Sunday September 27, 2026 Jeremy Venook

Theme: "DROP IN ANYTIME!"  - The unstressed "uhn" sound is dropped from each familiar phrase, with spelling changes as needed.

23. Tacky style influenced by West Coast beach culture and Neapolitan food traditions?: CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITSCH. California Pizza Kitchen. 

36. One tasked with keeping produce from spoiling?: VEGETABLE GUARD. Vegetable garden. 

55. Caption of a selfie next to one fine fen?: MY FAVORITE MARSH. My Favorite Martian. 

65. Stacking figurines of a Canadian prog rock band?: RUSH NESTING DOLL. Russian nesting doll.

81. Individual with exceptional integrity?: HONORABLE MENSCH. Honorable mention. 

98. Annual award coveted by handbag designers?: PURSE OF THE YEAR. Person of the Year. 

116. Is able to say, "This parrot is all the evidence I need!"?: CARRIES THE BIRD OF PROOF. Carries the burden of proof. 

Another LAT Sunday debut. Congrats, Jeremy! I think this might be our constructor.  

I'm always in awe of this type of theme, where dropping a sound requires spelling changes as well. Coming up with a full set takes an enormous amount of creativity.

Heavy themage, with two grid-spanners, but the fill doesn't suffer at all.

Across:

1. Hard work: LABOR. Are you aware of China's "re-education through labor" system?

6. Gym bottoms: SHORTS.

12. "Sad to say ... ": ALAS.

16. Through: VIA.

19. Up on the latest news: AWARE.

20. Forty winks: CAT NAP. And 30. Continuing to count sheep: STILL UP.

21. Accessory kits for new hires: DESK SETS. I probably have more notebooks than you.

26. Metric weight, for short: KILO.

27. Crazes: FADS.

28. Saxophone need: REED.

29. Wash: BATHE.

32. Tag line?: I'M IT.

34. Tatami, e.g.: MAT. Tatami mats are quite firm. Good support for your back. 

35. Spots: SEES.

43. Up to, briefly: TIL.

45. Defines, as a boundary: DELIMITS.

47. Mac spec: RAM.

48. Melee memento: SCAR.

49. Tribute penner: ODIST.

51. Tel __, Israel: AVIV.

52. __ on a true story: BASED.

54. Draw Four card game: UNO.

59. "We feel the same way": US TOO.
 
61. Chicken cordon __: BLEU. Cordon bleu means "blue ribbon" in French. 

62. Microwave maker: RCA.

63. Portuguese greeting: OLA.

64. Rely (on): DEPEND.

71. Over again: DE NOVO.

74. Artist Yoko: ONO.

75. Your and my: OUR.

76. Alpo rival: IAMS.

80. In unison: AS ONE.

86. U.K. lawmakers: MPS.  Members of Parliament.

87. Spots for electron clouds: ATOMS.

89. Took off: LEFT.

90. Completely lost: AT SEA.

91. Textbook chapter: UNIT.

93. Colorful carp: KOI. This one sold for $1.8 million.

94. Pickets: PROTESTS.

97. Genre that includes techno: EDM. Electronic dance music.

101. Next in line: HEIR.

103. Chaps: HES.

104. Maddens: IRES.

105. Widened, as pupils: DILATED.

108. On the move: ASTIR.

111. Guitar tuners: PEGS.

113. Campsite warmer: FIRE.

115. Prefix with watt: GIGA.

121. Tough to comprehend: ESOTERIC.

122. Urges into action: IMPELS.

123. Japanese boxed lunch: BENTO. Comes from Chinese "biandang".

124. Bashful: SHY.

125. Poison ivy symptom: RASH.

126. Tubes in antique radios: DIODES.

127. Olympic track great Owens: JESSE.

Down:

1. Hasn't: LACKS.

2. Keep an eye out for: AWAIT.

3. Cager's motto: BALL IS LIFE.

4. Camden Yards player: ORIOLE.

5. Slo-mo reviewer: REF.

6. Toss: SCRAP.

7. Word with farm or foam: HAND.

8. Big name in small cars: OTIS.

9. Genetic messenger molecule: RNA.

10. Spigot: TAP.

11. Booze: SPIRITS.

12. Woodworking tool: ADZE.

13. Head up: LEAD.

14. Request: ASK.

15. Carryall for a day on the slopes: SKI BAG.

16. Sweater __: VEST.

17. Restless desire: ITCH.

18. Tennis icon honored on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia: ASHE (Arthur). He was born and raised in Richmond. Buried there also.

