Monday, August 17, 2026, Kelly Morenus

Theme:  Get back!

back-to-back meerkats

Constructor Kelly Morenus has authored four Friday puzzles in the New York Times, as well as one Saturday puzzle there.  She co-authored a puzzle in the LA Times on Saturday, November 8, 2025, with devilishly difficult co-constructor Erik Agard.  Today, Kelly's puzzle appears on Monday, the easy-peasy day of the week.  Let's see how that worked out.

Some solvers enjoy a puzzle where the theme is discernible and actually helps with the solve.  Yours truly found today's theme to be invisible until the big reveal.  That's OK, because some solvers like a theme that comes as a big surprise at the end.  The big reveal happened here:

58-Across. Consecutive, or a hint to what can follow the first parts and precede the second parts of 17-, 25-, 38-, 40-, and 49-Across: BACK TO BACK.  Let's break this down.  "Back-to-back" is a synonym for "consecutive."  Think of back-to-back meetings, one right after another.  That works.  Next, we look at the first and second parts of the cited entries, and see what happens when we stick "back" in there a couple of times ... back-to-back, so to speak.  Thus:

17-Across. Attraction in a neighborhood park: PLAYGROUND.  PLAYBACK / BACKGROUND.

25-Across. Illuminating item in an emergency kit: FLASHLIGHT.  FLASHBACK / BACKLIGHT.

38-Across. Phone history list: CALL LOG.  CALLBACK / BACKLOG.

40-Across. Fail to show up for: BLOW OFF.  BLOWBACK / BACK OFF.

49-Across. Outing for two couples: DOUBLE DATE. DOUBLE BACK / BACKDATE.

An elegant feature of the theme entries is their symmetrical placement in the grid.  Well done.

Across:

1. Magic: The Gathering fan's collection: CARDS.  Yours truly is not familiar with the collectible "Magic: The Gathering" cards, introduced in 1993.  Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, the game has attracted fifty million or more players.  

A game of Magic: The Gathering in process.

6. "You are __": map message: HERE.

10. Slugger Sammy: SOSA.  Sammy Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder.  He played in Major League Baseball for 18 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs.  He hit his 400th home run in his 1,354th game and his 5,273rd at-bat, reaching this milestone quicker than any player in National League history.  Sosa is one of nine players in MLB history to hit 600 career home runs.

Sammy Sosa

14. Capital of Ghana: ACCRA.  Formed from the merger of settlements around British Fort James, Dutch Fort Crêvecoeur, and Danish Fort Christiansborg, Accra served as the capital of the British Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957 and has since become a modern metropolis ... in spite of all the European colonizers.

Accra, Ghana

15. Yemen neighbor: OMAN.  Speaking of European colonizers, the Sultanate of Oman expelled the Portuguese in the 17th century.  It has been continuously ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744, and is an absolute monarchy with Islam as the state religion.

Note that the northernmost part of Oman is on the Strait of Hormuz.

16. Birds associated with wisdom: OWLS.

17. [Theme clue]

19. Skewed view: BIAS.

20. Flow slowly: SEEP.

21. General idea: SENSE.

22. Lobby group for seniors: AARP.  Originally an initialism for the American Association of Retired Persons, it's now just AARP, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization helping people aged 50 and older with concerns related to health, personal finances, and daily living.

25. [Theme clue]

29. Word before metal and music: SHEET.

31. Buoyant: AFLOAT.

32. Kitchen tool needed for some potato dishes: PEELER.

34. Commuter's fee: TOLL.  DH and I have transponders on our cars to facilitate automatic payment of tolls on California toll roads, but it can be confusing to encounter tolls in other states, especially where there are no payment stations on the road.

35. Garden implement: HOE.  Hoes have been used since ancient times to clear weeds, shape soil, and harvest crops.

Weeding the vegetable garden with a hoe.

38. [Theme clue]

40. [Theme clue]

42. Streaming interruptions: ADS.  We tolerate ads on some streaming platforms, and pay for premium access without ads on others.  Television today has many options, and can be very expensive.

43. Argentine author Jorge __ Borges: LUIS.  Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, educated in Geneva, Switzerland, and returned to Buenos Aires as a young adult.  His groundbreaking short stories are surrealistic explorations of dreams, labyrinths, mirrors, and myths.  His eyesight dimmed as his career blossomed, and he became completely blind about the time he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires in 1955.  His familiarity with many languages allowed him to write his own stories with a view to their future translations, which were many.

