Thursday June 11, 2026 Guilherme Gilioli

Guilherme Gilioli is a Brazilian constructor who mostly creates puzzles in Portuguese. I'm always impressed by people who can do this when English is not their mother tongue (hi CC!). As you know, crosswords involve many idioms and word-play, and that's hard enough to do even when being born here!

16A. *Wham! hit on "Make It Big": CARELESS WHISPER. Written by George Michael, this song sold more than eleven million copies so I've probably heard it.

26A. *No Doubt hit on "Tragic Kingdom": DON'T SPEAK. This one was big in 1996 for the alternative/indie/punk rock band. It didn't sell as well as the Wham song, but at least I recognize the title. 

50A. *The Beatles hit on "Please Please Me": TWIST AND SHOUT. The only one of the three that I knew right off the bat. What I didn't know was that it originally was recorded by The Top Notes, and later covered by the Isley Brothers before the Fab Four got a hold of it. It's the only Top Ten Beatles song not written by them.

39D. NBC singing competition that completed its 29th season in 2026, or what appears to get louder at the ends of the answers to the starred clues?: THE VOICE. The theme answers all contain a tone of VOICE that build to a crescendo: WHISPER, SPEAK, then SHOUT. And since THE VOICE is a music competition, song titles are very appropriate.

It's interesting that Guilherme chose left-right symmetry with a downward reveal. And even if you didn't know the songs, this still was a pretty straightforward puzzle. BTW, I rarely include external links to  things like these songs because I feel they take you away from the core of what's happening here. I like to pick a fun fact or two, and if that piques your interest, then Google is just a click away.

Let's see what else he's talking about:

Across:

1. "Shoot!": ASK.

4. Greek vowel: ALPHA. Part of a complete breakfast!

 9. Watermelon keg need: TAP. I didn't know about watermelon kegs, but they are simply a hollowed out watermelon with the top sliced off to use as a dispenser. You can buy a special TAP made for these.

12. Wander: ROAM. Had to wait to see if it could be ROVE.

14. __ butter: COCOA.

15. Greek vowel: IOTA. They're in that cereal bowl somewhere.

16. [theme]

19. Hockey gear: SKATES.

20. Get testy with: SNAP AT.

21. Flute part: STEM. A little misdirect. Not the instrument but a tall, narrow champagne glass. 

22. Blue area on a map: SEA. The blue used to go right to the edge where you'd fall off.

25. Go the distance: LAST.

26. [theme]

29. "Shark Tank" airer: ABC. The American Broadcasting Company. Shark Tank is a reality TV series where panelists decide whether to invest in products being pitched by contestant entrepreneurs. It is the  American franchise for BBC's Dragons' Den, which itself is a remake of the Japanese television show The Tigers of Money. 

32. __ rhyme: NURSERY.

33. __ worker: GIG. Many in the labor force don't work full time, or augment their regular job with a GIG. A GIG economy is a labor market characterized by short-term contracts, freelance work, and independent contracting rather than permanent, traditional employment. Unfortunately, that also means no benefits.

36. Foot-to-thigh yoga pose: TREE. Occasionally, the arms are held upward like branches.

38. Angels and Devils: TEAMS. Baseball's Los Angeles Angels vs. hockey's New Jersey Devils would be an epic battle of biblical proportions!

39. Big addition to a to-be-read pile: TOME. Now that's heavy reading.

40. Food from heaven: MANNA.

42. Potato spot: EYE. 

43. Self-storage and self-moving company based in Phoenix, Arizona: UHAUL. I once helped a cousin move from Arkansas to Florida. Our old UHAUL van had an early version of cruise control - a brick on the accelerator. We rarely reached 55 mph. except downhill with a tail wind.

44. Thingamabob: GADGET. I had WIDGET at first, but that was NO HELP.

46. Totally useless: NO HELP. Like a WIDGET.

48. Countdown start: TEN. 

49. Spacious ride: SUV. I still prefer a station wagon over a Sport Utility Vehicle, but that class of vehicle has been virtually wiped out by families who also need to traverse a canyon on the way to soccer practice.

