Thursday February 12, 2026 Joe Marquez

From the NYT: "Joe Marquez is a puzzle constructor. He likes words..." He deserves more than that; it sounds like my biography! But he's young, and we'll soon have pages about him. He co-authored one here back in May, and this is his (free) solo debut. I'm sure we'll see many more.

17. *Pointless task: FOOL'S ERRAND. A FOOL'S ERRAND is a pointless, futile, or impossible task that wastes time and effort. Like when RightBrain gives me a grocery list expecting all the right brands and sizes.

21. *Climb without ropes: FREE SOLO. A FREE SOLO is a form of rock climbing where the climber (free soloist) climbs without ropes or any form of protective equipment. One man's quest on El Capitan in Yosemite Park became an Oscar winning documentary film.

38. *Craftsman kit: TOOL SET. I've bought many Craftsman™ TOOL SETs from Sears over the years, one piece at a time. I used to be fascinated by their catalog pages showing massive sets, like a kid with a Wish Book. Their hand tools have a lifetime warranty - solid as Sears! Until a few years ago, anyway. 

55. *Squeaker: CLOSE ONE. An idiom describing a narrowly avoided loss in a tight competition. It is commonly used to express relief after an evenly matched game. That's a CLOSE ONE!

And what do all these answers have in common? Nothing, so it seems, until the revealer ties them together:

62. Collection found under sofa cushions, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues?: LOOSE CHANGE. In addition to coins, one can find keys and hopefully, my lost remote control. Anyone seen it?

The letters that spell "LOOSE" are CHANGED (scrambled) as highlighted above. We've seen this before, but I thought finding phrases with five letters in a row was a neat trick. And because it's later in the week, no circles! The rest of the grid filled in rather easily for a Thursday, so smooth sailing. 

Let's tie up the rest of the LOOSE ends:

Across:

1. Winter X Games host city: ASPEN. Although the Winter Olympics are now in progress, here we have their wild little brother, the X Games. X for eXtreme.

6. "Hey, c'mere!": PSST.

10. Park place?: LOT. You can rent a space for $35, which seems like a LOT.

13. __ Doone cookies: LORNA. Introduced in 1912, these shortbread cookies were named after the titular character in a 1869 historical romance novel, but nobody knows why.

14. Navel type: OUTIE. Is this an innie or an OUTIE?

16. Janelle's "Abbott Elementary" role: AVA. Everyone said this is a great show, so I watched a few episodes. Unfortunately, I was annoyed by Janelle James' over-the-top portrayal of the principal. I guess I'm in the minority as she won an Emmy.
 

17. [theme]

19. Derisive cry: BAH. "BAH!" said no one ever (except Scrooge).

20. Chances to swing: AT BATS.

21. [theme]

23. Like the most yellow banana on the tree: RIPEST. When they get soft and brown, RightBrain freezes them to make banana bread. Now we can't fit anything else in the freezer and I'm still waiting! I jest, she's a great cook! (She made me say that.) Lately her passion has turned to making sourdough, which is quite a process but there's nothing like warm bread from the oven. 

25. Urgent care employee: NURSE.

26. Chemical synthesis need: REAGENT. After Sean Connery's stellar turn as James Bond, Roger Moore became REAGENT 007.

29. Not on solid ground: ASEA.

30. Desert refuges: OASES. 

31. Messy pile: HEAP. 

34. Goblet part: STEM.

37. Telethon VIPs: MCS. The Master of Ceremonies is a "Very Important Person" at many events. I'm not sure why they called out telethons in particular.

38. [theme]

41. Prospector's find: ORE. Where prospectors found it: ORE. The Oregon gold rush brought miners north just a few years after discovering it in California.

42. Sigh of relief: PHEW. That was a CLOSE ONE!

44. "You sure of that?": IS IT. 

45. Pieces of the heart: ATRIA. 

47. Noble title: EARL. The most famous EARL is noted for his sandwich. Genius! Before him, people just stacked stuff on top of bread. Animals!

