Thursday October 1, 2026 Cameron Barr & Annabel Blitzer

Happy October from Cameron Barr and Annabel Blitzer! Cameron is student writer and puzzle constructor for The Riverdale Review, the student-run newspaper of the Riverdale Country School where they serve milk in the cafeteria. Along with co-constructor Annabel, they've published crosswords for the paper's game section. Today, they usher in the fourth quarter with their joint entry into the big time LAT. Woohoo!

17. "Top Gun" and "Top Gun: Maverick" actor: VAL KILMER. VAL reprised his role as Iceman despite having throat cancer requiring the use of AI to alter his voice.

25. Insect such as Bombyx mori: SILK MOTH. As everyone (?) knows, Bombyx mori is the scientific name for a SILK MOTH.

36. "The Kiss" painter: GUSTAV KLIMT. The Austrian symbolist painter depicted a couple embracing in 1908. 

51. Appear as: SEEM LIKE. This creates an impression.

61. Ice cream treat, or what can be found in 17-, 25-, 36-, or 51-Across?: MILKSHAKE. The revealer tells us that the letters in the word "MILK" are SHAKEn (not stirred) in all the theme answers. 

Being Thursday, the scrambled letters M, I, L and K are not circled. Usually, in this kind of puzzle, the theme is of no help in the solve - once revealed, you look back and see how it all fits. But in this case, I couldn't come up with GUSTAV's last name and had blanks until I saw the letters of MILK had to be in there somewhere and then it clicked. The rest was uneventful short fill that went quickly. Overall, a fine first effort.

Continuing through the Milky Way:

Across:

1. Pride letters: LGBT. This abbreviation is almost an abbrev. itself as it's often appended with Q, as in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer.

5. Latch (onto): GLOM.

9. Pricey strings, familiarly: STRAD. I wanted STRAT, of course. David Gilmour's 1969 Fender "Black Strat" sold for $14,550,000 in March 2026, breaking all previous records. This Stratocaster was used on the classic Pink Floyd albums The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.

14. Geometric calculation: AREA.

15. Spiritual energy: AURA.

16. Canines, e.g.: TEETH. Buster has an underbite that we sometimes wonder if other dogs see as a snarl.

Our canine showing his canines.

17. [theme]

19. Spy collection: INTEL. Everyone's favorite British spy not named Bond, James Bond.

20. Do-nothing: IDLER.

21. Fastest qualifier in auto racing: POLE CAR. From my exhaustive research (I used the Google) a POLE CAR is not a proper term. It is the polesitter who starts in the pole position.

23. Welcomes: SEES IN.

25. [theme]

28. Possesses: HAS.

29. All ready: SET. On your mark, get SET, go!!

31. "I disagree": NAY. As in a "no" vote. 

32. Word with flat or late: FEE. Flat FEE; late FEE.

33. Plemons of "The Power of the Dog": JESSE. He made a good first impression on me in Breaking Bad (recently voted the #1 Best TV Show of the 21st Century by the NYT) and has since seen his star rise.

35. Lends a hand: AIDS.

36. [theme]

40. Without a date: STAG. "STAG" historically meant an adult male deer, which became a slang term for an all-male gathering.

42. Like many a chimney sweep: SOOTY.

43. Resistance unit: OHM.

44. Show stoppers?: ADS. Fun clue.

47. Org. overseeing LA28: IOC. The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is overseen by the International Olympic Committee. 

48. Part of B&B: BED. When RightBrain and I go on vacation, we usually pick a BED & Breakfast to stay at. The last one we enjoyed was the Forsyth Park Inn in Savannah, GA. A grand old house with large rooms and 12ft ceilings located across from a beautiful park.

51. [theme]

54. "Friends" friend: PHOEBE. PHOEBE was played by Lisa Kudrow.

56. Lady Gaga, for one: POP DIVA. Lady Gaga dressed so outlandishly, I initially thought she was just a curiosity. But I soon realized that she is a very fine musician, and used her whimsical persona to break through. Costumes may open the door, but talent keeps it open.

