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

Thursday May 21, 2026 Heather Stanger McIntire & Shannon Rapp

In March, Shannon Rapp co-wrote a puzzle published here. Now she's found another collaborator, Heather Stanger McIntire, who's making her first appearance here. Shannon must have a SECRET MENU of constructors to select from!

37. Unpublicized restaurant offering, or a feature of the answer to each starred clue: SECRET MENU. SECRET MENUs are mostly a fast-food thing, and most aren't all that secret. They're just off-menu offerings, but they help build brand loyalty because the customer feels like an insider when ordering one. 

In today's puzzle, the MENU offerings are not from restaurants, but seen on websites. Some of them may be hidden under a "hamburger menu" - three bars in the upper corner of the screen that sorta resemble a burger. When clicked, it opens to show more choices like those clued below.

18. *Brunch choice: FRENCH OMELET. HOME takes one back the the HOME page of a website. Clicking on the company's logo will often do the same thing.

24. *Apprenticeship in the ways of The Force: JEDI TRAINING. Pressing EDIT enters "EDIT mode," where one can make changes to content. 

54. *Negro Leagues player in the Baseball Hall of Fame: SATCHEL PAIGE. Clicking HELP often suggests things that are of no HELP.

61. *"I Just Called To Say I Love You" singer: STEVIE WONDER. VIEW buttons enable switching between layouts on a monitor, such as half or full screen.

At first, I thought the word "MENU" would be hidden or scrambled in the entries. Failing in that, I dug deeper. Because it's a proper Thursday, nothing was circled so I actually had to work for my "aha" moment. As usual when there are five long themers, we're left with a lot of abbrev. even with an extra-wide grid.

Let's see what else is on the menu:

Across:

1. Texting format initials: SMS. Short Message Service is the standard, text-only communication technology used by mobile phones.

4. Eel in maki sushi: UNAGI. There are many types of sushi. Maki sushi is the common variety made by rolling vinegared rice and other fillings in a sheet of nori seaweed. I prefer nigiri or sashimi.

9. Language of Sri Lanka: TAMIL. TAMIL is an ancient language with a documented history spanning over 2,000 years. It is spoken by approximately 80 to 90 million people worldwide, and serves as an official language in India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.

14. "Long," in Hawaiian: LOA. LOA can also mean "tall" or "very/much" - all apt descriptions of Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano.

15. Sure to end badly: NO WIN.

16. __ Cortina 2026: MILANO. The sister cities that hosted this year's Winter Olympics in Italy.

17. Under the weather: ILL.

18. [theme]

20. Only major U.S. city founded by a woman: MIAMI. Julia Tuttle (1849–1898) was a savvy businesswoman who convinced tycoon Henry Flagler (John D. Rockefeller's partner) to extend his railroad to the area. Known as the "Mother of Miami," she used citrus blossoms from her property to prove the region was frost-free, securing the development. But let's not forget the "Other Mother of Miami," Mary Brickell (1836-1922), who donated significant parcels of her 2000 acres to make it happen. Tuttle, Brickell and Flagler are all immortalized by major namesake roads in South Florida.

22. Roadside org.: AAA. American Automobile Association. We used to visit their travel agency and get customized TripTiks (flip maps) before setting out on a long trip. Then the internet and GPS came along...

23. Draped silk dress: SARI.

24. [theme]

29. Digital exec: CTO. A Chief Technology Officer is the executive in charge of IT.

30. Purple bloom: IRIS. 

31. World Series mo.: OCT. OCTober is also a month when all four major US sports are playing at the same time. Sometimes, they all have games on the same day, known as a "Sports Equinox."

32. Comedy series featuring Lily Tomlin: LAUGH-IN. LAUGH-IN debuted in 1968 and quickly became the most popular show on television. "And that's the truth."

Lily Tomlin as Edith Ann

34. Grown boys: MEN.

35. Educational acronym: STEM. STEM is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, rather than teaching them as separate subjects. It focuses on hands-on, real-world applications to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation, preparing students for technology-driven careers that hopefully are still needed in an Ai world.

