Thursday April 2, 2026 Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey has been constructing puzzles for a few years now, but this is his LAT debut. Congrats!
This grid features a less common mirror image symmetry, and that's a reflection of its creator. 

55A. Some lead roles, or features of 3-, 7-, and 11-Down?: TITLE CHARACTERS. Each film TITLE has special CHARACTERS (like in a good password) that have been used to create a phrase found in movie reviews. Note that none of these movies actually fit the answer in the traditional sense, it's just the punctuation we're looking at.

3D. "M*A*S*H," in a way?: STAR VEHICLE. A STAR VEHICLE is a film specifically designed to showcase the talents of a well-known performer. The "stars" in this one are actually asterisks, but I still rate it 3★'s.

7D. "E.T.," in a way?: PERIOD PIECE. A PERIOD PIECE is a movie set in a specific, earlier historical era, often characterized by lavish production design, costumes, and settings that evoke that time. Period.

11D. "Face/Off," in a way?: SLASHER FILM. A SLASHER FILM is a sub-genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, often by use of blades or sharp tools. Lovely. I like horror films but not slashers with their gratuitous violence.

Fun theme. Kiran is new so he doesn't know that themers are supposed to go horizontally...kidding! I liked the mix of downward themers and discovering the revealer across near the end. He also includes several other nice long vertical fills, which add sparkle, but also leaves us will a lot of 3LW & 4LW. Overall, a good Thursday effort.

M0▽!N9 ()n:

Across:

1. Rae of "Barbie": ISSA. ISSA Rae is a popular American actress, writer, and producer. She is a living doll!

5. Baseball card giant owned by Fanatics: TOPPS.

10. Covert summons: PSST.

14. Court dividers: NETS. Court dividers: BARS.

15. Fast train in the Northeast: ACELA.

16. Hoppy drafts: ALES. The perfect brew for Easter week!

17. Insta post: SNAP. Instagram is a social media network featuring SNAPshots and short videos.

18. Untamed: FERAL. 

19. Namesake of a speed ratio: MACH. Ernst MACH defined velocities compared to the speed of sound, commonly used as unit of air speed where MACH 1 is 761mph (the speed of sound at sea level).

When I'm in a hurry, I shave at 2,283 mph.

20. Cause of inflation: AIR.

21. Spotty?: STAINED.

23. __ Lanka: SRI.

24. Celestial explosions: NOVAE. Had to wait for perps for the final letter to determine if we were using the Latin or English plural.

26. "__ a chance": NOT. 

27. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER. 

29. Standing straight: ERECT.

30. Church headquartered in SLC: LDS. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

31. "Shrinking" actor/co-creator Goldstein: BRETT. BRETT Goldstein is an English actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer who is perhaps best known for his role as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso. I saw him in a stand-up special on HBO and he was surprisingly good.

32. The Phanatic's team, on scoreboards: PHI. The Phillie Phanatic is the mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. He is one of the highest paid mascots in MLB, earning $200K per year! I'm green with envy.

33. Basket made on a rebound: TIP-IN. Part of the madness that is March. My alma mater, UVa, runs hot or cold. They once lost in the 1st round, then won it all the following year. This time they didn't make it past the 2nd round. Oh well, there's always next year...

35. Form 1099 agcy.: IRS. The Internal Revenue Service is the agency that is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes.

36. Dry as a desert: ARID. I guess we are going through my whole medicine cabinet today.

37. Soul singer Baker: ANITA. ANITA Baker is an American jazz and soul singer known for her sophisticated, romantic ballads.

38. Creative degs.: MFAS. Masters of Fine Arts are graduate degrees in visual arts, creative writing, film, or performing arts. 

40. Campaign-funding gps.: PACS. Political Action Committees are groups that pool campaign contributions from donors to support or oppose political candidates, legislation, or ballot initiatives.

41. "The Hunger Games" ally of Katniss: PEETA. Katniss Everdeen and PEETA Mellark, the "star-crossed lovers" from District 12, evolve from reluctant allies in the 74th Hunger Games into a deeply bonded couple.

42. Trig ratio: SINE. Trigonometric should not be abbreviated because SINE is the full name of the function. Its abbreviation is SIN.

