Well, now, this one was right up my allez~! I loves to poke fun at the French additions to English crosswords more than any other language crossover. Today we have a collaboration between two constructors who have contributed to the LA Times in the past - Jess's last puzzle was a Saturday in September 2025, and the one from Andrew was in 2023 with co-author Marin Wells. A clever interpretation theme of French words in English context, but I thought one did land a bit flat. Yet another oversized 15x16 grid, 22 3LWs, just a couple of names, no Twurds, but two Naticks - ah, Friday. The themers and the reveal, once again in the center;
18. "You can't be serious!": EAUBROTHER - "O" brother~!, how 'eau' sounds in Frawnche, the word for water, as in, e.g., eau de parfum - and an argument that "odor" is not a synonym for "fragrance"
26. Chant from a giant: FILLE-FI-FO-FUM - the "correct" pronunciation of Fille, "Fee" = girl
Ma chérie, mon amour~!
55. First words of the Constitution: OUITHEPEOPLE - "Wee" - back in college, when any of my friends "ass.u.me'd" I was joining them ( meaning 'we' ) in some escapade, the go-to catch-phrase was "when did you start speaking Frawnche~?"
65. "RuPaul's Drag Race" catchphrase: SACHETAWAY - "say-shay", which is 'bag' in Frawnche; FWiW, I listened to the pronunciation, per Google's translator, and it does not sound like the "leitmotif" RuPaul speaks, which is based on another Frawnche word, chasse . . . here's a YouTube collection video, with a poorly spelled title 😒
38. "Please excuse the bad language," and what can be said about 18-, 26-, 55-, and 65-Across: PARDONMYFRENCH
pardon MY Frawnche~!
Mais Attendez, Il y a Plus~!
ACROSS:
1. Antlered animal: STAG - I do the Downs first, which messed up this corner
5. Chews like a beaver: GNAWS - I found this story to be fascinating, and promising, too
Geronimo, literally
10. Verbal digs: BARBS
15. Super Monkey Ball company: SEGA - filled via perps - the Wiki
16. Dulce de __: LECHE
Sounds good; I have added my chocolate recipe * at the bottom
17. Native Alaskan: ALEUT - learned by doing crosswords
20. Undersea data carrier: CABLE
21. Flight segment: RISER - AND - 30. Flight segment: STEP - Clecho; flight as in stairs, not SSTs
22. Chance: RISK
24. Bulldogs sch.: UGA - The "G" was Natick #1, University of Georgia
Lucky Dawg . . .
25. Up to, informally: 'TIL
32. Be sick: AIL
33. Wok dish: STIR FRY
34. Untainted: PURE
35. Barrel wood: OAK
37. Cal. neighbor: ARIzona, so ARIZ is not the answer to 62D.
44. Pilates surface: MAT
45. 56-Down pioneer: AOL - early provider of "electronic", not "snail" mail
46. Glitz and __: GLAM - I grew up in the 1980s, so I was into all the "GLAM" bands of the era; Mötley Crüe, Poison, Cinderella, 27D., and these guys🠟 - can you name the band~?
Here's a hint - their "anti-Satanic" hit from the 80s
48. Lends a hand: ASSISTS - not ass.u.me-s🙄
52. Indent key: TAB
54. __ ayam: Indonesian chicken noodle soup: SOTO - Natick #2, the "T" was a WAG . . . [sigh] Friday
58. Novel: NEW
59. Patient care pros: RNs - Registered Nurses
60. Quick study?: CRAM
61. Glowing coal: EMBER
63. Pageant topper: TIARA
69. Religion with a call to prayer five times a day: ISLAM
70. Let one's actions speak for themselves: MIMED - har-har
Here's unreleased behind-the-scenes footage of the "mime caterers" from Spinal Tap
71. Imperial gem of ancient China: JADE
72. Flings: CASTS
73. Kills it on the runway: SLAYS - ask RuPaul
74. Mars counterpart: ARES - Gods of War, Roman & Greek respectively
DOWN:
1. GPS heading: SSE - Dah~! Not RTE, but 1/3 correct
2. Go wild on the dance floor: TEAR IT UP - I pondered CUT A RUG, too short
3. Christina of "Burlesque": AGUILERA - not that I've seen this, but I put Christina and dance together, and . . . name #1
Cher, too~!
