the "mosh pit" era

52. Many a Yemeni: ARAB

53. Sweets: BAE - not candy, vague, and cringe, I can't stand this word - two of three Fridays now 😖

56. Carne __ burrito: ASADA

59. Romantic poet who died fighting for Greek independence: BYRON - interesting life, name #2

60. "Eddington" director Aster: ARI - I know none of  his work - IMDb, name #3

61. Caused: LED TO - Twurdish #2

62. Utter, as thou might: SAYST - canceled my SAYTH, which needed to be SayEth anyway - until I checked with our new friend A I, and found this . . . 

Archaic spelling of "archaic" . . . uhhh

63. Pewter component: TIN - about 85-99%, according to Wiki

64. Eye sores: STYES


DOWN:

1. Many a cooking show host: CHEF

2. Fabric with metallic threads: LAMÉ - Some of this puzzle may be "lame", but not this dress . . . 🙄

Hey, 56% off~! Buy it now~!

3. Love, in French: AIME - does not rhyme with LAME, more like ay-MUH in the Frawnche

4. NYC transit org.: MTA - I grew up on Long Island, so I'm familiar with this organization; name(ish) and abbr, but here's a video from the B1M on a NYC project ahead of schedule, AND below budget

Park Ave rebuild

5. Flower part: PISTIL

6. Salivate: DROOL - Makes me think of Odie from Garfield

I'm down here with Cooper, who is not a drooler - but he does like to lick

7. Starbucks order: VENTI

8. Drop to 0%: DIE - Ah. Like phone batteries

9. Woman of La Mancha?: DULCINEA - Crossing two themers, and name #4 - Don Quixote's imaginary girlfriend; Why stop at one~?  I have a dozen imaginary girlfriends . . .  😁 the Wiki

10. Mirepoix vegetables: ONIONS - Frawnche. no clue, filled via perps

11. Swordfish cut: STEAK - solid WAG on my part, but then again, I know salmon is sold as 'steaks'

12. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI - learned by doing crosswords

13. Intuit: SENSE

18. Per-axle charge: TOLL - I just got a class-action settlement statement from a legal firm in Suffolk County, NY - the state owes me $144 for "illegal" fees on red-light camera tickets - Take THAT~!!

23. Large New Zealand cricket in the name of an Oscar-winning digital effects company: WĒTĀ - zero clue, didn't want one -  I have zero interest in "bugs" - I prefer ETymology over ENTOmology - 😝

24. Paperless Post alternative: eVITE - Ugh.  I tried eSite, thinking capitalized Post = newspaper, not the Postal, federal mail system , and a Tuesday dupe

25. Baylor University city: WACO - Geo name #5

26. Pros who work at home: UMPs - I think this clue needed an "?" - for home PLATE, that is . . .

27. Really come down: POUR - I tried HAIL, TEEM, PELT - Bzzzzt on all of them . . .

28. College Board exams: SATs

31. Many Highland Games participants: SCOTS - I had CELTS, so I was only 40% correct

32. Fragrant garland: LEI

33. Instance: CASE

34. Boxes in an arena?: AMPS - Boxes being the 3D noun, not the 'sparring' verb kind; I play guitar, and this is still too vague, even for a Friday . . .

35. Annoyance: PEST

37. Like a foul that might earn an automatic ejection: FLAGRANT - PERSONAL fit as well

Half the distance to the goal, automatic first down

38. Super-duper: A-ONE

39. Less than hardly, quaintly: NARY - I tried RARE, got me enough

43. Assertions of faith: CREDOS

44. Jai __: ALAI

45. Fights back: REBELS - the verb, not the noun

46. Snatches: GRABS - reminds me of this scene from Ocean's Eleven

Linus calls it a "smash & grab", but it's

slightly more complicated than that . . .

47. GPA booster: EASY A

48. Egg-producing organ: OVARY

49. Language of a haka chant: MAORI - same language as the bug above 🠉 - name(ish)

50. Conservationist Bindi: IRWIN - No clue, WAG on the "I" crossing the theme name - turns out to be Steve Irwin's daughter - still, it's #6

53. Hair quality: BODY - sadly, my hair quality is "thin", my body, "thick" - I'd prefer the reverse . . .

54. Upfront stake: ANTE - poker [face], not poking

55. Obstacles to teamwork: EGOs

58. Permit: LET - the verb, not the noun

Splynter

Gri(n)d Flow 21.4