Friday, Jul 31st, 2026 ~ Betsy Ochester & Andrew Gutelle

ACROSS & . . . 

DOWN  - ON THE CORNER

I do like an "outside the box" kind of puzzle - we had a similar Friday with "Sides Add LE" on April 24th this year from James Mattina.  Today we have a crossword from constructors Betsy O and Andrew G - this is their third LA Times collaboration; the others were (1) on Thursday, and (2) on Monday, both with Naomi at the helm to guide us.  Today's themers can be resolved by adding corner "around" the corner(s) of the grid, and Bob (Feller)'s Your Uncle.  Standard size, no Twurds, typical run of proper names, with TWO Leslies & Penguins today. The themers, reveal, and an expanded graphic of the grid:

1A. *Executive space with great views: [ corner ] OFFICE - Here's a "great view" of my executive blogging command center, taken from the corner at the ceiling 😜

I'm not done with the space yet - still working on the closet area

and a cool set of shelves for the opposite wall

7A. *Area in Westminster Abbey where Chaucer is buried: POETS [ corner ] - More from their website

65A. *Place to find a date?: [ corner ] STONE - ah.  That kind of 'date'

66A. *Stop sign locale: STREET [ corner ] - "Hey, baby, what's your sign~?"   "Stop."

12D. *Scoring opportunity in soccer: [ corner ] KICK

14D. *Defensive player who's often the fastest on the football field: [ corner ] BACK - The NY Jets used to have ESPN's #9 choice, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, but he's with the Colts now

47D. *Eeyore's home: POOH [ corner ] - "Winnie the" and friends' website

53D. *Challenging stretch at Augusta National: AMEN [ corner ] - more from the PGA Masters, here

37. Not far off, or where to look to make this puzzle's starred clues match their answers?: 

AROUND THE CORNER

And a shout-out to the all the Crossword CORNERITES~!

Grid Flow 34.5

    W
     a
     i
But
          There's
                   M
                    o
                    r
                    e(s)~!

ACROSS:

-

-

12. Quaint term for "patella": KNEEPAN - Google says it's one word, and a learning moment for me

13. Supporting Mideast unity: PAN-ARAB - I got stuck on NON-arab, which cost me 2 minutes of looking for my mistake; the Wiki

15. Björk's country: ICELAND - sssss, close - I know of her, went with FIN-land; name #1

16. Ferrera of "Ugly Betty": AMERICA - name #2 - I do the Sunday puzzle on Friday, since I had solved today's puzzle back on Sunday - here's a "slit" for Anon-T's write up 😁

Her Harness page

17. Winnow: CULL - ah; I was thinking M innow

18. Simple shelters: TENTS - made my "RIM OF FIRE" at 19 Down Bzzzzt

20. Rat (on): NARC

21. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" novelist: KESEY - I knew of Ken, name #3

23. Period: DOT - not the "ERA" kind of dot, this one . . . ↙

24. Albanian currency: LEK - Friday.  Vague.

25. "Tubular!": "RAD~!" - two weeks in a row for me

27. Fire (up): REV

29. Texter's "Just a sec": BRB - Be Right Back - I gotta "P"

30. Atlanta-based health agcy.: CDC - Centers for Disease Control

33. String of dried chile peppers: RISTRA - filled via perps - and a unique fill 😁

35. Reign: RULE

40. Jazz singer Sylvia: SYMS - no clue, name #4 - more here

41. One on parental leave, perhaps: NEW DAD

42. "A Boy Named __": Johnny Cash hit: SUE - name (ish)

43. Navy noncom: CPO - Chief Petty Officer

44. Simple shirt: TEE

45. Pained cry: "YOW~!!"

47. Kung __ chicken: PAO

48. Trippy drug: LSD - LySergic Acid Diethylamide - "acid"

50. Molten rock: MAGMA

Liquid Hot MAG - MA

54. Luxury hotel chain: OMNI

56. Label again: RE-TAG

58. Word: TERM

59. Wedding crasher's destination, perhaps: OPEN BAR - Crossing - 31D. College with an alcohol ban: DRY CAMPUS (a unique fill ) - how's that for a "mixer"~?

