Café Au L.A.(IT)
or, the Times Crossword with your Morning Joe~?
Hi there~! Splynter here, commencing my new day blogging. Our first Friday puzzle of 2026 is a crossword from constructor Kevin Curry (alliteration), a regular, and what I gather is one of his three kids, Nate, who is 10(ish) yrs old - he and younger sister Kaela created a puzzle that made the NYT. Today's grid, an oversized 15x16 to accommodate the center spanner, consists of four themers that drop, or "knock off" the I & T at the end of common phrases to create punny new ones. A few too many names for me, a whole SLEW of abbrs, no circles, and a balance of 26 3LWs compared with the 24 five-letter ones. The themers and the reveal;
18. Warning on a note passed in a seminar?: NOT FOR PROF(IT)
more here
25. Crystal ball consulted atop Mount Everest?: HIGH EARTH ORB(IT) - A.K.A. Geosynchronous Orbit
37. The discovery of the Lucy fossils, for one?: SIGNIFICANT DIG(IT)
52. Beauty school treatment?: LEARNER'S PERM(IT) - I got my learning-to-drive permit at 16yrs old
61. "Cut that out!," or an apt title for this puzzle: "KNOCK IT OFF~!"
Two other thoughts:
Unruly CanadianEh!~? - Bad Hab(IT)
Robinson with his musicians~? - Smokey and the Band(IT)
But Wait~!
There's More~! ( all good, -T - Onward~! was my Saturday sign-in )
ACROSS:
1. Charges: BILLS - the contractor "charges" $$ for his time
6. During: AMID
10. House shower?: CSPAN - I wondered if this was "shOU-er", or shOH-er; I finally figured out it was the latter, with the channel that shows Congress, the US "House" of Representatives & Senate
15. More slick: ICIER - 'tis the season~! - I've cleared my driveway three times so far
16. 2024 NBA All-Star Game MVP "__ Time" Lillard: DAME - name #1, and I had "G-ame", since that made more sense at first, but I knew my "AD" at 6D. had to be correct - more about him here
17. In the loop: AWARE
20. Sew loosely: BASTE - I knew this 'cause my mom was a sewing master
21. Not gross: NET - weights and measures, as opposed to icky over sterile
22. Some Duracells: AAs - I'm an "AA" as well, but not a battery
23. Like many fiddle-leaf figs: POTTED - I had p-I-tted, which made sense at first - but figs have seeds, not pits - sigh.
All(IT)eration
24. Land south of Eur.: AFRica
28. Hawaiian for "white": KEA
29. Highest seed: ONE - as of this writing, the Denver Broncos are the #1 seed in the NFL
30. Regret: RUE
31. Marble __: RYE
32. Up and about: ASTIR - if you have to ASTIR, you might need AWHISK - found at 60A.
34. Mother with a Nobel Peace Prize: TERESA - even if we all know who this is, still name #2
42. Agree: ASSENT - all(IT)eration
43. Soccer star Sergio who scored more than 100 goals for Real Madrid: RAMOS - no clue, name #3
45. Audible sighs: "AHs"
48. Long. crosser: LATitiude, the grid of the globe - all(IT)iteration
49. "Rugrats" dad: STU - name #4, learned doing crosswords
51. Tiebreaker periods, for short: OTs - OverTimes
56. Opposite of oui: NON - yes/no - ah, my first Friday Franwche fill - all(IT)eration
Oui~! Oui~! Très Oui~!
57. Release: LET OUT - "who let the dogs out~?" woof, woof
58. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE - name #5, we see her a lot in crosswords
59. Paramount+ partner, briefly: SHO - SHOwtime, streaming services - all(IT)teration
60. Batter beater: WHISK - what a whip~! - all(IT)eration
65. Like déjà vu: EERIE
66. Cry of dismay: "OH NO~!"
67. Leaves for dinner: SALAD - my first thought was the leaf sections when expanding the dining room table, but it's the 'other' leaf - lettuce, romaine, etc.
