Saturday, May 9, 2026, Sarah Sinclair and Erik Agard

 Saturday Themeless by Sarah Sinclair and Erik Agard

Agard alert, Erik is back co-constructing. This time he pairs up with Sarah Sinclair and the product has what seems to be some Agrardian entries like the fill for Super Duper which I'll discuss later. 

About Sarah:  I currently live in Seattle where I work as a product manager for Microsoft. I also freelance as a crossword puzzle constructor and have had puzzles published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and the Universal Crossword.

One added note: On the day that Sarah had this picture taken, she wore a dress that she made herself! Cool!

Across:

1. Catalyst: IMPETUS - Caitlin Clark was a true catalyst who 8. Prompted: SPURRED - many changes in her sport.

15. Generational tendency to delay speaking on video recordings: MILLENNIAL PAUSE - New to me. The "millennial pause" is a habitual, brief hesitation, often accompanied by a thoughtful gaze, that many millennials make at the start of a video before they begin speaking. Originating from early, slower video technology like Snapchat or Instagram, it serves as a self-assured check to confirm recording has actually begun.

17. Something taken by a teller?: DRAMATIC LICENSE - Fred Hayes was one of the actual astronauts on Apollo 13 and he told our group, "The director, Ron Howard, said we are going to have to punch some things up or we won't sell any popcorn!!" Astronaut Jim Lovell actually said, "Houston, we've had a problem here." The screenwriters changed it to the more dramatic line below:

 

18. Hosp. areas: ORS.

19. Settings: LOCALES.

20. Like pitching machines and dinner guests: FED 😀 Pitching machines do indeed have to be FED!

21. "Ya es suficiente": NO MAS - Roberto Duran is reputed to have said this when he quit against Sugar Ray Leonard.

23. 2015 NL Rookie of the year Bryant: KRIS - He was a big factor in breaking the Cubs' 106 year World Series drought.

24. Sole: LONE.

25. Focuses of some museums: ERAS - A beautiful but, in one sense, sad museum in Kansas City

26. Start to some health consultations?: TELE - T E _ _ led me to believe a TEST might start a medical consultation 

27. __ of nature: FORCE - Continuing with my sport's references.

28. Fencing defense: PARRY - Deflect your opponent's attack. 

30. Call into question: BELIE - The facts BELIE. your story.

31. Rigs: FIXES.

32. Angular: GAUNT.

33. Traps, in a way: MIRES.

34. Place that has rooms and a board: CONDO 😀 - A CONDO has rooms and usually a CONDO board that makes and enforces policy.

35. Garments often adorned with metallic thread called zari: SARIS.

36. Big name in comfort footwear: TAOS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

37. "As if": PFFT.

41. "What she said": AMEN.

42. Hit the runway: LAND.

43. Stiller's partner: MEARA - I remember this husband and wife act on The Ed Sullivan Show and then reunited to be in the King Of Queens sitcom.

  

44. Software vehicles, once: CDS.

45. "Hello __": classic barbershop song: MARY LOU - This will always be Ricky Nelson's song from the 60's but I love barbershop too.

47. Garage occupant: CAR.

48. When one might find a blowout sale?: HAIR APPOINTMENT 😀

51. Pulitzer-winning play chronicled in the oral history "The World Only Spins Forward": ANGELS IN AMERICA - The Connection

52. Headspring?: RINGLET -This is really "out there"! A headspring is an acrobatic move to switch from a head stand to springing into standing up. Sarah and/or Erik and/or Patti switched this to RINGLETS of hair springing from a head.

  

53. Feature of the logos of Heineken and Macy's: RED STAR.

Down:

1. Finish line: I'M DONE.

2. Source of a good self-image: MIRROR 

3. Composition of most of the observable universe: PLASMA More

4. West __: upscale furniture store: ELM.

5. Some dabbling ducks: TEALS 😀

6. __ itself: UNTO.

