October 14, 2025

Title: SURROUND SOUND

Constructor: Alex Eaton-Salners

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• SIT AROUND (17A: Spend time doing nothing)
• SOLID GROUND (37A: Safe and secure position)
• SOUTH BEND (60A: Pete Buttigieg was its mayor for eight years)

SURROUND SOUND: The word SOUND is split and found at the edges of (SURROUNDing) each theme answer: SIT AROUND, SOLID GROUND, and SOUTH BEND.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• MATADOR (41D: Person wearing a montera) A montera is the traditional hat worn by a MATADOR. A montera is round and flat-topped with protrusions on each side to represent the horns of the bull.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SCAR (5A: "The Lion King" villain) SCAR is making an encore appearance today. We saw him in the puzzle a few days ago clued as [Disney villain who said, "I was first in line … until the little hairball was born"].
• GRETA (9A: Activist Thunberg) GRETA Thunberg staged her first climate strike protest in August 2018. Since then, her activism has helped raise awareness of the climate crisis. She was named Person of the Year by Time in 2019 and is the youngest person to have received that honor. GRETA Thunberg is also a pro-Palestinian activist. Fun fact: Several animal species have been named after GRETA Thunberg, including Pristimantis gretathunbergae, a species of frog discovered in Panama.
• TAU (20A: Greek letter T) TAU is the 19th letter of the 24-letter Greek alphabet. It follows sigma and precedes upsilon.
• OWL (21A: Its Chinese name translates to "cat-headed eagle") Well, this is a fun animal fact. The Chinese word for OWL is māotóuyīng. Breaking the word down, "māo" means "cat," "tóu" means "head," and "yīng" means "eagle" or "bird of prey." Given this clue, I thought it would be fun to give side-by-side pictures of my cat, Willow, and a barred OWL that visited our backyard this summer.

• OBTUSE (22A: Like a 135-degree angle) The puzzle is providing us with some geometry review today. A right angle measures 90 degrees. Angles measuring less than 90 degrees are acute. Angles measuring more than 90 degrees are OBTUSE.
• LON (28A: Horror actor Chaney) LON Chaney (1883-1930) was an actor and makeup artist. His filmography includes the silent horror movies The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to completely transform his look using makeup earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces." LON Chaney's son, LON Chaney Jr. (1906-1973) was also an actor who is considered a horror icon. His roles include Count Alucard in Son of Dracula (1943) and Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942).
• CARDI (30A: ___ B ("WAP" rapper) CARDI B released "WAP" – featuring Megan Thee Stallion – in August 2020. The song (probably not unexpectedly) received both acclaim and criticism. It received kudos for its sex-positive message, while some commentators criticized its explicitness.
• LARA (42A: "Tomb Raider" protagonist Croft) I have previously written about LARA Croft, the protagonist of the video game franchise Tomb Raider.
• REGIS (52A: Game show host Philbin) REGIS Philbin (1931-2020) was the original host of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 1999 and hosted the show until 2002. He also hosted Who Want to Be a Super Millionaire (2004) and Million Dollar Password (2008-2009).
• AESOP (53A: Author whose fables often had anthropomorphic animals) Anthropomorphism refers to attributing human actions, emotions, and motives to an animal. Just off the top of my head I can think of a few of AESOP's fables that have antropomorphic animals: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Grasshopper and the Ant, and The Lion and the Mouse.
• SOUTH BEND (60A: Pete Buttigieg was its mayor for eight years) SOUTH BEND is a city in north central Indiana. It is named for its location near the southernmost BEND of the St. Joseph River. Pete Buttigieg was the mayor of SOUTH BEND, Indiana from 2012 to 2020. He went on to become the U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Joe Biden.
• MONAE (63A: "Moonlight" actress Janelle) Moonlight is a 2016 movie based on an unpublished semi-autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney titled In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. The film looks at the themes of sexuality and masculinity while telling the story of its main character through childhood, adolescence, and young adult life. Janelle MONÁE portrays a character named Teresa; it was her first film appearance. Later the same year, Janelle MONÁE portrayed Mary Jackson in the movie Hidden Figures.
• SNOW (5D: Winter blanket?) Not a warm woolen blanket to keep you toasty in the winter, but rather a blanket of SNOW on the ground.
• RUNT (10D: Piece of candy shaped like a fruit) RUNTs are crunchy candies shaped and flavored like a variety of fruits. The original RUNT fruits introduced in 1982 were banana, cherry, strawberry, orange, and lime.
• ANTENNA (13D: Wave catcher?) The waves in question here are radio waves, which can be received (i.e. caught) by an ANTENNA.
• ODOR (27D: That stinks!) The exclamation point in this clue is a hint to solvers to take this clue literally. An ODOR is literally a stink.
• SUN (35D: Star around which Earth orbits) Any time I see the SUN referred to as a star (which it is), I am reminded of Nicola Yoon's 2016 book The SUN Is Also a Star. The book was adapted into a 2019 movie of the same name.
• NOSE (39D: It can run but not walk) This clue is a classic riddle, and so, of course, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
• SPIDER (50D: Bug that bit Peter Parker) That would be not just any SPIDER, but a radioactive SPIDER. The bite resulted in Peter Parker having superhuman SPIDER powers and adopting the superhero persona of SPIDER-Man.
• BTS (62D: K-pop septet) The interesting thing about this clue is that although I have written about the K-pop group BTS numerous times (as their name is quite crossword-friendly), if you'd asked me how many members were in the group, I'm not sure I could have told you. Now I know there are seven BTS members: Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed: 
• AHEM (67A: "I'm standing right here" sound)
• COULDA (6D: "I ___ been a contender!")
• CHIA PET (30D: Fad with green "hair")

This is one of those puzzles where the title let me know just what to expect theme-wise. It's always gratifying to have my guess about the theme confirmed. We've seen a puzzle titled "Surround Sound" previously (nearly five years ago), but with a different execution. That's fun. Thank you, Alex, for this enjoyable puzzle.