Her raw meat dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards

58. Moral standard: ETHIC. PETA condemned the meat dress but others saw it as a statement against women being seen as a piece of meat. 

59. Burp: BELCH.

61. [theme]

63. Nebraska city: OMAHA.

64. Fancy party spread: PATE. PATE may be fancy, but I usually don't like it. 

65. Like leap years: EVEN.

66. Some sushi fish: TUNAS. On the other hand, I like TUNA. My mom said it made her ill, so I rarely got it for lunch (ref. PBJs last week). Other kids in the cafeteria would bemoan, "TUNA again," while I thought it was a special treat. With MILK, of course.

67. Lock lips, in London: SNOG. SNOG means to kiss, and shag means to...

68. Musical pause: REST.

Down:

1. Extravagant: LAVISH.

2. Top-notch: GRADE A.

3. Some ball attendees: BELLES.

4. Opinions, informally: TAKES.

5. Lass: GAL.

6. Gravy imperfection: LUMP. On special occasions growing up, I was tasked with whipping the potatoes. In an attempt to make them LUMP-free, I overworked them creating a gluey texture. Fortunately, no one complained.

7. Cookies with many limited-edition flavors: OREOS. As many flavors as ways to clue them.

8. Miami baseball player: MARLIN.  I was at the first Florida Marlins game in 1993. They were renamed the Miami Marlins in 2011 after moving to their new stadium in Miami. 

A spring training program from 1994

9. Like flypaper: STICKY.

10. Brunch hr.: TEN AM.

11. Supply with updated parts: RETROFIT. Part 4?

12. Feasted on: ATE.

13. UPS competitor: DHL. United Parcel Service vs. Dalsey, Hillblom, and Lynn, named after the three founders who started the company in 1969.

18. Van Gogh flowers: IRISES. The IRISES were originally purple, but researchers found the red pigment he used was sensitive to light and faded to blue over time.

The original on left with a restored version on right.

22. She, in Portuguese: ELA.

24. Tree house?: NEST.

26. Danson of "The Good Place": TED. People seem to like this show, but me? Not so much.

27. Bucks and rams: HES. Attendees at a STAG party.

30. ID checkers at an airport: TSA. The Transportation Security Administration is actively considering allowing TSA PreCheck passengers to bring water bottles through security. Yay! After 20 years of making us throw our water away, they are finally coming to their senses.

33. Big container: JUG. It's not like I'm trying to bring a JUG of moonshine aboard a plane!

34. Chargeable autos, for short: EVS. Electric Vehicles.

35. "Good Hang" podcaster Poehler: AMY. AMY always delivers good content, starting with her stint on SNL.

36. Locker room strategy: GAME PLAN.

37. Fish that turns into a dragon, per myth: KOI.

38. Roller coaster feature: LOOP. My favorite roller coaster is the Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg where I used to work summers.

The only coaster in the world with interlocking LOOPs

39. Desires: ITCHES.

40. "Help us!": SOS. As I've mentioned before, SOS does not stand for anything. It's just easy to type in Morse Code ( ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ).

41. Not just a: THE.

44. Socially dominant types: ALPHAS.

45. Accomplished: DID.

46. Cuts corners: SKIMPS.

48. "Don't act up!": BEHAVE. It's Austin Powers Day!

49. Battery-powered rides: E-BIKES.

50. Clothed, so to speak: DECENT.

52. Frappuccino flavor: MOCHA.

53. Water brand: EVIAN.

55. Last multiple-choice choice, often: OTHER.

57. Midrange voice: ALTO.

59. Many a customer service assistant: BOT.

60. Animal mascot for Liberty Mutual: EMU. Liberty Mutual is sometimes abbreviated as LiMu, which rhymes with EMU. Of the big three insurance mascots, I like the gecko best.

LiMu EMU, GEICO Gecko, AFLAC Duck

62. Beer dispenser: KEG.

BTW, I'm not a huge Austin Powers fan, but the references just seemed to fit so I milked it for all it's worth!

