September 9, 2025

Title: ROCK THE BOAT

Constructors: Brian Callahan & Sally Hoelscher

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• LEGO BATMAN (17A: Franchise featuring a DC Comics minifig)
• PINTEREST BOARDS (38A: Pages for cataloguing inspiration on a certain website)
• FIESTA BOWL (62A: Annual college football game played in Arizona)

ROCK THE BOAT: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word BOAT: LEGO BATMAN, PINTEREST BOARDS, and FIESTA BOWL.

And now a word from our constructors:

Brian: Even though Sally and I have worked on puzzles together for over a year and a half at Lil AVCX, this is our first shared byline! This puzzle was an absolute joy to make; Sally is a wonderful collaborator and an even better person. If you’re curious about what entries were left on the cutting room floor, we ended up nixing PAJAMA BOTTOMS (13), GOTTA BOUNCE (11), MELBA TOAST (10), and CIRCUIT BOARD (12). All fun, but I'm pleased with the three that ended up in the grid.

Oh! If you’re attending the Midwest Crossword Tournament in Chicago on October 4th, be sure to say hi. Just be warned, I might instinctively respond with 40-Across if you sneak up on me.

Sally: Brian and I first started talking about collaborating when we were attending the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut ... in April 2024. It took us over a year to make it happen, but I'm glad we finally did! This theme idea was Brian's, and I'm grateful he invited me along for the ride. As Brian mentioned, we work together at Lil AVCX, which is the midi branch of the indie puzzle publication AVCX. If you enjoy crosswords and don't have an AVCX subscription, I recommend checking it out. The subscription is a good deal for the number and variety of high quality puzzles it gets you.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• APRIL (1A: Earth Day month) Earth Day is observed on APRIL 22 each year. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day has grown and is now observed in more than 193 countries. 
• NILE (16A: Egyptian river) The longest river in Africa, the NILE flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. The NILE River flows through 11 countries and is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan.
• LEGO BATMAN (17A: Franchise featuring a DC Comics minifig) The first LEGO BATMAN products were introduced in 2006. Since then, LEGO has produced many LEGO BATMAN sets based on the DC superhero and other characters and vehicles from the comics and movies. LEGO BATMAN even got his own movie – The LEGO BATMAN Movie – in 2017.
• BANANAS (21A: Fruits that can double as pretend phones) It makes me so happy that the editors kept this silly little clue! Also, in reviewing the puzzle, I notice that Brian and I must have had phones on the mind while writing clues, since we also referenced them in the clues for CORD (15A: Part of a landline) and CABLE (26A: Part of a phone charger)
• UNITS (23A: Pints and quarts) and TWO (25A: Number of pints in a quart) The idea to clue these two answers in a linked manner was Brian's, and I think it's fabulously fun.
• TOE (32A: ___ beans (paw pads)) The nice thing about this pet content is that it works for cats and dogs. My cat, Willow, and Brian's dog, Penny, approve of this answer. 

"You want to take a photo of my TOE beans?!?!"

"TOE beans? Sure, let me clean them up a bit."