61. Pen pal's signoff: "WRITE ME." - Penguin's (#1) sign off - "White Me"

63. "House __": longtime HGTV series: HUNTERS - Here's an episode about a village near my old stomping ground of Long Island - about 20mins south of where I lived

Setauket to Patchogue

64. "Airplane!" star Leslie: NIELSEN - A gimme Leslie #1, name #5 - "I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you . . ."

DOWN:

1. At just the right moment: ON CUE

2. Senses: FEELS

3. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob who won the World Series in 1948 with Cleveland: FELLER - also no clue, name #6, more from the Hall of Fame here

4. Bitter brew, briefly: IPA - was not working with my FINLAND

5. Jargon: CANT - def.  #3b

6. Over and done: ENDED

7. Tennis player Shriver and actress Grier: PAMs - know both "names", #s 7 & 8

Pam #7 is not quite square to the net, but still a pretty cool A I image

8. Low digit: ONE - Dah~!  This time, it was not TOE

9. Merit: EARN

10. Dress rehearsals: TRIAL RUNS

11. French cry of surprise: "SACRE BLEU~!!" - Frawnche expletive

13. Spoke rapidly: PATTERED - I was not giving up N-attered

19. The Pacific __: NORTHWEST - not the "Rim of Fire"

Ah.  Pacific RIM was the movie . . .

22. Knitter's ball: YARN

26. Neglected to: DIDN'T

28. Holiday, casually: VACAY

29. Cool remark: "Brr~!" - I think this may have benefitted from a "?", but it filled via perps, so . . . 

30. __ in Charlie: 'C' AS . . . meh.  CHarlie is a "chuh" sound, not a "kuh", as in Careless editing mistake

32. Part: COMPONENT - solid vague one word 4-letter clue + 8-letter answer

34. Pittsburgh team: STEELERS - PENGUINS (#2) fit, too, name(ish)

36. Afore: ERE

38. GI show gp.: USO - United Service Organization

39. Leslie __ Jr. of "Hamilton": ODOM - Leslie #2, name #9

46. Turkey appendage: WATTLE - for some reason, I went with GIBLET, but thought it was spelled GIBBET - that's something else that "hangs" . . . 

49. New beginnings: DAWNS

51. Gaggle birds: GEESE

52. Mascot Hall of Fame inductee from Queens: MR. MET - I knew "him", forgot what he was called

I grew up with the Mets, did not know he had a "Mrs."

55. A fan of: INTO - I am more into hockey . . . The NHL Eighty-Four game season starts Sep 29th

56. Uncommon: RARE

57. Spunk: GRIT

60. "Severance" director Stiller: BEN - name #10, I "neglected to" know ( 26D. ) he directed; sounds like a thrilling TV series

62. Suffix with front or cash: IER - frontier, cashier

Splynter

Friday, Jul 24th, 2026 ~ Kelsey Dixon & Sarah Sinclair

 "MAKEUP" YOUR MIND

Generations, and as a consequnce, the Gaps

and I did NOT wear ( Grunge ) plaid 

Today's puzzle comes to us from two "younger" generation constructors; their last LA Times was here, in 2024, with TTP at the helm.  I did not recall solving that one, but I got a laugh from TTP's link to the "dap".  As for this one, it wraps up a week of dreadful crossnames constructions, and made me feel I am either too old, or too cynical; it feels more like a Tik-Tok post than a crossword, but YMMV.  Four theme answers where one needs to turn a "blind" eye to the 'blush' synonym in the common 'phrase' answers in order to make sense of the * clue; the reveal is definitely not in my wheelhouse, but I think I got the gist of it . . . an under-sized grid, 15 x 14, with more than a blush of abbrs and names, Twenty-six 3LWs, and a 21st century-speak Twurd, but I can relate to it.  The themers, and the short-spanning reveal;

