Sunday, Oct 19th, 2025 Zhouqin Burnikel

• "EASY DOES IT" 

x x  TIMES Crossword Puzzle

The _os  _ngles Times building 

Splnyter stepping for our Sunday Bloggess C.C., who takes the honor of being today's constructor.  I usually skip Sunday's puzzle and work on my Wed blog, but it was a JazzB week, so here we are.  My solve had lots of "well, it fits, but it's wrong" answers ⁽⁺⁾ today.  No circles, a fair number of  names, a balanced spread of 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-letter words, 88 squares ( if my math is correct ) of theme fill - but - they're 'missing' the "L" and "A" from in-the-vernacular phrases, leading to some humorous, unique fill.  The themers, and the reveal in the final Across;

23A. *Ensemble for finals week?: (LA)TEST FASHION

28A. *Slug made from an old can?: (LA)TIN QUARTER

58A. *Christmas tree in an atelier?: ARTISTIC F(LA)IR

83A. *Courses full of twists and turns?: (LA)MAZE CLASSES - birthing technique

110A. *Organizer for a nail tech?: MANI(LA) FOLDER

119A. *Treadmill setting for a Roman emperor?: CAESARS PA(LA)CE

32D. *Pride of a jacked security guard?: ANTI-THEFT A(LA)RM

43D. *Thanksgiving stuffing dishes that aren't up to snuff?: SA(LA)D DRESSINGS

130. Mardi Gras city nickname, and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: NOLA - New Orleans, LouisianA, "The Big Easy" ( the 'other' theme title ) or, parsed for the theme, "No L A"

And "L A" We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Layer outside the germ: BRAN - I do the DOWN clues first; I had B - - N to start

5. Like a perennial: HARDY - durable - they keep coming back~!

10. LAPD alerts: APBs - No LA~! #1

14. No. 1 pals: BFFs - Text-speak, Best Friends Forever

18. Sacred flower in Buddhism: LOTUS

I'll take this Lotus - the Turbo Esprit

20. In the know: AWARE - toyed with ALERT⁽⁺⁾ because this cluster was a bit messy with wrong fill

21. Helpful hint: CLUE

22. Ontario lake: ERIE

25. Purple boba tea flavor: TARO

26. Roof overhang: EAVE

27. Hit lists: TOP TENS

30. Playing surface that favors topspin: CLAY - I so wanted FELT here, as in pool tables

33. Video camera button: RECord - I am making a table for my brother for Christmas, and I am thinking about shooting a video of the process - I bought this thing for holding my phone:

34. Bro or stepbro: SIBling

36. Total score: TALLY

37. "Mulan" invader: HUN

38. Maker of off-road vehicles: TONKA - HONDA⁽⁺⁾ fit, and a good 60% correct, but Bzzzt 

40. Guitar licks: RIFFS - I am very familiar with this concept - it's good to go back to songs that were once difficult for me to play and now find easier from practice and learning scales

42. Runner-up: LOSER

46. Visiting the area: IN TOWN - I had planned to drive to Cincinnati, OH at the end of the month for the 25th anniversary of "The Golem", the made-for-TV movie I worked on, but now I'm told it's just a showing in a theater - no cast or crew were invited to attend - 12hrs is a long way to drive to sit in a cinema.

48. Mall pizza chain: SBARRO

50. Striped stone: AGATE

51. Egyptair hub city: CAIRO

52. David of "ABC World News Tonight": MUIR - filled via perps

54. LED component: DIODE - Light-Emitting, that is

57. Focalin target, briefly: ADHD - no clue, had ADHG via crossings

61. Greeting to a mate: G'DAY - an Aussie, mate~!

62. Genetic material: DNA

63. Application in some massages: HOT OIL - the subject of massages came up at the gym last week; they are offered in my club, but I have never actually HAD a massage - perhaps I should treat myself this Christmas

64. Creole chef Chase: LEAH - again, filled via perps; more here

66. Holds nothing back: LETS RIP

69. Course track for a future JD: PRE-LAW - "JD" being a learning moment for me - the Wiki

71. Falcons city: ATLANTA - their NFL team

74. Marathon setting: GREECE - I had AVENUE - but this is the city, not the run

75. Person who calls the shots: REFEREE - meh~?

77. Quindim ingredient: YOLK - with YOL -, I WAGed the "K"

78. Kale and cabbage: GREENS

80. Traditional mo. for a Bavarian beer festival: OCTober - happening NOW

81. Sultry growl: RAWR - I recall having this fill just recently, and not too many people cared for it

87. Make airtight: SEAL

89. Strip in the kitchen: STEAK - with - 24D. Cook wear?: APRON - cute misdirections

How's that for an apron - care for some (un)dressing with that salad~?

