Thursday, September 25, 2025, Rebecca Goldstein

 Theme:  Letters whose names sound like English words.  (G)olly GEE!

Who can help but think of William Steig's 1968 classic CDB!

Today's constructor, Rebecca Goldstein, is a w(o)nder!  OH MY!  I wanted see if I could create further examples of her gimmick today, but it's challenging.  Suffice it to say that the letters in parentheses in the clues appear spelled out in the answers as sound-alike words, and that the answers relate to the concepts of the clue words.  

20-Across. Mer(c)y: SEA OF HUMANITY.

59-Across. (T)yke: KID'S TEE.

25-Down. (B)enefit: BE OF SERVICE.

28-Down. Trajector(y): WHY OF COURSE.

44. Bra(i)n: MIND'S EYE.

Whew!  And it doesn't get much easier ...

Across:

1. Win or lose: VERB.  Right off the bat, we have a "meta" clue.  Win and lose are both verbs.

5. Signs of healing: SCABS.

10. Win or lose alternative: DRAW.  A "draw" is when a contest ends in a tie.

14. Single's bars?: ARIA.  A single person singing a few bars of music might be an opera soloist singing an aria.  Not an obvious answer!

15. "Se __ inglés": HABLA.  "Se habla inglés" is Spanish for "English spoken."  We often see signs in places of business that say "Se habla español" or "Spanish spoken."  "Se habla inglés" might be a welcome sign for English speakers in Spanish speaking countries, but then, it would probably be written in English. 

16. Character: ROLE.

17. Online chortles: LOLZ.  LOL is a texting or online abbreviation for Laughing Out Loud.  LOLZ is a plural, deliberately spelled in a cute way.  You could translate it as "Laughs Out Loud" or just "Laughs."

South Park quote:  "Why do you troll the internet?"
"I do it for the LOLZ."

18. Positive: ASSET.

19. Season celebrated by gifted kids?: YULE.  Kids are "gifted" with gifts at Yuletide.

20. [Theme clue]

23. Supplier of oil pans?: ART CRITIC.  A pan can be an unfavorable review.  An art critic might supply negative reviews of oils, also known as oil paintings.

Everyone's a critic -- even Fido.

24. Incantation syllables: ABRA.  Add the syllables "cadabra" and you've got yourself a magical incantation.

26. Selling points?: ADS.

27. Garter snake prey: NEWT.

30. Great beast: APE.  For a three letter word, this had me stumped for a while.  The great apes or hominids are a taxonomic family of primates whose living members include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and Homo sapiens.

31. Soft toss: LOB.

33. Ins. option: HMO.  One health insurance option is a Health Maintenance Organization.  I've been with Kaiser Permanente for 50 (gasp!) years.  All the medical attention you need under one roof.

35. "Open the pod bay doors, __": HAL.

A chilling exchange between an astronaut and a computer
in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

37. Mop alternative: ROOMBA.  Roomba is a brand of robot vacuum cleaner.  These days, most robot vacuums include a wet mop feature.

39. Argument-ending words, perhaps: I SAY SO.

41. Romeo's opening word?: ALFA.  Did this sports car slow you down as it did me?  I was thinking of Juliet's paramour, of course.

Alfa Romeo

42. Mausoleums: TOMBS.

46. Go to the polls: VOTE.

47. Pear variety: BOSC.

48. Dressing on a caterer's table?: SKIRT.  Put a skirt on a folding table to make it more presentable.

49. Hardly any: A FEW.

50. Actress Jewell: GERI.  Geri Jewell is an actress, comedian, writer, and speaker, noted for roles on the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life and the western Deadwood.  Her success is in spite of having been born with cerebral palsy and ignored or worse by other children.  DNK - Did Not Know.

52. Gasteyer of "Mean Girls": ANA.  Ana Gasteyer is an actress, comedian and singer.  She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002, and has since starred in such sitcoms as Suburgatory, People of Earth, American Auto, and the film Mean Girls.  DNK.