16. *Lesser: SECONDARY COLOR - a 14-letter spanner, this is the 'tone / tint' definition of blush

20. *Fit for a queen: ROYAL FLUSH - this is the 'verb' definition of blush

33. *Home of the Magic and the Magic Kingdom: ORLANDO BLOOM - also verb, name #1(ish)

46. *Relay rod: BATON ROUGE - and last, the actual noun 'makeup' definition of blush

53. Tendency to overuse a certain cosmetic, or what has caused a mismatch between the starred clues and their answers?: BLUSH BLINDNESS

Sabrina Carpenter may be suffering from blush blindness - and perhaps 

even over-doing the lipstick, too - but I still find her attractive 😁

But Wait There's More~!

ACROSS:

1. 7-Eleven convenience: ATM - same fill, different clue; abbr #1

4. Bubble tea "bubbles": BOBA - becoming a popular clue/answer

8. Influencer devices, for short: MICs - I am aware that "influencer" is now a "thing", dare I say a "career" in the Social Media Digital 21st Century~? A millennials clue

12. Olympic sprinter Richardson: SHA'CARRI - name #2, no clue; filled via perps - when I Googled, her Instagram link came up before her Wiki; born in 2000, so . . . millennial (ish) 

14. ID on a map: IDAHO - Dammit.  Got me.  I just could not get past "I Dentity" - geo name

18. Transcript fig.: GPA - abbr #2

19. Beyoncé song about the joy of human existence: BE ALIVE - millennial

24. Corp. title for Jane Fraser of Citigroup: CEO - I had C_O, so it was either F, E, I, O, or T; name AND abbr #3

25. BBC competitor that airs "Love Island": ITV - Learned about this TV channel when I watched the history of Top Gear - the Gen X series started in 2002; the orignal show dates back to 1977; abbr #4

My, how it changed; I think the 2002-Grand Tour version may have been

the best TV show ever - funny, informative, dramatic, and entertaining

26. 1980s cool: RAD - I was an 80's kid, but by no means was I "Rad"(ical) - or maybe I was - a long-haired 'headbanger nerd' . . . how's that for outcast~?  The cigarette-smoking heavy metal fans hated me for being "smart" and doing well in school, and I simply terrified the geeks . . . Gen X, & abbr #5

27. Unspoken agreements?: NODS

28. "You wish!": "DREAM ON~!" - Gen X would have gone with Aerosmith on this one

The "Toxic Twins", 1973

31. Fed. south of Iran: UAE - United Arab Emirates, abbr #6

37. With 30-Down, Paul Rudd role: ANT - AND - 30D. See 37-Across: MAN - I thought it was THE Ant, which wasn't going to work - I have seen parts of the movies

38. Pride symbol: RAINBOW

40. 1975 thriller with a two-note leitmotif: JAWS - A John Williams composition for Steven Spielberg's movie, which does sound "borrowed" from Igor Stravinsky; we saw 'leitmotif' yesterday - Gen X

EEEEE f . . . . eeeee F . . . . E F E F E F . . . .

I composed this blog days before I read RustyBrain's post -

great minds think alike 😁

43. Roughly: "ISH" - AND - 34D. Roughly: OR SO . . . clecho #1

44. Ring spot: TOE - A whole three-letter word~!  EAR would work, too

45. Accessibility law, for short: ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990 

50. Online friends, colloquially: MUTUALS - must be 21st century-speak, so millennial

52. Apple platform: iOS - AND - 60. Apple assistant: SIRI - clecho #2; I tend to think the younger you are, the more likely you'll be an Apple person - see the first image above.  I'm Android, as all of the Apple products I ever came into contact with crapped out on me at critical moments . . .

