Thursday July 23, 2026 Ryan Patrick Smith

Ryan Patrick Smith says he's a frequent moviegoer, and that my be his impetus for creating today's theme.

20. Cinematographer's assignment?: SHOOT YOUR SHOT. The cinematographer is the director of photography, and he tells the camera crew what to shot to shoot.

32. Screenwriter's assignment?: FORM A LINE. A screenwriter forms the actor's lines in screenplays for movies.

44. Costume designer's assignment?: PITCH A FIT. A costume designer pitches an idea, then creates the clothes that are custom fit to the actors.

56. Director's assignment?: GET THE PICTURE. The director manages the entire creative and narrative vision of a motion picture, and gets it all on film. 

This was a fun one, although I initially thought the themers might have something to do with ball-playing (SHOOT... and PITCH...). Instead, they are all common phrases clued as assignments for a movie crew. My only nit was their order - I'd like writing first, then costumes, followed by filming and the final picture. But I have some OCD tendencies, so take that with a grain of salt...and some butter!

That was Take 1. Here are the rest of the shots:

Across:

1. Like a specialized committee: AD HOC. AD HOC is a Latin phrase meaning "for this." In English, it describes a solution or committee created for a specific, short-term purpose.

6. Qualified: ABLE. 

10. Sheer delight: GLEE. 

14. Ready to drop: WEARY. 

15. Squander: BLOW. 

16. Wet and squirmy: EELY. 

17. Springsteen portrayer Jeremy __ White: ALLEN. The Boss personally handpicked Jeremy for the lead role, and approved his singing on all of the songs. I recently enjoyed him the in the final season of The Bear about a restaurant in Chicago. 

Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Allen White

18. __ carotene: BETA. I prefer alpha carotene, it's one better.

19. Athletic brand: NIKE. In 1971, NIKE co-founder Bill Bowerman famously invented the innovative "waffle sole" by pouring liquid urethane directly into his wife's waffle iron. She hit him with a frying pan, and he's been running ever since.

20. [theme]

23. Short greetings: HIS.

24. Straight, for short: HET. HETerosexual. 

25. Make an alliance: TEAM UP.

28. Novel that inspired "There Will Be Blood": OIL. Another great book about how OIL became king is The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize winning history of the global petroleum industry from the 1850s to 1990. Although written decades ago, it is still considered the definitive history of Big Oil.

29. Opposite of sans: AVEC. Sans = without; AVEC = with. From the French describing whether to add ketchup to fries or not.

31. Many a Chiwere language student: OTO.

32. [theme]

36. Toys with tails: KITES. Toys with tails: PEKES.

Pekingese flying a colorful tail

38. Nutrient in spinach: IRON. That's why Popeye was strong to the finich.

39. "Srsly!?": OMG NO. Seriously!? This piece of text-speak is dead center in the puzzle!? Oh, My God, No! 

41. iPhone helper: SIRI. iPhone spy: Also SIRI.

42. "Ghostbusters" actor Harold: RAMIS. Harold also co-wrote the screenplay with Dan Aykroyd. 

44. [theme]

46. Question in reply to "omw," maybe: ETA. "On My Way." "What's your Estimated Time of Arrival?"

47. "Anyone __?": ELSE.

49. Detroit labor org.: UAW. United Auto Workers.

50. Town in Ontario County, New York: SENECA. 

52. The works: ALL. 

53. Aves. and blvds.: RDS. Avenues and boulevards are ROADS...but I wrote STS (streets) first.

56. [theme]

60. Low on dough: POOR. Since RightBrain started making sourdough bread, we're never low on dough...except after shopping for it. 

62. Zither kin: HARP. On a zither, the 4 to 5 strings nearest to the player run over a fretted fingerboard and are played like on a guitar to create notes. The remaining 25 to 35 un-fretted accompanying strings stretch across the rest of the soundbox and are plucked by the fingers of the right hand to provide chords and bass.

I think I'll stick to guitar.

63. Sound that comes from on high: YODEL. In 1968, NBC higher-ups famously interrupted an exciting AFL football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets to air Heidi. While the Alpine movie ran, the Raiders scored two stunning touchdowns in the final minute to win the game. Oh boy, did the fans YODEL! Afterwards, networks were contractually stipulated to show all game telecasts to their conclusion.