43. Weekly skit show, familiarly: SNL. Ye olde Saturday Night Live.

44. Symbol produced by pressing shift+5: PERCENT. % - hey, it works!

46. Cell service letters: LTE. Long-Term Evolution is a 4G wireless broadband technology that provides high-speed data for mobile devices.

47. Just make do: EKE BY. I'm not sure this is proper English. “To eke” can be used by itself meaning to stretch a limited resource. “She eked the meager budget to cover expenses.” Or, more commonly, it is used with “out” as in, “He managed to eke out a living.” Seems like he was going for "squeak by."

49. Spanish infinitive: SER. SER means "to be." An infinitive is the base form of a verb, often preceded by "to" (e.g., to walk), that functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb within a sentence.

50. "Darn it!": AW MAN. 

52. Add up to: ARE.

54. Connecticut Ivy Leaguer: ELI. A student from Yale in Saybrook, Connecticut.

55. [theme]

64. Hat part: BRIM.

65. Indulge: HUMOR.

66. Group of three: TRIO. Now you're checking out my vitamins?

67. Turn down: DENY.

68. "But of course!": OH YES. 

69. Goes on and on: YAPS. FuzzyBrain YAPS when we get a delivery. Better than a doorbell!

Buster guarding the house.

Down:

1. Absurd, as a scheme: INSANE. That's crazy!

2. Shenanigans of the upper class?: SENIOR PRANK. This is a trick! "Shenanigans" is almost always plural, but seems odd with a singular answer. 

3. [theme]

4. Nile viper: ASP.

5. 27th U.S. president: TAFT. As you can see, William Howard TAFT had a sweet tooth. They even named Salt Water Tafty after him.

6. Passenger ships: OCEAN LINERS.

7. [theme]

8. Temporary water provider: PLANT SITTER. A PLANT SITTER comes to your house while you are away. They typically charge $20/hr for just watering, but it can be more if they keep them company.

9. Red tag event: SALE.

10. Cooking spray brand: PAM. 

11. [theme]

12. December tradition in some offices: SECRET SANTA.This is a tradition in which staff members are randomly assigned a coworker to whom they give a gift, often with a price limit. 

13. Gym top: T-SHIRT. While gym is short for gymnasium, T-SHIRT isn't short for anything. It's just shaped like a T. The only way to shorten a T-SHIRT is to make it a crop top.

21. Ready: SET. In America, we say, "On your mark, get SET, go!" In Britain, it's often, "Ready, steady, go!"

Thank goodness we don't use starting pistols anymore.

22. Former Interior Secretary Haaland: DEB. DEB Haaland was the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary. She is currently running for governor of New Mexico.

25. Litmus reddeners: ACIDS. This is a test.

28. Takes a little off the top, say: TRIMS.

33. Cassette: TAPE. A 90-minute cassette has about 440' of tape inside - that's 1-1/2 football fields long all over the seats of my car! Don't ask me how I know.

34. Bread baked in a tandoor: NAAN.

36. Church recess: APSE. 

39. Observed: SEEN.

44. Combustible pile: PYRE.

45. Soft mineral: TALC. Can't stay out of my medicine cabinet, can you?

48. Pleasant, as a summer night: BALMY.

51. Good at banter, say: WITTY. Better than corny!

53. Parrot: ECHO.

54. "I'm all __!": EARS. ...said the field in Iowa. OK, that was corny.

55. Up in the air, briefly: TBD. To Be Determined.

56. Great vexation: IRE. I'm Really Enraged. Wait, that wasn't an abbreviation.

57. Soft metal: TIN. Like my old Band-Aid box, but stop snooping around my bathroom!

58. "You don't see that every day!": HUH.

59. Poehler who co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade: AMY. From SNL to Parks & Rec, AMY has always been a dependable comedienne. 

60. Fish-to-be: ROE. 

61. Bullpen stat: ERA. Another baseball clue, this is the Earned Run Average - the average number of earned runs a pitcher allows every nine innings, with lower numbers indicating better performance.

62. Fabric tear: RIP.

63. Request for a tropical getaway, perhaps?: SOS. Fun clue. SOS is not an abbreviation of anything, it's just the letters corresponding to a Morse code distress signal that are easy to remember and type.

Godspeed, Artemis!