58. Far from shore: AT SEA

59. Like farmers market produce: IN SEASON

61. Title derived from "caesar": TSAR

62. Smallest prime number: TWO - Jeez, math again on Friday~!

DOWN:

1. Donkey: ASS - How's that for a whole three-letter word . . .

2. English article: THE - THE English scored SIX goals in the World Cup, four to France - total 10, yet NOT the record

3. Jury-rig with what's on hand, informally: MACGYVER - today's Friday highlight clue/answer for me

4. Not just unoriginal: BANAL - I tried BLASÉ; 60% of the correct letters

5. Chicago airport code: ORD - I was close - I put in ORL, but that's the smaller field in the "other" Orlando - Florida - not Bloom.  ORD comes from the original name of O'Hare, Orchard Place; abbr #7

6. Bandeau, e.g.: BRA

7. "Ain't no rule say the dog can't play basketball" film: AIR BUD - Didn't see this movie - IMDb

8. Parsons who was NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021: MICAH - I knew this name, #4, because he was a Dallas Cowboy hold-out last season - his Wiki

9. Megastar: IDOL

10. Multicolored cat: CALICO

11. Pushed: SHOVED

13. Club in a Manilow hit: COPA - sheesh, pick a Generation already - "makeup" your mind~!

Copacabana, 1978, Barry Manilow

15. Cookies with a "design your own" option: OREOs

17. Ouija board word: YES

A little history

20. Free (of): RID

21. Bad Bunny's "__ Atardecer": OTRO - aaand back to millennials - Español, "Another Sunset"

22. Phony persona: FRONT - much of Social Media, IMHO

23. Touch down: LAND - Dah~!  Not ALIT

27. Gas in an inner tube?: NEON - trying too hard to be witty, this one fell flat

29. "Welp!": "ALAS~!" -  I learned today that "welp" is "sadly", in texts; millennial

31. German equivalent of the Tube: UBAHN - short for untergrundbahn, the subway

32. Romance novelist Hazelwood: ALI - Friday vague name #5

35. Most dense: OBTUSEST - just saying this is obtuse

36. Synthesizer pioneer: MOOG - name #6, more here

39. Atomic: WEE - ah; size-related

40. Brand that dropped "Juice" from its name in 2019: JAMBA - name(ish), and Friday vague-ish, but maybe that's on me because there's only two locations in CT - I've never heard of this "refreshment" store

The name ( #6 ) change story

41. Grown-ups: ADULTS - I'm Gen X, and I still don't care for "adulting" . . . 😜

42. 1960s dance: WATUSI - aaaand back to Baby Boomer

"Luci Watusi"

43. Party line?: "IT'S LIT" - aaaand millennial again, aaaand Twurdish; here's the slang definition; back in my drinking days, "I " was lit . . . 😵

46. Faith based in Haifa: BAHÁ'Í - No clue; more here

47. Clerical tunic: ALB - Another whole three-letter word, and I nailed it~!

48. One subject to a height requirement, say: RIDER - think amusement parks

49. Chaplin of the Netflix miniseries "Treason": OONA - not the OONA this Gen Xer was thinking of; name #8

51. App ad target: USER - meh.  vague.

54. Geico's bus.: INSurance - abbr #8

55. Intel org.: NSA - "No Such Administration", abbr #9

56. Piglet's mother: SOW - I got my Piglets mixed up; I went with ROO - the other Pooh character

As a goalie, I loved the incredible World Cup final saves

on the part of the Agentina netminder . . . and look - 

I can Instagram~!

57. __-cone: SNO

Splynter

Grid Flow 22.9

Notes from C.C.: 

I'm thrilled to tell you that Naomi and I made today's USA Today crossword, edited by Amanda Rafkin. 

Give it a whirl when you have some extra time. We'd love to hear what you think. And a special congratulations to Naomi on her crossword debut!