36. Opera solos: ARIAS.

37. [theme]

41. Call dibs on: CLAIM.

44. Charger, e.g.: AUTO. The fastest I've ever been in an AUTO was in a friend's 1966 Dodge Charger on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We hit 120 mph and it felt like the car was going to leave the ground. It probably did. He was nuts and it had me rethinking my life's choices.

The Dodge Charger was introduced in 1966

45. Navigation tech: GPS. Global Positioning System - the modern day TripTik. Back in the last century, my service van was full of maps, but I learned my way around. Nowadays, people blindly follow directions from point A to B and never acquire navigational skills.

48. Tolkien characters who like to eat six meals a day: HOBBITS. Most sources list seven meals: Breakfast; Second Breakfast; Elevenses; Lunch; Afternoon Tea; Dinner; and Supper.

51. Locavore's org.: CSA. My first thought was that Locavore might be a Confederate general like Longstreet. Different CSA. A localvore is someone who tries to eat foods grown or produced locally and promotes Community Supported Agriculture. 

52. Small cut: SLIT.

53. Result of advancing in the field?: RBI. Runs Batted In, although it could have just been RUN.

54. [theme]

57. Key West, e.g.: ISLE. If you take U.S. 1 from Key West, you'll end up at the Canadian border in Maine 1,300 miles later - no map needed. 

Mile 0 in Key West

59. __ shu pork: MOO. MOO shu pork is a popular stir-fry dish featuring thinly sliced pork, scrambled eggs, and vegetables. I like to wrap them up like a Chinese fajita.

60. Oyster opener: OTTER.

61. [theme]

66. Sock part: TOE. Here's a windsock with an open TOE.

67. Barbershop parts: TENORS. Part of a barbershop quartet. I used to sing solo - so low that nobody heard me. 

68. Leg day exercise: LUNGE.

69. Music producer Brian: ENO.

70. Snacks stuffed with "stuf": OREOS. There are as many varieties of OREOS as ways to clue them.

71. Couple of bucks?: STAGS. Not just some doe.

72. Web feed initials: RSS. Really Simple Syndication is a technology that allows you to automatically receive updates from your favorite websites. Instead of manually checking multiple sites for new content, an RSS feed delivers the latest headlines and articles directly to you.

Down:

1. Jerky brand: SLIM JIM. I thought jerky was made from meat? LOL While SLIM JIM does make some jerky, they are famous for their "Smoked Snack Sticks" which are a highly processed food.

2. "Tartuffe" playwright: MOLIERE. MOLIÈRE was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world literature.

3. First sultan of Syria and Egypt: SALADIN. SALADIN was a 12th-century Kurdish military and political leader who founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He successfully unified the Muslim Near East to reclaim Jerusalem and repel the Third Crusade. I don't remember him for some reason.

4. Not well-matched: UNFIT.

5. Swe. neighbor: NOR. NORway and Sweden are neighbors who only feud during Eurovision.

6. Astonishment: AWE.

7. Martini liquor: GIN.

8. Like some ruins in Peru: INCAN. The most famous is Machu Picchu from the 15th century.

9. "Beetlejuice" director Burton: TIM. TIM is known for his distinctive style that blends dark fantasy and gothic horror with whimsical elements in movies such as Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

10. Bitter beers: ALES. Bitter tears: WAILS.

11. Last book of the Old Testament: MALACHI. This is the end of the work as we know it.

12. Laziness: INERTIA. INERTIA is the natural tendency for an object at rest to stay at rest. I think I'll mow the lawn tomorrow...

13. Skin soothers: LOTIONS. What!? Not ALOE?

16. Disney film set in Polynesia: MOANA. Set in ancient Polynesia, the film follows MOANA, the strong-willed daughter of a village chief, who is chosen by the ocean to restore a mystical relic.