68. Freezing temps: TEENS
69. Large number: SLEW - Hercules "slew" a whole slew of heads off the - - -
70. Monster with regenerative heads: HYDRA
DOWN:
1. Recycling container: BIN - my blue recycling bin goes out every other week - my garbage, rarely once a month
2. Admission of guilt: "I CONFESS."
3. Well-read individuals: LITERATI - filled via perps
4. Not right?: LEFT - I am a LEFTY, so I nailed this one
5. Sold-out letters: SRO - crossword staple, Standing Room Only
6. Magazine income source: AD PAGE - I had figured it being "AD" something . . . .
7. Swampy habitat: MARSH - I had BAYOU to start; been reading a lot of James Lee Burke books that take place in Louisiana, so this 'hab(IT)at' was on my mind; I did get a David Weber Sci-Fi book, "Off Armageddon Reef", and finished "Hail Mary" from Andy Weir; great book - thank you all for the reading suggestions
8. Texter's qualifier: IMO - In My Opinion
9. Pt. of HDTV: DEFinition; High and TeleVision were too long
10. Novelist Meg: CABOT - name #6, had no clue, learned she is the author of "The Princess Diaries", and the "O" does seem more likely than the "I" that I had from p-I-tted
11. Broad strip: SWATH - as in a swath of destruction laid down by a tornado
12. Tacos al __: PASTOR - never heard of this, so the NE corner was messy; name (ish) - the Wiki
13. Aorta, for one: ARTERY
14. (If) necessary: NEED BE - in hockey playoffs, games 5,6 and 7 may be "if necessary"
19. Picnic spoiler: RAIN - I pondered "ANTS" first
23. Groom feathers: PREEN
24. Pseudonym preceder: A.K.A. - Also Known As
25. Features of orchestras and rhinos: HORNS - clever
26. Upright: ERECT
27. Spiritual glow: AURA - it was either HALO or AURA, and I guessed correctly
33. Four-time French Open winner Swiatek: IGA - name #7, learned doing crosswords
34. Window shades: TINTS - slightly meh; I think windows GET tinted - OR - treatments like drapes, curtains, blinds, shades, etc.
35. Play guitar: STRUM - well, that is part of the mechanics - there's also picking, fretting, tapping, bending, sliding - did I miss anything~?
Eddie would have turned 71 on Jan 26th
36. Org. for orthodontists: ADA - American Dental Assoc.
38. Key: ISLET - That kind of key
39. Dread: FEAR
40. Comment from someone listening to elevator music, perhaps: "I'M ON HOLD."
41. Push beyond acceptable limits: GO TOO FAR - "you've gone far, Ted" was a classic Benny Hill gag
44. ID with two hyphens: SSN
45. Totally wrong: ALL WET - I had heard this phrase before, usually from my mother
46. [Giggle]: HEE-HEE - I had TEE-HEE, so 5/6ths correct - and technically, our Monday dupe~!
all(IT)eration
47. Many a mockumentary: SATIRE - this ROCK-umentary comes to mind
49. Manatee, e.g.: SEACOW - Awww, this puzzle shoulda been blogged by MM~!
50. Taxing trip: TREK - All(IT)eration
53. Gymnast's gripping aid: ROSIN - Dah~! Not CHALK
54. Zaps: NUKES - Ah. I use this term all the time when referring to the microwave
55. Susceptible (to): PRONE - as in "prone to lying down while sleeping" 😜
59. "Don't go!": "STAY~!"
61. MMA stat: KOs - Mixed Martial Arts, a sport I do not watch, and Knock Outs
62. Kraken's realm, briefly: NHL - the 'briefly' should have clued me in to the abbr, but I went with "SEA" - yet this is also correct , as the Kraken of the National Hockey League hail from SEAttle
63. "Or so": "ISH." - I'll be over about nine"ish"
64. HHS agency: FDA - Health & Human Sevices, and the Food & Drug Administration; here's the hierarchy on the website
Splynter
Grid Flow 29.9