Friday, Jul 17th, 2026 ~ Alex Rossell Hayes & Brian Callahan

BRING 'B' RING

Now that's some "BLING"

We have seen Brian's name on crosswords before, but I do believe this is the first for Alex Rossell Hayes, so congrats on your debut~!  I loved this puzzle - solid fill, brilliant cluing, it made me smile, and not only is it clever, but in alphabetical order, too - paired A, E, I, O, & U five-letter words 'broken up" to provide some humorous results.  Friday level difficulty, but I was on the constructors' wavelength and breezed through, despite the chunky triple-7-letter plus corners.  An over-sized 15x16 grid, two handfuls of names, no circles, and an even spread of 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- AND 7-letter words.  The themers, no reveal;

18. Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes?: "AVOID A VOID."

The Endurance approaching Gargantua, from Interstellar

26. Air travel that's the fifth-best option?: "PLAN E" PLANE

The captain has turned off the seatbelt warning . . . 

36. "My job is ranking people on a scale of 'miffed' to 'downright furious'"?: "I RATE 'IRATE'."

😑😕😖😠😡

"The in-flight meal was unacceptable~! 😡"

51. Juliet's response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond?: "ROME, O ROMEO." - "Wherefore art thou~?  Not in Rome, and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

60. Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble?: UTILE "U" TILE

Richard III - more Shakespeare humor

But Wait, There's More~? . . . 🤪

ACROSS:

1. Agreeing (with): SIDING - not the vinyl cladding on my house

7. Unleash (on): SIC - I had SET to start

10. Chemically quiet: INERT - like the rightmost column in last week's periodic chart

15. Rocker Dee: SNIDER - Name #1, but I knew him because his band, Twisted Sister, were from my home area of Long Island

16. "Industry" network: HBO - had the "H", WAGed the rest

17. Levi's Stadium player: NINER - What if they actually played IN Levi's~?

501-fly football

20. Prickly plants: CACTI 

21. Green prefix: ECO

22. Folk icon Joan: BAEZ - name #2, but fairly well-known

23. Washed-out: PALLID

24. Espresso froth: CREMA - we had this $6999 coffee-making machine in the office at my last drafting job - it grinds beans & boils water . . . I can do that and save seven thousand dollars 😁

Miele CVA7845 sold here if you must have one

28. Element of many English breakfast blends: ASSAM TEA - enough perps to WAG the rest

30. Sci-fi beings: ETs - AND - 60D. Sci-fi craft: UFO - clecho(ish) #1

31. Vehicle with sliding doors: VAN - I have a 20yr old Dodge Grand Caravan, and lately, there's been a rattle driving me nuts; turned out to be the plastic handle of the sliding door; the spring that holds it in place has gotten "tired", so the lever jiggles as I drive . . . 

Up here in CT, I can now register this as a "classic" - and the insurance drops

32. Waver: TEETER - and Tweeter in the same puzzle~!

33. Group of badgers: CLAN

35. Part of R&R: REST - the other "R" is Relaxation ( I have also seen Recuperation )

39. Catchall gp.: MISCellaneous

42. Bad-mouth: DISS - usually just "dis", as in disrespect, but 'acceptable'

43. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" singer: MONROE - Marilyn, name #3

47. Sun Devils sch.: ASU - Arizona State Uninversity - learned by doing crosswords

48. Snag: GET - AND - 6D. Snag: GRAB - straight clecho, #2

49. Treble-makers?: TWEETERS - Wow.  Old-school speaker reference . . . I almost didn't get it

Not your Twitter tweeter

54. Colorful South Asian dresses: SARIs

55. Running groups?: SLATES - Friday vague; those elected to run an organization; more here

56. Aphrodite's son: EROS - Name(ish)

58. Thai neighbor: LAO - the people, not the land

59. Places for soaks: BATHS - I do love to take a hot bath after I tear myself up at the gym

63. Pair of hearts?: ATRIA - the "other" pair are Ventricles

64. Enthusiast: FAN

65. Tickled: AMUSED - this puzzle tickled my fancy

66. Show emotion: REACT

67. Estadio cheer: OLÉ - Español; Spain & Argentina for the World Cup

My father was a HUGE soccer fan, so I had to root for England,

his ( and mom's ) home country

68. Most easygoing: LAXEST

DOWN:

