October 25, 2025

Title: HOLDING SPACE (Freestyle)

Constructor: May Huang

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

HOLDING SPACE (Freestyle): There's no theme today as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. The title is a nod to DEFYING GRAVITY (52A: "Wicked" showstopper with a battle cry).

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• DENIAL IS A RIVER (20A: Doechii song that incorporates her therapist alter-ego) "DENIAL IS A RIVER" is a song by Doechii from her mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024). As the clue informs us, the song incorporates Doechii's therapist alter-ego, whom Doechii tells about her life. In addition to DEFYING GRAVITY, this answer also pairs well with today's title of HOLDING SPACE.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ALOHA (16A: Kahului Airport greeting) Kahului Airport is the main airport on Maui, the second largest of the Hawaiian islands.
• BISON (19A: Large bovine that can be spotted in Golden Gate Park) BISON have been residents of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco since 1891 when the animals were brought there as part of conservation efforts. The BISON live in a paddock in the western section of the park.
• MAY (37A: Name that's also a month) Ah, clever MAY, she got her name into the puzzle. I always enjoy when constructors are able to do that.
• MEW (40A: Kitten's sound) and NAPE (53D: Place to pick up kittens?) Not just one, but two kitten clues. That makes my cat, Willow, quite happy. A "place to pick up kittens" sounds like it might be a shelter or a pet store. However, the question mark means there's some wordplay here, and the "place to pick up kittens" is by the NAPE of the neck. Since Willow's kitten days are long gone, I did not attempt to pick her up by the NAPE of the neck for a photo op. I'm guessing that would result in a different sound than a MEW! Instead, here's a photo of Willow putting herself in an apparent timeout. 

• MAMMAL (41A: The Etruscan shrew is the smallest one) Just how small is the Etruscan shrew? This MAMMAL's body length is about 1.6 inches, excluding its tail. That's pretty small! It weighs only 0.063 ounces on average.
• ART (48A: "A lie that makes us realize truth," per Pablo Picasso) Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. In a 1923 interview, Pablo Picasso said, "We all know that ART is not truth. ART is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand."
• DEFYING GRAVITY (52A: "Wicked" showstopper with a battle cry) Thanks for this earworm, puzzle! "It's time to try DEFYING GRAVITY / I think I'll try DEFYING GRAVITY / And you can't pull me down." In the 2024 movie Wicked, "DEFYING GRAVITY" is sung by Cynthia Erivo. I'm quite thrilled that we're now less than a month away from the release of the second movie, Wicked: For Good, which will be released November 21.
• ELLEN (58A: Sigourney's "Alien" role) ELLEN Ripley, portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, is the protagonist of the sci-fi horror movie Alien (1979) and its sequel, Aliens (1986).
• PIANO (61A: Billy Joel's instrument) After all, Billy Joel's 1973 album is titled PIANO Man. The album's title track, "PIANO Man" is Billy Joel's signature song.
• HEIDI (1D: "SNL" star Gardner) HEIDI Gardner was a Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member from 2017 to 2025. Screen Rant recently discussed some of HEIDI Gardner's memorable recurring characters, which included Brie Bacardi (half of an influencer couple) and Angel (every boxer's girlfriend from every movie about boxing ever).
• NASA (8D: "Hidden Figures" org.) The 2016 movie, Hidden Figures, which I just wrote about a week ago, tells the story of three Black mathematicians who worked at NASA.
• THOR (12D: God wielding Mjolnir) THOR is the Norse god associated with storms, thunder, and lightning. Mjölnir is THOR's hammer, depicted in Norse mythology as one of the most powerful weapons in existence.
• SAN (13D: Word before "Francisco" or "Mateo") SAN Francisco and SAN Mateo are cities in California. Both cities are located in the SAN Francisco Bay Area. SAN Mateo is about 20 miles south of SAN Francisco.
• ORCA (29D: Whale often seen in Monterey Bay) Monterey Bay is located off the California coast, south of the San Francisco Bay area. Monterey Bay is a good place to go if you'd like to go whale watching and have a good chance of seeing some ORCAs.
• COACHELLA (33D: Annual music festival held in the Colorado Desert) The COACHELLA Valley Music and Arts Festival, often simply referred to as COACHELLA, is an annual music and arts festival held in Indio, California. Indio is located in the Colorado Desert, southwest of Joshua Tree National Park. COACHELLA, one of the largest music festivals in the U.S., is held on two consecutive three-day weekends in April.
• MET (37D: The ___ Gala (event whose 2025 theme was "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style")) The MET Gala is an annual fundraiser for the Costume Institute at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since the MET Gala started in 1971, each year's event has had a different theme. You can peruse the themes from 1971 to 2024 in this article. As the clue informs us, the theme for this year's MET Gala, which was held in May, was "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style."
• GLEN (54D: "Anyone But You" star Powell) Anyone but You is a 2023 rom-com loosely based on William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. Sydney Sweeney and GLEN Powell star as two people whose interactions are plagued with misunderstandings.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• HUMP (1A: Where a camel stores its fat)
• TEN (49A: Number that starts many countdowns)
• ALGORITHM (57A: It determines what content appears on a feed)
• ETHOS (50D: Greek word for "character") 

HOLDING SPACE means creating a safe environment where a person can feel seen and heard. The phrase got linked to the song "DEFYING GRAVITY" last year when Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were doing a press tour for the first Wicked movie, and reporter Tracy E. Gilchrist told them, "people are taking the lyrics of 'DEFYING GRAVITY' and really HOLDING SPACE with that and feeling power in that." I'm a fan of any puzzle that includes the answer DEFYING GRAVITY. Thank you, May, for this delightful puzzle.