Thursday June 25, 2026 Jeffrey Wechsler

Jeffrey Wechsler is pretty sharp. He was here last month with a CORNY puzzle, but this one has more of an edge to it. CUTTING CORNERS is never a good idea, but in this case, I'll make an exception!

Always hire licensed contractors (like me)!

40A. With 42-Across, risky business practice, or what can be found in this puzzle's circles?: CUTTING CORNERS. Wrapping each of the grid's CORNERS are types of CUTTING implements: KNIFE, SNIPS, SWORD and BLADE. Circles made them easy to find.

I like that the corners are read clockwise around the grid, and that each cutter comes to a sharp point at the corner. No long themers; the grid is broken up and nothing is longer than seven letters. Very breezy for a Thursday.

And now, I'll go through the rest with a scalpel.

Across:

1. Positive reply to "How's your health?": I FEEL OK. This doesn't sound very positive, or even the proper response to this odd question. Most people would ask, "How do you feel?" but that would spoil the answer so I guess he was stuck.

8. Carrot relative: PARSNIP.

15. Reminiscent of an almond's flavor, say: NUTLIKE. If you look up NUTLIKE in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of me!

16. Guises for gamers: AVATARS. Maybe I should change my AVATAR to an almond.

17. Activity of a rogue: KNAVERY. Trickery or deceit from a Knave, originally a servant boy, the lowest rank in a royal court. In the 19th century, American card decks switched this to Jack, because Kn and K (for "King") were confused when fanning out hands. "Jack" was colloquialism for a common man, one also at the bottom of the pecking order. Originally a domain of royalty, the King was the highest card until mass production let even commoners play, and they elevated the lowly Ace during the French Revolution to reflect their rise to the top. 

This a Swedish deck: Kn = Knekt (Knave), K = Kung (King), D = Dam (Queen), E = Ess (Ace).

18. Voids: NEGATES.

19. Dazed and confused: IN A SPIN. I don't use this phrase, but the Google says it's popular in Britain.

21. Superlative suffix: EST. This is the averagest 21A clue ever!

22. Outfits: RIGS.

25. Sharp: ACUTE.

28. "Sorry, but it's __ from me": A NO. Simon Cowell's catchphrase on the Idol and Talent TV shows.

29. Shea successor: CITI. Shea Stadium was the iconic, multipurpose home of the New York Mets from 1964 until it closed in 2008. It was demolished in 2009 and replaced by CITI Field, a modern baseball stadium built on the former site's parking lots.

Citi (left) and Shea (right) briefly coexisted.

32. Tax cheat: EVADER.

36. Hush-hush doc: NDA. A Non-Disclosure Agreement protects information that's on a need-to-know basis...and you don't need to know!

37. Carmichael who plays Lady Edith on "Downton Abbey": LAURA. Laura Carmichael is an English actress, most widely known for her performance as Lady Edith Crawley. Since I've never seen this show, I now know how others feel when a clue is about Game of Thrones.

39. Land of the Minotaur: CRETE. The Minotaur is a mythical creature (I hope) from Greece with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

40. [theme pt1]

42. [theme pt2]

44. "Will all great Neptune's __ wash this blood / Clean from my hand?": Macbeth: OCEAN. Your daily dose of Shakespeare. 

45. "__ bleu!": SACRE. This French exclamation originated from "Sacré Dieu" (Holy God). But because Christians feared taking the Lord's name in vain, they substituted the rhyming word "bleu" (blue) for "Dieu" (God) to avoid blasphemy.

47. Actress Whitman: MAE. MAE was a childhood actor who has appeared in numerous films and TV shows. I've somehow missed most of them, but liked her in Good Girls, a crime/comedy drama about three suburban mothers who resort to robbery.

48. Bring out the blue pencil again: REEDIT. First you REED IT, then you RE-EDIT it.

50. Slow-cooked dish: STEW.

51. Mass. summer hrs.: EDT. Massachusetts summer hours are in Eastern Daylight Time.

52. Sings like Ella Fitzgerald: SCATS. Doo-be-doo-bah!

54. Laudatory lines: ODES. 

Not laundry lines...

