Epitomes of slowness / TUES 8-25-26 / Something told with two hands? / Moon believed to have a subsurface ocean / Free-spirited style, informally

Hello, everyone! It’s Clare for the last Tuesday in August! Hope everyone has been staying cool (and dry, at least, on the East Coast, where it’s been raining around 4 p.m. most days). My big news is that I got to see BTS when they came to Baltimore, and my life got infinitely better — although my sister and I lost our voices completely. I’m now off to Los Angeles this weekend for Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields music festival, which should be a ton of fun. 

Most importantly, before I move on to, you know, the puzzle, I have to plug my sister’s article in The Wall Street Journal!! As I’m writing this, it’s not published yet, but it goes live at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, in the travel section under the headline, "I Walked 500 Miles on the Camino de Santiago to Find What Comes Next," by Shannon Carroll. I’ll be back to update the link when the story goes live! [Edit: Here it is!]

Anywho, with all that, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Bryan Kaproth-Gerecht

Relative difficulty: Easy-medium

THEME: PLANETS (45D: Celestial "wanderers" ... or what this puzzle's circled letters represent) — The eight planets are listed in the puzzle, with the circled letters representing their approximate distance from the sun

Theme answers:

• MERCURY (34A: 1st) 
• VENUS (28A: 2nd) 
• EARTH (51A: 3rd) 
• MARS (33D: 4th) 
• JUPITER (10D: 5th) 
• SATURN (15A: 6th) 
• URANUS (62A: 7th) 
• NEPTUNE (1D: 8th)

Word of the Day: NO-SEE-UMS (7D: Tiny biting insect) —

Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies colloquially known as no-see-ums, sand flies, or biting midges, generally 1–3 millimetres (1⁄16–1⁄8 in) in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. Ceratopogonidae midges are also one of the best-studied cocoa pollinators. (Wiki)

• • •

I quite enjoyed that puzzle! The circled letters and the dotted lines showing the orbits were complex, even a tad gimmick-y, but, overall, the construction was very impressive, especially coming from a first-time constructor. The constructor managed to fit in eight planets with different orbits represented — in order — along with additional words that are relevant to the theme such as SUNS (15D: Symbols of fair weather) and TITAN (47A: Moon believed to have a subsurface ocean). 

The theme seems timely, too. The PERSEIDS (16A: Summer meteor shower named for a mythological hero) meteor shower is in the news; there was a total solar eclipse a couple of weeks ago; a partial lunar eclipse is coming up; and there was an alignment of six planets earlier this month. 

I pretty quickly realized the theme and what the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. would represent, so I immediately went around the puzzle typing in the planets. That made this a quicker-than-normal Tuesday solve for me. It did take me quite a bit to figure out what the circles represented; I thought they might represent the first letter of the planets, maybe they created an anagram, etc. Only after creating a little graphic for myself did I realize that the circle letters in each planet represented that planet’s approximate distance from the sun. 

For those of you with not great eyes (i.e., my dad), you might have strained to see the dashes that create the circles representing the orbits. I wonder why there are only seven dashed circles, with URANUS and SATURN on the same orbit — and not one for each of the eight planets. But that’s above my knowledge (or was all the constructor could manage). I didn’t think a revealer was even necessary, given that the theme was obvious, but it’s still impressive that the constructor got ORBITAL (44D: Like the paths of 45-Down, as visually depicted in this puzzle) and PLANETS (45D: Celestial "wanderers" ... or what this puzzle's circled letters represent) in there, too. 

(As a “Psych” lover, I couldn’t help but be sad Pluto wasn’t on there.) 

I struggled a fair amount in the north (middle) of the puzzle, especially with NO-SEE-UMS (7D). I’m not sure I have ever heard that term before, so I was incredibly confused. Combine that with the vague OH DAMN (6D: "Wowza!") that doesn’t really fit the clue, crossing MENSA (24A: Smart set) and AEON (20A: Billion years, astronomically), and it took me a bit to puzzle through. I thankfully know AKON (4A: One-named Senegalese American singer with the #1 hits "I Wanna Love You" and "Don't Matter") very well, growing up listening to his music, but I imagine some people struggled there. 

Along with OH DAMN (6D), there were a few other quotations that I didn’t really like. Like: IT’S A DATE (60A: "I'd love to go"), AW C’MON (25D: "Man, that's hardly fair!"), and THAT SO (48D: "Are you sure?"). They’re part of the category that’s so vague that many things can fit. MIDI (20A: ___ skirt) was also annoying, given it could’ve easily been “maxi” or “midi,” and the clue gave us nothing to go on. I refuse to believe SHIVERY (39D: Like someone emerging from freezing cold water, typically) is a word. WAWA (56A: Drink in a sippy cup, to a toddler) clued like that seems a bit weird. RAT (8D: Creature sometimes trained for bomb detection) gave me pause because I tried “dog.” Even when I got to “_AT,” I took a bit to understand that it had to be RAT, not “cat.” I had enough downs that I got TECATE (58A: Mexican beer brand) quite easily, but that felt like a harder-than-a-normal-Tuesday type word. (My sister, who knows her Mexican beers, said she put Modelo.) 

All that being said, there were still some good words in the puzzle — on top of the fun theme. My favorite word was ENAMOR (32A: Captivate), followed closely by TRILL (19A: Musical flutter). I also liked BARISTA (3D: One known for the morning grind?). It was good seeing IVERSON (2D: Allen who was the 2001 N.B.A. M.V.P.), as he’s the only good A.I. The clue/answer for TIME (38A: Something told with two hands?) was fun (even if I did have _I_E and thought I was very clever when I confidently put in “jive”). 

Overall, the puzzle was an enjoyable solve — and an impressive construction!

Misc.:

• I’ve recently gotten into F1 (after watching the Netflix show “Drive to Survive”), and I’ve been watching the races each weekend. So it feels on point to have PACE CAR (40D: Raceway speed setter) even if it’s called a “safety car” in F1. (Go, Kimi and/or Oscar!) 
• I’d kind of forgotten about AKON (4A) over the years, but he’s apparently still going strong with 41.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and his biggest song, “Smack That,” (with Eminem) has 1.7 billion streams. I was 10 years old when that song came out, and I knew all of the lyrics, including the rap, which, looking back, was rather raunchy. Oops! 
• I loved CHASM (46A: Great divide). First off, it’s a fantastic word. The clue is also the title of the incredible Noah Kahan album “The Great Divide" (which I saw him perform most of last month — from the barricade!). 
• I will always remember the moon TITAN (47A) because I did a presentation in 7th grade science class on SATURN (15A). I learned TITAN is the planet’s biggest moon and is the second biggest in the solar system. (Anything else, I’ll have to brush up on from the Internet). 
• If only there were penalty kicks after a TIE GAME (43D: Reason to go into penalty kicks) in the regular season of the Premier League so my Liverpool team could’ve completed the comeback and actually won our stupid opening game against Newcastle instead of just tying it up in the 100th minute.

