Saturday, March 7, 2026, John Guzzetta

 Saturday Themeless by John Guzzetta

This is John's 14th LA puzzle and the third Saturday themeless I have blogged. In visiting with John for his last puzzle, he told me he was a minister in the Tampa Bay Area.

I flew through in 15 minutes but finished with one bad cell as you can see in the grid. The Italian words for numbers and Sam Raimi are not in my vocabulary. I'll write it off as a learning (forgetting) moment. 😊

Across:

1. Diplomatic terms?: CODE WORDS - As I'm sure you do in your business, we educators have CODE WORDS we can use and others know what is really meant. 

10. Lugosi of "Dracula": BELA - A crossword regular that rewards some of us with "some mileage on our tires" (CODE WORDS for senior citizens).

                     

14. Health insurance marketplace legislation, familiarly: OBAMA CARE.

15. Title that has a 31-Across: SĒNOR and 31. Squiggly diacritic: TILDE. 

16. Tea with a shot of espresso: DIRTY CHAI.

17. Place for some belt-tightening: WAIST 😀

18. Still: YET.

19. Displaces: BUMPS.

20. Advantages: EDGES - This All-American pitcher gives the nationally ranked Husker softball team a real EDGE

21. Navigational hazard: SHOAL - We call these sandbars on the Platte River seen here just south of m town of Fremont, NE.

23. Prepares for a funeral: EMBALMS.

25. "Show Boat" pair: ACTS.

27. Takes in more than: OUT EATS. 😀

29. Stopper: CORK.

33. Get even with?: TIE.

34. Spectrum maker: PRISM.

35. "Give Peace a Chance" collaborator: ONO.

36. Sam who created the "Evil Dead" franchise: RAIMI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

38. Actress Gadot: GAL - Two versions of Wonderwoman

Linda Carter            Gal Gadot

39. Beside: ALONG.

41. Boggle pieces: DICE.

42. Indigestion relief: ANTACID.

44. Craft store purchase: YARN.

46. Setting for Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" song: BATHTUB - Millions are still sold today

48. Tuned to: SET AT - Growing up, we all had our radios SET AT the same five AM stations 590, 890, 1110, 1290 and 1620.

51. Metric prefix: CENTI.

52. Device in olive oil extraction: PRESS - Here's a low-tech one.

54. Big D pro: MAVericks 

56. "Little Miss Sunshine" Oscar winner: ARKIN - I'm pretty sure you can pick Alan out of this poster

57. Something a customer service professional might need to wear: FAKE SMILE.

59. Brother from France: FRERE - Didn't we all sing this in grade school?

60. A bit too excited: OVER EAGER.

61. Thornfield governess: EYRE - This 1847 first edition of Jane Eyre will run you $9,500.

    

                                  

62. Has a clear conscience: RESTS EASY.

Down:

1. Yellowstone National Park gateway city: CODY.

2. Stage awards: OBIES - Off Broadway

3. Sith title: DARTH.

4. Expert who wears a Star of Life emblem: Abbr.: EMT.

 

5. Internet Archive initiative: WAYBACK MACHINE - More info ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Some of us remember a very different version

6. Section in some alternative bookstores: OCCULT.

7. Spanish golfer Jon: RAHM - and family. Jon has left the 34. Tour gp.: PGA to play on the LIV tour.

8. Fall gracefully: DRAPE.

9. Field concerned with movers and shakers: SEISMOLOGY - Here's the earthquakes of the last 24 hours

10. Minor parish official: BEADLE - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More

11. Puzzling: ENIGMATIC.

12. Falls behind: LOSES TIME.

13. Song and dance: ARTS.

15. Stylish and cozy garb: SWEATER DRESSES.

22. Boat pair: OARS.

24. Pal: BUD.

26. Defended: STOOD UP FOR.

28. Half of dodici: SEI ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  At a 50% off sale, a dodici euro book would cost SEI euros

29. Common juice blend fruit: CRANBERRY.

30. Shell ship by the seashore: OIL TANKER - What a cute turn on the tongue twister "Sally sells sea shells down by the seashore".

32. Stop for the night: INN.

37. "__ No Sunshine": Bill Withers hit: AINT.

40. On: LIT.

43. Threads: ATTIRE.

45. State with confidence: ASSERT.

47. Intrepid: BRAVE.

49. Latina bestie: AMIGA.

50. Armistead Maupin's "__ of the City": TALES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

51. Garçon's employer: CAFE.

53. Just scrapes (by): EKES.

55. Rather: VERY.

58. Whitman who voices Tinker Bell: MAE - The Tinker Bell of my misspent youth did not speak.

Notes from C.C.:

RustyBrain (Brian) and I made today's USA Today puzzle. It's edited by Amanda Rafkin. Give it a whirl. It's Brain's first USA Today puzzle. 

