LA Times Crossword Clue · Across
"Please excuse the bad language," and what can be said about 18-, 26-, 55-, and 65-Across
Tap each tile to reveal the answer
Stuck? Tap one tile at a time for a gentle nudge, or reveal the full answer.
Letters
14
Direction
Across
Starts with
P
Ends with
H
Vowels
3
Puzzle date
June 5, 2026
About this clue
The clue “"Please excuse the bad language," and what can be said about 18-, 26-, 55-, and 65-Across” appeared in the LA Times Crossword on Friday, June 5, 2026, in the across direction. The answer is a 14-letter word or short phrase that starts with P and ends with H.
Crossword editor Patti Varol and her constructor team often use longer themed entries like this one to anchor the grid. With 3 vowels, the answer is unusually vowel-heavy — a hint that it may be a phrase, a name, or a borrowing from another language.
How to solve this clue
If you're stuck on this one, here are a few angles that often help with LA Times clues like this:
- Watch for misdirection. If the clue ends in a question mark or feels weirdly phrased, the answer is probably a pun, a homophone, or a non-literal interpretation.
- Match the part of speech. A noun clue takes a noun answer; a verb clue takes a verb in the same tense.
- Crosscheck with the perpendicular entries. If the Across entry is fighting you, fill in the Down words that cross it.
- Consider context. Theme entries often relate to the puzzle's overall gimmick.