64. Volkswagen Group subsidiary: AUDI. The VW Group includes AUDI and ten other brands, as well as Ducati motorcycles and some truck lines. Due to marketing pressures, they recently announced plans to cut their global vehicle lineup by 50%. 

65. Like supervillains: EVIL.

66. Hall of Famer Shaquille: ONEAL. The little fella has 12-inch wide hands that dwarf a water bottle.

67. Get out of bed: RISE.

68. French jeweler and glassmaker Lalique: RENE. RENE may not be familiar to you as he died 80 years ago, but his pieces reside in museums around the world. Let me rephrase that: his creations reside in museums...

69. Bookish sorts: NERDS.

Down:

1. Teeming (with): AWASH.

2. Metropolis in north-central India: DELHI. 

3. The MLB's Angels, to fans: HALOS. Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels.

4. Cookie with a limited-edition BTS collaboration: OREO. These OREOS feature purple wafer cookies with a brown sugar pancake flavor inspired by Korean street food (hotteok). And they have 13 different designs! They sound awful, the cookies, not the band.

Collect (but do not eat) them all!

5. "Harriet" and "Wicked" Oscar nominee Erivo: CYNTHIA. The British actress and singer has been nominated for the complete EGOT set, and has won all but the Oscar so far. She only 39, so I'm sure she'll get there.

6. Monastery leader: ABBOT. Although sometimes Costello took the lead.

7. Veal cordon __: BLEU.

8. Tolkien saga, briefly: LOTR. The epic trilogy Lord Of The Rings.

9. Old mice and such: EWASTE. "What did you whippersnappers call us?"

We're not EWASTE!

10. Italian salami city: GENOA. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...seeking a shorter route to DELHI for some lunch meat.

11. Recurring melodic phrase: LEITMOTIF. A LEITMOTIF is usually associated with a specific person, place or thing - like the menacing two-note "shark theme" from Jaws.

12. Big grazer: ELK.

13. Cornea locale: EYE.

21. Mello __ soda: YELLO. 

With apologies to Donovan.

22. "Dang!": HECK.

26. Gestation sites: UTERI.

27. Put forth: POSIT.

28. High-end hotel chain: OMNI. 

29. "Concrete Rose" novelist Thomas: ANGIE. ANGIE started by writing lists before becoming a bestselling author. 

30. Dryer outlet: VENT. 

32. S'mores cookers: FIRES. 
 
33. Speak from a rostrum: ORATE. "Friends, ROMANs, countrymen..."

34. Namesakes of most planets: ROMAN GODS. The word "planet" comes from the ancient Greek word for "wanderer." This was later changed to Roamin'.

35. Little devils: IMPS.

37. "That didn't escape my notice": I SAW. I spy through my OCULI...

40. Windows shaped like 13-Downs: OCULI. "Oculus" is a Latin word that translates to "eye". OCULI are circular or oval windows, or a circular opening at the top of a dome. Keep an eye out for one when in Rome.

The Pantheon

43. Product of a schism: SECT.

45. Golden, as bygone days: HALCYON. HALCYON means calm, peaceful, and happy, often used to describe an idyllic time in the past.

48. Foam: LATHER.

51. Otherworldly: EERIE.

52. Waldorf salad fruit: APPLE. Here's a hilarious scene from Farty Towels Faulty Towers, a classic BBC comedy starring John Cleese:

53. Less polite: RUDER. RUDER looks wrong for some reason. 

54. Trepidation: DREAD.

55. Exchanges for money: SELLS. As opposed to bartering, which is the direct exchange of goods or services without using money. Having my own business, I've occasionally bartered my services for things such as kitchen counter tops, a new garage door, and even Dolphin football tickets.

57. Order at a restaurant: HAVE.

58. CNN anchor Burnett: ERIN. The news veteran has been at CNN for 15 years.

59. __ poem: free-form orchestral work: TONE.

60. Target score in disc golf: PAR. Just like regular golf.

61. "Bien sûr": OUI. "Bien sûr" is French for "Of course!" as when asked if you want ketchup on your fries.