91. Parks of Alabama: ROSA

92. Crocheted mat: DOILY

93. "Snowfall" actor Damson __: IDRIS - my final fill; good to see an alternative to "ELBA"

95. Like most awards: ANNUAL

97. Mount __: Washington estate: VERNON - my gym is located in Vernon, CT . . .

98. Arizona State's city: TEMPE - my ex is located in Arizona . . .

99. Some choral singers: ALTOs - and my voice is located in the baritone range.

100. Harsh: ACRID

103. Classic muscle car: GTO - "Goat" - here's where the name G T O comes from

104. Doll with neon hair: TROLL

106. Dorm VIPs: RAs - Resident Assistants

108. Hack (off): LOP

109. Secondhand: USED

114. Tofu nutrient: PROTEIN - I have "plateaued" at the gym; my trainer has now dropped my calorie intake to 1900/day, with 30-35% Protein, 30-40% Carbs, and 25-35% Fat

117. 50-50: EVEN

118. Persian greeting?: MEOW - Persian, the cat, that is

123. Religious subgroup: SECT

124. Bend at a barre: PLIE

125. Minor key?: ISLET - Minor = small :: Key = island

126. Underground worker: MINER - the "other" MINOR

It's the key of  "B sharp"

127. Inquires: ASKS

128. Straight people, casually: HETS - Clunky, sorta meh; Heterosexuals - don't usually hear it spoken

129. Love, in arias: AMORE

DOWN:

1. Club alternative: BLT - sa'miches

2. Eggs in ikura sushi: ROE

3. Tags on social media: ATS - more commonly "@"s 

4. Like some brownies: NUTTY - I like my PB chunky, but not my brownies

5. Light a fire under: HASTEN - ah. Not IGNITE⁽⁺⁾

6. "Doggone it!": "AW HECK~!"

7. Desert rarity: RAIN

8. Smeltery waste: DROSS - SLAG was too short

9. Currency at pachinko parlors: YEN - in retrospect, this makes sense

More here

10. Start of a show: ACT I

11. Nursery nutrients: PLANT FOOD; the set of 8- & 9-letter down fills; 14D. Poses done in a taproom: BEER YOGA; 82D. "Happens to everyone": "WE ALL DO IT"; 88D. Some light cosmetics: LIP TINTS

12. Head-to-toe garments: BURQAS - I had the "K", not the "Q" at first

13. Han River capital: SEOUL 

15. Campus group: FRAT - Not ROTC⁽⁺⁾

16. __-second rule: FIVE - I frequently adhere to this phenomenon, despite what Mythbusters proved

The Five-Second Rule tested

17. Oracle: SEER

19. OAK alternative: SFO - I was stumped by this - I am not West coast, so I did not recognize the airport codes of California's Bay Area tarmacs - and now there's controversy . . . 

28. Classic Ford: T-BIRD - I had the less-than-classic, but still way-cool, 1986 Turbo Coupe

29. Ristorante menu preposition: ALLA - penne ALLA vodka, e.g.

30. Spanish girl: CHICA

31. Like some eclipses: LUNAR - Not TOTAL⁽⁺⁾

35. Fund that might grow for decades: IRA

38. Like some rear admirals: TWO-STAR

39. "Yeah, right!": "AS IF~!"

