Thursday July 30, 2026 Jeffrey Wechsler

In keeping with MalMan's second-in-a-row from Sala and Dena yesterday, I raise him a Jeffery Wechsler. This is his third Thursday puzzle that I've reviewed. People are starting to talk! 

No reveal, just answers that start with CHE plus one letter in an alphabet run: V, W, X, Y and Z. Why CHE? Maybe Jeffrey was trying to be revolutionary! He certainly revolved through some letters.

17. Car named for a California beach city: CHEVROLET MALIBU. For a while there, Chevy named several of its models after trendy places on or near the ocean: Laguna [Beach], Biscayne [Bay], and Bel Air (upscale coastal neighborhood).

23. Carefully considering something: CHEWING IT OVER. This idiom may have derived from how farm animals like cows "ruminate" by bringing up food and chewing it a second time.

35. Cereal-based snack: CHEX MIX. An old friend in Kansas sends us a batch every Christmas so we can get our annual CHEX MIX fix. 

46. Home of the Frontier Days rodeo: CHEYENNE WYOMING. The capital city of Wyoming.

55. California restaurant opened by Alice Waters in 1971: CHEZ PANISSE. The Berkley restaurant lost it Michelin star years ago, but apparently, it's still pretty good.

The solve went smoothly with only one monkey wrench - I'm looking at you, TITI. The mirror image symmetry and extra-tall grid made for an interesting visual. Is that CHE's face?

Let's CHEck out the rest:

Across:

1. Thompson of "Creed": TESSA. She played Bianca Taylor in 3 Creed movies that spun off from the Rocky franchise.

6. One crunch, e.g.: REP. A single REPetition. 

9. Accord, for one: SEDAN. It's also available as a 2-door coupe.

14. Dined on, quaintly: ATE OF.

15. Big bird: EMU. 

16. Año Nuevo month: ENERO. ENERO is January en español, the beginning of a New Year.

17. [theme]

20. South American monkey: TITI. TIL that TITIs are small furry primates also known as "jumping monkeys" because of how the leap from branch to branch.

21. In and of itself: PER SE. I found PER SE hard to PARSE.

22. Toolbar image: ICON. Tool ICONs prior to personal computers:

23. [theme]

26. Alien-seeking field: Abbr.: SETI. The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence. They didn't find any down here, so they started looking elsewhere. 

27. Pin number?: TEN. Fun clue, as in bowling pins.

28. Loch with a legend: NESS. Lock with a legend: ELVIS. A lock from his pompadour sold for $115,000 at an auction in 2002!

29. Mach 1 breaker: SST. SuperSonic Transports are jets that exceed the speed of sound (approx. 767mph = 1 Mach).

31. Author Rand: AYN. Her novel, Atlas Shrugged, constantly ranks near the top in reader's polls. I read it but it wasn't my cup of tea.

32. Catch a few winks: NAP.

35. [theme]

39. With 59-Down, "Tommy" band: THE. THE? THE who?

42. Land measure: ACRE.

44. Strong suit?: ARMOR.

45. Due, as an apology: OWED.

46. [theme]

49. "__ hoping!": HERE'S.

50. Nav. rank: ENS. Naval ranks in xwords are always ENS (Ensign) or ADM (Admiral), which is odd because Ensigns are the lowest ranking officers in the Navy, while Admirals are the highest.

51. __-nez: PINCE. When I first start wearing reading glasses, I found them uncomfortable when using headphones. I briefly tried PINCE-nez that "pinch the nose", but they were even more annoying and kept falling off. Growing old is no fun.

Besides, I didn't look cool like Morpheus.

52. West Texas city: ODESSA.

54. Having raised surfaces, as teeth: CUSPED. Cuspids have one point (aka canine teeth) while bicuspids have two.

55. [theme]

59. "Hold your horses!": WHOA.

