November 16, 2025

Title: CHESS MOVES

Constructor: Sam Cordes

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• RHODES SCHOLAR (19A: Oxford postgraduate student, often)
• SWISS CHEESE (37A: Melty Reuben ingredient)
• DEAD MAN'S CHEST (56A: "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!" sea shanty)

CHESS MOVES: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word CHESS: RHODES SCHOLAR, SWISS CHEESE, and DEAD MAN'S CHEST. 

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• EASTER (49D: Holiday that might include the egg-tapping game tsougrisma) Okay, I have celebrated EASTER my entire life, but have never heard of egg tapping, which the Greek call tsougrisma. This game is exactly what it sounds like. Two hard-boiled eggs are tapped together end to end. The person whose egg cracks loses the game. Wikipedia tells me that some people cheat at egg tapping by using eggs with cement or marble cores. That's taking this game pretty seriously!

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TINA (1A: WNBA star Charles) TINA Charles is a professional basketball player. She currently plays for WNBA's Connecticut Sun. Additionally, she was won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, in 2012, 2016, and 2020.
• PST (5A: PDX winter hours) PDX is the airport code for the Portland International Airport. Portland, Oregon observes Pacific standard time in the winter.
• MEMES (13A: Sad Keanu and Sad Kermit, for two) "Sad Keanu" is a MEME based on a paparazzi photo of Keanu Reeves sitting on a bench eating a sandwich. The "Sad Kermit" MEME features a picture of a Kermit puppet looking dejected. I enjoyed the similarity of these MEME examples.
• APU (14A: Satyajit Ray protagonist) I have previously written about the Satyajit Ray movies known as the APU Trilogy.
• RHODES SCHOLAR (19A: Oxford postgraduate student, often) A RHODES SCHOLAR is a postgraduate student at Oxford University in Oxford, the United Kingdom, who has received a RHODES Scholarship. The Rhodes Scholarship was established in 1902 by Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902), and is one of the oldest scholarships and one of the most prestigious. RHODES SCHOLARs have all of their fees at Oxford covered and receive a stipend for two to three years. 
• KIM (22A: "___ Possible" (Disney Channel series)) KIM Possible is the title character of the animated TV series, KIM Possible. Ron Stoppable is KIM's friend, neighbor and accident-prone sidekick. The two are spies that fight crime while also dealing with adolescent issues. There are also movies, a miniseries, and video games based on KIM Possible.
• DEAD MAN'S CHEST (56A: "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!" sea shanty) The sea shanty "DEAD MAN'S CHEST" is from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island. Young E. Allison expanded the shanty into a three-verse poem in 1891, and in 1901 Henry Waller added music to the poem for a Broadway version of Treasure Island. The song has been adapted and revised many times over the years. 
• ELLEN (66A: "Grey's Anatomy" star Pompeo) The medical drama Grey's Anatomy premiered in 2005 and has run for 22 seasons so far. The show is set in Washington at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, which is later named the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Meredith Grey, portrayed by ELLEN Pompeo, is the narrator and title character on Grey's Anatomy.
• TREE (8D: Gala host, perhaps?) The Gala here is the apple variety, grown on a TREE (its host in a way).
• ISSA (36D: "Barbie" star Rae) ISSA Rae portrays President Barbie in the movie Barbie (2023).
• MAY (41D: "Star Wars" Day month) Star Wars Day is MAY 4th. This tradition began because "MAY the fourth" sounds similar to the start of the Star Wars phrase "May the force be with you." 
• DEMONS (46D: They're hunted by Huntr/x, in a 2025 Netflix film) KPop DEMON Hunters is the animated movie referenced here. Huntr/x is a K-pop girl group. Its members lead double lives as DEMON hunters. I was proud of myself for knowing about this recent cultural phenomenon. I haven't seen the movie, but I learned about it from a crossword puzzle I recently edited for another publication. 

The word MOVES in the title is acting as an anagram indicator. The letters in the word CHESS are moving around to give us the anagrams ES/SCH, SS/CHE, and S/CHES. Thank you, Sam, for this enjoyable puzzle.