I’m also very pleased that my dog, RED (53D: Sunburned, perhaps), made an appearance in the puzzle today (even if it should have been clued to be about her instead!). As I’ve written this, I think she’s brought me eight toys because she wants to play, so maybe she knows she’s being written about.

And that’s all from me! Hope you all have a great September. (And don’t forget to go read my sister’s article😊)

Signed, Clare Carroll, RED’s giant

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Evian, Perrier or Badoit / TUES 7-28-26 / Letter that can take a cedilla / Primer mes del año / Director Johnson of the "Knives Out" movies

Hi, everyone — it’s Clare for the last Tuesday in July! Hope everyone has been having a lovely summer and not getting too hot or having their lungs filled with smoke or drowning in rain or…! I celebrated my 30th (!) birthday this month and also celebrated my dad’s birthday (he’s asked me not to say the number of years😉), and it’s all been quite lovely. I’m extremely sad the men’s World Cup is over, because I haven’t really known what to do with myself or what to watch. But maybe the U.S. Open will save me, or maybe I’ll get back into the swing of things once the WNBA gets back after the All-Star break. Ooh, and I got to see Noah Kahan in concert, and he was incredible; and I see BTS in Baltimore in just 15 days — not that I’m counting the days and hours and minutes or anything! Otherwise, my pup and I have been hiking and staying cool, and she’s as cute and wonderful as ever. 

Anywho, onto the puzzle… 

Constructor: Adam Vincent

Relative difficulty: Medium (mostly because of one letter)

THEME: IT’S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT (17A: With 58-Across, dad-joke response to the answers for each of this puzzle’s starred clues) — Each of the theme answers has the sound “achoo” in it, which… sounds like a sneeze

Theme answers:

• PATCHOULI (25A: Essential oil with a musky scent) 
• MASSACHUSETTS (31A: Home of the lowest town-level ZIP code in the continental U.S. (01001)) 
• CATCH YOU LATER (38A: "Until next time!") 
• STATUETTE (49A: Academy Award, e.g.)

Word of the Day: SAM (59D: Rock singer ___ Fender) —

Samuel Thomas Fender (born 25 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in North Shields, Fender released several singles independently beginning in 2017. His sound relies primarily on his traditional American musical upbringing combined with a British rock sensibility. He is known for his high tenor voice and Geordie accent. Recognized for his songwriting style, Fender is the recipient of five Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards and a Mercury Prize, among many others. (Wiki)

• • •

That was a pretty good Tuesday puzzle, mostly in spite of the theme, not because of it. The theme itself just doesn’t feel like a dad joke to me, which I think of more as something related to puns and not just sounds in words? The phrases and words themselves are fine, and it’s impressive that all the achoo sounds are achieved differently, but the theme just didn’t hit me as any sort of dad joke-esque response to each of the theme answers. I didn’t use the theme to help with the solve, as the two parts of the revealer were so split across the puzzle, which might’ve made it slightly more challenging than it otherwise would’ve been for me. 

I almost had a DNF in the puzzle because of EXCLAVE (43D: Part of a country located entirely within another country) and OXO (48A: Palindromic kitchen brand). I know the brand OXO, and, logically, I knew that there wouldn’t be another ONO in the puzzle given that it was at 18D: 1969 “bed-in” participant. But I typed in “enclave” without thinking, then was stuck searching for my error in the end. I asked my dad and sister what they thought, and they both got stuck for minutes searching for their typo right at that spot there at the end. I’ve since googled it and distinguished an EXCLAVE from an “enclave” for future reference — “An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity,” such as Vatican City, while “an exclave is a portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part, by some surrounding alien territory,” such as the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which also borders Armenia, Iran, and Turkey (Wiki). I’ll try to remember this for the future so I don’t add almost a minute to my time searching for an error! 

I also struggled a bit with O’DELL (5A: Scott ___, author of "Island of the Blue Dolphins"). I belatedly realized that I actually read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" in grade school, but I sadly had no idea who the author was. CHOCO (50A: __ Taco (ice cream treat)) gave me a little pause. I didn’t even look at the clue for NIP (60D: Alcoholic equivalent of a fun-size candy bar), but I don’t think I would’ve gotten that word from that clue. Those of you not into perfume may also have had trouble with PATCHOULI (25A). 

I appreciated the lack of a lot of crosswordese in the puzzle. Sure, we had our ELI (7D: Name that's an anagram of an untruth), ALT (37A: Secondary social media account), YET (40D: Up to this point), CPA (23A: Tax pro), ANT (28A: Myrmecology subject), ASK (10D: Query), etc. But for the most part, even those were clued a bit differently — and more interestingly — than usual. I learned what myrmecology is with ANT (28A), and I remembered that a secondary social media account is more than just a “finsta” and could actually be considered an ALT (though maybe I just need to study up on my own millennial/Gen-Z slang). 

There were also some great words in the puzzle, such as STYMIE (46D: Hinder), HOOPLA (12D: Muss and fuss), and AUTEUR (33D: Artistic visionary). Those are just so fun to say. We got THAT’LL (22D: "___ be the day!") next to OUTTA (27D: "Straight ___ Compton" (1989 N.W.A album)), a clever pairing of slangy contractions. I really liked the clue for CDC (34D: Org. mentioned in many zombie movies); I’ve watched enough zombie and apocalyptic shows to get the answer to that one right away.

