Monday, November 9, 2026, Robin Stears

Theme:  Wham!

Robin Stears is a longtime pro at crossword construction.  This marvelous Monday is my first opportunity to blog one of her puzzles. 

The theme clues and answers are:

17-Across. *Spinach eater who's smitten with Olive Oyl: POPEYE THE SAILOR.

26-Across. *"I Don't Like Mondays" new wave band: BOOMTOWN RATS.

48-Across. *"Mighty Morphin" heroes of 1990s television: POWER RANGERS.

63-Across. Has a thrilling opening, or what the answer to each starred clue does: STARTS WITH A BANG.

Every one of the starred clues opens with the sound of a BANG:  POP, BOOM, or POW.  This puzzle is banging!  Popping!  (Booming is not the same, and powing is not a thing!)  Wham, bam, thank you, Robin!

Across:

1. "Forever Your Girl" singer Abdul: PAULA.  Paula Abdul began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18, became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, and then choreographed music videos for Janet Jackson.  She went on to become a very popular singer, talent show judge, and choreograher for films, television, and award programs.  

Paula Abdul

6. Radio band toggle: AM/FM.

10. Rotating roasting rod: SPIT. 

piggies on spits -- eww!

14. Online moderator, briefly: ADMIN.  I'm an ADMIN for a Facebook group that shares daily photos of clouds around the world.  Someone's gotta enforce the rules!

15. King, queen, or jack: CARD.

16. Hawaiian dance: HULA.

17. [Theme clue]

20. Office helper: Abbr.: ASST.  The abbreviation for "assistant."

21. Self-storage rental: UNIT.

22. Looped rope at a 31-Across: LASSO.

23. Other, in Spanish: OTRO.  I appreciate it when the answer is masculine, as it is today.  When the answer turns out to be OTRA, as it often does, I think there should be a hint that we're looking for a feminine adjective.  Otro hombre (other man), otra mujer (other woman).

25. Short choral compositions: MOTETS.  Musical compositions in which various voices sing distinct words and melodies at the same time.  Having evolved from the 13th century to the present, there have been tremendous changes in the form over time.

26. [Theme clue]

31. Official state sport of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Texas: RODEO.  And Alaska has dog mushing as its state sport!  In the category of sports not based on animal abuse, we have surfing (California), skiing (Colorado), outrigger canoe paddling (Hawaii), jousting (Maryland), archery (Missouri) and stock car racing (North Carolina), among others.

32. Lithium-__ battery: ION.  A rechargeable energy storage device.

33. Lyft rival: UBER.

37. Mattel game with colorful cards: UNO.  The goal is to be the first person to get rid of all the cards in your hand.

Uno

38. "The __ of the Opera": PHANTOM.  The Phantom of the Opera is a story created by French novelist Gaston Leroux as a 1910 serialized novel. It follows a disfigured musical genius who lives in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House and becomes infatuated with a young chorus singer.  There was a 1925 silent horror film version starring Lon Chaney, a 1935 Technicolor version starring Claude Rains, a 1986 Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a 2004 film starring Gerard Butler.

Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera, 1925

42. St. crosser: AVE.  Streets are typically narrow roads with closely spaced buildings on both sides, whereas avenues are often wider thoroughfares with large scale landscaping, but this usage varies regionally.  In Los Angeles, streets usally run east-west, and avenues run north-south.  The house where I grew up was on a north-south avenue, but it was a narrow road with closely spaced houses, fitting the description of a street.

43. Skater Lipinski: TARA.  Tara Lipinski was the 1997 U.S. national champion and world champion in women's singles figure skating, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the 1998 Olympic champion.  She was the youngest single skater Olympic champion and World champion ever (at age 15), and is currently a commentator on the sport.

45. Have bills to pay: OWE.

46. Lubricated: OILED.

48. [Theme clue]

52. College grounds: CAMPUS.

55. Auth. unknown: ANON.  An unknown AUTHor is ANONymous.

56. Opera solos: ARIAS.

57. Failed to float: SANK.

59. Slender woodwind: OBOE.

63. [Theme clue]

66. Heavy book: TOME.

67. Slowly grow dim: FADE.

68. Student of Socrates: PLATO.  Socrates taught Plato; Plato taught Aristotle.  The three of them are credited with creating the foundations of Western philosophy.

Three hard headed guys.