4. Talks and talks: GABS - Dah~! Not YAKS, 1/2 correct
5. "I Will Survive" singer Gaynor: GLORIA - I knew this one, name #2
. . . Frank~!
6. Catch: NET - Dah~! Not NAB, 1/3 correct
7. German cry: ACH - Hey, I got the Deutsch word 100% correct, go figure . . .
8. "__ were we?": WHERE - alliteration, like the world wide web
9. Ornamental lines: SERIFS - Ha. I tried "SHRUBS" - hey, it is 1/2 correct . . .
10. Go the wrong way?: BACKFIRE - I have been rewatching YouTube and Amazon clips of Top Gear and The Grand Tour
11. Gulf st.: ALA - Alabama abbr; I tried FLA, was 2/3 correct
12. Brush off: REBUFF
13. Tabbouleh grain: BULGUR - Ugh. The other half of Natick #1 - the "G" was a total WAG
14. Like some "Heated Rivalry" scenes: STEAMY - I didn't know of this Canadian TV series about bromance and hockey, more here - I had ST _ _ _ Y on my second pass
19. "What game are you watching!?" target: REF - Ah. Shouting at the TV during a bad hockey, NFL, soccer, etc., official's call
23. Raga instrument: SITAR
25. Baking soda amt.: tsp - Funny story - I was shopping for spice at my Big Y supermarket when an older guy in the aisle asked me what I was looking for; I said "bagel everything" seasoning; he said "Huh, I'm looking for "bagel salt" . . . so I offered him several choices I had found, and he walked off in disgust; then he came back and showed me what he really needed - baking soda . . . Ah. Guess I need to clean my ears 😜
27. Pride member: LION
Glam metal artist White Lion, When the Children Cry
great guitar solo @ 2:36
28. Quechua pack animal: LLAMA
29. Rubber gaskets: O-RINGS - the part that failed tragically on the Space Shuttle Challenger
31. Allow: PERMIT
36. Capital in Honshu's Kansai region: KYOTO - My first thought, hesitated; Geo name #3
39. Producers of road movies?: DASHCAMS - I have one, need to install it before I drive down to Long Island next week to house-, dog-, cat- and fish-sit for my brother and his wife on their one-year anniversary vacation. I'm hangin' with Cooper~!
40. Abalone eater: OTTER - I tried SEALS
41. To-do: FLAP - A bit if Brit slang, refers to a state of panic, agitated fuss, or noisy tumult
42. Backdrop of an animated series in a Lucasfilm franchise: CLONE WAR - the IMDb
43. Harsh negativity, in slang: HATERADE - A mockery of "Gatorade", and Natick #2, part 2
. . . only when I'm driving
47. Take the field?: MOW - I had to replace the flat 10x8 Four-ply tire on my tractor, which I could not get fixed at six locations - had to go back to the place that sold me the machine, and it cost $210 - I can get two tires with change replaced on my car for that money . . .
I cringe to think what a BACK tire goes for . . .
48. Like some heart valves: AORTIC - nailed it
49. Gymnast Lee who won the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY Award in 2025: SUNISA - Ah. I knew it was Suni, I did NOT know it was SuniSA - her Wiki; - name #4
50. Natural rug fibers: SISALS - nailed it, number two - Monday dupe
51. Little jerks: SPASMS - nailed this, number three - it's not the pain-in-the-a$$ type of jerk . . . 🙄
53. Runs, in a way: BLEEDS - Missed this one on the first pass
56. Username, often: EMAIL
57. CPR expert: EMT
62. Cal. neighbor, informally: BAJA - I was thinking ARIZ~? OREG~?
64. "I smell a __!": "RAT~!"
66. Nashville honor, for short: CMA - Counrty Music Award
67. "Psst!": "HEY~!"