Be good. RB

Thursday September 24, 2026 Yijing Chen

Yijing Chen is becoming a regular following her LAT debut earlier this year. 

62. Oregon Trail cry, or an apt title for this puzzle?: WESTWARD HO. WESTWARD HO was an encouraging cry used by pioneers along the historic 2000 mile migration route. And if you can imagine hundreds of thousands of people walking across the U.S. in the mid-1800s, they needed all the encouragement they could get! Although if you were a movie star, they let you ride in a wagon.

As a title reveals, HO is to be appended to the west end (left side as in an ATLAS) of each theme answer, turning a common phrase into something jolly.

17. *Urn that self-returns?: HOMING VASE. A MING VASE that returns like a HOMING pigeon. 

24. *Spreading the gospel of continental breakfast, turndown service, and free Wi-Fi?: HOTEL EVANGELISM. A TELEVANGELIST is usually a Christian minister who preaches via TV broadcasts and solicits donations. Here he's singing the praises of luxury HOTEL amenities.

37. *Corny, sappy, or cheesy?: HOKEY WORD. A KEYWORD is a word of great significance that describes the main idea of a text or a search query. Adding HO makes it HOKEY to match the clue.

53. *Treating guests to some honey, perhaps?: HOSTING LIKE A BEE. "Float like a butterfly, STING LIKE A BEE" is a famous line by boxer Muhammad Ali. The HO out front changes this to HOSTING like at a party serving BEE honey. 

It took me a while to catch onto the West Side Story. I had several blanks in the themers until I got to the revealer and had my O-HO moment. Overall, I liked the mash-ups even though I found this puzzle to be more difficult than usual for a Thursday. Or maybe the last few Thursdays were easier than usual. In any case, very few proper names made this a winner.

Onward HO!

Across:

1. Bit of baby talk: DADA. DADA was also an art movement, but I don't think that's the kind of movement a baby talks about.

5. Soothe operator?: BALM. Fun clue right off the bat!

9. Hutches: PENS. I was thinking furniture for way too long. Hutches are generally cages for small animals.

13. Rink leap: AXEL. 

14. Geography buff's compendium: ATLAS.

16. Milquetoast: BLAH.

17. [theme]

19. "Purple Haze" rocker Hendrix: JIMI. I have a life-size photo of Jimi playing my dream white Fender Stratocaster.

20. __ Strauss & Co.: LEVI.

21. Discord figs.: MODS. Not knowing that Discord is an online messaging and gaming app made this one hard. But I inferred it had something to do with social media, so someone who handles discord (the verb) would be a MODerator. 

23. Flat cap: TAM.

24. [theme]

28. Took in: ATE.

29. The Roaring Twenties, e.g.: ERA. 

30. Target of some recycling drives: E-WASTE. The world generates 66 million tons of Electronic Waste every year, and only about 20% gets recycled.

31. Some 35mm cameras: SLRS. Single-Lens Reflex cameras.

33. Woes: ILLS.

36. Submitter's button: ENTER. When I first started using computers (pre-PCs), I sometimes got a message to press any key to continue. I'm still looking for the ANY key...

37. [theme]

40. Discord fig.: ADMIN. A near clecho of 21A with my same logic arriving at ADMINistrator.

43. Seafaring wood: TEAK. We have several Danish Modern furniture pieces made of TEAK. Because of its natural oil content, it is unfinished and never needs polishing. Just wipe it down once in a while with TEAK oil to restore it's luster. This property makes it repel water so it works well on boats.

44. Isolate, in corporate jargon: SILO. I need to brush up on my jargons.

48. Small diadems: TIARAS.

50. Member of the fam: MOM.

52. Drops in the morning: DEW.

53. [theme]

57. Quitter's button: ESC. Is the ESCAPE key anywhere near the ANY key?

58. __-poly: ROLY.