55. "Captain's __, stardate ... ": LOG. Famous opening line from Star Trek.

58. Cause of a blank photo: LENS CAP. We had a very small wedding, and my future brother-in-law told us he had the photography covered...by the LENS CAP. That's right, we have no pictures from the big day. 46 years later we look back and laugh.

62. Really gets to: ENRAGES. While a screw-up like that ENRAGES some brides, RightBrain took it all in stride. That's when I knew I had married the right girl.

65. Backless tops: HALTERS.

69. Makes softer, as sound: DEADENS.

70. Electric current units: AMPERES.

71. Montana neighbor: ALBERTA.

72. First name of the 28th U.S. president: WOODROW. WOODROW Wilson. In Hollywood, FL, where the longer streets are named sequentially after presidents, Wilson Street follows the much busier Taft Street. I guess Taft was more popular!

Down:

1. Calligraphy supply: INK. It takes a lot of INK to spell "calligraphy."

2. Merriment: FUN. Are we having merriment, yet?

3. Fig. texted en route: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

4. "Jailhouse Rock" star: ELVIS. Here he is dancing away, right out of jail!

Hey! Someone left the door open!

5. Property claim: LIEN. This lean will lead to a property claim.

6. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA.

7. Things on rings: KEYS. Things on rings: GEMS. Well, that's half right.

8. Lose it under pressure: PANIC.

9. Path: AVENUE.

10. Old cloth: RAG. Linen made from flax fibers was used in Egypt thousands of years ago, but the cloth he's referring to is probably not that old.

11. RR stop: STA. A RailRoad STAtion. 

12. "The Greatest Average American" host Bargatze: NATE. I haven't seen his new game show, but I really like his stand-up specials. He is a "clean comedian" who pokes fun at everyday life.

13. Really gets to: IRES. This really gets us to a clecho of 62A.

14. Furtive call: PSST.

20. Impetus for a bluff, perhaps: PAIR. Two Knaves, perhaps?

22. Animosity: RANCOR.

23. Bring about: INDUCE.

24. Vandyke kin: GOATEE. "Van Dyke" is usually two words, just like the facial hair is in two parts.

26. Team working off camera: TV CREW. When a TV reporter comes upon a bunch of rubbernecks at a crime scene, the accompanying team is all business, lest they become CREW necks.

27. Come by honestly: EARN.

29. Care center: CLINIC. 

30. Actor McKellen: IAN. 87 year-old Sir IAN McKellen has won a Tony Award, a Golden Globe, and seven Laurence Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards and five Emmys. In spite of all that, he is perhaps best known for his role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.

31. Helpers in harbors: TUGS.

33. Thought to be: DEEMED.

34. Online NYSE choice: E*TRADE. E*TRADE is a digital investment brokerage that allows people to lose money on the New York Stock Exchange.

35. Puts back to zero: RESETS.

38. Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT. Please enter your bank account number in the space provided: __________ I will keep this data strictly confidential. Trust me. 

41. Small amounts: TADS. This is what's in my ACCT right now.

43. Bauxite, e.g.: ORE. Bauxite is the primary ORE for aluminum.

46. Org.: ASSN. An Organization can be an Association.

49. __ scout: TALENT. Have I been discovered yet?

53. Thompson of "Selma": TESSA. TESSA has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies over her 20+ year career including as civil rights activist Diane Nash in the 2014 historical film Selma.

54. Chose: OPTED.

55. Helen of Troy's mother: LEDA. According to the most legends, Zeus, the king of the gods, transformed into a swan and seduced (or assaulted) LEDA, the Queen of Sparta. As a result, LEDA laid an egg from which Helen hatched. I'm not sure I buy this.

56. Scott Turow work: ONE L. ONE L is an autobiographical book by Turow that chronicles his grueling first year at Harvard Law School. It is the only one of his 14 novels that is of interest to crossword constructors.

57. Seize: GRAB.

59. "Saint Joan" playwright: SHAW. George Bernard SHAW's play about the 15th-century French military figure Joan of Arc.