1. Org. with a "Get Ready for Baby" page: SSA - Great new clue for this tired fill, but it took waaay to long for me to find that page on the Social Security Administration website

2. Multiplication, to division: INVERSE - You'd have to "subtract" a letter to fit 'opposite' . . . 🙄

3. Bishop's domain: DIOCESE - nailed it, spelling and all

4. Hard to translate, in a way: IDIOMATIC - "the whole nine ( letters ) yards"

5. Nancy Drew's boyfriend: NED - name #4, and I thought it was NED, but hesitated

7. Slip-ons lack: SHOELACES - nine-letters #2

8. Third-largest of the Balearic Islands: IBIZA - geo name #5

They're probably excited about the World Cup there, too

9. Fish oil source: COD

10. Like LOL, but not haha: IN CAPS - slighly Twurdish, but Friday clever - LIKE WHEN PEOPLE TEXT IN CAPS TO INDICATE THEY ARE SHOUTY~!!!!

11. Horan of One Direction: NIALL - no clue, filled via perps, name #6

12. Lesotho, for one: ENCLAVE - learning moment for me; the Wiki

13. Organ parts with rods and cones: RETINAS - I knew we needed an EYEpart, tried CORNEAS - Bzzzzt~!

14. Aquaman's staff: TRIDENT - seemed the logical answer for a "sea-based" superhero

Aquaman and his other A I-generated "staff" 🙄

19. __ pen: VAPE - ooof.  Friday vague - this thing

23. Honey or sugar: PET NAME - I figured we were looking for something like this

24. Feline: CAT - "Fe" line is sooo last week . . . 

25. Pt. of USA: AMERica

27. Far from far: NEAR - har-har

29. Goods people: TRADERS

34. Scope rival: LISTERINE - Solid fill, simple cluing, nine-letters #3

35. Wedding attire, for some: RENTAL TUX - nine-letters #4; I rented my tux for the premiere of  "The Golem", the movie I worked on back in 1997-8 - available on YouTube July 20th

37. "Mambo Birdland" Grammy winner Puente: TITO - two weeks in a row; name #7

38. Low digits?: TOES

39. Milky Way kin: MARS BAR

  40. Silo: ISOLATE - Phew~!  Friday vague - verb def. #2

41. Indonesian island crossed by the equator: SUMATRA - geo name #8

44. Bring up again: RERAISE - e.g. an issue, not the poker version of re-raise

45. Colorful songbirds: ORIOLES - nailed it

46. Sourdough starter?: ESS - Sourdough, meta-clue; my trainer put me on to sourdough bread

48. Charges: GOES AT 

50. Product removed by shear force?: WOOL - sheAr, not sheEr

The "other" sheer force

52. Value system: ETHIC

53. Heavy __: METAL - so, so last week . . . 

57. Shut tight: SEAL

61. Thurman of "Gattaca": UMA - crossword staple, name #9

62. Philly summer hrs.: EDT - Philadelphia, PA is currently observing Eastern Daylight Time

Splynter

Grid Flow 59.8 - high

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 71st birthday to dear Naomi, our brilliant Monday Sherpa! Her Monday write-ups are always thoughtful, informative, and beautifully crafted. Thanks for all you do for our blog, Naomi, and have a fantastic birthday!

NaomiZ 

2) Happy 73rd birthday to YooperPhil, another longtime member of our Crossword Corner family. Wishing you a wonderful birthday and many happy returns!