61. Yank at: TUG ON. How my dentist removed my bicuspid. Note to self: get better dental insurance.

62. Pet food brand: IAMS. This is as good a place as any to pander to the crowd:

Buster and his cuspids

65. Like some cheese: HARD.

66. Revise, as prose: EMEND.

67. Gumbo vegetable: OKRA.

68. Shoppe adjective: OLDE. It could've been a MALT shoppe.

69. "Mighty" batter who strikes out in a classic poem: CASEY. As a high school English project, I made an 8mm movie of this poem starring several classmates. I narrated over the edited film and got an A. Watch out Spielberg!

70. Tiny amt. of time: NSEC. A Nanosecond is one billionth of a second. In that time, light travels one foot!

Down:

 1. Social finesse: TACT. 

2. Standards of right and wrong: ETHICS. 

3. Stew: SEETHE. SEETHE seems a lot stronger than stew, but  I SEE THE ire.

4. Sputnik launchers: SOVIETS. I thought of ROCKETS at first, but dismissed it while waiting for the Russian equivalent. Turns out he wanted the people who launched it, not the vehicle.

5. Chad's continent: Abbr.: AFR. Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central AFRICA.

6. Cave: RELENT. Ah, cave as a verb, not a NOUN.

7. Come to light: EMERGE.

8. Antes up: PUTS IN. "You put your right chip in, you take your right chip out"...wait, that's Hokey Poker. 

9. Zooplankton habitat: SEA. Zooplankton are tiny, drifting animals in oceans, but they are also found in lakes and rivers.

10. Jazz up: ENLIVEN.

11. Frees of frost: DEICES. Frees of Frost: NIXON. Richard Nixon rued the day in 1977, three years after the Watergate scandal brought him down, when he selected British TV personality David Frost to conduct a series of interviews believing it will be easy to mislead Frost and rehab his image. It didn't turn out well for Tricky Dick when he publicly admitted abusing power and obstructing justice.

Frost vs. Nixon

12. Leafy retreats: ARBORS.

13. Gin or tonic: NOUN. NOUN for me, thanks. 

18. Nail polish brand: OPI. It's taken years, but I finally wrote this in without hesitation. What can I say, my brain is rusty.

19. Came together: MET. This couple MET at the Met.

24. Cheesehead's st.: WISC. Wisconsin is the largest cheese-producing state, so I guess residents there are born this way. 

25. Semiprecious stone with black-and-white bands: ONYX.

30. Holier-__-thou: THAN.

31. Well-ventilated: AIRY.

32. __ cheese: NACHO. In Wisconsin, they say, "It's NACHO cheese, it's mine." 

33. Was sore: ACHED.

34. Prepare for later broadcast: PRERECORD. 

36. Coastal raptor: ERNE.

37. Marvel Comics mutants: X-MEN. And as we've recently learned, X-Men are a cohort.

38. Does lawn work: MOWS.

39. Cult classic of 1990s TV: TWIN PEAKS. I missed this quirky crime-drama when it first aired on ABC, but have seen it since. I liked the surreal aspects of it.

40. Therefore: HENCE.

41. "O, turn thy __ sword another way; / Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help": "Henry VI, Part 1": EDGED. Your daily dose of Shakespeare.

43. Sun visor: EYESHADE. Turns out that OPI only makes nail shades, not eyeshades.

45. Sin of __: OMISSION. I could've done without this one.

47. To be, in Latin: ESSE.

48. Cataloged work: OPUS.

53. Pyramid builders of Mexico: AZTEC. I'm hoping to visit these or the Mayan ones this fall.

Aztec (L) and Mayan (R)

54. Supermodel Crawford: CINDY. How can it be that she just turned 60? I guess it's time to take down her poster.

Cindy with her daughter Kaia Gerber

56. Big cat: PUMA.

57. Seemingly forever: AGES. That's when Crawford first appeared on poster.

58. Zip: NONE.

59. See 39-Across: WHO. Oh, THE WHO!

60. Shakespearean prince: HAL. "I'm Henry the Fifth, but you can call me HAL." Prince HAL is William Shakespeare's dramatic name for the young Henry V of England. Not to be confused with Henry VI quoted above. 