Wayne's World

41. Heebie-jeebies: FRIGHT - not CREEPS⁽⁺⁾

44. Sharing a cultural identity: ETHNIC

45. Orangutan: RED APE - I tried BIG APE⁽⁺⁾

47. Warbler lookalike: ORIOLE

49. Scouring brand: BRILLO

52. Wii Sports avatar: Mii - how you appear in the game; this is my Facebook Avatar

53. Golden State sch.: UCLA - No LA~! #2

55. Lentil dish: DAL

56. Product that may reduce dark circles: EYE GEL

59. Castle structures: TOWERS - I loves me a castle, especially with towers

60. Domain: REALM - Not ARENA⁽⁺⁾

65. Capital city in Anatolia: ANKARA

67. Like new tires: TREADED - But what about F1 racing~?

68. Motion detector, e.g.: SENSOR

69. Toast at a Bavarian beer festival: PROSIT - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  - crossing IDRIS, a bit of a Natick

70. Go back: RECEDE - Not RETURN⁽⁺⁾

72. Ruthless ruler: TYRANT - Not DESPOT⁽⁺⁾

73. Forever and a day: AGES - Not EONS⁽⁺⁾

76. Put away: EAT

79. TV pioneer: RCA

84. French novelist Émile: ZOLA - seen this name in Crosswords before

85. Cotija-covered corn: ELOTE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

86. Council of clerics: SYNOD

90. Bouillon brand: KNORR - they make sides dishes in bags, too

94. Feudal laborer: SERF

96. Miss. home: USA - I was not fooled by this, but I did hesitate - Mississippi is in the US of  A

97. Deadly snake: VIPER - not ADDER⁽⁺⁾

99. Gene arising from mutation: ALLELE

101. End-of-game pitcher: CLOSER - Not RELIEF⁽⁺⁾

102. Revolve: ROTATE

105. Extra pep: OOMPH

107. Twitch: SPASM - I had a SPASM in my last puzzle blog

109. Let fall, as hair: UNPIN

That's a BIG PIN

110. Steep-sided plateau: MESA

111. Urban rtes.: AVEs

112. Giraffe feature: NECK

They're "necking"

113. Fleecy mamas: EWES

"Youse" got to check out this mama in fleece-lined tights~!

115. Move quickly?: RELO - move = relocate :: quickly = abbr 

116. Magnet end?: ISM - magnetISM - the beginning of Monster Magnet's album Last Patrol, but the link didn't hold up . . . .oh well

119. "Spy Game" org.: CIA

120. "So I should take that as __?": "A NO~?"

121. Cartoon frame: CEL

122. Dynastic period, e.g.: ERA

Splynter

Saturday, October 18, 2025, Kyle Dolan

 Saturday Themeless by Kyle Dolan

 This is the 20th themeless Saturday puzzle by Dr. Dolan I have blogged. My first one was on May 26, 2018 and every one of his constructions has been a delight. This one was kind of an enjoyable slog until the long fills helped out. 

I'll point out the rough spots below that slowed my progress to a well-earned "got 'er done".

Across:

1. Sign of aging: PATINA - A very famous example: 

7. Leave a black mark on, say: SCORCH - The Apollo Command Modules returned to Earth from the Moon at 25,000 mph.  Entering Earth's atmosphere slowed them down enough to parachute safely into the ocean but the bottom heat shield got up to 5,000℉ which left SCORCH marks.

13. Withdrawal aid: ATM CARD 😀 What a fun clue (eventually)!

15. Sweet-talk: CAJOLE.

16. __ effect: phenomenon of attraction in fluid mechanics, familiarly: CHEERIOS - Cheerios in the middle of the bowl tend to clump together and on the edge of the bowl they cling to the side of the bowl. More...

18. Didn't work: RESTED.

19. French "his": SES - Il a besoin de SES chaussures (He needs his shoes)

20. Sure to fail: CAN'T WIN.

22. "Hansel and Gretel" figure: HAG - A word that is now considered to be sexist and ageist.

23. Hertz, for one: UNIT - Hertz are cycles/second. My hearing stops at around 8,000 hertz (vps) while my students could go up to over 20,000 hertz

25. __ steak: STRIP - I've eaten may a good NY STRIP Steak

26. Sloggy terrain: MIRE.

27. Twangy-voiced: NASAL - Bob Dylan leaped to my mind

29. __ canto: BEL - Italian for "Beautiful Singing" More...