50. [theme]

57. Appear to be: SEEM.

58. Smiling face with heart-eyes, for one: EMOJI. This one expresses feelings of love.

59. Fruity frozen treats: ICES.

61. Iron-rich vegetable: KALE.

62. "Judy" star Zellweger: RENEE. She won the 2020 Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Judy Garland. RENEE also sang all the songs. Quite a talent!

63. Pat-a-cake motion: CLAP.

64. Part of MMA: ARTS. Mixed Martial Arts is a fighting sport akin to boxing.

65. Glum: SAD.

66. "Child's play!": EASY. This puzzle was EASY peasy.

Down:

1. Story trajectories: ARCS.

2. Long baths: SOAKS.

3. Gold standard: KARAT. A KARAT is a unit used to measure the purity of gold. It is measured on a 24-part scale, meaning 1 karat represents 1/24 of pure gold in alloy. Thus 24 KARAT is 100% pure.

4. High cards in bridge: ACES.

5. __ Angeles Dodgers: LOS. As much as the LOS Angeles Angels love to fight the Devil, it's more likely they will face the Dodgers in a Freeway Series. 

6. Some HPs: PCS. Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 in a Palo Alto garage. They make Personal Computers, among many other electronics.

7. "By what means?": HOW. HOW did a multi-billion dollar corporation rise from this garage?

8. Satisfied sighs: AAHS.

9. Big name in trading cards: TOPPS.

10. Seriously annoyed: ATE AT. This one ATE AT me.

11. Divide: PART.

13. Dished (out): METED.

15. "Stuck in the Middle" actor Presley: ISAAK. He's no Elvis, apparently, just a Middle-of-the-road actor. If you're his agent, then I meant he's really great. Really.

17. Dish soap scent: LEMON. 

18. Dental filling: INLAY. It may be 16 KARAT gold (24 KARAT is too soft).

22. Wall in Manhattan, e.g.: STREET.

23. Writing assignment: ESSAY.

24. Primitive bipeds, informally: APEMEN. Unlike modern humans who are obligate (permanent) bipeds. That's why your mom told you to stand up straight.

27. Snack mix morsel: NUT.

28. Backpedaling sounds: ERS.

29. PIN point?: ATM. Winner: Best Clue. You may enter your Personal Identification Number at an Automate Teller Machine.

30. Toot one's own horn: BRAG.

31. John of "Peacemaker": CENA. I like John CENA because he isn't afraid to poke fun at himself, in spite of all his accomplishments in wrestling and movies. 

33. Striker's target: GOAL.

34. "My turn!": I'M UP. Last Thursday, this was the answer to, "Are you awake?" This clue fits better.

35. Product often used to create a wet look: GEL.

37. Meeting scheduler's concerns: END TIMES. In spite of this, meetings always run long.

39. [theme]

41. Matures, as whiskey: AGES.

43. "Forget about it": UH UH.

45. Host's invitation: ENTER. UH OH. This sounds rather ominous. 

You may ENTER...

47. Davis of "Grumpy Old Men": OSSIE. OSSIE Davis was an award-winning actor and activist. He appeared in over 50 movies, 50 TV shows and 30 plays. Quite the career.

50. Sign of sorrow: TEAR.

51. Paintball injury: WELT.

52. Home of Iowa State: AMES. A common crossword town populated with useful letters.

53. Deca- minus one: NONA. Greek numerical prefixes. Deca (10) -1 = NONA (9).

54. Worked a wedding reception, say: DJED. This abbreviation for Disc Jockeyed looks wrong somehow.

55. Campus near Sunset Blvd.: UCLA. The University of California at Los Angeles was originally called the Southern Branch. The first UC campus was in Oakland before moving to Berkeley.

56. Socials with cucumber sandwiches: TEAS.

57. Reggae kin: SKA.

60. Intelligence agent: SPY. 

Be good. RB

Thursday June 4, 2026 Kathy Lowden

Kathy Lowden is becoming a regular here, her last puzzle was just back in April. 