Misc.:

• My sister and I hiked the Grand TETONS (20A: Wyoming mountain range) when we were on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2020. They were absolutely gorgeous. We went on a hike there that took us to maybe the bluest waters I’ve ever seen, and I spent my birthday on a pier overlooking the water before going on a horseback ride. 
• I'm currently trying to soothe an ACHE (10A: Be in need of ibuprofen, say) by targeting a KNOT (19A: Massage gun target) right above my KNEE (14A: Word with cap or socks) after I ran seven miles yesterday, my longest run in quite some time! A friend is trying to get me to run the Richmond Marathon in November, but I’m pretty sure my body might break down before I got to that point. 
• I was part of the SKI TEAM (1D: Sporting group at a cold-weather school) at a ski academy in Lake Tahoe, and it was most definitely cold weather. One of my strongest memories of that time is being driven to school one morning by my mom, and we for some reason took the shortcut — a road that can be very dangerous. I got to school and had to wade through three-plus feet of snow to get to the entrance. For some reason, I was wearing Uggs that weren’t waterproof. Needless to say, my Uggs were never the same. And my Spanish teacher didn’t even make it for first period anyway. 
• As soon as I saw SAM (59D), I knew that he was going to be my word of the day. Some people probably don’t know who he is, but I’ve been absolutely in love with him ever since a cousin introduced me to him a few years ago. My cousin even flew to England to see him in concert, and I tried to get tickets when he came to D.C. a year or so ago, but I wasn’t able to. He has a song now with another favorite of mine, Olivia Dean, that is just crushing the charts in the UK called "Rein Me In." Anyway, my favorite of his is Hypersonic Missiles, if anyone is looking for an incredible and poignant song. 
•  I think I’ve already talked about these books, but I’ll mention them again because I’ve been having so much fun listening to them (and I’ve gotten my dad hooked, too): Everyone should listen to (or read, I suppose, though the voices in the audio book are wildly good) the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! I’m on Book 7 of 8 and am so hooked. I’ve been using Audible credits to listen to the books and just caved and bought all eight of the physical books, too. They look great on my bookshelf.

And that’s all from me! Stay cool, and I’ll see all y’all in August! 

Signed, Clare Carroll, writing about dad jokes now that I’m all groan up

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"Rise and shine!" / TUES 7-7-26 / "Barbie" actress Issa / Portmanteau for a screened-in feline lounge / Delphi prophet / Fruit from a tree that can self-pollinate

Hello, everyone! It’s Clare coming at you a little late (why does immigration court have so many deadlines?!), this time for the first Tuesday of July. I hope no one has suffered too much in this insane heat! D.C. was pretty miserable for a few days, and I had to get creative to find ways for my dog to run off some of the energy that she built up from not going on our usual walks or trips to the dog park. But staying inside has also coincided with getting to watch so many sports! The World Cup has been amazing (though I just watched the USMNT lose embarrassingly badly to Belgium). The England-Mexico game? The Argentina-Cabo Verde game? So great! Wimbledon has had some entertaining matches, too. Go, Coco! 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Brad Lively

Relative difficulty: Medium for a Tuesday

THEME: WARM AND FUZZY (50A: Like a feeling of tender happiness ... or how you might feel after reading both halves of the answers to the starred clues?) — The first half of each theme answer describes something “warm,” and the second half is an animal that’s “fuzzy.”

Theme answers:

• BEACH BUNNIES (20A: *Surfer girls, in old lingo) 
• HOT DOGS (28A: *Frankfurters) 
• SUN BEAR (36A: *Relative of a grizzly that's named for its bright chest patch) 
• FIREFOX (45A: *Internet browser borrowing a nickname for the red panda)

Word of the Day: SPAMALOT (36D: Monty Python musical with a portmanteau title)—

Spamalot, also known as Monty Python's Spamalot: A New Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is a musical with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and a book by Idle. Based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the musical offers a highly irreverent parody of Arthurian legend, with the title being a portmanteau of Spam and Camelot. The original 2005 Broadway production directed by Mike Nichols received 14 Tony Award nominations, winning in three categories, including Best Musical. During its initial run of 1,575 performances, the production was seen by more than two million people and grossed over $168 million (Wiki)

• • •

That was a pretty average Tuesday puzzle that made me feel somewhat WARM AND FUZZY inside. It’s a nice idea and a cute phrase, and I came around to liking the theme more than I thought I did initially. The theme was very straightforward: literally just a word that is (mostly) WARM followed directly by an animal that could plausibly be described as FUZZY. I have some qualms with the FUZZY answers, as I think “furry” might be a better descriptor — or even “fluffy.” I’m just not sure I’ve ever thought of BUNNIES or a FOX as being FUZZY. And a BEAR? (Even if Fuzzy Wuzzy was a fuzzy bear. Or was he?) My DOG is wonderfully cuddly and has some impressive hair on top of her head that I can make into a mohawk, but I still don’t think of her as FUZZY. And have you ever been to a BEACH in winter? I have, because my parents live in a beach town, and it’s not WARM… 

The puzzle had some nice pairings, with GET UP (9A: "Rise and shine!") directly above AWAKE (16A: No longer in dreamland). Then there’s LEIA (59A: Rebel Alliance princess) above TRON (62A: Sci-fi franchise with light cycles). MUSH (51D: Sled dog command) (which I know because of the movie “Snow Dogs”) was crossing SNOW (61A: Fresh powder, e.g.). Though in the opposite vein, we also had both HBO (21D: "Curb Your Enthusiasm" network) and PBS (33D: "This Old House" network) in the puzzle. Did we really need two network abbreviations?

I liked BABA (1A: ___ ghanouj) as the answer to start the puzzle. It’s delicious, and upon googling it for this write-up, I learned that it might translate to “father of coquetry.” GAME OVER (9D: Last words on a pinball machine) is a great expression and one that I unfortunately saw many times as I played my family’s pinball machine over and over as a kid. NAMES (49A: What to call people … or what not to call people) is basic fill that was clued in a clever way. I like the word FANDOM (45D: Obsessive pop culture subculture) (as I am in several fandoms myself. And only mildly obsessive.). GO POOF (25D: Vanish into thin air) is cute and fun to say. My favorite clue/answer was 30D: Start a long drive, in a way as TEE OFF, which got a chuckle out of me. 

I struggled a bit in random parts of the puzzle. I didn’t know LAYNE (7D: ___ Staley, original lead singer of Alice in Chains), who felt obscure for a Tuesday. I couldn’t come up with ELF HATS (43A: Accessories pointed at the North Pole?) for the longest time and wanted to make it “elf ears,” even though ears clearly aren’t an accessory. I forgot that a CATIO (60A: Portmanteau for a screened-in feline lounge) is a thing, and while I had CAT immediately, I had to rack my brain for a while as to how to finish the word. HAWAII (44D: Luau locale) also took me an inordinately long time to get, likely fueled by my confusion over CATIO (60A). Then I also just stared at ON AUTO (26D: Acting unthinkingly) for a while, reading it more as “on a uto” and being very, very confused. 

I’m feeling slightly more WARM AND FUZZY about the puzzle than when I finished it. Or maybe that’s the herbal tea I’m drinking. Who’s to say?