69. Garden dirt: SOIL.

70. Pundit piece: OP-ED.  An op-ed (short for "opposite the editorial page") is a piece of opinion journalism written by an outside contributor who is not on a publication's editorial board.  A pundit is a person who has deep knowledge about a specific subject and shares opinions, analysis, or commentary through mass media.

71. Mexican bucks: PESOS.

Down:

1. Smurf with a white beard and red hat: PAPA.  The Smurfs is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest.  There was an American Saturday morning cartoon series from 1981 to 1989 which continued in reruns and TV specials for several years, and is still broadcast on the cable Boomerang channel.

2. Noisy commotions: ADOS.

3. Baseball officials: UMPS.  Umpires also officiate at tennis, cricket, badminton, and field hockey games.

4. "I can't handle the truth!": LIE TO ME.  In the TV drama series Lie to Me (2009-2011), crime solving psychologists detected deception by analyzing microexpressions, body language, and vocal tones.  

5. "__ ideas?": ANY.

6. "Don't wait or you'll miss out!": ACT NOW.

7. Fish often grilled for tacos, informally: MAHI.  The fish formally known as mahi-mahi.

human being with future fish taco filling

8. Ridge on a guitar fingerboard: FRET.  Frets are usually thin metal strips inserted in the neck of a guitar, providing guidance for finger placement to create musical notes.

frets

9. Rx writers: MDS.  Medical doctors can write a prescription (Rx).

10. Japanese massage technique whose name means "finger pressure": SHIATSU.  Practitioners use thumbs, fingers, palms, elbows, knees, or feet to apply pressure along energy pathways called meridians.

11. Heart rate: PULSE.

12. "You beat me": I LOST.

13. Starchy roots used in poi: TAROS.  Taro is a tropical plant grown for its starchy roots (tubers), which are a major food staple in the Pacific Islands, Africa, the Caribbean, and parts of Asia.  In Hawaii, cooked taro roots are mashed into poi.

taro on the left, poi on the right

18. Continental currency: EURO.

19. Like crazy: A LOT.

24. Sporty car roof: T-TOP.

Corvette T-top

25. Spanish hand: MANO.  Give me your hand:  Dame la mano.

26. Dry, as champagne: BRUT.  Sparkling wines are labeled according to the amount of residual sugar per liter after fermentation.  

27. Actress Chaplin: OONA.  Oona Chaplin is a granddaughter of English filmmaker and actor Charlie Chaplin, and great-granddaughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill.  She had roles in HBO's Game of Thrones, BBC's The Crimson Field and Taboo, and the Avatar films.

As Talisa Maegyr in Game of Thrones, Oona Chaplin got to be married to Robb Stark -- for a minute.
She was first to die at the Red Wedding (Game of Thrones, season 3, episode 9).

28. Febreze target: ODOR.  Isn't it better to clean up the mess than to cover the odor with this sort of thing?

29. Bay Area NFLer: NINER.  The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

30. Decompose: ROT.  Febreze is not really the solution to that.

34. Hay bundle: BALE.

35. Penultimate word in many fairy tales: EVER.  "... and they lived happily EVER after."  Not the ultimate (last) word, but the penultimate (next-to-last) word.

36. Maroon, crimson, ruby, and the like: REDS.

39. "__ it going?": HOW'S.

40. Astonishment: AWE.

41. Stereo alternative: MONO.  Monophonic audio recordings use one channel, and stereophonic recordings use two.  Mono is great for voice recordings and public address systems.  For music and movies, it's nice to have different sounds playing on separate channels to mimic a natural sound environment.

44. Clothes: APPAREL.

47. Dishonorable: IGNOBLE.

49. Depose: OUST.

50. __ and raved: RANTED.

51. Egyptian cross with a top loop: ANKH.  The ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that represents "life" or "breath of life."

A god offering the breath of life to a deceased pharoah?

52. Acting ensembles: CASTS.

53. Threepio pal: ARTOO.  Artoo (technically R2-D2) and Threepio (technically C-3PO) are fictional droids in the Star Wars movies.

R2-D2 and C-3PO

54. "The Golden Girls" city: MIAMI.  The Golden Girls, starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992.  The four older ladies shared a house in Miami, Florida. 

57. Trade: SWAP.

58. Office helper: AIDE.

60. Sheep sounds: BAAS.

61. "I'm __ your tricks!": ONTO.

62. Inner selves: EGOS.

64. Bay Area hub, for short: SFO.  San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the primary international airport serving the San Francisco Bay Area.