Ana Gasteyer

53. Some mechanical pencils: BICS.  BIC does make mechanical pencils.

54. Ada Lovelace's father: BYRON.  Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical computer, the Analytical Engine. She is sometimes considered to be the first computer programmer.  Ada was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron and reformer Anne Isabella Milbanke.  Lord Byron's other children were born out of wedlock to other women.  Lord Byron separated from his wife a month after Ada was born, left England, and died in Greece, fighting in the Greek War of Independence when Ada was eight.  Her education in mathematics was entirely thanks to her mother.  She became a countess through marriage.  DNK.

Daguerreotype of Ada Lovelace circa 1843

55. NFL stats: YDS.  Even I recognize that National Football League statistics include yards.

56. Heavy dancing shoes: CLOGS.

58. Backroads ride, for short: ATV.  All-Terrain Vehicle.

59. [Theme clue]

62. Need for a site visit?: URL.  Uniform Resource Locator.  A web address.

63. Two-time Newbery Medalist Lowry: LOIS.  Lois Lowry is the author of many books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, the Anastasia series, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subjects and complex themes in works for young audiences.  DNK.

Lois Lowry

65. Caterpillar rival: DEERE.  Caterpillar and John Deere compete in the manufacture of heavy equipment, although Caterpillar specializes in heavy construction and mining, while John Deere makes mostly agricultural equipment.  There is clearly some overlap, as there are lots of YouTube videos titled "John Deere vs Caterpillar."

66. Grove grower: TREE.  Not the arborist, but the thing growing in the grove.

67. Drink through a straw: SUCK.

68. Travel website with the same name as a boat: KAYAK.  Kayak.com is a travel search engine, comparing prices from other sites for flights, hotels, and cars.  Unlike Expedia or Travelocity, you can't book directly through Kayak, but you may find better price comparisons.  For me, "kayak" conjures up our fearless Monday blogger, sumdaze, paddling on the Pacific.

69. Quickly, quickly: ASAP.  Quickly, stated quickly:  ASAP, or As Soon As Possible.

70. Surroundings: AREA.

71. Someone working around the House: REP.  You will find Representatives working in the House of Representatives.

72. Rocker Joan: JETT.  Joan Jett recorded four albums with the Runaways from 1975 to 1979, and then formed her own record label and performed as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  Her 1981 album, I Love Rock 'n Roll, peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The lead single was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  Jett has released eleven more albums with the Blackhearts, two of them receiving gold and platinum certifications.  Her single I Hate Myself for Loving You earned Jett her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Performance.  How many of our Corner guitarists have played her songs?

Joan Jett

Down:

1. Actor Kilmer: VAL.  Val Kilmer was an American actor who found fame through films including Top Secret!, Real Genius, and Top Gun. He played Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever.  His voice was altered by throat cancer, and had to be digitally modified for the 2022 film, Top Gun: Maverick.  Roger Ebert said of Kilmer in 1992, "If there is an award for the most unsung leading man of his generation, Kilmer should get it."  Kilmer passed away on April 1, 2025.

Val Kilmer at Cannes in 2005

2. God with a quiver: EROS.  Eros carries a quiver of arrows.

I searched for Cupid with arrows and found a bunch of babies with wings.
I searched for Eros with arrows, and well, that's more like it!

3. Really get to: RILE.

4. Middle Eastern market: BAZAAR.

5. Hot rod rod: SHAFT.  Some of our car enthusiasts can tell us all about hot rod drive shafts in the comments.  

6. Game show whose contestants are really driven?: CASH CAB.  This show appeared in the puzzle I blogged on September 11th!  Cash Cab is a game show that premiered in 2005.  A taxi picks up a customer, the host announces that they are on Cash Cab, and they are given the option to play or get out.  If they choose to play, they have to stay in the cab until they reach their destination or get three strikes when answering questions.  They earn cash for correct answers.  Our solvers would do well.