Misc:

• It felt fun to have REF (47D: Yellow card wielder) in the puzzle as I was watching yellow cards be given in the U.S. men’s game against Belgium. But no red cards. Not that it would have mattered. 
• I used to play the Alphabet Game in the car with my soccer carpool as our parents took turns driving us the 30 minutes to and from practice twice a week, and we always had the particular PED (13D: ___ Xing) sign we’d use to get “X.” Playing this game on a road trip with my dad and sister, I got so excited when I finally got a “Q” that I yelled out “Quality [Inn]” so loudly that my dad nearly drove off the freeway. 
• I was following along on TikTok and social media with Kelsey Pfendler as she rowed from California to HAWAII (44D), and she just arrived! It took her just under 44 days to row 2,400 miles solo, setting the record for the fastest solo journey — man or woman. 
• I’ve hiked ZION (53D: Last U.S. national park alphabetically), and it was beautiful… for the most part. When I hiked Angel’s Landing, I slipped on a rock near the edge and saw my life flash before my eyes. 
• If anyone is looking to try a new OREO (32A: Subject of Weird Al Yankovic's "The White Stuff") flavor, my favorite band, BTS, has a collab with OREO. The two released a brown sugar-pancake-flavored OREO that's inspired by a common Korean street food called hotteok. Can confirm: They’re quite tasty! 
• Because I know you were all waiting, here’s a picture of Red’s mohawk, where she’s very furry and maybe just a little FUZZY.

Signed, Clare Carroll, writing from a very hot and not at all fuzzy DC (unless you count the algae in the Reflecting Pool)

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Swanky shindig / TUES 5-26-2026 / What a scare might make you do / Game with the goal of running out of cards / What Thomas Carlyle called "the dismal science," for short

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare back for the last Tuesday of May! Hope that everyone had a nice long weekend and that the weather didn’t hamper too many plans (like the rain did for my picnic plans here in DC). I’ve been staying busy with work, as immigration policies keep changing and we keep needing to sue the federal government… Otherwise, I’ve been enjoying the start of the WNBA season — go, Washington Mystics! (And I’m also quite partial to the Dallas Wings.) In the MNBA, I’m rooting for the Spurs to win, as I’ve watched the Knicks and wondered whether they’re really that good or the East is really that bad (I guess we’ll find out). Finally, a shoutout to my sister’s team, Arsenal, which just won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years (my team, Liverpool, did it last year, just for reference😊) and which are in the Champions League final next weekend! Also shoutout again to my sister because she finished walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago in 26 days! 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Brad Lively

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (37A: What the answers to the starred clues are, collectively?) — The theme answers combine an adjective describing intelligence with a body part

Theme answers:

• SHARP TEETH (17A: Aids for biting) 
• KEEN EYE (26A: Attribute for spotting what others miss) 
• WISE ASS (49A: Cheeky sort) 
• SMART MOUTH (63A: One given to insolence)

Word of the Day: DENALI (22D: Mountain visible from Anchorage) —

Denali, federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190 m) above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring 18,000 ft (5,500 m). With a topographic prominence of 20,156 feet (6,144 m) and a topographic isolation of 4,621.1 miles (7,436.9 km), Denali is the third most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua. Located in the Alaska Range in the interior of the U.S. state of Alaska, Denali is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve. The Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain have referred to the peak as "Denali" for centuries... In January 2025, the Department of the Interior under the Trump administration reverted the mountain's official federal name to Mount McKinley. (Wiki)

• • •

That was a fairly straightforward and easy puzzle for a Tuesday. The theme didn’t help my solve, but I enjoyed piecing together the puzzle afterward to figure out what BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (37A) was referring to. The synonyms for KNOWLEDGE all worked nicely. And the BODY parts mostly worked. I do find it a little funny that we’ve got three BODY parts that are all on the face — TEETH, EYE, and MOUTH — and then there’s… ASS. Sure, why not! For some reason, I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around BODY OF KNOWLEDGE at first and wanted to make “book” work in some way, but the easy crossing downs there helped sort me out (especially because of my alma mater, YALE (38D: Connecticut Ivy)). I might have preferred having the revealer at the bottom of the puzzle, but having it span the puzzle in the middle works. 

This puzzle was also one of the easiest Tuesday puzzles for me in recent memory. I’m not sure if it was just on my wavelength or what, but it seemed like the first thing that popped into my head was correct, and nothing gave me more than a few seconds of pause. The place I paused the longest was probably in the SW corner, where I wanted “tie dye” instead of DIP DYE (46D: Technique whereby a shirt is lowered into a pigmented bath) and I briefly forgot TYCO (65A: Tickle Me Elmo toymaker). But everything else flowed smoothly. 

I think the ease was also aided by the fact that this seemed like a proper noun-lite puzzle. I count 13 — ADELE, HONDA, TYCO, OREOS, UTAH, ANA, THAI, SETH, DENALI, UNO, YALE, OHIO and SIMON — and none are obscure for crosswords. I wavered a bit because nothing felt uncommon enough to be a “word of the day.” But I decided on DENALI (22D) because I just think it’s so stupid how the Trump administration re-designated it Mount McKinley, ignoring the name the native Koyukon people had called it for centuries. I guess kudos to the New York Times for continuing to call it DENALI instead of Mount McKinley.

The four longer downs — HOTEL SAFE (5D: Spot to keep a passport while traveling), TARGETED AD (10D: Customized bit of marketing), MAD RESPECT (30D: Huge props), and DWARF STAR (36D: A little sun?) — were fine. I especially like MAD RESPECT, and the clue for DWARF STAR is a bit clever. 

Otherwise, I can’t think of much to say about this puzzle. But I did enjoy it!

Misc.:

• I’ve hiked in Bryce Canyon in UTAH (6A), and it’s absolutely gorgeous. I just wish I’d hiked more of the national parks and actually been into rock climbing when my mom was living there a few years ago so I could’ve explored more! 
• Kind of embarrassingly, I looked at 39D: Home of Xenia, the U.S.'s largest city whose name starts with "X" as OHIO for an inordinately long time. I thought it was telling me that Xenia was the largest city in the U.S., and that was clearly bizarre. After reading the clue a few times, I had my aha moment. Google tells me the population of Xenia, OHIO is 26,372, and Xenia is just about the only city starting with X in the U.S. that I can find. It seems there are some neighborhoods and smaller areas that may start with X, but Xenia is the only city I found (please correct me if I’m wrong). 
• Oh, I know what PREP (19A: Task for a line cook, informally) looks like in a kitchen — I’ve been watching “Top Chef” and subsequently failing to recreate their knife skills in my own kitchen. 
•  I also just finished watching the documentary “The Rescue” about the THAI (43A: Cuisine from Bangkok) soccer team that got stuck in a cave in 2018 and about how incredible an effort it was by so many to get the whole team and their coach out safely. 
• In other news, I went from a reading slump to somehow already being 40% into “Into the Blue” by Emma Brodie, and I just want to keep reading. So I’ll sign off here:)

Hope you all have a great month of June and official start to summer!