Be good. RB

Thursday March 26, 2026 Howard Neuthaler

Howard Neuthaler is a former travel agent *checks notes* scratch that, he's a lawyer, but his puzzle is about taking a trip. Because he's been busy lawyering, he's pretty new to constructing, and this is his LAT debut. Yay!

"Time now for everybody's favorite guessing game, What's My Line? Brought to you by the Los Angeles Times. It's like news that has been printed on paper!"

17. Starting line?: I BETTER GET GOING. Something said at the outset of a trip.

24. Punch line?: TICKETS PLEASE. Asked by a conductor who will punch your TICKET.

43. Pickup line?: WELCOME ABOARD. Spoken by an attendant as one climbs ABOARD.

56. Trip line?: ADVENTURE AWAITS. A phrase from a traveler as one leaves the station.

I assumed all these phrases referred to train travel rather than by ship or plane, because they have a history of punching TICKETS, although they don't do that anymore. In any case, these lines are phases that one might hear when embarking on a trip. Some are said by the traveler, while others are from crew members. I like that they tell a little story. 

Now, if you'll quickly find your seat, we're getting ready to go!

Across:

1. Language in the same family as Hindi: URDU. URDU has 230 million speakers worldwide, primarily serving as the national language of Pakistan and is a recognized official language in India.

5. Balance, for one: SENSE.

10. Spots for STEM classes: LABS.

14. Tap on the nose: BOOP.

15. Opening: WAY IN. This WAY IN is far out.

16. "Aha": I SEE. Hopefully we've seen the last of oho.

17. [theme]

20. Cravings: DESIRES. Yens. I DESIRE lots of yens.

21. Island country whose capital is St. George's: GRENADA.

22. __ and paste: CUT.

23. "Get Out" writer/director Jordan: PEELE. I knew him for years as a comedian, so was surprised when he became a writer and director of horror films. Good ones, too, including an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Get Out.

24. [theme]

29. Hoppy beers, briefly: IPAS. The ever popular India Pale Ales. 

Hoppy beer

30. __ out a win: EKE.

31. Ivan the Terrible and Feodor the Bellringer: TSARS. I knew Ivan the Terrible, but Feodor didn't ring a bell.

34. Scand. land: NOR. Strictly, Scandinavia is comprised of NORway, Sweden and Denmark. Taken together with Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, they're as known as the Nordic countries because of shared heritage and love of colorful crosses.

I35. Vote against: NAY.

36. That, in Spanish: ESO.

38. Poseidon's realm: SEA. The counterpart to this Greek deity is the Roman god Neptune. SEA?

39. "Hello" singer: ADELE. There was a time when I could fill in any 5-letter singer I didn't know as ADELE. Now she's slowly getting bumped by Drake, Kesha, Lorde...and I'm in trouble.

41. "Too cute!": AWW. FuzzyBrain (aka Buster) as a pup.

42. Shade in four-color printing: CYAN.

43. [theme]

47. 49-Across, for one: ASANA.

48. B.A. Baracus player: MR T. I pity the fool that hasn't seen the A Team.

49. Spine-stretching yoga move: CAT POSE.

52. Warm jackets: FLEECES.

56. [theme]

58. Wood used to make some woodwinds: PEAR.

59. Seize without right: USURP.

60. James of "The Godfather": CAAN. In a lighter role, he played a book publisher/dad in Elf.

61. Edges: ENDS.

62. Hammer parts: PEENS. 

63. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS. Some people remember there was a third Cartwright brother besides HOSS (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Michael Landon). Adam (Pernell Roberts) left the hit show mid-run due to "creative differences." Mom always liked the other two best.

Little Joe, Hoss and Adam (not pictured)

Down:

1. Former eBay rival: UBID. UBID was an online shopping site for refurbished and overstock consumer electrionics. It's was valued at $1.8 billion at one point, but went bankrupt after the dot.com bubble.

2. Wrapped garment: ROBE.

3. Carries out: DOES.

4. Baby bumps?: UP TICKS. Trending in the right direction - unless they're talking about my weight.

5. Sugary pitcherful: SWEET TEA.

6. Hearing things: EARS. 

7. Big Blue of the NFL, for short: NYG. The New York Giants of the National Football League.

8. Former NPR host Robert: SIEGEL. "Bob" SIEGEL held several news and production roles at National Public Radio, but is best known as a co-host of All Things Considered for many years. This is how I remember him:

9. Daily special, typically: ENTREE.

10. Sub-Saharan female: LIONESS. The Sahara desert spans all of northern Africa, so Sub-Saharan refers to everything south, which is most of the continent.

