August 16, 2025

Title: MOVING VAN

Constructors: Sally Hoelscher & Olivia Mitra Framke

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• VANISHING ACT (20A: "Now you see it ... now you don't" performance)
• DISADVANTAGES (37A: Drawbacks)
• ANNE SULLIVAN (52A: Helen Keller's teacher and companion)

MOVING VAN: The word VAN is MOVING from left to right through the theme answers: VANISHING ACT, DISADVANTAGES, and ANNE SULLIVAN.

And now a word from our contructors:

Sally: My mantra about coming up with puzzle themes is "Always be brainstorming!" The idea for this puzzle came out of a conversation with Olivia about the possibility of her moving. I interrupted our conversation with the comment, "Moving Van." Fortunately, Olivia was on my wavelength, and it didn't take us long to come us with a set of theme answers we liked. Hooray for collaborating!

Olivia: There are not many opportunities for me to give nods to my day job through crosswords, but today's puzzle was one of them! By day, I work in the Registrar's Office at The New School, a progressive university in NYC. The inclusion of TRANSCRIPTS at 3-Down meant I got to shout out my kind of work! I also loved being able to call out Isfahan's gorgeous architecture in IRAN and RAMPs for short-legged pups! Thank you Sally for another great collab!

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• RAMP (5A: It might help a dachshund get on the bed) This clue angle was inspired by the RAMP Olivia has to help her dog Charlie get up on (and off of) the bed.

• ANORA (16A: 2024 Oscar winner starring Mikey Madison) The 2024 movie ANORA won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (the festival's highest honor). Mikey Madison stars as the title character, ANORA Mikheeva, a stripper who lives in Brighton Beach, a Russian American neighborhood in Brooklyn. ANORA won a Best Picture Academy Award, and Mikey Madison won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
• IRAN (17A: Home to Naqsh-e Jahan Square) Isfahan is the third-largest city in IRAN, following Tehran (the capital) and Mashhad. Isfahan's city square, Naqsh-e Jahan Square, is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Naqsh-e Jahan Square was constructed between 1598 and 1629 CE. It is surrounded by buildings also constructed during this time frame, including Shah Masjid, also known as Imam Mosque.
• BOSNIA (25A: ___ and Herzegovina) BOSNIA and Herzegovina is a country in Southeast Europe. Its capital and largest city is Sarajevo.
• When we were clueing this puzzle, we realized the grid contained RAT, TAR, and ART, which are anagrams of each other. 
• RAT (34A: Rizzo is one) Rizzo the RAT is a Muppet. He often appears in skits with Gonzo the Great. According to Muppet media, Rizzo has 1,274 brothers and sisters, and comes from a family that traditionally cooked pizzas. The name of Rizzo the RAT is derived from Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie Midnight Cowboy, whose name was Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo. 
• TAR (42A: Substance that's an anagram of 34- and 43-Across) We think these anagrams appearing together are kind of fun, so we decided to point it out with this clue.
• ART (43A: Valuable oil?) The "valuable oil" here is a work of ART, which might be an oil painting.
• ANNE SULLIVAN (52A: Helen Keller's teacher and companion) Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an author, disability rights advocate, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree; she graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904. ANNE SULLIVAN (1866-1936) began teaching Helen Keller when Helen was seven years old, and remained her teacher and companion for 49 years. ANNE SULLIVAN was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2003.
• COMIC (56A: Dark Horse publication) Dark Horse is a COMIC book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Oregon in 1986 by Mike Richardson. Dark Horse has published many COMICs, including ones based on Star Wars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• GOBI (59A: Large desert in Asia) The GOBI Desert covers parts of northeastern China, and the southern part of Mongolia. Although we often imagine deserts as being hot and sandy, the GOBI is a cold desert, which occasionally receives snow. 
• SEPT (60A: Mo. when the US Open ends) In tennis, the Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. The US Open is played in Queens, New York City at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The US Open takes place over two weeks beginning the last Monday of August and ending in September. The abbreviation US in the clue alerts solvers the answer will be the abbreviation for September – SEPT. 
• APES (66A: Most Kongs in "Donkey Kong" lore) Donkey Kong is a video game whose titular character is a gorilla. APES are tailless primates, and the classification includes gorillas.
• WAIVER (1D: Document signed before a hang gliding lesson) Shortly before needing a clue for WAIVER, I had been reminiscing about the time our family took hang gliding lessons while on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
• TONI (4D: "Knives Out" actress Collette) Knives Out is a 2019 mystery movie directed by Rian Johnson. The movie stars Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc, and an ensemble cast that includes TONI Collette as Joni Thrombey, part of the family of wealthy mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey. If you're a regular reader of Sally's Take, you'll know I'm a huge fan of the Knives Out movies. I'm looking forward to the third movie Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery being released later this year.
• APRIL (6D: National Pet Day month) National Pet Day is officially APRIL 11, but my cat, Willow, insists that every day is Pet Day. Here's a photo of Willow playing "queen of the mountain" atop a pile of fleece blankets.

• PEGG (8D: Simon of "Hot Fuzz" fame) Hot Fuzz is a 2007 movie in which Simon PEGG portrays Nicholas Angel, a high-achieving police officer transferred from London to the rural town of Sandford. In addition to starring in the movie, Simon PEGG co-wrote the script for Hot Fuzz.
• SON (11D: Luke, vis-a-vis Anakin and Padme) In the Star Wars franchise, Luke Skywalker is the SON of Anakin Skywalker (who becomes the Sith Lord Darth Vader) and Padmé Amidala. Now it's officially an Olivia and Sally collaboration – there's a cat / pet reference and a Star Wars reference.
• NEVER GIVE UP (26D: "You got this!") For anyone who could use a bit of encouragement today, this puzzle is here for you: NEVER GIVE UP!
• ASL (28D: Communication system used at Gallaudet U) Gallaudet University, in Washington D.C., is a school for deaf and hard of hearing students. It is the only institution of higher education where all programs and services are designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. This includes the use of American Sign Language (ASL). The abbreviation of the school's name to Gallaudet U in the clue is an indication that the answer will be an abbreviation.
• SHAKE (31D: "___ It Off") "SHAKE It Off" is a 2014 song by Taylor Swift. This song is now my earworm for today.
• DORA (37D: Explorer who travels with Boots) The title character of the animated children's TV series, DORA the Explorer is a seven-year-old Latina girl. On her various adventures, DORA is accompanied by her talking purple backpack and an anthropomorphic monkey named Boots.
• SYNTHS (47D: Moogs, e.g.) Moogs are SYNTHS (electronic musical instruments) made by Moog Music Inc., a company that produced the first commercial synthesizer.
• OWL (57D: Bird that gives a hoot) A few weeks ago, my husband and I were eating supper on our patio. My husband looked up and said, "We have a visitor." A barred OWL was sitting on our neighbor's wooden fence, not too far from us. We're aware we have a pair of barred OWLs living in the neighborhood because we hear them nearly every night. Sightings are rare, however, and we felt lucky to have been graced with a visit.

For this progression theme, Olivia and I were glad we were able to find theme answers that allowed us to feature VAN at the far left of the grid, MOVING to the exact center of the grid, and then MOVING to the far right of the grid. As I was looking back at this puzzle's journey, I was reminded that our original grid for this puzzle contained the word SALLY. (For a moment, we thought we were going to be able to include OLIVIA in the grid, too, but that ended up not working.) Unfortunately, in the process of revising the grid to smooth out some fill, SALLY ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor. Sadness! Ah well, another time. Thanks to Olivia for another fabulous collaboration, and thanks to Amanda for great editing. Thank you for solving! I hope you enjoyed this puzzle.