60. Mil. print: CAMO. Military print is CAMOuflage. 

61. Blue Buffalo rival: ALPO. Here's Buster as a pup getting ready for dinner.

63. Beverage suffix: ADE.

64. Austrian lang.: GER. The official language of Austria is GERman.

Wait, that's not right.

66. Do the wrong thing: ERR. Jim Carrey meant Australia. 

67. __ Speedwagon: REO. Here REO again!

68. NNE U-turn: SSW. Making a wide U-turn in a Speedwagon was like navigating a boat. It definitely wasn't a Sportwagon.

Happy Birthday, Mom! Wish you were around to see how I turned Dad's corny jokes into even cornier blog posts. The apple didn't fall far from the tree! I miss you both.

Be good. RB

Thursday June 18, 2026 Zachary David Levy

The prolific ZDL strikes again! This time, he's imparting some of his hard-won knowledge for our solving pleasure.

60A. "Say 'aye' forcefully and project confidence," e.g.: PRO TIPS. I didn't notice that this was the revealer at first. PRO TIPS are useful pieces of advice, supposedly from someone with experience in the matter. They are often called "life hacks" on the internet, so you know they must be true. 

Don't believe everything you read!

7D. "Hug the shore until you reach the ocean," e.g.: SOUND ADVICE. The clued directions tell how to go around an inlet, i.e. ADVICE to walk along a SOUND.

29D. "Pair it with thyme or rosemary," e.g.: SAGE WISDOM. Just add parsley to the mix and the SAGE WISDOM would be like Paul Simon's "Scarborough Fair."

31D. "The cinnamon version tastes better than the original," e.g.: LIFE LESSON. LIFE cereal comes in several varieties, but the LESSON I've learned is that the original always tastes best.

A TIP of the hat to Mr. Levy

I liked this puzzle. All three of the phrases work in place of PRO TIPS as they stand (vertically!). But their TIPS (the bottom ends: ADVICE, WISDOM and LESSON) are also synonyms of TIPS by themselves. A double dipper! That all the themers were puns was icing on the cake.

And that was just the TIP of the iceberg!

Across:

1. Completely smitten: GAGA. Just like Lady GAGA's fans - the Little Monsters.

5. Iraq port city: BASRA.

10. Policy chief: CZAR. Thought WONK, at first.

14. Like some history and hygiene: ORAL. Thought words that start with "H" ?

15. Cacophonous: AROAR. Thought NOISY, at first. I'm doing a lot a thinking on this puzzle...most of it wrong.

16. Sharpen: HONE.

17. Kiss, in Cancún: BESO. A Spanish kiss!

18. Piano composition: ETUDE. Not EBONY or IVORY which are the composition of the piano keys. An ETUDE is a short piece designed as a practice exercise.

19. Tiny amount: IOTA. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet is the smallest one to write, just one little stroke of a pen, thus it eventually came to reference tiny things.

20. Email option since 1997: YAHOO. Yeah, who?

22. Genetic messenger molecule: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid. 

23. Big name in the school supply aisle: ELMER. 

Oops! Wrong Elmer!

24. Exercise that may wind up in a playground: FIRE DRILL. When I saw "wind up," my first thought (oh boy, here we go again) was how I used to twist and spin on a swing.

27. Core muscles: ABS. Body anatomy, part 1.

30. Longtime Buick model: LE SABRE.

31. Acid rock's acid: LSD. It's how you get far out, man.

34. Neck wrap: BOA. He probably meant a feather BOA.

35. Share an office workstation: HOT DESK. I guess it's HOT because whoever arrives first gets to sit there in the accompanying HOT seat. Or is that in the boss's office?

36. Debt letters: IOU. This means I. O. U. which is shorthand for, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday..."

37. "Casablanca" star, affectionately: BOGIE. Humphrey Bogart was above par as an actor, but below par as a golfer. Just kidding. He was single-digit handicap player, and was considered one of the best golfers in Hollywood's Golden Age.