22. Current condition: STATUS.

24. Helpful: OF USE.

25. Epsilon follower: ZETA.

31. Samsung product, perhaps: LED TV.

32. "Uncle!": I GIVE.

33. Converged: MET.

34. Viral post: MEME.

36. Civil rights leader C.T. __: VIVIAN. Unknown to me. He was a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.

37. Put out: EMIT.

38. Thirdlove garments: BRAS.

39. Mascara target: LASH.

40. Very serious: ACUTE.

41. Rambled: RAN ON.

42. Dickens title character Edwin: DROOD.

43. The Taj Mahal, for one: TOMB.

44. Pastoral poem: IDYL.

46. Turpentine tree: LARCH.

50. Dark lord of "The Lord of the Rings": SAURON. Look at his eyes.

52. Dietary fiber: BRAN.

53. One-on-one contest: DUEL.

56. "Thereabouts": OR SO.

57. Engine: MOTOR.

58. Undefeated boxer Laila: ALI.

60. Brace: SPLINT.

64. On-campus residence: DORM.

66. Eye layer: UVEA.

67. Uncountable ages: EONS.

68. Cold open?: SNO. Sno-Caps, e.g.

69. Green party?: GOLFER. Golfers putt on the green.

70. Songs for two: DUETS.

71. Block: DAM UP.

72. College sports channel: ESPNU.

73. Polite denial: NO SIR.

77. Avowals: ASSERTIONS.

78. Hosted, for short: MC'ED.

79. Decorative pillow cover: SHAM.

81. Horseshoe spot: HOOF.

82. Leave out: OMIT.

83. Medicinal plants: ALOES.

84. __ carotene: BETA.

85. Stand in a studio: EASEL.

88. Bout enders, briefly: TKOS. Technical Knockouts.

92. Gym top: T-SHIRT.

94. Meteor in the summer sky: PERSEID.

95. Loaf with seeds: RYE.

96. One who takes inventory?: THIEF.

99. More uncanny: EERIER.

100. Lofty: HIGH.

102. "Amen to that!": I AGREE.

105. Slag: DROSS.

106. Award quartets, for short: EGOTS.

107. Oscar nominee Willem: DAFOE. He was in "Platoon".

108. Pros: ACES.

109. Robe securer: SASH.

110. City tricked by a wooden horse: TROY.

111. Trident-shaped Greek letters: PSIS.

112. Inscribe with acid: ETCH.

113. Ascot-wearing driver of the Mystery Machine: FRED (Jones).

114. Lollygagging: IDLE.

117. Pitching stat: ERA.

118. Songwriters' rights org.: BMI.

119. Wall St. launch: IPO.

120. Easy sammie: PBJ. I like peanut butter & honey. 

C.C. 

Saturday, September 26, 2026, Adrian Johnson

 Saturday Themeless by Adrian Johnson

  

Our Wyoming native who went to college in Minnesota is now doing greatwork for a startup group called BetterFi, a nonprofit working to end predatory lending in Tennessee.

I made great progress and soon had the NW to SE swath done and then had to go in to finish off the other corners which was a fun challenge with a lot of international cuisine and filmakers. 

Across:

1. Releases: EMITS.

6. Ardent supporter: MEGAFAN - This Raider fan qualifies

13. Island country that changed the shape of the International Date Line by skipping December 30, 2011: SAMOA.

14. "Anything you say": SURE SURE.

15. Guttural sound: CROAK.

16. Outermost meningeal membrane: DURA MATER.

17. Hot: IN DEMAND.

19. "Bad idea": DON'T.

