Thursday, January 29, 2026 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Today, MaryEllen Uthlaut has given us a Dutch treat, if going Dutch is indeed a treat! The last time she treated us here was on Thanksgiving Day.

This solved as a themeless, which is just as well because after I read the revealer, I still had no idea what was going on. But my fans (?) out there in crossword-land wouldn't want me to give up! So I dug in and eventually everything checked out.

63. With 65-Across, request from some diners, or what a black square creates in rows 3, 6, 8, and 10 of this puzzle: SEPARATE + CHECKS. So, we have SEPARATE CHECKS, where people in a group  each pay for their own meal. The trick is the end of the first answer together with the beginning of the second (the parts that are "separated" by a black square) ideally combine to form a type of "check." 

3rd row = 17A + 18A TARMAC COUNTESS → An ACCOUNT is a financial arrangement with a business entity whereby goods or services may be obtained without outlaying money until a set time later. I don't think she meant a checking ACCOUNT.

6th row = 27A + 30A SATIN VOICED → An INVOICE is a itemized document a seller sends to a buyer requesting payment for goods or services.

8th row = 38A + 40A LOVE SET ABSCOND → A TAB is a running total of what one owes, typically at a bar. 

10th row = 47A + 50A GERBIL LEMON → A BILL is a payment request,,but usually more informal than an invoice.

All pretty clever, but some of these work better than others. When patrons ask for a check, they are often handed a totaled TAB or BILL. They are never handed an INVOICE, at a restaurant at least. And having an ACCOUNT is more of a business dealing, meaning that you will pay later (on ACCOUNT of having no money!). Unless MaryEllen simply intended that all these debts could be paid by check...

CHECK please! I've got a game to catch.

Across:

1. Grape used for sweet wine: MUSCAT. Varieties of MUSCAT grapes have been around since antiquity. Their intense perfume inspired Pliny the Elder to call them "the grape of the bees". Unfortunately, he didn't respond to my email asking why.

7. Ornery sort: CUSS. I had CRAB at first and wouldn't let it go for the longest time. Am I a CUSS?

11. Nev. neighbor: ARI. Nevada is next to ARIZONA and four other states.

14. Colored ring: AREOLA.

15. Like many new recruits: UNTESTED.

17. Airport area: TARMAC. Here's the TARMAC at NARITA, Japan.

18. Noble title: COUNTESS. I entered "dutchess" at first, part of my ornery NE corner.

19. High-five, e.g.: SLAP.

20. HP supply: INK. Formerly known as Hewlett-Packard, HP printers need INK.

22. Airport serving Tokyo: NARITA. NARITA International Airport is in a city on the eastern outskirts of the capital. Not to be confused with Narnia, which is on the other side of the wardrobe.

23. Make changes to: RETOOL. Usually in order to improve something.

26. Buttonlike flower: TANSY. I wrote pANSY, adding to my infamous NE meltdown.

27. Silky material: SATIN.

30. Spoken: VOICED.

32. Novelist Lurie: ALISON. ALISON Lurie won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs.

34. The Mustangs of the NCAA: SMU. The Southern Methodist University Mustangs football team play in the NCAA Football Subdivision (FBS) under the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dallas-based SMU, along with California's Stanford, joined the ACC last year even though neither school is anywhere near the east coast. Unfortunately, it makes extremely long road trips for all teams involved with them.

35. Feel sorry about: RUE.

38. Tennis shutout: LOVE SET. Winning a set 6-0. My LOVE, RightBrain, plays in two tennis leagues. Her custom license plate says "ELSKA," which is Swedish for LOVE. She was an exchange student there in high school.

40. Run away (with): ABSCOND.

43. 1980s Formula One driver __ Fabi: TEO. I somehow forgot about this Italian driver who was in his heyday 50 years ago. 

44. North Sea diving bird: AUK.

46. Fill with bubbles: AERATE.

47. Leaping rodent: GERBIL.

50. Edsel, notably: LEMON. The Edsel wasn't really a LEMON, in the sense that it was in the shop all the time. It failed due to styling missteps, poor marketing strategy and bad timing as a recession hit.