Ashes to ashes...

16. Evil actions of a cartoon villain, e.g.: DASTARDLY DEEDS. Like those of Dick DASTARDLY, as he twirled his mustache.

23. Having no chance of success: DESTINED TO FAIL. Like the plots of Dick DASTARDLY.

35. Forty-second cousin: DISTANT RELATIVE. A 42nd cousin is commonly known as "no relation."

50. Alyosha Karamazov, for one: DOSTOEVSKY HERO. From his Russian novel, The Brothers Karamazov.

56. Final touch for some desserts: DUSTING OF SUGAR. It's the icing on the cake! Sorta.

And sometimes why? The vowels appearing in alphabetical order make sense, but I'm not sure why they're buried in D_ST- at the beginning of each phrase. I'm sure it was difficult to find four-letter starters that only varied by their vowel, but by themselves, only DUST- is a word. DAST-, DEST-, DIST- and DOST- seem kinda random. I would've preferred some phases that began with last, lest, list, lost and lust, for example.

The number of proper nouns today was kept to a minimum, so that helped make it a pleasant solve. Only half of them were peoples' names, and they all were very famous. Yay!

Across:

 1. Millennial follower, briefly: GEN Z. Generation Z, sometimes called Zoomers, followed GEN Y who didn't like that name so they changed it to Millennial. Sounds like something they'd do.

5. Grass unit: BLADE. Grass unit: OUNCE. I went to college in the 70's and was on double secret probation!

Prof. Jennings and Pinto in Animal House

10. Sobriquet letters: AKA. A sobriquet is Also Known As a nickname, such as Pinto. 

13. Plains people: OTOE.

14. Tulip : bulb :: oak : __: ACORN. Remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you!

15. "__ betcha": YOU. Frances McDormand did a great job in Fargo.

16. [theme]

19. __ de cologne: EAU. EAU de cologne translates from French as "water from Cologne." Historically, it refers to a light, refreshing citrus fragrance created in Cologne, Germany, in 1709. 

20. Tune: AIR. An AIR (or ayre) is a song-like, melodic tune, typically for a solo instrument or voice. I learn something new everyday! It basically replaces what I forget everyday.

21. Prefix with -metric: ISO. ISOmetric.

23. [theme]

28. Greek letter that represents torque in equations: TAU. TAU is used for torque in physics and engineering. In mathematics, τ represents one full rotation around a circle.

29. Gold medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics: OWENS. Jesse OWENS was an American track and field athlete who made history by winning four gold medals at the Berlin games, setting Olympic records in each event. 

30. Got on the nerves of: IRKED.

31. __ mater: ALMA.

33. Grain in many a Quaker product: OAT. This is the first of three cereal-related clues today, part of a "complete" breakfast. 

34. Card in an around-the-corner straight: ACE. AKA a wrap-around straight, it's a poker hand where the sequential card values "wrap around" the ACE, such as Q-K-A-2-3. It is not valid in most standard poker games.

35. [theme]

41. Little newt: EFT.

42. Feel icky: AIL.

43. One of a cereal trio: SNAP. SNAP, Crackle and Pop have been mascots for Rice Krispies for nearly 100 years!

44. Thrash about: FLAIL.

47. Cause of interrupted sleep, perhaps: APNEA. CPAP machines are a common method to treat APNEA, so common that there are occasional shortages of the distilled water they use. Don't ask me how I know.

49. Ávila aunt: TIA. Ávila, Spain is is famous for it's Walls of Ávila, built between the 11th and 14th centuries.

50. [theme]

53. OR workers: RNS. Registered Nurses may work in Operating Rooms.

54. Viking weapon: AXE.

55. D-backs, in box scores: ARI. The ARIzona Diamondbacks change their logos as often as Rice Krispies.

56. [theme]

63. Metallurgist's material: ORE.

64. Private pupil: TUTEE.

65. Ivory soap ad word: PURE. Ivory is 99.44% PURE soap, but it only stayed AFLOAT because Procter & Gamble used to whip air into it. The current bar doesn't float in your sink.

