December 1, 2025

Title: CHANGING ROOM 

Constructor: Noelle Griskey

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• OUTDOOR MARKET (19A: Open-air shopping spot)
• NO MORE MR. NICE GUY (35A: "I'm done going out of my way to please everyone!")
• LABOR MOVEMENT (53A: Collective effort to advance workers' rights)

CHANGING ROOM: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word ROOM: OUTDOOR MARKET, NO MORE MR. NICE GUY, and LABOR MOVEMENT.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AREA (14A: ___ 51) AREA 51 is a highly classified U.S. Air Force training facility in Nevada. All research at AREA 51 is classified as Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information, and the CIA did not publicly acknowledge the existence of AREA 51 until 2013. It's perhaps not surprising, given all the secrecy, that AREA 51 has been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories.
• DELHI (16A: New ___ (capital of India)) Although New DELHI and DELHI are sometimes used interchangeably, they are two distinct entities. New DELHI, which is India's capital, is a part of the DELHI metropolitan area. This is the first of three capitals that appear in today's puzzle.
• BOG (22A: Where cranberries grow) Cranberries grow on low-lying vines in BOGs, areas of sand, peat, gravel, and clay that were originally created my glacial deposits. Commercially, cranberries are grown in beds prepared with sand to provide adequate drainage. The beds are surrounded by dykes to allow the beds to be filled with water during harvest. The majority of cranberries are harvested using a wet method, which involves flooding the fields, removing the cranberries from the vines using a harvester machine, and then collecting the floating cranberries.
• ET AL (32A: Catchall abbreviation) The abbreviation "ET AL." is a shortening of the Latin phrase "ET alia," which means "and others."
• TAMALE (41A: Traditional Mesoamerican masa dish) A TAMALE is a dish made of masa (a corn dough) that is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. TAMALEs originated from Mesoamerica, a historical region that includes present day central and southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
• APR (43A: National Sourdough Bread Day mo.) National Sourdough Bread Day is APR. 1.
• DOVER (65A: Capital of Delaware) DOVER is the capital of Delaware and the county seat of Kent County, Delaware. DOVER and its county were named for DOVER in Kent, England. Here's our second capital sighting in this puzzle.
• ARE (2D: You ___ here (map words)) and BEEN (22D: "Where have you ___?") Pairing these two clues / answers together just makes me smile: "Where have you BEEN?" "You ARE here." (You have BEEN here, obviously...)
• HOLOGRAM (3D: Laser-generated image) A HOLOGRAM is a 3-D image. Unlike traditional photographs, a HOLOGRAM displays depth and perspective. Lasers are used to create HOLOGRAMs.
• OAHU (4D: Hanauma Bay island) Hanauma Bay is a Nature Preserve and Marine Life Conservation District on the southeast coast of the Hawaiian island of OAHU. It is home to green sea turtles, and about 400 species of fish. The coral reefs in the bay have suffered as a result of over tourism, leading to current restrictions on the number of daily visitors. Here's an interesting tidbit: In the Hawaiian language, the prefix "hana" means "bay." Therefore, the name Hanauma Bay is redundant.
• OREO (7D: Nabisco cookie) Our crossword friend OREO is starting off the month of December with its 25th appearance of 2025. How many more times do you think we'll see OREO before the end of the year?
• LEAR (8D: Shakespearean king) King LEAR is the title character of William Shakespeare's 1606 play The Tragedy of King LEAR.
• FARM (9D: Stardew Valley setting) Stardew Valley is a role-playing video game first released in 2016. Players assume the role of a character taking over their grandfather's FARM in the titular Stardew Valley. Players can socialize with townspeople, grow crops, raise livestock, smelt ore, and participate in activities such as cooking, crafting, and fishing.
• GIRLS (28D: "___ Just Want To Have Fun") "GIRLS Just Want to Have Fun" is a 1983 song by Cyndi Lauper. This song was released during my freshman year in college. It pretty much summed up my life at the time, and thus I've always had a soft spot for it.
• ALI (30D: "Single Lady" comedian Wong) Single Lady is a 2024 Netflix comedy special by ALI Wong. The show won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television.
• PRAGUE (44D: European capital known as the "City of a Hundred Spires") Rounding out our trio of capitals in today's puzzle is PRAGUE, the capital of the Czech Republic. PRAGUE's nickname of "City of a Hundred Spires" is based on a count done by a 19th-century mathematician, Bernard Bolzano. It's estimated that the city of PRAGUE now has about 500 spires.

The word CHANGING in today's title is serving as an anagram indicator. The letters of the word ROOM are CHANGING to new positions in each theme answer. Thank you, Noelle, for this enjoyable puzzle.