A face only a mother could love!

51. Follow, as a tip: ACTON.

54. Ties in knots: SNARLS. Like South Fla. rush hour traffic, or in almost any major city nowadays. Honestly, traffic is my #1 complaint around here.

56. Kin of ad hoc: PRO TEM.

58. Add color to: DYE.

59. Set of circumstances: CASE. As in The Curious Set of Circumstances of Benjamin Button. 

63. [theme]

65. [theme]

67. Perfect examples: EPITOMES.

68. Maintenance job: TUNE UP.

69. Champagne label word: SEC. Despite the name SEC meaning "dry," it is sweeter than Brut and Extra Dry.

70. Transmitted: SENT.

71. Place for mail to accumulate: IN TRAY.

Down:

1. Floor cushions: MATS.

2. Eurasia's __ Mountains: URAL. It's URAL, as usual.

3. "Buona __": SERA. "Good evening" in Italian. "Buona SERA" may be used as both a hello and a goodbye during the evening hours.

4. Be made up of: COMPRISE.

5. Taking after: ALA.

6. Understood: TACIT.

7. Birds that make hourly appearances: CUCKOOS. The CUCKOO'S sound is created by two tiny flue pipes in the clock with bellows attached to their tops. The clock's movement activates the bellows to send a puff of air into each pipe alternately when the timekeeper strikes. That's CUCKOO!

8. Card game with an edition for colorblind players: UNO. When you're down to one card, you must shout, "UNO!"

9. Shock: STUN. When another player asks, "How many cards do you have left?" before you say "UNO!"

10. Legislative century: SENATE.

11. Had DiGiorno, perhaps: ATE IN. Frozen pizza has gotten better over the years, but still can't compete with fresh. "Is this delivery?" said no one, ever.

12. Takes five: RESTS.

13. Emphatic agreement: I'D SAY.

16. Fine fiddle: STRAD. STRADivarius. The difference between a fiddle and a violin is mainly what kind of music is played on it. Folk and country musicians call them fiddles, while classical and jazz players use violins.

21. Veterans Day mo.: NOV. It falls in the month of NOVember.

24. Mireille of "Hanna": ENOS. Who? Of what? I guess I don't watch the right TV shows. 

25. Peruvian metropolis: LIMA.

27. Shaker fill: SALT.

28. __ vera: ALOE.

29. Early DVR: TIVO.

31. Birthplace of 2021 AL Rookie of the Year Randy Arozarena: CUBA. Names can be hard, but you know what's harder? Where they're from.

33. Closely related: NEAR. 

35. Cover a lot of ground: ROAM. 

36. King James preposition: UNTO. UNTO is used many times in the KJV, such as, "For UNTO us a child is born." Surprisingly, it was not in the Golden Rule as written: "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

37. Garden of delight: EDEN. Here's the most famous panel from Bosch's triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights."

39. Ice cream containers: TUBS. 

41. "Don't __ yourself short": SELL.

42. __ roll: CRESCENT.

45. Most charitable: KINDEST.

47. Insinuated: GOT AT. I see what they are getting at.

48. Año openers: ENEROS. Spanish years begin in Januaries, as do most years. (The plural of January looks weird!)

49. Nonprofessional: LAY.

51. Semicircular recesses: APSES. APSES may also be polygonal.

52. Pancake with frizzled edges: CREPE.

53. Debate assignment: TOPIC.

55. Prefix with linear: RECTI. Rectilinear means consisting of, or moving in a straight lines, unlike this fellow:

57. Broadway "Auntie": MAME. Rosalind Russell played everyone's favorite aunt in both the 1956 play and 1958 movie.

60. Aspire laptop maker: ACER.

61. Predatory seabird: SKUA. Today I learned that SKUAs (pronounced skew-ah) are common in Antarctic and Arctic regions. They've been spotted at the South Pole. (At the North pole, they are striped! 💈 )

62. Catch sight of: ESPY. I ESPY with my little eye...

64. Lost Tribes number: TEN. The TEN Lost Tribes were those from the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE.

