Friday, Oct 30th, 2026 ~ Patti Varol

 AMERICA'S MOST HAUNTED

Wanted Dead, or . . . Undead~?

We have a Halloween-themed puzzle a day early; I was unaware that we would have a similar theme yesterday, as I wrote today's blog earlier in the week, but solve the rest of the week's puzzles as they come out . . . The LA Times editor, Patti Varol, is back again with a crossword that takes common in-language phrases and gives them a trick-or-treat-ment . . . 🙄 Five themers, including a grid-spanner, totalling 61 squares, that become "creepy" puns in a timely fashion.  A solid Friday construction, maybe more names than I would care for, but I did some historical research, and found even our host & crossword master C.C. has "bemoaned" them - on Halloween, no less.  Huh.  Standard grid, no circles, no outliers, a Twurd, and thirteen names - we have a Friday the 13th coming in November.  The themers, no reveal;

17. Suggestion at the start of a Halloween decoration workshop?: MAKE-A-WITCH - Make-A-Wish; I don't have a tree in my front yard, or I'd put one of these up . . .

Here's how to make "witch crash witch craft"  🙄 

23. Expectation during a Halloween concert?: RHYTHM AND BOOS - Rhythm & Blues

Atlanta Rhythm Section - "Spooky" - but they weren't the original band

Bminor, same key as Hotel Cali- . . .

36. Apparition who only appears on Halloween in the Golden State?: CALIFORNIA GHOST - I had ghoul first - as in Califronia girl, but no, it's the California Coast, which I see is currently threatened

Ghost,  "Faith" 🠟

49. Got separated from a spooky friend at a Halloween party?: LOST ONE'S GHOUL - Lost One's Cool - the "nameless Ghouls" are the members of the Swedish rock band Ghost, behind "Papa Emeritus V".  Now for a song about that vampire from Transylvania . . . not the Muppet, the other one

Nosferatu, off "Spectres", from Blue Öyster Cult

59. "My Halloween monster costume is so disappointing!"?: I DON'T SCARE - "I. Don't. Care."

"We're Ready to Believe You"

Buuuuuut Waaaaaait There's Mooooooan~!

ACROSS:

1. Oodles: ALOT - A Twurd to start us off

5. Mattress material: FOAM - I do the Downs first, had perps

9. Tablet downloads: APPs

13. Kidney-related: RENAL - my dad had a kidney transplant, so I heard this word ALOT growing up

15. Red inside, maybe: RARE

16. Victory lap speed: TROT 

19. Depend (on): RELY

20. Sugar suffix: OSE - fructose, sucralose ( OK, that's fake sugar ), etc.

21. Shoreline shaper: TIDE - The King Tide is the threat to the west coast

22. Yaz's team from 1961 to 1983: BOSOX - abbr for abbr - Carl Yastrzemski, played for the Boston Red Sox - not a baseball fan, but I knew this name, #1

27. Athletic honor: ESPY - The award given out by ESPN, the sports network; I see our favorite crossword WNBA player made the list . . .

28. Horn of Africa nation: ERITREA - Geo name #2

31. Omnia vincit __: AMOR - Latin, "love conquers all"

34. "Right on!": "AMEN~!"

These Halloween tights are right on

35. Dragon boat steerer: OAR - Chinese "ship", but when I punched "Dragon Boat" into Google, I get more Chinese restaurants than rowers; more here

41. Meadow mouthful: CUD - cow candy - alliteration 😜

42. Turn off the security cameras for, maybe: ABET

43. Iowa college town: AMES - Geo name #3

44. Accessory that may match cuff links: TIE CLIP

46. Sportages and Tellurides: KIAs - autos

54. Copious: AMPLE

56. Covent Garden solo: ARIA - yada yada four letter solo~?  ARIA - more about the centre here

57. Cold-sounding commercial prefix: SNO - Sno-cone, sno-caps, sno-balls, etc.

58. Rich soil: LOAM - AND - 53. Windborne sediment: LOESS - Both good for wine-making, it seems

62. Dough for pupusas: MASA

The website

63. Alaskan gold rush town: NOME - Geo name #4

64. __ fun at: POKES - hard to see the 'plural'

65. Mystery writer?: ANONymous - frequent visitors to the Corner comments section

66. "The Crying Game" writer/director Jordan: NEIL - Friday vague, and I did see the movie, back in 1992; name #5

67. Intervals: GAPS

DOWN:

1. Medieval museum display: ARMOR - When I build my castle, I'll have a suit of armor on display

2. Spot checker?: LEASH - Dog humor, har-har

Cooper-checker

3. Harmonious, in a way: ON KEY - a bit meh.

4. __ kwon do: TAE

5. End of the workweek, for some: FRIDAY - Technically, it's the "start" of my "work" week 😜

6. Like some breakfast bars: OATEN - I made my own granola, but the calories in a tray are outrageous

I divvy it up into 20 squares, 238cals each

7. Part of a circumference: ARC

8. Underwhelmed review: MEH - Friday's puzzles have been 50/50 Yeah/Meh of late

9. Intrinsically: AT ROOT

10. Briefing setting: PRESSROOM - Brief setting = Dressing room

For the ladies

11. See 24-Down: POLO - AND - 24. With 11-Down, "The Fosters" actress: TERI name #s 6 & 7

12. River that made Achilles (mostly) invincible: STYX - dipped all but his "heel", hence the "weak" term

14. Plastered strips: LATHS - Meh in the plural

18. Fraidy-cat: WIMP - fitting clue/answer

22. Sound of spring?: <<BOING>> - Har-har

25. Lovato with the 2025 album "It's Not That Deep": DEMI - name #8; her website

26. City near Anaheim: BREA - west coast, again - I get it - it's the LA Times . . . 😑Geo name #9

29. Smooth sailing: EASE - Dah~!  I tried CALM

30. Newspaper section: ARTS - not op-ed

31. Checkbook no.: ACCT

32. Home of Kahului Airport: MAUI - sounded Hawaiian, tried OAHU to start - Geo name #10

33. Tex-Mex brand: OLD EL PASO - I usually buy their flat-bottom taco shells

34. Echidna snack: ANT - learning moment; did not think of Echidna as an animal, but a place . . . turns out it's another Greek mythology figure, and the mother of Cerberus, for one

37. "F" on a test: FALSE - Five letters, therefore, not "FAIL"

38. Notice in passing?: OBITuary - Standard crossword humor

39. Credit report blot: REPO - A repossession, typically of a vehicle - I own my two cars

40. Leftovers dish: HASH - I toyed with STEW but waited on perps

45. "The Favourite" Oscar winner Olivia: COLMAN - looks like it might be a funny movie; name #11

46. Seed: KERNEL - corn - candy corn

47. Skeptical reply: "IS IT~?"

48. Showing shock: AGASP - Dah~!  Not AGAPE

The Scream

50. With 51-Down, 2019 and 2021 Australian Open winner: NAOMI - AND - 

51. See 50-Down: OSAKA - tennis, a Corner shout-out, and name #12

52. General Assembly fig.: UN REP - United Nations representative - the list, here

54. __ mater: ALMA

55. Bellyache: MOAN - Bark at the Moan . . .

OZZY~!!!

59. Travel stop: INN - How about a stop at "The Stanley Hotel"~?  it's the one from The Shining

60. Generic surname: DOE - lucky #13, didn't hafta be one . . .

61. Horologist's piece: COG - I was thinking astrology, but this is a watchmaker

Splynter

Grid Flow 24.1

Thursday October 29, 2026 Mat Holmes

Mat Holmes is back and preparing us for Halloween...and it's "scary!" I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

62. Punctuation that expresses skepticism, or what the answers to the starred clues may be called?: SCARE QUOTES. SCARE QUOTES are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to signal that the writer is using it in an ironic, skeptical, or derisive way, e.g., She conveniently "forgot" to send the invitation.

18. *"The Shining": HERE'S JOHNNY.

27. *"Frankenstein": IT'S ALIVE.

39. *"The Sixth Sense": I SEE DEAD PEOPLE.

53. *"Saw": GAME OVER.

I CONCUR! I caught on early to the famous lines from scary movies, but the revealer explained why they're there. Mat used a slightly wider 16-column grid to accommodate the quotes. All of these are iconic and conjured an image in my mind. Super fun and well done (except for two names in the NW). Here's looking at you, kid!

I'm a horror film (but not slasher) fan. Let's see what other scary movies I can conjure up:

Across:

1. "__ luego": HASTA. Spanish for "See you later." Or, as the Terminator would say, "HASTA la vista, baby."

6. Cold plunge preceder, sometimes: SAUNA.

11. Starboard's opposite: PORT. Starboard (from Old English steorbord, or steering side) meant the right as most people are right-handed and used an oar to steer. The opposite, larboard (ladebord, or the side facing the dock for lading) was replaced by PORT to denote the same thing but without the rhyming sound confusion when shouted in wind or battle.

15. "Stolen Car" singer Beth: ORTON. Beth who? This one is pretty weak as "Stolen Car" came out 27 years ago and only made it to #34 on the UK Singles Chart.

16. Fast-food item celebrated with multiple farewell tours: MCRIB. McDonald's McRIB is a restructured boneless pork patty shaped like a miniature rack of ribs, but contains no rib meat - or anything else edible.

17. Basic geometry calculation: AREA.

18. [theme]

20. Circle: RING.

21. Burma's first prime minister: U NU. Who knew? U NU. But I didn't know. 

U Nu on the cover of TIME August 30, 1954.

22. Roused from sleep: WOKE.

23. Wolfgang Puck restaurant: SPAGO.

25. Large agricultural knife: MACHETE.

27. [theme]

30. Toffee candy bar: SKOR.

31. Formula One event: RACE. A Formula One (F1) RACE, officially called a Grand Prix, is considered to be the pinnacle of motorsport. The word "formula" in the name refers to the set of rules all participant cars must follow. 