7. Candy named for a Mars family horse: SNICKERS.

8. Big name in loans: SALLIE - SLMA - Student Loan Marketing Association 

9. French dips?: PLIES 😀

10. Short lines at the register?: UPCS 😀 They spelled the doom of this clerk's machine 

11. "Diet Pepsi" singer Addison: RAE shrug The only mention in the song is 

Break all the rules 'til we get caught
Fog up the windows in the parking lot
Summer love (ah, ah), sexy
Sitting on his lap sippin' Diet Pepsi

12. Scram: RUN FOR IT.

13. Magazine whose first editorial director was Gordon Parks: ESSENCE - Gordon was also the first black photographer for Life Magazine

  
 

14. One of the Ramones: DEE DEE.

16. Miranda Cosgrove sitcom: I CARLY ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

22. Popular tablet: ASPIRIN - I have an iPad tablet and when I was 8 I had a Big Chief tablet 😀

24. "Haha, u wish": LOL NOPE 😀

26. Chic accessory?: TRES - Here or in Paris I would never be described as being TRES chic. 😀

27. Bitter rivalry: FEUD.

29. Pair o' graphs?: AXES - We math people use them a lot

30. Prohibits: BANS.

31. Sagittarius, for one: FIRE SIGN - My belief in astrology is lower than minimum.

32. Super duper?: GOOD LIAR - Someone who dupes people by lying could be called a duper. If they are really good at it, they'd be a super duper.😳

33. Zohran who walked the length of Manhattan on June 20, 2025: MAMDANI - NYC's current mayor.

34. Gorge: CANYON.

35. "Holes" novelist Louis: SACHAR.

36. Trinidad's Pitch Lake, for one: TARPIT.

38. "Be honest with yourself": FACE IT.

39. Lingua __: FRANCA - A common language for people who do not speak the same language. English is the most common and all international airline pilots are required to speak English 

40. __ sauce: TARTAR.

42. Coverage issue: LAPSE.

43. Subtle, as colors: MUTED.

45. King of Prussia attraction: MALL - The King Of Prussia, PA MALL has over 450 stores

46. Statement after putting down a card: ON ME.

49. On the __: chronically, casually: REG - "On the reg" is an informal phrase meaning regularly, frequently or consistently. My Saturday blogging is on the reg.

50. Title for some spouses: MRS.

Friday, May 8th, 2026 ~ Joel Woodford

 BLINI SPOT

IHOP in Moscow . . . 😜

This is Joel Woodford's second publication; his first was a NYT puzzle last year in August.  Today we have a letter-replacement-at-the-end-of-phrases theme, with "d" becoming "i", and a very clever reveal.  A simple solve ( for me ) this time, stumbled just a little in the center and down in the SW.  Standard grid, no circles, just a handful of names, a couple of twurds, two 9-letter Downs, 15 3LWs - and four Coopers~!  The themers and reveal;

20. Small car that can only follow a single route?: ONE-TRACK MINI - One-track minD, like me and 14A.; the Mini was a British car, then it became the Mini-"Cooper" (#1), and now a line from BMW - I think; it's hard to tell who owns them, manufactures them, and markets them . . . 

An A I visual evolution - I am beginning to appreciate A I

29. Songs heard during a colorful spring festival?: MUSIC ON HOLI - Music on holD; we appreciate your patience - please enjoy this 20min flute solo . . . 

It was in March

43. First dish made at a cook-off?: OLDEST CHILI - Oldest chilD - I am the oldest of two, but my brother likes to behave like the alpha, so I let him; speaking of my brother, I am going to be house-sitting and walking my buddy in June~!  Yay~!  AND, I have found a place to adopt a schnauzer puppy, but I have to stabilize my work schedule before I commit, then fence in a part of my yard.

Cooper (#2)

52. Designer's asset, or a phonetic description of 20-, 29-, and 43-Across: EYE FOR DETAIL - parsed differently, it reads "I" for "D" tail - the last, or "tail" letter of the theme answers changes from an i to a d - very clever reveal~!

Но подожди, И это ещё не всё~!

ACROSS:

1. Meat in some fried rice: SPAM - I like Spam, buy it in bulk at BJs, get the low(er) sodium one

I might have to try this recipe

5. Place where heros are made: DELI - I do the Downs first, had only - - L -, pondered "HELL" -as in a mythological hero

9. Ready to lose one's cool: IRATE

14. Purnell of "Fallout": ELLA - name #1 - her IMDb

15. Go: EXIT - Late-week one-word clue for one-word answer

16. Wind turbine part: ROTOR

17. Polish target: NAIL - that kind of polish

18. Barn topper: VANE

19. Minds: OBEYS - "Obeys The Gap"

23. Frawnche automaker: RENAULT - I'll just call this "name(ish)", because I knew it

24. Barrel-shaped drums: CONGAS

28. Map lines: Abbr.: STs

32. Generic surname: DOE - a typical whodunnit show's unknown 'victim' is John or Jane Doe

33. Swanson of "Parks and Recreation": RON - fictional name #2

34. Brewery kiln: OAST - learned by doing crosswords

35. Temple table: ALTAR - AL-i-TAR-a-tion

38. Blend: MIX - so my "DEW drop" was Bzzzzt~!

39. The loneliest numbers?: SOLOS - AKA arias

40. Set of socks: PAIR - a set of Sox . . .

Sorry, C.C., still don't care for baseball . . .