45. Italian town with a namesake coast: AMALFI.

Amalfi, Italy -- a bit south of Naples,
and surrounded by towns just as lovely on the "Amalfi coast."

46. "Go Birds!" NFL team: EAGLES.  The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. 

48. Iron alloy: STEEL.  Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon.  It is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world.

49. [Theme clue]

53. Literary governess Jane: EYRE.  Jane Eyre is the heroine of an 1847 novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë.  Wonderful book.

54. Up to: UNTIL.

55. Love, in Spanish: AMOR.

57. Actor Estrada: ERIK.  Erik Estrada played Frank "Ponch" Poncherello, a California Highway Patrol officer, on the television series CHiPs, which aired from 1977 to 1983.  He was voted one of "The 10 Sexiest Bachelors in the World" by People in 1979.  Not an Oscar, but still flattering!

Erik Estrada poster from the 1970s

58. [Theme clue]

64. Country singer Lovett: LYLE.  Lyle Lovett has recorded 14 albums, released 25 singles, and won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album.

Lyle Lovett

65. Shrek, for one: OGRE.  Fictional ogre Shrek got his start in a book of the same name by William Steig, and then became the star of a series of animated films, in which he was voiced by Mike Myers.  The films are charming.  If you haven't seen them, start with Shrek (2001).  The stories make wonderful use of familiar fairy tale characters.

Shrek

66. Nintendo's The Legend of __: ZELDA.  Everything I know about Nintendo's video game adventure series The Legend of Zelda, I learned from watching my son play the game.  He was born in 1978.  The first game was released in 1986.  Could my son really have been only 8 years old?  Am I a bad parent?

The Legend of Zelda

67. Notices: SEES.

68. Some small dogs: TOYS.  Toy dogs have been bred to be so small they look like playthings.  Various kennel clubs list different breeds in the toy category, but none seem to give specific guidelines for qualification.  Almost all toy dogs will weigh less than 15 pounds as adults.  As with other breeds promoted by kennel clubs, breeding for appearance often outweighs breeding for good health or temperament.  Toy breeds have fragile bones and yet live in a world where they continually leap from tall furniture and laps.  Flat faced dogs experience severe breathing trouble.  Tiny spaniels suffer early onset heart disease.  And tiny "teacup" dogs live very short lives.

69. Official order: EDICT.

Down:

1. Lid: CAP.

2. Knee surgery target, for short: ACL.  The anterior cruciate ligament is a stabilizing element in the knee, connecting the thighbone to the shinbone. Tears or sprains occur with sudden stops, jumping, or rapid changes in direction.  Or in the case of my beautiful bonus daughter, when some guy coming down the slope behind you rams into you and knocks you off your skis.

3. Color TV pioneer: RCA.

4. Unproductive period: DRY SPELL.

5. Mint family herb: SAGE.

6. Fuss: HOOPLA.

7. Down Under bird: EMU.  "Down Under" is a nickname for Australia.  The emu is a tall flightless bird endemic to Australia.

When emus go rogue.

8. Appeared in print: RAN.

9. Cease: END.

10. "That's that, then": SO BE IT.

11. In debt: OWING.

12. Cut drastically, as prices: SLASH.

13. Valuable quality: ASSET.

18. Gridiron official: REF.

21. Ski races with gates: SLALOMS.  Slalom gates are flexible plastic poles used in alpine ski racing. Skiers must turn around each pole in a specific order.

slalom skiing

22. Pet welfare org.: ASPCA.  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

23. On track to win: AHEAD.

24. Film spools: REELS.

26. Away from the bow, on a boat: AFT.

27. Untidy one: SLOB.

28. Say hi, in slang: HOLLA.  An urban slang variant of "holler."  

30. Dishy memoir: TELL ALL.

33. Cheek colorer: ROUGE.

35. Like moth-eaten clothing: HOLEY.

The holes in this toy dog's sweater are caused by moth larvae.
Eww!  Time to clean the closet.