Signed, Clare Carroll, who can’t stop singing “head, shoulders, knees, and toes… eyes and ears and mouth and nose…”

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Sink-or-swim competition? / TUES 4-28-26 / Part of a piano or loom / Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail / Greek goddess of the earth / Some cantina fare

Hello, everyone, it’s Clare for the last Tuesday of April! Hope everyone has been enjoying it, as spring has (mostly) sprung, and we’re yet to get the most stifling heat possible. I got to hike yesterday with my pup midday without dying from the heat. She loved it and got exhausted and absolutely filthy and tried to refuse a bath. I’m crossing my fingers for my Penguins (now down just 2-3 in the series against the hated Flyers) and have been going to Washington Spirit NWSL games here in DC. I also started watching the F1 documentary on Netflix and have gotten very invested in the outcome of this season, so I may be watching come racetime here in the US in a few days. Not a whole lot else going on with me… but my sister is currently on day three of walking the Camino de Santiago via el Camino Francés (French Way). She’ll be walking about 15 miles a day for over 30 days to reach Santiago, Spain. So join me in wishing her a Buen Camino! 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Hal Moore

Relative difficulty: Average for a Tuesday

THEME: SEEN AND NOT HEARD (58A: Like children, ideally, in an old adage … or a hint to a four-letter word hidden in 17-, 32- and 40-Across) — The word “seen” can be, well, seen in each of the three theme answers but isn’t pronounced in the phrases 

Theme answers:

• TIES UP LOOSE ENDS (17A: Handles a few unresolved issues)
• CLOSE ENOUGH (32A: Not perfect, but acceptable) 
• MISE EN PLACE (40A: Station set up in a kitchen)

Word of the Day: EDNA (57D: ___ Lewis, the "Grande Dame of Southern Cooking") —

Edna Regina Lewis (April 13, 1916 – February 13, 2006) was a renowned American chef, teacher, and author who helped refine the American view of Southern cooking. She championed the use of fresh, in-season ingredients and characterized Southern food as fried chicken (pan-, not deep-fried), pork, and fresh vegetables – most especially greens. She wrote and co-wrote four books, which covered Southern cooking and life in a small community of freed slaves and their descendants, including The Taste of Country Cooking and In Pursuit of Flavor… In 1979, Craig Claiborne of The New York Times wrote The Taste of Country Cooking "may well be the most entertaining regional cookbook in America". Food & Wine in 2025 said it was "widely regarded as one of the most important cookbooks of the 20th century." (Wiki)

• • •

Clever enough theme for a Tuesday puzzle, for which your enjoyment may have depended on how well you know — or at least how quickly you could get — MISE EN PLACE (40A). I know the phrase well, but it did take me a little bit to see it just because it looks so horrible (and confusing) when written out like MISEENPLACE. I think I had MISEExPxxx and just couldn’t see it. Luckily, the downs weren’t too hard, but I expect some people might’ve felt stuck there. The other theme answers were fine. That you don’t hear “seen” pronounced in any of the theme answers is interesting and adds a dimension to the NOT HEARD part of the revealer. I suspect SEEN could have appeared in any number of possible answers, though I may be overstating the range of potential theme answers. I’d always thought of the phrase as SEEN but NOT HEARD, though a Google search tells me the phrases are interchangeable. Regardless, while the theme didn’t help with the solve, the revealer was nice. 

There just weren’t a lot of answers that popped, which made the puzzle feel somewhat boring. My favorite was definitely WATER POLO (15A: Sink-or-swim competition?), and I love the use of TEA (21A: Gossip, slangily) to describe gossip. PAPAYAS (47A: Ingredients in some tropical smoothies) is fun. And I suppose CONTINUITY (10D: Script supervisor's concern) is a good long word. But I can’t drum up excitement for AXIS POWERS (29D: Coalition that opposed the Allies in W.W. II) or CANST (43D: "___ thou not minister to a mind diseased …?": Macbeth) or ARREAR (48D: Overdue debt) or GRAMMAR (27A: Linguist's concern) or… Looking back, it was hard to find much to describe about the non-theme answers because it all blended together in one ball of meh in my head. 

I didn’t like how vague 24A: Welcome at the door, say was. I originally had “let in” and then “see in,” and it turned out to be ASK IN. YES I AM as 4D: Emphatic confirmation doesn’t seem to fit because it isn't inherently an emphatic phrase. Phrases like ADD TO (22A: Build on) and AT IT (36A: Bickering) also don't inspire much interest. 

There seemed to be more proper nouns than usual, such as: SOSA, KROC, RUN DMC, OPI, ROSA, IAGO , PEETE, SAGAN, and EDNA. I learned today that Calvin PEETE and Rodney PEETE (49D) were cousins. The puzzle also had a sort of mini theme with words with their origin in another country: PAOLO, CIAO, TACOS, PESOS, SEÑOR, SERAPE, MISE EN PLACE, LOX, TRE, and SUNNI.

Misc.:

• I might’ve gotten the most excited today over SAL (33D: Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail) in the puzzle. I hadn’t thought of “Blueberries for Sal” in so many years, but that was one of my favorite books growing up. 
• Seeing LOX (31A: Bagel topping) in the puzzle reminds me of how many times I’ve gone to a bagel place near me in DC called Call Your Mother. I moved just a few minutes closer to it, but I’ve already gone probably four times in the last few weeks to get a bagel with cream cheese, capers, and LOX. They’re so delicious. 
• I used to use OPI (5A: Nail polish brand) nail polish all the time. Then I started rock climbing, and my nails would chip after climbing just once. So I’ve barely had my nails painted at all in years. 
• For National Independent Bookstore Day this past Saturday, I went to a couple local bookstores and managed to snag a print from a special edition Inciardi print. The machine to get the print requires four quarters, and when I put mine in at one point, I realized it wasn’t working because I was trying it with three quarters and one PESO (46A: Coins of Cuba) I apparently brought back with me from Mexico. Oops! I also got the book “Lost Lambs” by Madeline Cash, which comes highly recommended from my sister, and “Weavingshaw” by Heba Al-Wasity, a fantasy book I’m already halfway into and loving! 
• In other very important news, BTS is now on tour!! I’m counting down the days until I get to see them in Baltimore in August and get to see something like this. 
• I’m feeling a little ACHY (1A: Sore) after my hike yesterday. And Red might be, too, after our many miles…
• 

(and a bonus

(a bonus pic from when Red wanted some of my happy hour TACOS (8A))

And that's all from me, folks! Have a great month of May.