7. Wackadoo: ABSURD.

8. Mark: BLEMISH.

9. Occupied, as a hot desk: SAT AT.  In some offices, workers do not have their own, private work spaces.  There are desks available, and you grab one.  "Hot desking" accommodates various shifts and schedules.  It must assume that all your files and resources are electronic.  I still use filing drawers in my desk.

10. Solid carbon dioxide: DRY ICE.  Useful as a cooling agent, dry ice also makes cool fog effects.

Youngest daughter was married in August
and danced with hubby in a cloud of DRY ICE fog.

11. Drubbing: ROUT.  A resounding defeat.

12. Supporter: ALLY.

13. Microscopic: WEE.

21. Floss brand: ORAL B.

22. Spanish sons: NIÑOS.  No, no, no.  Sons are HIJOS.  Niños are children -- boys, or boys and girls -- but not necessarily sons.  Mis hijos son Isaac y Aaron.  Mis niños son Isaac, Leila, Aaron, y Rachel.  Lucina can correct me if I'm wrong.

24. Accounting record?: APOLOGY TOUR.  A well-known person might make a series of speeches, interviews, or public appearances to express regret for a mistake.  That's an apology tour.  You could say that they're giving an accounting of their misdeeds.

25. [Theme clue]

28. [Theme clue]

29. "My compliments to the chef": TASTES GREAT.

30. Part of UAE: ARAB.  United Arab Emirates.

32. Grains that may be steel-cut: OATS.

34. Produce aisle spray: MIST.

36. German entomologist Hermann: LOEW.  Friedrich Hermann Loew (1807-1879) was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges. He was the first specialist to work on the Diptera of the United States.  His collections are in museums around the world, and more than a dozen insects are named for him.  See, for example, the lovely Albulina loewii that lives in the Middle East and Asia.  DNK, but great entomologists should be as famous as rock stars.

Albulina loewii

38. Large-scale: MACRO.

40. Make use (of): AVAIL.

43. "Yes, honey": OKAY DEAR.

44. [Theme clue]

45. Fashion tape target: BRA STRAP.  If you don't want your bra strap to show, tape your top to the strap.  

Tape those bra straps to your top!

Or, take a cue from the younger ladies, and flaunt them!

51. What a pocket protector protects from: INK.

When I was in college, a pocket protector was
universally acknowledged as the badge of a science nerd.

53. Dating initials: BCE.  Before Common Era, a secular alternative to BC, Before Christ.

54. Wood whose name comes from the Spanish for "raft": BALSA.  This tropical wood is surprisingly buoyant.

57. Rested: SLEPT.

60. "u tell me": IDK.  I Don't Know.  Here in the corner, we more often confess:  DNK.

61. "Yikes!": EEK.

64. Horn-heavy genre: SKA.  Ska originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, combining Caribbean sounds like calypso with American jazz, rhythm and blues.  Ska today is fast paced and features lots of brass instruments.

66. __ Mahal: TAJ.

Here's the grid:

(O)bligation -- I OWE you an explanation of the puzzle theme.

(U)nderstand -- Did YOU get it?

(R)eactions?  ARE you ready to comment?

Thursday, September 18, 2025, J.R. Willard, Dena R. Verkuil

Theme:  This puzzle isn't all there!

Today's puzzle appears to be an L.A. Times debut for each of our two constructors.  Dena R. Verkuil has had three puzzles published in the New York Times, and JP Willard co-created a puzzle with Lynn Watson for Universal crossword.  Did these newbies ERR somewhere?  They left three clues blank!

The explanation is found here:

59-Across. Is completely unaware, or what can be said about 17-, 26-, and 47- Across: DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE.  It is true that 17-, 26-, and 47- Across don't have clues.  It is also true that "doesn't have a clue" is an expression meaning to have no knowledge, understanding, or idea about something, or to be out of touch with reality.  The following theme entries have no clues, but they do have answers, all of which are expressions meaning essentially the same thing.

17-Across.        : ON ANOTHER PLANET.

