Saturday, July 4, 2026, Doug Peterson and Sam Donaldson

 Saturday Themeless by Doug Peterson and Sam Donaldson

Two veteran constructors give us this very nice puzzle on this very special Fourth of July! The two song references were not in my knowledge bank but they did come to heel eventually. I will mention all the devious cluing in my write-up.

Across:

1. Scratch pads?: CAT TREES - Here's a deluxe model. Our lily has CAT TREES but none this elaborate.

9. Coastal region along the Santa Lucia Mountains: BIG SUR.

15. Backspin producer?: REAR AXLE 😀 A car's REAR AXLE does make its back wheels spin

16. Coffee drink made with a frother: FRAPPE.

17. Coldplay hit co-produced by Avicii: A SKY FULL OF STARS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I had to nurse this answer along as the cells filled. Avicii??

19. Low digit?: TOE.

20. Brand whose logo adorns Argentine soccer jerseys: ADIDAS.

21. Lake just south of London: ERIE - Oh, London, Ontario! An old cwd fill dressed up in fun new cluing!

22. Market openings, briefly: IPOS.

24. Heroic poetry: EPOS. - Yeah, I stayed with EPIC for a long time. The difference

25. Fig. in a background check: SSN.

26. Like Pluto, once: NINTH.

28. Hook's boatswain: SMEE.

30. Germ: SEED.

31. Series opener: GAME ONE - This 1903 World Series ticket to GAME ONE between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates is worth $270,000 today.

33. School zone sign: SLOW.

35. For the first time: NEWLY - Some NEWLY hired teachers feel they must be very 36. No-nonsense: STERN.

39. Socket set: EYES 😀

41. Platform for content creators: PATREON - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Patreon is a media and community platform where creators give their biggest fans access to exclusive work and experiences.  More

43. Bracelet component: BEAD.

46. Towering: TALL.

48. Not perfectly round: OVATE - Pluto's extremely OVATE orbit is one of the reasons it is not considered to be a true planet. 

49. NYC setting: EST.

50. Football coach Pederson: DOUG - Coaching has its highs and lows 

52. Gouda alternative: EDAM.

53. Alexa device: ECHO.

55. Like 56-Down: FANGED and 56. "Hotel Transylvania" protagonist: DRAC.

57. Purple yam used in desserts: UBE.

58. "Seven Nation Army" band: THE WHITE STRIPES - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jack White has stated that the song's lyrics tell the story of a man who discovers people gossiping about him in his hometown, which forces him to leave, only to return later out of loneliness

61. "Vacancy" singer Ari: LENNOX ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

62. Trattoria tubes: RIGATONI - The third item down on this Trattoria lunch menu. 

63. Apples in the trash, e.g.: E-WASTE - After using Apple products for over 30 years, I'd have a big pile of E-WASTE. I wish I still had my old AppleII+

64. Fourth of July treats: SNO CONES 😀

Down:

1. Packing: CRATING - Packing can involve using a crate

2. Using coded language: AESOPIAN.

3. 1980s hit whose video drew a lot of attention?: TAKE ON ME - Very unique use of live performances and pencil drawings.

4. Tax: TRY - Hard times can be said to be very taxing or TRYING

5. Rival of The Djoker and Fed Express: RAFA  - Tennis great Novak Djokovic has the nickname of The Joker and another great, Roger Federer has the nickname of The Fed Express. They both had great matches against Rafael Nadl whose nickname is RAFA.

Federer             Nadal                Djokovic

6. Ooze: EXUDE.

7. Shape with minor and major axes: ELLIPSE.

8. Hardly ever: SELDOM.

9. Ride-or-dies, for short: BFFS. 😀

10. Org. whose first commissioner was former treasury secretary George S. Boutwell: IRS - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He was appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 to establish the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, which was renamed the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, in 1918. 

11. Flight board info: GATE.

12. Few and far between: SPARSE.

13. Revolt: UPRISE.

14. Email again: RESEND.

18. Palm springs?: OASES.

23. Worried: STEWED.

27. "__ guacamole!": HOLY.

