January 4, 2026

Title: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Constructor: Sally Hoelscher

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• SMILE AND WAVE (20A: Maintain a calm, pleasant demeanor during a stressful situation)
• MASQUERADE BALL (39A: Formal event at which attendees wear masks)
• SALLY RIDE (58A: First American woman in space)

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: The last word of each theme answer is something that one can CATCH: a WAVE, a BALL, and a RIDE.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EMMA (5A: Dame ___ Thompson) British actor and screenwriter EMMA Thompson was made a dame in 2018 for her contributions to drama.
• CLAW (14A: Cat's nail) Of course I had to do my part to keep the 2026 streak of cat references going. My cat, Willow, is so excited she's taking another cat nap.

• RENE (18A: Actor Russo who portrayed Frigga) RENE Russo portrays Frigga, the mother of Thor, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Thor(2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Funny story: As I was typing this clue, autocorrect changed "Frigga" to "Fridge."
• SMILE AND WAVE (20A: Maintain a calm, pleasant demeanor during a stressful situation) The phrase "SMILE AND WAVE" always makes me think of the penguins from the 2005 animated movie Madagascar.
• TATTLE (31A: Spill the beans) and TELL (26D: Spill the beans) I'm a fan of a good clue echo, both as a solver and a constructor.
• IFILL (38A: Journalist Gwen who wrote "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama") Gwen IFILL (1955-2016) was a journalist, TV newscaster, and author. She was a longtime host of PBS Newshour and a moderator of Washington Week. Her book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama was released on Inauguration Day 2009.
• MASQUERADE BALL (39A: Formal event at which attendees wear masks) Occasionally a theme answer is used by two different constructors in puzzles with different themes. I like paying attention to such coincidences (you might have noticed that if you're a regular reader...). Such is the case with MASQUERADE BALL, which we saw in Stella Zawistowski's puzzle just four days ago.
• CST (48A: Winter hours in Iowa) Happy to shout-out my state of Iowa, where we are currently observing Central Standard Time (CST).
• SEA (Caribbean or Caspian) The Caribbean SEA is part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Mexico and Central America, and the islands of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The Caspian SEA is the world's largest inland body of water. It is located between Europe and Asia, and is bordered by Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.
• SALLY RIDE (58A: First American woman in space) I admit it; I came up with this theme just so I could use SALLY RIDE as a theme answer. Dr. SALLY RIDE (1951-2012) was the first female American astronaut in space, as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983. She was amazing and definitely deserves to be recognized in crosswords whenever possible. And hey, she has a pretty great first name.
• ANNIE (63A: "The sun'll come out, tomorrow" singer) "Tomorrow" is a song sung by the title character in the musical ANNIE. Sorry, not sorry, for providing you with this earworm. "The sun'll come out, tomorrow / So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow / Come what may..."
• MUENSTER (6D: Semisoft cheese whose name lends itself to Halloween puns) Thanks to Amanda for keeping my clue here. At our house we always refer to MUENSTER cheese as "monster cheese."
• POWER OF ATTORNEY (10D: Legal authority to act for another) A POWER OF ATTORNEY may be put into place for financial matters or for health matters.
• DEE (12D: Civil rights activist Ruby) Ruby DEE (1922-2014) played the role of Ruth Younger in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun. In addition to acting, Ruby DEE was a well-known civil rights activist. She emceed the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and gave the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965.
• EATS UP (21D: Gobbles down) It amuses me that "EATS UP" and "gobbles down" mean the same thing.
• ABE (22D: Timehop's dino mascot) Timehop is a smartphone app that collects your pictures and posts from other applications – photos, Facebook, Instagram, and the like – and each day presents you with memories that happened on that date in previous years. The app also mixes in memories of pop culture happenings. Timehop's mascot, ABE, is a cartoon dinosaur. He appears at the end of each day's collection of memories with some witty quote. 
• ORACLE (29D: ___ of Delphi (ancient prophet)) In ancient Greece, the sacred precinct of Delphi was considered to be the center of the world. The high priestess of the Temple of Apollo located at Delphi was known as the ORACLE of Delphi. From 7th century BCE to the late 4th century CE, the ORACLE of Delphi was the most prestigious and authoritative Greek ORACLE.
• DISCLAIMER (30D: "User assumes risk" statement) Be honest, when was the last time you actually read a DISCLAIMER before signing it?
• DESERT (46D: Joshua Tree National Park biome) Joshua Tree National Park in southern California encompasses two DESERTs, the Mojave DESERT and the Colorado DESERT.
• STATUE (47D: There's one of Sue Bird outside of Climate Pledge Arena) Look at this – I wrote a sports clue and it survived editing! That's always a thrill, since my sports knowledge tends to be limited. Sue Bird played for the WNBA's Seattle Storm from 2002-2022. The Seattle Storm won four WNBA championships during Sue Bird's time on the team. The Storm play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. In August of last year, a bronze STATUE of Sue Bird was unveiled outside the arena. 
• LLAMA (51D: Pack animal that hums) How's this for a fun animal fact? LLAMAs hum to each other as a form of communication, and mother LLAMAs will hum to their babies.
• RENT (57D: "Seasons of Love" musical) In the last few months we've seen multiple clues for RENT that fit the format ["name of song" musical]. I am here for this journey through the 42 songs of Jonathan Larson's musical RENT, and am happy to add my contribution of the iconic song "Seasons of Love." "Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes..."

When I first submitted this theme query, one of my suggested theme answers was BLOW HOT AND COLD. Amanda correctly pointed out that a COLD isn't the most pleasant thing to CATCH. We replaced that theme answer with SMILE AND WAVE. I appreciate editors who work with me to make my ideas better – thanks to Amanda! Thanks to you for solving and reading. I hope you enjoyed this one.