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 

Thursday January 8, 2026 Laura Dershewitz

Laura Dershewitz has published several children's books but is a relative newcomer to the crossword game. I believe this is only her second solo puzzle in the LAT.

This theme is rather dense (or I am!). It took a paragraph to explain it and it still wasn't clear to me. In the end, I think this is just a list of kinds of SPACEs, and the THIRD one happens to be in the position foretold by the revealer. Any of them could have landed in that slot and made no difference. I tried to sequence them into some sort of "series," but that was a red herring.

56. Gathering place that's neither work nor home, or an apt description of 36-Across in the series that includes 17-, 24-, and 46-Across: THIRD SPACE. A THIRD SPACE (or Third Place) refers to social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home (first place) and work (second place), such as churches, clubs and gyms. It's often the one that you choose to belong to with people who share your interests, fostering civic life.

17. Leeway: WIGGLE ROOM. → Extra SPACE. This gives one the flexibility to deviate from a plan and make adjustments or allow for errors.

24. Hard-to-find opening on street-sweeping days: PARKING SPOT. → Parking SPACE. A little different from the others as it can only be described by using the same word as in the clue.

36. Low Earth orbit, for one: SATELLITE LOCALE. → Outer SPACE. This is also the THIRD themer about SPACE per the revealer.

46. Period of quiet reflection: TIME TO THINK. → Head SPACE. A person's current emotional state, often implying a need to eliminate mental clutter to process thoughts.

Pretty easy for a Thursday, with lots of short fill and many abbreviations (!) necessitated by the five themers. But I liked learning about the social construct of a THIRD SPACE, so that's a plus.

And now, off to the wide open SPACES:

Across:

1. Some pricey insulated mugs: YETIS. These are very good, but are they that much better than other steel double-walled insulated coffee mugs available at half the price?

6. Juicer byproduct: PULP. 

10. Keeps posted privately: BCCS. Abbrev. #1. Blind Carbon CopieS on emails. 

14. Buzz word?: APIAN. APIAN is an adjective meaning relating to bees. Buzzy bees!

15. Potatoes, in Indian cuisine: ALOO. ALOO is becoming the "Oreo" of contemporary xwords.

16. "No way, no how!": UH-UH. The opposite of UH-HUH.

17. [theme]

19. Title fit for a king: SIRE. Title fit for King: B.B. (aka the Beale Street Blues Boy).

20. Possible title for a B-school grad: CEO. Abbrev. #2. Chief Executive Officers often graduate from Business schools, then suddenly are worth hundreds of times more than the COGs who work there.

21. Cam button: REC. Abbrev. #3. RECord button on a video camera. 

22. Spine-tingling: EERIE. This one is very strange...

23. Hair of the dog?: FUR. Fun clue!

24. [theme]

27. Tickling targets: ARMPITS. ...and there's something funny about this one.

29. Small part of a machine: COG. In 1962, The Jetsons envisioned a future where we all work for a few very wealthy people. Prophetic. 

30. Grease again: REOIL. Odd looking word that isn't used much.

31. Part of WYSIWYG: SEE. This abbreviation is only in the clue, so it gets a pass. Pronounced wizzy-wig, the acronym for "What You SEE Is What You Get" originated with software whose displayed image closely resembled its final user appearance.

32. Graceful waterbird: SWAN.

36. [theme]

40. With sharp resolution: IN HD. Abbrev. #4. IN High Definition.

41. Seer's gift: ESP. Abbrev. #5. ExtraSensory Perception, often called the "sixth sense."

42. Actress Berry: HALLE. HALLE Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball, making her the first and, to date, only Black woman to ever receive this award.

43. __ Arbor, Michigan: ANN. ANN Arbor is home to the massive (50K+) University of Michigan, the 9th largest university in the U.S.

44. Troublemaker's opposite: GOOD KID. Like my boys, the little angels.

46. [theme]

51. Western treaty gp.: OAS. Abbrev. #6. The Organization of American States is a group of 34 member countries from North, Central, and South America.

52. Project on stage: EMOTE.

53. Alphabet starter: ABC. Three letters, but not really an abbreviation. 

54. Travel stop: INN. Holiday Inns used to be ubiquitous along the highways of America. My parents took us on extended summer trips in our old station wagon (no AC!), often staying there or under the orange roof of a Howard Johnson.