39. Egg cells: OVA.

40. Minor disagreements: TIFFS.

42. Realm: ARENA.

43. Cars singer Ocasek: RIC. RIC Ocasek, lead singer, songwriter and oldest member of the Cars was over 30 (ancient in pop music terms) when the band struck it big. He wore a wig to fit in.

44. "What's Your Country Song" singer Thomas: RHETT. Thomas Rhett is a Grammy-nominated country music singer and songwriter who blends contemporary country with rock & roll.

45. In need of a towel: WET.

46. Tourism prefix: ECO.

47. 20-Across alternative: AOL. I haven't used WAHOO or AOL this century. 

48. Gymnast's move: FLIP. They do this to see who goes first.

50. Current fashion: TREND.

52. Chest muscles: PECS. Body anatomy, part 2.

55. Exactly: JUST SO.

57. Winter fishing tool: ICE SAW. I saw you fishing on a frozen lake.

59. Anxiety-related med. condition: OCD. Amongst other letters, I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder tendencies. I used great restraint in not fixing this problem:

How could someone leave it this way?

60. [theme]

64. "Chandelier" singer: SIA. SIA is an Australian singer and songwriter known for her powerful voice...and bizarre wigs.

65. Ipanema's city: RIO. Ipanema is a neighborhood in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil.

66. Medicine derived from the bark of the willow tree: ASPIRIN.

67. Sphere: ORB.

68. Flow stopper: DAM.

69. A few: NOT MANY. I figure this is the number of you crossword solvers who also do Sudoku. 

70. Sudoku figs.: NOS. Figures are numbers. So, how many of you also solve the Sudoku?

Down:

1. Prefer to be called: GO BY. The great Asian desert prefers to be called Gobi.

2. Region: AREA.

3. Nasty wound: GASH.

4. Cool and distant: ALOOF.

5. Sweetie: BAE.

6. Professional who specializes in oil cleanups?: ART RESTORER. Winner: Best Clue.

7. [theme]

8. Blip producer: RADAR BEACON. The government recently declassified sealed UFO files, and now we can all see fuzzy pics of blurry objects. 

9. "__ you sure?": ARE.

10. Put on ice: CHILL.

11. Google Meet alternative: ZOOM.

12. Opening payment: ANTE.

13. Backup camera's view: REAR. 

21. Output of some furnaces: OIL HEAT. The output is just HEAT, regardless of the fuel source.

23. Marvel assassin played by Jennifer Garner: ELEKTRA. In spite of her 2005 movie getting a dismal 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, she reprised her role in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

25. __ Speedwagon: REO. The most popular classic band car in crosswords. It is an ancestor of the pickup truck.

This 1926 Model G is 100 years old!

26. E-file org.: IRS. Internal Revenue Service.

27. "Mamma Mia!" band: ABBA. ABBA is also common crossword fodder. "Here we go again..."

28. Obnoxious one: BOOR.

29. [theme]

31. [theme]

32. Out of shape, say: SOFT.

33. Sign of disuse: DUST.

38. Lacking skill: INEPT.

41. "Wouldn't that be nice!": I HOPE.

48. Scandinavian inlet: FJORD. Before I looked at this clue, I had FJ_R_ and my rusty brain immediately went to "F-JARS." Anyone got change for a $5?

49. Saint __: Lesser Antilles island: LUCIA.

50. Body part with 27- and 52-Across: TORSO. Body anatomy, part 3.

51. Use, as a ladle: DIP IN.

53. City southeast of Alexandria: CAIRO. It looks nearly due east to me.

Oh, that Alexandria.

54. Ear cleaners: SWABS. Ear cleaners: Q-TIPS.

56. Spread: SPAN.

58. "Teach Your Children" gp.: CSNY. In only their second live show ever, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young delivered a legendary performance at Woodstock in 1969. 

"This is the second time we've ever played in front of people, man. We're scared s—less!"

61. Choose: OPT.

62. Actor Meadows: TIM. TIM logged ten seasons at SNL before branching out into movies.

63. 401(k) kin: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

Be good. RB

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