Saturday, May 16, 2026, Karen Steinberg

Saturday Themeless by Karen Steinberg 

Karen and David
Steinberg

Hi Gary,

I'm the mom of crossword constructor and editor David Steinberg; I'm also a writer and psychologist, even though in high school math was my favorite subject and an occupational interest test told me I should become a computer programmer (!).  As a teenager I solved crosswords in magazines and logic puzzles in books but stopped when I got to college.  I didn't start up again until more than 35 years later, when David began constructing.

As for this puzzle, ZILLENNIAL was the seed entry—as soon as I heard the term, I wanted to make a puzzle using it.  I listen to many podcasts and watch many (too many!) reality TV shows, so I'm constantly hearing new words and expressions and writing them down.  I was lucky that some other good long entries (especially ZETTABYTE and BELLY BUTTON RING) worked well with the grid.  Despite all the great new words these days, though, I'm trying to focus more on themed puzzles now.  I do have a couple of other themelesses I'm working on too, however, so we'll see which I end up finishing first! 

Best,

Karen

On a sadder note, Karen told me that her husband Paul passed away in 2023. Losing someone like Paul is heavy, but there’s something genuinely powerful in what Karen said—“the puzzles go on.” It speaks to continuity, legacy, and probably something they shared deeply as a family.

Karen, Paul and son David had the first
 "Family Puzzle" in the NYT on 5/22/22

Across:

1. Studies: GAZES AT 

8. Google Play download: APP GAME - This one is said to be the most downloaded APP GAME with over 3 billion downloads.

15. Woodcutter in a tale told by Scheherazade: ALI BABA.

16. Went by yacht: CRUISED.

17. Navel brass?: BELLY BUTTON RING - Karen supplied a very gettable grid spanner.

19. Patisserie treat: ECLAIR.

20. Cocktail whose color comes from grenadine: PINK LADY.

21. Winter hrs. for most of western Indiana: EST.

22. Relieve (of): DIVEST.

23. "Milk" director Gus Van __: SANT - You may have to blow up the image to see Gus's name below the title.

25. Sector: ZONE.

26. Not discourteous: CIVIL - CIVIL discourse is as desirable as it is rare

30. The CW predecessor: UPN - United Paramount Network

31. "Ooh, burn!": ZING - I stuck with DING too long

32. "The Tale of __ Puddle-Duck": JEMIMA - You can get this 1908 first edition for $650.00

33. Winless racehorses: MAIDENS.

35. Apple cultivar that dates to American colonial times: WINESAP - Some say WINESAP apples came to America as seeds from Europe and some say they are native to our country.

36. Euchre kin: ECARTE - Here it is as an APP GAME

37. Oscilloscope display: WAVE - This Heathkit oscilloscope is the very one I used in my physics classroom for years. 

38. Sch. in Athens: UGA - The University of Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, GA names their mascot UGA

39. Sparked again: RELIT - Grilling in a wind might require this action

40. Connection point: NODE.

41. Barbaro's role in "A Complete Unknown": BAEZ - Monica Barbaro played Joan BAEZ in this biopic about Bob Dylan.

Joan Baez.                      Monica Barbaro

42. Pyle player: NABORS.

44. Berkeley, familiarly: CAL.

45. Kodai Senga's signature pitch: FORK BALL - The pitch is thrown with fingers forming a fork around the ball

48. Yoga pose that alternates between arching and rounding the spine: CAT COW.

 

51. Beyoncé challenge in the song "Energy": EVERYBODY ON MUTE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

53. Shows some major respect?: SALUTES.

54. Mythical hunter transformed into a stag: ACTAEON ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Google this gruesome story if you must.

55. Cunning: SLYNESS.

56. Lunar event: MOONSET - Today the Moon will rise at about 6:00 am and set at about 7:30 pm. The Moon is in the Waning Crescent phase and will be so close to the Sun that it will be invisible for all practical purposes. 

