Friday, February 13th, 2026 ~ Barbara Lin

 CATWALK-ING

Superstitious~?  The Quadruple Whammy

THIS is what a real crossword looks and solves like - with gratitude from my heart to our constructor, whose last appearance for the LA Times was here.  The puzzle has a standard 15 x 15 grid, no gimmicks, no circles, a level of difficulty hinting at what's to come with the Saturday themeless ( I'm looking at you, 11D. ).  Just six names, maybe a few too many abbrs ( and a high 3LW count ), with with two pairs of nines in the Downs, and enough vagueness/deception to make me have to think about the answers.  The themers, "add-ING" to common phrases, are all unique, and such that if a solver can get a hold on one, they can go back and get some assistance for the others; no contrived reveal or 'forced' fill, either.  I give it Four Moe ⭐ stars~!  The themers;

19. Reservation with impeccable timing?: THE GOOD BOOKING - The Good Book, better known as The Bible; add ING, and you get the last room available at Comic Con - I so want to dress up and go~!

27. Task for a pet store with too many cats?: KITTY HAWKING - I thought this might be an outlier, with Kittyhawk being one word, but no - the town in North Carolina is Kitty Hawk - more here

A kitty hawking "real estate"

45. Sport that combines football and sparring?: TACKLE BOXING - Sounds like this could be fun - but then again, I think we have this sport already - it's called MMA

54. Night when one leaves the closet?: COME OUT EVENING - Gaming, gambling, etc., where one "buys in" and leaves at the end with the same 'investment'; I have had many a poker night where I was glad to have "come out even"

But Waiting, There's Moreing

ACROSS:

1. Elevator choice: FLOOR - Ah.  Clever; I was thinking brand name, then "LOCAL", as opposed to express; overthinkING it, so my NW was messy

6. Tech giant headquartered in Armonk, N.Y.: IBM - I did not know the home office was residING in my old state; name(ish)

9. Mixes in: ADDS - no mixing, just tackING on ING

13. Future family member: FIANCÉ -  Ah. The groom side of the equation; fiancée is the lass

14. Cal. neighbor: ARIzona

15. Sniffed item in some tastings: CORK - I pondered "NOSE"  - more here - the aroma ( not odor ) of a wine at a tasting; cork sniffer has a negative connotation these days

16. Intelligence, sense of humor, etc.: ASSETS

17. Aunt's sis: MOM - my step-grandfather married my grandmother and his brother married her daughter, my mother's sister - figure that one out 😜

18. Like half of an MLB team's games: AWAY - not just baseball, most team sports have half their season played at another team's arena, not on/at their home field

22. Med. nation: SYR - I had the "Y" in place from doing the Downs first; Mediterranean / Syria

23. WNBA player: PRO - clever deception; NBA players are PROfessionals, too - I was overthinkING again, that the "W" factored into the answer

24. Forensic drama franchise: CSI - totally misread this clue, put in NSA 😝

25. "Christopher Robin" hopper: ROO - from Winnie The Pooh, name #1

30. "Frozen" character with antlers: SVEN - The reindeer in the Disney animated film; name #2

33. "Told you!": "SEE~!"

34. One metal in bimetallism: SILVER - LearnING moment for me; I thought bimetallism referred to the two metals, typically brass and steel, that make an old thermostat work - more on the financial "standard" here

Technically, I am correct - help me out here, HuskerG

35. Peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand and the Strait of Malacca: MALAY - geo name #3

37. Fuel additive brand: STP - crossword staple

39. Prolonged battle: SIEGE

40. Polar mass: ICE CAP

42. Facial twitch: TIC

44. Indoor rowers: ERGS - I knew this because my brother has one in his basement

48. Sinus specialist, briefly: ENT - Ears, Nose, Throat - crossword staple

49. Not well: ILL

50. "Or so __ heard": "I'VE"