20. High return: LOB.

21. 41-Across teacher: SENSEI and 41. Dojo discipline: KARATE.

23. Army __: ANTS.

24. Double-reed woodwind related to the shawm: OBOE - Adrian muddied the waters by adding a shawm in the clue 

26. Seldom seen: SCARCE.

28. Racing headgear: CRASH HELMET - 76-year-old comedian Andy Huggins says at his age he worries about falling and so he wears a HELMET. To keep from looking foolish, he also carries a skateboard.

30. Tailgating area: LOT.

33. Angiogram image, perhaps: AORTA - It kinda stands out, doesn't it

34. "__ bien": MUY.

35. Durable fabric: CHINO.

37. Drug featured in the Dock Ellis biopic "No No: A Dockumentary": LSD.

38. "How's it hangin'?": WHAT'S SHAKIN'

42. Bernie Sanders' mittens, for one: MEME.

What's shakin' Bernie?

43. Singer known as the "Goddess of Pop": CHER - Depends on who you ask. 

  

47. Harsh critics: HATERS.

49. PC IDs: IPS.

50. Martinican poet Césaire who helped found the Négritude movement: AIME ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

51. Dessert often made with espresso: TIRAMISU.

53. "Chocolate in every bite" cookie maker: CHIPS AHOY.

56. Sonicare rival: ORAL B.

58. Herb in fines herbes and herbes de Provence: TARRAGON - Fines Herbes (fēnz erbs - literally fine herbs): Made with a specific combination of four fresh herbs in equal parts: parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil.

59. Bring up: RAISE.

60. Welcome words?: IT'S OPEN.

61. Wrapped: ENDED.


Down:

1. Key hit in panic: ESC.

2. Platform game that debuted in 1983: MARIO BROS - I loved playing their lo-res game on my Apple IIe

3. "You sold me": I'M ON BOARD.

4. Bufotoxin source: TOAD - Bufotoxin is a milky, poisonous defense chemical secreted by the skin and parotoid glands of true toads in the genus Bufo.

5. Array at an izakaya: SAKES Izakaya (居酒屋) are casual drinking establishments, similar to tapas bars, where customers order a variety of small dishes of food that can be shared at the table. 

6. Genre in which readers are clued in to the plot?: MURDER MYSTERY.

7. Time to study: ERA. 

8. Beaut: GEM.

9. Taqueria option: ASADA - When you're done at the izakaya, you can drive on over to a taqueria for some carne ASADA (grilled meat) food.

 

10. Guest room fixture: FUTON.

11. "__ you sweet!": AREN'T.

12. "Aw, phooey": NERTS.

14. Vinyasa sequence also called Surya Namaskar: SUN SALUTATION ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  - Vinyasa is the movement between poses. This slowly revealed itself.

16. Event one must prepare for exhaustively?: DANCE MARATHON - A DANCE MARATHON was the subject of this movie 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The trailer

18. Vibe well: MESH.

20. Word in many union names: LOCAL - Hormel's LOCAL 22 Union has sponsored champion softball teams here in town for years.

22. Halo-halo base: ICE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More exotic food! This is a Filipino shaved ICE treat.

25. Part of i.e.: EST.

27. Make a lasting impression?: ETCH.

29. Skateboarding star Tony: HAWK - Tony now "hawks" Qunol products

30. "This bears repeating ... ": LIKE I SAID.

31. Instinctively: ON IMPULSE - I bought a Mazda Miata on impulse many years ago and regretted it. It always needed repairs and wouldn't handle snow.

32. Hues: TONES.

36. Muffuletta ingredient: HAM ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More unknown (to me) food. The classic New Orleans sandwich combines a homemade olive salad with layers of thin-sliced Italian cold cuts. Man it looks so good!

39. Derisive laugh: HAH.

40. "Buona __": SERA.

43. Tacos de nopales need: CACTI - Our buffet continues: 

To make cactus tacos, scrape thorns off nopales (duh), boil them for 15 mins with onions, bay leaves, and cilantro, then sauté with chilis and jalapeños.

