Thursday November 5, 2026 Emily Biegas

We last saw Emily Biegas on a Saturday in August. Today she has me seeing RED.

56. Many a house wine, or what can be found in each set of circled letters: RED BLEND. A RED BLEND is a domestic wine that is made from a range of grape varieties. It also reveals that each of the following themers features a RED wine inside circled letters that have been BLENDed (scrambled).

17. Destination for a team bus: AWAY GAME. GAMAY is an easy-drinking wine that’s light and refreshing.

25. Hair product that often contains cornstarch: DRY SHAMPOO. SYRAH is a robust red wine with intense fruity flavors.

34. Dried or fried fruity snacks: PLANTAIN CHIPS. CHIANTI is a dry, medium-bodied red wine made from Sangiovese grapes, Italy's most widely grown variety.

47. Extremely terse voicemail message: CALL ME BACK. MALBEC is a hearty wine that pairs well with meats.

Note: CHIANTI is made from the Sangiovese grape.

Unfortunately for Emily, I'm a teetotaler and wasn't familiar with most of these. I know they will be second nature to our oenophiles (wine connoisseurs) out there, but I only deciphered CHIANTI without help. The whole gist of this puzzle revolves around familiarity with wine, so all it's grapes are in one basket. I did an informal poll of friends during the week. MALBEC seems to be fairly common, and there was some familiarity with SYRAH, although a few confused it with Petite Sirah, which is different (See? I'm learning about wine!). But there was almost no recognition of GAMAY.

Sorry about whining today, but this one took way to long to unscramble after FIR. GRR! I had to dig into the Google to find these wine varieties, which wasn't fun. It just may be sour grapes, but this seems like an example of clever for the constructor doesn't equal pleasure for the solver. I'm sure others will find this more to their taste.

Let's pour over the rest:

Across:

1. "So mad!": GRR. 

4. Fill up: SATE.

8. Curses: DOOMS.

13. Filmmaker Ang: LEE. This Oscar-winner's name is a favorite in the Crossword Hall of Fame.

14. Mosque leader: IMAM.

15. Hosts: EMCEES.

17. [theme]

19. "Don't panic": BE CALM. 

20. Italian city with a big Fashion Week: MILAN.

21. Significant phase: ERA.

23. Pico de __: GALLO. Favorite salsa of Ernest & Julio?

But please don't drink and drive!

24. Proper partner: PRIM.

25. [theme]

27. "Me Talk Pretty One Day" writer David: SEDARIS. David SEDARIS is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor.
 

29. Faux follower: PAS. Literally a "false step," a faux PAS is a socially awkward or embarrassing act or remark - like ordering red wine with fish. The horror!

30. Furrow: RUT.

31. Ad __ committee: HOC.

32. Corral: PEN.

33. Anya's "The Queen's Gambit" role: BETH. Usually Anya is the answer, not the clue, because of the useful xword letters in her name (REFER to Ang LEE and Bobby ORR).

Anya Taylor-Joy

34. [theme]

38. Some pub pints: ALES. 

39. "20/20" network: ABC. The American Broadcasting Company.

40. "Yikes": OOF. ACH!

41. Vietnamese New Year: TET.

42. "Give __ try!": IT A. OOF.

43. Bike alternative: SCOOTER.

47. [theme]

50. Show up: COME.

51. Central Plains people: OTOES. The tribe is simply the OTOE. In plural it means two or more of their members.

52. German "Bah!": ACH.

53. Sasha Obama's sister: MALIA. They're all grown up!

Sasha (27, on left) and Malia (25).

54. Emmy-winning drama with primarily Japanese dialogue: SHOGUN. This REFERs to the newest version of James Clavell’s 1975 bestselling novel. The 1980 mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain also won Emmys. 

1980 vs. 2024

56. [theme]

58. El __ tequila: TESORO. El TESORO is "The Treasure" in Spanish. All these unknown alcoholic beverages today made this puzzle more difficult.

59. "Bugonia" actress Stone: EMMA. EMMA likes quirky characters, and so does the Academy. She's taken home two Best Actress Oscars.

