October 1, 2025

Title: IN-FLIGHT MEAL

Constructor: Noelle Griskey

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• SOCIAL MEDIA FAST (17A: Digital detox)
• DOUBLE MARTINI (35A: Dirty or dry cocktail made with twice the amount of alcohol)
• WE'RE ALMOST THERE (52A: "Just one more mile!")

Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word MEAL: SOCIAL MEDIA FAST, DOUBLE MARTINI, and WE'RE ALMOST THERE.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ADAM (31A: "Party Down" star Scott) Party Down is a TV series that premiered on the Starz network in 2009. After two seasons the show was canceled, but a third season revival was released in 2023. The sitcom centers on a group of aspiring actors and writers who work for a catering company called Party Down. ADAM Scott portrays Henry Pollard who has quit acting and now works for the catering company. In a tie-in with another answer in this puzzle, on the show ADAM Scott's character is known for a beer ad that featured him saying the line, "ARE we having fun yet?"
• PARIS (58A: City home to the Musee de l'Orangerie) The Musee de l'Orangerie is an art museum in PARIS, France. The museum contains works by a number of well-known artists. Its collection includes eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet. Each mural is two meters (6.5 feet) high and 91 meters (298.5 feet) long. The paintings are arranged in two oval rooms that form an infinity symbol and have skylights so the paintings may be observed in natural light.
• PASSAT (1D: Midsize VW model) I am definitely not up on car models. All that I could think of here was "beetle" and "rabbit." Both of those words fit, but neither played well with the crossing answers. Thank goodness for those crossing answers that got me to PASSAT originally. 
• ICE (18D: Surface for Sidney Crosby) Sidney Crosby is a professional ICE hockey player. Since 2005, Sidney Crosby has played for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. His nickname is "Sid the Kid." Early in his career he was also called "The Next One," a nickname given to new Canadian ICE hockey players who are deemed to have the capacity to become a top player in the sport. (The nickname is a play on Wayne Gretzky's nickname, "The Great One.")

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PBS (1A: "Reading Rainbow" channel) Reading Rainbow premiered on PBS in 1983 with a goal to encourage children's love of books and reading. LeVar Burton hosted the show until its cancellation in 2006. It's timely to have a mention of Reading Rainbow in the puzzle, as just a couple of days ago it was announced the show is being revived and will air on Kidzuko (an online platform of Sony). It will be hosted by Mychal Threets. 
• BOSCH (9A: Big name in home appliances) BOSCH is a home appliance brand of Germany-based  company BSH Hausgeräte GmbH. The company is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe. Its products are sold worldwide.
• RATIO (16A: Situation in which a post receives more replies than likes) This is not the RATIO you learned about in math class that represents a relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two things. In the world of social media, the word RATIO is used as a verb. For example, "Let's RATIO that post," or "that post got ratioed." As the clue informs us, a RATIO happens when a social media post receives more comments or reposts than likes. This implies the post is tremendously unpopular.
• PRADA (32A: "The Devil Wears ___") The Devil Wears PRADA is a 2006 movie starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Both actors are reprising their roles for a sequel, The Devil Wears PRADA 2, which is scheduled to be released May 1, 2026. I'm looking forward to that one.
• TEN (45A: Highest point value for a Scrabble tile) There are two letter tiles in Scrabble that have a point value of TEN – the Q and the Z.
• ADELE (49A: "Hello" singer) ADELE released her song "Hello" in 2015. Of course, ADELE is not the only singer with a song titled "Hello." Lionel Richie's (different) song, "Hello" was released in 1984. Here's a fun thing: After ADELE's song came out, Lionel Ritchie asked her on Instagram, "Hello ... is it me you're looking for..."
• TRACY (61A: "Fast Car" singer Chapman) "Fast Car" is the lead single from TRACY Chapman's 1988 self-titled debut album. On June 11, 1988, TRACY Chapman played a three-song set at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday tribute concert. Stevie Wonder was also scheduled to perform at the concert, but some of his computer programs were missing and he couldn't perform. As a result, TRACY Chapman returned to the stage and sang "Fast Car" and "Across the Lines." The exposure of "Fast Car" at the concert helped propel the song to number six on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. In addition, TRACY Chapman won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Following the release of Luke Combs' version of the song in 2023, TRACY Chapman won a Country Music Award for "Fast Car" as Song of the Year.
• ODE (62A: Many a Keats work) English poet John Keats (1795-1821) wrote a number of ODEs, including "ODE to a Nightingale" and "ODE on a Grecian Urn."
• SEALS (23D: Mammals with an "elephant" variety) A few days ago I wrote about earless SEALS. Elephant SEALS are earless SEALS. Elephant SEALS got their name from a feature only exhibited by the males of the species. Male elephant SEALS have a large, trunk-like nose, or proboscis, that develops during puberty.
• VRBO (30D: Airbnb alternative) VRBO is an abbreviation for Vacation Rentals by Owner.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• ARE (14A: "___ we having fun yet?")
• A LA MODE (25D: With a scoop of ice cream on top)
• ALL (47D: The whole enchilada)

I did not correctly guess today's theme from the puzzle's title. That means I had an "Aha!" moment upon spotting the MEAL anagram in SOCIAL MEDIA FAST. The word "IN-FLIGHT" in the title is serving as the anagram indicator. Think of it as the letters in the word MEAL having taken FLIGHT and rearranged themselves into the anagrams AL/ME, LE/MA, and E/ALM. Thank you, Noelle, for this enjoyable puzzle.