36. Buyer's proposal: OFFER.

37. Submit taxes online: E-FILE.

39. __ the lily: add unnecessary decor: GILD.  A popular phrase based on a misquotation from Shakespeare's play King John:

To gild refinèd gold, to paint the lily,

To throw a perfume on the violet,

To smooth the ice or add another hue

Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light

To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

41. Sloshy mattress: WATERBED.  Waterbeds accounted for more than one out of of five mattresses sold at the height of their popularity in 1987.  Having to run a hose into your bedroom to fill the mattress, pump the water out to move it, and risk flooding in case of a leak, reduced their popularity.

44. Salty expanse: SEA.

46. Chargeable two-wheelers: EBIKES.

47. Poles in a tomato garden: STAKES.

49. Old-fashioned showdowns: DUELS.

50. Sandwich request: ON RYE.

51. Purposeful: UTILE.

52. First responder: Abbr.: EMT.  Emergency Medical Technician.

56. Flow slowly: OOZE.  Imagine sap oozing from a tree.  A waterbed leak is likely to go faster.

58. Droid: BOT.  Droid is short for android, a humanlike robot.  Bot is short for robot.  A droid is always a physical robot.  A bot is usually a software program that runs online.  So ... not the same.

Droids ... or robots ... but not bots!

59. In the past: AGO.

60. Get weepy: CRY.

61. "__ Baba and the Forty Thieves": ALI.  "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is an Arabic folk tale that was added to the other tales of the One Thousand and One Nights by French translator Antoine Galland in the 18th century.

62. Public health agcy.: CDC.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the national public health agency of the United States.

63. Dennings of "WandaVision": KAT.  Kat Dennings has appeared in a long list of films and TV shows.  She is best known for starring roles in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films.

Kat Dennings

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Did Kelly's puzzle end a DRY SPELL for you?  Or give you BACK TO BACK wins?

Did it all make SENSE to you?

HOLLA at your fellow solvers in the comments!

-- NaomiZ

Sunday August 16, 2026 Rich Katz

Theme: "THREE'S COMPANY" - Each common phrase is reimagined as the names of three well-known people, two of whom share the same given or last name.

22. Ron + (Kristen + Alexander Graham): SILVER BELLS. Ron Silver.  Kristen Bell. Alexander Graham Bell. 

24. Clint + (Francis Scott + Keegan-Michael): BLACK KEYS. Clint Black. Francis Scott Key. Keegan-Michael Key.

30. Sally + (Julia + Philip): FIELD GLASSES. Sally Field. Julia Glass. Philip Glass.

48. Barry + (Elliot + Jimmy): WHITE PAGES. Barry White. Elliott Page. Jimmy Page.

51. Nia + (Elton + Tommy): LONG JOHNS. Nia Long. Elton John. Tommy John.

63. Grover + (Alton + Helen Gurley): CLEVELAND BROWNS. Grover Cleveland. Alton Brown. Helen Gurley Brown.

81. (Adam + Minnie) + Helms: DRIVER'S ED.  Adam Driver. Minnie Driver. Ed Helms.

83. Fiona + (Lemmon + London): APPLE JACKS. Fiona Apple. Jack Lemmon. Jack London.

98. Cleary + (Faith + Jonah): BEVERLY HILLS. Beverly Cleary. Faith Hill. Jonah Hill.

109. Keith + (Garfunkel + Carney): URBAN ARTS. Keith Urban. Art Garfunkel. Art Carney.

111. (Underwood + Fisher) + Johnny: CARRIES CASH.  Carrie Underwood. Carrie Fisher. Johnny Cash.

I don't recall seeing this theme idea before. Very creative. 

 

It may look like an overwhelming number of names at first glance, but nearly all of them are confined to the theme clues as a natural consequence of the concept. The fill is so clean. 

I think this Rich is our constructor. 

Across:

1. Best of the best: A-ONE.

5. Syrup source: MAPLE. I don't think sugar maples grow naturally in China. Maple syrup wasn't part of my childhood.

10. That partner: THIS.

14. Fistfuls of dollars: WADS.

18. Authorize: ALLOW.

19. Cookies with a "You asked for it" collaboration with 29-Across: OREOS. 29. Peanut butter cup brand: REESE'S.

20. Surrounding glow: AURA.

21. La Scala solo: ARIA.

26. NYC drama award: OBIE.

27. Slangy contraction: AIN'T.

28. Land between Can. and Mex.: USA.

34. Like stress balls and fidget spinners: SENSORY.

35. End of term?: ITES. Termites.

36. "Knock yourself out!": PLEASE DO. 43. Knocked out: LAID LOW.