66. Nomadic invader: HUN. 

Thank you for all the kind words on yesterday's puzzle that I coauthored with C.C. This really is the best Corner of the internet! Be good. RB

Thursday January 22, 2026 Rebecca Goldstein

Ah, Rebecca, we meet again! My first review last year was a Goldstein puzzle. She's quite prolific. As I went through this one, I noticed all the Xs and thought they'd play into the theme, and they did. But I didn't expect a whole bowl of CHEX MIX!

41D. Savory party snack, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues?: CHEX MIX. The letters in the word CHEX are MIXed (scrambled) in all the theme answers:

3D. *Beef cut that may be braised: OX CHEEK. 

OX CHEEK (or beef cheek) is

a tough, flavorful, and inexpensive cut of meat from the facial muscle of cattle that becomes tender and gelatinous when cooked slowly. 

18A. *"What did you just say?": OH EXCUSE ME. OH EXCUSE ME is a reply to a rude comment, usually drawn out as in a Steve Martin catch phrase.

36A. *Folks who may be at the point of no return?: TAX CHEATS. People who do not file a tax return may be TAX CHEATS.

56A. *Raspberry: BRONX CHEER. A BRONX CHEER is a mouth noise similar to a fart that is used to signify derision, usually at a sporting event.

I like how some of the themers ran vertically, that made the solve more interesting, as did some clever cluing. There weren't a ton of names, but I blanked on almost all of them. Perps to the rescue.

Across:

1. Self motivators?: EGOS. 

5. Teeny: SMALL. Teeny seems smaller than SMALL.

10. Brand new: MINT. On Craigslist, everything is advertised to be in MINT condition.
 

14. Coming up: NEXT. Please stay tuned!

15. Health care cost: COPAY. A COPAY (co-payment) is a fixed fee you pay for a covered health service (like a doctor visit or prescription), while your insurance denies pays the rest.

16. Sorbet berry: ACAI. 

17. Toy company acquired by Mattel in 1997: TYCO. TYCO's Tickle Me Elmo was massive holiday toy craze in 1996 which raised the price Mattel had to pay.

18. [theme]

20. Workout wear: SHORTS. 

22. For adult audiences: R RATED. 

23. "That one's for you": KEEP IT. 

24. Put through an X-ray: SCAN. 

26. "Succession" surname: ROY. I haven't watched this so all perps. The Roy family are the focal point of Succession.

27. Juvenile retort: ARE SO. Am not. I don't like playground retorts.

28. Shearing day sound: BAA. I'm glad these sheep say BAA, never herd [sic] one say "maa."

29. Katherine Moennig's "The L Word" role: SHANE. I don't have Showtime, so this also was by perps. But I think the trope of using an word's initial is over used. There's a whole set of "The __ Word" expressions that are mostly innocuous. Here, the "L" means Lesbian...ooh. 

31. Shaming syllable: TSK. Often doubled as TSK TSK.

32. Renaissance faire competitions: JOUSTS.

35. "Confirmed, captain": AYE.  Often doubled as AYE AYE.

36. [theme]

38. Chaotic crowd: MOB.

40. "Begin": OKAY GO. I can't think of a common scenario where one could say these interchangeably. 

41. "The Price Is Right" network: CBS. Columbia Broadcasting System, but it could've been any TV network.

44. Top medals: GOLDS.

46. Soap ingredient: LYE. LYE is a very-alkaline substance that is chemically transformed during the soap-making process so it's not present in the final product.

47. Wuhan welcome: NIHAO. NIHAO means "hello" in Mandarin Chinese, though locals often use more casual greetings.

49. Tally: ADD.

50. Golfer's pocketful: TEES. Golfer's pocketful: GLOVES.

52. Devices at a counter-service restaurant: PAGERS. The electronic version of a deli ticket to keep track of who's NEXT, without shouting.