44. Percussion set: HI HAT.

45. Dubai rulers: EMIRS.

46. High-quality proof, for short: REPRO - Repro stands for reprographics (or reproduction), but in publishing, printing, and design, a REPRO specifically refers to a high-quality proof of text and images. It is used as the final checkpoint to verify that everything looks perfect before the final print run.

48. Camping treat: SMORE.

52. Home country of filmmaker Asghar Farhadi: IRAN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

54. Chump: SAP.

55. Sit in a cellar, perhaps: AGE.

57. Sack: BED.

Friday, Sep 25th, 2026 ~ Rebecca Goldstein

 IF THE CLÜE FITS . . .

The full line of Diane von Furstenberg's crossword fashions clip

Rebecca Goldstein returns with a Friday foray into fashion - Five fills framed as (out)FITs, with their associated attire in the answers ( see what I did there~? ).  This is Ms. Goldstein's sixth puzzle this year, and I blogged a streak of her constructions on Wednesdays in, Jan, Feb, and March of 2025.  I found today's puzzle less difficult than yesterday's.  For a change, we had no add-in/on letters as a theme, a standard grid - which is unusual for Rebecca - no 'outlier' squares, just a handful of names ( but a crossing pair, thus a Natick ), no circles, and 17 3LWs, one more than the 5-letter word count.  The themers, with 38A. at the center, and no reveal;

17. Fit to eat?: LOBSTER BIB - You can eat the lobster, but not the bib

38. Fit for a king?: PAJAMAS - A king-sized bed, very clever

62. Fit for work?: SUIT AND TIE - Thankfully, I've never had to wear a suit & tie for work

11. Fit to a tee?: GOLF SHIRT - Not the "T" shirt, the "tee" prop of a golf ball

34. Fit for service?: CHOIR ROBE - Here's Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture

with a full, robed choir and pipe organ ( in the background )

Perhaps you prefer a choir with real cannons - this one

But Wait - Get Dressed - There's More~!

 

ACROSS:

1. Diminish: WANE - Think the Moon, and thus - 32D. 1-Across opposite: WAX - now makes sense

5. "Too rich for my blood": I'M OUT." - Poker reference, but the "catch phrase" of Shark Tank, too

10. "My word!": "EGAD~!"

14. Fusses: ADOs

15. Bay area on the East Coast: TAMPA - Kinda vague, kinda Friday, Geo name #1

16. Olden times: YORE

19. Enthusiasm: ELAN - "E"lliteration . . . 🙄

20. Uno e uno e uno: TRE - Español:  English - 1 and 1 and 1 is three - I only saw "uno" = Italian 😜

The Beatles, lyric @2:42

21. Arabian aristocrat: EMIR - we're "A & E"ing all over this blog . . .

22. Hurled: LET FLY - e.g., insults

24. Nintendo princess: ZELDA - the original video game is now 40 years old; name #2

26. Archrivals: NEMESES - the plural spelling

28. __ Minor: URSA

30. Event that may have drawings: ART SHOW - very clever clue / answer; LOTTERY fit, too

33. Single ant, say: SCOUT - I tried DRONE to start - had just the "O", but "totes" correct . . . 🙄

35. Hon: BAE - cringe.  I don't care for this abbr at all, even IRL, not just crosswords . . . 😖

OK, the Shein "Bae" outFITs are pretty attractive . . . 

36. "Proud Mary" singer Turner: TINA - name #3

37. "Don't think so": "NAH."

