September 11, 2025

Title: MEH TRICK EWE KNITS

Constructor: Kevin Shustack

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• GRAHAM CRACKER (20A: Crunchy part of a s'more)
• JEWEL IN THE CROWN (40A: Most valuable part of something)
• HURTS SO GOOD (53A: Contradictory exclamation when eating super spicy food, maybe)

MEH TRICK EWE KNITS: The first word of each theme answer is a homophone of a metric unit: GRAHAM (gram), JEWEL (joule), and HURTS (hertz).

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• RUPERT (48A: "Servant" actor Grint) Servant is an Apple TV+ series that originally aired from 2019 to 2023. The psychological horror series centers on a couple who hire a live-in nanny to take care of their infant son. However, their infant son died and was replace with a realistic doll. Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell portray the couple, Dorothy and Sean Turner, and Nell Tiger Free portrays Leanne Grayson, the 18-year-old nanny. RUPERT Grint portrays Julian Pearce, Dorothy's younger brother.
• BIORE (31D: Skin care brand) BIORE is a skin care brand owned by the Japanese cosmetics company Kao.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SPUR (1A: Accessory that has its low points?) The question mark in the clue alerts solvers to be on the lookout for some trickiness, so "low points" here isn't referring to sad moods. A SPUR has points, and it is worn on the heel of a riding boot and thus is low to the ground. It was fun to see this "low points" clue immediately followed by ACMES (5A: High points).
• TCBY (10A: Pinkberry competitor) Just last month I learned that Pinkberry is a franchise selling frozen yogurt. This makes Pinkberry a competitor of TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt).
• ELSA (14A: Idina's "Frozen" role) I'm always happy to see a reference to Idina Menzel. In her role as ELSA in Disney's 2013 animated movie Frozen, Idina Menzel sings "Let It Go."
• LASER (18A: Beam that might entertain a cat) If you have a LASER pointer and a cat, you have the potential for hours of entertainment. It's been some time since my cat, Willow, has had the opportunity to chase a LASER beam. We have a LASER pointer, but neither my husband nor I can remember where we put it! Willow frequently tries to get in the closet in my office. Maybe she thinks the LASER pointer is in there...

• GRAHAM CRACKER (20A: Crunchy part of a s'more) GRAHAM CRACKERs have an interesting history. GRAHAM CRACKERS are made with GRAHAM flour, a coarse-ground whole wheat flour. Sylvester GRAHAM,  a 19th-century preacher for whom the flour was named, believed God intended people to live with minimal pleasure and stimulation. GRAHAM encouraged his followers to eat a vegetarian diet that included bread made from wheat ground coarsely at home.  GRAHAM CRACKERs were created for his followers. Sylvester GRAHAM believed that adhering to his prescribed diet would prevent people from having impure thoughts and actions Think on these things the next time you eat a s'more! A funny thing about GRAHAM CRACKERs is that my cat, Willow, absolutely adores them. If you are eating a GRAHAM CRACKER, she will come running from wherever she is and beg for you to share with her.
• ROZ 23A: Surly sluglike employee in "Monsters, Inc.") Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 animated Pixar movie. The movie is set in the city of Monstropolis. At the Monsters, Inc. factory, monsters venture into the human world to scare children. ROZ is a grouchy monster working at Monsters, Inc.
• POE (24A: "The Raven" author) "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary..." So begins Edgar Allan POE's narrative poem, "The Raven," which was first published in 1845.
• HEM (30A: Fashion line?) Not a line of fashionable clothes, but the line of a piece of clothing, that is, a HEM.
• CIO (36A: AFL's union partner) AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is comprised of 61 unions that collectively represent nearly 15 million workers.
• IDIOM (38A: Saying that may be tough to translate) It's fun that the answer IDIOM was immediately followed by an example of an IDIOM: JEWEL IN THE CROWN (40A: Most valuable part of something).
• OREO (45A: Common Blizzard flavor) Hello to our crossword friend OREO making its 19th appearance this year. I would not say no to an OREO Blizzard.
• BOSTON (46A: City home to the Freedom Trail) The Freedom Trail is a historic walking trail in BOSTON, Massachusetts. The path, which starts at the BOSTON Common and ends at Bunker Hill Monument, passes by 16 locations significant to U.S. history.
• EAT ME (58A: Phrase that famously leads to character growth?) The title character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) literally experienced growth after consuming a cake with the words "EAT ME" on it.
• ELMO (64A: Fuzzy red Muppet) Hello to another of our crossword friends, ELMO, who is making his 14th appearance of the year.
• EXES (65A: Flames that have been extinguished?) This clue is referring to the IDIOM "old flames," used to refer to EXES.
• ARE SO (26D: Response to 33-Down) and AM NOT (33D: Defensive comeback to 26-Down) I'm usually not a big fan of these "playground retort" answers, but I do think the pairing of the two answers here is fun.
• HO HO (30D: Snack similar to a Yodel) A HO HO is a cream-filled chocolate snack cake made by Hostess. Cylindrical and with a pinwheel design, HO HOs are similar to Yodels made by Drake and Swiss Cake Rolls made by Little Debbie.
• TEST TUBES (35D: They may be used as shot glasses at a mad scientist-themed Halloween party) I really enjoyed the evocative imagery in this clue's details.
• ITT (37D: "The Addams Family" cousin) Cousin ITT, a character developed for The Addams Family TV series (1964-1966), has floor-length hair, often wears a bowler hat and sunglasses, and speaks in gibberish that's only understood by other members of the Addams Family.
• DELI (55D: Schwartz's ___ (Montreal landmark since 1928) Schwartz's DELI was opened in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Romania. Schwartz's DELI's signature sandwich is smoked meat on rye bread with yellow mustard. The meat is ordered according to its fat content: lean, medium, medium-fat, or fat.

The key to figuring out the theme of today's puzzle is to say the title out loud. When that is done, it becomes obvious that MEH TRICK EWE KNITS sounds like "Metric Units." There was a nice "Aha!" moment when I made this realization. Congratulations to Kevin Shustack making a USA Today crossword debut. Thank you, Kevin, for this interesting puzzle.