53. Emphatic assertion: YES I AM. Are you NEXT? YES, I AM!

55. Opulent: DELUXE. This is as DELUXE as it gets at my house. "Four cheese?! What are we celebrating?" [Disclaimer #1: RightBrain is fabulous cook. Disclaimer #2: She made me write this.]

56. [theme]

59. Reddit Q&As: AMAS. We've seen Ask Me Anything before, but usually not plural.

61. Brontë sister: ANNE. The Brontë sisters were three famous 19th-century English novelists and poets: Charlotte was the oldest, followed by Emily, then ANNE.

62. Works for: EARNS.

63. Egyptian river: NILE. I recently visited Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia where Johnny Mercer is buried. "Moon river, wider than the NILE [sic]." 

64. Cleaning cloths: RAGS. Clean clothes: RAGS.

65. Tickle pink: ELATE.

66. Truck bar: AXLE.

Down:

1. Tonsillectomy doc: ENT. Ear, Nose & Throat doctor, uncommonly known as a otolaryngologist, but you knew that.

2. Jumbo jets?: GEYSERS. Fun clue.

3. [theme]

4. Reaches a new low?: STOOPS. More fun!

5. Adam of "Severance": SCOTT. Bingo! I knew this one.

6. Mineral hardness eponym: MOHS. The MOHS scale ranks mineral hardness, but is not linear. Thus a diamond (10) is vastly harder than corundum (9). Speaking of diamonds, my youngest son married his brother last Saturday! Let me rephrase that. He (as a notary) officiated the wedding in a scenic park. Beautiful!

7. Mimic: APE.

8. Loose: LAX. Strict: LAX TSA.

9. Stretchy fabric: LYCRA.

10. Gordita dough: MASA. MASA is corn flour dough that may be used in gorditas, which are thicker than regular tortillas so they can be split open for fillings.

11. Freeze frame?: ICE TRAY. Good clues today.

12. "Give me a single example": NAME ONE.

13. Rainbow pattern: TIE DYE.

19. Garden fixtures: URNS. 

21. Spanish wine: RIOJA. RIOJA is a prestigious wine region in northern Spain, famous for its high-quality red wines.

23. Actress Dennings: KAT. Who? I feel so out of it even though I've actually seen her in a few things.

24. Struts with style: SASHAYS. 

25. Vintage sunglasses shape: CAT EYE. They tend to go in and out of fashion.

28. Seat belt fastener: BUCKLE.

30. Owns: HAS.

33. Maker of Stick & Stay plates and bowls for kids: OXO. 

34. Head south?: SAG. Ha ha!

36. "More info soon": TBD. This answer is To Be Determined.

37. Like much music: TONAL.

38. Biotech firm developing cancer vaccines: MODERNA. MODERNA became a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic as one of two major companies producing vaccines. 

39. Dated ditty: OLD SONG. An oldie but not goodie. Probably not from STAX.

41. [theme]

42. Leave nothing to the imagination: BARE ALL.

43. Distress call: SOS. A Morse code distress signal ( ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ) that happens to form the letters SOS, but they have no meaning on their own.

44. Stonewall Inn, for one: GAY BAR. A place where you might watch "The L Word."

45. "__: Soulsville U.S.A.": HBO documentary about a record label: STAX. STAX is a Memphis institution that launched the careers of legends including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

48. Invasive lizard in Florida: IGUANA. Large nasty lizards that eat our flowers!

51. "Cabaret" role for Alan Cumming: EMCEE. EMCEE is the phonetic spelling of "MC" meaning Master of Ceremonies. Perps again, I didn't know Mr. Cummings, a cisgender man in a gender-bending role.

52. Intrinsically: PER SE. At first, I found it hard to parse PER SE.

54. French model Rau: INES. My final unknown. INES Rau is a French actress, model, and writer. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for November 2017 and the first openly transgender Playmate.

