August 9, 2025

Title: SHORTENED SUITE

Constructor: Beth Rubin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• GHOST EMOJI (17A: Symbol that might mean "Hey, boo!") 
• PILATES TEACHERS (42A: Certain exercise instructors)
• STRESS TEST (67A: Cardiac fitness exam)

SHORTENED SUITE: Each theme answer contains the letters STE, an abbreviation (SHORTENED form) of the word SUITE: GHOST EMOJI, PILATES TEACHERS, and STRESS TEST.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• DEE (53A: "Apple Cider Vinegar" actress Aisha) Apple Cider Vinegar is a Netflix miniseries that was released in February of this year. Its tagline is "A true-ish story based on a lie." The show is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World: the true story of fake wellness guru Belle Gibson by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. Kaitlyn Dever portrays Belle Gibson in the series, and Aisha DEE portrays Chanelle, Belle's assistant.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GHOST EMOJI (17A: Symbol that might mean "Hey, boo!") 👻
• LEO (24A: Name of the current pope) Two days ago when we saw LEO clued as [Name of 14 popes], I mentioned that the current bishop of Rome is Pope LEO XIV. Every once in a while I coincidentally offer information that's useful in future solves.
• GIL (33A: Jazz poet ___ Scott-Heron) GIL Scott-Heron (1949-2011) was a jazz poet known for his spoken-word performances. I learned about him when we saw GIL SCOTT-HERON as a theme answer on February 18, 2023.
• PILATES TEACHERS (42A: Certain exercise instructors) PILATES TEACHERS instruct students in a form of exercise that uses controlled movements and emphasizes strength and flexibility. PILATES is named after a German physical trainer, Joseph PILATES.
• ELMER (48A: ___ the Patchwork Elephant) ELMER is an elephant with colored patchwork squares. He is the title character of David McKee's 1968 children's book, ELMER the Patchwork Elephant.
• AVEDA (51A: Vegan beauty brand owned by Estee Lauder) AVEDA was founded by Horst Rechelbacher in 1978, who was inspired after being introduced to Ayurveda (a healing science I have previously written about) on a trip to India. The company's name is Sanskrit for "all knowledge." AVEDA was acquired by Estée Lauder in 1997. 
• MAMA (57A: Big ___ Thornton (blues singer)) Big MAMA Thornton (1926-1984) was a blues and R&B singer. The song "Hound Dog" was written for her, and she recorded it in 1952. It became a number one hit; it was her only hit record. We saw BIG MAMA THORNTON as a theme answer October 16, 2023. 
• TOON (65A: Bluey or Peppa Pig) Bluey is an animated children's TV series that premiered in 2018. The title TOON, Bluey, is an anthropomorphic Blue Heeler puppy. (Anthropomorphism refers to attributing human actions, emotions, and motives to an animal.) Peppa Pig is the title TOON of the animated British TV series Peppa Pig. We just saw PEPPA as an answer two days ago clued as ["___ Pig" (British cartoon)].
• POGS (1D: Collectible discs from the '90s) POGS (also called milk caps) are flat circular cardboard disks used to play a game. The name POG is derived from a brand of juice made from passionfruit, orange, and guava. At one time, the juice was sold in bottles with cardboard lids, which were collected and used to play the game. In the 1990s, sets of POGS were sold. The disks had designs on one or both sides. The POGS are stacked and players take turns dropping a heavier object – the slammer – onto the stack to disrupt the POGS. The player keeps any POGS that have flipped over.
• SCOT (3D: Dundee resident) Dundee is a city in Scotland. Fun fact: The SCOTs in Dundee have been leaders in the use of electric vehicles. 
• ART (5D: The second "A" of LACMA) The Los Angeles County Museum of ART (LACMA) is the largest ART museum in the western United States. It is located in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, and is adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits. 
• SUMO (10D: Japan's national sport) The form of wrestling known as SUMO originated in Japan, which is currently the only country where it is practiced professionally. Rikishi is the term used for a professional SUMO wrestler. Rikishi live by a set of strict lifestyle rules, including growing their hair long.
• LSU (13D: Baton Rouge sch.) Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (commonly referred to as LSU) is located in Baton Rouge. The abbreviation of the word school in the clue alerts solvers the answer will be an abbreviation.
• PET SPA (29D: Place where cats and dogs are pampered) My cat, Willow, is not a fan of the PET SPA, but she does appreciate cat content in the puzzle. Willow was sitting on my desk while I was writing this, so I thought, "I'll just take a picture of her to include here." Of course, she had other plans and moved toward me just as I took the photo. I decided to use the photo anyway. I hope it makes you laugh.

Willow

• MET (39D: Citi Field athlete) Citi Field, which opened in 2009, is a baseball stadium in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the home stadium of the New York METs.
• TAU (40D: Nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet) As you may know by now, when the Greek alphabet appears in the puzzle, I like to take the opportunity to review some of its 24 letters. After TAU, we have upsilon, phi, psi, chi, and omega. (I almost did that from memory; I forgot phi.)
• UPS (56D: Downs' opposite) It's true: UPS and downs are opposites. But in crosswords, [Downs' opposite] is "acrosses."
• STAR (64D: Yelp reviewer's assignment?) Yelp is a mobile app that publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. The "assignment" in the clue isn't referring to which business the reviewer should evaluate, but is referring to the STAR(s) the reviewer assigns to the business.
• SFO (69D: Bay area airport with yoga rooms (Abbr.)) SFO is the code for the San Francisco International Airport. Located south of San Francisco in San Mateo County, SFO serves California's Bay Area. There is no charge to use the yoga rooms at SFO.
• A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed:
• ARE WE THERE (11D: Question heard on a road trip)
• TELL ME MORE (32D: "I want to hear everything!")

This is such a clever theme. I admit that from the title I did not have a guess at all about what the theme might be. I was so intrigued. This made for a lovely "Aha!" moment as I stared at the theme answers and finally saw that they all contained the letter string S-T-E. Nice! I also like that SHORTENED SUITE sounds like "short and sweet." Thank you, Beth, for this delightful puzzle.