39. Suzuki who won nine batting titles in two countries: ICHIRO. Coolest player ever. 

44. Some reservoir residents: FOWL.

54. Othello's betrayer: IAGO.

55. Bulgarian, e.g.: SLAV.

56. Endow with, as authority: VEST.

58. Autonomous vacuum: ROOMBA.

59. Utmost degree: NTH.

60. Aligned: EVENED.

62. Labors mightily to accomplish: TOILS AT.

68. Term of endearment?: IT'S LOVE. This clue doesn't quite click for me. 

71. Leveraged __: corporate acquisition: BUYOUT.

72. "Print to" option: PDF.

75. Really sad: MOROSE.

76. Sound from a kettle or a snake: HISS.

78. Actor Epps: OMAR.

80. Island home of the Hana Highway: MAUI.

85. Speaker brand: BOSE.

86. Theater reviewers: CRITICS.

89. Plug's place: SOCKET.

90. Channel that rarely fails to make one cry: TEAR DUCT. Fun clue.

92. Matinee hrs.: AFTS.

94. "The Return of the King" king: ARAGORN. Played by Viggo Mortensen.

104. Small donkeys: BURROS.

105. Ballerina's turning point: TOE.

107. Ancient France: GAUL.

108. "So Sick" R&B singer: NEYO.

114. New Mexico art hub: TAOS.

115. Santa's specialty: TOYS.

116. Leading: AHEAD.

117. Nikon rival: CANON. 118. Nikon products: SLRS.

119. Novelist mile: ZOLA.

120. Baking gloves: MITTS.

121. Pt. of IMF: INTL.

Down:

1. Defense witness, often: ALIBI.

2. Basic skateboard trick: OLLIE.

3. Many a Seanan McGuire work: NOVEL. New name to me. Seanan McGuire received five Hugo Award nominations in 2013. 

4. Sheepish sort?: EWE.

5. Crib accessory: MOBILE.

6. Venues that often have corporate names: ARENAS.

7. Nails, as with snowballs: PELTS.

8. "U r 2 funny!": LOL.

9. Start at the beginning?: ESS. The starting letter in Start.

10. Guitar player's aid: TABS.

11. Hawaiian dance: HULA.

12. Nest egg letters: IRA.

13. Holy: SACRED.

14. Boat trailers?: WAKES. Powerful wakes.

15. Schoolyard retort: ARE SO.

16. Certain hardware store patron, casually: DIYER.

17. Smart-alecky: SASSY.

18. Lead-up to a date?: AS OF.

23. Convertibles: RAGTOPS.

25. Lotto game: KENO.

28. Thrifted, perhaps: USED. Anyone here use Poshmark?

31. Bleak: DIRE.

32. Spots for scrubs: SPAS.

33. "ManningCast" brother: ELI.

34. In stitches: SEWN.

37. "__ well that ends well": ALL'S.

38. Smokestack dust: SOOT.

39. "Game, set, match": I WIN.

40. Puss, in Paris: CHAT.

41. Top temperature: HIGH. Beautiful weather here in Minnesota the past few days.

42. Skater Midori: ITO.

43. 101, for one: LEVEL. Biology 101, e.g.

44. Tricks: FOOLS.

45. Measures of resistance: OHMS.

46. Liberty org.: WNBA. The New York Liberty.

47. Hurdle for a DA-to-be: LSAT.

49. Pain relief brand: ALEVE. Can you believe I hurt my lower back picking up an empty watering can?

50. Donated: GAVE.

52. "Oh, __ up!": GROW.

53. Connect: JOIN.

56. Williams with five Wimbledon singles titles: VENUS. 97. Wimbledon surface: GRASS.

57. Whirlpool: EDDY.

61. Captures: NABS.

62. Completely wreck: TOTAL.

63. Eggnog spice: CLOVE.

64. Concede a golden goal, say: LOSE. A golden goal immediately ends overtime in some soccer and hockey competitions.

65. Of all time: EVER.

66. Nose-tapping sounds: BOOPS.

67. Kind of roast: RUMP.

68. Site for film fans: IMDB.

69. Lawnmower brand: TORO. Based here in Minnesota. 

70. Sanskrit honorifics: SRIS.

72. Rat or Brat follower: PACK.

73. Team led by Mike Krzyzewski for 42 seasons: DUKE.

74. Clenched hand: FIST.

76. Munich mister: HERR.

77. Terse affirmative: I DID.

79. Provide a new look: RESTYLE.

80. Prefix in many a Scottish surname: MAC.

82. Printer function: SCAN.

83. Closer at the Globe: ACT V. The Globe refers to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Many of his plays end with Act V.