• HERO (36A: "Anti-___" (Taylor Swift Song)) "Anti-HERO" is the lead single from Taylor Swift's 2022 album, Midnights. I sing this song when I make a mistake sometimes, "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me."
• WALL (37A: Connecting ___ (feature on "Only Connect")) Only Connect (2008-present) is a British game show that my husband and I discovered a few years ago and then binge-watched on YouTube until we'd caught up to the current season. When I watch game shows like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune I like to play along and shout out the answers. When I watch Only Connect, if I get one right answer during the entire show I feel like I am brilliant. The show is deliberately difficult, and I'm constantly amazed at how smart the contestants are. The host of the show is Victoria Coren Mitchell, who is witty and engaging and is also a professional poker player. Anyway, back to how Only Connect pertains to the answer WALL... There are four rounds of play on Only Connect, and one of them is the Connecting WALL. In that round, contestants are presented with a board of 16 entries, and must sort those entries into four categories. (The New York Times game Connections is essentially a Connecting WALL.)
• PINTEREST BOARDS (38A: Pages for cataloguing inspiration on a certain website) The website PINTEREST allows users to save images and articles, organizing them into categories called PINTEREST BOARDS. My PINTEREST BOARDS include: Cats, Sewing, Recipes, Books, Clay, Paper Crafts, Doodles, and Misc. cool stuff, just to name a few. I have enough ideas saved on my PINTEREST BOARDS to keep me busy for quite a long time ... should I ever have some down time and start working through them.
• RED (46A: Anger's color in "Inside Out") If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that Inside Out (2015) is one of my favorite animated movies. The movie centers on the emotions of a young girl named Riley, and each emotion is a different color: Joy (yellow), Sadness (blue), Fear (purple), Anger (RED), and Disgust (green). 
• FIREPIT (55A: Hot camping site?) Not "hot" as in "popular," but rather quite literally hot.
• AFROPOP (59A: Ayra Starr's genre) AFROPOP, or African Popular Music, is diverse and can incorporate many styles of music. Arya Starr is a Nigerian singer, whose 2022 song, "Rush," went viral on TikTok. Ayra Starr's most recent album, released in 2024, is titled The Year I Turned 21.
• FIESTA BOWL (62A: Annual college football game played in Arizona) The FIESTA BOWL is currently played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (near Phoenix). Since 2024, the FIESTA BOWL serves as either a quarterfinal or semifinal for the college football season. The next FIESTA BOWL will be a College Football Playoff semifinal game and will be played on January 8, 2026.
• ACLU (1D: Human rights org.) I'm always happy to highlight the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the work they do to protect the rights of all people in the United States.
• LEBANESE (5D: Amal Clooney's nationality) Amal Clooney is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, who specializes in international law and human rights. She is also the co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, with her husband George. AMAL Clooney was born in Beirut, Lebanon and has dual LEBANESE and British citizenship.
• OCTET (6D: The Brady Bunch, e.g.) Sometimes I forget important bits of information. However, I can sing the entire Brady Bunch theme song from "Here's the story of a lovely lady..." all the way to "...That's the way we became the Brady bunch." The Brady Bunch, featuring the blended family OCTET of a mom and three daughters and a dad and three sons, originally aired from 1969 to 1974. 
• CRAB (8D: "Blue" crustacean) The blue CRAB is the state crustacean of Maryland.  In case you were wondering, nine U.S. states have designated state crustaceans. In addition to Maryland, they are Louisiana (crawfish), Oregon (Dungeness crab), California (also the Dungeness crab), Alabama (brown shrimp), Maine (lobster), Texas (Texas Gulf Shrimp), Utah (brine shrimp), and Georgia (white shrimp).
• EDNA (9D: ___ Mode ("The Incredibles" fashion designer)) The character of EDNA Mode, the superhero costume designer in The Incredibles movies, was inspired by Hollywood costume designer Edith Head (1897-1981). EDNA Mode has a strict no capes policy for the superhero costumes she designs.
• TIG NOTARO (11D: "Boyish Girl Interrupted" comedian) Boyish Girl Interrupted is TIG NOTARO's 2016 comedy special. TIG NOTARO's most recent comedy special, released in 2024, is Hello Again.
• ELBA (12D: "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" actor Idris) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a 2024 movie based on the Sonic video game series. As the title suggests, it's the third movie in the series. Idris ELBA voices Knuckles the Echidna, a role he reprises from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).
• OLDS (33D: Pulitzer-winning poet Sharon) Sharon OLDS won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2013 for her poetry collection, Stag's Leap. 
• RAE (39D: Issa who played President Barbie) Issa RAE makes frequent crossword appearances, as both her first and last names are quite crossword-friendly. I enjoy clueing Issa RAE with respect to her role of President Barbie in the 2023 movie Barbie. 
• OPE (40D: Midwesterner's "Almost bumped into you there") Brian and I are both Midwesterners, so it seems fitting to have OPE – arguably a Midwesterner's favorite exclamation – in this puzzle.
• BOWIE (53D: ___ State University (Maryland HBCU)) BOWIE State University is the oldest historically Black university in Maryland. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are colleges that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with the intention of primarily serving Black communities.
• RAMA (60D: Avatar of Vishnu) RAMA is a deity in Hinduism, and is the seventh avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu (one of Hinduism's principal deities). 

Usually it's not a good thing to ROCK THE BOAT, but since we're doing it as a puzzle theme and not literally, it's okay. Many thanks to Brian for this collaboration, and thanks to Amanda for great editing. I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle.

One more thing today: Since Brian mentioned the Midwest Crossword Puzzle Tournament in his notes, I want to take this opportunity to remind you that the second annual Midwest Crossword Puzzle Tournament is coming up on Saturday, October 4 in Chicago, Illinois. There are still some seats available for in-person solvers (though not a ton, so don't delay!). There's also an online version of the tournament if you're not close enough to join us in person. And if you're in the Chicago area and would like to check out the tournament, but don't wish to compete, volunteers are always needed. Hope to see you there!