January 17, 2026

Title: OPENING BELL

Constructor: Ryan Mathiason

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• DINNER PARTY (17A: "The Office" episode where Jan and Michael host co-workers)
• LIBERTY MUTUAL (37A: Insurance company with a mascot named LiMu Emu)
• TACO TUESDAY (61A: Weekly promotion at some Mexican restaurants)

OPENING BELL: The OPENING word of each theme answer can be paired with the word BELL to form a new phrase: DINNER BELL, LIBERTY BELL, and TACO BELL.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• DINNER PARTY (17A: "The Office" episode where Jan and Michael host co-workers) Since I haven't watched The Office, I didn't know the answer here. Fortunately, the answer was fairly inferable once I had a few letters from crossing answers. The "DINNER PARTY" episode of The Office aired during the show's fourth season. The episode is considered by some to be one of the series' best episodes.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• OXEN (14A: The Oregon Trail animals) The Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile east-west route that connected the Missouri River to Oregon. Many of us are familiar with the difficulties and challenges presented by the trail from a computer game popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. One might have learned from the game about the importance of OXEN on the Oregon Trail. This Vox article discusses how the reality of the Oregon Trail differed from the experience of playing the game, although the game did get a lot of things right.
• MAN (16A: "The ___" (Taylor Swift song about double standards)) Taylor Swift's song, "The MAN," is from her 2019 album, Lover. "I'm so sick of running as fast as I can / Wonderin' if I'd get there quicker if I was a man..." Taylor Swift made her solo directorial debut directing the music video for "The MAN," which won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. The music video features Taylor Swift's theoretical male alter-ego, Tyler Swift.
• TRIO (27A: Alvin and the Chipmunks, e.g.) Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are a TRIO of animated, singing, anthropomorphic critters known as Alvin and the Chipmunks.
• HANS (34A: "Frozen" prince) and LET (67A: "___ it go!") Prince HANS (voiced by Santino Fontana) is the bad guy prince in the 2013 animated movie Frozen. Although the clue for LET isn't formatted as the song title, I couldn't help connecting the phrase "LET it go!" to the movie and Queen Elsa's song (sung by Idina Menzel).
• LIBERTY MUTUAL (37A: Insurance company with a mascot named LiMu Emu) LiMu emu has been a mascot for LIBERTY MUTUAL insurance since 2019.
• ELLEN (56A: "Grey's Anatomy" actress Pompeo) Eight days ago we saw POMPEO in the puzzle clued as ["Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen]. And two days ago we saw ELLEN clued as [Actress Burstyn].
• ELEVEN (65A: Only two-digit number spelled without a "T") This is a fun fact. Fortunately, if you start at the first two-digit number – which is ten – and count up, you don't have to go very far to discover the answer.
• ARROW (5D: Symbol in Subway and In-N-Out's logo) The Subway logo features two ARROWs, one as part of the "S" and one as part of the "Y." The logo for In-N-Out Burger features an ARROW that soars over the restaurant's name.
• OMAN (7D: Muscat's country) Muscat is the capital and largest city of OMAN.
• MARS (8D: The Red Planet) The planet MARS appears red because its surface is covered with a dust primarily made of iron. The dust has oxidized, giving it a rusty red color. Dust storms blow the oxidized dust into the atmosphere, giving MARS a red sky.
• CARNIVAL (12D: Period of public revelry before Lent) This clue is not referencing just any CARNIVAL, but the Rio CARNIVAL. It is the largest CARNIVAL in the world, a five day event that occurs prior to Lent each year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
• RHYME (29D: Looks for books, for example) This is such a devious misdirect of a clue. Of course I like it!
• PURDUE (49D: One of two Big Ten schools in Indiana) PURDUE University is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. The other Big Ten school in Indiana is Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
• SAM (63D: "Stay With Me" singer Smith) SAM Smith's song, "Stay With Me," was released in 2014. Side note: SAM Smith is not the only artist with a song titled "Stay With Me." 
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• DELI (27A: Place to order a Reuben)
• I AM (30D: Possible answer to "Who's hungry?")
• NOUNS (54D: They may be proper)

This is a great set of theme answers. My favorite might be TACO TUESDAY, because I like TACOs, and also because it leads to TACO BELL. I haven't eaten at a TACO BELL in years, but there was one across the street from my high school, and I ate many lunches there during those years. Thank you, Ryan, for this enjoyable puzzle.