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Fabulous collection / SAT 8-15-26 / Dressing group / Leftmost star of the Summer Triangle / One from "Japan's kitchen" / Challenged on X, say / Cut out the middleman, for delivery / Patient privacy law, in brief / Gamgee player in "Lord of the Rings" / French Baroque artist Nicolas / Classic 1926 novel often published with a bull and a matador on its cover / French Baroque artist Nicolas / Charybdis's man-eating opposite, in myth
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Constructor: Blake Slonecker
Relative difficulty: Medium (Easyish except for the NW corner)
Word of the Day: DROP-SHIP (1D: Cut out the middleman, for delivery) —
Drop shipping is a form of retail business in which the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer.The seller is responsible for marketing and selling the product, but has limited control over product quality, storage, inventory management, or shipping. It avoids the costs of maintaining warehouses or even a storefront, purchasing and storing inventory, and employing necessary staff for such functions.
Drop shipping has become a popular business model as it requires minimal initial investment and overhead costs. A drop shipping operation can be managed from any location with an internet connection. However, drop shipping also has its drawbacks, including lower profit margins, less control over the quality of the products sold and an increased risk of shipping delays or supply chain issues.
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| [54A: Classical figure in an 1898 Gustav Klimt oil] |
There were other things happening in this puzzle besides the NW corner, but I kinda forget them. Oh, right, those long answers through the middle were pretty interesting. TEXAS TWO-STEP, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU," good stuff. Since I got the NE corner early (following the NW corner debacle), those long Downs fell very easily, one two three. Might've gotten THE SUN ALSO RISES with no help at all, but as it was I had THE SU- in place (7D: Classic 1926 novel often published with a bull and matador on its cover). VINAIGRETTES is a lot easier to see when you've already got the VIN- part locked down (8D: Dressing group). The whole puzzle, outside the NW, was smooth and familiar. Not exciting, but very much up my alley. I've taught Hemingway, and Mickey SPILLANE, and Homer (finally going to see The Odyssey today—I'm assuming SCYLLA will be in it somewhere) (14D: Charybdis's man-eating opposite, in myth). I just saw Christina RICCI in 200 Cigarettes, a 1999 movie about New Year's Eve of 1981 starring so many still-famous people it will make your head spin. Paul Rudd and Courtney Love!? Together!? I was like "why didn't this happen more often?" They're fun together. Also appearing: Martha Plimpton, Dave Chappelle, Ben and Casey Affleck, Janeane Garofalo, Gaby Hoffmann, Kate Hudson, and Elvis Costello, who drops in for a cameo out of nowhere, as if he just materialized out of his music (there's a lot of it). The movie got bad reviews but I really enjoyed it. RICCI and Hoffmann play friends with amazing, exaggerated, borderline comical Long Island accents. I'm telling you, it's a good time. A hangout movie. A nostalgia movie. I saw it on Criterion Channel. Maybe it's still there?
Bullets:
- 41D: French soccer superstar Kylian (MBAPPÉ) — perfect timing for this debut, as MBAPPÉ just won the Golden Boot (most goals scored) at the 2026 World Cup. That's back-to-back Golden Boots (he also won in Qatar in 2022, when France won it all) [correction: France won in 2018; Argentina won in 2022]. There is arguably a lot of proper noun trivia in this grid, including two World Cup answers (this and ENG) (29A: World Cup team nicknamed "The Three Lions": Abbr.), but none of it seemed "obscure." Maybe POUSSIN qualifies??? (26D: French Baroque artist Nicolas). But MBAPPÉ does not qualify. He's one of the most famous football players in the world and arguably one of the greatest of all time. If you call MBAPPÉ "obscure," that's a red card, goodbye.
- 45A: Oil wells? (PORES) — jeez, how oily are your PORES?
[Your PORES]
- 22A: 7/ (JUL) — that’s the month of July, frequently written “7” slash whatever day it is (e.g. 7/4 = Independence Day)
- 34A: Intermezzo and trou normand dishes, essentially (PALATE CLEANSERS) — nice answer. I don't know what "trou normand" means. I know that "trou" means "hole." Let's see what the [squints] Normandy Tourism website has to say:
Originating from the verdant countryside of Normandy, le Trou Normand (literally, “a Norman hole”) is a delightful custom that embodies the rich cultural heritage and gastronomic pleasures that France is renowned for! This french culinary tradition involves serving a small glass of Calvados, local apple brandy, or Calvados-soaked apple sorbet between courses. More than a refreshing and invigorating pause in the meal, the “trou normand” is an art of living.