68. "You rang?": "YES~?"
Splynter
* Made my own chocolate this weekend - 1/2cup cocoa powder, 1/2cup coconut oil, which is all saturated fat - and all the calories, 2tsps organic honey, 1/2tsp vanilla extract and salt - so, so good, but I'm going to try and swap out half the oil with unsweetened applesauce to reduce the calories
I also use a similar silicone tray in my air-fryer to make breakfast "stacks"
I had the "up" words Z-D-L puzzle in January and RB handled his last crossword back at the start of May. Today our consistent constructor gives us a "redefinition" of what one's career might entail, but with a humorous twist (~?) - I have mixed feelings about this one; I found it Friday challenging, and therefore enjoyable, but as it's been said at The Corner in the past, the juice maybe not be worth the squeeze; YMMV. Another over-sized 15 x 16 grid, chunky 9-letter corners, several, and some obscure, names, twenty-two 3LWs, and ALOT of Twurds. The themers, followed by the centrally located reveal;
18. Photographer?: CHEESEMONGER - a one-word professional who selects, cares for, cuts and sells cheese; I linked a "How It's Made" episode on cheese making back in March
26. Police officer?: TICKET AGENT - I've never gotten a speeding ticket; I have, however, had two DUI arrests, one arrest & ticket for lapse of insurance, and two for operating a commercial vehicle in the HOV lane & illegally crossing the HOV buffer "line". Sheesh. This is what drinking cost me; once I stopped, so did the tickets - go figure . . .
I was never THAT drunk . . .
52. Carpenter?: FLOOR TRADER - in my carpentry work days of yore, I have done several ceramic tile floors, and a couple of Pergo ones - one could argue I "traded" the old linoleum for something better
Floor Cheese
63. Realtor?: STREET VENDOR - It's true, in a sense - David Cook, my Realtor here in CT, sold me a house while we were on the "street" I now call home . . .
The cheese on the street . . .
38. "That's someone else's problem," or an apt title for this puzzle - NOT MY JOB - As a retail manager in the home improvement industry, I heard the reveal far too many times. For those who read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the clue is a different "thing" altogether . . .
But Wait - There's More Cheese~?
ACROSS:
1. Like some temples: MASONIC - Dah~! I wanted to fill this in, hesitated
8. Epiphany trio: MAGI - I do the Downs first, already had the "G" in place
12. Maker of Sticking Point press-on nails: OPI - Nailed it, but this is a crossword staple
15. Tennis period since 1968: OPEN ERA - my one mistake; I had openerS at first
16. Make smooth: IRON - good one
17. NFL Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN - name #1, which I did actually know
20. Pester: IRK
21. Bandleader's command: HIT IT - It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses . . .
"Hit it."
22. Hosp. areas: ERs - Not ORs
23. Dry Italian whites: SOAVES - filled via perps
Swah-vay
25. Object of adoration: IDOL - this one's protected by the Hovitos . . . if only you could speak Hovitos
31. Roasted entree that may be served with mint jelly: LEG OF LAMB - I knew this; once I had some crossings, the V-8 can flew
Leg of LamP
32. Kotero of "Purple Rain": APOLLONIA - I vaguely remember the movie, released in 1984 - before my HS days, and did not see - not a Prince fan back then - name #12, and a unique fill. The IMDb
nylons don't do well with those shoes
33. Letting off the hook: PARDONING - $2 word
34. SHO subsidiary: TMC - no clue, knew we needed a TV abbr - SHOwtime, The Movie Channel
35. __ contact: EYE - I am getting much better at this as I "mature"
39. Level: TIER
40. Fragrance: ODOR - IMHO, I don't think of a fragrance as an "odor"
41. Email covertly: BCC - Blind Carbon Copy
44. Collar named for an elite school: ETON - learned by doing crosswords
47. Erode: EAT INTO - Twurd #7
50. Active volcano in Eur.: Mt. ETNA - Iv'e had this "abbr full fill" once before
