Friday, Oct 23rd, 2026 ~ Winston Emmons

UNDERSTAND A BLEAT

🙄

This is Winston's LA Times puzzle #15, and the first one I've had to blog - Chairman Moe had ths last one, here, back in April 2024.  This one kinda fizzled on me; even owning up to a single cell mistake, I found the construction & theme to be bland - in fact, 30D. is not even a unique crossword answer.  The rest of the fill contained little to make me go "RAH~!"; YMMV, but again, I think the editor is more to blame on this one - and not the first time I felt that way this week.  Standard grid, no circles, no outlier letters, far too many proper nouns ( names ) & "foreign"clues, and the same count of 3LW to 5LWs.  The Across themers and Down reveal:

18. Gospel music?: PRAISE BEAT - "Praise Be" being the base phrase; the addition of the "A T" does not really result in a 'punny' or 'alternate' themer, IMHO

The Yellow & Black attack of

Christian rockers Stryper, "To Hell with 9A."

30. Really, really sticky situation?: HONEY COMBAT - Honeycomb, a better redefining themer

46. Brag obnoxiously after winning a swabbing contest?: MOP AND GLOAT - Mop & Glo, the floor cleaning product

That'll work . . .

59. Generous Volkswagen promotion?: FREE PASSAT - Free Pass - I have a "free" VW Jetta in my backyard if you'll give me $1500 to get rid of it . . . 😜

48. "Finally!," or what can be found in 18-, 30-, 46-, and 59-Across: AT LAST - The theme answers all end with the additional letters A & T, or "at, last".  I see Mr. Emmons was able to slide "ETTA" into the grid as well "@" 31D.

But@ Wait@ There's@ More@~!

ACROSS:

1. "Ring out the thousand __ of old": Tennyson: WARS - no clue, tough way to start a puzzle - the poem

5. Hat holders: PEGS

9. Figure in a Faustian bargain: SATAN - A.K.A. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles

14. Name on a former lake in Central Asia: ARAL - Geo name #1, even if it's a crossword staple

15. Sandwich title: EARL - the Earl of Sandwich, credited with the "invention" of the meat-between-bread fare that now bears his name . . . and name(ish)

Wiki backs it up

16. __ keyboard: EMOJI - I do the Downs first, had E - - - I, so I got it, but didn't really "get it"

All I can say is 😝 or maybe 😖

17. Hayworth of "The Strawberry Blonde": RITA - name #2

20. Slogans: MOTTOS - If Nike came out with crossword apparel, the slogan would be "Just Clue It" 🙄

22. Ring topper: STONE

23. Screening org.: TSA - Transportation Security Administration

24. Chart-topper: HIT

26. High cloud: CIRRUS - made my "TRES" at 28D. wrong

34. Fiver: ABE - seen this before in crosswords; money, not moniker, but still, name (ish)

Hey, that's not Abe . . .

35. Uncomfortably honest: TOO REAL

36. Pulitzer winner James: AGEE - Popular in crosswords, still name #3

37. African language family: BANTU - "foreign" fill, first of many . . .

40. __ Atleos: big name in ATMs: NCR - Dah~!  Didn't get my "ta-DA~!", could not find my mistake - I had ECR, yet I am familiar with this company, as they made cash registers, initially - in fact that's what "N C R" stands for - National Cash Register - the history

41. Oscar, but not Big Bird: AWARD - two Muppets, one trophy - very clever clue / answer

42. Vicinity: AREA

43. Tenor Pavarotti: LUCIANO - Italian, name #4

45. Molecule in some vaccines: RNA

50. Gymnast Olga with four Olympic gold medals: KORBUT - Belarusian, name #5

52. 128 oz.: GALLon

53. Colorado Plateau Native: UTE - Indigenous, name (ish)

54. Model/actress Kate: UPTON - American Michigander, name #6

That's hubby Justin Verlander, retired WS-winning baseball pitcher

57. Mortar's partner: PESTLE

63. Panache: ÉLAN - Frawnche

64. Mexican meat: CARNE - Español

65. Period after Shrove Tuesday: LENT - Christian 😉

66. Toy (with): MESS

67. Break the rules: CHEAT - not a themer, as in Che AT . . .🙄

68. Eight, in combinations: OCTO

69. Minuscule: ITTY - AND - 49D. Minuscule: TEENSY - straight clecho

DOWN:

1. Affection: WARMTH - another great single-syllable fill

2. Oratorio solo: ARIOSO - Italian 

3. Material for some patio furniture: RATTAN - South Asian 

4. Board on some patio furniture: SLAT - Not a "sl AT" themer, either . . . 🙄

5. Gatorade owner: PEPSICO - Twice (25D.) this month that a "Pepsi" phrase has made the crossword

6. Orecchiette shape: EAR - Italian again, for "little ears" - nailed it, but knew it from doing crosswords

7. Foie __: GRAS - Frawnche again, heard of it, never actually knew it translates as "fatty liver"

The image's connected website

8. Buttonhole, e.g.: SLIT - SLAT & SLIT in the same grid

9. Veto on movie night: "SEEN IT."

10. Cautionary color: AMBER

11. Spot for a metti: TOE - South Asian Indian, learning moment - the Wiki

12. Two-time WNBA Finals MVP Wilson: A'JA - name #7, coulda been clued as a Steely Dan album

13. Picky criticism: NIT - I had a fair number of  name "nits" in this grid today

19. Golden St. region: SoCal - Southern California - I am East coast, so this did not come readily to mind, but this song did after it filled in - I'd heard it growing up, but would've never guessed the artist

Albert Hammond

21. "Silly goose!": "OH YOU~!" - Oh, Twurd~!

25. Distraught: TORN UP - Dah~!  I simply did not see the option of the past tense version of this phrase, and I blanked on the crossing ECR not being correct - I'll take the one-cell hit on this one . . .

27. Sitar piece: RAGA - Asian Indian - You don't want to go raga . . . 

28. Very, informally: ÜBER - German - Dah~!  I tried TRES

29. Pomegranate bit: SEED

31. "__ Is Betta Than Evvah!": 1976 album: ETTA - an Easter Egg.  Etta James, crossword staple, and the singer associated with the muscial number that my future ex-wife chose for our wedding herself.  It's certainly a "numb-er" for me - thus, I am not a fan of the "theme"; I wanted "Leather & Lace" which was 'dismissed', but my brother snuck it in during his best man speech.   Name #8

32. Home of the Kaaba: MECCA - Arabic, Kaaba = 'cube', geo name #9

33. Revealing to all: BARING

36. Missing GI: AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave

37. Flavorful part of a cinnamon tree: BARK

38. View from the Uffizi: ARNO - No clue this was an art gallery; Italian again, geo name #10

Bottom center

39. Proximate: NEAR

41. Measurement given in degrees: ANGLE

43. Led Zeppelin's "Whole __ Love": LOTTA - Whole lotta yes, please~!  

Here's a cool story from Rick Beato's YouTube channel

about the recording of the track

44. Fit in with: ADAPT TO - Yeah, but Meh~?

46. Sesame Street denizen: MUPPET - see 41A

47. Current source: OUTLET

51. Lake __ Vista, Florida: BUENA - Español again, geo name #11

55. Capital west of Stockholm: OSLO - attempted obscurity, still got it, still Scandinavian, geo name #12

56. Fraction of a min.: NSEC - SEC was too short, filled it in and waited on perps

58. Big rig: SEMI

59. TV monitor: FCC - I almost went with CRT, but this is the "overseer" kind of monitor

60. Cheer syllable: "RAH~!" - I'm going with "MEH."

61. Poetic preposition: ERE

62. Pantry pest: ANT - we had ANT MAN on Tuesday

Splynter

Grid Flow 32.7

Friday, Oct 16th, 2026 ~ Yijing Chen

"A Minor" COMPOSITION in "B#"

The Circle of FIFTHS - A minor = C major: C = "B#" - get it~?