41. Nero Wolfe creator Stout: REX - I read the whole series, have a boxful of the paperback books I am still waiting to display, as the shelves I have planned still need to be built; name #4

42. Book jacket blurbs: BIOs - a biography, in a few words 

44. Lip-smacking word: YUM~!

45. Air ways: DUCTS

47. Masterful demonstrations: CLINICS - typically related to sports professionals, musicians, etc.

49. Capital city with a Museum of the Viking Age set to open in 2027: OSLO - I'd like to visit that kind of place - still, a geo name, #5

50. Home body?: REALTOR - Har-har

52. Diving aquatic birds: LOONS

56. One sister in "King Richard": SERENA - The "S" being a Natick crossing with another name, #6, I had no clue, was thinking Shakespeare's "Richard III", then King Lear, but no - this is the story of "Richard", the father of sisters Venus & Serena, and his drive for making them successful tennis pros

58. Treadmill setting: PACE - I finished 45mins at level 5 on the Stairmaster; this week I started level 6

60. D.C. MLBer: NATional

61. The whole shebang: A TO Z

65. Broccoli __: RABE

66. Law of __: trigonometry equation: SINES - for the math geeks; for the Law(yer) of SIGNS . . .

And many more, here

67. Mud: JAVA - coffee slang

68. Sudsy mugfuls: ALES

69. "Tough crowd!": "YEESH~!" - I usually spell it "SHEESH" in my journal

70. Zoomed: SPED


DOWN:

1. Flounce: WALTZ - "you think you can just come ___ing in here dressed like that~?!?"

2. Be wild about: ADORE

3. Prize first awarded in 1901: NOBEL - name(ish) - the 'explosive' & tragic life of  Alfred Nobel

4. Slow start?: ESS - metaclue, "S" starts the word sLOW

5. Object: ITEM - nailed it, but wondered if it might be the legalese verb, "I object, your honor~!"

6. Yacht spot: MARINA - and SERENA, look at us rhyming~!

7. Color gradient technique: OMBRE - never heard this term, usually related to hair, and of Frawnche origin, meaning "shadow"; I found this "Fire" version, and while I've not seen it IRL, it's mesmerizing. . .

Here's a YouTube clip on how to D-i-Y

8. News initials: UPI - United Press International, and it's American, too . . . 😁

9. Rehearsals a cast generally won't stand for?: TABLE READS - made me think of a Family Guy episode; Seth MacFarlane and cast have done live ones at Comic Cons, but they're definitely NSFW

10. Reason to look one's best?: EYE TEST - very clever, that kind of "look"

Can you read line seven~?

12. Central Asia's North __ Sea: ARAL - Geo name #7

13. Say "It wasn't me," say: DENY

18. Start to cry: TEAR UP - start to cut a rug; TEAR it UP~!

Gramatik, Tearin It Up

23. Rough fig.: ESTimate

25. Pair: DUO - Dah~!  Not TWO

27. "M'lady": MA'AM

29. Sarcastic response to rude behavior: STAY CLASSY - Yeah, or Meh~?

31. Individuals: ONES

33. Travel as the wind blows: SAIL - ah, another good clue / answer; if you're on a submarine, does one still "set sail~?" - I'm reading a book that involves U-Boats, and I thought this description a bit odd . . .

35. Comic book onomatopoeia: BAM~!

37. "SVU" network: NBC - the Law & Order "Special Victims Unit" spin-off

39. A second ago: JUST - We missed it~? When~?

"Just now~!" @ 1:40

40. Morose: SULLEN

43. Seasonal allergy symptoms: SNEEZES

46. Murmur: COO

48. "What We Can Know" novelist McEwan: IAN - name #8

49. Pontificates: ORATES - AND . . . 

51. Pontificate: OPINE - nearly a pure clecho

                                                             

53. Ready to pour: ON TAP - not Spïnal Tap - but speaking of umlauts . . .

54. Inexperienced: NAÏVE - from the Frawnche - and another umlaut

The ümlaut bänds wëbsite

55. Place: STEAD

56. Singer-songwriter Bareilles: SARA - the crossing "S" name, a bit harsh, but guessable, name #9

Written to appease the recod label, it's a clever NOT "Love Song"

57. Bibliography abbr.: ET. AL. - Latin et alia(i) - and others

59. Paper money: CASH - couldn't be ONES, that was up at 31D.

63. Driver's one-eighty: UIE - U-Turn abbr.; got burned by this in a recent puzzle

64. Turntable pros: DJs - and now, it's time for "PJ"s . . .

Splynter

Grid Flow 35.2