October 17, 2025

Title: HARD AT WORK (Freestyle)

Constructor: Willa Angel Chen Miller

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

HARD AT WORK (Freestyle): There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. The title is a nod to EARLY RETIREMENT (17A: FIRE enthusiasts' financial goal).

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• EARLY RETIREMENT (17A: FIRE enthusiasts' financial goal) The acronym FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The FIRE movement gained popularity during the 2010s. Fans of FIRE aim to reduce expenses and increase savings, with EARLY RETIREMENT as the goal. 
• HAIR METAL (8D: Headbanger's genre) I'm only peripherally familiar with METAL music, so I wanted "heavy METAL" here at first, which, of course, didn't fit. HAIR METAL, also known as glam METAL or pop METAL, is a subgenre of heavy METAL that evolved in the 1970s and is related to glam rock. HAIR METAL is influenced by pop and is characterized by upbeat rock anthems and slow power ballads. I've heard the term HAIR METAL before, but I needed the help of crossing answers to figure it out.
• ARTSY (13D: Website that can be searched by gallery or style) Today I learned about ARTSY! Formerly known as ART.SY Inc, ARTSY is an online art brokerage that hosts a website for galleries. In addition to discovering information about art galleries, visitors to ARTSY can also purchase art and read articles such as "How to Build Your Taste in Art, According to Experts."
• FAN (33D: Common Kyomai prop) Kyomai is a style of traditional Japanese dance that developed in Kyoto in the 17th century.
• ENTER (55D: "___ Sandman" (Metallica hit)) "ENTER Sandman" is a 1991 song by Metallica. Its lyrics are about nightmares: "Sleep with one eye open / Gripping your pillow tight." Metallica is a heavy METAL band. They are not a HAIR METAL band, but a thrash METAL band.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• DOH (6A; Trademarked sound in "The Simpsons") It took me far longer than I care to admit to realize the answer here is Homer Simpson's catchphrase, "D'OH!" (I also learned that there's an apostrophe in this exclamation, although DOH is also used.) 
• IPA (15A: A Little Sumpin' Sumpin', e.g.) A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' is an IPA made by the California-based Lagunita Brewery Company (now a subsidiary of Heineken).
• REEF (24A: Habitat for a parrotfish) The parrotfish – who lives in a REEF – is having a bit of a moment in the crossword sun. We saw PARROTFISH as an answer last month clued as [Colorful aquatic species found in coral reefs].
• FOOD FIGHT (33A: Occasion for some in-flight snacks?) Ha! This clue stumped for quite some time, and when I figured it out I started laughing. The question mark in the clue alerted me there was some trickiness, but I couldn't figure it out without assistance from crossing answers. The clue is not referencing snacks offered on an airplane, but snacks that are in flight because they are being tossed during a FOOD FIGHT.
• INNER (36A: Word before "tube" or "peace") Don't mind me, I'm floating on an INNER tube looking to attain INNER peace.
• AND (39A: First conjunction mentioned in "Conjunction Junction") "Conjunction Junction" is a Schoolhouse Rock song about, well, conjunctions, of course. The song and video use the imagery of train cars to illustrate the role of conjunctions in joining phrases and clauses. "Conjunction junction, what's your function? / Hookin' up words and phrases..." I actually sang the song to myself to come up with the answer here, "I got three favorite cars / That get most of my job done ... I got AND, but, and or / They'll get you pretty far..."
• ENG (59A: Official language of Ghana (Abbr.)) Ghana is a country in Western Africa. Its southern border is along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ghana's neighbors are the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana. As the clue tells us, English (ENG.) is the official language of Ghana; there are 10 other recognized national languages.
• EAR (72A: Organ with a cochlea) The cochlea is a spiral-shaped cavity that is part of the inner EAR.
• DIEGO (6D: Muralist Rivera) DIEGO Rivera (1886-1957) was a Mexican artist known for his large murals. Between 1922 and 1953, he painted murals in Mexico City, Mexico; San Francisco, California; and New York City, New York, as well as other places. DIEGO Rivera's third wife was fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
• MONAE (12D: "Hidden Figures" star Janelle) Hidden Figures is a 2016 biographical movie based on Margot Lee Shetterly's book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race (2016). The movie tells the story of three Black mathematicians who worked at NASA: Mary Jackson (Janelle MONÁE), Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer).
• RUSSIA (18D: Birthplace of matryoshka dolls) Matryoshka dolls are also known as nesting dolls or RUSSIAn dolls. A set of these dolls are of decreasing size and nest inside each other. Matryoshka dolls are often elaborately painted and are available in many different themes.
• TEN (28D: Only two-digit number in a poker deck) I'm always interested in how numbers are clued; there are so many options. This is a fun clue for TEN. There's no 11 in a poker deck – that would be a jack.
• SIMBA (32D: Character who "just can't wait to be king") We saw The Lion King villain, SCAR, in the puzzle October 10 and October 14, so it's nice that SIMBA gets a moment in the puzzle today. In  Disney's animated 1994 movie, young SIMBA sings "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," a song written by Elton John.
• RED (38D: Traditional bridal color in India) Many brides in India wear RED as a symbol of love, prosperity, and new beginnings.
• STU (45D: Stuart, little?) STU is, of course, a shortened – or little – form of the word Stuart. This clue is fun because it evokes the title mouse character of E.B. White's 1945 children's book, Stuart Little.
• LEG (47D: That's the kicker!) An exclamation point in a clue is an indication to solvers that the clue is to be taken literally. A LEG is used to kick, thus it's "the kicker."
• OPAL (50D: Australia's national gemstone) About 95% of the world's OPALs come from Australia. It's fitting, then, that OPAL is Australia's national gemstone.
• DEEP (60D: Like the Mariana Trench) The Mariana Trench is in the western Pacific Ocean, about 124 miles east of the Mariana Islands. It is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth, with a maximum known depth of 36, 037 feet. That's nearly seven miles DEEP!
• Three other lovely grid-spanning answers in addition to the aforementioned EARLY RETIREMENT:
• THREE LITTLE PIGS (64A: Fabled creatures with homes of straw, sticks, and bricks)
• AGREE TO DISAGREE (3D: "I'm not convinced, but let's stop arguing")
• ONE THING AT A TIME (11D: "We'd better take it systematically")

As you can see above, I learned a number of things from today's puzzle, which is always fun. That didn't slow down my solve, though, as the things I didn't know were fairly crossed or intuitive. Thank you, Willa, for this enjoyable puzzle.