And that's a wrap.

Be good. RB

Thursday July 16, 2026 Elizabeth Duker-Gold & Devon Moffat

 Elizabeth Duker-Gold premiered here just last month, and Devon Moffat joins her for his debut today. 

20. Herbal medicines?: THYME CAPSULES. TIME CAPSULES. The U.S. recently buried a massive 900-pound cylinder near Independence Hall in Philadelphia, packed with artifacts from all 50 states and territories to mark our 250th anniversary, and is scheduled to be opened in 2276. I can hardly wait to see what's inside!

30. Veggie dogs?: BEET BOXERS. BEATBOXERS. Beatboxing is the art of mimicking drum machines and other musical instruments using only the human mouth. It has evolved into a highly competitive art form.

40. Green new deal?: PEAS TREATY. A play on PEACE TREATY, but PEAS and PEACE aren't homophones. And I'm not sure why the deal is "new"? Because it's green? The New Deal was a series of economic programs and public works projects, not a treaty.

52. Unexceptional, or an apt description of 20-, 30-, and 40-Across?: GARDEN VARIETY. I hate to be contrary like Mary, but this theme didn't totally land for me. These are all plant varieties found in gardens, I suppose, but one is herbal and the other two are vegetables. One is pronounced differently than the veggie it's replacing. And they are mixed singular and plural. So, "unexceptional" is an apt description of this puzzle as well. 

On the plus side, I did like the puns in the clues. And I liked certain answer pairings such as "ITSY, bitsy, TEENY, weenie," like a yellow, polka dot bikini! Elizabeth and Devon are in the right field, and with a little nurturing, will grow into fine constructors.

Let's see what else we can reap from this.

Across:

1. Kiddie pool filler: HOSE. I wanted KIDS, but it was already part of the clue. Kidding!

5. Admin. aide: ASST. An administrative assistant.

9. General feelings: VIBES. I love the VIBES I get from listening to jazz:

Vibraphone master Lionel Hampton

14. The big screen?: IMAX. Watching movies specially formatted for huge IMAX screens can be very immersive...just don't arrive late and have to look straight up at a five-story screen from the front row. Don't ask me how I know.

15. Burrowing rodent: VOLE. I wrote MOLE, which made California's fruit hard to discern until I fixed it..

16. Vinegary sauce: ADOBO.

17. Southern region of South America: PATAGONIA. PATAGONIA is a vast geographic region shared by Argentina and Chile. It is renowned for its vast, windswept steppe, spectacular Andean glaciers, and rugged granite peaks that are very popular with trekkers.

19. Puts up for sale: LISTS.

20. [theme]

22. Crew blade: OAR. Kelsey Pfendler just made history by solo rowing 2,400 miles from California to Hawaii, breaking both men's and women's speed records. It took her 44 days!

Honolulu OAR bust!

23. Covers in goo: TARS. I don't think of TAR as goo, but I guess it is.

24. Obscure to protect privacy, perhaps: REDACT. As a bonus to all our loyal followers, I'm publishing the Crossword Corner's bank account #■■■■■■■■■■■■ so you may withdraw as much as you want!

27. Amer. capital: USD. Your bonus is in U.S. Dollars, of course. You're welcome.

28. Affectionate text: ILY. I Love You. Back in the days of beepers, we'd send 143 as an affectionate page. It represents the number of letters in each word.

29. Glasgow refusal: NAE. 

30. [theme]

35. Lost: GONE. Kinda sorta the same.

36. Chabert of the "Crossword Mysteries" series: LACEY. LACEY Chabert starred as crossword editor Tess Harper in five Crossword Mysteries that aired on the Hallmark Channel. 