Signed, Clare Carroll, who's always both seen and heard :)

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Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess / TUES 3-31-26 / Venue for a boss fight / List in Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" / Colorado Plateau people

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare for the last Tuesday of March — and the last day! Spring is here (aka the cherry blossoms are going gangbusters in D.C.), and it feels like I’m coming out of hibernation. I’m writing this from my new apartment, which is about three blocks from my old apartment. So: My pup doesn’t have to get used to a new dog park, and I got to pack haphazardly, meaning a bunch of trips with my things (and I have way more things than I realized!). I’ve been loving watching March Madness (go, UConn women) and rooting on the Penguins to a playoff spot. But, I’ve buried the lede! BTS is back!!! Here’s a link to their new single, “Swim,” which just debuted at No. 1 on Billboard, along with their No. 1 album “Arirang.” And here’s my favorite song from the album. Enjoy! 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Ryan Patrick Smith

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: FANTASY LAND (64A: Utopian expanse ... a map of which might include 17-, 27- and 48-Across?) — Each answer was a fantastical word combined with a geographical feature

Theme answers:

• MYSTIC RIVER (17A: 2003 crime drama adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel) 
• MAGIC MOUNTAIN (27A: Six Flags location that was the first amusement park to offer 20 roller coasters) 
• UNCANNY VALLEY (48A: Concept explaining why certain humanoid robots look so unsettling)

Word of the Day: REMY (36D: Rapper ___ Ma) —

Reminisce Kioni Smith, known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by the late rapper Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. Her debut solo album, There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story (2006), sold 37,000 copies in its first week. Ma's most commercially successful songs include "Lean Back", "Conceited", and "All the Way Up.” She is one of five multi-time winners of the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, which she won in 2005 and 2017. Ma is the recipient of two Vibe Awards, two Source Awards, and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. (WIki)

• • •

Well, that was a puzzle. A pretty good puzzle? A slightly harder than usual Tuesday puzzle? A somewhat boring puzzle? All of the above? The theme didn’t grab me — I guess I don’t spend much time thinking about fantasy lands — even though one of my favorite phrases was in the puzzle: UNCANNY VALLEY (48A). Such as, “So-and-so actor is looking like they’ve had some sort of work done on their face, and I can’t pinpoint what, but they don’t look like themself. There’s something UNCANNY VALLEY going on.” It’s a phrase that might’ve stumped some people, but I thankfully got it immediately. 

The puzzle did have some other particularly fun words and phrases. I love the word LOLLOP (51D: Bound along clumsily). Do I use that word much in my day-to-day life? No. Should I? Yes. Am I going to? I hope so! GAS GUZZLER (29D:Vehicle with low fuel efficiency, in slang) is a great phrase and incorporates some fun — and possibly tricky — Zs into the puZZle. I like the word TAVERN (8D: Establishment where a D&D party might refuel and pick up new leads). And UPTOWN GIRL (11D: Billy Joel title character who's "been living in her white bread world") is a great song; the movie “UPTOWN GIRLs” is incredibly fun, too, with Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. (If anyone has a spare Blumarine dress from the opening scene, let me know.) My favorite clue was for ARIAL (39A: Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess). I don’t like beer, but my sister and dad do, and HAZY IPA (52A: Cloudy craft beer) is also a fun answer. 

HOLST (1A: "The Planets" composer) felt a bit hard for a Tuesday, especially as the default first clue in the puzzle. I stared at that for a good while before realizing I could get the down, HOME (1D: "E.T. phone ___"), and just move on. HOLST (1A) crossing LASE (3D: Produce coherent light) was a bit challenging. RAN AWAY (25A: Fled the scene) was particularly hard for me to get for some reason — I wanted “getaway” or “got away” or something along those lines. I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell NAIAD (22D: Water nymph of Greek myth). One clue/answer I didn’t like at all was TRI (5D: Muscle strengthened by dips, familiarly). Like, are you going to go do a TRI dip on one side and work out a single muscle? No, I’m pretty sure you’ll work out your TRIs (plural). 

The rest of the fill was pretty… fine. I liked SIT SKI (4D: Piece of equipment for a Winter Paralympian), showcasing the Paralympics. DIRE (42A: ___ wolf (extinct canine once prevalent across North America)) wolves is fun — even if the ending of Game of Thrones (showcasing DIRE wolves) wasn’t. Kenan & KEL (63A: Kenan's bestie on a 1990s sitcom) is a show I haven’t thought about in a long while but had fun remembering. But, ORE, ERIE, UNE, MAR, PIN, NAG, RIM, etc. don’t inspire much of anything. 

I might just be tired and grumpy (moving is hard work!). But I just don’t have much of anything else to say about this mostly meh puzzle.

Misc.:

• My sister tells me that TAE Bo (19A: exercise regimen popularized via VHS tapes) is having a huge comeback right now I may have to forgo the VHS tapes and see if I can find some workouts online somewhere! 
• AS IF (7D: "Dream on!") definitely makes me think of “Clueless,” a phenomenal movie. Come on, we can all just picture Cher saying “Ugh! AS IF” in that disgusted and wonderful tone of hers. 
• 2020 might’ve been the year of THE RAT (9D: What 2020 was a year of, in the Chinese zodiac), but this is the year of the horse — specifically, the fire horse. 
• Does anyone actually still say LMAO (59A: "hahaha!")? I like to think of myself as fairly hip and in the know, but while “lol” has made a comeback (which I use basically as punctuation), I truly don’t see LMAO written anywhere. 
• I haven’t read many books this month because I’ve been busy moving, but my favorite was “Star Shipped,” by one of my favorite authors, Cat Sebastian. Highly recommend — 5/5!

And with that, I'll see you in April!

Signed, Clare Carroll, currently living in BTS land!