Friday, Jul 10th, 2026 ~ Mike Peluso

HEavy MEtal, the song from Blue Öyster Cult

This is my first puzzle from Mike Peluso - he has been contributing crosswords since before the Corner, I would guess; his last construction for the LA Times was here, in 2023, on a sumdaze Monday. A simple add-in of the symbol for the element Iron, 'Fe', from the Latin "ferrum".  The cluing was solid Friday-level, with just a hiccup for me at the crossing of two name-ish answers - that's YOU, square #5~!  Standard grid, no circles, less than ten names, no Twurds, and eight "elemental" songs.  The themers & reveal, which is what got me through the themers;

16. Slogan on a very thorough pet sitter's business card?: I WALK THE FELINE - The base phrase is from the Johnny Cash song "I Walk the Line" -  I walked canine Cooper, but not the "feline" cats . . . 

28. Upgrade one's cookie supply?: TRADE WAFERS - Trade Wars - no song for you~! - but think the outer layers of, say, 32A., an Oreo cookie . . .

48. Newest resident of the Land of Enchantment?: SANTA FE BABY - A Christmas Classic, the song "Santa Baby", tho I did not know that the "Land of Enchantment" was New Mexico - I DO know my ex-wife is down there, so it can't be that enchanted . . . 

62. Treatment for anemia, or a treatment given to 16-, 28-, and 48-Across?: IRON SUPPLEMENT - the periodic chart square for Iron, "Fe"

Thanks Bill Nye, Science Guy~!


ACROSS:

1. Places to feel kneaded?: SPAs - I could go for a massage . . .

5. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR - I do the Downs clues first, and this was my last fill; I had _S_R, yet it took a minute - ah, Russian rulers . . . I solved this one before Moe's Wednesday dupe; name(ish)

9. Vocal quality: TONE - plenty in today's write-up

13. Part of some forests: KELP

This image's website

14. Land parcel: ACRE

15. On the road: AWAY

19. "Exodus" Oscar nominee Sal: MINEO - crossword staple, name #1

20. Anger: INCENSE

22. Snap: PHOTO - Friday vague cluing

24. Carson successor: LENO - Johnny & Jay, the Tonight Show, name #2

26. iPhone platform: iOS

27. Checkers side: RED

The Red and the Black, an "Fe" Maiden song, almost 14mins long
- and - Blue Öyster Cult song #2

32. Sweet sandwich: OREO - the cookies part of OREOs can blended into my ice cream - see 3D.

34. Word on a bottle of Château Margaux: CRU - from the Frawnche for "growth"; more here

35. El Prado, por ejemplo: MUSEO - 'for example, museum', Español #1

36. Cause of statistical misrepresentation: BIAS - that's ALOT of clue for a four-letter answer . . .

38. Colon units: DOTS - Oh, that colon [:] . . . never mind . . .

40. Ordered from DoorDash, perhaps: ATE IN

43. Flight status abbr.: ARRivals

44. Part of many a lunch special: SOUP

"NO soup for YOU~!"

52. Mex. neighbor: USA - there's always that half second of hesitation when I think, "I don't know all those countries in Central America~!"

53. Green around the gills: ILL

54. From the top: ANEW

55. Late bloomer: ASTER

57. Toots and the Maytals, for one: SKA BAND - no clue, but I had perps; more here

Funky Kingston - not really my thing, but I can 'dig' it

60. Aptly named hybrids: UGLIs

66. Four-award acronym: EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony - somewhere last week I read that Steven Spielberg was a winner - so I wondered what he got his Grammy for; it's a bit of a stretch, but OK . . . the Wiki

Raiders March, Raiders of the Lost Ark

67. Plum kin: SLOE

68. Major disappointment: BLOW

69. Gym reps: SETS - For me, training at the gym is three times a week, two SETS of three exercises, and within those, somewhere between 8-16 "REPetitions"; not quite the same thing, IMHO

70. Actress Daly: TYNE - name #3

71. Bajo opposite: ALTO - 'low & high', Español #2

DOWN:

