Thursday, October 22, 2026, David J. Kahn

OMg, what a clever puzzle today. I didn't really notice the asterisks on some clues until I reached the third one and realized I was leaving a lot of white space behind me. I switched to the Downs and then hopscotched around, ending with almost the whole right side empty, including the revealer, because there was so much I didn't know in the lower right corner, I didn't know the "Region that produces Riesling wine" (SAAR), and I couldn't immediately figure out the ambiguous "First out" (ORIGINAL), not to mention the one mis-matchbox for this solver, "Item in a miniature collector's collection" (MODELCAR). I fancy myself something of a miniature collector and I don't have a single model car, so it took me a while to come up with that one. Also, as our dear Readers know, I am always at something of a loss when it comes to sports clues ("Team with the most Super Bowl wins in the 1970s" (STEELERS) :(). However, even when I did finally get the revealer ("'Forget it!' ... or a phonetic hint to aligning seven answers in this puzzle with their starred clues") I didn't get it. I ended up solving the entire puzzle without knowing why "*Trendy" was ALAMODOME or "*Subs" was HOMEROOMS. I closed the puzzle, and closed my eyes. Not looking at the spelling of the revealer answer helped me with the phonetic element because, about ten minutes later, the solution came to me. One needs to read NOCHANCE as "no chants," which, as far as the theme answers are concerned indicates that one needs to remove the OMs from each to get an answer that matches the clue. So, for the two mentioned above, the "real" or aligned answers are ALAMODE and HEROS, the latter containing two chantses being especially cool. Additionally excellent that the answers with the OMs make completely legitimate entries. And, plus, too, I loved the careful and accurate description of the revealer. It tells you what you need to know without giving it away. 

My one aforementioned non-matchbox not withstanding, there were a bunch of clues where my first guess was the right answer. I mention it not because that makes me a good puzzle solver but because I felt I was on the right wavelength for once. In particular, I enjoyed "Something passed at a charity event" for HAT, NIT for "Small grouse," and "Display, with 'out'" (TROT).

Also fun were the several mini puzzles within the puzzle like "What makes her hear?" (ANA [the letter A]), - ha! - "Island capital that's an anagram for a word meaning 'steamy baths'" (NASSAU [saunas]), and the QMC "Tops of palaces?" (TIARAS). 

Only a few clue/answer pairs HANOI'd me, to wit "Nursery cry" (WAH), HIRER for "ZipRecruiter client," and IMPISH for "Bratty," the former being possibly cute or funny, the latter never so, but maybe that's me.

I'm not sure I've done the puzzle justice with this rambling review, but I thought it was great and great fun.

~Frannie.