26-Across.        : IN LA LA LAND.

47-Across.        : OUT TO LUNCH.

I hope you didn't draw total blanks on the theme answers!  On to more traditional clues!

Across:

1. Norimaki or gunkanmaki: SUSHI.  Norimaki consists of rice and fillings tightly rolled in a sheet of nori seaweed.  Gunkanmaki is an oval mound of rice wrapped in nori to create a little vessel for soft, creamy, or loose ingredients.  I took an educated guess on this one.

Norimaki     and     Gunkanmaki

6. Swiss Army Knife's array: USES.  A Swiss army knife has many uses, but do the uses consitute an array?  I questioned this, thinking that "array" best described physical objects, like the blades and tools on a Swiss army knife, but I learned that you can have an array of problems, or styles, or options, or other things that exist as concepts.

10. Yemen's Gulf of __: ADEN.

14. Budget-friendly: CHEAP.

15. Home of the Shipibo-Conibo people: PERU.  An indigenous group living along the Ucayali River in the headwaters of the Amazon.  

I took this photo of a local fisherman on the Ucayali River in 2018.
I love that a butterfly landed on his cap.

16. Wrapped garment: CAPE.

17. [Theme clue]

20. Blabbed: TOLD.

21. Tear (up): RIP.

22. Zigs and zags: DODGES.

23. Send: MAIL.

25. Actress Essman: SUSIE.  Susie Essman plays Susie Greene on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Susie Essman on Curb Your Enthusiasm

26. [Theme clue]

30. Part of a circumference: ARC.

32. Like some grapes and tennis players: SEEDED.  Tennis players are ranked, or "seeded," according to past performance, and distributed across tournaments so that the best players do not face each other until later rounds.  Seeded grapes, well ... we don't have to eat those anymore, thanks to selective breeding.

33. Union fees: DUES.

35. Cry noisily: SOB.

37. Rubber tree goo: LATEX.  Proteins in latex can cause skin irritation.  DH can't tolerate bandages made with latex.

38. Playground game: TAG.

39. Kick back: CHILL.

41. Funny bone spot: ARM.

42. Succinct "No time to waste!": ASAP.

44. Get down: BOOGIE.  Some sources say "get down and boogie" means to get up and dance.  

45. 5-Down regulators: Abbr.: SEC.  Transactions on the New York Stock Exchange are regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

47. [Theme clue]

49. Gleam: GLINT.

51. Frees (of): RIDS.

52. Galápagos lizard: IGUANA.  Iguanas in the Galápagos islands eat algae in the ocean.  They are the only lizards that spend any part of their lives in a marine environment.

I took this photo of a marine iguana on Española in the Galápagos in 2016.
I kvetch about having to work at my age, but someone has to pay for all this galavanting.

54. Casual greetings: HIS.

55. Make at work: EARN.

59. [Theme clue]

62. Gal: LASS.

63. Start of a classic palindrome implausibly attributed to Napoleon: ABLE.  Although this palindrome first appeared in print almost 30 years after Napoleon's death, it was written as though he might have said it -- especially if  Napoleon had been fond of inventing phrases that read the same way backwards and forwards -- in English, no less:

       “Able was I ere I saw Elba.”

64. Pointe shoe fabric: SATIN.  My late sister was a dancer; she had pink satin pointe shoes hanging by their ribbons in various rooms of her home.

65. "Keep Commerce Human" website: ETSY.  I have never encountered this slogan for Etsy, but I do recommend the site for handmade items and craft supplies.

66. Low on the Mohs' scale: SOFT.  The Mohs scale ranks the hardness of minerals from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest).  

67. "Poor Things" Oscar winner: STONE.  If you enjoy a steampunk aesthetic, blending the Victorian era with futuristic and fantastical elements, you just might love Emma Stone in Poor Things.  I did.

Down:

1. One who may be loched in?: SCOT.

2. "Not for all the tea in China": UH NO.  Seasoned solvers have come to expect silly answers like this one.  "No way" and "Not on your life" wouldn't fit.