59. Tex-Mex extra, for short: GUAC. This is just a little guacamole. 

60. Screen type at many a science museum: IMAX. As Ed Sullivan purportedly said, "It's a really big shoe." 

62. [theme]

66. CarPlay companion: SIRI. Apple CarPlay projects your iPhone interface onto your car's built-in display.

67. "Bo-ring!": SNORE.

68. On in years: AGED.

69. Rapa Nui monoliths: MOAI. MOAI are giant stone statues carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island between the 13th and 16th centuries. Today, the eye sockets are empty, but white coral fragments discovered nearby suggest they originally had white eyes like this restored one.

70. Tried to get home, say: SLID. Baseball reference.

71. Journo's hook: LEDE. Journo is slang for a journalist and a LEDE (pronounced leed) is the introductory first line of an article. Newspapers changed the spelling to avoid confusion with "lead," the heavy metal used to typeset in old printing presses.

Down:

1. Morse code unit: DAH.

2. Mexican salamander found in mountain lakes: AXOLOTL. An AXOLOTL is a fully aquatic salamander, it never leaves the water.

Smile for the camera!

3. Greek goddess of the harvest: DEMETER. DEMETER is the ancient Greek goddess of agriculture, grain, and the harvest. Her Roman equivalent is Ceres, from which we get our modern word "cereal." Apparently, no one wanted DEMETER and milk.

4. Still in it to win it: ALIVE.

5. Purse: BAG.

6. Off-rd. rig: ATV. All-Terrain Vehicles travel off-road. 

7. Vicuña kin: LLAMA. Vicuña wool is the rarest, finest and most expensive animal fiber in the world. I knit my socks from it.

8. George __ University: MASON. GMU is located in Northern Virginia near Washington D.C. It is named in honor of George Mason, one of our Founding Fathers and frequent visitor to the colonial capital of Williamsburg, VA. 

9. Vegan sando: PBJ. Who knew that I was a vegan throughout elementary school with my daily Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches? Mine were never cut on a diagonal like the rich kids.

Gourmet PBJ

10. Gatekeeping type: ELITIST. Smith Corona type: ELITE

11. Word often said over prayer hands: NAMASTE. NAMASTE is a respectful Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain greeting meaning "I bow to you."

12. Sequins effect: SHIMMER.

15. Grasslike plant: SEDGE.

18. Murchison Falls river: NILE.

22. Setting of the animated film "Flushed Away": SEWER. 

24. Consumes: HAS.

25. "Black Panther" villain Killmonger: ERIK. Killmonger sounds like a Marvel supervillain, but his first name is ERIK? That's like saying Darth Vader's first name is Bob.

26. Worker who gets around a lot: VALET. My other favorite clue.

27. Touches down: LANDS.

32. Henley, for one: SHIRT. 

34. Curing agent for century eggs: LYE. The preservation process of century eggs (usually duck or quail) actually only takes 40 to 100 days. But that's still about 40 to 100 days older than I like my eggs.

35. Ashram leader, perhaps: SWAMI.

38. Broadcasting: ON AIR.

39. "I get the point already!": OK OK.

40. Pascal's wager subject: ATHEISM. Pascal's Wager is a pragmatic philosophical argument stating that a person should live as though God exists and believe in Him, because the reward of believing is infinite and the loss of being wrong is small. I never heard of this rationale, perhaps because it was posited 400 years ago.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)

41. Spanish expression of shock: DIOS MIO. Oh my God! (I'm covering all bases now thanks to Monsieur Pascal.)

42. Lash thickener: MASCARA.
 
45. Lanyard attachment: ID BADGE. If you don't have an Identification badge, you'll just have to remember your own name.

46. Freeloaded: LEECHED. Equating a bloodsucking worm to a human parasite who drains someone else's resources dates back to 1784.

47. Have debts: OWE. I OWE, I OWE, so off to work I go...

49. Makes a winter blanket?: SNOWS. It didn't snow much in Williamsburg, VA as I grew up, but when it did, the blanket of SNOW turned the colonial area into a Currier & Ives print.

