This puzzle was right in my vein - literally; my Blood type is B+, er, B-plus, I mean, B "positive"~! Jeff Stillman is a regular contriButor for the L.A. Times - this is his second in January of 2026 already, and typically offers two or three puzzles a year - needs only a Saturday puBlication for a"week steak". A simple theme of adding the letter "B" to four in-language phrases to create a humorous change - and just three stray non-theme "B"s in the grid; pretty impressive. A smooth solve for me - Better than yesterday's. Single digits on the 3LWs ( nine~! ), no circles, a standard grid, But a few too many names again. The four themers, with no reveal;
20. Add to one's ear piercings?: HIT A NEW LOBE - Hit a new low - which was a clue we sorta saw yesterday; spelling change, same "oh" sound
I learned some new anatomy here
27. "There's nothing like the feeling of posting a vlog!"?: "I LOVE YouTube~!" I love you, too~!" - a different spelling change. Below is my first "official" post to YT, the raw, unedited - boring - clip of my first time doing epoxy on the table for my brother; not much to see, but you can hear my furnace, Santa go by in the background, and a quote from Ghostbusters.
46. Trio trying to sneak past the guard at a sauna?: THREE IN A ROBE - Three in a row - same spelling change as the first themer
Does this count as three men in a ROBE~?
55. "Get your own die, pal!"?: "THAT'S MY CUBE~!" - "That's my cue~!" - NO spelling change
"I've wandered, and can't find my cube~!"
BuBt WaBit TheBre's MoBre
ACROSS:
1. Word on some birth announcements: GIRL - gonna be multiple choice, soon
5. Bowlers, e.g.: HATS
Pierce Brosnan from The Thomas Crown Affair - loved the movie
9. Storage box: CHEST - I am thinking about building an LP record chest for my bother to match the table I gave him for Christmas
14. French friend: AMIE - Frawnche lesson #1
15. Bread maker: OVEN - I made my best chicken crust pizza this past weekend; oh so good~!
16. Video counterpart: AUDIO - the "A" in A/V Club
17. Uneven do: SHAG
18. Mallet game: POLO - Ah. I was stuck in croquet-mode
19. Rapinoe who won the Ballon d'Or Féminin in 2019: MEGAN - Frawnche lesson #2, "Women's Golden Ball" - the "N" was my last fill; this was more like a Saturday clue/answer, as I had no clue - or answer 😜 - name #1
23. Onetime owner of Virgin Records: EMI - Iron Maiden, one of my musical favorites, started out on EMI; their early management led them to fifty years of albums and touring. There's also a girl who works at my BJs club named Emi; I wondered if it was short for Emilia, or something. Name(ish)
24. Michael of Monty Python: PALIN - Glad I am a MP fan, otherwise, name #2
37. Body shop fig.: ESTimate - these days, the car is usually totaled
39. "The King and I" role: ANNA - name #3
40. Uses a Brillo pad on: SCOURS
43. Meditation spot: YOGA MAT
48. Location: SITE - think construction
49. Evasive maneuver: DODGE - I own a Dodge Grand Caravan; taking the ferry on Tuesday to Long Island to deliver and install a new trellis to replace the one that was run over at a friend's house last year - it was "totalled" 😝
52. Dejected: SAD - I am SAD; the Buffalo Bills are out again - as is their coach; I did call it on Jan 2nd
59. Words to live by: AXIOM - "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
61. Home overhaul, informally: RENO - renovation; I like HGTV's show "No Demo Reno"
My business name is "Re-Mölisher" - I try to reduce the demo/waste, too
62. Iranian money: RIAL - Learned by doing crosswords
63. Amazon assistant: ALEXA - I have Alexa, but I put her away to "renovate" my living room, and she's still in her box. I still love this always funny SNL skit - name #4
Amazon Alexa Silver - uh-huh
64. Small fastener: BRAD - at least it wasn't clued as a name . . .
65. Utah home of Sugarloaf Mountain: ALTA - Dah~! I knew ASTA was wrong, however long the name has appeared in crosswords; he's the classic movie dog; geo name #5
66. Back, as a racehorse: BET ON - I read this as 'back OF a racehorse'
Hey, croup fit . . . .