41. Family nickname: SISter

42. Advanced deg.: PhD

46. __ tai: MAI - or, before the application of the theme, a MAD TAD

Fun with A I

49. Candy bar with peanuts and caramel: PAYDAY

The history of its name

50. Small pieces: MORSELS - I had DETAILS here, and then the reveal filled in . . .

55. Some Ukrainians: SLAVS

58. Keen: AVID

59. "Picnic" playwright: INGE - learned by doing crosswords, still, name #3

60. Pronoun choices: HE/HIM - AND - 55. Pronoun choice: SHE - clecho crossing

61. Unvirtuous activity: VICE

62. Sweater fuzz: LINT

63. Order out: EXILE - I thought "EAT IN" was clever - nope.

64. Condition affecting focus, briefly: ADHD - Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 

65. "Not that much": LESS - sometimes, it's "more"


DOWN:

1. Barcelona men: SEÑORS

2. Revolutionary figure?: PLANET - my minD was thinking axle, axis, pole dancer . . . 

3. Crop circle makers, supposedly: ALIENS - Here's my Sim City farm with eerie crop circles . . .

4. Island near Sicily: MALTA - geo name #4

5. Cheapen: DEVALUE

6. Takes, as revenge: EXACTS - It's a recipe - best served . . . cold

May the Fourth Be With You - here's a Revenge of the Sith cake

7. Clickable text: LINK - AND - 22. Clickable image: ICON     

8. Object: ITEM - one-word clue /answer Friday vague; noun, or verb~? ob-JECT~?

9. Patch style: IRON-ON

10. Inspiration for the DC Comics hero Green Arrow: ROBIN HOOD - I did not know this - filled via perps.  I grew up with Robin Hood imagery , as my parents were born & raised in Nottingham England

11. Consumed: ATE

12. Barbie, e.g.: TOY - Doll, Name, Movie - several choices, but I like one-to-one vague cluing, as long as we're talking words, not names - it feels like I am learning something . . . 

13. 24-hour care ctrs.: ERs

21. Scuttlebutt: RUMOR - I thought 'scuttlebutt' was a person, not a term

25. Aim: GOAL - I have struggled with what my aim/goal/intent/dream/purpose ( see yesterday's puzzle ) is to be for the 'second half' of my life - the first was to buy my own home, which I accomplished in 2022.  I am going to focus on the production of my board games; found an intellectual property lawyer, have a business plan - amd I'm beginning to embrace A I as an effective tool, too.  

A trial playing of one game, back in 2017

26. "One more thought ... ": "ALSO... "

27. Parks it: SITS

30. Like Guinness: IRISH - Dah~!  Not STOUT -and a SO to Miss

31. Crew team leader: COX - the lightweight "jockey" at the back of a boat with the rowing guys

"inverse" coxswain

32. Biker trying to miss the bus, perhaps?: DAREDEVIL - I love this clue/answer.  I had just been griping about people who do NOT get up to speed at a highway on-ramp - I acually said "if you were jumping 26 buses, do you want to be going 40, or 140mph~?!"

OK, so it was only 14 buses, and just 95mph . . . 51D.

35. Per: A POP - possibly the worst twurd, not the word "EACH"

36. Chorus syllables: LA-LA - meh.  I tried TRAS

37. Shipshape: TIDY

38. __ drop: MIC - yeah, I went with DEW

39. English county: SHIRE - Sweet~!  The generic, crossword answer, not the crossname ESSEX

41. Eye affliction: STYE

42. Trudged: PLODDED

44. Authoritative retort: "SAYS ME."

45. "Jackpot!": "I'M RICH~!" - No, I am Rich~! ( when I'm not Splynter ) name(ish), twurd(ish)

46. "You're being cruel!": MEANIE - this was part of my mom's affectionate email address, "Mrs. Meanie" - a moniker she earned over 30 years as a teacher's assistant 

47. Formats, as text: ALIGNS - I use center align for my images and "justify" for text on the blog

48. Archipelago units: ISLETS

51. "Even so ... ": "STILL . . ." Evel Stunt Cycle

I am pretty sure I had this toy

53. __ bean: FAVA - "The Silence of The Lambs"

And a nice Chianti . . .