30. "Derry __": sitcom set in Northern Ireland: GIRLS - I thought it might be something clever like Derry Ayers 😀

31. Home of "Whistler's Mother": MUSÉE D'ORSAY - Here Whistler's Mother, or Arrangement in Black and Gray No. 1, is being hung in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA as part of an exchange program with the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

34. Shooting stars?: SAGITTARIUS 😀 I loved this (eventually). This astronomy teacher should have parsed the reference to the zodiacal constellation of SAGITTARIUS The Archer.

35. Fallible ones: MERE MORTALS.

36. Prime minister between Theresa and Liz: BORIS - UK PM'S

Theresa May    Boris Johnson         Liz Truss

37. "Bad idea": NAH.

38. Clear a way for: LET BY - What linemen try to create for running backs.

42. Port northeast of Djibouti: ADEN - It's a 45 minute flight or an 84 hour drive (bad roads and armed conflict also make this a bad choice).

43. Cuts finely: DICES.

45. Elisabeth of "Cobra Kai": SHUE - Elizabeth Shue was 20 years old when she played Ali Mills in 1984's Karate Kid. She reprised that role at 61 years old in Netflix's Cobra Kai.

46. Former Japanese coin: SEN - Due to inflation, the SEN (.001 of a Yen) was demonetized after WWII and Japan now uses the Yen.

47. Has more than: OUT EATS.

49. "The Hurting Kind" poet Limón: ADA.

50. Bamboozle: TRIP UP.

52. Features of many Best Picture winners: R-RATINGS - The MPAA says: An R-rated movie contains content such as strong language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity or drug abuse that is deemed unsuitable for viewers under 17. 

54. Call for: ENTAIL.

55. Plastic souvenir, e.g.: TRINKET.

56. Declares: SAYS SO.

57. Like a good sidekick: TRUSTY or maybe not...

Down:

1. California surf culture apparel brand: PACSUN.

2. Goddess who is a judge in "The Eumenides": ATHENA - I had no idea that this was a play by Aeschylus but ATHENA seemed like a pretty good guess for a Godess.

3. Construction such as the term "un-freaking-believable": TMESIS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

4. Sew up: ICE - Many NFL games are ICED (won) by game-ending field goals.

5. Snitch (on): NARC.

6. Dramatic solos: ARIAS.

7. Cheese substitute?: SCRIP - 😀 Both are synonyms for money

8. Bay Area columnist who coined the word "beatnik": CAEN.

The first use of the word

9. Citrus drinks, for short: OJS.

10. Shelters named for a senator: ROTH IRAS - William Roth was a Republican senator from Delaware. 

11. "No kidding": CLEARLY.

12. Equivocates: HEDGES.

14. "I'd have a backup plan": DON'T BET ON IT.

17. Many a "Fast & Furious" character: STREET RACER.

21. Free-spirited: WILD AT HEART.

24. Amazon primate: TAMARIN - Here's a Golden TAMARIN

26. Malapropisms, e.g.: MISUSES - He made a good living with them. Listen to as much of this 7:41 video as you like

28. Winter racers: LUGES.

30. Spot for a brat: GRILL - Uh, not for unruly children 

32. Calling card?: SIM.

33. "The Masked Singer" judge Rita: ORA.

34. Calm: SERENITY - Frank Costanza's mantra.

35. Biotech firm known for vaccines: MODERNA - It's the one we got

36. Juices up?: BASTES 😀

39. "Much obliged": THANKS.

40. Affordable: BUDGET - Having Dom Pérignon tastes on a Budweiser BUDGET could be disastrous

41. Like a brewery: YEASTY.

43. Lego brand for little hands: DUPLO - DUPLO is double in Danish

44. Flinch: START - Was this a part of anyone else's childhood?

47. Nice words of agreement: OUIS - When I see Nice, my mind immediately goes to French like in this song which charted at #2 in 1918.

48. To-do: STIR.

51. Some medical providers, for short: PAS - Our neighbor's daughter is an M.D. married to a Physician's Assistant (P.A.) in central Nebraska.

53. Shiba __: INU ¯\_(ツ)_/¯