49. Had a great time at: ENJOYED.

51. Quickly get through a season: BINGE. We cut the cord years ago, and now have enough subscriptions that we're paying about the same as cable! However, we often wait until an entire season has dropped before we BINGE watch it. No more forgetting about what happened last week as networks dribble out a show. And if your brain is as rusty as mine, that's a plus!

53. Gets out of Dodge: SCRAMS. Gets out of a Dodge: AMBLES

55. [theme]

57. Swashbuckler's sword: RAPIER. Named after my wit! RightBrain says that's half right.

61. Downside: CON.

62. [theme]

64. N.J. winter hrs.: EST. New Jersey uses Eastern Standard Time during winter hours. 

65. Bunch of flowers: SPRAY. 

66. Gas in some colorful signs: ARGON. Here's a colorful ARGON sign:

67. Software engineer, for short: DEV. They called me a DEVELOPER for short, but not for long!

68. Exceedingly dry: SERE. 

69. __ of all: LEAST.

Down:
1. A in communications?: ALFA. Beginning of the NATO alphabet. It is intentionally spelled with an "f"' rather than "ph" to ensure consistent pronunciation across different languages, as non-English speakers might not intuitively know to pronounce "ph" as "f."

2. Chimney buildup: SOOT.

3. "Not my __": PROB. "Not my PROBLEM." When people say this, it PROBably is.

4. Blow up: ENLARGE.

5. Most unpleasant: NASTIEST. 

6. "¿__ qué?": POR. "Why" is this in Spanish?

7. Sees the sites: SURFS. I wanted TOURS at first.

8. Kick off: START. I STARTED when they asked me for a ticket I didn't have, and then was kicked off the train.

9. Prong: TINE. 

10. Place for experiments: LABORATORY.

11. Shapes formed by spotlights: OVALS. Of course, more interesting shapes are possible.

12. Lake in the Sierra Nevada: TAHOE.

15. Utopias: EDENS.

18. "30 for 30" network: ESPN. "30 for 30" refers to Entertainment and Sports Programming Network's documentary series celebrating its 30th anniversary with 30 films on sports history.

22. Takes to court: SUES.

24. Shared belief system: ETHOS.

26. Easy win: ROMP. Not a CLOSE ONE!

27. Per person: EACH. A pop.

28. Product line?: AS SEEN ON TV. Winner - best clue. And you know if you saw it on TV, it has to be crappy.

29. Primatology subject: APE.

32. Pharmaceutical giant __ Lilly: ELI. 

33. Daisy kin: ASTER. Daisy kin: ABNER.

35. Maumee River endpoint: ERIE. A new way to clue an old fav. 

36. Honey brew: MEAD.

39. Canola __: OIL.

40. Mausoleum on the Yamuna River: TAJ MAHAL. A new way to clue an old fav, but it's also like 35A. So, a new old way?

43. Happy dog's movements: WAGS. Who's a good boy? FuzzyBrain (aka Buster)!

46. In reserve: TO SPARE.

48. Film rolls: REELS.

50. Drug cop: NARC. NARCOTICS agent.

51. Secretly looped in: BCCED. Blind Carbon Copied. A feature that lets you send an email to multiple recipients without revealing their addresses to each other, protecting privacy.

52. "No prize for me this time": I LOSE. Well, maybe a booby prize...

53. Nap noisily: SNORE. 

54. Labor leader Chavez: CESAR.

56. Unwelcome sound from a barber: OOPS. 

58. Actress Swenson: INGA. Although her name sounds Scandinavian, she from Omaha.

59. Impediments to effective teamwork: EGOS. It's tough to l'eggo one's EGOS.

60. Monopoly payment: RENT. RENT to own! Now you can be a homeowner for the low, low price of $200! First four callers get a free hotel stay. Call now!!