51. Soccer great Hamm: MIA - name #4, but a frequent visitor to crosswords

58. Drive: FIRE - Friday cluING; drive has several definitions; cars, golf, passion, etc

59. Ironman competition, for short: TRIathlon; SwimmING, CyclING, RunnING 

60. Brainstorm: IDEATE - $2 word

61. Light up: BEAM - think facially, like 'happy' tics

62. Crew blade: OAR - Crüe Axe

Mick Mars - Mötley Crüe - I have a similar BC Rich "axe"

63. Tickled pink: ELATED - This one cost me two minutes trying to find my error;  I went with "S" at the end, not "D", never noticed the "tense" of either crossing

64. Spot in the sea: ISLE - this corrected my other messy corner; I had "ATF" for 63D.

65. Bill addressing climate change?: NYE - filled via perps, but "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" is also a regular visitor to crosswords; name #5

66. Flower part: SEPAL

DOWN:

1. Suspicious: FISHY - Ah.  I was thinkING human perspective, went with LEERY - this is somethING generally soundING questionable - but not my "Y"

2. Hair-removal option: LASER - HOT WAX did not fit.  Ouch.

3. Thou: ONE G - the slang for a thousand, one Grand, not the Biblical thou / thee / thine

4. Army creatures?: OCTOPI - Clever, but perhaps this is better clued as Arm-y~?   I did get it

5. Vacation spots: RESORTS

6. Foot that's part of a meter: IAMB - poetry, e.g.

7. Jewelry box item: BROOCH - Earring, Necklace, Bracelet were too expensive in terms of letters

8. Brunch cocktails: MIMOSAS

9. Nutrient-rich berry: ACAI

10. With the current: DOWNRIVER - Dictionary says it's one word

11. Unhatched prize in Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series: DRAGON EGG - name(ish), complete unknown, but I had enough crossings to figure it out; here's the Wiki

I'm going to try out this read

12. Much of a sunset photo: SKY - Dah~!  I went with "RED"

Surreal - and a contest winner - more here

13. Jazz legend Waller: FATS - name #6, no clue.  We are in Feb, Black History Month; more here

20. Lavishes affection (on): DOTES

21. Auckland residents, informally: KIWIS - Aussies are too fat to fit

26. Big brutes: OGRES - unless you're Shrek

27. Special skill: KNACK - I have a knack for complicatING simple things

28. "__ Come": BTS hit song: "YET TO" - no clue; here's the video link if you care to watch

29. Big name in bright lights: KLIEG - this one I knew, from working on movies - more here

30. Dispatch, biblically: SMITE - lots of Bible today

31. Openings: VACANCIES

32. __ college: ELECTORAL

36. New Haven undergrad: YALIE - Ah.  Eli didn't make the grade . . . 

38. Short cut: PIXIE - Haircut - I call my Pruis C 2 "Pixie"

Short cut - Short car - both cute

41. Pack of cyclists in a race: PELOTON - Tour de Frawnche taught me this word

Now that there's a piece of equipment called Peloton, it's

all that comes up on a Google search 😜

43. Out-of-uniform garb: CIVVIES - Ha~! Nailed it, the rare double "v" spelling and all; civilian attire

46. DVD alternative: BLU-RAY - I have a Blu-Ray player and a few movies

47. Pine leaf: NEEDLE - Yup, that's what the needles are - leafs; they're Leafs in Canada, Eh~?

51. Mazda roadster: MIATA - One of the employees of the pipe organ company has a 2005 model - he let me drive it to get coffee; no power steerING, and manual shiftING - a true drivING experience~!

I'll have the 2026 - in blue, with the fold-away hard top - Vroom-Vroom~!