84. Kid: JOSH.

87. __ sock: TUBE.

88. Winter puddle topper: ICE.

90. Many a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" character: TOON.

91. Fake: ERSATZ.

92. Landing spot of Noah's Ark: ARARAT. Noah was 601 years old then!

93. Liquids: FLUIDS.

94. Borders: ABUTS.

95. Like most farmland: RURAL.

96. Shady spot: ARBOR.

99. Everglades wader: EGRET.

100. Like Machu Picchu: INCAN.

101. Listed, to a Brit: LEANT. We leaned.

102. Antibacterial brand: LYSOL.

103. Kind of Kind, in Köln: SOHN. Tricky bilingual clue. The second Kind is the German word for "child." Sohn means "son."

105. Texter's "Bye for now": TTYL.

106. Peak near Olympus: OSSA.

110. Aussie hopper: ROO.

111. Vid taker: CAM.

112. Sashimi choice: AHI.

113. Ecol. or geol.: SCI.

 

Today we celebrate the 76th birthday of our own witty Wednesday sherpa, MM (Joseph). Here he is in Chiang Rai in 2017, looking as adventurous as ever. Wishing you a very happy birthday, Joseph, and many more wonderful journeys ahead!

Chiang Rai, 2017

C.C.

Saturday, August 15, 2026, Barbara Lin and Jess Rucks

 Themeless Saturday Puzzle by Barbara Lin and Jess Rucks

Me and Jess

Barb

I was very pleased to see Jess's name come up today as a co-constructor. I have had the fun of blogging her Saturday themeless puzzles before and am always amazed by her work and, uh, creative clues 😀, a tradition she maintained here as well. As you can see in the picture at the left, Jess and I met up on a very cold night in Lincoln for a delightful dinner last year and hashed over a lot of crossword minutiae. She lives in Colorado with her husband and son and  is retired from the Air Force where she was an Urdu translator. Yes, she was a Division 1 volleyball player as well.

Her partner in crime construction is Barb Lin who lives just outside Philadelphia, PA, where she dabbles in gardening and excels in computer engineering. Here is a lovely interview of Barb Jess conducted.

 

                                  

Across:

1. Teddy bear: SOFTY - I thought this might be a brand name but no, it's just a tender-hearted person. Even Elvis knew this: "Oh let me be, your teddy bear". Hey, I heard you sing along! 😊

6. Carousel rider?: BAG 😀

9. Basaltic plain on the moon: MARE - MARE is latin for Sea and here we see the location of  The Lunar Sea Of Tranquility which hosted Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969.

13. Roadside snack: STREET TACO.

16. Driver on a movie set: ADAM - 😀 The answer below is no.

17. Sign that means it's time to turn around: NO ENTRANCE - How it's done in the UK

18. Spam musubi wrapper: NORI - Musubi (結び), translates to “tie” or “bind,”

19. White-hot: SEETHING.

20. Lights up: SMILES.

22. Quick kiss: PECK - Not a BUSS

23. Useful spot: PSA - Here's a Public Service Announcement from the 50's about saying Good Night after a date

24. Some sci-fi villains: ETS.

25. Multipurpose tool: SPORK - We really like KFC, but we opt for real silverware.

27. Verb coined in "Stranger in a Strange Land": GROK - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Author Robert Heinlein said GROK is a Martian word that literally means "to drink" .Metaphorically, it means to understand something so completely and deeply. Jess is fluent in Urdu but not Martian. 😀

28. Hindi honorific: SRI.

29. Berry grown in Ohio?: HALLE - She took her stage name from Halle's Department Store in Cleveland.

30. Jordan who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay: PEELE.

31. Org chart leader: CEO.

32. "Sure, that tracks": I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN.