Emma plays a CEO suspected of being an alien in Bugonia.

60. Mama deer: DOE. Not to be confused with Mommie Dearest!

Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in 1981.

61. Direct (to): REFER. 

62. Min. parts: SECS. Seconds are minute parts of minutes. 

63. Bruins great Bobby: ORR. The Hall-of-Famer is also in the Crosswords HOF for "Most Popular Hockey Name."

Down:

1. Stays in a heated yurt, perhaps: GLAMPS. I wanted SWEATS, but it turns out that GLAMPS is a portmanteau for "glamorous camping."

2. Alter, as neural pathways: REWIRE. I think I'll sign up for this.

3. Passport alternative for U.S. domestic travelers: REAL ID. A REAL ID is a federally compliant driver's license or state-issued identification card. A passport is still required for international travel.

4. Talk with one's hands?: SIGN. As one using ASL, American SIGN Language.

5. Reddit session with a celeb guest: AMA. Ask Me Anything.

6. Some big animal handlers: TAMERS. Here's the MGM lion being filmed for their classic movie intros. I hope TAMERS were nearby.

Open a little wider...that's it. Now give me a big roar!

7. Nail file material: EMERY.

8. Food blogger Perelman: DEB. DEB Perelman is a New York City-based writer and cook behind the beloved and unpretentious food blog, Smitten Kitchen. 

I'll bet she knows her RED BLENDS.

9. Some fatty acids: OMEGAS.

10. Thinker with a "razor": OCCAM. The first metal razors appeared around 3000 BC. I think.

11. Cook for the week ahead, say: MEAL PREP. MEAL PREP is the practice of planning, cooking, and portioning meals ahead of time. I was thinking MEAL PLAN at first.

12. People accused of losing artistic integrity: SELLOUTS. Artists allegedly become SELLOUTS when they change their style or sound to appeal to a mainstream commercial audience. But the economic reality of  making a living or shifting personal creativity often drives these changes.

16. Slick: SMOOTH.

18. Some motorcycles and keyboards: YAMAHAS. I'm impressed that YAMAHA can produce such a diverse line of products, including guitars, and they are all generally excellent.

22. Setting of the annual Food & Wine Classic: ASPEN. More wine! I almost wrote EPCOT, where their annual International Food & Wine Festival is a fun time, even for non-drinkers.

25. Use voice-to-text technology: DICTATE.

26. "Round Midnight" Oscar winner Herbie: HANCOCK. A child prodigy, Herbie has written numerous jazz standards, played with every jazz great, and has won every major award. He is a monster on keyboards. Looking him up today, I learned he graduated with degrees in music and electrical engineering. Amazing. No wonder he was an early adopter of synthesizers.

Herbie's 1973 jazz fusion record Head Hunters was instrumental in shaping my musical tastes.

28. Baseball analyst Darling: RON. Hawaiian-born RON Darling is a former Major League Baseball pitcher (Golden Glove in 1989) and a longtime Emmy Award-winning broadcaster.

32. Quick snapshot: PIC. "Quick" because the answer is an abbreviation of "picture."

33. Like some lenses: BIFOCAL.

34. Vegan-friendly fabric: PLEATHER. Another portmanteau, this time Plastic meets Leather. PLEATHER is synthetic material made from PVC, but if you're against cruelty to animals, why would you buy something that fools people into thinking you're wearing the real thing?

35. Blow off steam: LET LOOSE.

36. Addis __, Ethiopia: ABABA. Addis ABABA is the capital and largest city in Ethiopia. 

37. "Oh, boo-__!": HOO.

38. Without markup: AT COST. I occasionally sell something to a customer AT COST. As a rule, that's not a successful business strategy, but sometimes it's worth the goodwill it creates.

42. "No doubt in my mind": I'M SURE. 

43. Plot: SCHEME.

44. Lake Erie port: TOLEDO. 

45. Key related to G major: E MINOR. Both keys share the same key signature with one sharp (F#). They just start on different places on the keyboard.

46. Bookworm: READER.

48. __ lamb: LEG OF. In the words of the immortal Splynter, this is a twurd. 