66. Word in four state names: NEW. NEW Hampshire, NEW Jersey, NEW Mexico and NEW York.

67. Down-at-the-heels: SEEDY.

68. Elevated on the course: TEED. Also elevated is one's blood pressure when TEED off.

Down:

 1. Mars or Mercury: GOD. The Roman GODs of war and swiftness.

2. Pilot's approx.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival. 

3. Tiny biters: NO-SEE-UMS. One of our favorite getaways from the rat race in South Florida is Sanibel Island on the Gulf Coast, which sadly was heavily damaged in 2022 by Hurricane Ian. We used to rent a little cottage (now destroyed) and stroll along the beach. At certain times of day, our legs would itch from nearly invisible pests, the infamous NO-SEE-UMS.

4. Followers of epsilons: ZETAS.

5. Where to find a priest, a minister, and a rabbi?: BAR. Is this some kind of joke? Ha ha!

6. "American Dream" band __ Soundsystem: LCD. An odd band name (aren't they all?) that originated as Liquid Christmas Display after performing at a holiday party.

7. Early ISP: AOL. You've got mail! America OnLine used to be an Internet Service Provider. Now it's just a brand name bandied about by various corporations. 

8. Forest nymphs: DRYADS. Almost wrote DRUIDS.

9. Break off a romance: END IT.

10. Vote in favor: AYE.

11. Frazer Lake bear: KODIAK. Frazer Lake is on KODIAK Island in Alaska.

12. One who may say "G'day": AUSSIE. Australian greeting.

17. Motor vehicle: AUTO. Nowadays, some vehicles drive on AUTO.

18. Beethoven's Third: EROICA. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, pushed the boundaries of harmony, motivic development, and expression. AKA the EROICA (Italian for "Heroic") it was dedicated to Napoleon. 

22. Vintage: OLD. I collect vintage guitars; RightBrain calls them OLD. They probably fall somewhere in between.

23. "Meditative Rose" artist: DALI. Salvador DALI was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work.

Dali's striking and bizarre visage

24. Terse refusal: I WONT.

25. Clutter-free: NEAT. Some people like their whiskey clutter-free.

26. Sets up: ENTRAPS.

27. Guitar bars: FRETS. The frets on the necks of my vintage guitars.

28. Tiny bit: TAD.

32. Wiped out: ATE IT.

34. Strike zone?: ALLEY. A bowling ALLEY.

36. Not having that sinking feeling?: AFLOAT. Unlike modern Ivory soap bars.

37. Kindle display: E-INK. Just add an E to anything!

38. Secret plans: INTRIGUE.

39. Japanese laptop maker: VAIO.

40. Safe Drinking Water Act org.: EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency.

44. New Deal pres.: FDR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the U.S. The New Deal was a series of economic, social, and political reforms in response to the Great Depression.

45. "Sweeney Todd" setting: LONDON. Also where Tina FEY appeared recently. "Live from LONDON, it's Saturday Night!"

46. Make certain: ASSURE.

47. City grid feature: AVENUE. Here's another city grid:

48. "Eureka!" cries: AHAS. 

51. Goes out: EXITS.

52. Go off: ERUPT.

57. Hem, but not haw: SEW. SEW what?

58. Former telecom co.: GTE. General Telephone & Electronics Corp. was the largest independent phone company in the U.S. In 2000, it merged with Bell Atlantic and became Verizon.

59. 20-volume ref. work: OED. Oxford English Dictionary.

60. First host of "Saturday Night Live UK": FEY. Tina FEY led the charge across the pond to appear on the telly.

61. "__ you decent?": ARE. "Yes, but I'm not wearing any clothes." 

62. Color of Lucky Charms balloons: RED. There have been over 30 marshmallow shapes over the years, each with a special "power." The RED balloons give the power to float - or stay AFLOAT in a bowl of OAT cereal with a DUSTING OF SUGAR.

Be good. RB

Thursday May 28, 2026 Jared Cappel

Jared Cappel has been constructing for several years now, and has appeared in all the major publications including four times here. Today's puzzle is brought to you by the letters U and R.