29. Queen who appears at Epcot's Royal Sommerhus: ELSA.

                          Anna            ELSA

30. Sharp turn: SWERVE.

32. Russian refusal: NYET.

34. 2022 title role for Tom Hanks: OTTO - A premise that is very similar to Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino 

37. Learn by the book?: READ UP ON - Maybe you should do some more reading.

38. Latin attention-getter: NOTA BENE - "Note well" in Italiano. abbreviated N.B. "N.B. All applications must be submitted by Friday at 5:00 PM.

40. Anwar who wrote "Revolt on the Nile": SADAT.

41. Connects: PLUGS IN.

42. Itchy, to Scratchy: NEMESIS.

43. Grown-up grub: BEETLE - Not food for adults 😀

44. Refrain from: ESCHEW.

45. Zeus's brain child?: ATHENA - According to the myth, she literally burst forth fully grown and armed from Zeus's forehead (or skull). 

47. Solitary sorts: LONERS.

51. Onset: GET GO.

54. __ up to: OWNS.

55. Prix __: FIXE - A fixed or set price for the entire meal 

59. Mild alternative: HOT 😀

60. Olympian Midori: ITO.

Friday, Jul 3rd, 2026 ~ Jay Silverman

 D'Art BOARD

Girls Eye~!

I had a run of Jay Silverman puzzles on Wednesdays back in '24-'25, and his last LA Times post was in March of this year.  Today we have four 'pun-ishing' clues that "repronounce" an English word as a its foreign counterpart, with some humorous results - if that's your thing.  I liked the theme, just got stuck trying to find the one wrong square when I did not get my "ta-DA~!", and it was a name crossing one of those foreign words, compounded by a low Grid Flow.  Standard grid, a mere eight 3LWs, twice as many four- as five-letter words, no circles, two handfuls of names, three "others", and nary a Twurd to be found~!  The themers; 

17. Comfort that can only come from French bread?: PAIN RELIEF - It was the last themer that sent the V-8 can flying, and thus today I learned that the Frawnche word for "bread" is "pain" - pronounced all in the nose, sorta "puuhh(n)"

26. Creating perfect sunbathing conditions on an Italian beach?: SOLE PURPOSE - I was stumped at this themer, and the low grid flow meant only one crossing for help; don't know why I struggled to think of the Italian word for "sun", = "sole", with a 'flair' on the e, "sol-uh"

43. Positive review in a German newspaper?: GUT REACTION - pronounced "goot", this one made sense on my second pass . . .

58. Home for the king of Spain?: REAL ESTATE - and again with a differing pronunciation, "ree-ahl", which means royal, as opposed to "not fake" - learned from Spanish football / soccer teams

If you're American when entering a bathroom, and American when exiting, what are you inside~?

European . . .

Mais Aspettare Es Gibt Más~!

ACROSS:

1. Path behind a mower: SWATH - There's a guy who lives near me on rte 32 who takes the most meticulous care of his grass . . . and last weekend, I saw this thing cruising his lawn 

It's this $5349 mower AND snowblower 😮

6. Cheese in a Greek omelet: FETA - semi-Easter egg of old language, new crossword

10. Whack with snowballs, say: PELT

14. Goosebump-causing: EERIE

15. Person with a fan club: IDOL - person with a fan club; Billy Idol

Yeah, I've used this image before . . . 

16. Cooking spread: OLEO - learned by doing crosswords

19. Gradually introduce to solid foods: WEAN

20. Isfahan's country: IRAN - geo name #1

21. Claims that won't pass fact checks: LIES

22. Posh and __: nickname of a British celebrity couple: BECKS - name (ish) - the duo of 'Posh Spice' Victoria and David Beckham, he of European football ( soccer ) fame . . . 

Married 27 years tomorrow~!

23. Mesopotamian empire that included parts of 20-Across: ASSYRIA - geo name #2, but the circumreferential clue made it easier this time

25. Likely to be mouthy: PERT - I'll wash that mouth out with Pert shampoo . . . 

Plus~!