Down:

1. Kapler who was NL Manager of the Year in 2021: GABE.

2. Obi-Wan player: ALEC - Sir ALEC Guiness played the role in the 1977 Star Wars but said this about it

3. Microgeneration of the 1990s: ZILLENNIAL - The group that spans the gap between Millenial and Gen Z.

4. Marketing method: EBLAST - An EBLAST (email blast) is a one-time mass email sent to a large group of recipients simultaneously, often t promote, announce or inform 

5. "Just tell me!": SAY IT.

6. Dict. tag: ABBR.

7. __ cross: TAU.

8. On the move: ACTIVE.

9. Tending (to): PRONE.

10. Anticonformist subculture: PUNK SCENE.

11. Some brunch dates: GIRL -TIME.

12. China setting: ASIA.

13. Make better: MEND.

14. Anxious: EDGY.

18. Halloween prank: T-PING - A leaf blower and toilet paper is a great demo of Bernoulli's Principle

22. Puts on: DONS.

23. Ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates: SUMER.

24. Quickly: APACE.

25. Niche mag: ZINE - A magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter”.

27. Facial expressions, e.g.: VISUAL CUES - Read the room!

28. PR concern: IMAGE.

29. Bolivian cultural center: LA PAZ.

31. One sextillion memory units: ZETTA BYTE ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

32. Speak unseriously: JIVE June Cleaver (Barbra Billingsley) speaks JIVE

34. Mid-party errand: DRINK RUN - Getting low on liquor 

35. Balls (up): WADS.

37. Macrocosm: WORLD.

40. "We can manage without them": NO LOSS.

41. Superhero star of a Lego movie: BATMAN.

43. Sweets: BABES.

44. Epic poem division: CANTO.

45. Admit, with "up": FESS.

46. Like a kumquat: OVAL.

47. Depend (on): RELY.

48. 2025 French Open winner Gauff: COCO.

49. __-Missouria Tribe: OTOE - A familiar cwd tribe 

50. Bounced: WENT.

52. Vegetable related to lilies: YAM.

Cwd Map 2026

 

Saturday, December 20, 2025, Rafael Musa

Saturday Themeless by Rafael Musa

Rafael is a frequent constructor from Patti's coterie (how 'bout that word?) and is often seen paired with Rebecca Goldstein. Rafa is a software engineer for Airbnb in San Francisco.

I could stare at that red cell below until the proverbial cows come home and would never get it, so I'll take one bad cell and, as Taylor Swift would sing, Shake It Off.

Across:

1. Florentine political dynasty: MEDICI - The MEDICI family were the main patrons of Galileo and supported much of his work.

7. Posters that are usually ignored: SPAMBOTS.

15. Transfer: IRON ON - Mom IRONED ON a big Superman IRON transfer for 10-yr-ole me and it was my favorite shirt for many years.

16. Music genre that originated in 1930s Shanghai: MANDO POP - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A mix of Mandarin and Western music.  Origin and an example of it today.

17. Confection: BONBON.

18. Cold look: ICY STARE.

19. Put away: STOW.

20. Bajo opposite: ALTO - I always think of Baj(a) California (lower california) and Palo ALTO (tall stick), CA.

21. Meathead: CLOD.

22. Federal holiday since 2021: JUNETEENTH.

25. Secondary account, informally: FINSTA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  You might create a FINSTA (fake instagram account) along with your RINSTA (real instagram account) to share more freely with a small group of friends. It's a way to post silly memes, inside jokes, and unfiltered thoughts without worrying about your public image. 

26. Revolutionary outcomes, often: NEW ERAS - Mao's Cultural Revolution brought a NEW ERA to China and he tried hard to eliminate Mandopop and other "Western cultural trash". BTW, Taylor Swift has a huge following in China today.

30. Stick around the TSA line: WAND 😀

31. Meddle: PRY.

33. In profile: SIDE ON - You might have some miles on your tires to recognize this famous profile. (answer at bottom of write-up.

34. Cancel: NIX.

35. Vegan baking ingredient made with ground seeds: CHIA EGG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Egg substitutes 

37. __ Jayawardenepura Kotte: urban area near Colombo: SRI - This suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka is usually just referred to as Kotte. Be sure to get a tee shirt at the gift shop.

