August 14, 2025

Title: LIGHT MY FIRE

Constructors: Shannon Rapp & Will Eisenberg

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• TINDER DATE (17A: Meetup for those who swiped the right way)
• FLINT, MICHIGAN (38A: Activist Amariyanna Copeny's hometown)
• OXYGEN BAR (62A: Establishment whose patrons are masked)

LIGHT MY FIRE: The first words of the theme answers are elements needed for a successful FIRE: TINDER, FLINT, and OXYGEN.

And now a word from our constructors:

Shannon & Will: Hey check out all this Midwest related content! Not just the theme answer of FLINT MICHIGAN but we also have the CLE Guardians, the Chicago SKY, Elly de la Cruz's team the Cincinnati REDS, and DES Moines (home of the Iowa Wolves). We're both from the Midwest and we enjoy putting things in our puzzles that people we know will appreciate. We're also both part of the team from the Midwest Crossword Tournament, held October 4 in Chicago and open for registration now at https://midwestgridfest.com/

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• IMMUNE (32A: Like Ellie, to the cordyceps infection, in "The Last of Us") I'm familiar with The Last of Us, a TV series based on a video game series of the same name. On the show, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a smuggler tasked with escorting the teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States. I have not watched the show or played the video game, however, so I didn't recognized Cordyceps as the parasite that led to the collapse of human civilization. Even so, the word "infection" in the clue was enough to help me figure out that IMMUNE might be the answer here.
• REDS (6D: Elly de la Cruz's team) Elly De La Cruz is a professional baseball player. He plays shortstop for MLB's Cincinnati REDS. At 6 feet 5 inches tall, he's one of the tallest shortstops in MLB history. Elly de la Cruz was an MLB All Star in 2024 and 2025.
• IONE (56D: "Say Everything" memoirist Skye) In the 1989 rom-com Say Anything, IONE Skye portrays Diane Court, the valedictorian of her high school class. She surprises her classmates by agreeing to let underachiever Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) take her to their graduation party. The title of IONE Skye's 2025 memoir, Say Everything, is a fun nod to the movie. 
• HAS (61D: "She ___ Her Mother's Laugh" (Carl Zimmer book)) Carl Zimmer is a science writer who has written fifteen books as well as science essays for The New York Times, Discover, and National Geographic. She HAS Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers Perversions, and Potential of Heredity is his 2018 book about genetics and heredity. This clue is a great example of using a book title to add interest to a common three-letter word.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CATS (1A: Animals with retractable claws) Please don't tell my CAT, Willow that it took me a moment to think of this answer. Here is a photo of Shannon's CAT, Roxie, "helping" with laundry.

• COCO (10A: Gauff who won a 2025 French Open title) COCO Gauff is a professional tennis player who won her first singles tennis title in 2019 (the Linz Open) at the age of 15. Her first major singles title win was in 2023 when she defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win the US Open. COCO Gauff won the French Open this year (again defeating Aryna Sabalenka), becoming the first American to win that title since Serena Williams in 2015.
• CLE (20A: Guardians' city (Abbr.) The Cleveland Guardians (CLE on scoreboards and broadcasts) are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team was founded in 1896 in Columbus, Ohio as the Columbus Buckeyes. They've been part of MLB since 1901. The team has had nine different names, and has been known as the Guardians since 2022. Fun fact: From 1903 to 1914, the team was called the Cleveland Naps.
• HERMIT (23A: ___ crab (crustacean that reuses discarded shells)) HERMIT crabs have a soft abdominal exoskeleton, making them vulnerable to attack from predators. They have adapted by scavenging and occupying the empty discarded shells of other mollusks.
• SKY (25A: Chicago WNBA team) The WNBA's Chicago SKY play their home games at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The team was formed in 2006, and they were the 2021 WNBA Champions. 
• FLINT, MICHIGAN (38A: Activist Amariyanna Copeny's hometown) Amariyanna  "Mari" Copeny was eight years old in 2016 when she wrote a letter to then-President Obama drawing attention to the water crisis in her hometown of FLINT, MICHIGAN. The letter led to President Obama visiting FLINT, MICHIGAN, which led to a nationwide awareness of the city's critical situation. High levels of lead were found in homes in FLINT, MICHIGAN after the city water supply was switched from the Detroit River to the FLINT River. Amariyanna Copeny has continued her environmental advocacy and has also partnered with other advocacy groups. 
• MEG (49A: Literary sister to Amy, Jo and Beth) Louisa May Alcott's 1868 book, Little Women, tells the story of the March sisters: MEG, Jo, Amy, and Beth. 
• OXYGEN BAR (62A: Establishment whose patrons are masked) An OXYGEN BAR sells OXYGEN for recreational use. Patrons pay to inhale a percentage of OXYGEN greater than the normal atmospheric content, usually for about 20 minutes. Some OXYGEN BARs offer the option of adding scents, such as lavender, to the OXYGEN. Have you been to an OXYGEN BAR? I'm not tempted to visit at all, but if you've been to one I'd be interested in hearing about your experience.
• KISH (26D: "Top Chef" host Kristen) Top Chef is a reality competition TV series that first premiered in 2006 and is still in production. Throughout each season, chefs compete in culinary challenges that are judged by a panel of professional chefs. Kristen KISH was the winner of Top Chef season 10 and now hosts the show with Katie Lee and Padma Lakshmi.
• DES (28D: ___ Moines (home of the Iowa Wolves)) The Iowa Wolves are a professional basketball team in the NBA G League (NBA's developmental league). The Wolves are based in DES Moines, Iowa and are affiliated with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.
• MIGUEL (33D: Broadway star Cervantes) MIGUEL Cervantes played the role of Alexander Hamilton in the Chicago production of Hamilton from 2016 to 2020 and in the Broadway production from 2020 to 2024.
• PLOT ARMOR (34D: Character's seeming invincibility) As the aforementioned Little Women demonstrates (sorry for the vague spoiler), sometimes fictional characters do die. However, protagonists and heroes are often protected from harm for the reason that they are needed for the story to progress. This protection has been dubbed PLOT ARMOR.
• TIME (39D: "Person of the Year" magazine) TIME magazine has been naming a "Person of the Year" since 1927. (It began as "Man of the Year.") In 1927, TIME's Person of the Year was Charles Lindbergh. 
• LEE (41D: "Squid Game" Emmy winner Yoo-mi) Squid Game is a South Korean TV series about a group of players who risk their lives playing deadly children's games for the chance to win a large cash prize. Squid Game was released on Netflix in 2021. In the show's first season, LEE Yoo-mi portrayed Ji-yeong, a young woman recently released from prison after killing her abusive step-father, a role for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. In the show's second season, released in 2023, LEE Yoo-mi's character had a recurring role.

For some reason I have The Doors lyric, "Come on, baby, LIGHT MY FIRE," as my earworm today. This is a fun category theme: You need TINDER (a flammable substance), FLINT (a material used to provide a spark), and OXYGEN (to facilitate the reaction) to produce FIRE. Thank you, Shannon and Will, for this blazingly good puzzle.

One more thing today: I second (third?) Shannon and Will's encouragement to check out the Midwest Crossword Tournament and consider joining us in Chicago on Saturday, October 4, or join us online.