65. iPad download: APP.  An app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.

Here's the grid:

Solvers,

Did you get A BANG out of today's puzzle?

Tell me in the comments section!  But don't LIE TO ME!

ACT NOW!

-- NaomiZ

Sunday November 8, 2026, 2026 Katie Hale

Theme: EMPTY WORDS - T is changed into M in each phrase.

22. Rowing teams that spread good cheer?: MERRY CREWS. Terry Crews.

40. Scampering after a letter caught by the wind?: CHASING ONE'S MAIL. Chasing one's tail.

47. Exhausted after cramming for a geography test?: ALL MAPPED OUT. All tapped out.

64. Trick to getting the cleanest floors?: MOP SECRET. Top secret. 

71. Courthouse employee responsible for maintenance?: BAR MENDER. Bartender.

85. Solution when it's too hard to choose one Halloween costume?: MULTI-MASKING. Multi-tasking.

92. "Let's raise a glass to our favorite silent performers of yore!"?: FOR OLD MIME'S SAKE. For old time's sake.

115. Shop displays of long skirts?: MAXI STANDS. Taxi stands. 

"Empty" sounds like "M-T," hence the title. Some letter changes occur in the first word, some in the middle, and a couple in the last word. No odd man out.

Across:

1. NYC home of Dalí's "The Persistence of Memory": MOMA.

5. Leader of the Aesir: ODIN. Aesir is the pantheon of Norse myth. Also 97. Home of 5-Across: ASGARD.

9. Use the Track Changes feature in a document, say: EDIT. Microsoft Word.

13. Roles, metaphorically: HATS.

17. At any moment: EVER.

18. Body lotion brand: NIVEA. I like Curel. Scent-free. 

20. Places: PUTS.

21. Hebrew prophet: MICAH. One of the twelve minor prophets. 

24. Solo at the Met: ARIA.

25. The Gem State: IDAHO.  Idaho is home to more than 72 different types of precious and semi-precious gemstones.

26. Jealous: ENVIOUS.

27. Superlative suffix: EST.

29. From Laos, say: ASIAN.

31. NL East or AL West: DIV.

32. "Ciao!": BYE.

33. Afternoon TV fillers: RE-RUNS.

35. Clear plastic: LUCITE. Type of acrylic. 

37. Mesoamerican fruit: CACAO.

43. "For You" singer Rita: ORA.

44. Take to court: SUE.

45. Insta profile part: BIO.

46. Killer whale: ORCA.

52. Ides of March utterance: ET TU.

53. Texas metropolis, for short: DFW. Dallas Fort Worth. 

56. Jeep headquarters city: TOLEDO. Mud Hens.

57. Shortly after the big bang, e.g.: EONS AGO.

59. Orléans river: LOIRE.

61. Notable deeds: FEATS.

63. Title role for Benicio del Toro: CHE.

66. Collapsible bed: COT. 69. No longer in 73-Across: RISEN. 73. Place to be tucked in: BED.

67. Chobani competitor: OIKOS.

70. Took lunch: ATE.

74. Cacophonous: NOISY.

76. Starts a fresh pot: ANTES. Poker.

77. Leaves no room for doubt: ENSURES.

79. Bully: COERCE.

82. "It was fine": MEH.

83. Tax pros: CPAS.

88. Late-night TV pioneer: PAAR (Jack)

89. Prefix with dermis: EPI.

90. 2019 W.S. champ: NAT. World Series. National.

91. Corp. bigwig: CEO.

98. NHL legend Hull: BRETT. Son of Bobby Hull.

100. Image in a group chat, perhaps: AVATAR.

101. Runway figures: MODELS.

102. Hip-hop pioneer Kool __ Dee: MOE.

103. Blue rep.: DEM.

104. Lure: TEMPT.

106. Prayer __: RUG.

107. Airport areas with extra amenities: LOUNGES.

111. Muse of poetry: ERATO.

113. Self-involved: VAIN.

117. Contract addition: RIDER.

118. Ruse: PLOY.

119. Media coverage: PRESS.

120. "Heat" director Michael: MANN. He also directed "Ali".

121. "I need it now!": STAT.

122. Rational: SANE.

123. Normandy landing time: D DAY.

124. Round-about figs.?: ETAS. Oh, "round-about" here means approximate. 

Down:

1. Image in a group chat, perhaps: MEME.

2. Busy spot at Thanksgiving: OVEN. Look at this pumpkin bar. Loaded.

3. "Wheel of Fortune" creator Griffin: MERV.

