December 2, 2025

Title: MENTAL GYMNASTICS

Constructor: CJ Tan

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• TALENT MANAGER (20A: Entertainment industry professional who guides an artist's career)
• INCIDENTAL MUSIC (35A: Part of a score that's written to create a particular mood)
• EGGPLANT EMOJI (53A: Suggestive purple pictogram)

MENTAL GYMNASTICS: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word MENTAL: TALENT MANAGER, INCIDENTAL MUSIC, and EGGPLANT EMOJI.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• AMULET (24A: The ___ of Avalor (magical necklace worn by Sofia the First)) This clue is a reference to the Disney animated TV series Sofia the First, which originally aired from 2013-2018. The title character is a young girl who became a princess when her mother married a King Rowland of Enchancia. The AMULET of Avalor is a magical necklace given to Sofia by King Rowland. The AMULET gives Sofia the ability to communicate with animals, and also links her to past princesses.
• INCIDENTAL MUSIC (35A: Part of a score that's written to create a particular mood) Of course I've heard INCIDENTAL MUSIC before, but I wasn't familiar with the term. I'm happy to learn it. INCIDENTAL MUSIC refers to MUSIC that is written specifically for a play, TV show, radio program, or video game, but doesn't form an integral part of the work. So, for example, the songs in musicals are not INCIDENTAL MUSIC, since they are an integral part of the work. The term is generally not used for movies; their music is referred to as a soundtrack or score.
• SARAH (58A: "Modern Family" actress Hyland) I have previously written about Modern Family (2009-2020), a mockumentary TV series that follows the lives of three families. We have seen several of the Modern Family cast members in the puzzle before, but this is the first time we've seen SARAH Hyland, who portrays Haley Gwendolyn Marshall.
• ITO (10D: Horror manga artist Junji) Some of Junji ITO's notable horror manga works include Tomie, Uzumaki, and Gyo. In addition to his horror manga, Junji ITO also wrote and illustrated an autobiographical manga titled Junji ITO's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (2009).
• GUS (22D: Giancarlo Esposito's "Breaking Bad" role) Although I'm familiar with the TV series Breaking Bad (2008-2013), I've never seen the show. Therefore, I did not know that Giancarlo Esposito portrays Gustavo "GUS" Fring in the second, third, and fourth seasons of Breaking Bad. GUS is a Chilean drug distributor whose cover is being an owner of the fast-food chain Los Pollos Hermanos ("The Chicken Brothers").

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• NCIS (8A: Long-running CBS crime drama) In addition to the original series that is on its 23rd season, NCIS has resulted in five spin-offs: NCIS: Los Angeles (2009), NCIS: New Orleans (2014), NCIS: Hawai'i (2021), NCIS: Sydney (2023), NCIS: Origins (2024), and NCIS: Tony & Ziva (2025-present). I don't watch a lot of TV, so it's no surprise (at least to me) that I haven't seen the three shows I've already written about today. However, I have seen some episodes of NCIS, and the reason for that is that my mom is a big NCIS fan, and my dad was as well. In fact, one of the memories I have of my dad's time in hospice care is sitting at his bedside while NCIS played on the TV. My mom currently spends her Sundays rewatching episodes of NCIS, and it makes her very happy (which makes me happy, too).
• OTIS (14A: "Violet in Blue" singer Shuggie) Shuggie OTIS ( is a singer-songwriter who I learned about from the January 7, 2021 puzzle. "Violet in Blue" is a song Shuggie OTIS recorded with Jimmy Vivino for the 2008 album Novemberin'.
• CAT (26A: Pet that may sleep in loaf position with its head up) Ah, the classic CAT loaf! Although she isn't sleeping, here's a photo of my CAT, Willow, in loaf position.

• RHINOS (49A: Horned animals collectively called a crash) A group of RHINOS may also be called a herd, but a crash is a much more interesting term, isn't it? I enjoy collective terms for animals, as many of them are entertaining. For example, group of hippos is called a bloat, a sea, a herd, or a thunder.
• EMUS (59A: Animals banned by an Australian hotel for bad behavior) This is a fun clue for EMUS, which is inferable from the "Australian" hint. The particular EMUS in question are named Kevin and Carol. They hang out in the small town of Yaraka (population less than 20) in the Australian Outback. The EMUS learned to climb the stairs to get into the Yaraka Hotel, and began wreaking havoc by helping themselves to customers' food and drinks. The hotel posted a sign, "EMUS have been banned from this establishment for bad behavior." In case the EMUS don't know how to read, the hotel also installed an EMU barrier.
• EDEN (64A: "Garden of ___" (Lady Gaga song with the lyric "Poison apple, take a bite")) Lady Gaga released her song "Garden of EDEN" in March of this year. The song is from Lady Gaga's eighth studio album, Mayhem.
• ASANA (7D: Lizard pose, for one) Lizard pose is a hip-opening ASANA in yoga for exercise. 
• THAI (25D: Kaeng som cuisine) In THAI cuisine, kaeng som is a sour and spicy curry soup with fish and vegetables.
• RAFA (33D: Nickname for Nadal) Nadal here is tennis great Rafael Nadal, who uses the nickname RAFA.
• ENG (43D: One of Sudan's official languages (Abbr.)) Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa. The official languages of Sudan are Arabic and English (ENG.).
• HEISTS (48D: Thefts in "The Bad Guys") The Bad Guys is a 2022 animated movie loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey. The movie is centered on a group of anthropomorphic animals (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Ms. Tarantula "Webs," Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha) who are part of a criminal group that pulls off HEISTS.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed: 
• SENIOR (32A: Student who may observe a "ditch day")
• NICELY PUT (8D: "I like how you said that")
• NAME (55D: On a first-___ basis)

I enjoyed the MENTAL GYMNASTICS needed to figure out the theme of this puzzle. The word GYMNASTICS is a fun anagram indicator, leading me to imagine the letters of the word MENTAL tumbling about on a mat, before settling into a new order. Thank you, CJ, for this enjoyable puzzle.