19. Call, as a cab: HAIL. Ride, as in a cab: HELL.

21. Sue Grafton's "__ for Malice": M IS. Easy peasy. All of her 25 "alphabet novels" start with the same letter as the crime-related word in the title. Very ambitious, but she died in 2017 before writing Z is for Zero. Her daughter said, "As far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y."

25. Campus mil. unit: ROTC. The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college program that trains students to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Armed Forces.

26. Laptop brand: ACER.

27. "I feel seen": IT ME. Another unknown bit of internet slang, typically used when you identify perfectly with a meme or a character. It is a shortened version of "that's me" or "this is me." It bad.

28. Fertilizer from bats: GUANO. Because of bats' specialized diet, their droppings are exceptionally rich in nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium—essential plant nutrients.

33. Mentor of Minions: GRU. GRU is a grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical supervillain and the boss of the Minions. He is voiced by Steve Carell.

35. Big rigs: SEMIS. SEMI is shorthand for a semi-truck. SEMI refers to the trailer because it only has axles in the rear. The motorized cab part is the tractor, hence a tractor-trailer.

37. Sis, for one: SIB. A sister is a SIBling.

38. Speed reader?: TACH. A TACHometer measures engine speed, while RADAR is used to read the speed of SEMIS.

39. Inspiring figure: MUSE.

40. Footnote abbr.: ET AL. The abbreviation of et alia, meaning "and others."

41. Artist known for fabric-wrapped installations: CHRISTO. I enjoyed seeing his Surrounded Islands in Biscayne Bay by Miami in 1983. I remember hearing a parody of Prince's "Little Red Corvette" called "Little Pink Islands."

"Little pink islands, CHRISTO your art's a gas..." 

42. Maine course: LOBSTER. Fun clue. You can also dive for LOBSTER just 1,300 miles off course in Key West. 

43. Central Texas city: ABILENE.

45. Sparkly stuff: GLITTER.

46. City birds: PIGEONS.

47. Sound investments?: STEREOS. When I went to college, everyone brought STEREOS like they do computers today. I've upgraded through the years, and now have Legacy Focus speakers like these. They are big, but when your eyes are closed, singers sound like they are live, standing in the middle of the room! Ear buds just don't cut it.

49. Makes less wild: TAMES.

50. Put away: STOW.

52. Didn't play: SAT.

55. Loses steam?: COOLS. Just add more wood to the stove to keep your sauna steaming.

56. Sauna openings?: PORES. In a sauna, sweat pours out of PORES. This helps loosen dirt and oil trapped within the skin and improves circulation.

58. Kitchen initialism: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

62. Tax agcy.: IRS. The Infernal Internal Revenue Service.

63. Fan: NUT.

64. "The Code Breaker" subj.: DNA. Walter Isaacson's biography of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Jennifer Doudna and her pivotal role in the development a revolutionary DNA-editing technology.

65. Pasta ingredient: EGG. Pasta is basically wheat flour and EGGS, with a little EVOO and salt added.

Be good. RB

Thursday May 14, 2026 Sam Brody

Sam Brody doesn't ABIDE by "measure twice and cut once," so he cut each piece of wood twice instead. At least he was consistent! He's been constructing for a few years, but this is his LAT debut. Welcome!

A woodcut of a wood cutter.

39. Artistic printing method, and a feature of rows 2, 5, 11, and 14 in this puzzle: WOODCUT. A WOODCUT is a relief printing technique where an artist carves an image into the surface of a wooden block leaving raised areas to be inked and printed. For this puzzle, however, it means the four types of WOOD hidden in the grid (HICKORY, MAHOGANY, CHERRY and CHESTNUT), are CUT into pieces.

May must be circles-on-Thursday month, but without them, they would be hard to find (hard wood?). Also, circles are cross-sections of logs, so there's that. This puzzle had appropriate difficulty for today, so I wasn't board. My only hang-up was the intersections of TORTA, ARCH and WAR, which took some guessing.

Lumbering on...