4. Up, in Spanish: ARRIBA.

5. Perfectly timed: ON CUE.

6. Short ways to go?: DIRS. Directions. 

7. "__ seen enough": I'VE.

8. Cap company: NEW ERA.

9. Org. that regulates pesticides: EPA.

10. Chihuahua neighbor: DURANGO. Both are states in northern Mexico; Durango borders Chihuahua to the south.

11. "Affirmative": IT IS SO.

12. Ming who hosts the cooking show "Simply Ming": TSAI.

13. Camouflaged: HID.

14. National park near Bar Harbor: ACADIA.

15. Largest island in French Polynesia: TAHITI.

16. Sandbox toy: SHOVEL.

19. Burros: ASSES.

21. Wee: MINUSCULE.

23. Go up and down: YO-YO.

28. The Texas __: nonprofit media company: TRIBUNE.

30. "Nerd __!": ALERT.

34. Liters and meters: UNITS.

36. Nashville awards org.: CMA. The Country Music Association. 

37. Polish layer: COAT.

38. "Heaven" singer Parks: ARLO. Born and raised in London. 

39. Summon: CALL FORTH.

40. Measuring __: CUP.

41. Laugh syllable: HEE.

42. Closed for business: NOT OPEN.

44. Totally right: SPOT ON.

48. "Let's get together": MEET ME.

49. Lovelace of computing history: ADA. Daughter of Lord Byron.

50. Room designs: DECORS.

51. Cries of wonder: OOHS.

52. Self-images: EGOS.

53. Cajun dish cooked with giblets: DIRTY RICE.

54. No charge: FREE.

55. Like a martini with extra vermouth: WET.

58. Surrounded by: AMIDST.

60. Ric of The Cars: OCASEK.

62. Like many infield throws: SIDEARM.

65. Ski run vehicle: SNO-CAT.

66. Peppermint candy shape: CANE.

68. Some dolls: KENS.

69. Spool: REEL.

71. "Bang!": BAM.

72. Moving staircase: ESCALATOR.

73. Elle Woods' dog: BRUISER. 

75. Apple platform: IOS.

78. Called someone out, perhaps: UMPED.

80. Tech coverage site: CNET.

81. Awards quartet: EGOT.

84. Fernando Tatís Jr., for one: PADRE.

86. Tattoo parlor supply: INK.

87. Astronaut Jemison: MAE.

88. Tea holder: POT.

89. Strong feeling: EMOTION.

92. Sliding volume controls: FADERS.

93. No longer interested: OVER IT.

94. Best Western rival: RAMADA.

95. Antelope with twisted horns: IMPALA.

96. Losing streak: SLUMP.

98. Session: BOUT.

99. File menu choice: RE-NAME.

102. Like green logs: MOSSY.

105. Some post-series interviewees, for short: MVPS. The latest World Series MVP: William Contreras. 

107. Kudrow of "The Comeback": LISA.

108. Little pest: GNAT.

109. Writer Ferber: EDNA.

110. IDs on blue cards: SSNS.

112. Lunar festival in Vietnam: TET. Feb 6, 2027.

114. Dec. 31: NYE.

116. Marked (out): X'ED.

C.C.

Saturday, November 7, 2026, Adrian Johnson

Themeless Saturday by Adrian Johnson

A funny thing happened on my way to a very quick solve. I sped through the SW, SE and NW but the fill in the NE mocked me. As you can see in the colored grid, there were some real obstacles there. Even a NASA guy like me struggled with SPACE WASTE (usually called space junk) and I flat did not know SHOJIS, ARBORIO,  AGRABAH or suss out the sense of the word WEEPING. I'll struggle to get through the day, live with a couple of bad cells and try to stay out of the left over Halloween candy.

 

Across:

1. Tails the fox's creator: SEGA - Apparently our frequent crossword visitor, SEGA's Sonic The Hedgehog, has a friend.

5. Remains among the stars?: SPACE WASTE - OBVI the picture below is an exaggeration but there's a lot of junk up there. The first object in space was Sputnik in 1957 and it fell back to Earth after 3 months and burned up in the atmosphere. 

15. Snake's target: CLOG.

16. Factor in some accidents: HUMAN ERROR.

17. One consulting a manual, perhaps: USER - After this HUMAN makes an ERROR, he then seeks out the manual which, fortunately because I threw out the one that came with the item, is almost always online.