Friday, Mar 6th, 2026 ~ Patti Varol

 A BIGHT of WIGHT

And "a BITE of WHITE"

Two weeks running now, we've had a construction from the LA Times crossword puzzle editor Patti - and a better submission, IMHO, than the one from last Thursday, which had the names Natick in the NE corner.  Today's theme is a clever play on "~IGHT -becomes- ~ITE" words; my only nit would be the use of two "R" words - yet they are different.  I was quite impressed, however, with the two 10-letter Down fills that each crossed different sets of three themers without being "meh".  A solid Friday offering - most of the terse clues were in my wheelhouse.  Standard grid, no circles, 3 times the number of 4LWs to both 3- & 5-LWs, two yogurts, and a dozen names.  The themers, and no reveal; 

20. Ceremony that adorns dollar bills?: RITE ON THE MONEY 

Han Solo's shot was "right on the money"

26. Try to find pen pals in monasteries?: WRITE BROTHERS - these guys . . .

- not these guys, Wilbur  & Orville Wright

44. Lo-cal beers from Canada?: NORTHERN LITES - these guys . . . 

not these guys

52. Terse review of a wonky web page?: NOT A PRETTY SITE - not this guy . . .

But Wait - There's More in SITE~!

ACROSS:

1. Goes through a lot of tissues: BAWLS - I do the Downs first, had B - W L - , which did not look promising, but "Lo~!" and "Behold~!"

6. Chi-town paper: TRIBune - abbr for Chicago, abbr for the newspaper

10. Tibetan priest: LAMA

14. "If you say so": "UH-HUH."

15. New York university named for a Scottish isle: IONA - geo name #1, knew it 'cos I grew up in NY

16. Tudyk of "Resident Alien": ALAN - name #2 - I recall the show, though I didn't watch

17. Condiment served with biryani: RAITA - yogurt #1 - filled via perps

18. Survivor's struggle, briefly: PTSD - breifly indicating we're looking for an abbreviation; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

19. Tie: BOND

23. Foundry delivery: ORE - a good change-up clue for this fill

24. Lav: LOO - British bathroom

25. Dove home: COTE - learned by doing crosswords

32. "I mentioned the bisque" "Seinfeld" character: ELAINE - Seinfeld aired before I was old enough to understand the show; I do like watching them now, but this scene I do not recall . . .name #3

Yada, yada, yada

34. Take from the top: RE-DO

35. Intl. broadcaster since 1942: VOA - filled via perps; Voice of America - more from Wiki

36. Quash: VETO

37. Butter square: PAT

38. Leaning: BIAS

39. Info requested by brewery websites: AGE - you'll need to enter your info at 32D.

40. Store securely: STOW

42. Old Testament collection: PSALMS - had most of this via perps

47. Ticket info: SEAT

48. Santa __, California: ANA - geo name #4

49. Little dog: PUP

56. [I like these scritches!]: PURR - the brackets are a "meta-clue" hint; again, most was perps

57. Sworn statement: OATH

58. Deserve: MERIT

59. Designer Schiaparelli: ELSA - I tried e l L a; thus began my search for the "wrong" name, #5

60. Sticking point: TINE - a "right-on-the-money" definition

Tater Tot Shepherd's Pie recipe

61. Nimble: AGILE

62. Tiny splash: PLOP

63. Michelin award: STAR - the guide IS related to the tire brand; I did not know this

Through the years, and the revolution - pun intended - of the tire

64. Hoped-for Match.com outings: DATES - I had tried Match for many years, and got all of ONE connection; I am now trying my luck with Facebook - and so far, all I've gotten are A I fakes 😜

DOWN:

1. Small donkey: BURRO - I did not make an "ASS" of myself to start . . . 🙄

2. Slimmest of margins: A HAIR - Sigh, a twurd

3. Kayaking challenge: WHITEWATER - one of the two solid 10-letter down fills

4. Instrument in a Vermeer painting: LUTE - good WAG on my part

Technically, this is a paiting of a woman with a guitar, but the story might interest you . . .

5. Temple where Chan Buddhism began: SHAOLIN - no clue, perps and WAGs; but some might have recalled this fill from the story of a TV monk, and the real place where he trained.  Name (ish)

6. Tread carefully: TIP-TOE - almost alliteration

7. "Divergent" trilogy novelist Veronica: ROTH - name #7, but I knew her because I see the name on Kindle; could have been clued as a non-name, tho