51. Grand opening?: MEGA. MEGA as a prefix for great or mighty. 

54. Secluded valleys: GLENS. 

55. Wipes brand: LYSOL. 

56. Hearing-related: AURAL.

61. Number on an old clock: XII. I like the number 12 in Roman numerals at the top, but IIII instead of IV for 4 not so much. They do it to help balance the visual weight of VIII on the opposite side of the face.

63. Numeric prefix: TRI. TRI is the only prefix (from 1 - 10) that is the same in both Greek and Latin. 

64. Married: WED.

65. Lines from an admirer: ODE.

HOped you liked it!

Be good. RB

Thursday September 17, 2026 Katy Steinmetz

Katy Steinmetz is a poet and she knows it. She should try her hand at songwriting!

(with apologies to Paul Simon)

All of the following themers rhyme a "newsworthy" object with a synonym for a reporter's point of view.

17. Reporter's approach to a story about a bracelet?: BANGLE ANGLE. But this could've been an entertainment reporter's review of a BANGLEs concert...

23. Reporter's approach to a story about a doppelgänger?: TWIN SPIN. ...or a Bee Gees concert.

TWINs born on December 22, 1949

35. Reporter's approach to a story about a male duck?: DRAKE TAKE. ...or a DRAKE concert.

50. Reporter's approach to a story about a picnic pest?: ANT SLANT. ...or an Adam ANT concert.

57. Reporter's approach to a story about a spring bloom?: CROCUS FOCUS. ...or even of FOCUS playing Hocus Pocus. (There also was a rock band in the '80s called KROCUS.) 
 

Well, this one from our bard wasn't hard. Once you gleaned the scheme of the theme (which was after the first one), knowing they all were rhymes made it easy peasy. And with five of them, the rest was pretty much run-of-the-mill fill.

Let's continue from different perspective:

Across:

1. Necklace clasp spot: NAPE.

5. Rather peculiar: SCREWY. I'm not SCREWY, although I may have one loose...

11. Implore: BEG.

14. Tandoor, for one: OVEN. In the '70s, we had a tan door OVEN.

It's called Espresso. Avocado and Harvest Gold were also popular.

15. Sub: HOAGIE. If they're out of HOAGIEs, you can always sub a grinder...but not one from Lowe's!

16. Credit card fig.: APR. Annual Percentage Rate.

17. [theme]

19. Game cube: DIE. Not to be confused with it's bigger sibling.

Nintendo GameCube

20. "Cheap Thrills" singer: SIA. I so wanted ZAPPA instead.

21. Lowe's purchase: TOOL. Try their grinders!

22. Lariat: ROPE. ROPE is in Lowe's aisle 23.

23. [theme]

26. Workers featured in the opening scenes of "Frozen": ICEMEN.

28. Greet someone from a distance: WAVE HI.

29. Gets a rise out of, in a way: LEAVENS. This year, RightBrain challenged herself to make sourdough bread. After several months of trial and error, she's nailed it. Her latest thing is mini-loaves.

Clockwise from top: cinnamon swirl; artisanal plain; everything bagel; strawberry with chocolate chips

30. Spanish "Listen!": OYE. 

31. Soy block: TOFU. A vegan in Maine loves TOFU, but the DMV made him surrender his license plate anyway.

34. Phoenix team: SUNS. The SUNS professional basketball team.

35. [theme]

38. Small jazz combo: TRIO.

40. Provide a fake alibi for, say: ABET.

41. Swelter: FRY.

44. Tap dancer Hines: GREGORY. He is celebrated for his intricate phrasing, cool style, and for reviving tap popularity in the late 20th century.

46. "You're right!": I AGREE.

49. Make changes to: REVISE.

50. [theme]

52. Prayer ender: AMEN. 

53. Lamb wrap with tzatziki: GYRO. A GYRO is usually wrapped in a PITA.

55. Charged particle: ION.

56. Tennessee athlete, for short: VOL. The University of Tennessee Volunteers.

57. [theme]

61. Before, in old poetry: ERE.

62. Compilation: DIGEST. Such as Reader's DIGEST. I haven't seen one in years, but print subscriptions are still available.

