Orthorunics: Wednesday, Sep 24th, 2025 ~ Ricky J Sirois

CAPTAIN'S LOG

STAR TREK: The Next Generation humor

Splynter here, coming to you from the Village of (which is better than just) Babylon, Long Island, NY - down here visiting my super-pooch buddy Cooper~! It would appear that this is Ricky J Sirois' debut for the LA Times - I see three of his puzzles in 'another' publication ;7)) Congratulations~! A quick and easy solve, with the rare black square to start us off at "1A." A handful of names, most of them not too obsure, no circles, more than double the # of 4LWs over 3LWs today, and only a couple of unique fills for the theme answers;

16. Battle over a board: CHESS MATCH

Check - that's a "mate" for me - I'd be game to play her in chess, mate

24. "Peyton Place" and "Diamonds Are Forever" actress: LANA WOOD - I have seen the James Bond movie - not the best 007 of the franchise, IMO - where she plays "Plenty O'Toole; the names they used in those films.... anyway, Peyton Place is before my time - Her IMDb

The show's Wiki

37. Semester-long writing assignment: TERM PAPER - never had to do one

53. Film hitman played by Keanu Reeves: JOHN WICK - whenever a "John Wick" movie is playing on TV, my brother and I will text each other

Mostly gratuitous violence, but I will stay tuned and watch

63. Place for a nonurgent issue, and what can be found at the end of 16-, 24-, 37-, or 53- Across?: BACK BURNER - each theme answer has something to "burn" at the end, or, "back"

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Home of the Colosseum: ROME - and now you can have one of your very own, in LEGO~!

9,036 pieces, about $1799 - that's 19￠a piece . . . .

5. Muffin fiber: BRAN - I prefer my "fiber" to be chocolate and/or chocolate chip - I had chocolate chip cream cheese on my egg everything bagel Sunday - and it was good

9. Actor Omar: EPPS - name #1, in crosswords all the time

13. Cut off: SEVER

14. In __ parentis: LOCO - not "crazy", but in "place" of an adult/teacher, though it might be hard to tell the difference . . . . last week my ex-wife sent me a friend request on Facebook - crazy.

15. "Star Wars" heroine: LEIA - name #2

ah, the stuggles of being a parent....

18. Performed at a karaoke party: SANG - I need to find a place to do some karaoke

19. Broadcasts: AIRS

20. Super-: UBER - the prefix, not the taxi service seen Monday

21. Pt. of some school names: TECH- I attended Rensselaer PolyTECHnical Institute up in Troy, NY, for one unpleasant semester; then Island Drafting and TECHnical Institute in Amityville on Long Island some 15 years later

22. Places for plugs: DRAINS - think sinks & tubs, not ads & ears😜

27. Filming location: SET - here's me "on set" back in 1997 making stones from chunks of foam

28. "__ go time!": "IT'S"

Hey, John Wick is on . . .

30. Sigh, say: EXHALE - I am House/Dog/Cat/Fish-sitting for my brother and his new wife as they are on their honeymoon down at Cape May for the week; they are active THC 'consumers', and I discovered "instructions" on one of the "products" label;

Really~?!?!

31. School administrator: DEAN - don't let them catch you with that joint~!

33. Tiny bit: IOTA - I used to 'inhale', but just a tiny bit...

36. Summers on the Seine: ETES - Did you know that estivate is the opposite of hibernate~? I'd do it every summer if I could get away with it

40. Be rife (with): TEEM

43. Bump from office: OUST

44. Baseball feature: SEAM

47. __ film: ACTION - Hey, John Wick is on . . .

49. Apropos: APT

51. Plead: BEG

56. Dog star: LASSIE - not "Sirius" - name(ish)

Aye, there's a pretty lassie - Paul Kelley, The Gallerist

58. Shift key toggle: CASE - as in UPPER and lower

59. Increase: RISE

61. 17-time WWE champion: CENA - crossword staple, name #4

His Wiki

62. Spa treatment, for short: MANIcure - also becoming a crossword staple

65. Yankee nickname of the 2000s: A-ROD - name(ish) - Alex Rodriguez

66. Paul who wrote the lyrics to "My Way": ANKA - name #6, but I knew this one

67. Burlap bags: SACKS

68. Land in the sea: ISLE

69. Home for a heron: NEST

70. Fencing blade: ÉPÉE

DOWN:

1. Brought back on board: REHIRED

2. Took in too much: OVERATE - not over-rate

3. World Cup superstar Lionel: MESSI- name #7

4. Hosp. areas: ERs

5. Squeal: BLAB

6. Canned brand often used in chili con queso: RO✯TEL - filled via perps, but I see this at my Big Y

7. Ghana's capital: ACCRA - geographic name(ish)

8. Japanese drama: NOH - I know noh, but it doesn't stay in my head

9. Some other place: ELSEWHERE - meanwhile, back on planet Earth . . .

10. Woolen outer layer: PEACOAT

11. Small puncture: PINHOLE

12. Droop: SAG

13. Oodles: SCADS

17. "You __ be joking": "MUST"

21. Price addition: TAX

23. Cloud __: NINE - My buddy Cooper was on Cloud Nine when we went to the park

That's mybrother trying to get Cooper to sit before the ball toss

25. Kind of tide: NEAP

26. __ Moines, Iowa: DES - geographical name #2

29. Liu of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings": SIMU - Ah. Not "Lucy" - his IMDb, name #9

32. Sign at a convenience store: ATM INSIDE - good fill

34. Curtailed missions?: OPS - 'shortened' OPerationS

35. "Bye-bye!": "TA-TA~!"

38. Rice-A-__: RONI - found not far from the RO-TEL, usually

39. Spanish "this": ESTA

40. Blues guitarist __ Mahal: TAJ - not much difference between the place or the person, IMO - his Wiki - name #10

41. Green vehicles: ECO-CARS - meh. I had HYBRIDS first

42. Gas additive: ETHANOL - usually 10%, and isn't good for small engines, like snowblowers and lawn mowers - so I have been told

45. Attendance record spoiler: ABSENCE

46. "Trust your keys with ... " car care chain: MEINEKE - I know this brand, but I don't recall this catch-phrase from the ads

48. Be in debt: OWE

50. Commoner: PLEB - seen it before in crosswords

52. Clock innards: GEARS

54. Origami figure: CRANE - I made a squirrel a couple of months back, left it in the "Art Box" that's in front of a house on my morning walks - I have left other creations in there before, too - and we have a "library" that's similar to the Art Box around the way in another part of the neighbothood, as well.

55. Shoes, casually: KICKS