This is Yijing Chen's fifth LA Times puzzle - I blogged her debut puzzle here, and today's offering may have led some Cornerites to a Circle of FITs, or even the fifth circle of hell - see 51A.  I however, loved this puzzle - I enjoy the extra challenge of trying to figure out the hidden, underlying meaning of a crossword's theme.  It took me about 8mins over my usual Friday time to finally figure out just the SW corner alone. Once I caught on to the reveal "NOTES" being the musical Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti vocalizations, it was enough to figure out that the theme answers were completely undefinable from the clues themselves - 45A being the most obscure & difficult to parse; I'm not even sure I am 100% correct, but there is no "sourson" word - the closest I could find was soursop - this fruit.  The solution is to take out the duplicate "notes", ( which had to be doubled to match the plural reveal ) and Bob's your uncle.  I am sure this construction is going to cause a fair amount of grumbling, but it's Friday, and it does have a theme, albeit a very cryptic one.  An over-sized 15 x 16 grid, no outlier letters, several names, no Twurds, sixteen 3LWs, and no circles, but perhaps "*" on the themers would have helped, as they coincided with other same-length fills:

17. Female sib: DOSIDOS - SISter, abbr in the clue, abbr in the answer, no relation to the actual fill of do-si-do, the dance step ( and now I see, a strain of marijuana, plus the Girl Scout cookie ); the same non-relation goes for all of the themers . . .

18. Cozy eatery: CAREFREE - CAFE, not the 'care-free' attitude, e.g.

23. Man of La Mancha: SEMI MINOR - SEÑOR, Español for "man" in the Spanish city - which we also learned from last week's clue/answer "Dulcinea" fiasco; filled mostly via perps, and I did not know what the definition of "Semi Minor" was;

the Wiki

38. The complete set: ALFALFA - ALL

45. Big flowerpot: SOURS ON - URN - "loses interest in"; almost impossible to fill in without understanding the theme

57. Extemporizes: LAVA LAMPS - VAMPS - the "musical improvisation" definition.  I have a green one to match my office

67. Low-level laborer: PETITION - PEON, my first thought, but was obviously too short for the eight-letter fill in the grid

69. "Perfect!," or how to make seven answers in this puzzle match their clues?: NO NOTES - D'Oh~! A deer, a female deer - remove the doubled Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So ( and I know it's usually referred to as "SOL" ) -La-Ti-Do pairings, and what's left is a straight explanation for the clue 😁

ACROSS:

1. Barnyard call: MAA - cows go "moo", sheep go "baa", so this must be goats

4. A pop: PER

7. Compels: FORCES

13. Like some pickup-only deals: IN-STORE

15. Prehistoric hand tool: STONE AXE - A uniquie fill

19. "Ferrari" actor Driver: ADAM - name #1

20. Second singer to be honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: SINATRA - and the first singer was~?  Answer at the end, name #2

22. Some laptops: PCs

25. Ernie's "Sing After Me" duet partner: ELMO - Good guess on my part; not BERT - name #3

28. Monument Valley formation: MESA

30. Winter layer: COAT - I was not fooled, didn't go with SNOW, RIME or HOAR

33. __ Nation: Jay-Z's conglomerate: ROC - name (ish)

36. Novelist Quindlen: ANNA - No clue, more here, name #4

40. Approximately: ABOUT

42. Many a K-pop singer: IDOL

44. Starting lineup: A-TEAM

47. Gaelic speaker: CELT

49. Cornerback Bly in the College Football Hall of Fame: DRÉ - No clue, name #5

50. Was gripping?: HELD - Har-har

51. Breathe fire, say: RAGE - the sin of the Fifth Circle of Hell

53. Inhale, maybe: EAT - slang for eating fast

55. Couple: DUAD - Not being DUET caused all sorts of grief 

62. "Thrilla in Manila" boxer: ALI - Crossword staple, name #6

64. Approached bedtime: LATENED - "got late"

66. Wife of Zeus: HERA - name #7

71. Peppers in some mole sauces: POBLANOS - oof.  I didn't know the name of this pepper, and it's a unique fill, so new to any crossword - more here

72. Writer/illustrator who often wrote in anapestic tetrameter: Dr. SEUSS - the rhyming 'pace', depicted as da - da - DUM.  My blogs are written in all-a-puzzle octalmeter . . . name #8

73. Villainous looks: SNEERS -  This fish, my S-i-L calls "Vegas", hovered in the corner of the tank and stared at me the whole time I was down on Long Island . . . 