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Intentionally cause drama / TUES 3-3-26 / Genre for wannabe sleuths / Garam ___ (South Asian spice blend) / "Come to our rescue!" / Leaves shocked

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare here for the first Tuesday of March — surprise! Hope everyone is staying warm and hasn’t been too affected by the crazy winter. DC didn’t get hit too badly in the recent storm, and the snow thankfully melted pretty quickly (so I was able to bike again). Then it got warm enough last Saturday for a picnic — and now it’s supposed to be almost 80 this weekend. Wild. I’ve been missing having the Olympics to watch, but I’ve been rooting on my Liverpool (which is doing a bit better lately), watching the Unrivaled playoffs and cheering on the Penguins (minus Sidney Crosby because of the evil Czech player who hurt him). 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Drew Schmenner

Relative difficulty: On the easy side for a Tuesday

THEME: FIRST THINGS FIRST — In order, things you supposedly do first thing in the morning after waking up

Theme answers:

• STIR THE POT (18A: Intentionally cause drama) 
• GET UP TO SPEED (26A: Learn all the latest info) 
• STRETCH LIMOS (47A: Promgoers' luxurious rides) 
• SHOWER GIFT (60A: Present for an expectant mom or bride-to-be)

Word of the Day: SHERA (17A: He-Man's superheroine twin sister) —

Adora, known by her alter ego She-Ra, is a superheroine in the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is introduced as the protagonist of the 1985 Filmation series She-Ra: Princess of Power, which reveals her to be the long lost twin sister of He-Man. She-Ra again appears in the 2018 reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.A series of toys under her name was produced by Mattel in 1984. She has also appeared in a number of Masters of the Universe comic books, most notably in DC Comics' 2012–2018 MOTU comic series, a roughly 1,000 page single story arc, collected in the 2019 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Omnibus hardcover release… She-Ra is known for her incredible feats and charisma. She has been shown multiple times to be able to lift not only full-grown men and robots, but also mountain-like rocks and buildings. She is depicted as being extremely fast and acrobatic. Her speed allows her to easily deflect multiple incoming energy blasts with her sword. (Wiki)

• • •

So, that puzzle is… fine? I’m really tired so I liked that it was a bit easier than Tuesdays often are, but it felt bland to the point that I don’t really know how to describe it. FIRST THINGS FIRST, I didn’t love the theme. The revealer says to look at the starts of the theme answers, so after finishing the puzzle I looked at STIR (18A), then tried to make it mesh with GET (26A). Hmm… STIR and GET, related to FIRST THINGS FIRST? It took me a bit to recognize GET UP as the “start” of the second theme answer. To be fair, the revealer only says it’s hinting to the “starts” of the answers. But to have three of them be one word and the fourth be two feels wrong. 

Besides, the actions in the theme answers aren’t what I would guess the average person does once they first wake up (or maybe people are better than me and actually do stretch or do yoga or something like I’ve been saying I’ll try to do for years). I realize that any such list of actions wouldn’t fit everybody, but this list didn’t quite sit right with me. I did, though, like the phrases for the first two answers — STIR THE POT (18A) and GET UP TO SPEED (26A). 

Other than that, the puzzle just felt full of short-ish, common words. I thought the most interesting and fun answers were MUTATING (9D: Changing genetically) and CHIRP (11D: Cricket's call) and TWEETS (68A: Sounds from baby robins). HUSHES UP (39D: Keeps from being publicly known) was also decent. LIESL (33D: Eldest von Trapp daughter in "The Sound of Music") is a great and uncommon name for a puzzle. And the clue for LOO (8D: Where to go in the U.K.?) is decently cute. But, EST (35D: Winter setting in D.C.) next to ETS (36D: Sci-fi space travelers)? AIRS (4D: Broadcasts)? RETIE (12D: Knot again)? OREO (58A: Black bits in cookies and cream)? MOW (52D: Cut the grass)? ELECT (50D: Vote into office)? Where were the interesting, long downs? The clever clues even if the answers were routine? 

It also felt like the constructor was trying a bit to be ~hip~ and ~with the times~ with words and phrases like SLAPS (31A: Is awesome, in slang), NORMIE (65A: Person with mainstream likes, pejoratively), AMIRITE (23A: "Don't you agree with me?," informally), and SPITS BARS (3D: Raps freestyle, in slang). Those are fine, and I personally like when the puzzle sometimes skews younger. But it mostly feels like this meme to me:

The puzzle may have been on the easy side because there were only around eight proper nouns, which feels like less than normal, and they certainly weren’t hard, with the possible exception of SHE-RA (17A).  

And that's about all I can think to say…

Misc.:

• The puzzle was clearly wrong about morning routines, because doesn’t everyone wake up to their puppy stealing their pillow at 6 AM, then almost falling off the bed and hitting their head on the bedside table? Or is that just me? But she’s so cute and just wants to cuddle, so I can’t stay mad for long. Until tomorrow, when she maybe successfully shoves me off the bed. 
• D.C. got a callout in 35D with EST. But I can’t wait until we’re in EDT in just a week! Losing an hour of sleep is so, so worth its being lighter later. That means more time for another picnic this weekend! 
• You’re really going to clue IAN (22A) McKellen as Magneto and not Gandalf?! That feels sacrilegious. I mean, I enjoyed some of the X-Men movies, but Lord of the Rings is the best of all time. 
• I remembered the name LIESL (33D) because of the iconic “Sixteen Going On Seventeen” song in “The Sound of Music.” I watched that movie a lot growing up. Just earlier today I was thinking of “snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes” from the song “My Favorite Things,” as the pretty snowflakes were coming down. 
• This may be a reach, but OGRE (​​58D: Shrek, e.g.) obviously makes me think of one line from this promo sketch that SNL did for Connor Storrie hosting this past Saturday. Everyone must watch. I’ve been rather obsessed with “Heated Rivalry” (and the stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams) ever since it aired, so I watched SNL all the way through for the first time in many years. 
• February was another good reading month for me. I’ve moved on a bit from my literary fiction horror phase and have now entered my romance phase. Though I’m currently in the middle of the audiobook for “Carl's Doomsday Scenario,” the second in a series. The narrator is absolutely fantastic and does so many incredible voices. It makes biking in the snow and being cold a little less miserable (yes, I did that today; and, yes, I still feel cold hours later).

And with that, I hope everyone has a great month of March!

Signed, Clare Carroll, last thing last

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Cunning, like Mr. Tod or Swiper / TUES 1-27-26 / Wrangler on the road / Britishly precious / Trickster figure in Native American folklore

Hi, everyone! It’s Clare for the last Tuesday of January. Hope you’re all staying warm and not slipping and sliding in the snow. We got about seven inches of snow here in D.C., though a lot of that was sleet. Some friends and I went on a walk with my pup, and she had a wonderful time; almost no cars were on the road, so we had the streets mostly to ourselves. Then we made lasagna soup while watching football, and one of the two games went my way (boo, Patriots; go, Seahawks!). Otherwise, I’ve been staying busy watching a lot of the Australian Open (go, Coco!), and reading lots — while finding any reason not to step foot outside (other than for my puppy, of course). 

