October 2, 2025

Title: BI-BLE READING

Constructor: Jake Halperin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• BLEW BUBBLES (19A: Made soapy spheres)
• CHEWABLE TABLETS (39A: Meds you don't swallow whole)
• DOUBLE DRIBBLE (49A: Bounce a basketball with both hands)

BI-BLE READING: Each theme answer contains two instances of the letter sequence BLE: BLEW BUBBLES, CHEWABLE TABLETS, and DOUBLE DRIBBLE.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• WALT (12A: ___ Lloyd ("Lost" character)) Lost is a sci-fi TV series that originally aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010. The show follows the survivors of a plane crash that happened on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. Ten-year-old WALT Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) and his father Michael (Harold Perrineau) were two of the plane crash survivors. WALT is the only child main character on the series.
• ALE (27A: Beer that's faster to brew than lager) When it comes to brewing ALE and lager, there is a difference in the temperature and length of the fermentation process. ALE is fermented at a warmer temperature than lager. At warmer temperatures the yeast used in the fermentation process works faster, and thus the brewing process is completed in less time.
• LIMA (58A: Peruvian city home to Mistura Food Festival) The Mistura Food Festival was started in 2008 by the Peruvian Society of Gastronomy to celebrate the country's food and culture. Held in LIMA, Peru, at one time Mistura was the largest food festival in Latin America. It looks like the festival hasn't happened since 2017. 
• SERB (7D: Novi Sad resident) Novi Sad is the second-largest city in Serbia, following Belgrade, the country's capital.
• ARAB (40D: Part of Syria's official name) Syria is a West Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country's official name is the Syrian ARAB Republic.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CBS (5A: Original "Magnum P.I." network) The TV series Magnum P.I. premiered on CBS in 1980. Tom Selleck portrayed the title character, Thomas Magnum, a private investigator who lived in Oahu, Hawaii. The original series aired through 2008. A remake of the series – with the same name – was launched on CBS in 2018 and stars Jay Hernandez as the title character. The new series ran until 2024, with its final season airing on NBC. I was 15 years old when the original Magnum P.I. aired. I was a fan of the show and of its starring actor.
• BABKA (22A: Cake whose name translates to "grandmother") A BABKA is a braided sweet bread that originated in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. It may be filled with cinnamon, chocolate, fruit, or cheese.
• ELISA (24A: "Clueless" actress Donovan) The 1995 movie Clueless was loosely based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. Alicia Silverstone portrays the movie's main character, Cher Horowitz, who prides herself on her matchmaking abilities. ELISA Donovan plays the role of Amber Mariens.
• BAT (31A: Creature that's the smallest mammal by length) Here's a fun animal fact! Specifically, the smallest mammal by length is the Kitti's hog-nosed BAT, whose body length is just a bit over one inch.
• HADER (42A: Bill who voiced Fear in "Inside Out") Pixar's 2015 animated movie, Inside Out, centers on the emotions of a young girl named Riley: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. Bill HADER voices Fear. In the 2024 sequel, Inside Out 2, Tony Hale voices Fear.
• ITT (43A: Hairy TV 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.
• DOUBLE DRIBBLE (49A: Bounce a basketball with both hands) I don't know a lot about basketball, but I do know players aren't allowed to DOUBLE DRIBBLE.
• I BET (60A: "Yeah, right") and SURE (63A: "Yeah, right") This is a fun clue echo for these stacked answers. It had the desired effect of making me do a double take when I encountered the clue the second time.
• TET (67A: Vietnamese holiday) TET, also known as the Vietnamese New Year, celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar.
• STYX (68A: River that's reimagined as a wall in "Hadestown") In Greek mythology, the river STYX forms the boundary between Earth and the underworld. The musical Hadestown is a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus going to the underworld to rescue his fiancée, Eurydice. In the musical, STYX is reimagined as a high wall built of stone that physically separates Hadestown from the world above.
• AWW (1D: "Look at those tiny paws!") My cat, Willow, is happy to present her AWW-inspiring paws for you to admire.

• BEAU (6D: Old-fashioned boyfriend?) Not a boyfriend who is old-fashioned, but an old-fashioned word for boyfriend, BEAU.
• USA (10D: Country with the most Miss Universe wins) The Miss Universe beauty pageant was first held in Long Beach, California in 1952. Participation in the pageant isn't open to all countries. In order for a country to participate in Miss Universe, a local company or person needs to pay a franchise fee. As the clue informs us, the country with the most Miss Universe wins is USA, which has had a Miss Universe winner seven times. Venezuela has had the second-most Miss Universe winners, with seven victories. The reigning Miss Universe is Victoria Kjær Theilvig, of Denmark. Her win was the first for Denmark.
• EAR (20A: Place for a musical "worm") I almost always have a musical EARworm going through my head. Today I woke up with the EARworm "Everything Will Be Okay" by Home Free.
• VET (37A: Pet scan expert?) You might not want a VET to oversee a pet scan (positron emission tomography scan) for you, but you would (hopefully) trust them to scan your pet and check out their health.
• KISS (56D: Give some lip to?) The question mark is a hint that the clue is not referring to the usual use of "give some lip" as in talk back to, but is referring to a KISS in which one offers one's lips to someone else.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• POSE (15A: Freeze and say "cheese")
• WHOA (16A: "Holy cannoli!")
• BAH (2D: Scrooge's exclamation)
• BE LIKE THAT (30D: "Fine, act childish, then!")

It was a kindness on the part of USA Today to add that hypen to the word BIBLE in the title. That alerted me there might be some reinterpretation of the word happening in the theme. It's a clever theme, and I enjoyed discovering the BI- (as in two) BLE sequences in each theme answer. This puzzle grid has left-right mirror symmetry. This type of symmetry occasionally results in what I refer to as a "boots and antenna" grid, with the combination of black squares at the top and bottom of the grid resembling those two things. I think today's grid has a bit of a Frankenstein feel to it. That doesn't affect the solve at all, but it does make me smile. Thank you, Jake, for this stellar puzzle.