8. On the sly: IN SECRET

9. Foul temper: BAD MOOD

10. Middle Eastern dairy product: LABNEH - yogurt #2 - good perps & WAGs - phew

It's Greek yogurt, strained; I'ma tryin' it - more here

11. Cream ingredient: ALOE - Ah; not "milk".  That cream

12. More than a few: MANY - at least it wasn't "A LOT", "A TON", A twurd

13. Furthermore: AND...

21. Post-it scribble: NOTE

22. Miranda of "Homeland": OTTO - name #8 - I read the books, saw the movies, don't recall her

27. Carnival city: RIO - D'Oh~!  I read this as "cry", not c-i-t-y - geo name #9

28. Muscle: BRAWN - Ha~! Nailed it.

29. Possessive type?: EVIL SPIRIT - the other great 10-letter fill

30. Travel aimlessly: ROAM - or ROVE~?  I chose . . . wisely

31. Cheek: SASS - I've learned over the years that whenever a clue implying "tart" language, and situated on the right edge of the grid, the answer is typically crossword-friendly "SASS"

32. __ Williams bourbon: EVAN - never heard of this liquor - name #10

The website, age resticted, of course

33. Toy company that acquired the online marketplace BrickLink: LEGO - Yada yada yada toys + bricks~? = Lego - but - I was surprised Lego didn't start this company - the history here

37. Printing choice: PORTRAIT - the alternative is LANDSCAPE - which is too wide 🙄

38. Main squeeze: BAE - Cringe.  I just don't like this word; are we really too lazy to finish the faint "b" sound at the end of babe~?

40. Former home of the Mets: SHEA - I grew up on Long Island, and my first 'live' baseball game was the Mets at Shea in the Keith Hernandez days - speaking of Keith and Seinfeld . . . 

"That - is one magic loogie."

41. Cozy spots: TEAPOTS - Ah.  A tea "cozy" could be found on a tea POT

Aww - you can buy them on Etsy here

42. Blood drive unit: PINT

43. Nurse a grudge: STAY MAD - first time appearing in a crossword = unique, like this fill

45. Feature of some sandals: T-STRAP

BTW, her name is Cecilia, JC

46. Suds: LATHER - bars, not beers

50. Serving a purpose: UTILE

51. "Oh, for __ sake!": "PETE'S" - oh for heaven's sake, name #11 - blasphemy LITE

52. __ and void: NULL

53. "In that neighborhood": "OR SO" - "ish"

54. Mediterranean volcano: ETNA - geo-name #10, yada yada yada 4-letter volcano = 😜

55. Game company with a hedgehog mascot: SEGA - name (ish)

56. Energy: PEP

Splynter

Grid flow a medium 40.1 - the 10-letter Downs helped

Thursday March 5, 2026 Susan Gelfand

Susan Gelfand has been constructing crosswords for over five Winter Olympics! To celebrate the victories of both the men's and women's USA Hockey teams, she offers us a POWER play. She trying to stay current.

If you unwrap them, there's chocolate inside!

No reveal, just five nice phrases that begin with something an electrician would deal with.

17. Electrician's favorite method of payment?: CHARGE CARD.

25. Electrician's favorite exercise?: POWER WALK.

36. Like an electrician's favorite sweater?: CABLE KNIT.

51. Like an electrician's favorite eyeglasses?: WIRE FRAME.

61. Electrician's favorite shopping venue?: OUTLET MALL. My favorite of the bunch. 

Nothing shocking here, so it didn't put up much resistance for a Thursday. Minimal proper nouns (only two of which were people) was a big plus. Thanks Susan! 

Let's CHARGE ahead.

Across:

1. Rx orders: MEDS. MEDICATIONS. The "Rx" symbol is derived from the Latin word recipe or “recipere,”which means to take, often the first word in a prescription. It was later abbreviated to Rx.

5. Accumulate: AMASS.

10. Jacksonville team, familiarly: JAGS. JAGUARS football team.

14. Farmland unit: ACRE. 

15. Valletta's island: MALTA.

16. HarperCollins romance imprint: AVON. 

Ding. Dong. Romance calling!

17. [theme]

19. Was dressed in: WORE.

20. Vicinity: REGION.

21. "You __ my day!": MADE.

23. Chef-training sch. in Hyde Park: CIA. Julia Child is the most famous "chef spy," having worked for the OSS (precursor to the CIA) during WWII. Wait, that has nothing to do with this! They're talking about the Culinary Institute of America.

24. Floating: ALOFT.

25. [theme]

27. "Au contraire, __ frère": MON. "On the contrary, my brother." Those Frenchmen, they have a different word for everything!

28. The WNBA's Sky, on scoreboards: CHI. The CHICAGO Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association.

30. Tease: NEEDLE. 

31. Nav. rank: ENS. An ENSIGN is the lowest commissioned officer rank in the Navy, and is equivalent to a Second Lieutenant.

32. Shucks: HULLS. I wrote HUSKS before shucking it.

35. Fly like an eagle: SOAR. Land like an eagle: SORE.

Two bald eagles crash landed but survived the fall.