I'm watchin' you  . . . Creepy

74. With 27-Across, big name in watercraft: SEA - AND - 27A. See 74-Across: DOO.  Their website

75. Therapist's maj.: PSYchology

DOWN:

1. King with a touching story?: MIDAS - the golden touch of mythology - my first thought was ELVIS😜, #9

2. Battery part: ANODE

3. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM - Dah~!  Not PEKOE

4. Pea sheller's discard: POD

5. Canyon former: EROSION

6. Amber, once: RESIN

7. "Seriously?": "FOR REAL~?" - Rhymes with . . .

8. "Gorilla Warfare" artist Shaquille: O'NEAL - Name #10, but that's who I figured - not too many people named Shaquille - and his "art"

9. NWSL official: REF - abbr for the National Womens' Soccer League; I ventured a guess at something something Sports League . . . enough to take a WAG

10. Didn't ride solo: CARPOOLED

11. Corp. bigwig: EXECutive

12. Goes out with: SEES - Crossword friendly "E"s and "S"s on the edge

14. Retiring: TIMID - Dah~!  Not IN BED, but an obscure definition

15. Shake: SCARE - Friday. Vague.

16. Ink spot, for short: TATtoo - so many ladies at the gym with ink art, but I just don't care for it; to me, it's like graffiti on the Venus De Milo

Yecht - looks "dirty"

21. Digital __: remote tech worker: NOMAD - I have not heard this phrase, but sounds like a great way to work in the 21st century

24. Deep defenses: MOATS - two weeks in a row on Friday

Caerlaverock castle, Scotland

26. MD-to-be's exam: MCAT - Medical College Admission Test

29. Clearance event: SALE

31. Not nearby: AFAR

32. No longer feral: TAME - this guy only gets feral when the FedEx guy pulls up . . .

Told you he was a licker . . .

33. Impetuous: RASH - I went with RUDE, only 25% correct

34. Clarinet kin: OBOE - about the only 'gimme' in the SW

35. "Do my eyes deceive me?": "COULD IT BE~?" - Solid, but tough to suss in the Down position, and no crossings to work with either

37. Totenberg of NPR: NINA - I don't listen, more here.  Name #11

39. Like some flaws: FATAL

41. Linguistic cousin of Hindi: URDU

43. One of a geographic quintet: OCEAN - Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Antarctic & Arctic

46. Formally decrees: ORDAINS - that's the word I could not think of; I was stuck on ORATES

48. Galena, e.g.: LEAD ORE - I knew this, but for some reason, put in IRON - that's these ores

52. Bonny landscapes: GLENS

Aye, she's a bonny lass

54. Sierra Nevada lake: TAHOE - Geo name #12

56. Match point?: ALTAR - And I thought I was being clever with "FLAME" = tip, but this is the wedded bliss kind of point - the "location"

58. Sells: VENDS

59. Came together: MET UP

60. Olive oil maker: PRESS

61. Flip: SASSY - flip, the adjective, not the verb

62. Intro courses?: APPS - Ah.  The restaurant menu appetizers, that is

63. Swimmer Marchand who won four gold medals at Paris 2024: LEON - oof. Friday. Frawnche.  Name #13

65. "__ true!": TOO - I had "TIS" to start

68. __-de-France: Paris's region: ILE - Frawnche #2 - guessed it, put it in, took it out, put it right back in, and I shaked it all about . . . 🙄

70. Govt. cybersecurity monitor: NSA - No. Such. Agency.

Splynter

Grid Flow 29.0

answer to 20A << Bing Crosby >>

Fifth Circle of Hell

 