49. Griffith Park's 4,210+: ACRES. Griffith Park, home to the Griffith Observatory, is famous for being one of the largest municipal parks and urban wilderness areas in North America, as well as a major cultural and film landmark in Los Angeles.

The iconic Hollywood Sign is inside the park

53. Wharton degs.: MBAS. A Master of Business Administration degree was once the springboard to an executive career, but it's automatic return on investment has declined due to high costs and shifting job markets, especially in the tech sector.

55. Neither partner: NOR.

57. Rap trio Run-__: DMC. Considered one of the most influential acts in the history of hip-hop, Run-DMC was created from the stage names of its founding members: Run (Joseph Simmons) and DMC (Darryl McDaniels). Their third member was Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) who didn't get in on the title for some reason.

The angry one is Jay - because they didn't include his name?

Fun way to get your own rap name: Combine "Lil" + the last thing you ate. I'm Lil Banana. What's yours?

Be good. RB

Thursday October 29, 2026 Mat Holmes

Mat Holmes is back and preparing us for Halloween...and it's "scary!" I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

62. Punctuation that expresses skepticism, or what the answers to the starred clues may be called?: SCARE QUOTES. SCARE QUOTES are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to signal that the writer is using it in an ironic, skeptical, or derisive way, e.g., She conveniently "forgot" to send the invitation.

18. *"The Shining": HERE'S JOHNNY.

27. *"Frankenstein": IT'S ALIVE.

39. *"The Sixth Sense": I SEE DEAD PEOPLE.

53. *"Saw": GAME OVER.

I CONCUR! I caught on early to the famous lines from scary movies, but the revealer explained why they're there. Mat used a slightly wider 16-column grid to accommodate the quotes. All of these are iconic and conjured an image in my mind. Super fun and well done (except for two names in the NW). Here's looking at you, kid!

I'm a horror film (but not slasher) fan. Let's see what other scary movies I can conjure up:

Across:

1. "__ luego": HASTA. Spanish for "See you later." Or, as the Terminator would say, "HASTA la vista, baby."

6. Cold plunge preceder, sometimes: SAUNA.

11. Starboard's opposite: PORT. Starboard (from Old English steorbord, or steering side) meant the right as most people are right-handed and used an oar to steer. The opposite, larboard (ladebord, or the side facing the dock for lading) was replaced by PORT to denote the same thing but without the rhyming sound confusion when shouted in wind or battle.

15. "Stolen Car" singer Beth: ORTON. Beth who? This one is pretty weak as "Stolen Car" came out 27 years ago and only made it to #34 on the UK Singles Chart.

16. Fast-food item celebrated with multiple farewell tours: MCRIB. McDonald's McRIB is a restructured boneless pork patty shaped like a miniature rack of ribs, but contains no rib meat - or anything else edible.

17. Basic geometry calculation: AREA.

18. [theme]

20. Circle: RING.

21. Burma's first prime minister: U NU. Who knew? U NU. But I didn't know. 

U Nu on the cover of TIME August 30, 1954.

22. Roused from sleep: WOKE.

23. Wolfgang Puck restaurant: SPAGO.

25. Large agricultural knife: MACHETE.

27. [theme]

30. Toffee candy bar: SKOR.

31. Formula One event: RACE. A Formula One (F1) RACE, officially called a Grand Prix, is considered to be the pinnacle of motorsport. The word "formula" in the name refers to the set of rules all participant cars must follow. 

33. Chatty starlings: MYNAS.

34. UFC sport: MMA. Mixed Martial Arts is the combat sport while the Ultimate Fighting Championship is a production company that organizes and broadcasts the events.

36. Ever so: VERY.

38. "The Simpsons" creator Groening: MATT. Mat even gave himself a shout-out! Portland, Oregon native MATT Groening has won 14 Primetime Emmy Awards. The Simpsons has been in constant production since 1989, making it the longest running American sitcom.

39. [theme]

43. Laryngitis docs: ENTS. Ear, Nose & Throat doctors, formally titled otolaryngologists. Hence ENTs.

44. Tubular pasta: ZITI.

45. Tire gauge meas.: PSI. Pounds per Square Inch.

46. Inbox party notice: EVITE.

48. South African currency: RAND. A gold coin introduced in 1967 was the KrugerRAND, and it became the first choice of investors worldwide. 

