Friday, the 13th, Mar 2026 ~ Tracy Gray

 "EDGE"SSENTIAL WORKERS

Six years ago, to the day - Friday the 13th, March - most were told to stay home for two weeks . . . . 😜

She's a meteorologist, so, um, essential - don't "skirt" the issue 🙄

Tracy Gray had two puzzles last year, one landing 51 weeks ago, also on a Friday, that had the themers 'turn' on the word DIME.  Today's construction is another "visual" theme from her, offering us a series of ten fills that are "jobs", found on the perimeter, or "side" of the grid - very clever.  We have seen this type of theme before, and I liked the puzzle, but it felt like the author had to "RAM IN" some of the fill - I'm looking at you, 18A~!  Perhaps having the solution to begin will be the best way to explain the reveal;  

38. Secondary gig, or a literal description of 10 answers in this puzzle: SIDE JOB - the edge, or "side" fills are careers, or "jobs", but clued synonymously;

Top Across:

1. Undergarment brand: JOCKEY

their logo 'hints' at professional racehorse riders

7. Single-story home: RANCHER - just called a "ranch" where I grew up

Down Right: 

13. Enc. or dict.: REFerence, encyclopedia & dictionary; one of two abbrs - REFEREE

29. Representation built to scale: MODEL - not the meteorologist🠅, this🠇

Scale model of a Mercury Cougar, with the actual name plate from the car I once owned

52. Perry of classic TV: MASON - Stonemasonry - name #1

Ozzy~!

Across Bottom:

65. One who is a real sport: TROOPER - I linked the Iron Maiden" Eddie" trooper two weeks ago

66. "Heaven Can Wait" Oscar nominee Jack: WARDEN -  name #2 - the main character was 'supposed' to die almost a year ago today - 'proclaimed' in the 1978 movie ( also the name of an Iron Maiden song )

Left Up:

57. Confirm the credentials of, say: VET - the straight verb, and the other abbr, VETERINARIAN

33. Test episode: PILOT - "Pilot~?  What's a pilot~?"

Pulp Fiction

1. 2017 AL Rookie of the Year: JUDGE - NY Yankees baseball slugger, Aaron, name #3

B u t       W
M            a
o              i
r               t
e               ,
T h e  r e' s 

ACROSS:

14. Starts a revolt: UPRISES - my incorrect Down fills seriously hindered my progress in the NW 

16. Good-natured: AMIABLE - the Corner discussed AMICABLE not too long ago

17. Fresca, for one: DIET POP - a Coca~Cola product - an interesting history

18. Hightail it: BOLT OFF - a bit meh.  I have frequently "bolted", but not "off"

19. Extra product: GUM - clever misdirection; this product

20. Some surfers: WAHINES - Downs gave me - - HINES, and I recalled this 'Hawaii Five-O' term

22. Collaborate on Microsoft Teams, say: eMEET

25. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" director Nicolas: ROEG - name #4, and I am shocked that I had never heard of this 1976 Sci-Fi movie staring David Bowie - more here

Some other "versions" from IMDb

26. Try to learn quickly: CRAM

30. Big to-do: RUCKUS - in another Sci-Fi movie, Agent J asks why all the "ruckus"

32. 1990s fitness fad: TAE BO

33. High-performance German cars: PORSCHES - I'll have the plug-in hybrid 918 - name(ish)

Yes, it shoots blue flames - only 918 were made; I can have this one for $2.9mil

36. Frank: CANDID

37. Brewpub fave: IPA

40. Beth Ann Fennelly's "__ to Butter": ODE - name(ish) - Quite raunchy - I love it~!

41. "Grumpy Old Men" actor: LEMMON - I remembered these movie outtakes; name #5

Jack Lemmon and Burgess Meredith

43. Spot for horsing around?: CAROUSEL - Great clue/answer~!

45. Film production company named for a constellation: ORION - they put out a lot of winners

46. Actress Suzanne: SOMERS - my first guess, but I thought there were two "M"s; she of "Three's Company", and "Thighmaster" fame - name #6