3. Elephant __: SEAL.

4. Crafted with care: HANDMADE.  Like much of the merchandise on ETSY.

5. NYSE debut: IPO.  An Initial Public Offering is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public.

6. Like their walks to school (in the snow, both ways), per some grandparents: UPHILL.

7. Flow slowly: SEEP.

8. Fumble: ERR.

9. "Yo, bro!": SUP DUDE.

10. Maine attraction: ACADIA.  It was rainy and cold when DH and I visited Acadia National Park in October 2019, and the leaves had not yet changed to autumn colors.  So here is someone else's (enhanced?) photo of the view from Cadillac Mountain:

11. Posting with a hazard symbol, e.g.: DANGER SIGN.

You come in here, stuff's gonna fall on you!

12. Duel-purpose tool?: ÉPÉE.

13. Catches: NETS.

18. Simple chord: TRIAD.

19. __ Angeles: LOS.

24. Speaker of the house?: ALEXA.  Amazon Echo smart speaker hardware is inhabited by Alexa voice assistance software.

25. Formfitting: SNUG.

26. Puerto Rico, por ejemplo: ISLA.  Puerto Rico, for example:  island.

27. Comes close: NEARS.

28. "I bet I know what you're going to say": LET ME GUESS.

29. Modify to fit: ADAPT.

31. Infant's ailment: COLIC.

34. Reprimand: SCOLD.

36. "This tastes terrible": BLEH.

38. Like a bed sheet with no creases: TAUT.

40. Purrr-fect roommate: HOUSE CAT.

43. Some Bach works: SONATAS.

44. Capital city with a New Year's Eve Potato Drop: BOISE.  We may have to switch to this broadcast on New Year's Eve!

46. Sophisticated: CLASSY.

48. Spot for a hot pot: TRIVET.

50. Place to stay: INN.

52. Not engaged: IDLE.

53. Kid at a petting zoo: GOAT.  When eldest son was in nursery school (more than 40 years ago), his class made a field trip to the L.A. Zoo.  The dear boy told me he was catching the GOAT in this photo with the string in his hand.

54. 13.1 miles of a marathon, e.g.: HALF.  A marathon is a foot race with a distance of 42.195 kilometres, or about 26 miles and 385 yards.

56. Midrange voice: ALTO.

57. Total: RUIN.  In this case, TOTAL is a verb, meaning to damage beyond repair.  To give almost equal billing to eldest daughter, she totaled my car when she was 17.  Bless the airbags in that old Corolla.

58. Hawaii's state bird: NENE.  Who's seen a NENE?  ME ME!

We took my mama to the Big Island and saw this Nene, or Hawaiian Goose.

60. "The White Lotus" airer: HBO.

61. Pack animal: ASS.

Here's the grid:

As this post NEARS its end, LET ME GUESS ...

Did you ADAPT easily to the missing clues?

Or did they RUIN the puzzle for you?

Let us know in the comments below!  

-- NaomiZ 

Thursday, September 11, 2025, Dylan Schiff

Theme:  How shall I post thee?  Let me count the ways.

Dylan Shiff is a middle school science teacher and puzzle enthusiast who loves the quirks of the English language.  Today's puzzle plays with various meanings of the word POST.

The theme clues and answers are:

18-Across. *Online diary: PERSONAL BLOG.  When you self-publish on a website for others to read, you "post" an entry or article to the site, and the entry or article is itself a "post."

25-Across. *Means of sending legal documents: CERTIFIED MAIL.  "Post" can be a verb meaning to send a letter or package.

37-Across. *Item pinned to a bulletin board: PROMOTIONAL FLYER.  Anything tacked onto a bulletin board is said to be "posted" there.

49-Across. *Professional who stands watch: SECURITY GUARD.  A security guard is assigned to a specific location for a defined period; this assignment is his "post."