31. Software demos: BETAS

35. Capital of British Columbia: VICTORIA - geo name #3, and the #1 "other" Victoria . . . 🙄

36. Employs: USES

37. Spot: SPECK - Spot was sooo last week . . . 

39. Staple that's often helpful in a pinch?: SALT

40. Chased: RAN AFTER - I had WAS AFTER to start

42. Bench press muscles: DELToidS - AND - 38D. Bench press muscle: PECtoral - this one-arm out, one-arm curl & press is brutal - as you can tell from my grimace . . . down to 203lbs~!

46. Clairvoyant: SEER

47. Lost one's cool: SNAPPED

52. Word with act or action: CLASS - class act, class action

54. Political alliance: BLOC

56. Conditional programming word: ELSE

57. "Only Murders in the Building" home: HULU - Ah.  Where this show is to be streamed

60. Salchow kin: AXEL - Friday cluing for this crossword Olympics staple

There, that oughta clear things up . . . 

61. Zealous: AVID

62. Asked too many questions, say: PRIED

63. Unwelcome visitor: PEST - there has been a preponderance of big black ants cruising my home this spring, even with a dozen traps in the usual corners . . .

Look closer . . .

64. Funeral rite pile: PYRE

65. Senators' staffers: AIDES - the #2 "other" Senators . . . 🙄 - see below

DOWN:

1. Instagram filter shade: SEPIA - good WAG to start my Downs

2. Models: WEARS - I went with the noun, tried TYPES

3. Met highlights: ARIAS - "Met" = Metropolitan Opera

4. Lacking resonance: TINNY

5. Gender-specific pronoun: HER - HIS, HIM, or SHE, take your pick

6. Relating to offspring: FILIAL - how kids behave in respect to parents

7. Actress Falco: EDIE - name #4, crossword staple

8. Wiggled body parts: TOES - I can spread my toes like a hand - I'll refrain from posting an image

9. ET from Melmac: ALF - from the 80's TV sitcom

10. Confidence-enabling stance: POWER POSE - Had me thinking "Captain Morgan"

11. __ college: ELECTORAL - nailed it

12. Security breach: LEAK - Dah~! I tried HACK, 50% correct

13. Jillions: TONS - oh no~! is it a Twurd~?  ALOT, ATON~?

18. 2025 Pixar title character: ELIO - name #5 that caused me grief on my last themer fill

22. Muppet who lives in the basement of 123 Sesame Street: BERT - name #6; I tried ELMO

24. Blog feed letters: RSS - Really Simple Syndication - yes, really; more here

25. Senators target: PUCK - Got me.  Dammit.  I was thinking baseball - but they're the Nationals these days - this is the Ottawa NHL team, and I am ashamed I missed it on the first pass . . . 😒😞

27. Navratilova rival: EVERT - Tennis greats, but SELES was the wrong decade and name, #7

28. Camera shot: PIC

29. Sandy sediment: SILT

30. Noshes: EATS

31. Nondescript town: BURG

32. Biblical twin: ESAU - the birthright brother

33. Events in retail parking lots: TENT SALES - huh - a unique crossword fill . . .

34. Thus: AS A RESULT - three-word fill for a Friday four-letter clue

37. Elite athlete: STAR

41. Extra charges: FEES

42. Cold case sample: DNA

44. Tristan's beloved: ISOLDE  - crossword couple, name #8

45. Fairy tale start: ONCE - upon a time . . .

48. __ dish: PETRI

49. Flannel pattern: PLAID

50. Name in the makeup aisle: ESTÉE - Lauder, name #9

51. Monopoly stack: DEEDS - not MONEY

52. Bloke: CHAP - I tried GENT, 100% wrong

53. Quite posh: LUXE - the #3 "other" Posh

54. Quail group: BEVY - Right.  That's the word I could not recall

55. Bear necessity?: LAIR - a 'barely' bearable punny clue . . . 

58. Ice Spice genre: RAP - three-letter music genre~? Ektorp EMO or RAP

59. Ballston __, New York: SPA - geo name #10, but I had help - I lived in upstate NY for years, in Colonie, which is outside of Albany, not far from this place - and where Rusty Brain hails from

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Splynter

Grid Flow a LOW 16.1