What's a six letter word for "crime-solver"? *

37. Hosp. scan: MRI. Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a hospital.

38. Dancer and choreographer Ailey: ALVIN.

39. Olympic archer?: EROS. From Mount Olympus, not currently one of the participating nations.

40. [theme]

42. NLE rival of NYM: ATL. A National League East rival of the New York Mets is the Atlanta Braves.

43. Any of the Tetons: Abbr.: MTN. Short for Mountain. Tall for mountain is Everest. 

44. Arabic for "son of": IBN. A possible Natick where it's first letter crosses TISANES. 

45. The "T" of T.S. Eliot: THOMAS. THOMAS Sterns Eliot, Nobel Prize-winning poet, essayist, and playwright.

47. Not great: SO SO. Very great: ZOSO!

Led Zeppelin's untitled 4th album, nicknamed ZoSo 

49. System of connected PCs, for short: LAN. Personal Computers communicate via a Local Area Network.

52. [theme]

55. Energy-channeling healing technique: REIKI. REIKI is a Japanese energy healing therapy that involves a practitioner lightly placing their hands on or just above a person's body. It aims to channel universal life force energy to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and support the body's natural healing abilities. 

57. Cloudburst: RAINSTORM. Perfect for watering one's garden.

58. "WandaVision" star Elizabeth: OLSEN. This miniseries had a clever conceit - each episode was a decade newer than the last, starting in '50s black & white through modern color.

59. "Dibs!": MINE. 

60. Shorten, in a way: SNIP.

61. Our, in French: NOTRE. "Il faut cultiver NOTRE jardin". Coined by the philosopher Voltaire, it translates to "We must cultivate our garden." He means, "Mind you own business!"

62. Some cold brews: ALES.

63. "What is it?": YEAH. As in, "YEAH? Whaddaya want?" 

Down:

1. In on: HIP TO. Again, not quite the same. HIP TO means to be aware of, while "in on" means to be a participant to a secret or plan.

2. Nebraska home of the College World Series: OMAHA.

3. Forest figure of myth: SATYR.

4. Skills assessment: EXAM.

5. State fruit of California: AVOCADO. 

6. Ocean waves?: SONAR. Fun clue.

7. Ignores a "wet floor" sign, maybe: SLIPS. "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt...then it's hilarious!" (from a popular meme)

8. Steeped brews: TEAS. Or TISANES, per 41D. 

9. Silicon __: VALLEY.

10. "Could not stop laughing!": I DIED. This happens when a comedian slays his audience. 

11. Brazilian music genre: BOSSA NOVA.

Great VIBES from Lionel on this one as well!

12. SNAP system: EBT. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides food assistance benefits to low-income individuals and families via a reloadable Electronic Benefits Transfer card. 

13. "Mayday!" letters: SOS.

18. Manages: GETS BY.

21. Browser links: URLS. Universal Resource Locators are web addresses.

25. "Quiet, you": CAN IT. Wanted ZIP IT first.

26. Wee: TEENY. Clecho of  54D.

27. Four Corners Natives: UTES. Four wheel drives: UTES.

28. Colorful ring: IRIS.

30. Sheepish cry?: BLEAT.

31. Mars neighbor: EARTH. Except in the candy aisle...

32. Many a climate change expert: ECOLOGIST.

33. Wolverine's cohort: X-MEN. Is just one an X-MAN?

34. Historical period: ERA.

35. "Wichita Lineman" singer Campbell: GLEN. GLEN fell in love with a demo of this song, and rushed to record it despite the 3rd verse not being written yet. He filled in the part with an improvised melodic lead using a bass guitar instead, and the rest is history. 

38. Shady areas: ARBORS.

40. Condition that may be treated with SSRIs: PTSD. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are widely considered a first-line medication for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

41. Medicinal 8-Down: TISANES. TISANES (pronounced ti-zahn) are herbal infusions made from the leaves, roots, berries, and spices of plants other than tea leaves. New to me, and I stumbled at the I crossing IBN.

43. Of the sea: MARINE. Like SpongeBob.

46. Word with peace or pace: MAKER. If four letters, it would've been KEEP.

47. SpongeBob's pet, for one: SNAIL. 

SpongeBob with Gary the SNAIL

48. Just like ewe: OVINE. Ha ha!

49. Currency in West Africa: LEONE. The currency of Sierra LEONE.

50. Interior courtyards: ATRIA.

51. Forest figure of myth: NYMPH.

53. Humorist Bombeck: ERMA. She achieved great popularity for her newspaper column describing suburban home life, which she later turned into books. Her insights were always funny. 

54. Wee: ITSY. Clecho of  26D.

55. "This Is Us" Emmy winner __ Cephas Jones: RON. RON played Randall Pearson's real father, William Hill.