55. First step, say: DENT. Making noticeable progress as in "I made a DENT in the project."

57. "2001" supercomputer: HAL. 

58. Historical period: ERA.

60. "Comprende?": SEE."Comprende?": Si!

That's it for today. Be Good. RB

Thursday January 15, 2026 Michael Hobin

Let's catch some Zs! 

Michael Hobin''s third LAT crossword uses an oversized 16x15 grid to accommodate four long themers plus a reveal.

39. "We're dressed the same!," or a phonetic feature of 18-, 25-, 51-, and 62-Across: TWINSIES. The homophone of the revealer is TWIN Zs, as in a pair of Zs, which all the themers have in common. Here's a pair of TWINSIES who also happen to be identical "cuzzins!"

18. Humvee or motor home, typically: GAS GUZZLER. Vehicles that get few miles-per-gallon, or even gallons-per-mile like this M1 Abrams tank driving through a neighborhood on its way to a gas station.

25. Cookies-and-cream Dairy Queen treats: OREO BLIZZARDS. Different sort of way to sneak our old fav OREO in to the puzzle, but I'll bet it tastes good!

51. Exciting points in time?: BUZZER BEATERS. These are successful last-second shots, usually in basketball, where the ball leaves the player's hands and time expires while it's traveling in the air.

62. Pi Day celebration, perhaps: PIZZA PARTY. Pi Day is March 14th, sometimes written 3.14, which happen to be the first three digits of the irrational number π. So, I guess PIZZA pies are in order (or on order!).

Pretty straightforward puzzle and all those Zs made for some interesting crosses without making me sleepy! Huzzah!

Across:

1. Pitiful cry: MEWL.

5. Treaty: PACT.

9. "__ the bag!": IT'S IN. Sometimes, these are "famous last words."

14. Many an April baby: ARIES. I'm an ARIES from late April in the cusp of Taurus, known as the Cusp of Power. I am all powerful! RightBrain says, "Great. Can you also unclog the sink?"

16. Dubliner's home: EIRE. EIRE is the Irish Gaelic name for Ireland.

17. Awaken: ROUSE. 

18. [theme]

20. Fruit in a fritter: APPLE. A fritter is a portion of meat, fruit or vegetables that have been battered and deep-fried. 

21. Caterer's heat source: STERNO.

22. Ace stat: ERA. An ace baseball pitcher has an Earned Run Average under 3.0. The league average is 4.50 based on the number of runs allowed during 9 innings, so the lower the better.

24. Listen to: HEED.

25. [theme]

29. Ski lodge drink: COCOA. Perfect for warming up après-ski.

32. Believes (in): HAS FAITH.

33. Golfer Jon who won the 2023 Masters Tournament: RAHM. Jon RAHM Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf League. He also won the 2021 U.S. Open.

34. [Finger over lips]: SHH. 🤫

35. Capt. Kirk crewmate: LT. SULU. Captain is abbreviated, therefore Lieutenant is too. I just saw George Takei on the Star Trek float in the Rose Bowl Parade celebrating 60 years since the first voyage of the Starship Enterprise. It drizzled in Pasadena, so he deployed an old-fashioned force field to stay dry.

38. Sashimi choice: AHI. AHI tuna.

39. [theme]

42. Smith and Jones sci-fi film: MIB. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones play the main characters in the science fiction film Men In Black, Agent J and Agent K, respectively. They could've used the common aliases Smith and Jones instead. 

43. Ball State University city: MUNCIE.

45. NBC founder: RCA. The National Broadcasting Company established the Radio Corporation of America as a subsidiary in 1926.

46. Willing: GAME.

47. Huge storage unit: TERABYTE. I wonder how many TERABYTEs this huge storage unit could hold?

50. Patron: DONOR.

51. [theme]

54. Home to billions: ASIA. But New York City is home to the most billionaires.

55. Four-sided figs.: SQS. Squares are four sided figures.

56. Obviously a fan of needlework?: TATTED. Great misdirect meaning tattooed, playing on the use of needles in tatting, which is making lace.