63. Army fare, briefly: MRE. A Meal, Ready-to-Eat is a self-contained individual U.S. military ration.

64. Cul-de-__: SAC. And we've reached the end of the road.

Be good. RB

Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Sala Wanetick & Dena R. Verkuil

  

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with the recap of a Wednesday puzzle by Sala Wanetick and Dena R.  Verkuil.  This is two-in-a-row for me recapping a puzzle by Sara and Dena and three-in-a-row for me blogging a puzzle by Sara.  Sara and Dena, we really have to stop meeting like this.  Or maybe not.  It's been a whole lot of fun.   Perhaps we'll do it again.

In today's puzzle, Sala and Dena riff on common activities during which we use our eyes to search, or LOOK, for things.  The straight-forward unifier comes at:

61 Across:  "Gotcha!," and what can be said about the answers to the starred clues: MADE YOU LOOK.

The gimmick is employed at these four places:

18 Across:  *Book series with a character in red-and-white stripes: WHERE'S WALDO.  In the books, readers LOOK for Waldo.  Can you find him on this ski hill?

26 Across:  *"Olly olly oxen free" game: HIDE AND SEEK.  Children LOOK for one of their own who is hiding. "Olly olly oxen free" is a catchphrase used in children's games such as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game.

37 Across: *Presentation tool that doubles as a cat toy: LASER POINTER.  The cat clearly LOOKs at the dot or, closer to the mark, in its intended use, the LASER tool points to things that we need to LOOK at.

52 Across:. *Document in some pirate stories: TREASURE MAP.  The MAP shows you where to LOOK for the TREASURE.

This is how it all looks in the grid:

Here are the rest of the clues and responses.   Please note that a reference to an answer as "often seen in our puzzles" (or similar) is not intended as a criticism.  In fact, without these "usual suspects" a Wednesday puzzle would likely solve more as if it were a Saturday offering:

Across:

1. Daytona 500 org.: NASCAR.  An automobile racing reference.  The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.  Perhaps it should be NASCARL.

7. Poetic measure: IAMB.  IAMB is a metrical foot consisting of one short syllable followed by one long syllable or of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.

11. Hushed "Hey!": PSST.  Frequently whispered in our puzzles.

15. Musical interval: OCTAVE.  Imagine a piano. On it, the keys on the left are lower than the keys on the right. If you are pressing the white keys, starting from C, from left to right, the sequence will follow: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.  From C to C is one OCTAVE.

16. Enunciate poorly: SLUR.

17. Stratford-__-Avon: UPON.  Because it is the birthplace and burial place of the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Stratford UPON-Avon is a popular tourist destination

20. Café or thé lightener: LAIT.   Leçon de français d'aujourd'hui.  Cafe = coffee,  thé = tea and LAIT = milk.  On first glance, this solver was wondering what the heck was the lightener.

21. "When pigs fly!": NEVER.  A colloquial expression.

22. Gender-specific pronoun: HIM.

23. Florence of Florence and the Machine: WELCH.

25. Stage award: OBIE.  TONY would have fit.  OBIE derives from Off-Broadway.

29. More spent: WEARIER.  Spent as in "I'm spent" meaning out of energy.

31. R&R provider for GIs: USO.  United Service Organizations

32. Steamed bun: BAO.  A treat often consumed in our puzzles.

33. Play-__: Fun Factory maker: DOH. DOH is often clued with reference to Homer Simpson.

34. Tally: ADD.  Tally, used here, as a verb.  As in the classic Harry Belafonte song:

36. Garment worn with a choli: SARI.   A choli is an upper body garment (blouse or bodice).  A SARI is a draped garment frequently donned in our puzzles.