Actors Sterling K. Brown (L) and Ron Cephas Jones (R)

56. "Evil Woman" rock gp.: ELO. The Electric Light Orchestra. A "light orchestra" is an ensemble that has smaller string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections. Add electric guitar and voilà! ELO.

* SLEUTH (see pic at 36A)

Be good. RB

Thursday July 9, 2026 Robin Stears

Robin Stears is cutting the rug today. After constructing crosswords for 30 years, she's still got the moves!

17. Dance move performed when entering a room?: DOORSTEP. A DOORSTEP is just outside a door, while a threshold is the bottom of the doorframe itself. 

21. Cancan move performed while skydiving?: DROP KICK. A DROP KICK is a rarely used tactic in American football, it's only been used successfully once since 1941. Doug Flutie, in his last play in the NFL, kicked it in a game between the Patriots and the Dolphins in 2006.

35. Tango move on "Yellowstone"?: RANCH DIP. Yellowstone, the TV show, takes place on a ranch, where RANCH DIP is presumably served at parties.

46. Five-point spin on the dance floor?: STAR TURN. A STAR TURN is an idiom that refers to the most prominent performance in a show.

56. Leap at a military ballet?: BASE JUMP. BASE JUMPing is an extreme sport where participants parachute from a fixed object rather than an aircraft. BASE is an acronym for Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs).

66. Pas de deux move performed where the road divides?: FORKLIFT. Pas de deux is a ballet term referring to an intricate dance duet, probably much more graceful than a warehouse FORKLIFT.

While there is no revealer, we have six (!) themers that all end in a dance move: STEP; KICK; DIP; TURN; JUMP and LIFT. With this many themers, the grid was pretty crowded leaving a lot of short fill which made this easier than usual for a Thursday. I have two left feet, so I found it better to play in the band than be out on the dance floor. 

Let's take the rest for a spin:

Across:

1. Hotel waiters: CABS. Nice misdirect for the dance's opening number.

5. Carried the day: WON.

8. Cuts it close: SHAVES. Literally, it's using a razor - figuratively, it means a narrow escape.

14. Skip past: OMIT.

15. "__ takers?": ANY.

16. Nikon product: CAMERA. 

17. [theme]

19. Unexpectedly funny: IRONIC. Funny strange, not funny haha, I ASSUME.

20. Adopt, as an alias: ASSUME. Believe it or not, my name isn't RustyBrain. 

21. [theme]

23. Makeshift swing: TIRE. Some are fancier than others.

Oh, yours was just a round one?

25. Bard's before: ERE.

26. Network supported by "viewers like you": PBS. And viewers like me! I've volunteered to man the phones at a Public Broadcasting Service fundraiser.

29. Number of legs on a prawn: TEN. Prawns are the larger biological cousins to shrimp.

If you like legs more than wings, these are for you.

30. Shows up: ARRIVES.

35. [theme]

38. Half an Everest expedition: ASCENT. The other half, the descent, is considered more dangerous because after reaching their goal, climbers are exhausted and less focused.

39. Actor Sharif: OMAR. Everyone's favorite OMAR was also a world-class bridge player.

He apparently liked backgammon as well.

40. Club VIPs: DJS. Disc Jockeys. 

42. Inner: Prefix: ENTO. I wanted the more common ENDO, as in ENDOscope and ENDOskeleton. 

43. Curt: ABRUPT.

46. [theme]

49. James M. Cain's "__ Pierce": MILDRED. The film version of his novel won Joan Crawford the Best Actress Oscar for the title role in 1945.

51. Spanish gold: ORO. Lots of ORO at the bottom of the ocean from sunken Spanish galleons off the Gold Coast of Florida.

52. Contact site: EYE. As in contact lens. 

53. Singer Yoko: ONO. The first time Paul McCartney met Yoko, he said, "Oh, no!"

Here she is making EYE contact.