ANYHOO, on to the puzzle…

Constructors: Miranda Kany and Tracy Bennett

Relative difficulty: Easier than a usual Tuesday

THEME: EMPTY NESTER (54A: Metaphor for a parent whose youngest has "launched" ... like the little bird whose progress is suggested by 21-, 33- and 41-Across) — Each of the theme answers describes baby birds in sequential order as they learn to fly and leave the nest

Theme answers:

• IN THE STICKS (21A: Far from any urban center, colloquially) 
• OUT ON A LIMB (33A: Potentially at risk, metaphorically) 
• FLYING HIGH (41A: In a soaring mood, so to speak)

Word of the Day: ERIVO (2D: "Wicked" co-star Cynthia __) —

Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo (born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work on both stage and screen, she is the recipient of several accolades and one of a few individuals nominated for an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award (EGOT), winning all but the Oscar… Erivo's work for “The Color Purple” won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award. (Wiki)

• • •

That was a nice puzzle with a cute theme. It was so nice and so unobjectionable that I’m struggling to even find much to say about it. I liked the way the theme answers progressed as a little bird does. And each of the phrases, while clued in colloquial terms, describes birds nicely. I did think the clue for the theme answer could have been a little tighter, as the “youngest” isn’t always the last to leave the metaphorical nest in a household. But that’s a nit. 

There seemed to be a lot of duplicate clue/answer combos in the puzzle, which was clever. Like obviously MAMA (10A: Cry from a crib, perhaps) and PAPA (56D: Cry from a crib, perhaps). PETAL (1A: Potpourri piece) sits on top of A / ROSE (14A: Came up) if you look at it that way. ALOHA (7D: Hi in HI) is directly above LEI (34D: Floral ring). OPRY (37A: Nashville has a "grand ole" one) and REO (38A: ___ Speed Wagon (old vehicle)) are tangentially related, as the Grand Ole OPRY is a country music venue, and REO, though clued differently, was an American rock band. Both FOXY (41D: Cunning, like Mr. Tod or Swiper) and COYOTE (24A: Trickster figure in Native American folklore) were in the puzzle. And LOUNGED (42D: Chillaxed, say) and IDLED (52D: Did diddly-squat) are another duplication of sorts. Both IVS (20A: Hosp. hookups) and a DOSE (67A: Medical measure) are given in hospitals. The one place this didn’t work is how both LOTS (18A: Heaps) and LOT (32D: Area to build on) are in the puzzle, which seems like an oversight. Initially, I thought it was clever having LOTS cross SITES (8D: Loci), but not with another LOT in the puzzle. I didn’t like that… a LOT. 

There weren’t many proper nouns or, more specifically, people in the puzzle, which might’ve made it easier for me. The only people are ALEC Guinness (11D), Rita ORA (37D), Issa RAE (62D), and Cynthia ERIVO (2D) — all of whom are either common in crosswords or are well-known. I did puzzle over NOAH (59A: "Captain" on Mount Ararat) for a bit before realizing it meant NOAH of NOAH’s ark. “Captain” seems like an odd way to describe him. 

I loved some of the words and phrases in the puzzle. TOPSY TURVY (3D: Downside-up) is my absolute favorite. It’s just so fun to say and invokes such a fun idea. I also think ROUGH HOUSE (30D: Engage in boisterous activity) is a good expression. URCHIN (51A: Ragamuffin) is a great word, supported by another great word, “ragamuffin,” in its clue. I love a SLUSH fund (47A). (We’ll certainly be getting a lot of SLUSH here in D.C. after the snow eventually starts to melt, if it’s ever no longer 12 degrees every day.) And I love a MOJITO (10D: Cuban rum cocktail), though my go-to cocktail is usually a margarita or possibly now a Cosmopolitan. I also love the word MOOT (55D: Debatable), though my first thought was for the definition of something having no relevance, rather than something debatable. TWEE (57D: Britishly precious) is another fun word. 

Amusingly, the place I got the most stuck was with ANYHOO (45A: "Moving right along ..."). I use that word in every one of my write-ups, and I’ve declared (potentially incorrectly, but oh, well) that I will always spell it “anywho,” so it was hard to wrap my head around a different spelling. It didn’t help that HETHEY (46D: Possible pronoun pairing) originally looked strange to me before I parsed it out as HE / THEY. But knowing that FOXY (41D) had to be the answer helped me figure out it was ANYHOO. And the crosses for HE / THEY (46D) were pretty straightforward. 

I didn’t love NIP AT (17A: Give friendly bites, as a puppy might) or TAG ON (27A: Add as an afterthought) as they’re those types of clues that feel like they could be any number of different, blah answers. I RULE (61A: "Yay me!") feels childish. I don’t think of a DISC (3D: Chip shape) as the shape of a chip. If we’re talking computer chips, those are fabricated on discs, sure, but they’re cut into rectangles before they wind up in your electronics. And it took me longer than it really should have to get OATY (25D: Like some cookies and milk) because I thought that the clue was describing them together, rather than what each one of them could be. 

But overall, this was a cute and quick puzzle to snuggle up with on a cold winter night.

Misc.:

• With FOXY (41D: Cunning, like Mr. Tod or Swiper), all I could think about is Dora the Explorer (and me, when you were supposed to chant along with her) saying “Swiper, no swiping.” What a cunning little fox. 
• I got STAY (66A: Corset component) quite easily thanks to the multitude of historical romances I’ve read! 
• One of the most remarkable performances I’ve seen was from Cynthia ERIVO (2D) at the Tony Awards in 2016, where she sang “I’m Here” from “The Color Purple” and won the award for Best Actress in a Musical. I get chills every single time. She’s the reason the Hamilton cast didn’t sweep the musical acting awards that year, and I’m OK with that. She’s incredible. 
• Here’s a pic of Red enjoying the snow, and here’s a pic of me carrying her when she got cold — 
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• I ended my last write-up in 2025 with my list of favorite books, so I thought I’d keep that trend going. My favorite book of 2026 so far is the very first book I read in it — “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman. It had me crying and laughing at the same time, in equal measures. 
• Finally, a PSA: The Olympics start on Feb. 6! By the time I’m back for a write-up, the Olympics will be over. So everyone needs to make sure to watch the Alpine skiing for Mikaela Shiffrin (and all the sports, of course)!

That’s all from me! Stay warm, and I’ll see ya in February.

Signed, Clare Carroll, mother of a soon-to-be SLUSH puppy

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