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

Thursday September 10, 2026 Alex Rohrer & Rodrigo Kerlegand

While Alex Rohrer has published here before, I believe this is Rodrigo Kerlegand's LAT debut. Together, they're troublemakers, but I guess rules were meant to be broken!

38. Cheating, or what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 11, and 13 are doing: BREAKING THE RULES. This phrase clues us in that the theme words are BREAKING i.e. being divided by a black square. The end of the first word on the line plus the beginning of the second create synonyms for RULES: ORDER, BYLAW, EDICT and MANDATE.

When the revealer is in the middle, as a rule it spills the beans and the rest of the puzzle isn't as fun. But not in this case. I mean, what do HIT RECORD and LAWN MOWER have in common? The theme was so well hidden I had to discover it upon completion. I know some people don't like themes that are of no help in the solve, but I liked this one nonetheless. What does bother me a bit is when I have to spend half my review time looking up bios of various celebrities.

I'll now rule on the rest.

Across:

1. With deftness: ABLY.

5. Clogs (up): DAMS. Some damn big clogs!

9. Typical Stan Lee role: CAMEO. Stan Lee, creator of many comic book superheroes, made CAMEO appearances in dozens of films, TV shows, and video games, most famously appearing in 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe films. 

14. Manitoba people: CREE.

15. Vinaigrette ingredient, initially: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the good stuff.

16. Throw shade at: HATE ON.

17. Start filming, say: HIT RECORD. And as a noun, a HIT RECORD is a chart-topping album.

19. Like a drive deep in the woods?: ERRANT. It's how many golfers spend their Saturdays.

20. Pioneers of old-school rap, for short: OGS. Original Gangsters. Initially, this was used in specific street and hip-hop contexts, but over time, it was shortened it to “OG” and the meaning broadened to “original” or “authentic,” often without any criminal connotation. As in: C.C. is the OG!

21. "__ Lisa": MONA. Da Vinci's painting has a nice frame per Mr. Bean, but it's also a classic song by one of the greatest singers of all time, Nat King Cole.

Talk about smooth vocals!

22. React to meeting one's hero, perhaps: SWOON. It's an occupational hazard of being a crossword blogger, but I'm getting used to it.
 
23. "Wowza!": OH BABY. "Is it really you, RustyBrain?!" 

25. One pushed to make cuts?: LAWN MOWER. Winner: Best Clue.

29. Mega- times mega-: TERA. Prefixes for a million x million = trillion.

30. Disaster response org.: FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency.

31. Actress Polo: TERI. I guess Polo is the new Garr, but she does look very familiar. I think I first saw TERI Polo in the Meet the Parents movies with Ben Stiller.

32. Bombeck who advised, "Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth": ERMA. Great quote from a funny woman.

34. Situated on: ATOP.

37. Sass: LIP. Don't gimme any of that!

38. [theme]

43. Abbr. in calculus class: LIM. A LIMIT in calc is the value that a function approaches as it's input gets closer and closer to some value.

44. "Ditto!": SAME.  Ditto machines were early duplicators that used liquid alcohol to dissolve a bit of purple wax dye from a master copy and stamp it onto a page. Each time it was used, a little more wax was removed, so after a while the copy quality degraded.

I remember the smell from ditto sheets in school.

45. Paradise: EDEN. 

46. Celebrity pair: ITEM. 

48. Son of Hera: ARES.

50. Padre's hermanos: TIOS. A Spanish father's brother is your uncle.

53. First responder: PARAMEDIC.

56. Game played in the trunk before a road trip?: TETRIS. I'm so good at this 3D TETRIS "game" that I'm in high demand. I've helped many friends load up a truck for a move and they're always amazed how much I can fit in.

58. Mark: GRADE. Back in the day, tests in school were often printed on Ditto machines.

59. Bait: LURE.

61. Medical pen prefix: EPI. An EPIpen is a disposable, pre-filled auto-injector device used to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine (adrenaline) in an emergency to treat severe, life-threatening allergic reactions.

62. Val Kilmer's "Top Gun" role: ICEMAN. Too bad Val died at 65 due to complications from throat cancer. I liked him as Jim Morrison in The Doors biopic.