1. Word with lift or lodge: SKI - ski lift, ski lodge

2. Political research center: PEW - never heard of this; named after the Pew family - the Wiki

3. Dessert option: À LA MODE - look, I made protein ice cream - my trainer got me excited to buy and try the Ninja Ice Creami

The chocolate chips are an added indulgence 😁

4. Share, in a way: SPLIT - but not a banana split - bananas upset my stomach, and I don't know why . . .

5. "Doctor Who" actress Catherine: TATE - I know nothing about the series; it looks like she guest-starred in just three episodes; that's Friday vague - name #4

6. Think tank members, often: SCHOLARS - SCIENTISTS didn't fit

7. Modern art?: ARE - Shakespeare; "Where for art thou~?" - 21st century; "Where're you at~?"

8. Purify: REFINE

9. Softest mineral on the Mohs scale: TALC - This puzzle gets 4-1/2 of 5 ⭐ on the "other" Moe's Scale

10. Tot's scrape: OWIE

11. Childcare providers: NANNIES - There will be NO owies on this nanny's watch~!

12. Unsightly sight: EYESORE - Sightly sight - eye SURE~!

Spectacular view - and the city is pretty as well . . . 🙄

17. Celtic artwork feature: KNOT - Dah~! Not RUNE

This website

18. Sufficient, once: ENOW - ye olde sfelling of ENOUGH

21. Name on some Canadian pumps: ESSO - far right crossword-friendly letters, name(ish)

22. For: PRO

23. Pronoun option: HER - as last week, so again; YOU, OUR, SHE, HIS or HIM~?

25. College domain: EDU. - internet add-on for education

29. Sony record label: RCA - Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby" was an RCA artist, and so are these girls

The Pointer Sisters, Neutron Dance - seems appropriate for an atomic theme . . .

30. Invoice no.: AMT - I charged $700 to build these custom maple pantry doors to fit an opening the previous contractor framed at 42"- 😖- too small for sliding doors, too big for bi-folds . . . and I always forget to take "before" pictures, and in this instance, would have been worth a laugh

Had to reconfigure the wood floor, too, as the other contractor's

wider opening left two wall-sized "gaps" in the T&G strips . . .🙄

31. Kerfuffle: FUSS

33. Passing thoughts?: OBITuary - Friday clever cluing

37. Food Network host Garten: INA - INA or UTA~?  I always get "her" wrong; name #5

38. Tap: DRAW UPON - Spigot and Faucet were all wet in this instance

39. Bard's sphere: ORB

40. Used car caveat: "AS IS"

41. Hollywood innovation of the 1920s: TALKIES - Ah.  Right.

42. Swell: ENLARGE - nailed it

43. Actor Vigoda: ABE - name #6

45. Generate more revenue than: OUTSELL

46. Tap: USE - Tap: Spinal . . . the "other" umlaut band name . . .

These guys still go to Eleven . . . Rock N Roll Creation

47. Target score at Augusta: PAR - Augusta being the PGA Tour's premier event in Georgia

49. Some coolers: FANS - I'm the "other" fan of PGA Augusta 2026 winner Rory McIlroy

50. Pledge rival: ENDUST - Pledge being the go-to cleaner for Consuela from Family Guy

No, no use Endust . . .

51. Second-oldest Ivy: YALE - There are only eight, and the list has only one four-letter entry . . . alright, maybe it could be PENN 😑

56. "The Lion King" lion: SIMBA - name #7, but I knew this one

58. Rolls-Royce trunk: BOOT - Brit-speak

59. Hill dwellers: ANTS - or POL(iticians)S~?  I picked the correct one this time

61. Joy: GLEE

63. Practice, as a trade: PLY

64. "__ on my watch!": "NOT . . ."

65. Cube root of eight: TWO - ∛8 = 2; geez, now we gotta do math on Fridays~?

Splynter

Grid Flow 19.6, low again