51. Warren who played Dick Tracy: BEATTY - knew it, still name #13
Our constructor David has been a regular for the LA Times since 2021, and mostly Saturday themeless puzzles at that. Today he turns leadinto "crossword gold", as he has a change-in-the-clues theme, rather than the fill - and as suggested at 34A., we are looking to take the "l, e, a & d" out from the four starred themer clues ( not the Periodic Table symbol for lead, Pb, Latin 'plumbum', which showed up nowhere, as I first thought ). Quite deceptive if you don't know to look "outside the 15x15 grid", so to speak. I like it when I finish a puzzle and go "Hmm, what am I missing~?" Just a handful of names, none too obscure ( OK, one was pretty vague - I'm lookin' at you, 14A.~! ), a balance of 17 3LWs to 20 four-letter ones, a few abbrs, no Twurds, but a couple of "fishy" entries . . . The reveal, and the "*" theme clues;
34. "Move it!," or how to make this puzzle's starred clues match their answers:
GET THE LEAD OUT
Every classic rock station I grew up with usually did a 3 to 5-song run, typically Friday at Rush Hour, of Led Zeppelin's music in a segment that they all affectionately titled "Get the LED out"
18. *Mis[lead]s in an alley: GUTTER BALL - Miss in an alley, a bowling reference; our dear-departed Boomer preferred calling the venue the "lanes", not the alley . . . "misleads in an alley" conjures up some questionable ethics . . .
23. *Word[le ad] collection: DICTIONARY - Word collection = dictionary; I got done in by the Wordle with a "_vowel _ E R" solution the first week of May - too many choices 😡 By my count, there are 150 ways to fill this in, plus two "Y" versions as well
40. Walking aids: CANES - I have one, but walking my neighborhood is too dangerous - no sidewalks, narrow streets, angry dogs . . . I have started going in to the gym to climb the Stairmaster for 30mins on my off-days from training classes
41. Icy response?: Brrr~!
43. Reaction creators: STIMULI
47. The __ Brothers: blue-eyed soul band: DOOBIE - "red -eyed", maybe, I don't know if I'd call them 'blue-eyed', but they come up on the classic rock stations as well - name(ish), and their best song, IMHO
Also released in 1979, it hit #1 in April, and they won the "Song of the Year" Grammy
49. Tsukiji market buy, perhaps: TUNA - Good WAG on my part; fishy #1
53. __-Latin: medieval language: ANGLO
55. Only: LONE
56. Night of revelry, initially: NYE - New Year's Eve
60. Sashimi's lack: RICE - half perps, but a learning moment for me - and I like rice, plus I'll stick to cooked food, thank you - fishy #2
More about sashimi - or just see Rusty Brain's post yesterday
61. Work of fiction: LIE - that it is~!
62. Carry too far: OVERDO
63. "__ come to me ... ": "IT'LL" - unlike raw fish, it's on the 'tip of my tongue' 🙄
64. Northern limits?: ENs the limits of the word, NortherN
65. Speed up: HASTEN
66. Some drones: BEES - the animal kingdom ones, not the package delivery ones . . . then I wondered if they are in the "animal" kingdom - so I looked
Yup~!
DOWN:
1. Fame: STARDOM - shoulda known this
2. Manitoba's capital: WINNIPEG - I tried the city in Alberta; both are hockey towns, so that's how I knew them at all - Montreal moves on~! Buffalo lost, at home, in OT, to end game 7. Sigh.
3. Director's cut?: "AND . . . SCENE~!" - OK, maybe a twurd, but I worked on two movie sets, and this is a "phrase" used tongue-in-cheek to direct your attention to the fact that the performance is over
4. Cough up: PAY
Can you name these two characters~?
5. Rave review: SO GOOD
6. Old-fashioned farm apparatus: CHURN - "I can't believe it's not butter . . . yet"
7. CVS Health subsidiary: AETNA - half perps
8. Big bang letters: TNT - dynamite big bang
9. Charlemagne's domain, briefly: HRE - [the] Holy Roman Empire
10. Governess who breaks the fourth wall: EYRE - I started filling in this name, #4, but waited; "breaking the fourth wall" is when a character "speaks" to the reader/watcher - e.g., "Deadpool" et al.