63. Subway Series squad: METS. The local rivalry of the New York METS vs. the New York Yankees.

64. Acid letters: LSD. I was given a hit of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in college, but I dropped it.

65. __-sense: SPIDEY. SPIDEY-sense refers to an early warning of immediate danger before it happens, as evidenced by Peter Parker aka Spiderman.

66. River through Flanders: YSER. YSER flows in French Flanders, the north of France.

Down:

1. San Francisco's __ Hill: NOB. NOB Hill is a posh historic neighborhood overlooking San Francisco.

I don't mean to brag, but I live near Nob Hill (Road).

2. Janelle's "Abbott Elementary" role: AVA. Janelle James plays principal AVA Coleman.

3. Deep in thought: PENSIVE.

4. Tuneup target: ENGINE. I wanted GUITAR, of course. 😉 I never had a Ric 12-string, but while it's an engineering marvel, it looks daunting to tune up.

Rickenbacker 360/12 headstock

5. "__ sells seashells ... ": SHE. "I have the world's largest collection of sea shells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you've seen it." Steven Wright

6. Tropical ring-tailed mammal: COATI. A COATI is a member of the raccoon family and is native to South America.

7. Built one's campaign around: RAN ON.

8. Breakfast brand: EGGO. Crossword constructors will never leggo EGGO because its contains such common letters.

9. Country great Nelson: WILLIE. We should all chip in and buy him a new guitar.

WILLIE Nelson and "Trigger"

10. "__-haw!": YEE. I wanted HEE-Haw because of another country great, Roy Clark.

Roy's playing a Gibson Les Paul Custom "Black Beauty"

11. Sign of trouble: BAD OMEN.

12. Camp nurse's supply: EPIPENS.

13. Salad leaves: GREENS.

18. Mascara target: LASH.

22. Variety show: REVUE.

23. Wee hour: TWO. As we learned a week ago, TWO may also be the wee-wee hour.

24. Modus operandi: WAY. Per the Mandalorian, "This is the WAY."

25. 53-Across bread: PITA. Although a GYRO may be served on a platter.

27. Champagne barrel: CASK.

29. Mandolin kin: LUTE. For comparison to Roy's, here's a pic of my blonde Les Paul Custom, a distant cousin of a LUTE.

20th Anniversary model from 1974 aka "the Fretless Wonder"

32. "... Fine.": OKAY.

33. Shortest mo.: FEB. My oldest son was born on February 28th of a leap year, just hours before not having a birthday very often. 

35. "Dinner is served!": DIG IN.

36. Some big hoppers: ROOS. ROOS is short for kangaroos, even if they're tall. 

37. Fighting: AT IT.

38. Small quakes: TREMORS.

39. Took deep pleasure (in): REVELED.

41. Three-time Best Actress Oscar winner McDormand: FRANCES. She also won a fourth Oscar for Best Picture as producer of Nomadland.

42. Driver's "Star Wars" role: REN. Adam Driver plays Kylo REN in the Star Wars franchise, but he never met a Mandalorian. 

43. Up to today: YET.

44. Rough road surface: GRAVEL.

45. Fix, as a tennis racket or golf club: REGRIP.

47. "Yeah, right!": AS IF.

48. Down in the dumps: GLOOMY.

50. Like an eyebrow: ARCED. I'd rather have ARCHED.

51. Pointless: NO USE.

54. Asana expert: YOGI. If you do it right, you won't have boo-boos. 

57. LP successors: CDS. Kids ask me, "What's an LP?" I tell them they came before CDs. "What's a CD?"

58. Farm pen: STY. 

59. Great Basin native: UTE. 

60. Georgia, once: Abbr.: SSR. This Soviet Socialist Republic was part of the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1991.

Be good. RB