67. "Holy moly!": "YIPE~!"
68. Existed: BEEN - WERE did not gibe; I had - - EN, so I went with THEN; BEEN was slow to come to me, as its pronunciation is more 'bihn', than 'bean', as it looks
DOWN:
1. Nasty cut: GASH - I start with the Down clues, and was on a roll . . .
2. "Ya dig?" reply: "I'M HIP." - but I had "Uh-Huh" here . . .
3. Rodeo rope: RIATA - and LASSO, so the NW was a mess
4. Motivation for seeking counsel: LEGAL ISSUES - great fill, but waited on perps
5. "Heaven forbid!": "HOPE NOT~!" - waited on perps
6. Assert: AVOW - Filled in the A & V, waited on perps - could always be avER
7. Disclose: TELL
8. Comics canine: SNOOPY - name #6
9. Required remittance: CAME DUE - pondered "WAS OWED" - Twurd
10. Peach or plum: HUE - I was not fooled. Yes, they happen to be fruits as well . . .
Plus burgundy, coffee, ivory....
11. Border: EDGE - good WAG; could have been the verb ABUT
12. "The King and I" setting: SIAM - learned by doing crosswords
13. "Knives Out" actress Collette: TONI - name #7 - no clue, more here
21. The Aswan High Dam's river: NILE - geo name #8 - found this video with the unfinished obelisk featured as well
22. Snout-touching sound: BOOP - toyed with OINK
26. Seafood dish that turns from blue to orange during preparation: STEAMED CRAB
29. Gut course: EASY A - I am not aligned with "easy" meaning "gut" in this instance
30. Arm bone: ULNA
31. Out of shape: BENT - FAT was, ironically, not big enough . . .
32. Timeline stretch: ERA - Dah~! not EON
33. Sumptuous: RICH - POSH, LUSH~? - ah, my actual name - but did not need to be clued as such
34. Fragrance: ODOR - I associate "fragrance" as positive, say "aroma" - "odor" with "stink", funk", etc.
36. Winter hrs. in Halifax: AST - Atlantic Standard Time
Circled in green, bottom right
38. Craggy hill: TOR - Learned by doing crosswords
41. Surname of two directors in the "Ghostbusters" franchise: REITMAN - Ivan did the always quotable original, and the less entertaining "II"; his son Jason did "Afterlife", which I have, embarrassingly, never heard about . . . now I gotta see it - name #9
42. Enemy of the Jedi: SITH - from the ubiquitous Star Wars - name(ish)
44. Period of invincibility in video games: GOD MODE - I like playing Sim City, and I can literally play "God" by turning on - or off - the natural disasters.
45. "About __": Hugh Grant film based on a Nick Hornby novel: "A BOY" - the IMDb
47. Within earshot: NEARBY
50. Skillful deceit: GUILE - My one unspottable error; GUI S E was good enough, and crossing a name, AL(S)TA, I was not going to notice I was wrong 😜
51. Online cash-back offer: eBATE
52. Automaker that declared bankruptcy in 2011: SAAB - The Monday dupe - now on Wednesday~! I once owned a 1983 900 - buy now, SAAB later - name #10
53. Wagon part: AXLE
54. Lose on purpose?: DIET - the verb; I am back on track - down now at 207lbs, and still "losing"
56. Actress Hatcher: TERI - 'Bond girl' Paris Carver from Tommorow Never Dies, name #11
Pierce again - yet not my favorite Bond, by far
57. Pic: SNAP
58. Joie de vivre: ELAN - Frawnche #3, "Joy of Living"
60. Ergonomic brand: OXO - another Thursday dupe; 'kitchen gadgets', but that phrase was already in the crossword today as a clue, @ 35A.
Splynter
Grid Flow 29.8
Notes from C.C.:
Agnes sent me this precious photo she recently came across. She said "'It's about 30 years old and there are only 4 of us left out of the 9. Brings back many happy memories."
L to R, Seated: Joe, Agnes, Eileen, Anne
L to R, Standing: Bill, Peggy, Jack, Bud, Mary
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