Theme: The beat goes on!
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| Erik Agard and Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis |
Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis is an audio and digital producer on the NPR Music Team, and an avid crossword solver. This may be her first published crossword puzzle. If so, congratulations! In the photo above, Sofie was reporting on a crossword tournament at the University of Chicago in October 2025 for radio station WBEZ Chicago. For today's puzzle, Sofie teamed up with constructor extraordinaire Erik Agard, former crossword editor at USA Today, currently at Apple News+. It's wonderful to have these young folks making puzzles.
Today's puzzle features three starred clues, and one that reveals their connection:
28-Down. "Genius of Love" band, or what the answers to the starred clues are members of?: TOM TOM CLUB. Although I was a fan of the band Talking Heads in the 1980s, I did not know about Tom Tom Club, a side project of two of the members. Their song "Genius of Love" made it to the US top 40 in 1981.
Now that I've heard the song, I'm going to forget it, along with the band. Happily this ignorance on my part did not keep me from solving the puzzle. The reveal even helped me complete the starred clues. They are:
20-Across. *Jelly Roll Morton jazz composition: BLACK BOTTOM STOMP. I know about Jelly Roll Morton -- the jazz bandleader who was recording in the 1920s -- because of Van Morrison's lyrics:
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
But I didn't know Black Bottom Stomp:
47-Across. *Pronunciation dichotomy popularized by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: TOMAYTO TOMAHTO. This difference in pronunciation is highlighted in a song written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the 1937 film Shall We Dance. In the movie, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sing it while roller skating. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1957.
27-Down. *One minuscule step at a time: ATOM BY ATOM. Keeping in mind that Sofie is involved with broadcasting music, it's likely that she has a song in mind here, too. Is she thinking of the British band Satan, with the 2015 album (and song) Atom by Atom? (There's also a London-based alternative rock group called Atom by Atom. Listen here: https://atombyatom.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-bag )
If you've ever wished that NaomiZ would post more links, your wish has now been granted.
Oh, and by the way -- TOM TOMs are drums. But you knew that. And -- the word TOM appears twice in each of the starred answers. But you knew that, too.
Here's the grid, with all those TOMs peeping out:
Now that we've dealt with every TOM, let's see about Dick and Harry, and whoever else.
Across:1. One-third of a cereal mascot trio: SNAP. Crackle and Pop wouldn't fit.
5. Start fishing: CAST. A fisherman casts the line by pulling the rod back and then snapping it forward, releasing the fishing line and launching it forward.
9. Astounds: WOWS.
13. __ d'Ivoire: COTE. A West African country with a French colonial history.
14. Spa treatment: FACIAL.
16. Pelee Island's lake: ERIE. The largest island in Lake Erie.
18. Mamá's mamá: ABUELA. Abuela is Spanish for grandmother. The accent on mamá was your clue for Spanish.
19. Rodgers of the band Chic: NILE. Co-founder of the band Chic, Nile Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has received six Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement/Special Merit Award. You may not know his name, but I'll bet you've heard the songs:
20. [Theme clue]
23. "Beloved" protagonist: SETHE. Beloved is a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison. This harrowing tale of a runaway slave is based on a true story. In 1856, U.S. marshals broke into a cabin in the free state of Ohio, where a mother who had escaped brutal slavery in Kentucky was hiding with her children. The mother attempted to kill her own children to prevent their return to Kentucky under the Fugitive Slave Act. Imagine how awful her experience in Kentucky must have been, to want to spare her children in this way.
24. Many a YA hero: TEEN. YA = Young Adult, a category of literature aimed at teenagers.
25. Yellowfin and albacore: TUNAS.
26. Green vegetable in aloo matar: PEA. Curry with peas is part of our standard rotation! We use tofu instead of potatoes.
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| Aloo Matar |
28. 2,000 pounds: TON.
29. The Black List items: SCRIPTS. The Black List is a platform for writers to share scripts with Hollywood professionals and get high-quality evaluations from vetted readers. https://blcklst.com/
33. Polite: CORDIAL.
37. "I'm sorry" response: THAT'S OK.
38. Vast: IMMENSE.
39. Chows down: EATS.
40. Instant: MOMENT. One meaning of instant is a precise moment of time. At that very moment ... or, at that very instant ...
