November 6, 2025

Title: FINAL FANTASY

Constructors: Dan Schwartz & Will Eisenberg

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• KOMODO DRAGON (22A: Largest extant lizard in the world)
• CHEROKEE PHOENIX (39A: Weekly newspaper published in Tahlequah, Oklahoma)
• PATTY GRIFFIN (50A: "Where I Come From" artist)

FINAL FANTASY: The FINAL word of each theme answer is a FANTASY creature: DRAGON, PHOENIX, and GRIFFIN.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• OBOE (18A: Elizabeth Koch Tiscione's instrument) Elizabeth Koch Tiscione is principal OBOE of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since 2007. She has performed as a guest oboist with multiple orchestras across the United States.
• CHEROKEE PHOENIX (39A: Weekly newspaper published in Tahlequah, Oklahoma) The CHEROKEE PHOENIX has a history going back to 1828, when it became the first newspaper published in the United States by Native Americans and the first published in a Native American language. In its current form, the CHEROKEE PHOENIX is published in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the  capital of the modern CHEROKEE Nation. The CHEROKEE PHOENIX is also available online and has a growing social media presence.
• OWEN (42A: ___ Grady ("Jurassic World" protagonist) Jurassic World is a 2015 movie in the Jurassic Park franchise. Although I am familiar with this franchise, I have only seen the first movie – Jurassic Park (1993) – and read Michael Crichton's 1990 novel of the same name. Therefore, I wasn't familiar with OWEN Grady, the Velociraptor expert portrayed by Chris Pratt in Jurassic World. I relied on crossing answers here.
• ANIME (67A: "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba," for one) ANIME is animation originating from Japan. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is an ANIME TV series baed on Koyoharu Gotouge's manga series of the same name. The series is considered one of the best ANIME of the 2010s. Although I wasn't familiar with this specific series, I am familiar with ANIME, so was able to figure out the answer with just a few letters supplied by crossing answers.
• SOHO (26D: "A Rainy Night in ___") "A Rainy Night in SOHO" is a 1986 song by the Celtic punk band The Pogues. The song has been covered by Bono, Johnny Depp, and Bob Dylan.
• SPIT FACTS (34D: Deliver unfettered truths) Today I learned the term SPIT FACTS, a phrase used to mean exactly what it sounds like.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ELOPE (12A: Get together alone?) At first glance, the idea of getting together alone doesn't seem to make sense. However, if one were to ELOPE, one would "get together" (get married) "alone" (without a crowd of guests).
• KOMODO DRAGON (22A: Largest extant lizard in the world) The KOMODO DRAGON is not an actual DRAGON, of course, but a lizard. Found on the Indonesian islands of KOMODO, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang, the KOMODO DRAGON is, as the clue informs us, the largest extant (living) species of lizard. A KOMODO dragon can be up to 10 feet in length, and weigh up to 150 pounds.
• EEL (29A: Main ingredient in jangeo-gui) Gui is a grilled dish in Korean cuisine, and jangeo-gui is grilled EEL.
• BONG (30A: ___ Joon Ho ("Parasite" director)) BONG Joon-ho is a South Korean movie director whose credits include the movie Parasite (2019). Parasite won four Academy Awards, including Best Director. When BONG Joon-ho was asked if it was odd that no Korean film had ever been nominated for an Oscar before, he said, "It's a little strange, but it's not a big deal. The Oscars are not an international film festival. They're very local."
• TRIO (43A: Haim or Screaming Females) The rock band Haim is comprised of a TRIO of sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim. The rock band Screaming Females is comprised of the TRIO of Marissa Paternoster, Jarrett Dougherty, and Mike Abbate. The nice thing about a clue that provides two examples, is that a solver only needs to be familiar with one of the examples to be successful.
• WET (49A: Like a cat's fur after a bath) I've heard that some cat's don't mind baths. My cat, Willow, is not one of those cats! She does like sitting in the bathtub and the sink, but does not like getting WET.

• PATTY GRIFFIN (50A: "Where I Come From" artist) PATTY GRIFFIN is a Grammy Award-winning folk musician. "Where I Come From" is a 2019 single from her self-titled tenth studio album.
• ABBA (56A: "Mamma Mia!" group) "Mamma Mia!" is a (delightful and quite fun, in my opinion) jukebox musical based on the songs of ABBA. 
• NOLA (57A: Preservation Hall Jazz Band's city, for short) NOLA is a nickname for New Orleans, Louisiana. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded in New Orleans in the early 1960s and takes its name from Preservation Hall, a jazz venue in the city's French Quarter. The band plays at Preservation Hall, but also tours across the U.S. and internationally. My husband and I visited New Orleans in 1993, and one of the highlights of the trip was hearing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band play "When the Saints Go Marchin' In."
• SHOP (62A: "___ Cats" (web series about bodega kitties)) The web series SHOP Cats is hosted by comedian Michelladonna who interviews New York's SHOP cats in bodegas, bookstores, and delis. Multiple cat entries means more opportunities to share cat photos! Paprika and Babka are the cats of one of today's constructors, Dan Schwartz

• DDS (69A: Degree for a tooth expert) DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery, and it's the degree held by many dentists.
• ABC (25D: "Jeopardy! Masters" channel) Jeopardy! Masters is a game show in which notable Jeopardy! champions compete against each other in a round-robin-style tournament. Unlike traditional Jeopardy! the game is scored in points rather than dollars. The show premiered on ABC in 2023 and is hosted by Ken Jennings.
• NILE (37D: World's longest river) The world's longest river, the NILE, is located in Africa where it flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. The NILE River flows through 11 countries: Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.
• AGNES (46D: "It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!" speaker) AGNES is one of the TRIO of sisters who (eventually) win the heart of the supervillain Gru in the 2010 animated movie Despicable Me. The creatures about which AGNES says, "It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die," is a stuffed unicorn.
• T-BONE (52D: Steak cut with a letter opener?) This is a fabulous clue! It conjures up an amusing mental image of trying to use a letter opener to cut a T-BONE steak. The key to understanding the clue is to realize it is talking about a steak cut that has a letter at the beginning of its name.
• NO ONE (55D: "___ Mourns the Wicked") "NO ONE Mourns the Wicked" is a song from the musical Wicked. The song also appears in the movie Wicked (2024), which is based on the musical. Thanks for the earworm, puzzle! "NO ONE mourns the wicked /  NO ONE cries, "They won't return!" / NO ONE lays a lily on their grave..."
• ELMO (60D: "Rocco's a rock, Zoe!" speaker) This clue made me laugh! This is a reference to the Sesame Street feud between Muppets ELMO and Zoe, which I have previously written about. Rocco is Zoe's pet rock.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• LIPS (32A: "From your ___ to God's ears")
• YES MOM (5D: "Fine, fine, I'll clean my room")
• MILK (23D: Moo juice)

As you can see from the "What I learned" section, there were a number of things in this puzzle that were new to me. That slowed me down just a little bit, but everything was fairly crossed, so eventually I was successful in solving. I don't mind a bit of a challenge now and then, and I enjoy learning new things from the puzzle, so it's all good! Thank you, Dan and Will, for this fantastic puzzle.