Top 10 Fourth Wall breakers; YMMV
11. Star-crossed: TRAGIC
12. Financial nabe in NYC: WALLST. - 'nabe' being an abbr for neighborhood
13. Little hooters: OWLETS
19. Auburn rival, to fans: 'BAMA - Hah~! I threw in [ Crimson ] "TIDE"; two Georgia universities in a sports feud that turned into a deplorable act of pure malevolence against trees . . . over football. Sheesh.
The Iron Bowl and the poisoned oaks
21. Draw: TIE
24. Hardware with flanges: T-NUT - we've seen these before
25. Goes up: RISES - like the F*&king price of gas
Exactly
26. Community pool org.: YMCA - ah - we have a YMCA in my neighborhood, and it does feature a pool; apparently, there used to be a pool in my gym back when it opened
30. Entertainment medium, for short: POD - Cast. Meh.
32. Fabric named for a Frawnche city: DENIM - sergé de Nîmes; I tried TULLE; it's Frawnche as well
33. Tahiti, par exemple: ILE - plus Frawnche, for island
35. Ft. Worth school: TCU - I had the "U" part correct 😜 - Texas Christian; speaking of Jesus . . .
36. Heavenly sign: HALO
Om, I'm tellin'~!
37. Wind instrument featured in R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming": OBOE - I know of R.E.M., but not this song - the oboe comes in at 3:00
38. City slicker: URBANITE
39. Early wheels: TRICYCLE - nailed it
42. Does a cobbler's job: REHEELS - I went with RESOLES
Another person doing a cobbler job
43. Bridle suite?: STABLE - Didn't fool me here, either
44. Listen: TUNEIN - perhaps you'll "tune in" to the various music genres posted today
My last blog of a Jeffrey Wechsler puzzle goes WAY back to 2012, when I was on Saturday duty; I discovered that JW's first crossword dates all the way back to 1969 - published in the NYT one day after the Apollo 11 astronauts left Earth. As for today's construction, Mr. Wechsler goes beyond his normal add-a-letter theme style to a full-word-added one. I really had to use my noggin to get my "ta-DA~!" Lots of vague clues, but this is how a Friday should be. Alas, I got bogged down with some proper names again ( e.g., the last letter "D" in red below ), even if I knew half of them. I've noticed, too, that there are ALOT of two-word entries in JW Fridays, today being no exception, but at least they feel less "forced", so I will refrain from my usual Twurds count. I will, however, point out the Shakespeare count ( 4 ), the abbrs count ( 9 ), the names count ( 7 ), the two-words ( also 7 ), plus two Bible, two Montreal, two New York, two octopus & two Thwurds references. Phew - I think I got them all . . . An oversized 15 x 16 grid, no circles, and 14 3LWs; the themers and reveal;
21. Apparel worn between December 22 and January 19?: CAPRICORNPANTS - Capri Pants; these are the dates of the Zodiac Sign for the "horned goat", Latin "caper cornu"; etymology fascinates me
30. Unappreciative of St. Louis's hockey team?: SCORNINGTHEBLUES - Sing the Blues; the St Louis Blues did not make the Stanley Cup playoffs - but Montreal is up on Buffalo😕, right Canadian Eh!
Stray Cat Strut, lyric @ 1:42
46. Starts a top-to-bottom demolition of an old facade?: BREAKSTHECORNICE - Breaks the Ice
56. Shakespearean "Listen up!," or an apt title for this puzzle?: "LENDMEYOUREARS~!" The Bard #2 - #1 is in the link up top
I also pondered POPCORN MUSIC / CORNER NURSE
But Wait, There's More, my CORN-erites~!
