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.