63. Needle part: EYE. I like Ken Follett, and Eye of the Needle was his first breakthrough book, earning him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America.

Go ahead and let LOOSE in the comments.
Be good. RB

Thursday February 5, 2026 Rich Katz

Rich Katz is relatively new to the crossword game, but has been coming on strong and has built a reputation of being inventive and humorous. Today, he has something shady going on.

Rich Katz (maybe)

Here are the themers. Don't scratch your head too hard trying to figure out how the answers are related, because they're not. It's clues that are BLUE.

18. "Aquaman" star: JASON MOMOA. Aqua blue. 

23. Cocktail that may be made with Bombay Sapphire: GIN AND TONIC. Sapphire blue.

36. Band with the hit "In the Navy": VILLAGE PEOPLE. Navy blue. 

52. Microsoft Azure competitor: GOOGLE CLOUD. Azure blue. 

57. Children's show whose title character leaves paw-print hints, and what 18-, 23-, 36-, and 52-Across have in common: BLUE'S CLUES. BLUE is an animated puppy who leaves a trail of paw print CLUES that her human co-host (and viewers) must follow to solve riddles.

So, the theme refers to the CLUES and not the answers on the grid. This seems tangent to what a crossword is supposed to be and falls in the gray are between themed and themeless. Shades of blue in the clues can be fun, but their associated answers are obvious, except for knowing Microsoft Azure is akin to GOOGLE CLOUD if you're not a techie. All in all, a pretty easy Thursday. In fact, I blew right through it!

Double your pleasure, double your fun! Note all the doubled letters!

Across:

1. Title said with a hat tip, perhaps: MA'AM.

5. Daddy: PAPA. Who's your PAPA?

9. "__ out!": PEACE. 

14. Photographer Geddes: ANNE. The "Queen of Baby Photography."

15. Wasn't colorfast: BLED.

16. Complete: UTTER.

17. Sign gas: NEON. Gas sign: NEON.

18. [theme]

20. Out of order: AMISS.

22. "Hey, Soul Sister" rock band: TRAIN. This smash hit has sold over 10 million units in the U.S.  Released in 2009, it was the top-selling single of 2010, reached the top 10 in multiple countries, and has surpassed 1 billion streams...which means I probably should've heard of it.

23. [theme]

26. PC pioneer: IBM. The usual M.O. (modus operandi) of us contributors is to spell out abbreviations in case someone doesn't understand the clue or answer. Informal poll - should I spell out ultra-common abbreviations like these? Personal Computers and International Business Machines?

29. Chow down: EAT. Chew up: EAT.

30. Small battery, or an org. that may help with a car battery: AAA. American Automobile Association.

31. Iditarod racer: SLED DOG.

33. Suomi speakers: FINNS. Suomi means Finland in Finnish, but can also mean the language.

35. Ages and ages: EONS. Many, many, ERAS.

36. [theme]

41. Gyro bread: PITA.

42. Give a bit more: TOP UP. Brit-speak for adding more to an existing level of something. We usually TOP off here in the States.

43. Accounts with round numbers?: BAR TABS. As in a round of drinks that may need TOPPING UP.

47. Spy-fi novelist Deighton: LEN.

48. Visitor in a knock-knock joke that ends, "It's nothing to cry about!": BOO. 
        Knock, knock. 
        Who's there? 
        BOO. 
        BOO who? And hilarity ensues...

51. Tricky: SLY.

52. [theme]

55. Herb in caprese salad: BASIL. I love caprese salads with the bright colors of the Italian flag. So simple to make yet so fancy on the table.

56. Upper crust: ELITE.

57. [theme]

62. "Sad to say ... ": ALAS. 