Across:

1. Novice gamers, informally: NEWBS. Slang term for beginners, similar to "newbies." 

6. Thurman of "Pretty Lethal": UMA. She has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows since the 1980s. Perhaps because she is 5'-11" tall, UMA is often cast as a tough cookie.  

9. Pizzeria array: PIES.

13. Moral principle: ETHIC.

14. "M*A*S*H" setting, for short: KOR. KORea. Both the movie and the TV show took place in South Korea during the Korean War.

15. "Butterfly Dance" artist: YANNI. We don't play this at out house because RightBrain has lepidopterophobia, the fear of butterflies. I don't think she likes the way they flit around near her.

16. Put away: STASH.

17. Under a spell: ENTRANCED. Out for a spell: EXITED.

19. College where Robert Frost taught English: AMHERST. “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” ― Robert Frost.

21. "Let's do it!": I'M GAME.

22. NYC home of Matisse's "Landscape at Collioure": MOMA. The Museum Of Modern Art in New York City.

"Landscape at Collioure"

23. Fail to share: HOG.

25. Taylor-Joy of "The Northman": ANYA. Her wide-set eyes were a point of insecurity growing up, so she stopped looking in mirrors and became a star. Excellent advice.

26. Skillets: FRY PANS.

29. Area exposed by an updo: NAPE. When hair is tied up, it exposes the NAPE of the neck.

31. Teases: RIBS.

32. "__ it down!": TONE. Could also be TURN.

34. "Downton Abbey" cook: DAISY. DAISY is played by actress Sophie McShera. Never seen it; never will.

38. Here, in Honduras: ACA. "Here" is a little Spanish for you.

39. [theme]

41. Mod About You polish maker: OPI. OPI nail polish is famous for its creative, pun-heavy shade names, such as Polly Want a Lacquer? and Let Me Bayou a Drink. I have no idea what colors they are, but they sound like fun!

42. Mexican sandwich: TORTA. A TORTA is a popular and hearty Mexican sandwich served on a crusty roll and filled with ingredients like refried beans, avocado, cheese, and a protein such as carne asada, often topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and jalapeños. Gotta try it!

44. Like a bowstring: TAUT.

45. Trade: SWAP. Swap: TRADE. Yep, it works.

46. Playfully sly: ARCH. I filled in the word, but had to look it up to see how it meant "playfully shy." An ARCH person or expression is playfully roguish or mischievous. It combines a sense of being sly or cunning with a witty, often impish demeanor. So, not your ARCH enemy.

48. Endearment: PET NAME. 

50. Electrically adaptable: AC/DC. In the late 19th century "War of Currents," there was intense competition about building power grids. Thomas Edison championed DC, while George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla promoted AC. AC won due to its superior long-distance efficiency, while DC is common in battery-powered devices. 

53. __ Majesty: HER. Or HIS - only your perps know for sure. 

55. Sazerac options: RYES. The Sazerac is a historic New Orleans cocktail, often considered America's first, traditionally made with RYE whiskey or cognac, bitters, sugar, and an absinthe rinse.

56. Carefree: BLITHE.

58. Abu Dhabi, e.g.: EMIRATE. At the beginning of this month, the United Arab EMIRATEs (UAE)—representing Abu Dhabi's oil interests—formally exited OPEC after nearly 60 years of membership.

61. Expanse crossed by Odysseus: IONIAN SEA. The latest remake of the Odyssey, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, will be released in a few months. I rarely see movies in a theater, but this one may be the exception.

63. Sanctions: OKAYS.

65. Like van Gogh and Vermeer: DUTCH. He went double DUTCH on this one.

66. Superlative suffix: EST. That's the bestest there is!

67. __-Grain: NUTRI.

68. Breyers rival: EDYS. EDY'S and Dreyer's are the exact same ice cream sold under different names based on geography. Dreyer's is sold west of the Rocky Mountains and in Texas, while EDY'S is sold in the eastern/midwestern United States to avoid confusion with Breyers. 