59-Across. "I want to stay informed!," or what might be said by the answers to the starred clues?: KEEP ME POSTED.  This is the big reveal, without which I would never have discerned the connection between the starred clues.  A personal blog wants to be kept posted.  So does certified mail, a promotional flyer, and a security guard.  Wonderful wordplay.

I asked ChatGPT to create an image of a security guard at his post who is writing a personal blog, sending a letter, and tacking a flyer to a bulletin board.  The result is the image at the top of this post.  AI technology is amazing and terrifying!

How did Dylan fill in the rest of the puzzle?  Let's take a look.

Across:

1. Chocolaty coffees: MOCHAS.  Yum.

7. Unearthed: DUG UP.

12. Silk formation: WEB.  Hummingbirds use spider silk to bind their tiny nests together.

15. Punctual: ON TIME.

16. Yoga pose: ASANA.

17. Top card in hearts: ACE.

18. [Theme clue]

20. "Neither fish __ fowl": NOR.

21. Class with pronunciation practice, briefly: ESL.  English as a Second Language.

22. Tomato used in tomato paste: ROMA.  Roma tomatoes have low water content and few seeds, which makes it easy to reduce them to a thick paste.

23. "It's peculiar ... ": ODDLY.

25. [Theme clue]

29. River mouth formations: DELTAS.

31. "¿Cómo __?": ESTAS.  "How are you?" spoken informally, as to a friend or family member.  We discovered that in Spain, people leap right into informal address, whereas in Mexico, you can know someone for many years and always use the formal ¿Cómo está usted? depending on the relationship.

32. Jeweler's unit: CARAT.

33. WNBA great Leslie: LISA.  Lisa Leslie was a professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2009. She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medalist.  She's a local So Cal gal, but alas, my sports allergy prevented my knowing of her accomplishments.

Lisa Leslie

34. Took charge: LED.

37. [Theme clue]

42. Tags in a Google Doc: ATS.  I don't use Google Docs, but I read that typing the "at" symbol -- @ -- opens a menu to quickly insert links and other items.  It's a shortcut to the insert menu.

43. Border on: ABUT.

44. Ahead of schedule: EARLY.

45. Puts a spell on: HEXES.

47. Extra tires: SPARES.

49. [Theme clue]

53. Bowler's hangout: ALLEY.

54. Limbs symbolic of power in Hinduism: ARMS.  

55. "__ making myself clear?": AM I.

58. Moreover: TOO.  Also, besides, furthermore, and additionally wouldn't have fit.

59. [Theme clue]

64. PIN point: ATM.  One uses a Personal Identification Number at an Automated Teller Machine.

65. Reach a consensus: AGREE.

66. Dutch beer: AMSTEL.  The brewery was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam, taken over by Heineken in 1968, and closed in 1982, with production moving to the main Heineken plant at Zoeterwoude.

67. "Def!": YEP.  Definitely.

68. Stockpile: HOARD.

69. 100-seat chamber: SENATE.  The U.S. Senate has 100 members, with two senators representing each of the 50 states.

Down:

1. Brood: MOPE.

2. Single notes: ONES.  "Notes" can mean paper money.  Americans usually say "bills."

3. Corner PC key: CTRL.

4. The "H" of HMS: HIS.  His Majesty's Ship.  It used to be Her Majesty's Ship when His mama was queen.

5. Cherub in Italian art: AMORETTO.  I never heard this term!

6. Spanish title: SENORA.

7. __ Lama: DALAI.

8. __ port: USB.  Oh, that kind of port.

9. Gadot of "Wonder Woman": GAL.  I know this Gal.  Not personally!  I know of her.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman

10. "Last card!": UNO.  Uno is a card game developed in 1971, and produced since 1992 by Mattel.  A player who plays their next-to-last card must call "Uno" as a warning to the other players that they only have one card left.

11. East Asian temple: PAGODA.  A pagoda is a multi-story structure with overhanging roofs.  They often serve as Buddhist or Hindu temples or memorials.