50. Back talk: SASS.

53. [theme]

55. Formal agreement?:  I CONCUR.

58. One of music's Allman Brothers: DUANE. Could've been his brother Gregg, who also has five letters. DUANE Allman is considered one of the best slide guitarists and reached the peak of stardom. Sadly, he was killed in a motorcycle crash at age 24. Today is the anniversary of his death in 1971.

Duane used an empty glass Coricidin medicine bottle for a slide.

59. Stipulation for some parties, briefly: BYOB. Bring Your Own Bottle (Beer, Booze, Beverage).

60. Metallic lode: ORE.

61. Combine: MELD.

62. [theme]

66. Rock's Mötley __: CRUE. Mötley CRÜE is an American heavy metal band that loves umlauts. I güess.

67. Pisa landmark: TOWER. 

68. Pizza part: CRUST.

69. Cold War initials: USSR. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

70. Crock-Pot concoctions: STEWS.

71. Hops-drying ovens: OASTS.

Down:

1. Stale: HO HUM. Ironically, this is the first one down, but it was my last fill because ORTON and UNU were unknowns. 

2. Big concert venues: ARENAS.

3. Word with love or thunder: STRUCK.

4. Tot's piggy: TOE.

5. "Say something!": ANSWER ME.

6. Barbecue apparatus: SMOKER.

7. Ibuprofen target: ACHE.

8. Catering container: URN.

9. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira NIN y Culmell was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Her given name is very long, but on the plus side, it has an umlaut. Perhaps she inspired Mötley Crüe.

10. Bottomless pit: ABYSS.

11. Elite wheelchair rugby player, maybe: PARALYMPIAN.

12. Fresh: ORIGINAL.

13. Get ready to flip, perhaps: RENOVATE.

14. Size indicator: TAG.

19. Put (down): JOT.

24. Nonstick spray brand: PAM.

26. One with a self-sufficient lifestyle: HOMESTEADER.

27. Stranded until a thaw: ICED IN.

28. U. of Maryland athlete: TERP. The university's athletic teams are called the TERPS. They're named after the diamondback terrapin, a turtle native to the Chesapeake Bay.

29. Approximate fig.: EST.

32. Online representative: AVATAR.

35. Woodworking tool that resembles an axe: ADZ. An ADZ (usually spelled ADZE) is like an axe except the blade is at right angles to the handle. It is used to scoop out or smooth wood.

37. "Reckon so": YEP.

39. Space trailer of the 1970s and '80s?: INVADERS. Trailer because INVADERS follows Space in the game's name. An Atari 2600 was our first home video console, and Space INVADERS was the hit game. However, it wasn't long after that I tired of video games and I don't play them at all now. Somehow, they grew into a multi-billion dollar industry without me.

40. Agent that produces a reaction: STIMULUS.

41. Word on Irish stamps: EIRE. 

42. Dish whose name means "bone with a hole" in Italian: OSSO BUCO. "I'll have the bone with a hole, please."

43. Brain test letters: EEG. As we learned a week ago, I should use an ElectroEncephaloGram to see if I have any electrical brain activity. I sure hope so.

47. Long, long time: EON.

49. Handy types: DIYERS. Do-It-Yourselfers.

51. Fed. bench nine: SCOTUS. The Supreme Court Of The United States.

52. Most certain: SUREST.

54. Confers, as authority: VESTS.

56. __ au vin: COQ.

57. Takes a breather: RESTS.

59. Cauldron concoction: BREW.

61. CGI-heavy superhero franchise: MCU. Movies in the the Marvel Cinematic Universe use a lot of Computer-Generated Imagery. I know, you're surprised that it's not all real.

63. Hotel bonus bed: COT.

64. Fill with wonder: AWE.

65. __ pro nobis: ORA.

Hope you enjoyed going to the monster movie matinee! In the meantime, I think I'll slip into my handy Halloween costume. 

Trick or treat!

Be good. RB