47. Shades at the beach: TANS

48. Daycation locations: SPAS

49. Earthquake: SEISM - the "def" from Greek seismos

53. Tops of most org charts: C-SUITES - CEO, CFO, COO, etc.

56. __ salt: SEA

57. No longer occupied: VACATED

60. Option not available for most low-tier streaming subscriptions: SKIP ADS - worth every penny to have uninterrupted music on Pandora 

63. Paragon: EPITOME - uh PIT oh mee -  like hyperbole 😜

64. Starting line?: "HERE I GO - again", Whitesnake~!


DOWN:

2. Yves Saint Laurent perfume: OPIUM - name(ish)

3. __ anglaise: CRÈME - I thought HABLA, but no - it's this Frawnche sauce

4. Word with mess or press: KIT - ah... Not HOT 😏

5. Unusual ability: ESP - Friday, so no indication that this is an abbr~?

6. Pained cry: YEOW~! - I had OUCH to start; I've told co-workers in the past that if I exclaimed "Ouch~!", it was no big deal; if I sucked my teeth, however, maybe they need to call me a doctor . . . 

7. Concern after an animal bite: RABIES

8. Interspersed with: AMONG

9. African flower?: NILE - crossword misdirection - flow-er, like mower

10. Former name of a med. imaging tool: CAT SCAN - originally EMI, now CT - here's why

11. "Task" network: HBO - filled via perps

12. Rivendell resident: ELF - I know my Lord of the Rings

15. Ignited: SPARKED

21. Comfy cover-up: HOUSE COAT

23. Hesitant sounds: Ers - I had Ums to start

24. City near Saguaro National Park: TUCSON - filled via perps; geo name #7

27. Overhauls: REDOs - the noun, not the verb REDOES

28. Remain faithful to, with "by": ABIDE - meh.  I filled in STAND

31. Viola holder: CHIN - Dah~! Not CASE

Pearl de la Motte - she just happened to come up on my Google viola image search

32. Fife-and-drum drums: TABORS - Dah~!  I filled SNARES - the Wiki

34. Palais Garnier performance: OPERA - total WAG

Buy tickets here

35. Force to fit: RAM IN - my time at UPS was spent putting 10lbs of boxes in a 5lb van

This was a US Postal delivery . . . "we care" - uh-huh

36. Heart: CORE

39. Impromptu gig, casually: JAM SESH - has actually appeared once before in another crossword

42. Sweet Italian wine: MOSCATO - WAGed the "C" - my 53A. was messed up due to my 48 Down🠇

44. Draw upon: USE

46. Biter of Miles Morales: SPIDER - mostly perps, not a comics fan, didn't "get it"; his Wiki; name #8

48. Sarcastic challenge: "SUE ME." - I filled in "SEE ME", as in "watch this~!" - Bzzzzt

50. "To refresh your memory ... ": "I SAID . . ."

51. Marsh plant used for papyrus: SEDGE - I was tempted to try REEDS

54. Discontinue: STOP

55. Misrepresent, as data: SKEW

58. Diamond birthstone mo.: APRil - I knew this; here's a comprehensive with alternatives chart

59. AFL partner: CIO - frequent crossword appearances 

61. Golden yrs. fund: IRA - Individual Retirement Account; I can finally start funding mine again - let's just say I'm about to be the next "Hubby" - more to to be revealed in the coming weeks~!

62. Parts __ million: PER

Splynter

Grid Flow 40.4

The Trooper

 

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

Friday, Feb 27th, 2026 ~ Sara Muchnick & Doug Peterson

 CROSS [ I ] EYED

Iron Maiden's Cross-Eyed Mary cover - I grew up with these guys,

but if you prefer the Jethro Tull orignal . . .