52. Recon acquisition: INTEL - GatherING whilst spyING

53. Like wine and cheese: AGED - PAIRED didn't work - DUET~?

55. Eager volunteer's cry: "ME~! ME~!" - not the internet meme

56. Lose steam: TIRE - It's Friday, I pondered "FLAG"

57. Semimonthly tide: NEAP

58. DOJ arm: FBI - Department of Justice, and "Fart, Barf & Itch" ( from the Dave Robicheaux series books ).  Also possible were ATF and DEA; not fitting in were the Bueau of Prisons and the US Marshals

** Thanks to all at the Corner for the B-day comments, and I truly appreciate "Eh!" who had me down for five years younger 😁 I am surprised at the number of folks who said that "double nickel" was in the rearview mirror for them - keep on solving crosswords~!  I do miss the pipe organ job - such a cool place to work, and I am still planning on getting my very own Cooper - loved the links and pics; my brother's card said "I can't drive 55~!" **

Splynter

Grid Flow a low 23.7

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

Wednesday February 11, 2026 Jill Singer

Happy Wednesday, everyone! sumdaze here, playing substitute blogger. Constructor Jill Singer has given us a puzzle without a unifier, starred clues, or circles to help identify the theme. Instead, the gimmick is revealed through parallelism in the clues. Once you clock it, everything falls into place in proper Wednesday fashion.

Theme:      

I think I have mentioned this book in a previous post.
It is a collection of over 1,100 collective nouns
for groups of animals, people, and abstract concepts.

In today's puzzle we find four themed answers. Each is an in-the-language phrase such that one of the words in the phrase is the collective noun for the animal in the clue. If you are new to solving, you might wonder how to spot this. In my case, I first noticed that all of the clues to the long answers have an animal in them. 

Let's look at them now. I have used yellow highlight to connect the animal to its collective noun and blue highlight to connect the other part of the answer.

20 Across. Fish exhibit only viewable by appointment?: PRIVATE SCHOOL.  

The collective noun for fish is school.

A PRIVATE SCHOOL is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. (I think it is interesting that their definitions are pretty much switched in the U.K.)

36 Across. Procession of new arrivals to a lion sanctuary?: PRIDE PARADE.  

The collective noun for lions is pride.

A PRIDE PARADE (also known as a pride event, pride festival, pride march, pride protest, equality parade, or equality march) is an event celebrating LGBTQ social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride.  (Wiki)

Mexico City (2019)

43 Across. Gorillas who give glowing testimonies?: TRIBUTE BAND.  

The collective noun for gorillas is band.

This one got a little muddy for me because there is an English virtual band called Gorillaz. They are as original as can be -- not a tribute band. Sure, one can say that the final "z" makes all the difference, but I found this one distracting. Here is one of their most popular songs.

58 Across. "The Case of the Disappearing Crows," e.g.?: MURDER MYSTERY.  

The collective noun for crows is murder.  

a MURDER on the beach

Time to collect up the remaining clues:

Across:

1. Needlework?: TATS.  I like how we start with a bit of misdirection. We are not talking about embroidery. We are talking about using needles to create TATtooS.  

5. Engineer Nikola: TESLA.  [1856-1943] Tesla was born in the Austrian Empire (now Croatia). He became a U.S. citizen in 1891. "Top 11 Things You Did Not Know About Nikola Tesla" (U.S. Dept. of Energy website)  Disclaimer:  I generally bristle at article titles that say "You Did Not Know". How could they know what we do know or do not know?

10. Not exciting: BLAH.  

14. Color name that means "unbleached" in French: ECRU.  I sometimes mistakenly equate ECRU with ochre.

Left: A model looks happy wearing an ECRU sweater.
Right:  Australian cyclist Jay Vine looks happy wearing the ochre leader's jersey 
in the Tour Down Under earlier this year.

15. Mermaid whose best friend is Flounder: ARIEL.  

Ariel and Flounder
Shouldn't he be in SCHOOL?

16. Spa wrap: ROBE.  I could not find a collective noun for ROBE so I am going to suggest a wardrobe of robes.  😉 

someone getting a seaweed wrap at a spa
(I considered the 4-letter seaweed and XWD favorite, nori.)

17. Brontë novel locale: MOOR.  The 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is set in the Yorkshire MOORs of northern England. 

