December 22, 2025

Title: OPEN SEAS

Constructors: Amie Walker & Brian Callahan

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• SECRET SANTAS (20A: Anonymous holiday office party gift-givers)
• SECURITY CAMERAS (38A: Mounted video-capturing devices)
• SELECTION BIAS (58A: Cause of some unrepresentative samples)

OPEN SEAS: Each theme answer is contained within the word SEAS. Put another way, the word SEAS is OPENed by each theme answer: SECRET SANTAS, SECURITY CAMERAS, and SELECTION BIAS.

And now a word from one of our constructors:

Brian: The theme mechanic is all Amie here. I had used OPEN SEAS as a revealer in another puzzle to indicate that all the words in the theme answers started with the homophonic “C.” Amie’s suggestion of re-parsing the phrase to create a bookend theme was so obvious in hindsight, and yet I never even thought about it. Also credit Amie with the absurd (and hilarious!) clue for SERTA. And shoutout to Amanda for keeping my silly angle for ALBANY!

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• SUI (22A: "The Studio" actor Chase ___ Wonders) The Studio is an Apple TV+ series that premiered in March of this year. The series is a satire of the movie industry. Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the new head of a Hollywood studio who is struggling to balance corporate demands with his desire to make quality films. Catherine O'Hara portrays Patty Leigh, the former head of the studio, who was fired at the request of the company's CEO. This much I knew because I've written about the show before. Today I learned that Chase SUI Wonders portrays Quinn Hackett, a junior executive.
• ALBANY (8D: City in upstate New York that calls hamburgers "steamed hams," per Principal Skinner) I know that ALBANY is the capital of New York, but I did not know this reference. Principal Skinner is a character on The Simpsons. Since I have rarely watched The Simpsons, I wasn't aware of the scene in which Principal Skinner entertains the superintendent for lunch and ends up serving him fast food hamburgers that he calls "steamed hams," as (he says) they do in ALBANY...
• STAGES (51D: City zones in Fuzion Frenzy, e.g.) I learned about the video game Fuzion Frenzy from the May 11, 2025 puzzle, and I wrote about it again on September 2. It wasn't until today, however that I learned the city zones in the game are called STAGES.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ARAB (1A: Like many Syrians) Syria is a West Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country's official name is the Syrian ARAB Republic. Approximately 80-90% of Syrians are ARABs.
• LOVES (16A: Reacts with a heart emoji, say) ❤️
• ASIA (17A: "KPop Demon Hunters" continent) KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 Netflix movie about Hunter/x, a K-pop girl group whose members lead double lives as demon hunters. The movie is set in South Korea, a country in ASIA. Our crossword friend ASIA is having a good month. ASIA is making its fourth December appearance today and its 25th appearance of 2025. We're nearing the end of the year. Will we see ASIA again before 2025 comes to a close? Inquiring minds want to know! (Well, specifically, my inquiring mind... This is your occasional reminder that all this means is that I like data.)
• SUSHI BOATS (18A: Serving platters at some Japanese restaurants) SUSHI BOATS are pretty much just what they sound like – containers shaped like BOATS that are used to serve SUSHI. I enjoyed the bonus of SUSHI BOATS in this OPEN SEAS puzzle. (Although I doubt most SUSHI BOATS are seaworthy.)
• EMMYS (47A: "Severance" awards) Severance is a TV series that premiered in February of 2022. Adam Scott plays the role of Mark Scout, one of the workers at Lumon Industries who agrees to a "severance" procedure that separates work memories from non-work memories. During its first two seasons, Severance has won a total of ten EMMYS.
• SELECTION BIAS (58A: Cause of some unrepresentative samples) You may have heard that we all have BIAS, and it's true. I have previously written about unconscious BIAS. SELECTION BIAS refers to the BIAS introduced when the selection of individuals for analysis is not representative of the population being studied.
• DINO (65A: Draftosaurus meeple, for short) I adore the word "meeple." It's a word used to refer to a player's token in a board game. The word is a portmanteau of the words "my" and "people." Draftosaurus is a board game in which players have a collection of DINO meeples. The goal of the game is to build a DINO park that will attract visitors.
• SERTA (66A: "Kinda ___" (punny response to "Do you like your mattress?")) Groan... This pun plays off the similarity of the mattress company SERTA and the word "sorta."
• RISE UP (2D: Call for rebellion heard repeatedly in "My Shot") "My Shot" is a song from the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Hamilton. The phrase "RISE UP" is heard 17 times in "My Shot."
• ALICIA (3D: "Clueless" star Silverstone) The 1995 movie Clueless was loosely based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. ALICIA Silverstone portrays the movie's main character, Cher Horowitz, who prides herself on her matchmaking abilities.
• CRUSTS (6D: Some pizza discards) I do (usually) eat my pizza CRUSTS now, but when I was a kid I always gave them to my dad.
• AHN (15D: "Agatha All Along" actor Ali) Agatha All Along (2024) is a Disney+ miniseries that is a spin-off from the Marvel series WandaVision (2021). Ali AHN portrays Alice Wu-Gulliver, an ex-police officer and a protector witch.
• STAR (25D: Night light?) Not a night light in a child's bedroom, but a light in the sky visible at night – a STAR.
• YODA (26D: Grogu aka Baby ___) Grogu, colloquially known as Baby YODA, is a character from the Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
• TOM (41D: Male cat) My pet, Willow, is not a male, but she is a cat.

• MAREN (42D: "My Church" singer Morris) "My Church" is a 2016 song by MAREN Morris. It was her debut single and won a Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance.
• DIA (63D: Viernes o sabado) "Viernes o sábado" is Spanish for "Friday or Saturday." Those are days, of course, and "DIA" is Spanish for "day."

I enjoyed this sail on the OPEN SEAS, especially since it didn't require me to leave home. The title of today's puzzle allowed me to make a pretty good guess about what the theme might be, and that guess turned out to be correct. This is a classic USA Today theme type, well-executed with interesting theme answers. SECRET SANTAS feels especially timely this week. Thank you, Amie and Brian, for this enjoyable puzzle.