12. Title fish in a 1988 heist comedy: WANDA.

13. Produce recall cause, often: E. COLI.  E. coli is a group of bacteria that can cause infections in your gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, and other parts of your body.

14. Mineral group for emerald and aquamarine: BERYL.  Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate, which forms hexagonal crystals.  Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities.

Aquamarine beryl gets its color from iron.

19. Ozs. and lbs.: AMTS.  Ounces and pounds are amounts.

24. Private online convos: DMS.  Direct Messages.

25. Chowder protein: CLAM.

26. Distracting move: FEINT.

27. Rae who played the president of Barbieland: ISSA.  Issa Rae plays a number of roles in Crossword Land.

28. Bibliography abbr.: ET AL.

29. Projectile aimed at a bull's-eye: DART.  This kind of bull's eye.  It is not wise to throw darts at real bulls' eyes.

30. God of love: EROS.

32. IRS worker: CPA.

33. Crummy: LOUSY.

34. Harp kin: LYRE.

35. Morays or congers: EELS.

36. Like kindling, ideally: DRY.

38. "Cash Cab" car: TAXI.  Cash Cab is a game show that premiered U.S. and British versions in 2005.  A taxi picks up a customer, the host announces that they are on Cash Cab, and they are given the option to play or get out.  If they choose to play, they have to stay in the cab until they reach their destination or get three strkes when answering questions.  They earn cash for correct answers.  I've never heard of this.  Anyone here watch it?  What kinds of questions do they answer?  Do they have to know what an amoretto is?  

39. [Eye roll]: I BET.

40. Inspiring chills: FEARSOME.

41. Frying medium: LARD.

45. Shade: HUE.

46. "On & On" singer Badu: ERYKAH.  Erykah Badu is an American singer, songwriter, and actress.  "On & On" was a Grammy winning single from her first album, Baduizm, released in 1997.  We saw her in Chandi Deitmer's puzzle on Sunday 9/7/2025, and in many, many puzzles before that.  Time to remember this “Queen of Neo Soul.”

Erykah Badu

47. "Why not!": SURE.

48. Argentinian grasslands: PAMPAS.

49. Skewered dish with peanut sauce: SATAY.  Yum.

Thai tofu satay with peanut sauce.  Your skewered protein may vary.

50. Mexican corn dish: ELOTE.  Elote returns to our crossword menu!  Corn on the cob, charred on a grill, and then slathered with spicy mayonnaise, crumbled cheese, chili powder and a squeeze of lime.  We had this dish in Patti Varol's puzzle on Friday 9/5/2025 and in C.C.'s puzzle on 8/24/2024. Yum.

51. Walk noisily: CLOMP.

52. Played Elden Ring, say: GAMED.  Elden Ring is a 2022 role-playing game for PlayStation, Windows, and Xbox.  

55. Roti base: ATTA.  Roti is an Indian flatbread made of atta flour and water.  It is frequently on our crossword menu.  DH and I are usually offered naan in Indian restaurants.  I'm sure roti is also yummy.

56. Come across: MEET.  Hmm.  This comes across as odd to me.  

57. Running in place: IDLE.

60. Barrier to teamwork: EGO.

61. Important chapter of history: ERA.

62. A pop: PER.  

63. Digits often hidden by x's: SSN.  In online forms and databases, SSNs are often replaced by x's so that bad folks can't look over your shoulder and steal your numbers.

Here's the grid:

Well, solvers, did you finish this puzzle ON TIME?  Did you DART from one clue to the next?

Or did you find it FEARSOME?

KEEP ME POSTED in the comments below!

-- NaomiZ 

 

Notes from C.C.:

 

Happy birthday to dear Husker Gary, our caring and creative Saturday Sherpa. I remember you once shared that you spent a birthday apple-picking with your grandchildren some years back. Such a sweet image. Do you still keep up that tradition?

Wishing you a beautiful day filled with family, joy, and maybe even a crisp apple or two!

Left to Right: Boomer, Gary, C.C. & Joann (August 2014)