18. Silver screen lovers: CINEPHILES.  Is CINEPHILES a collective noun for movie lovers? If so, Easter egg alert!

22. Inception: ONSET.

23. "XO, Kitty" creator Jenny: HAN.  This is an American rom-com TV series that aired for two seasons on Netflix.  Han was the solo creator.  😉

24. Himalayan bovine: YAK.  

Meet Senji the YAK.  (2:57 min.)

27. "Oh my!": YOWZA.  This interjection is used to express surprise or amazement.  

31. Invitation to eat: DIG IN.  If someone tells you to DIG IN, they are inviting you to help yourself to plentiful food.

33. 1990 accessibility law, for short: ADA.  Americans with Disabilities Act

39. Tree with an edible heart: PALM.  

I encounter these in Southeast Asian cuisine.
They have a firm texture and mild flavor.

41. Accustom: INURE.  Example sentence from Oxford languages:  You'd think my Southern nature would INURE me to this weather.

42. Outfielder Tommie in the Mets Hall of Fame: AGEE.  link to Mets Hall of Fame

Here are some collective nouns for baseball:

    a crouch of catchers

    a mound of pitchers

    (Collectively, the pitcher and  catcher are a battery.)

    a deck of batters

    a spit of benchwarmers

    a myopia of umpires

    a wave of baseball fans

46. 1960s youth activist org.: SDS.  Students for a Democratic Society

47. Like some pads: LEGAL.  

The collective noun for lawyers is eloquence.  

48. In motion: ASTIR.

50. Yang counterpart: YIN.  "As a general rule, anything more subdued and calm is YIN, while something with more energy is yang."  Feng Shui Modern by Cliff Tan

51. Up to, briefly: 'TIL.  until  -->  'til

54. Celeb's image problem: BAD PR.  "Celebrity is shortened, so is "Public Relations".  

63. Comfortable in social settings: GREGARIOUS.  Def.:  (adj.) enjoying the company of others; marked by or showing a liking for companionship.

65. Oklahoma city: ENID.  It is 1,163 mi. (1,872 km.) from Enid, OK to Erie, PA. Better pack some Oreos and a CD with oboe music for the road trip!

66. Classic video game: PONG.  

The collective noun for ping-PONG players is smash.

67. Words of concession: I LOSE.  I had "I LOSt" but then decided the Belgian river needed a vowel.

68. Turn on a __: DIME.  This expression means to change direction almost instantly.

69. Tunneling pests: ANTS.  

The collective noun for ANTS is colony.

70. Less vulnerable: SAFER.

71. Love, in Lima: AMOR.  The official language of Peru is Spanish.

Down:

1. Pace: TEMPO.  We often see this word associated with music.

2. Source of a mighty oak: ACORN.  

I took this photo of a Coastal Oak adorned with lichen
 while hiking last weekend in Ft. Ord National Monument.
(Just to clarify, I was hiking -- not the oak.)

3. Sept moins quatre: TROIS.  No idea...but it looks like French and sept makes me think of a septagon (polygon with 7 sides & 7 angles) and quatre makes me think of a quadrilateral (polygon with 4 sides & 4 angles). Then a perp or two helped me to see the French word for "three" (as in ménage à trois). With that, this clue likely means 7 - 4 = 3. The commentors can let me know if I am mistaken.

4. Questionnaire: SURVEY.  

5. Discretion: TACT.

6. Lake known for walleye: ERIE.  I filled this because it asked for a lake with four letters in its name. However, now I know that the walleye is a native fish to Lake Erie and that it is named for its pearlescent eyes that help it see in dark and muddy water.

7. Greed, lust, wrath, et al.: SINS.  I liked that 7-Down refers to the "Seven Deadly Sins"? The list includes these three, along with PRIDE, envy, gluttony, and sloth. The editors did a good job of avoiding a dupe with "pride".

8. Little sucker: LEECH.  I wondered how "little" they are so I did some research. LEECHes are parasitic or predatory worms. Only around 10% of LEECH species are parasites that feed on the blood of their hosts. Most prey on small invertebrates and larvae. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. Most LEECH species are quite small and can initially go unnoticed by their hosts but the Amazon giant LEECH can measure up to 17.7 inches long and 3.9 inches wide. This species can live up to 20 years. YOWZA!