54. "Metamorphoses" poet: OVID - ooh, good WAG on my part; name #5

56. NYC ave. on the East Side: LEXington - ah, forgot about that one.  The Chrysler Building is located on Lexington @ 42nd street; the whole structure is in dire need of modernizing . . . and pays rent to Cooper Union (#3)  

Cooper again~! This time, the Square (#4)

Numbered 'backwards', east to west, 1st - 12th

57. Sushi option: AHI - interesting that the last Down fill ends with an "i"

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.3

Thursday May 7, 2026 Zachary David Levy

Zachary David Levy is a man with a plan. We last saw him here a few months ago in January with "Speak Up," another synonym theme where words spelled upwards on the grid.

The master plan becomes clear with the revealer:

37. "Let's do this thing!," or what can be said about each set of circles in this puzzle: SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN. The circled letters create made-up sound-alikes for words that mean PLAN. They all can fill in the blank, "What is your ____?" 

17. Some tissue in the central nervous system: GRAY MATTER. AYM sounds like AIM.

23. Quantum mechanics phenomenon: SUPER POSITION. PERPOS sounds like PURPOSE. For those of you that aren't physicists, a SUPER POSITION is the principle that physical systems can exist in multiple states, locations, or configurations simultaneously. Got it?

47. Sweet and tart fruit drink: MANGO LEMONADE. GOL sounds like GOAL.

58. Therapeutic canopy for some respiratory ailments: OXYGEN TENT. ENTENT sounds like INTENT.

I don't mind circles, but I'm bad at anagrams. However, the first one was easy, only three letters - either MAY or YAM. Now I'm looking for months or tubers. When I couldn't unscramble PERPOS, I figured it must be some foreign name I'd never heard of. Fortunately, the revealer came up in the middle and saved me from tearing my hair out on the rest of them. No anagrams, just imaginary homophones for synonyms of "PLAN". And you have to use your imagination to see beyond their spelling to hopefully pronounce them correctly. So, this puzzle was OKAY, although like last Thursday, it seems a bit easy for this late in the week.

Let's see how his strategy plays out:

Across:

1. Hajj destination: MECCA.

6. Foxtrot follower: GOLF. Actually, after the Foxtrot came the Charleston. But in this case, the letters "F" and "G" are from the NATO alphabet. 

10. Took off: LEFT.

14. Brilliance: ECLAT. ÉCLAT (pronounced "ay-KLAH") is a French term meaning doing something with great style.

15. Actress Taylor-Joy: ANYA. I liked ANYA in The Queens' Gambit, then was disappointed in The Gorge. She and a single Russian counterpart are tasked with protecting all of mankind from unknown evils that reside in a gorge. With humanity at stake, wouldn't you assign more than two people to do this?

16. Land division: ACRE. Land division: GORGE. 

17. [theme]

19. Brit's trunk: BOOT. Britt's trunk: BOOTY.

Brittany Spears

20. Not to be trusted, in slang: SUS. I SUSpect this sounds SUSpicious.

21. Condo gp.: HOA. HomeOwners Association.

22. Elusive picture book character: WALDO. Hiding in plain sight was a skill he learned as a child when there were chores to do.

Waldo, please take out the trash. Waldo? Waldo!

23. [theme]

28. Frozen gutter problem: ICE DAM. Not a problem in Florida.

30. "Saturday Night Live" unit: SKIT. "Saturday Night Live" is abbreviated SNL. Oh wait, it's usually the other way around.

31. "Ditto": SO DO I.

32. Not great, say: OKAY.

34. Sanskrit title of respect: SRI.

37. [theme]

41. Mont Blanc, e.g.: ALP. Mont Blanc, e.g.: PEN.

42. Mystery writer Buchanan: EDNA. In addition to crime novelist, EDNA is a journalist who won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting "for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting."

43. Lego unit: BRICK.

44. Yogurt bowl berry: ACAI.

46. Homes: ABODES.

47. [theme]

52. Not of this world: ALIEN.

53. Messy class, often: ART. I've noticed that many artistic people seem to thrive in organized mess.

54. Uno y uno: DOS. 1+1=2 lección de matemáticas (math lesson in Spanish). 

57. __ diagram: VENN.