36. [theme]

39. California valley that was one of the first American Viticultural Areas: NAPA. Viticultural pertains to growing grapes for wine production.

42. Flight part: STAIR. Flight part: STAGE. 

43. Craze: FAD. It's all the rage!

46. Make true: EVEN UP. In carpentry, "true" means perfectly straight and aligned.

49. Chinese philosophical concept: TAO.

50. "Is that __?": A NO. Yes, it's A NO.

51. [theme]

54. Game with a caller: BINGO. 

56. Game with a chaser: TAG. I thought this might be a drinking game of some sort. Like every time I enter the wrong word first, I have to take a shot. If this review stops making sense near the bottom, now you know why.

57. Move like molasses: OOZE.

58. Lounged around: LOAFED. I wrote LOLLED at first...bottoms up!

59. Perched on: ATOP.

61. [theme]

63. Caffeine-rich nut: KOLA. I had COLA first, which goes nicely with shots of rum.

64. Trademarked refrigerant: FREON. Is it cold in here, or is it just me?

65. French cheese with a rind: BRIE.

66. Notable periods: ERAS. The one at the end of this sentence is not notable.

67. Some Slavs: SERBS.

68. Min. divisions: SECS. Three minute divisions are Triple SECS. 

Down:

1. Knotty craft: MACRAME. 

2. Level: ECHELON.

3. Creatures on the flags of Wales and Bhutan: DRAGONS.

Wales (left) and Bhutan (right) 

4. Calligraphy stroke: SERIF.

5. "Could not agree more": AMEN.

6. Big name in laptops and lipstick: MAC. I knew the Apple product, but not MAC Cosmetics. 

7. San Antonio field trip destination: ALAMO. I remember going there.

8. Scarecrow contents: STRAW. Now, if it only had a brain...

9. Make melancholy: SADDEN.

10. Mandible: JAW. Here's Richard Kiel in his memorable role as JAWs, a villain with metal teeth, in two James Bond movies: The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Turns out his bite was worse than his bark.

11. Toast spread: AVOCADO.

12. Silverback, for one: GORILLA.

13. Puma, for one: SNEAKER. True, but I like to buy them in pairs. Conversely, here's a puma SNEAKER:

18. "Heard": GOTCHA. Roger that.

22. Quaint preposition: ERE.

25. Contents of some weekly organizers: PILLS. I don't think this person knows how they are supposed to work.

26. Dominic of "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale": WEST. Dominic WEST is an English actor, director, producer, and musician.

29. Center of activity: HUB.

33. Lead-in to "It Go" and "It Be," in song titles: LET. "LET It Go" from Disney's Frozen, and "LET It Be," from the Fab Four.

34. Manta ray kin: SKATE. SKATEs and manta rays are both cartilaginous fish (like sharks), but they have significant differences. SKATEs lay eggs, have stocky tails with small thorns, and live on the seafloor. Conversely, manta rays give birth to live young, have long, whip-like tails without stingers, and are large, filter-feeders that swim near the surface.

36. Sugar stalk: CANE. Sugar stalker: NINJA.

37. "Hedda" writer/director DaCosta: NIA. NIA daCosta is an award-winning American filmmaker.

38. Asimov collection first published in 1950: I, ROBOT. I, ROBOT serves as a cautionary tale, warning against issues like unchecked AI and monopolized control. Written in 1950, it predicted a world with "smart" machines that are integrated into daily life, and is still relevant today.

39. Fresh perspective: NEW TAKE. I entered NEW FACE, which fit with KOLA (misspelled with a "C"). It worked for a while, but now I'm tipsy.

40. Cockpit occupant: AVIATOR. We hope so, anyway.

41. Covered walkway: PERGOLA. 

43. Fuss and feathers: FANFARE.Tar and feathers: FORFEIT. Tarring and feathering was a form of punishment and public humiliation used primarily in 18th-century America. 

A Cure for the Refractory (Williamsburg, Va)

44. Sporting a halo: ANGELIC. Just like my kids...now that they're out of prison.

45. Absent-minded scribbles: DOODLES. Some are worth more than others.

John Lennon

47. Strange sight in the night sky: UFO. An Unidentified Flying Object is now called a UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena), but we still don't know what it is.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

48. Reads for errors: PROOFS. Or proofreads. 

52. Sky blue: AZURE.

53. Olympic track unit: METER. 

55. Sonnet line quintet: IAMBS. For example, "Mary had a little IAMB..."

58. Binoculars part: LENS. Pet peeve: In movies, they use a mask like this to simulate looking through binoculars, but when you actually use them, you see a single round image like a telescope. 

Is that alien from a UFO or a UAP ?

60. Faux __: PAS.

62. Arcing throw: LOB.

Stay positive and let the negativity discharge.

Be good. RB