Friday, Oct 9th, 2026 ~ Jeremy Venook

AN AIM TO EFFACE

You Know My Name - Eyes Without a Face

This is my second review of a Jeremy Venook construction; the first one is here, and like that first puzzle, I have a similar "meh" feeling about today's crossword.  One could say it was a bit "LAME", and I don't mean the dress.  The 'names' theme was disappointing - perhaps due to the fact that I did not recognize two of them, and that they're, well, names, associated with a characteristic of a face; YMMV.  In addition, I found the crossings were of little help - I'm looking at you, 9D~!  Standard grid, no outliers, no circles, half as many 3LWs as Five-letter ones, two Twurds, and plenty of proper nouns, since that was the "name" of the "game" - the themers and centered reveal;

17. *Two-time Oscar winner with a stoic bearing?: EMMA STONE - Stone Face, usually the more common phrase being stone faced, or having a Poker Face - take it, Lady Gaga~!

😑

Emma Stone, stone face

23. *Nursery rhyme lad with one eye closed?: WILLIE WINKIE - My parents were born & raised in England, yet I've never heard of "Wee Willie Winkie" or the Scottish folk song; in fact, 'winkie' meant the "one-eyed willie" - if you know what I mean.  I guess this is the 'winkie face', which Google says should be "winky"

😉

Perhaps you prefer "We Willie Rock You"~?

46. *Fictional spy sporting a big yellow button?: GEORGE SMILEY - A learning moment for me, this character appeaed when I was just 3yrs old - but I have heard of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", the 1974 novel from author John Le Carré, which became a TV series ( 1979 ) with Alec Guinness as the lead intelligence officer ( after he played Ben 'Obi-Wan' Kenobi in 1977, which I did see ); more here

😄

57. *NFL analyst with a sad demeanor?: HOWIE LONG - I know this guy - he's on the FOX network.

A horse walks in to a saloon, the bartender asks, "why the long face~?"

36. Finally meet in person, or how to make the starred clues match their answers:
PUT A FACE TO A NAME
My dad insisted when I filled out a job application to "put a face to the name",
and speak to a manager instead of just walking out

But Wait -  don't drop names - 

There's More to make a face over  😖
 

ACROSS:

1. C in shop class?: CLAMP - this thing; as a woodworker, one can never have enough clamps

Bar Top glue-up

6. Blu-ray precursor: DVD

9. South Asian crepes: DOSAs - Ugh. Crossing another name, double UGH

14. Hispaniola nation: HAITI - this Geo name has appeared in all four of Jeremy's LA Times puzzles

15. Outdoor co-op with an "Uncommon Path" blog: REI - learned by doing crosswords

16. Loosen, as laces: UNTIE - Odd that this counts as Friday-level, considering the rest of the clues

19. Recline atop: LIE ON - Twurdish #1

20. Charge: FEE

21. Horn sound: TOOT

22. Briquettes: COALS

26. Talk into a bigger purchase: UPSELL

29. Warped Tour sponsor: VANS - No clue; the Warped Tour Wiki; I knew a handful of the bands from the one in 1998; in 2012, despite having triple the performers, I knew not one of them . . . since it could have been a vehicle 'vans' answer, name #1 ( +4 if you count the themers . . . )

30. Protective trench: MOAT - I do love castles

Now that's a moat - Bodiam Castle

31. Golfing goof: SLICE - FORE~!

33. Lid: CAP - AND - 57D. Lid: HAT

40. Grads-to-be: SRs

41. Sarge's superior: LOOIE - oof.  Friday.  Lieutenant.  If it weren't for my voracious reading, I would not have gotten this one - also seen in novels as "LOO", "LOOT", "L-T", etc.

42. Hieroglyphic snakes: ASPs

43. Insider's argot: CANT - argot being the 'jargon', lingo and language of a small group, e.g. scientists

44. Check: ARREST

51. Partygoer who might stock up on glow sticks: RAVER - I grew up in the "mosh pit" era

52. Many a Yemeni: ARAB

53. Sweets: BAE - not candy, vague, and cringe, I can't stand this word - two of three Fridays now 😖

56. Carne __ burrito: ASADA

59. Romantic poet who died fighting for Greek independence: BYRON - interesting life, name #2

60. "Eddington" director Aster: ARI - I know none of  his work - IMDb, name #3

61. Caused: LED TO - Twurdish #2

62. Utter, as thou might: SAYST - canceled my SAYTH, which needed to be SayEth anyway - until I checked with our new friend A I, and found this . . . 