                                           

38. Scrub Daddy competitor: BRILLO.

40. Greeting often followed by "Como vai?": OLA - "How are you?" and "Hello" in Portugese 

41. Smith of "House of the Dragon": MATT - I wonder if Rafa even knows the name MATT Dillon

42. Flabbergast: ASTOUND.

44. Tame __: "The Slow Rush" band: IMPALA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  but it just kept filling itself in

46. Find peace: FEEL AT EASE.

48. Abbr. in some titles: ASST.

51. Workers' residence: HIVE 😀

52. Crash site org.: NTSB - The National Transportation Safety Board examines a damaged aircraft in Philadelphia

54. Like some hair products: TWO IN ONE.

56. Amused sound: TEE HEE.

58. Thing that's handled badly: MISNOMER - A handle can be called a name for something so a misnomer could be Koala Bear (is a marsupial not a bear), a peanut is a legume (not a nut), lead pencils (they use graphite), etc.

59. Wading birds with powder down: HERONS - Not EGRETS this time

60. Exhaustive analysis?: SMOG TEST.

61. New money?: CRYPTO - 😀 What I know about CRYPTO could be written in this box 

Down:

1. Sci-fi franchise starring Will Smith: MIB - Men In Black

2. Cherubic deity: EROS.

3. "You'll bring us bad luck!": DONT JINX IT - Don't tell a cast have a great show.

4. Like some rush-hour traffic: INBOUND.

5. Shares responsibility, in a way: COOWNS.

6. Stonewall __: INN - The site of a 1969 riot that launched the gay rights movement 

7. Katy Perry album with the single "Cry About It Later": SMILE.

8. Old name of a gp. that now has two members: PAC TEN - All the schools moved adn only left Oregon State and Washington State. Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA joined the The Big "Ten" and have made transcontinental travel a necessity for some games.

9. Impossible to call: ANYONE'S GAME - Tie score in the ninth inning...

10. Physical performers, for short: MDS 😀

11. Made a mess of: BOTCHED.

12. Gem for a Libra: OPAL - Ruby is the only other 4-letter birthstone I could find

13. Sushi bar cut: TORO.

14. Tore: SPED.

20. Game company that released a 50th anniversary bundle in 2022: ATARI.

23. Classic movie line uttered while pointing out the window: ET PHONE HOME.

24. Bit of kindling: TWIG.

25. The Big E et al.: FAIRS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

27. Old stock market: RESALE SHOP.

28. Left ventricle outlet: AORTA.

29. Foul mood: SNIT.

30. Dream realm?: WNBA.

32. Former Rocket Ming: YAO - His wife is 6' 3" but he is 7' 6"

35. Fingerprint, maybe: CLUE.

36. Select few: ELITE.

39. Hitting up: LOFTING - That'll get them away from the net

41. Proficiency: MASTERY.

43. Tackling groups, for short: D-LINES - a famous one played in Pittsburgh in the 70's

45. Saag __: spinach dish with cheese: PANEER ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'll bet you can get this in Jayawardenepura Kotte

47. Stave off: AVERT.

48. PIN-points: ATMS.

49. Make waves, say: SWIM.

50. Shrugworthy: SO SO.

53. Dog-eared, say: BENT - Don't let the librarian catch you 😊

55. "__ cool!": NOT.

56. Compound in some edibles: THC - The hilarious day everyone in Grey's Anatomy ate marijuana-laced cookies.  (5:58)

57. Spanish pronoun: ESO -  Paul Anka's ESO Besso (Ooo That Kiss) always saves me. here.

*That famous SIDE ON profile is of Alfred Hitchcock and was used at the start of his 60's TV 

show

Jess Rucks, a crossword constructor, whose puzzles I have blogged many times, contacted me via FaceBook to meet in Lincoln for dinner as she was driving from Colorado Springs to her hometown in Minnesota. We met at Lazlo’s Restaurant and had a very pleasant evening. Here is a picture of me and Jess. As you might imagine from the picture, she played D1 volleyball at New Mexico but not so obviously she later served as an Urdu translator for the Air Force. Besides being brilliant, she also has a wonderful sense of humor! An extensive interview with Jess