18. Event with pros and cons: OPEN DEBATE.

19. Cactus League city: MESA - We paid $65 per seat to watch the Cubs play the Royals during spring training in MESA, AZ.

20. Puts together: JUXTAPOSES - One of my favorite words.

21. "Duh": OBVI - There seems to be poetic license to take any word and chop off a part and use it as slang these days. Totes adorbs! 🤨

23. Title for Mo Farah: SIR.

 

24. Impulse-ive path?: SYNAPSE 😀

27. "How cool!": OH NICE.

30. What hikers wear: PATHS 😀 Some of those PATHS that HIKERS wear can be very precarious!

31. Aspirational hashtag: LIFE GOALS.

34. Letter between pi and sigma: RHO - In Greek, Gary becomes Γκάρι

35. Berry quantities: PINTS.

36. Softball stat: RBI.

37. Formal address: YOUR GRACE.

40. Affix: TIE ON - "Affix a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree"

42. Chocolaty cereal brand: OREO O'S.

43. Leila Fadel's venue: NPR NEWS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

45. Brand on a racetrack: STP - Too slick for a sumo wrestler in this 1960's commercial 

46. Austrian gent: HERR.

47. "Brake! Brake! Brake!": STOP THE CAR.

53. Not close enough: AFAR.

56. Name for five kings of Hawaii: KAMEHAMEHA.

57. Beyoncé voice role: NALA.

58. Structures at some winter carnivals: ICE CASTLES - Wisconsin's Magical ICE CASTLES

59. __ bag: GIFT - A welcome alternative for those of us who are very bad at gift wrapping.

60. "I'm in no mood": DON'T TEST ME.

61. Ballpark figs.: ERAS - Not EST'S today

Down:

1. Dirty film?: SCUM.

2. Term in conditional programming: ELSE.

3. Plays around?: GOES ON TOUR😀 After 60 years, Mike Love is the only original Beach Boy that still GOES ON TOUR (pink hat below) 

4. Fictional city that's a magic carpet ride away from the Cave of Wonders: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ AGRABAH.

5. Sliding screens: SHOJIS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ $800 at Home Depot

6. __ platter: PUPU - It was my first thought and it turned out to be right

7. Centurion co.: AMEX.

8. Tilt: CANT - Lean and Bias didn't work.

9. Dating connections in some publications?: EN DASHES - My full time teaching gigs ran from 1968 - 2015.

10. Overcome with joy, perhaps: WEEPING - My first sense of overcome with joy was BEAMING 

11. Rice named for a Piedmont municipality: ARBORIO - Grown in the Piedmont area in the far NW section of Italy.

12. Titles for mujeres casadas: Abbr.: SRAS - Married women in Español 

13. __ bag: TOTE.

14. Part of a basic Spanish conjugation: ERES.

22. Seconds, for short: VPS - Vice Presidents can be the second person in charge. I went through many thoughts about what "seconds" meant in the clue

24. Moving with ease: SPRY.

25. "Huzzah!": YAHOO.

26. Big name in sports statistics: ELIAS - The ELIAS Sports Bureau is famous for hyper-specific sports nuggets for the media such as 

There have been more than 4 million innings pitched in Major League history and Fernando Tatis is the only player to hit two Grand Slam home runs in the same inning.

27. Habitually: OFTEN.

28. Event intended to address trade deficits?: CAREER FAIR 😀 When you are looking for a new trade.

29. Pipe shape: ELBOW.

32. "Feel Good __": 2005 hit for Gorillaz: INC. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

33. Trespasses: SINS.

35. Initial stage of mitosis: PROPHASE.

38. Abide by: RESPECT.

39. "Capisce?": GOT THAT - "ARBORIO is Italian rice. Capisce?"

40. Uno e due: TRE.

41. Close enough: IN RANGE  - The arrival of the B29 Super Fortress put the home islands of Japan IN RANGE for bombing 

  

44. Express: PHRASE - PHRASING can make all the difference  

47. Shipping platform: SKID.

48. Qdoba snack: TACO.

49. Serious sign: OMEN.

50. Defib experts: EMTS - Many buildings now have defibrillator units in the hallways to use until EMT's get there.

51. Briton forebear: CELT.

52. "I'm still here": AHEM.

54. The "A" of NATO: ALFA - The NATO alphabet where I would be Golf Alfa Romeo Yankee.

55. "Phooey!": RATS.