69. Tiny: WEE.

70. Blades for some Olympians: EPEES. 

Down:

1. Super Mario Bros. console: NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.

2. Jazzy James: ETTA. She needs no introduction.

3. Guitar accessory that may create vibrato: WHAMMY BAR. Vibrato is an oscillation in pitch, which on a guitar is caused by stretching or loosening the strings with a lever popularly known as a WHAMMY BAR. Leo Fender famously misnamed his a "tremolo" arm, which should be oscillations in volume. 

Press down to lower pitch, pull up to raise it.

4. Knights' neighbors: BISHOPS. 

5. Blueprint: SCHEMA. I wanted SCHEMe. A SCHEMA is a structured framework—mental or technical—that organizes information to facilitate understanding, efficiency, or data management. I guess a blueprint falls under that definition.

6. Luau instruments: UKES.

7. May, say: MONTH. 

8. Skill: ART.

9. Prehistoric supercontinent: PANGAEA. You can see how everything fit together like a puzzle before continental drift moved them to their present locations over 300 million years. The landmasses shift at the same speed as fingernails grow. 

10. Like some pyramids: INCAN.

11. Moriarty, to Holmes: ENEMY.

12. Musician's better half?: SIDE A. The first side of a vinyl record, but sometimes DJs flipped them over and SIDE B became the unexpected hit, like "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris, with every drummers' dream solo.

 "Surfer Joe" on SIDE A wiped out.

15. Sweet potato: YAM.

18. Latvian capital: RIGA.

20. Cost: RAN TO.

24. Recipe quantity: ONE CUP.

26. Greek life group: FRAT. FRATernities and sororities use Greek letters to represent secret, values-based mottos that often define their principles, such as leadership, charity, and friendship. The tradition originated with Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 at the College of William & Mary (where I met RightBrain 200 years later!).

27. Part of P.R.: RICO. Puerto RICO. I tried to abbreviate Public Relations, but to no avail.

28. Calm: SOOTHE.

30. S.F. summer hrs.: PDT. Pacific Daylight Time in San Francisco.

33. Leak prevention measure, briefly: NDA. A Non-Disclosure Agreement usually hides something that should be known to all.

35. Home of the Cyclones: IOWA STATE. Aptly named as their campus in Ames, Iowa is in Tornado Alley.

36. Hormel product: SPAM.

37. Cry in pain: YIPE. Similar to"yikes," I guess.

39. Biblical rider of a red horse: WAR. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are biblical figures from Revelation 6:1–8, representing divine judgment. Their horses appear as White (Conquest/Christ), Red (War), Black (Famine), and Pale (Death).

40. Development sites: UTERI.

43. Elements of a strategy: TACTICS.

45. Move stealthily: SNEAK UP.

47. Steve who co-founded YouTube: CHEN. He sold YouTube to Google for the bargain price of $1.65 billion in 2006. Don't worry, he made out okay.

49. Power of classic films: TYRONE. TYRONE was an American actor who became a matinee idol in the 1930s and ’40s and was best known for his action-adventure film roles.

50. Stand: ABIDE.

51. Easy part of a sky in a jigsaw puzzle, maybe: CLOUD. RightBrain took a photo of our fam on vacay in Key West, and had it turned into a puzzle. We put the pieces into another jigsaw box, and saved it for a family night. Part way through, my DIL exclaimed, "Hey, I have a dress with this same pattern!" Then it began to dawn on them...

52. __ Moore: canned stew brand: DINTY.

54. Oscar winner Witherspoon: REESE. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of June Carter in the biopic Walk the Line in 2005. REESE did all her own singing and that helped put her over the line. 

Reese with Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash

57. "As if!": HAH.

59. Londoner's pal: MATE.

60. Brontë orphan: EYRE. To EYRE is human...

62. Darn: SEW. This answer is so clever.

64. Certain sib: SIS. A sibling may be a SISter.

Be good. RB