11. Forbidden City locale: ASIA. Really? That's as specific as you can get? It's like saying the White House is located in North America. Or on Earth.

Forbidden City in Beijing, China

12. Big __ National Park: BEND. Big BEND National Park is in western Texas bordering Mexico along over a hundred miles of the Rio Grande. Although huge (like everything in Texas, apparently) it only ranks 14th in area, with 7 of our largest national parks being in Alaska. In the lower 48, Death Valley (#5), Yellowstone (#8) and the Everglades (#10) round out the top 10.

13. Genesis creator: SEGA. This clue always seem like it wants a biblical answer.

18. "Valid point": TRUE.

19. Affogato scoop: GELATO. Affogato is a simple Italian dessert consisting of a scoop of vanilla GELATO or ice cream "drowned" (affogato) with a shot of hot espresso, creating a contrast of hot and cold, and sweet and bitter flavors. Can't believe I've never tried it.

23. Some EMT gear: PPE. Emergency Medical Technicians may wear Personal Protective Equipment.

24. Rock legend Turner: TINA. The "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" was pretty much timeless.

25. Discontinued Apple gadget: IPOD.

26. Hall of Famer Rod with 3,053 career hits: CAREW. Rod CAREW appeared in 18 consecutive All-Star games, basically his entire career. Among many accolades, he was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his involvement in local community affairs in 1977.

27. Chicago hoops squad: SKY. The SKY of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

28. Undemanding class: EASY A. As has been discussed here before, when I was in college, we called this a gut course, or simply a gut.

32. __ admiral: REAR.

33. Zen garden rake target: SAND.

35. Country great Willie: NELSON. When a guitar is played for many years, it collects wear and tear which adds to its mojo. Modern guitar companies sometimes artificially "relic" their instruments for players that can't wait and will pay extra to look cool now. Personally, I dislike this, as every scratch and ding reminds me of a past moment, and is hard earned. Just think about all the stories that Trigger could tell...

Willie Nelson and Trigger

36. Feta source: EWE. Feta is a Greek cheese known for its salty, tangy flavor and crumbly texture, and is traditionally made from sheep's milk. But EWE knew that.

37. Worked out in the pool: SWAM LAPS.

40. Ten lords in a Christmas carol, e.g.: LEAPERS. I thought they should be LEAPING.

41. "I'm an open book" sesh: AMA. An Ask Me Anything session.

42. Split a course?: CO-TEACH. Although two teachers could CO-TEACH a classroom, or split it in half for smaller groups, more often one teacher leads instruction while the other circulates to offer individual support. This is known as One Teach/One Assist.

44. Total, as numbers in a ledger: CAST UP. New to me. It derives from the Middle English "casten" ("to throw") combined with "up." It originally meant ejecting/vomiting, which morphed into "throwing up" figures on a page. Etymology isn't always pleasant!

45. Like most straws: ONE USE. Millions of plastic straws are used daily, and even those that are disposed of properly may blow away from landfills and harm wildlife. Unfortunately, paper straws get soggy, so here's an idea. Don't use straws.

46. Concoct: BREW. 

49. Wrapped garment: CAPE. I was sari I wrote "toga" first.

50. Arabian port: ADEN. ADEN, Yemen is strategically located at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula and serves as a gateway to the Red Sea. Due to the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, the route to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal gains significance. 

51. Spot on the small screen: TV AD. Not a pixel, but an AD spot.

52. Common houseplant: FERN. 

53. "Toodles, dahling": CIAO. Because I can't imagine Eva Gabor saying, "Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya." Well, maybe in Hooterville.

54. Waze guesses, for short: ETAS. Waze is a navigation app that uses real-time traffic updates to provide Estimated Time of Arrivals.

55. Tax doc IDs: SSNS. Social Secuity Numbers are personal identifications on tax documents.

57. Word on a Paris map: RUE. Rue is "street" in French.

And that's the bottom line.
Be good. RB