August 18, 2025

Title: CONNECTICUT

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• ELECTRIC UTILITY (17A: Company providing power to homes)
• MAY I CUT IN (38A: "Can it be my turn to dance with you now?"
• PLASTIC UTENSILS (62A: Some disposable forks and spoons, e.g.)

CONNECTICUT: The letters I-C-U-T CONNECT other letters in the theme answers: ELECTRIC UTILITY, MAY I CUT IN, and PLASTIC UTENSILS.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MEL (28A: Name of two Spice Girls) Formed in 1994, the Spice Girls original members are Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Scary Spice (Melanie Brown aka MEL B), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm aka MEL C), and Ginger Spice (Geri Haliwell). 
• HRT (29A: Regimen that might treat hot flashes (Abbr.)) HRT stands for "hormone replacement therapy." Hot flashes are one symptom sometimes caused by changing hormone levels characteristic of menopause. In some cases, HRT may be used to treat hot flashes.
• AVENUE (32A: Word after word"Ocean" or "Electric," in song titles) "Ocean AVENUE" is a 2003 song by Yellowcard. "Electric AVENUE" is a 1982 song by Eddy Grant.
• EAGLE (35A: Bird of prey in the center of Mexico's flag) Mexico's flag features vertical stripes of green, white, and red, with the national coat of arms in the center of the white stripe. The coat of arms features an EAGLE holding a serpent in its talon, sitting on top of a prickly pear cactus. This symbolism is based on the Aztec legend that an EAGLE sitting on a cactus while devouring a serpent signaled where they were to build their city, Tenochtitian (now Mexico City).
• LAB (41A: Virologist's workplace) A virologist is a scientist who studies viruses. Some virologists work in LABs developing vaccines to protect against influenza, also known as FLU (61A: Seasonal vaccine target)
• TENOR (44A: Lin-Manual Miranda's vocal range) Lin-Manuel Miranda is a songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and a TENOR. He is the creator of the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton. He also wrote the soundtracks for the animated movies Encanto (2021), Vivo (2021), and Moana (2016).
• ARABIA (48A: World's largest peninsula) ARABIA, also known as the Arabian Peninsula, covers 1.25 million square miles, which is comparable to the size of India. Located in West Asia, ARABIA is home to the countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SAUDI ARABIA, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. The southern parts of Iraq and Jordan are also on the Arabian Peninsula.
• SUB (50A: Hero in a deli?) That hero in the deli isn't Wonder Woman or Superman. Instead it's a SUB sandwich, which is also called a hero.
• DAN (57A: "Inferno" author Brown) Inferno is a 2013 book by DAN Brown. It is the fourth book in his Robert Langdon mystery series. Inferno was adapted into a 2016 movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon.
• SAUDI (58A: Riyadh resident) Riyadh is a city in SAUDI ARABIA. Fun to see both SAUDI and ARABIA in the grid today.
• MITT (66A: Piece of gear for catching flies?) A MITT is great for catching flies if those (pop) flies are baseballs.
• DURAG (67A: Hair protector) A DURAG is a close-fitting cloth worn on the head to protect the hair. It is sometimes worn while sleeping to keep wave patterns and braids from shifting. 
• OMAHA (70A: Nebraska city in "Better Call Saul") Better Call Saul (2015-2022) is a TV series following the transformation of a former con artist into a criminal lawyer. Better Call Saul was a spin-off of and a prequel to Breaking Bad. Some of the show's scenes take place in OMAHA, Nebraska, where the main character is living as a fugitive and working at a Cinnabon.
• OMEGA (1D: End of the Greek alphabet) The 24-letter Greek alphabet begins with alpha and ends with OMEGA.
• RICE (7D: Mochi grain) Mochi is pounded sticky RICE that is molded into cakes. 
• ENT (9D: Tolkien tree creature) J.R.R. Tolkien's work, Lord of the Rings, describes a fantasy world known as Middle-earth. In this world, ENTs are a species that resemble trees. The leader of the ENTs is Treebeard, who is described as the oldest creature in Middle-earth.
• KOI POND (11D: Zen garden feature with showy fish) KOI are colored varieties of the Amur carp. The fish are often found in PONDs or water gardens.
• GURU (36D: Sikh spiritual leader) Sikhism is a religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. GURU Nanak, born in 1469, was the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other GURUs. The tenth GURU affirmed the sacred scripture, Adi Granth, as his successor, ending the line of human GURUs. The central religious scripture of Sikhism, GURU Granth Sahib, is regarded as the final, sovereign, and eternal living GURU.
• ARI (42D: NPR host Shapiro) ARI Shapiro has been one of the hosts of NPR's podcast All Things Considered since 2015. Since 2020, he has also co-hosted the NPR podcast Consider This. Each episode of Consider This takes a look at a major news story – in 15 minutes or less. ARI Shapiro's memoir, published in 2023, is titled The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening. I have this book queued up for my husband and I to listen to on our next road trip.
• RUSSO (56D: "Thor" actor Rene) RENE Russo portrays Frigga, the mother of Thor in the movies Thor (2011), The Dark World (2013), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). 
• UTAH (60D: Four Corners state) Four Corners is the site where the boundaries of four U.S. states meet. Those states are UTAH, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.
• PMS (62D: Monthly set of symptoms, for some) Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the name for symptoms that some people experience regularly one to two weeks before the start of their menstrual period. There are a wide variety of symptoms that may be a part of PMS, including bloating, headache, mood swings, and anxiety.
• I DO (64D: Rite answer at the altar?) This clue made me chuckle. "I DO" is an answer associated with the rite of marriage that sometimes occurs at the altar. Hopefully "I DO" is also the "right" answer at the altar.

I had a nice "Aha!" moment today when I caught on to the theme. I was stumped by the title. I wondered whether we might see CT phrases, or maybe phrases connected by the letters CT. When I filled in ELECTRIC UTILITY, I realized that the key was to parse the title as CONNECT ICUT. Clever! Thank you, Zhouqin, for this interesting puzzle.