Archaic spelling of "archaic" . . . uhhh

63. Pewter component: TIN - about 85-99%, according to Wiki

64. Eye sores: STYES


DOWN:

1. Many a cooking show host: CHEF

2. Fabric with metallic threads: LAMÉ - Some of this puzzle may be "lame", but not this dress . . . 🙄

Hey, 56% off~! Buy it now~!

3. Love, in French: AIME - does not rhyme with LAME, more like ay-MUH in the Frawnche

4. NYC transit org.: MTA - I grew up on Long Island, so I'm familiar with this organization; name(ish) and abbr, but here's a video from the B1M on a NYC project ahead of schedule, AND below budget

Park Ave rebuild

5. Flower part: PISTIL

6. Salivate: DROOL - Makes me think of Odie from Garfield

I'm down here with Cooper, who is not a drooler - but he does like to lick

7. Starbucks order: VENTI

8. Drop to 0%: DIE - Ah. Like phone batteries

9. Woman of La Mancha?: DULCINEA - Crossing two themers, and name #4 - Don Quixote's imaginary girlfriend; Why stop at one~?  I have a dozen imaginary girlfriends . . .  😁 the Wiki

10. Mirepoix vegetables: ONIONS - Frawnche. no clue, filled via perps

11. Swordfish cut: STEAK - solid WAG on my part, but then again, I know salmon is sold as 'steaks'

12. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI - learned by doing crosswords

13. Intuit: SENSE

18. Per-axle charge: TOLL - I just got a class-action settlement statement from a legal firm in Suffolk County, NY - the state owes me $144 for "illegal" fees on red-light camera tickets - Take THAT~!!

23. Large New Zealand cricket in the name of an Oscar-winning digital effects company: WĒTĀ - zero clue, didn't want one -  I have zero interest in "bugs" - I prefer ETymology over ENTOmology - 😝

24. Paperless Post alternative: eVITE - Ugh.  I tried eSite, thinking capitalized Post = newspaper, not the Postal, federal mail system , and a Tuesday dupe

25. Baylor University city: WACO - Geo name #5

26. Pros who work at home: UMPs - I think this clue needed an "?" - for home PLATE, that is . . .

27. Really come down: POUR - I tried HAIL, TEEM, PELT - Bzzzzt on all of them . . .

28. College Board exams: SATs

31. Many Highland Games participants: SCOTS - I had CELTS, so I was only 40% correct

32. Fragrant garland: LEI

33. Instance: CASE

34. Boxes in an arena?: AMPS - Boxes being the 3D noun, not the 'sparring' verb kind; I play guitar, and this is still too vague, even for a Friday . . .

35. Annoyance: PEST

37. Like a foul that might earn an automatic ejection: FLAGRANT - PERSONAL fit as well

Half the distance to the goal, automatic first down

38. Super-duper: A-ONE

39. Less than hardly, quaintly: NARY - I tried RARE, got me enough

43. Assertions of faith: CREDOS

44. Jai __: ALAI

45. Fights back: REBELS - the verb, not the noun

46. Snatches: GRABS - reminds me of this scene from Ocean's Eleven

Linus calls it a "smash & grab", but it's

slightly more complicated than that . . .

47. GPA booster: EASY A

48. Egg-producing organ: OVARY

49. Language of a haka chant: MAORI - same language as the bug above 🠉 - name(ish)

50. Conservationist Bindi: IRWIN - No clue, WAG on the "I" crossing the theme name - turns out to be Steve Irwin's daughter - still, it's #6

53. Hair quality: BODY - sadly, my hair quality is "thin", my body, "thick" - I'd prefer the reverse . . .

54. Upfront stake: ANTE - poker [face], not poking

55. Obstacles to teamwork: EGOs

58. Permit: LET - the verb, not the noun

Splynter

Gri(n)d Flow 21.4