Well, I do like Calvados. I had a Diamondback cocktail just last night.
- 39D: Prince of Monaco beginning in 2005 (ALBERT) — I should not be required to know princes in the 21st century, ffs. OK, William and Harry, but that's it. Monaco? Be serious. So many good ALBERTs out there and this is what you give me? Bah.
That's all for today. See you next time.
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19 comments:
Easy. Enjoyable Friday-level themeless. All the long answers went in with just a few crosses.
* * * _ _
Overwrites:
Misspelled the 9D Gamgee player as ASToN, not ASTIN.
Misremembered the 27A privacy law as HIPpA instead of HIPAA. I knew there was a double letter in there, just didn't know which one.
WOEs:
Like OFL, I've heard of Aesop, of course, but not the word AESOPICA (2D).
26D artist Nicolas POUSSIN.
No idea what 7/JUL is ... got a DNF by providing the more English sounding 'ORAGEL'. Pretty much the definition of a Natick.
Low word count - uber balanced grid that is handsome to look at - I liked this one. The center intersecting spanners are top notch - also quite easy as Rex mentioned so that helped fill a lot of real estate. The 12s adjacent to the spanners are wonderful too - TREE CANOPIES, TEXAS TWO STEP etc.
Small Town Saturday Night
The big guy covers AESOPICA - needed all the crosses for that one. Haven’t thought about Mickey SPILLANE since he did those Miller Lite commercials. REPARTEE, ENTREATY, MANATEE - there’s some good stuff here. Not a lot of screen time - but yes you will see SCYLLA.
Dale Watson
Enjoyable Saturday morning solve. David William's Stumper today is a different beast altogether - highly segmented with some tough cluing.
I noticed some deniers late yesterday - but growing up in a small upstate town it was always COUNTRY HAM during the holidays.
7 is obviously July. Not a Natick.
Same one letter DNF for me. The J looks really ugly there: I've heard the name, but never seen it in print. Product names, ugh!
7/ for the month of JULy is pretty obvious in retrospect.
I’m sure I won’t be the first or last to point this out, but Argentina won the 2022 World Cup. France won in 2018.
Not so obvious. I thought it meant something math related.
Thanks, Rex, for a good laugh after the puzzle. 15:19 for me this morning, so that's easy on Saturday. Each corner had it's gimmes. I'm very familiar with the term DROPSHIP, so once I had a couple crosses, that D helped me see DAWNED. I agree that AESOPICA was an utter WOE, but was able to fill it in. ASTIN and SCYLLA in the NE, MBAPPE in the SW, SPILLANE and RECLINES in the SE.... footholds everywhere. 66 words, 12 threes, a pretty clean grid, I thought. Loved the long answers... I especially enjoyed "PALATECLEANSERS." I know I'm at a restaurant that is above my normal (both taste and $$$) when there's a palate cleanser course! That sorbet soaked in brandy sounds nice. Blake, this puzzle was a perfect Saturday and a lot of fun!!! Thanks. : )
Rex is right-on today. Most of the puzzle was medium but extremely doable for me. I put THESUNALSORISES in with no crosses, and loved the other long answers. A nice Saturday. But the NW was awful, had to cheat on DAWNED, OSAKAN, and of course AESOPICA. Had no idea how to even parse this word until I read the blog, and no idea it had anything to do with AESOP.
Hey All !
Puz defeated me. Had to come here to look up answers. The AESOPICA/HIPAA cross in NW, had HeLLo for HOLLA in NE, that crossing two unknowns to me SCYLLA and POUSSIN (with OEAL nowhere on my radar.)
SW had RentER for ROOMER, MBePPE, didn't know ALBERT (although now that's a head slap). SE and middle I got correct!
A return to a tough SatPuz. Good fill, neat grid design. Center section has two 12's, one 15 crossing in both Acrosses and Downs, plus nice open corners. Only 24 Blockers.
Uniclue:
Rite of retuning home from work?
RITUAL RECLINES
Hope y'all have a great Saturday!
No F's -NOT! CAPISCE?