41. Nautical call: AHOY.   AHOY is derived from the Middle English cry, 'Hoy!'.  The word fell out of use at one time, but was revived when sailing became a popular sport. AHOY can  be used as a greeting, a warning, or a farewell

43. Decide (to): OPT.  A choice frequently made in our puzzles.

44. Ecol. monitor: EPA.  Abbreviated clue - ECOLogy  / Abbreviated Answer:

45. Gun, as an engine: REV.

46. Actress Thurman: UMA.  A frequent visitor.

48. "Spoon River Anthology" poet Edgar Lee __: MASTERS.  No, not a Henry Mancini reference.

56. Radar image: BLIP.

57. Proprietor: OWNER.

58. Diarist Anaïs: NIN.  A frequent visitor.

59. Orchestral pace: TEMPO.

60. Kristen of "Bridesmaids": WIIG.

64. Cozy quarters: INNS.  Quarters, in the clue's context, could have been either single or plural making this one a bit more challenging.

65. Japanese noodle: UDON.

66. "That's a lie!": UNTRUE.  That's a fact.

67. Put through the paces: TEST.

68. Petty quarrels: ROWS.  The word ROW has several meanings (polysemy).  Among them:  Things in a line.  To propel a boat with an oar.  A succession without a gap.  . . . and, here, a SPAT (no, not the kind you wear with a shoe).

69. Goes back to zero: RESETS.

Down:

1. "There, there": NOW NOW.  Nice repetition in clue and answer.

2. "Things Fall Apart" novelist Chinua: ACHEBE.  Unknown to this solver.  Thanks, perps.

3. Aspartame alternative: STEVIA.  Sugar substitutes.

4. Opportunity for students to consider their futures: CAREER DAY.

5. State definitively: AVER.  This solver often pauses over whether it will be AVER or Avow.

6. Hi-__ monitor: RES.  HIgh RESolution

7. "To repeat ... ": I SAID.  Do we really need to go over this again?

8. "I'll take complete credit, thanks": ALL ME.  Time to pass on the obvious.

9. Mess around a sty: MUD.  Mess in a sty?

10. Cleveland team: BROWNS.  A football reference.  Named after the original coach and co-owner, Paul Brown.

11. Drawer handles: PULLS.  KNOBS would have fit.

12. Long key: SPACE BAR. . . . on a keyboard (typewriter or computer, not a piano keyboard)

13. "That's the word on the street": SO I HEAR.

14. Demolition letters: TNT.  What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with TNT?  Dino-mite

19. Sound like a fan: WHIR.  See also 38 Down (clever).

24. Tokyo, long ago: EDO.  A place visited frequently in our puzzles.  EDO was renamed in 1868.

26. "lol": HE HE.  Laughter

27. A5 and Q5 automaker: AUDI.  As the clue says, an automotive reference.

28. Colorful carp: KOI.  When I returned from a trip to Japan about a year ago my son asked if I had seen any KOI fish.  I said no, the fish there were actually pretty sociable.

30. Safari platform: IOS.  An Apple Computer reference.

34. Mobile download: APP.  As in mobile phone.

35. Polka __: DOT.  All You Might Want To Know

36. Vehicle safety devices: SEAT BELTS.

37. LGBTQ+ rights slogan: LOVE WINS.  Also the title of a song by Carrie Underwood.

38. Sound like fans: ROAR.  See also 19 Down (clever).

39. Quarter-moon tide: NEAP.  NEAP tides occur in puzzles far more often than do SPRING tides.

40. Covers with sheets?: TPS.  Not bed sheets.

41. __ deco: ART.  Shouldn't deco have been capitalized?  From Wkikpedia:  "Art Deco, short for the French Arts décoratifs, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished internationally during the 1920s to early 1930s, through styling and design of the exterior and interior of anything from large structures to small objects, including clothing, fashion, and jewelry. Art Deco has influenced buildings from skyscrapers to cinemas, bridges, ocean liners, trains, cars, trucks, buses, furniture, and everyday objects, including radios and vacuum cleaners."

42. Princess Leia, e.g.: HEROINE.  A Star Wars reference.  Why didn't Princess Leia have a boyfriend?  She kept looking for love in Alderaan places.