This is the second LA Times collaboration between Sara & Doug; Moe had the other one two years ago.  Mr. Peterson is a regular, and I found this link to a crossword blog from Sara - I like the phrase she used to 'celebrate' her first published NYT puzzle.  We have a "sort-of" visual theme to the puzzle, as the sans serif font of the LA Times crossword makes a capital "I" look like a vertical line; when rotated, or "rolled", it becomes a hyphen.  Took me a bit to suss, but once "EYE" did, '"EYE" smiled - a fresh, thought[ I ]provoking theme -AND - there are NO other wandering "I"s in the entire frame.  Well done, constructors~!  A standard grid, a handful of names, no circles, a balance of twenty 3LWs, and, having added in the "I"s, the 'straight definition' themers become unique;

17. *Inlay material, often: MOTHER [ I ] OF [ I ] PEARL - mother-of-pearl

28. *Not cooped up: FREE [ I ] RANGE - free-range

49. *Flexible: OPEN [ I ] ENDED - open-ended

61. *Lightheaded ones?: JACK [ I ] O' [ I ] LANTERNS - jack-o'-lanterns

37. Silent display of skepticism, or a phonetic hint for making sense of the answers to the starred clues: EYE ROLL - that is, one takes the "I"s in the themers and "rolls" them 90° ( either clockwise or counterclockwise, it works the same 🙄), and now they make sense~!

But Wate, There's More ~!

ACROSS:

1. After-dinner drink: DECAF - Oh, coffee; "EYE" went straight to alcohol 😜  A rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue, too~!

6. Players who may have to start over many times: NOOBS - short for 'Newbies', one who is unfamiliar with whatever they're involved in; here's my Revit T-shirt ( it's a drafting inside joke )

BIM = Building Information Modeling - essentially 3D CAD

11. Cannabis compound: THC - TetraHydroCannabinol - what gives the "buzz/high" of smokin' the (Cross-eyed) mary jane, weed, ganja, pot, herb, grass, dank, chronic, etc.

14. Tickle: AMUSE -  some of the slang for marijuana does tickle me

15. Home of the first jet bridge: O'HARE - EYE love clues/answers where EYE learn something new

16. Peach or plum: HUE - it was fruitless trying to fit FRUIT 🙄

20. Opposite of very: A TAD - Atwurd

21. "iZombie" setting: SEATTLE - no clue, but perps gave me all but the two "E"s

Never heard of this bizarre [ I ] but intriguing [ I ] concept for a show

22. Lip __: BALM

25. "The Phoenician Scheme" director Anderson: WES - name #1; more from IMDb

27. Surgical tool: LASER

32. Boris Johnson, for one: TORY - no ( British ) politics at the Corner~! Name(ish)

33. Keeps (off): FENDS

34. Treats embossed with flowers, dots, and dashes: OREOs - well, it's not just one OREO today

36. Blue: SAD - another color con clue 

40. Cash back?: COW - "Cash Cow"

Dunk your Oreos in your cash cow "output" 🙄

43. Leavening agent: YEAST

44. Lorna of literature: DOONE - NOT the cookies; name #2

46. Typical choice: GO-TO - e.g., when EYE get Chinese, my "go-to" choice is General Tso's Chicken

52. Totally believed: ATE UP - believe it - EYE "ate up" my egg roll, too 🙄 ( and a Thusday dupe )

54. Rx writer: DOC

55. Price points: TAGS

56. Moseys: STROLLS

59. "Poppycock!": "TOSH~!"

66. Short-horned bighorn: EWE - Another rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue, plus a change-up from the "ewe"sual 🙄

More from the San Diego zoo

67. Key in: ENTER

68. Acrobat's platform: ADOBE - oh so very clever; not a performing acrobat - Adobe Acrobat - the PDF managing software; EYE was stumped for a while

69. "¿Qué __?": Spanish greeting: "TAL~?" - Español, which filled via perps, but still doesn't look right; the literal translation is "¿~What [is] such~?"