57. "Correct!," or a phonetic hint to 18-, 24-, 34-, and 52-Across: RIGHT YOU ARE. Rephrased as RIGHT UR, the revealer tips us off that all the theme answers end in UR on the RIGHT.

18. Malaysian capital: KUALA LUMPUR. KUALA LUMPUR's modern skyline is dominated by the 1,483 foot-tall Petronas Towers, a pair of glass-and-steel-clad skyscrapers with a sky-bridge between them at the 41st floor.

24. Flying reptile of the Mesozoic Era: PTEROSAUR. PTEROSAURs were warm-blooded flying reptiles and are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight.

34. Required by etiquette: DE RIGUEUR. This is a French loanword meaning if you want to fit into a specific crowd or event, doing certain things is mandatory, such as wearing a fancy hat at the Kentucky Derby.

52. Frothy cocktail from Peru: PISCO SOUR. A PISCO SOUR is a frothy, tart South American cocktail made with pisco (a grape brandy).

It occurs to me that Jared started with the revealing phrase, then looked up a bunch of non sequitur words that fit the pattern. The thing they have most in common, for me anyway, is they're all hard to spell. Do you concur?

Let's scour the rest:

Across: 

1. Command that might precede "paw": SIT. We say SHAKE, not PAW. Who's a good boy?

Buster doing his Wookiee impression

4. Response to "You awake?": I'M UP. Not quite the response I wanted. "I am now!" sounds more like it.

8. Home of the Zambezi: AFRICA. 

14. Logical beginning?: ECO. ECOlogical. 

15. Cosmic explosion: NOVA. Far out, man!

16. Racket: CLAMOR.

17. __ Speedwagon: REO. A rock band named after a car named after a person: Ransom Eli Olds.

Ransom Olds at the wheel of his 1905 Curved Dash Oldsmobile

18. [theme]

20. TV spot sellers: AD REPS. AD REPresentatives. 

22. __ Dhabi: ABU. 

23. Fragrant tree: PINE.

24. [theme]

26. Group people are smart to join?: MENSA. RightBrain is very sharp. She's a member of WOMENSA.

27. Approved of, on social media: HEARTED. If you double-tap on a picture someone sent you, it sends back a HEART emoji which is similar to a "like." ❤️ Unfortunately, I sometimes receive a serious work photo and accidentally double-tap it while trying to enlarge it. 😬

28. "Brokeback Mountain" star Heath: LEDGER. The Australian actor accomplished a lot in his 28 years. He was in 20 movies and won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar posthumously for his iconic portrayal of the Joker in the 2008 film The Dark Night.

29. Method of driving people to the mall?: SALE. Winner: Best Clue. Could've been UBER, LYFT or TAXI.

30. Pig __: LATIN. Ig-pay atin-lay.

33. Unlikely pair?: ELS. A letteral clue. There are two Ls in "unlikely."

34. [theme]

38. Includes on an email: CCS. Carbon CopieS. If you want to include someone on an email without other recipients knowing, you BCC them - Blind Carbon Copy.

41. Physical effort: LABOR.

42. Give off: EMIT. 

46. Request from someone in need of cuddling: HOLD ME.

48. "Way to go!": NICE ONE.

51. Fields of study: AREAS. Here's a field of study:

52. [theme]

54. __ Kringle: KRIS. I liked how this crossed with SLEIGHS, even though it's the beginning of summer.

55. Journalist Rather: DAN. The Texas-born journalist anchored the CBS Evening News for 24 years. He often peppered his speech with folksy phrases like, "Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek." 

56. Some dealmakers: AGENTS.

57. [theme]

60. "__ willikers!": GEE. Possibly said by DAN Rather when covering the Watergate Scandal.

61. Stick like glue: ADHERE.

62. Treat like a pariah: SHUN.

63. Surgery ctrs.: ORS. Operating RoomS.

64. Gives lip to: SASSES. 

65. Jet stream direction: EAST. Jet streams are westerlies, which seems counterintuitive, but it just means they blow from the west to the EAST. There are four primary jet streams globally: two polar jets and two subtropical jets that affect everything from weather to airline flights.