RooMonster
DarrinV
Very gettable puzzle, but time-consuming for me. I also had HIPPA for a long time, and OPENED before DAWNED, which really slowed me down. Not a soccer fan, so MBAPPE was my finisher.
First entry was THE SUN ALSO RISES, I can so visualuze that cover! Guess that proves I'm old. @Rex covered AESOPICA. Last entry was the S in OSAKAN (because it had to be, despite wtf is AESOPICA?) and surprise! Solved. Liked ENTREATY and some of the other long ones.
Although it looked challenging it turned out pretty easy, 12 min.
On to the farmers' market. Happy Saturday.
I was looking for some equivalent of 7/11 or 7/24.
For the third-place match of the FIFA World Cup this year, we were in rural Virginia and stopped in at a bar to watch. Amazing game, by the way. When it was over, we were leaving just as their TEXAS TWO-STEP evening was getting underway. It was fascinating to watch, in way. All these people were floating around in perfect unison; everybody knew where to be and what to do at every instant. For someone who still has not figured out the Electric Slide, despite it being played at every wedding during that time when all my friends were pairing, it was most impressive.
A very easy Friday followed by a super-easy Saturday. I actually had a little trouble getting started, but once I hit the gimme downs of TREE CANOPIES and THE SUN ALSO RISES, it became Tuesday-like.
It was with a bit of both delight and horror that came over me when I realized that the aliens that I referenced yesterday from “the site formerly known as Twitter” have invaded CrossWorld and have ATTED solvers in the New York Times puzzle. Wow.
I enjoyed the lack of trivia in the grid today - not a SCYLLA or an ASTIN to be found - no product placements like ORAJEL or a made up words like AESOPICA anywhere.
It’s amazing that the constructor was able to pull off a grid of this sophistication without having to resort to the likes of things like POUSSIN, ATHENA, or some prince from say, Monaco. And as the cherry on top of it all, when the constructor did have to include a foreign figure from the world of sports, he was able to ensure that he chose a name like MBAPPE which is easily gettable via the crosses if you have never heard of him.
I did have fun with the long downs and the grid spanners in the center were nice as well. But boy, that AESOPICA and ATTED were not good omens.
My favorite word in the grid was MBAPPE, so fun to say, plus because he is so well loved, it comes with heart-warming vibes.
My favorite moment was filling in the NW at the end when I felt I had no chance at it in the beginning.
I liked THE SUN ALSO RISES actually setting, falling down the center of the grid. I loved the grid design, which enabled an abundant 18 longs (answers of eight letters or more).
Most impressive was the triple stack running across the middle – I CAN’T HEAR YOU, PALATE CLEANSERS, and TEXAS TWO-STEP – bright and colorful phrases giving the grid pop, as all are NYY answer debuts.
I had serious rub and serious flow, both of which happified my brain, and I left your skillfully-made creation, Blake, exceedingly satisfied. This was a Proper Saturday. Thank you!
I thought the puzzle was really tough and well-done. The NE was too tough for me—had to cheat on AESOPICA because I could not get POT or HIPAA and ran through coiNED and opeNED before getting DAWNED. Filled in THESUN…right after I entered CAPISCE as one of my first entries…not too bad for only one cross. Cool to remember Mickey SPILLANE, even though my first effort was SPILaine. Brought back the faint smell of old paperbacks.
Tough for me, for two reasons: early commitment to rbiS as the diamond stats, and blanking on the title of the Hemingway novel. All I could think of was Death in the Afternoon, which might have such a cover but it not a novel. I got answers here and there, but was not sure of any of them until I finally figured out PALATE CLEANSERS, which opened things up more.
I love Lord of the Rings, but have never seen any of the movies, let alone known who the actors were, so ASTIN needed crosses -- and TV ACTORS for "show faces" was quite a stretch -- I was looking for something about masks or makeup.
TREE CANOPIES was easy to get, but does anyone ever say that? It's just "the canopy," usually.
It was nice to see POUSSIN hovering over the Klimt; I've never seen or heard of that particular paining, but I had the first A so it had to be ATHENA. What's going on with that reflected face on her armor? Or is she wearing a shrunken head? (I'm not up on my Athena lore, you can tell).
If you're a prince of Monaco and you want me to remember your name, you have to marry an American movie star.
When a puzzle has more unknowns than knowns, it's a DNF for sure.
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