63. Goodyear products: TIRES. One of the three Goodyear blimp bases is right here in nearby Pompano Beach, FL. 

64. Legendary rebuke: ET TU.

65. Memory units, for short: MEGS. MEGAbyteS.

66. Branch of Islam: SUNNI.

67. Leader whose address ends with .edu: DEAN.

68. Bailiwick: AREA. A bailiwick is one's sphere of operations or particular AREA of interest.

Down:

1. Run: MANAGE. 

2. Condition often treated with iron supplements: ANEMIA.

3. Tap, as one's successor: ANOINT.

4. High-IQ society: MENSA. I had to drop out when my brain got rusty.

5. Many a school sammie: PBJ. The classic Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I looked up "sammie" and found most people hate the term, unless they are in grade school. Here's the gourmet version. It's cut on a diagonal. Ooh la la. 

6. In the style of: ALA. Borrowed from French, à la, means “according to” or “in the manner of.” As in a PBJ ALA Cordon Bleu. 

7. 55-Across sauce: PESTO.

8. Decorates: ADORNS.

9. Pedicure stone: PUMICE. 

10. Harry and William's alma mater: ETON.

11. Convenience in a cash-only venue: ATM. Automated Teller Machine.

12. Corp. leader: CEO. A Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking executive in a corporation.

13. Shaded section of a timeline: ERA. Here's the famous ERAs Tour:

19. Execute perfectly: NAIL. Perfectly executed NAILs:

21. Slug kin: SNAIL.

24. Comedian Carvey: DANA. Meet Garth, one of  DANA's most famous characters from Wayne's World, originally an SNL skit.

25. Punchy flavor: TANG. 

26. Pop sensation: IDOL.

27. Barbecue discard: BONE. 

28. Booker T.'s band: M.G.'S. Sadly, Steve Cropper, songwriter and their original guitarist, died this past December (thanks for reminding me, MalMan!). I dabble on the keyboards, and one of my favorite songs to play is Green Onions, written by Cropper, with its distinctive Hammond B3 organ sound.
 

32. "Nosferatu" actress Lily-Rose: DEPP. You guessed it, Lily-Rose is Johnny DEPP's daughter.

33. No longer fizzy: FLAT. 

34. Game, __, match: SET. Tennis’s notoriously bizarre scoring system (using love, 15, 30, 40, and “deuce” instead of 0-1-2-3-4) likely stems from medieval clock-based scoring, where quarters (15, 30, 45) marked points.

36. Lab container: VIAL.

37. "It was nothing": I TRY.

38. Exit __: POLL.

39. Fencing blade: EPEE. Whee! It's EPEE...again.

40. Light weight: OUNCE. Actually, light has no weight. It consists of photons, which are massless particles. However, because light possesses energy and momentum, it behaves as if it has a relativistic mass and is affected by gravity. I watch NOVA!

41. "Nova" network: PBS. For over 50 years, NOVA has the most popular prime-time science series on American television.

44. Tennis star Andre: AGASSI. Tennis players often place a small silicone dampener in their strings to reduce vibration. RightBrain has a bunch that look like anything from ladybugs to smiley faces, but I use a simple rubber band because AGASSI does. 

45. Anjou alternative: BOSC. Members of your pear group:

46. Dirtied: SOILED.

48. Tank in a basement: BOILER. Tanks in a basement: AQUARIUMS.

49. Service interruption: OUTAGE. I hope none of you had a power OUTAGE during the winter storms last week.

50. Black Sea port: ODESSA.

53. Posterior muscle, informally: GLUTE. Know your GLUTEs:

54. Many a denizen of Machu Picchu: LLAMA.

55. "It's __ a minute!": BEEN. 

57. "Mic Drop" K-pop septet: BTS. This South Korean sensation is known to me only by xwords.

58. Actor Simu: LIU. He's kicked Lucy LIU out of the xword rotation, but it seems like they're still friends!

59. Samovar: URN. Universal Remains Niche. (This might not be an abbreviation!)

60. Due-in hr.: ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

61. Phoenix NBAer: SUN. National Basketball Association is abbreviated, but the team is still just the SUNs.

I hope this chased some of your BLUES away!
Be Good. RB