70. Run-down: SEEDY - rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg in the clue

71. Rub it in: GLOAT - EYE did not have to reach out to the other Corner bloggers for help with an explanation of the theme; EYE figured it out all by mEYEself~! 😁 🙄

DOWN:

1. Reservoir creator: DAM - a dam good way to start the Down clues 🙄

2. Punk subculture: EMO - three-letter "music" genre~? = EMO

3. Share of the profit: CUT - members of Ocean's Eleven got an even cut of . . .

"My advice to you is this [ I ] run and hide"

4. Fearing disgrace: ASHAMED - slighly meh; feeling seems to work better

5. Stanza units: FEET - LINES and IAMBS were just inches too long . . . 🙄

6. "Ask someone else": "NO IDEA." - what do you call a blind Bambi~?  no "EYE" deer 🙄

7. Exultant cry: "O-HO~!"

8. Bumblers: OAFS

9. "The Marvels" star Larson: BRIE - the EYE in her name was my one error; EYE had BREE, ergo, did not get my "ta-DA~!".  It took a while to find my mistake; once I grasped the theme and changed the vowel - "O-HO~!" name #3

Got started in acting at six years old - her EYEMDb 🙄

10. Floral leaf: SEPAL - had this one two weeks ago

11. "For real?": "THAT SO~?"

12. Starter, e.g.: HURLER - baseball reference; one of the team's pitchers

13. Sticks in the refrigerator: CELERY - Ah.  Not BUTTER

18. Cutesy growl: "RAWR~!" - this is becoming acceptable, I guess

19. Divisions d'une nation: ETATS - Franwche for states ( of the nation )

22. Pair sharing halves of a heart charm, informally: BFFs - Best Friends Forever

23. Environs: AREA

24. Furnish temporarily: LEND - I had LOAN, which is {teeth-suck} close, but 50% wrong

Close, but, definitely wrong

26. Expressed contempt: SNORTED

29. "10-4": "I SEE." - eh, a bit meh, but a rolled eye [ I ] in the clue again

30. Miracle-__: GRO - another rolled-eye [ I ] Easter Egg clue; EYE ordered new house plants through Amazon; they sat on my cold February porch for a few hours - but it looks like they'll be OK . . .

They came with this packet - is it plant food~?  No labels or instructions on the thing

31. Serpentine creature: EEL - ASP would work, too

35. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE

38. NBA legend Ming: YAO - name #4, crossword staple

39. Predict-ability?: ESP - Har-har; ExtraSensory Perception - another rolled-eye [ I ] in the clue

40. Musical conclusion: CODA - and Led Zeppelin's "last" studio album

Bonzo's Montreaux

Jimmy Page's "trick" to get the steel drum sound

41. Earth's pull, for short: ONE G - one (unit) of gravity

42. Settles down, in a way: WEDS - I used to blog WEDs

43. "Just checking in": "YOU OK~?"

45. Discreetly, in slang: ON THE DL - the "Down Low" - not a unique fill

46. Chemistry lab fixture: GAS JET - "HAL" doesn't like this; EYE kept getting GAS KET suggestions

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do jet"

47. National Gallery of Canada locale: OTTAWA - nailed it, but six-letters Canada~?

48. Old Toyota subcompact: TERCEL - had it, took it out; crossing 'go-to' eluded me at first

My buddy Mark in Florida called his the "turbo Tercel"

50. Public figure?: NOTARY - that person at the bank, e.g., that can attest to your signature

51. Symbol: ICON - Dah~! Not RUNE

53. Works at, as a trade: PLIES

57. Solitary: LONE

58. Venue: SITE

60. __ beetle: STAG - EYE am not posting a picture of this insect 😝

62. Took charge: LED - Zeppelin - no, wait . . . we had that already 🙄

63. Joey of fiction: ROO - Winnie the Pooh, and Kanga's "Roo"

64. "Space Jam" org.: NBA - Not a basketball fan, but I did know this

65. Fully taken care of: SET - win the lotto, and you're "SET" for life~!

Splynter

Spent a few minutes looking for my error

Grid Flow a very low 17.4

New Houseplants Packet