33. Chatty starlings: MYNAS.

34. UFC sport: MMA. Mixed Martial Arts is the combat sport while the Ultimate Fighting Championship is a production company that organizes and broadcasts the events.

36. Ever so: VERY.

38. "The Simpsons" creator Groening: MATT. Mat even gave himself a shout-out! Portland, Oregon native MATT Groening has won 14 Primetime Emmy Awards. The Simpsons has been in constant production since 1989, making it the longest running American sitcom.

39. [theme]

43. Laryngitis docs: ENTS. Ear, Nose & Throat doctors, formally titled otolaryngologists. Hence ENTs.

44. Tubular pasta: ZITI.

45. Tire gauge meas.: PSI. Pounds per Square Inch.

46. Inbox party notice: EVITE.

48. South African currency: RAND. A gold coin introduced in 1967 was the KrugerRAND, and it became the first choice of investors worldwide. 

50. Back talk: SASS.

53. [theme]

55. Formal agreement?:  I CONCUR.

58. One of music's Allman Brothers: DUANE. Could've been his brother Gregg, who also has five letters. DUANE Allman is considered one of the best slide guitarists and reached the peak of stardom. Sadly, he was killed in a motorcycle crash at age 24. Today is the anniversary of his death in 1971.

Duane used an empty glass Coricidin medicine bottle for a slide.

59. Stipulation for some parties, briefly: BYOB. Bring Your Own Bottle (Beer, Booze, Beverage).

60. Metallic lode: ORE.

61. Combine: MELD.

62. [theme]

66. Rock's Mötley __: CRUE. Mötley CRÜE is an American heavy metal band that loves umlauts. I güess.

67. Pisa landmark: TOWER. 

68. Pizza part: CRUST.

69. Cold War initials: USSR. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

70. Crock-Pot concoctions: STEWS.

71. Hops-drying ovens: OASTS.

Down:

1. Stale: HO HUM. Ironically, this is the first one down, but it was my last fill because ORTON and UNU were unknowns. 

2. Big concert venues: ARENAS.

3. Word with love or thunder: STRUCK.

4. Tot's piggy: TOE.

5. "Say something!": ANSWER ME.

6. Barbecue apparatus: SMOKER.

7. Ibuprofen target: ACHE.

8. Catering container: URN.

9. Diarist Anaïs: NIN. Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira NIN y Culmell was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Her given name is very long, but on the plus side, it has an umlaut. Perhaps she inspired Mötley Crüe.

10. Bottomless pit: ABYSS.

11. Elite wheelchair rugby player, maybe: PARALYMPIAN.

12. Fresh: ORIGINAL.

13. Get ready to flip, perhaps: RENOVATE.

14. Size indicator: TAG.

19. Put (down): JOT.

24. Nonstick spray brand: PAM.

26. One with a self-sufficient lifestyle: HOMESTEADER.

27. Stranded until a thaw: ICED IN.

28. U. of Maryland athlete: TERP. The university's athletic teams are called the TERPS. They're named after the diamondback terrapin, a turtle native to the Chesapeake Bay.

29. Approximate fig.: EST.

32. Online representative: AVATAR.

35. Woodworking tool that resembles an axe: ADZ. An ADZ (usually spelled ADZE) is like an axe except the blade is at right angles to the handle. It is used to scoop out or smooth wood.

37. "Reckon so": YEP.

39. Space trailer of the 1970s and '80s?: INVADERS. Trailer because INVADERS follows Space in the game's name. An Atari 2600 was our first home video console, and Space INVADERS was the hit game. However, it wasn't long after that I tired of video games and I don't play them at all now. Somehow, they grew into a multi-billion dollar industry without me.

40. Agent that produces a reaction: STIMULUS.

41. Word on Irish stamps: EIRE. 

42. Dish whose name means "bone with a hole" in Italian: OSSO BUCO. "I'll have the bone with a hole, please."

43. Brain test letters: EEG. As we learned a week ago, I should use an ElectroEncephaloGram to see if I have any electrical brain activity. I sure hope so.

47. Long, long time: EON.

49. Handy types: DIYERS. Do-It-Yourselfers.

51. Fed. bench nine: SCOTUS. The Supreme Court Of The United States.

52. Most certain: SUREST.

54. Confers, as authority: VESTS.

56. __ au vin: COQ.

57. Takes a breather: RESTS.

59. Cauldron concoction: BREW.

61. CGI-heavy superhero franchise: MCU. Movies in the the Marvel Cinematic Universe use a lot of Computer-Generated Imagery. I know, you're surprised that it's not all real.

63. Hotel bonus bed: COT.

64. Fill with wonder: AWE.

65. __ pro nobis: ORA.

Hope you enjoyed going to the monster movie matinee! In the meantime, I think I'll slip into my handy Halloween costume. 

Trick or treat!

Be good. RB