46. Word before "force" or "the Force": USE.  The second part of this clue is also a Star Wars reference.

47. Cooing sound: MURMUR.

48. Quite a few: MANY.

49. Blues guitarist __ James: ELMORE.  For many of us, the reference by George Harrison on the Beatles recording of "For You Blue" might have been the first we had heard of ELMORE.  For others, the Grateful Dead cover of It Hurts Me Too may have provided the introduction.  The blues aficionados among us, of course, have known all along.

50. Remove, as knitted stitches: RIP OUT.

51. Rods in bike wheels: SPOKES.  Radii, as a clue, would have made it even easier.

53. High anxiety: ANGST.  MOVIE would have fit the allotted space....but anxiety would have to have been capitalized in the clue.

54. Supply funding for: ENDOW.

55. Attitudes: MIENS.  I before E except after C (note that this comment was written before C.C.'s puzzle ran last last Sunday.  Small world).

59. Song: TUNE.  "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", for one:

60. Wisdom partner: WIT.  As in the many book titles that begin The WIT and Wisdom of ...

62. Fuss: ADO.  A common commotion in our puzzles.

63. Possessive word: OUR.  OUR time, this morning, is now drawing to a close.

Whatever it is that you are looking for today I hope that you find it.

_________________________________________________

Tuesday, July 28, 2026 Kevin Shustack

Spy vs. Spy.  During the Cold War, the concept of a saboteur changed from traditional physical destruction of factories and bridges to high-stakes espionage, covert operations, and behind-the-lines disruption carried out by elite military units and secret intelligence defectors.

19-Across. "Gravity's Rainbow" novelist: THOMAS PYNCHON.  Spy.  Gravity's Rainbow is a 1973 novel that takes place at the end of World War II.  It's a long and intimidating novel that I have never felt the desire to read.

24-Across. Art technique also known as French embossing: GLASS ETCHING.  Asset.  An asset is a person who provides secret information or help to an intelligence organization.  An asset is not a regular employee of the spy agency, but rather an outsider who is managed or paid to gather secrets.

38. "That's my intention": I PLAN TO.

45-Across. Act with chivalry: BE A GENTLEMAN.  Agent.

And the Unifier:

53-Across. Psychological cause of personal failure, or a feature of 19-, 24-, 38-, and 45-Across: INNER SABOTEUR

Here's the Grid:

What other assets are found in today's puzzle?

Across:

1. Ginger cookie: SNAP.  Yummers!  According to the Museum of the American Revolution, Gingersnaps were named from the German or Middle Dutch word snappen, meaning "to seize quickly."

5. Cyan shade: AQUA.  Hand up if you first tried Blue.

9. Oven setting: BAKE.

13. Document with an executor: WILL.

14. Coffee cups: MUGS.

15. Speaks foolishly: JIVES.

16. Drag Defense Fund org.: ACLU.  As in the American Civil Liberties Union.  It has been around for over 100 years.

17. Frying liquids: OILS.

18. Get down __ knee: ON ONE.

22. Tuned to, as a radio dial: SET AT.

23. Chapel Hill sch.: UNC.  As in the University of North Carolina.

32. On the house: FREE.

35. Bert who played the Cowardly Lion: LAHR.  Although it was in many movies, Bert Lahr (né Irving Lahrheim; Aug. 13, 1895 ~ Dec. 4, 1967) is best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz.

36. Everglades wading bird: HERON.  Herons can be found all along the Gulf coast, not just the Florida Everglades.

37. Chuckle in a DM: LOL.  Textspeak for Laughing Out Loud.

40. Egg cells: OVA.  A crossword staple.

41. Photo book: ALBUM.

43. Et __: and others: ALIA.  Today's Latin lesson.  This phrase, which means And Others, is often abbreviated to Et Al. because the addition of the last 2 letters of alia is too much to write.