60. Many new drivers: TEENS. Like 28D: Jeremy in ZITS.

62. [theme]

65. Egypt's Mubarak: HOSNI. HOSNI Mubarak was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st prime minister from 1981 to 1982. 

66. Meeting proposal: IDEA.

67. Nobility: ELITE.

68. Execution key: ENTER. 

69. Half a salad grabber: TONG. I initially wanted a fork or spoon.

70. Oath of old: EGAD.

Down:

1. Periodicals, briefly: MAGS. Remember when all magazines were printed?

2. The "E" of QED: ERAT. From the Latin phrase Quod ERAT Demonstrandum meaning "that which was to be demonstrated" or proven.

3. Learned: WISE.

4. First-class feature: LEGROOM. I enjoy extra LEGROOM on planes, but seatbacks that reline into "my" space are a buzzkill.

5. Treat from a dispenser: PEZ. It is estimated that over 1500 unique designs were made. Collect them all! 

6. Feel unwell: AIL.

7. Angler baskets: CREELS. Wicker baskets for carrying fish.

8. "Totes fab!": TERRIF. One bad slang leads to another...

9. Tax efficient fund, for short: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

10. Headgear for Jiminy Cricket and Scrooge McDuck: TOP HATS. Jiminy Cricket and Scrooge McDuck famously interact in Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol, where Jiminy plays the Ghost of Christmas Past.

11. All-powerful: SUPERHUMAN. Me, as a result of being born during the Cusp of Power! Muahaha!!

12. Marooned, perhaps: ISLED. I never used this as a verb, and neither did Gilligan.

13. "Who __ them?": NEEDS. I do!

15. The Arkestra jazz band leader: SUN RA. SUN RA was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy and prolific output.

19. "Lioness" actress Saldaña: ZOE. The constructor needed someone with pizazz.

23. "Fancy" artist Iggy: AZALEA. And someone with frizzy hair.

26. Surprised greeting: OH HI.

27. German route: BAHN. Their AutoBAHN is equivalent to our interstate system, except some sections have no speed limit.

28. Comic strip about a high schooler: ZITS. ZITS centers on teenager Jeremy Duncan as he endures the insecurities, hormones and hilarity of adolescence.

29. Study feverishly: CRAM.

30. Honolulu locale: OAHU.

31. Most tacky and cheap: CHINTZIEST. It's definitely not snazzy!

34. Takes an oath: SWEARS.

36. Prom rental: LIMO. Prom is short for promenade while limousine is long for LIMO.

37. Company that succeeds by driving its customers away: UBER. Good one!

39. Hankook product: TIRE. Hankook is a major South Korean TIRE manufacturer.

40. Sp. miss: SRTA. A senorita is a Spanish miss.

41. "The Coldest Rap" rapper: ICE T.

44. "The Card Players" painter: CEZANNE. "The Card Players" is a series of five oil paintings by the French artist, one of which sold in 2011 for $250 million. Got any 5s?

46. Age badly, in a way: GO STALE.

48. Grill master's spot: BBQ PIT. A place to sizzle!

49. "That's true about me": YES I DO. I wanted YES IT IS.

50. Hang over: DRAPE.

51. Get into hot water: BATHE. Fun clue.

52. Apply to: USE ON.

53. GPS calculation: ETA. The Global Positioning System can provide an Estimated Time of Arrival.

57. Subj. where teachers go off on tangents?: TRIG. In the subject of TRIGonometry, the tangent function relates the angles and sides of a right-triangle, as seen in this simple diagram:

58. Blues Hall of Famer James: ETTA. 

59. Like the Chicago River on March 17: DYED. That's St. Patty's Day so I wanted "green," but it didn't fit. 

61. Round Table title: SIR.

63. __ garden: ZEN. A little Z word.

64. Take a turn?: ZAG. And a final Z.

The quizzing has ended. Were you dazzled, or did this fizzle? 

Be good. RB