58. [theme]

62. Board VIP: EXEC. An EXECutive is a Very Important Person, or so they think.

63. McEntire of country: REBA. REBA, also known as "The Queen of Country," has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She's had over 100 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with 25 reaching number one. In spite of all that, she seems very down-to-earth.

She's a real VIP.

64. Italian bowling game: BOCCE. It's like curling without the ice!

65. __ a soul: NARY.

66. Tree of Knowledge location: EDEN.

67. A bit off: ASKEW. Just look up "RustyBrain" in the dictionary.

Down:

1. Gig segments: MEGS. My first thought was SETS, as in a band playing music for the evening. But this is a computer reference to Gigabytes which are made up of 1000 Megabytes.

2. Earth tone: ECRU.

3. Brought elegance to: CLASSED UP. It's what happens when I walk into any joint. So I'm told.

4. Sandy island: CAY. Same as a key. 

5. Outer bank?: ATM. Nice clue. Automated Teller Machine.

6. "Later, __!": GATOR. In a while, crocodile!

7. Ready to go: ON TAP.

8. NaOH, more familiarly: LYE. RightBrain took a break from perfecting sourdough breads and decided to try her hand at Bavarian pretzels. The recipe called for soaking them in LYE (sodium hydroxide), just like bagels. It's highly caustic so she made a baking soda bath instead, but if used, the LYE will break down in the oven. 

The knots were hard to do...but they tasted great!

9. Not walkable, say: FAR.

10. Canadian brewery: LABATT. LABATT is now part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev family.

11. Cause of some food poisoning: E. COLI.

12. Baggins of the Shire: FRODO. This also could have been Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is Bilbo's second cousin, once removed, but Bilbo affectionately considers him a nephew.

13. "Grand" peak visible from eastern Idaho: TETON.

18. "Standing right here!": AHEM. "You know I can hear you, right?"

22. Mario Kart platform: WII. WII was a popular Nintendo gaming console discontinued in 2013. It lives on here because it has two "I"s. Like most of us.

24. Soba alternative: UDON. UDON and soba are staple Japanese noodles with distinct differences: Udon is thick, chewy, and white (wheat-based), while soba is thin, earthy, and brownish (buckwheat-based).

25. No longer in arrears: PAID.

26. Port city east of Kobe: OSAKA.

27. __ terrier: SKYE. SKYE Terriers were originally bred in the 1600s on Scotland's Isle of Skye to protect farms and livestock by hunting and killing predators, such as foxes and badgers. Their low-slung, sturdy bodies,, tough, long double coats, and fierce, intelligent nature allowed them to tackle prey and thrive in harsh, rocky Scottish weather.

28. Actress Rae: ISSA. ISSA Rae is an Emmy-nominated actress, writer, producer, director and entrepreneur. And she has lots of usable letters in her name.

29. Refrigerate: COOL.

32. Tune rarely played on Top 40 radio: OLDIE. Unfortunately, every song I used to listen to on Top 40 radio is now an oldie. I wonder what that says about me?

33. Family: KIN.

34. PowerPoint file, essentially: SLIDE DECK.  I wanted SLIDE SHOW.

35. Zoom: RACE.

36. Signs, as a contract: INKS.

38. Animal that goes with the floe?: SEAL. Winner: Best Clue.

39. "Fernando" band: ABBA. Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, and 400 million albums later...

ABBA won singing "Waterloo"

40. Egg on: PROD.

44. Ability to shape one's own future: AGENCY.

45. Fleece: CON.

46. Poker stake: ANTE.

47. Whiz: MAVEN.

48. Wrestler Bliss known as "Five Feet of Fury": ALEXA. What made her furious was her Amazon Echo that answered every time someone called her.

49. West Coast NFLer: NINER. The San Franciso 49ers, named after the thousands of prospectors who flocked to Northern California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. "Dwelt a miner, forty-NINER..."

50. "It's always possible": MAYBE.

51. Church fixture: ORGAN. I love the massive sound of a pipe organ in a large church. And if one ever breaks, call 1-800-SPLYNTER.

55. __ in a while: ONCE.

56. Hearty bowlful: STEW.

58. Seam contents: ORE.

59. Crossed (out): XED. "X" is often used as shorthand for "cross," as in xwords.

60. Org. for Jazz quintets?: NBA. The Utah JAZZ from the National Basketball Association. Basketball is played with five players on each side.

61. Talking-__: TOS. And in the "terrible twos," the tots talk back!

Be good. RB