64. Couple's outing: DATE NIGHT.

66. California wine valley: SONOMA. SONOMA County vineyards and the broader California wine industry are facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Driven by declining wine consumption, oversupply, and rising operational costs, many generational vineyards have closed, leaving their grapes to rot.

67. Spot for dirty dishes: SINK. 

Reminds me of college, for some reason.

68. Corner chess piece: ROOK. The ROOK is the second most valuable piece on the board (after the queen) because they can move rapidly and cover any row or column.

69. Actress who voices Bo Peep in the "Toy Story" franchise: POTTS. Annie POTTS, now 73, has performed on both TV and the big screen. I remember her from Ghostbusters.

70. "__ bien!": TRES.

71. Chlumsky of "Veep": ANNA. ANNA is an American actress who has appeared on Broadway and in movies, but she's mostly known for her TV roles.

Down:

1. Hay fever sound: ACHOO. Gesundheit! (Which means "health" in German.)

2. Quick-witted: BRIGHT. I'm so bright, my mom called me "son." I'll show myself out...

3. Doesn't bother: LETS BE. 

4. "__ darn tootin'!": YER.

5. Distraction: DECOY.

6. Stratford-upon-__: AVON. The town of Stratford on the AVON river was The Bard's old stomping ground.

7. Team spirit: MORALE. Rah.

8. Turf: SOD.

9. Pool bounce: CAROM.

10. Fundamentally: AT ROOT. This phrasing may be used in formal writing, but is less common in everyday speech.

11. Have the best of intentions: MEAN WELL.

12. Extremely long time: EON.

13. Toronto's prov.: ONT. Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of ONTARIO.

16. Chopped down: HEWN. I wonder why after chopping down a tree, I have to chop it up.

18. Sets off: EMBARKS. 

22. Wraps tightly: SWATHES.

24. Neighborhood: AREA.

26. Amo, amas, __: AMAT. Amo, amas, AMAT, amamus, amatis, amant is the present tense conjugation of the Latin verb amare. I love, you love, he (she, it) loves, we love, you (plural) love, they love. Three years of Latin in high school!

27. Shallowest Great Lake: ERIE. ERIE averages 62 feet deep vs. Superior's 483.

28. Features of some jeans: RIPS. RIPS in a old pair of favorite jeans are well earned, but I can't see buying new ones that are pre-ripped.  

30. Like some unauthorized editions: FANMADE.

33. "Mamma __!": MIA. Mamma MIA! is a jukebox musical featuring ABBA songs that has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation was released in 2008.

35. Wordsmith's ref.: OED. Ye olde Oxford English Dictionary is a huge reference work. You'll need a library cart to check it out.

36. Many a Little Leaguer: PRETEEN.

38. Minor disruption: BLIP.

39. Pop star Ora: RITA. RITA Ora is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress.

40. Up-and-coming: EMERGENT.

41. Mel B and Mel C bandmate: GERI. Dang! I wanted Mel A. GERI Halliwell et al. were Spice Girls.

42. Second, for one: UNIT. I liked last week's clue better: "Second, but not first."

47. Squirrel kin: MARMOT. MARMOTs are known as "whistle pigs," because they use loud, high-pitched whistles to alert their colonies to danger.

This one just watched The Lion King.

49. Pastry choice: ECLAIR.

51. The Beaver State: OREGON. 

52. Suction tube: SIPHON. 

54. Polite addresses: MA'AMS.

55. Crime novelist Buchanan: EDNA. EDNA Buchanan is an American journalist and writer.

56. Long journeys: TREKS. Like the one through the stars many moons ago...

57. First capital of Alaska: SITKA. I knew of this because SITKA spruce is the most common wood used for guitar tops because it offers an ideal balance of light weight and high stiffness.

My Martin D-42

60. Eclectic magazine: UTNE. The UTNE Reader is an American digital and print digest of alternative media, politics, and culture created in 1984 by Eric UTNE (pronounced UT-nee). 

62. Web access co.: ISP. Internet Service Provider.

63. Murmur: COO.

64. Summer hrs.: DST. Daylight Saving Time.

65. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

Hopefully, I didn't break any rules along the way!

Be good. RB