54. Wasabi __: PEAS.

56. [theme]

61. Coffee shop emanations: AROMAS.

65. Artful dodger?: EVADER.

66. [theme]

68. Spot: NOTICE.

69. Apple core, for short: CPU. Central Processing Unit, a computer's "brain" (no relation). 

70. Store that sells Frakta shopping bags: IKEA. It's Kits in Every Aisle.

71. Sounds like a bird: TWEETS. Seems like only yesterday when TWEETS only applied to birds.

72. Slump: SAG.

73. Like a lawn at dawn: DEWY. This is when it dawned on him that he lost.

Truman celebrating his upset victory in 1948.

Down:

1. Led Zeppelin's final studio album: CODA. Like the output from many groups, I like the early albums better.

2. Famous __ cookies: AMOS. Much more famous than these cookies, which are for the Byrd's.

3. "About me" summaries: BIOS.

4. Move with a swagger: STRUT.

5. Used sprinklers on: WATERED. Unless your lawn is already DEWY.

6. United: ONE.

7. "Blue Bloods" org.: NYPD. Blue Bloods was a TV series about the New York Police Department starring Tom Selleck.

8. Annabella of "The Sopranos": SCIORRA. She played Gloria Trillo, Tony Soprano's mistress in Season 3.

9. __ Ferry, West Virginia: HARPERS. HARPERS Ferry is famous as the site of abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid, which helped spark the Civil War. Because of its strategic location between North and South, the town changed hands eight times during the conflict.

10. Wildly out of control: AMOK. I wanted to spell it AMUK, which was IRONIC because it didn't fit.

11. Start of Caesar's boast: VENI. "VENI, vidi, vici" translates to "I came, I saw, I conquered." It was spoken by Julius Caesar in a report to the Roman Senate over a quick and decisive victory. That's as succinct as it gets. 

12. Actor Bana: ERIC. ERIC Banadinovich is an actor from Down Under who came out on top!

13. Burlap bag: SACK.

18. Suffix that means "maker": SMITH. I grew up in Williamsburg, VA where there are many craft shops plying colonial trades, such as: blackSMITH, tinSMITH and gunSMITH. A friend mine from high school apprenticed as a silverSMITH. 

Amazing quality from only simple tools.

22. Mens __: criminal intent: REA. Oddly, I learned this phrase from watching Legally Blonde.

24. Wednesday's roommate at Nevermore: ENID. From the Addam's Family spinoff, Wednesday. Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday, and Emma Myers plays Thursday ENID.

Wednesday and Enid

26. Many a charity tourney: PRO-AM.

27. Deer friend of Flower and Thumper: BAMBI.

28. Warning from a doghouse: SNARL.

31. "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE-T. The Grammy-winning rapper also carved out a successful acting career and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

i
32. Locale: VENUE.

33. Log passage: ENTRY.

34. Granite or marble: STONE.

36. Yucky stuff: CRUD.

37. Comfy loungewear: PJS. Short for Pajamas.

Pajama shorts

41. "Enough!": STOP.

44. Assignment: PROJECT.

45. Terms of service: TENURES.

47. Accent piece: AREA RUG.

48. "The Fountainhead" protagonist: ROARK. The Fountainhead is a 1943 philosophical novel by Ayn Rand that champions individualism, egoism, and artistic integrity.

50. __ Pérignon: DOM. I can think of better ways to spend $250+ than a bottle of champagne. 

55. Utterly reliable: SOLID.

56. Not erect: BENT.

57. Solemnly swear: AVOW.

58. Fully appease: SATE.

59. Falco of "The Sopranos": EDIE. EDIE played Carmela Soprano, Tony's wife. 

You better not mention Gloria.

60. Some USO patrons: PFCS. Private First Class soldiers may attend shows put on by United Service Organizations, an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment and other programs to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.

Bob Hope spent 50 Christmases overseas!

62. Podcaster's purchase: MIKE. Bzzzt! No one spells it this way. It's MIC, short for microphone.

63. Several: A FEW.

64. Remain: STAY.

67. Happy Greek cry: OPA. Oh, Pa! I'm so happy!!

Be good. RB

Notes from C.C.:

Happy 56th birthday to our sweet Tony (Anon-T)! Every time I need someone to cover the blog, Tony is there without hesitation. Thank you for always being so generous with your time and willing to help. Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Tony!

 

 

Tony At Wit's End near Carmel on Father's Day 2017