ACROSS:
1. Urban haze: SMOG - I do the Down clues first, and had nothing up here to get started . . . sheesh
5. Urban network: ROADS - I tried TRAMS
10. Parts of some locks: HASPS - hair~? canal~? Just plain old 'gate' locks
16. Go up to: ENDAT - Semi-meh, as in "this progam will _ _ 11pm" - Two-word #1
17. Yamaha woodwinds: OBOES - yes, they DO make them . . .
18. SNAP benefits org.: USDA - Learning moment for me; abbr, #1, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Progam from the USDept of Agriculture; more here
19. San Antonio site: ALAMO
20. Take part financially: BUYIN - Two-word #2
24. Wine cocktail also called blanc-cassis: KIR - Forgot the name of this drink
41. Writer Harte or wrestler Hart: BRET - name #2 - I had a falling out with my trainer BretT with two-T's; he's a millennial, so he has a short attention span and can be arrogant at times . . . we're good again
42. Lets go: FREES - Bible reference #1; Moses, Exodus 5:1 "let My people go free, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness"
43. SoCal emer. force: LAFD - I had the "P"olice B4 the "F"ire Dept, as NYC is FDNY - NY #1, abbr #4
45. French street: RUE - Friends of mine did a spur-of-the moment Road Trip to Montreal (#2) way back in 1990; they thought they were clever because the remembered their car was parked on "RUE" street . . .
52. Drink suffix: ADE
53. Biblical suffix: ETH - "And thus thine sayETH" - Bible reference #2 - I have been rewatching the fascinating series "The Psychology of the Biblical Stories" presented by Jordan Peterson, who steers clear of the religious aspect; now I'm working through his Exodus ones - which is how I came to know 42A.
55. Largest U.S. union: NEA - The trucking teamsters is listed at #4; I was once a part of their union as an employee of both Roadway Express ( now YRC ) and UPS; abbr #6
61. Longtime college football coach Nick: SABAN - no clue, name #3
63. Vintage violin: AMATI - crossword staple
64. Smack: SWAT
65. Scoundrel: KNAVE
66. Almanac info: TIDES
67. Cover, in a way: PAVE - Phew~! It took waaaay too long to get this fill - JW Friday clue
68. Alpine song: YODEL
69. Put away: STASH
70. Big Apple resident, for short: NYer - I was not in the City - but I once dwelled on Long Island, NY mention #2, and abbr #7
DOWN:
1. "I'm sorta disappointed": "SHUCKS~!" - Not only a "CORN" theme reference , but a 51D. "Easter" Egg as well~!
2. Pompeii art form: MOSAIC - Incredible amount of detail; I'd love to make one
Octopus #2
3. Experienced sort: OLDPRO - Two-word(ish)~?
4. Locker contents: GEAR - think sports
5. Try to access, as the back of a closet: REACHIN - Meh; two-word #3
6. Borrowed: ONLOAN - Two-word #4
7. Hebrew month after Shevat: ADAR - We had ELUL in the Sides Add LE puzzle last month
8. Curse: DAMN
9. "Enough!": "STOPTHAT~!" - Two word #5
10. Rub shoulders (with): HOBNOB - More Shakespeare, #3, in the definition here
11. Be next to: ABUT
12. Kikkoman condiment: SOYSAUCE - two-word(ish), but it is a "thing"
13. Louvre Pyramid architect: PEI - crossword staple, name #4
14. Protected fig.: SSN - Social Security Number, abbr #8
28. Ration (out): METE - a toss-up between this and DOLE, and they both worked at 58D. as well 🠟
29. General __ chicken: TSO's - My go-to Chinese choice, and I made my own this past weekend, added Spam to my fried rice per the recipe from last Friday - name(ish)
31. Friend of TV's Mary Richards: RHODA - MAUDE~? MOORE~? Before my time, name #5
32. Brooks of country music: GARTH - I did this one a few times at karaoke - name #6, but obviously I knew who we're looking for
33. "Lord, what fools __ mortals be!": "THESE~!" - Shakespeare #4, here, line 115
34. Cinema icon born in Rome: LOREN - Dah~! - Went with Peter LORRE off my LOR_ _; name #7
Sophia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone
38. Site of Napoleon's exile: ELBA - ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA - well-known palindrome