43. Dreary routines: RUTS.
44. CT scan kin: MRI.
45. Ford SUV: BRONCO.
46. Govt. org. established by Lincoln: IRS. President Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1862, which created the position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue within the Department of the Treasury, and levied the nation's first progressive income tax. Income tax was repealed in 1872, reinstated in 1894, ruled unconstitutional in 1895, and reinstated through the 16th amendment in 1913. The taxing agency was renamed "Internal Revenue Service" in 1953. You're welcome.
47. [Theme clue]
52. Govt. org. established by Nixon: EPA. President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency by executive order in 1970 to consolidate federal environmental responsibilities and to respond to growing public concern over pollution and environmental degradation.
53. Movie tech: CGI. Computer-Generated Imagery.
54. "Did you start already?": AM I LATE?
58. Type of grill or haircut: FLAT TOP.
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| flat top grill flat top haircut |
62. Spot for the cheapest seats in the house, maybe: LAST ROW.
63. "Beauty and the Beast" candelabra: LUMIÈRE. French speakers have an advantage, since lumière means light.
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| Lumière from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" |
65. Partner of "aided": ABETTED. Aiding others is usually a good thing; abetting is very bad.
Down:
1. Line crossers?: SCABS. Scabs cross the picket line.
2. Of high morals: NOBLE.
3. Royal appearance?: AT BAT. Kansas City Royals appear, one at a time, at bat.
4. Fruit parts in some noyaux recipes: PEACH PITS. Noyaux is a liqueur which infuses the kernels found inside pits of stone fruits into spirits like vodka or rum. Be sure to roast those kernels to avoid cyanide poisoning!
5. "The Princess Diaries" novelist Meg: CABOT. The Princess Diaries is a series of young adult novels by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series follows an American teenager who turns out to be Princess Regent of a small European country. The 2001 Disney film starred Anne Hathaway in her film debut as the princess, along with Julie Andrews as her grandmother and Queen regnant.
6. Like some angles: ACUTE.
7. This clue's number en español: SIETE. Spanish for "seven."
8. Hawk's weapon: TALON. Photographer Mark Smith call talons "murder mittens."
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| Mark Smith's photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle |
9. Sank: WENT UNDER.
10. Night hunter: ORION. Most visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
11. Activist and social reformer Mankiller: WILMA. Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) was a Native American activist and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. One of her projects was the subject of the film The Cherokee Word for Water.
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| Wilma Mankiller 2022 quarter dollar |
12. Oozes: SEEPS.
14. "Gorg!": FAB. Gorgeous! Fabulous.
15. On the __: LAM.
21. Holds on to: KEEPS.
22. Rush angrily: STORM. Picture storming off ...
27. [Theme clue]
28. [Theme reveal]
29. Brain __: STEM.
30. Graph that may resemble a pie: CHART.
31. Embarrass on social media, in a way: RATIO. Ratio as a verb on Twitter: to flood a tweet or its author with negative replies such that commenters take control of the message away from the original poster. This makes sense as it influences the ratio of positive to negative responses.
32. Field hockey garment: SKORT.
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| Looks like skorts are strictly for the ladies. |
33. Seis menos uno: CINCO. Spanish again! Six minus one: five.
34. Indigenous people of Greenland: INUIT.
35. Houston baseballer: ASTRO.
36. "I couldn't care __": LESS.
41. "Click, Clack, __: Cows That Type": Caldecott Honor book: MOO. By Doreen Cronin, 2000.
42. Otolaryngologist, for short: ENT. An otolaryngologist, commonly called an ENT doctor, specializes in conditions of the ear, nose, and throat.
48. Cheesy sammies: MELTS. A melt is a hot sandwich with melting cheese. The tuna melt is a classic example.
49. Not together: APART.
50. Finest form: A GAME.
51. "Cue the music!": HIT IT. Back to Sofie's choice!
54. Flying fig.: ALT. Altitude.
55. Ruin: MAR.
56. Ames sch.: ISU. Iowa State University is in Ames, Iowa.
57. Mother in a meadow: EWE.
58. Ga. neighbor: FLA.
59. Vietnamese New Year: TET.
60. One of five resources in Catan: ORE. Catan is a board game in which players establish settlements on a fictional island while acquiring and trading resources. The resources include wool, grain, lumber, brick, and ore.
61. One on foot: Abbr.: PED. Pedestrian.