44. Med school subj.: ANAT.  As in Anatomy.

48. Energizer size: AAA.   A crossword staple.

49. Stuffed grape leaf: DOLMA.  Yummers!  Eastern Mediterranean food.

58. Pop icon Lauper: CYNDI.  Cyndi Lauper (née Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper; b. June 22, 1953) was big in the 1980s.  She is known for her flamboyant style, catchy songs, and four-octave vocal range!

Taylor and Cyndi

60. Irish currency: EURO.  The Irish Euro features the Celtic harp.

61. "Don't __ me, but ... ": HATE.

62. Diet food phrase: NO FAT.

63. MC or Visa alternative: AMEX.

64. Like the score at the start of overtime: EVEN.

65. Midday: NOON.

66. Little bouquet: POSY.

67. Take it easy: REST.

Down:

1. Slaps (at): SWATS.

2. Wall recess: NICHE.

3. Portion out: ALLOT.

4. Bird's feathers: PLUMAGE.

5. Singer-songwriter Tori: AMOS.  Tori Amos (née Myra Ellen Amos; b. Aug. 22, 1963) is a classically trained musician.  She was a child prodigy and entered the the Peabody Institute's preparatory division at five.

6. Witty remark: QUIP.

7. Not easy on the eyes: UGLY.  The Jamaican tangelo is probably better known as the Ugli fruit.

8. Org.: ASSN.  An Organization may also be an Association.

9. Juliette of "The English Patient": BINOCHE.  Juliette Binoche (b. Mar. 9, 1964) is a French actress who has starred in many films.  She was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing a nurse in 1996 film The English Patient. 

10. Cosmetics giant that started as the California Perfume Company: AVON.  Ding Dong!  The Avon Company got its start in 1886.

11. "Jazz" documentarian Burns: KEN.  Jazz is a deep-dive documentary look into the origins of this music genre.  Ken Burns (né Kenneth Lauren Burns; b. July 29, 1953) has created numerous historical documentaries and television series that generally chronicle US history and culture.

12. WNW's opposite: ESE.

15. Sulu player in recent "Star Trek" films: JOHN CHO.  John Cho (né John Yo-han Cho; b. June 16, 1952) was born in Seoul, Korea.

20. Hartsfield-Jackson airport code: ATL.  This airport in Atlanta, Georgia is a hub for Delta.  It is one of the busiest airports in the world.  Whenever I fly, I usually end up going through Atlanta. 

21. Use scissors on: CUT.

25. Swiss peak: ALP.

26. Ritual prayer of Islam: SALAT.

27. "We __ Overcome": SHALL.

28. "Ghostbusters" actor Hudson: ERNIE.  Although he has been in a number of films, Ernie Hudson (né Earnest Lee Hudson; b. Dec. 17, 1945) is best known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbusters.

29. Word after curling or waffle: IRON.

30. __ Scotia, Canada: NOVA.  Nova Scotia is one of the maritime provinces.

31. Pest in a cloud: GNAT.

32. Extra fat: FLAB.

33. Actor's part to play: ROLE.

34. Actor Idris: ELBA.  It's Sir Elba to you.  Idris Elba (né Idrissa Akuna Elba; b. Sept. 6, 1972) played Stringer in the TV series The Wire.

38. "No fooling": I MEAN IT!

39. Scottish cap: TAM.

42. Kampala native: UGANDAN.

44. One more: ANOTHER.

46. "Sorry, laddie": NAE.  Today's Scottish lesson/

47. Stir: ADO.

50. Depart: LEAVE.

51. Silences, as on Zoom: MUTES.

52. "__ you clever!": AREN'T.

53. The 411: INFO.

54. Gather: REAP.

55. Japanese wrestling: SUMO.

56. Greek war god: ARES.

57. Like the Honda Element: BOXY.

58. "The Source With Kaitlan Collins" network: CNN.  Kaitlan Collins (b. Apr. 7, 1992) is an American journalist and news anchor.

59. "__-hoo! Over here!": YOO.

חתולה

This describes my stray cat.  He gets breakfast from the neighbor, then comes to me for more food.