35. "J to __ L-O!": 2002 remix album: THA - Some hip hop slang 

36. Replacements after leaving marks?: EUROS - Germans now use EUROS for currency after having used marks since 1876.

37. Huffs and puffs: PANTS and 40. Huffs and puffs: RANTS.

38. __ de deux: PAS - a ballet duet, literally translating from French as a "step of two", typically performed by a male and a female dancer. Below is the Grand PAS de Deux from the Nutcracker. Play as much of this 5:37 cut that you like to beautify your day.

39. Mass agreement: AMEN 😀

41. "Yes, captain": AYE.

42. Clear (of): RID.

43. Clear of contaminants: PURE - Clear in the clue is an adjective and not a verb

44. Varied: RANGED.

46. Opportunities to learn the hard way: MISTAKES - Do guys like this ever learn?

50. Mil. no-show: AWOL.

51. "Mine! Mine! Mine!": I WANT IT ALL.

53. "The Goonies" role for Ke Huy Quan: DATA - Saturday cluing for sure, Ke is in the bottom row, second from the right. 

54. Brings the temperature down, maybe: TALKS SENSE.

55. Googly-__: EYED - From a cartoon first published in 1919. A popular song of the day was, "Barney Google With the Goo, Goo, Goo Googly Eyes"

56. Fashion letters: YSL.

57. Trapped, in a way: TREED.

Down:

1. Fed. IDs: SSNS.

2. Della Warrior's heritage: OTOE is the first and only woman to date to serve as chairperson and chief executive officer for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.

3. Priceless?: FREE.

4. One-night stand, perhaps?: TENT POLE 😀

5. Frustrated expression: YET HERE WE ARE.

6. [All of a sudden!]: BANG.

7. Stanford's gp.: ACC - With all the conference alignments up in the air, Stanford and  Cal Berkley (formerly in the Pacific 10) had to get into some conference even if it was on the other coast (Atlantic Coast Conference).

8. Disbands?: GOES SOLO - Michael Jackson had great success when he left this brothers 

9. Digital art, informally?: MANI 😀

10. Juvenile: ADOLESCENT.

11. Special indulgences: RARE TREATS.

12. Targets of smog checks: EMISSIONS.

14. Bridge unit: TRICK - 😀 A trick in a card games is a single round of play where each person plays one card, and the highest card wins.

   
15. Choke: TANK - These are both failures. In sports, if a player chokes, he might fail to make a winning play even though he is trying. If a player TANKS, he also fails but might be trying to lose or throw a game.

21. One who tries not to overshadow the star?: MAKE UP ARTIST 😀 Gotta love this one!

23. Feeds (on): PREYS.

25. "Shantay, you stay" opposite: SASHAY AWAY - During our dinner in Lincoln, Jess said she enjoyed RuPaul Drag Race and this phrase is part of that show.

  

26. "This is important": PLEASE NOTE.

27. Mount: GET ON - How The Lone Ranger accomplished this with Silver.

29. Top tunes: HIT PARADE - When The Lone Ranger was mounting Silver in the 50's, The Hit Parade was telling us the top songs of the week. Listen to as much of this 30-minute show (complete with cigarette commercials) as you like from over 70 years ago.

30. Trimmed (down): PARED - By the first game, NFL teams must have PARED down to a 53 man roster from the 100 or so that are trying out.

33. Hair curler?: HUMIDITY.

34. 1982 Hall & Oates song: MANEATER.

40. Shows signs of age: RUSTS.

43. Chappell Roan's "__ Pony Club": PINK - A fav of my granddaughters. 

45. Chuffed: GLAD - This is more of a UK expression.

46. Edina, Minnesota is home to the first U.S. indoor one: MALL - 1956. This would go along with The Lone Ranger and Your Hit Parade!

47. Lucci role: KANE - Susan Lucci played Erica Kane on All My Children for 41 years.

48. Conditional word in Python: ELSE - Barb is a computer engineer

49. Blair Braverman vehicle: SLED.

52. Portrayed: WAS - I first had DID, as in an impersonator DID Cary Grant.

More from Jess: Barb and I met at ACPT in 2025, and since then have been wanting to make a puzzle together. We finally made that happen with this one! Barb did a lot of the heavy lifting on the gridding and we collaborated on the clues. Hope you enjoyed it :) This one was fun to make. Barb is a great constructor, so I felt some pressure to push myself working with her -- I tried to clue with more wordplay and generally at a higher difficulty than I may have on my own. She clued, too, but I clued more of the entries since she ended up making more of the grid.