Amazon giant leech on human ankle

9. Generation after Z: ALPHA.  

10. Élan: BRIO.  Def.:  (noun)  enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; verve.

11. Idles: LOLLYGAGS.  This was a fun fill word!!  

12. 16th pres.: ABE.  President Abraham Lincoln

13. Bucks and boars: HES.  "Males" has too many letters.

19. Odyssey maker: HONDA.  This clue might be using the capitalize-the-first-letter-of-a-clue convention to misdirect solvers. Yes, HOmer made a book entitled The Odyssey but the lack of title quotation marks lets us know that this clue is about a minivan.  

21. On: ATOP.

25. Helped: AIDED.

26. Capped joints: KNEES.

28. __ large: WRIT.  This phrase means "on a larger scale or in a more prominent manner," sort of like bold type.

29. Fan pub: ZINE.  Merriam-Webster does not consider ZINE an abbreviation; nevertheless, "pub" for "publication" was helpful.

30. "The Residence" actress Uzo: ADUBA.  her IMDb page

The collective noun for leading ladies is preen. 

32. Golden yrs. fund: IRA.  "Years" is abbreviated, so is "Individual Retirement Account". 

33. Appropriately: APTLY.

34. "Would it be too bold of me?": DARE I.

35. Chiropractor's concern: ALIGNMENT.

37. Noted times: ERAS.

38. Bottled (up): PENT.  Think, "PENT up frustrations".

40. Deg. for many a Wharton grad: MBA.  The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was established as the world's first collegiate business school in 1881.  History of Wharton

44. Extreme: ULTRA.  Def.: (adj.) going beyond others or beyond due limit.

45. Call for a reservation?: DIBS.  I liked this clue. When your sibling calls DIBS on shotgun, they are "reserving" the front passenger seat.

49. Like decent bonds: RATED A.  

This is the Jenga scene from The Big Short (2015).

It explains the 2008 global financial crisis in 8:17 min.

52. Elba who voices Chief Bogo in the "Zootopia" films: IDRIS.  Hi Lucina! 

The collective noun for leading men is pride.

53. "The Translator" novelist Aboulela: LEILA.  goodreads link  

The collective noun for authors is advance.

55. Fabric first known as "sergé de Nîmes": DENIM.  Perps helped a lot with this one. "DENIM" started as a contraction of that French phrase. Sergé is a type of fabric and Nîmes is the name of a place.

56. Excellent: PRIMO.  In this case, PRIMO is a slang term meaning "of the finest quality". We see it a lot in advertising and branding.  

57. Truck rental choice: RYDER.  

59. Some fluffy boots: UGGS.  

The collective noun for shoemakers is blackening.

If you are interested ... back in 2022, Planet Money did an episode 
on how UGG became the center of an international trademark dispute.

60. Solar panels spot: ROOF.  CSO to unclefred!

61. Contemplate: MUSE.

62. Belgian river: YSER.  We seem to be having a mini French subtheme today. This river begins in Northern France, flows through Belgium and empties into the North Sea. It is 48 mi. (78 km.) long.

Note the helpful map inset.

63. Graduation stat: GPA.  statistic and Grade Point Average

64. Director Howard: RON.  I enjoyed reading The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, a book Howard co-wrote with his brother. In it, he writes about his road to being an Oscar-winning director.

The collective noun for directors is guild. 

The grid:  

Bonus points for alternating the placement of the collective noun!

One more before we go:  

Note:  Except were noted, all of the collective nouns in this write-up are found in An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton.

That's all for today. I look forward to reading about your solving experiences in the comments section.

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

For those who missed my note last Friday, the ORCAS season here here. Our dear Sumdaze (Renee) has been nominated for Best Crossword Commentary. This year, all of the ORCAs-nominated puzzles will be available together in one special pack. The voting is open there through midnight Thursday, February 19.