October 3, 2025

Title: STICK WITH IT!

Constructors: Agnes Davidson & Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• CINNAMON BREAD (20A: Sweet, swirled loaf)
• WALKING SPEED (34A: It may be brisk or leisurely)
• LICORICE PIZZA (55A: 2021 coming-of-age movie with a vinyl-inspired title)

STICK WITH IT!: Each word of each theme answer can be paired with the word STICK to form a new phrase: CINNAMON STICK, BREADSTICK, WALKING STICK, SPEED STICK, LICORICE STICK, and PIZZA STICK.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ESPN (32D: "First Take" network) First Take is a daily sports talk TV show on ESPN. The show features sports reporter and analyst Stephen A. Smith and a number of guest hosts and analysts.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• OLAF (1A: "Frozen" snowman who dreams of summer) Ah, OLAF, the lovable snowman we met for the first time in Disney's 2013 animated movie Frozen. OLAF sings of dreaming about summer in the song, "In Summer." The character of OLAF is voiced by Josh Gad. On a recent road trip, my husband and I listened to Josh Gad's memoir, In Gad We Trust. We really enjoyed it, and it was particularly interesting to hear behind the scenes stories of his experiences as the voice of OLAF.
• KENNY (19A: "She's Got It All" singer Chesney) "She's Got It All" is a 1997 song by KENNY Chesney. The song reached the top of Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
• SCI (24A: ___-fi (Ted Chiang's genre)) Ted Chiang writes SCI-fi short stories. His novella, "Story of Your Life," was the basis for the 2016 movie, Arrival. He also works as a technical writer in the software industry and writes nonfiction articles for The New Yorker on computer technology.
• RIO (29A: Copacabana's city, for short) Copacabana is a barrio (neighborhood) in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil. It is perhaps most-widely known for Copacabana Beach, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The beach is approximately 2.5 miles long, and is bordered by the Copacabana Promenade, a wide sidewalk tiled with an undulating wave pattern.
• YEMEN (44A: Country where Mocha is located) Mocha, also spelled Mokha, or Mukha, is a city in YEMEN. Mocha is a port city located on the Red Sea. The chocolatey coffee drink, mocha, is named for the city of Mocha.
• LEN (46A: "Steal My Sunshine" band) LEN is an alternative rock duo comprised of siblings Marc Costanzo and Sharon Costanzo. They released "Steal My Sunshine" in 1999, and it is their most well-known song to date.
• LICORICE PIZZA (55A: 2021 coming-of-age movie with a vinyl-inspired title) The movie LICORICE PIZZA is set in 1973 and stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. The movie's title was inspired by a former Los Angeles record store chain. The record store's name was meant to describe vinyl records as being the color of LICORICE and the shape of PIZZA.
• ROSA (64A: Civil rights icon Parks) In December 1955, ROSA Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a bus so a white person could sit down. ROSA Parks (1913-2005) was not the first Black person in Montgomery to be arrested for refusing to give up their seat. At the time of Rosa Parks' arrest, local civil rights leaders were searching for an arrest to use as a test case, and decided to use hers. Four days later, on December 5, 1955, on the day of ROSA Parks' trial, the Montgomery bus boycott began, protesting the policy of racial segregation on Montgomery's buses. The bus boycott lasted over a year, until December 20, 1956, when a Supreme Court decision declared laws that segregated buses to be unconstitutional. 
• ALOO (6D: ___ masala (potato dish)) ALOO masala is a dish in South Indian cuisine that consists of potatoes cooked with spices – often ginger, mustard seeds, cumin, and curry, as well as other spices. "ALOO" is the South Indian word for potato, and "masala" refers to a blend of spices.
• AREA (10D: 847 square miles, for Tokyo) Tokyo is the capital of Japan. With an AREA of 847 square miles, Tokyo is less than half the size of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia (1,816 square miles) and about twice as big as Tirana, the capital of Albania (430 square miles). For perspective, Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, has an AREA of just over 68 square miles. We saw a similar style of clue for AREA a few days ago, [About 344 square miles for Berlin]. 
• AGRA (21D: City home to I'timad-ud-Daulah's tomb) The Tomb of I'timād-ud Daulah is sometimes described as a "jewel box," and was the first tomb in India built entirely in white marble. The mausoleum was built between 1622 and 1628, and is often regarded as a draft of the Taj Mahal which was built between 1632 and 1653. In fact, it is sometimes referred to as the "baby Taj Mahal." The tomb, located on the east bank of the Yamuna River in AGRA, India, has an interesting history. It was commissioned by a daughter as a tribute to her father. 
• APU (33D: ___ Roy (Satyajit Ray protagonist)) The APU Trilogy is a series of Indian Bengali language movies (Pather Panchali, 1955; Aparajito, 1956; and The World of APU, 1959) directed by Satyajit Ray. The three films about APU Roy won awards at the Cannes, Berlin, and Venice Film Festivals and are frequently listed among the greatest movies of all time.
• NAME (36D: New pet owner's selection) My cat, Willow, was adopted from our local animal shelter. The shelter volunteers had given all of the kittens in her litter baked-good-related NAMEs. Willow's NAME was "Cupcake." Our family decided that NAME didn't really fit her. As we were signing the adoption paperwork, my daughter noticed a stapler labeled with the NAME Willa (apparently Willa felt the need to make sure everyone knew that was her stapler), and this led her to suggest the NAME Willow. At the time we had a cat at home NAMEd Holly, and we liked that both of the cats would have tree NAMEs.

• BIBS (37D: Baby body guards?) Not a baby's security detail, but rather BIBS that guard a baby's body from getting messy.
• ASIA (38D: Hanoi's continent) Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, a country in Southeast ASIA. Our crossword friend ASIA is making its first October appearance today, and its 17th appearance of the year.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• FAKE (9D: Like a flea market Rolex, probably)
• CINDERELLA (11D: Girl who rode in a pumpkin coach)
• MOMENT (59D: In the ___ (focused))

It's always fun when both parts of the theme answers are involved in the theme mechanism. I wasn't familiar with PIZZA STICKs, but by the time I reached LICORICE PIZZA, I had figured out the theme so I assumed they must be a thing, and indeed they are. PIZZA STICKS look to me to be like a BREADSTICK stuffed with sauce and cheese. Well, that sounds delicious, and now I'm getting hungry. Thank you, Agnes and Zhouqin, for this enjoyable puzzle.