55. Drive-__: THRU. Abbrev. #7. Ad-speak for "through."

56. [theme]

60. Melon covering: RIND.

61. __ bene: NOTA. Latin for "note well."

62. Wickerwork twig: OSIER. A small Eurasian willow that grows mostly in wet habitats.

63. Altar alcove: APSE.

64. Mattress choice: TWIN.

65. Inferior: WORSE.

Down:

1. Swerve off course, as a ship: YAW. YAW, along with pitch and roll, also describes the same motions in aircraft.

2. Fond of fine food and drink: EPICUREAN.

3. Insect with striped wings: TIGER MOTH. My grandmother used to call moths "millers." I always thought it was because they milled around lights, but looking it up now (the internet wasn't available when I was a wee lad) I see it was due to their fine scales that rub off, resembling the dusty flour on millers' clothing.

4. Othello's betrayer: IAGO.

5. "Weekend Update" show, for short: SNL. Abbrev. #8. Saturday Night Live.

6. Apple gadgets: PARERS. I wasn't fooled by the tech misdirect, but still wrote "corers" first.

7. Horseshoe-shaped security device: U-LOCK. A letter-shaped descriptor, like T-shirt, is not an abbreviation. 

8. Bathroom, in Bath: LOO. 

9. Fluffy pup: POM. Abbrev. #9. Pomeranian.

10. School fleet: BUSES.

11. Keyless entry sound: CHIRP.

12. Knickknack: CURIO. A knickknack is bric-a-brac!

13. Paper unit: SHEET.

18. Latin 101 verb: ERAT. ERAT is the third-person singular imperfect tense of the verb esse (to be), meaning "he/she/it was." I knew taking Latin in high school would come in handy one day!

22. What applesauce may replace in vegan baking: EGG. Unsweetened applesauce can be an EGG replacement in many baking recipes, primarily functioning as a binder and adding moisture.

23. Tehran tongue: FARSI.

24. Tablet: PILL. 

25. Frozen treat served with a stroon: ICEE. It's a straw! It's a spoon! It's a STROON!!

26. Yuletide: NOEL. NOEL means Christmas in French, stemming from the Latin for "birth." 

28. Like a calico cat: PIED. PIED describes an animal having two or more colors.

31. Fuel additive brand: STP. Abbrev. #10. Scientifically Treated Petroleum.

32. Whole bunch: SCAD. Usually used in plural as in "SCADs of abbreviations."

33. Feel euphoric: WALK ON AIR.

34. Close associations: ALLIANCES.

35. Must-haves: NEEDS. 

37. TV host Jay: LENO. Nowadays, he's noted for his vast automobile and motorcycle collection. And to think RightBrain says I have too many guitars! Just kidding, she lets me have my toys because they don't take up garage space.

38. "That __ true!": ISN'T. Abbrev. #11. Is not.

39. "Now I understand": OH OK. OK is oddly not an abbreviation. Okay came later, OK?

43. Was full of beans, maybe?: ATE. "Full of beans" usually means one is lively and enthusiastic.

44. "The Prophet" author Kahlil: GIBRAN. "The Prophet" is a 1923 poetry collection where different people in a town ask a prophet his opinion on anything: marriage, death, love, generosity, etc.

45. Like many audiobooks, once: ON CD. Abbrev. #12. ON Compact Disc. Some people debate whether listening counts as reading. I say yes, what do you think?

46. Colorful aquarium fish: TETRA.

47. "Got it, dude!": I'M HIP. Abbrev. #13. I am HIP.

48. Daybreaks, poetically: MORNS. Abbrev. # 14. Short for MORNings. 

49. Piano student's assignment: ETUDE. An ETUDE (French for "study") is primarily a musical composition for practicing a technical skill, such as rhythm or dynamics. Here's a simple exercise for beginners by Chopin to help build finger dexterity.

50. Creole-speaking nation: HAITI.

54. __ facto: IPSO. That's a fact!

56. Demo stuff: TNT. Abbrev. #15. TriNitroToluene is a powerful explosive sometimes used in demolition.

57. "Please explain": HOW.

58. Female pig: SOW.

59. Afore: ERE.  

And now we're out of space!
Be good. RB