66. Ellipsis component: DOT. More to come...

Down:

1. Highest-order angels: SERAPHS. I know them as SERAPHIM. 

2. Lipton beverage: ICED TEA.

3. Uncomfortably close to home: TOO REAL.

4. Place to dip a quill: INK POT. More commonly known as an ink well. As I slooowly work on my great American novel, I joined a writing group called Ink Well, a clever pun (with clever people in it, but they let me join anyway).

5. Creamy chocolate dessert: MOUSSE.

6. Cavaliers sch.: UVA. When I attended the University of Virginia in the 70s, they had a wild blowout in the spring called Easters, ostensibly to shake off the winter doldrums. Thousands of East Coast college students made the pilgrimage to Charlottesville to help celebrate what Playboy called the "Best Party in the Country." My jeans were never quite blue again.

Massive weekend parties and mud slides!

7. Country in Micronesia whose largest city is Koror: PALAU. While Micronesia refers to a broad subregion of Oceania with over 600 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, PALAU is politically distinct from the Federated States of Micronesia. 

8. Org. with a People Power grassroots network: ACLU. The American Civil Liberties Union.

9. Winter bug: FLU. 

10. Increased, with "up": RAMPED.

11. Encroach (on): IMPINGE.

12. Advice: COUNSEL. On advice of COUNSEL, I cannot confirm nor deny that I got pretty drunk on Easters Weekend.

13. Overdue debts: ARREARS.

19. Unlike the OED: ABR. The 20-volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary is about 40" wide, so obviously not ABRidged. You can look it up.

21. Messed up: ERRED.

25. Make up on the spot: AD-LIB. AD-LIB is short for the Latin ad libitum, meaning "at one's pleasure."

26. List that may be opened with a QR code: MENU. A QR (Quick Response) code is similar to a bar code, but it stores 10 times more data. 

Kinda looks like a crossword puzzle!

28. Tell tales: LIE. 

31. Before now: AGO.

32. Spoils: TURNS.

35. Stately trees: ELMS.

36. "Call Me Maybe" singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE. Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actress who first gained attention in 2007 as a third-place finisher on Canadian Idol. Her 2011 single “Call Me Maybe” became the 21st century's best-selling single by a female artist.

37. Angel who plays for Rose BC in the Unrivaled league: REESE. Unrivaled is a professional 3-on-3 women’s basketball league. It gives top players a high-paying, domestic alternative to playing overseas during the WNBA off-season. Men in the NBA are not allowed to play anywhere in the off-season, but they don't need to as they earn 20 times as much.

Angel Reese of the Rose Basketball Club

38. Energy points in yoga: CHAKRAS.

39. Bullfight, in Spain: CORRIDA. Derived from the Spanish phrase CORRIDA de toros, "a running of the bulls."

40. Vehicles with runners: SLEIGHS. A famous red one is helmed by KRIS Kringle.

43. Lunar deity: MOON GOD. Virtually every ancient civilization had a lunar deity. Back then, there was no TV so the moon was the only thing to watch at night.

44. Prenatal: IN UTERO. IN UTERO is Latin for "in the womb."

45. Least loquacious: TERSEST. Yes.

47. Short races: DASHES. Not DOTS...which are ellipses.

49. Mythical figure who flew too close to the sun: ICARUS. He should've gone at night, but he was too busy watching MOON GOD reruns.

50. Convincing: COGENT. As in an argument stating a case.

52. Kung __ shrimp: PAO. Kung PAO Shrimp is a classic Sichuan stir-fry that pairs shrimp with a savory, sweet, and tangy sauce, toasted peanuts, and a spicy kick of dried chilies (which add the POW).

53. Occupied: IN USE.

55. Salon stock: DYES.

58. Three, in Italian: TRE. Derived from the Latin "tres."

59. "I get it now!": AHA. We all had to wait until the end for our AHA moment.

Be good. RB