February 17, 2026

Title: YEAR OF THE HORSE

Constructor: Stella Chu Hui Zawistowski

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• I NEED A HOBBY (20A: "Note to self: Do more fun things")
• GLOW IN THE DARK (35A: Exhibit phosphorescence)
• RUNNER'S HIGH (50A: Feeling of euphoria)

YEAR OF THE HORSE: The last word of each theme answer can be paired with the word HORSE: HOBBY HORSE, DARK, HORSE, and HIGH HORSE.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ATELIER (31D: Fashion designer's studio) An ATELIER is a workshop or studio used by an artist or designer, such as a fashion designer. Often teams of artists will work together in an ATELIER under the direction of one master artist.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MAN (25A: "Whatta ___" (Salt-N-Pepa hit)) Salt-N-Pepa recorded "Whatta MAN" in 1993. Their version, which also features the group En Vogue, is a rap song that samples and reinterprets the 1968 song "What a MAN," recorded by Linda Lyndell.
• SVEN (28A: "Frozen" reindeer) In the Disney animated movies Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019), SVEN is Kristoff's reindeer companion. (Kristoff is an iceman living in the mountains at the beginning of the first movie.) Although SVEN is not a talking animal, Kristoff sometimes "talks" for him, voicing what SVEN might be thinking. Jonathan Groff who voices Kristoff, also provides SVEN's voice for those moments.
• BUCS (34A: Nickname for baseball's Pirates) The Pittsburgh Pirates are an MLB team based in Pennsylvania. The team's nicknames include the "BUCS" and the "Buccos," both terms derived from buccaneer, a synonym for pirate. 
• COD (39A: Bacalaito fish) Bacalaíto is a traditional Puerto Rican snack. It is a deep-fried fritter made of salted COD.
• PSI (49A: Trident-shaped Greek letter) The trident-shaped PSI (ψ) is the twenty-third (and penultimate) letter of the Greek alphabet, coming just before omega (ω).
• MACRO (58A: Carbs, fat or protein, for short) Macronutrients – or MACRO, for short – are the chemical compounds that humans consume in the largest quantities and which provide bulk energy: carbohydrates (or carbs), fat, and protein. 
• SARI (60A: Garment similar to a lehenga) A lehenga is a type of ankle-length, embroidered, pleated skirt worn by women from the Indian subcontinent.
• ARAB (8D: Many a Yemen native) The country of Yemen is located on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, with coastline along the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Guardafui Channel. Yemen is a member of the ARAB League and the majority of its residents (over 92%) are ARABs. Yemen's official language is Arabic.
• IMDB (9D: Film lover's website) IMDB is an online database of info related to movies, TV series, podcasts, video games, and other online streaming content. IMDB began in 1990 as a fan-operated database. Since 1993 it has been a subsidiary of Amazon.
• MINIATURE (11D: Like items in dollhouses) I am convinced that everything looks cute in MINIATURE. It's fun to see SMOL (10A: Tiny, in memes) crossing this answer.
• ERR (42D: Lean too far back while snowboarding, say) I have never tried snowboarding, but if I tried it, I imagine I might ERR many times!
• NICHE (46D: Not mainstream, like ski mountaineering) Ski mountaineering is similar to Alpine skiing, except that the race begins with athletes climbing to the top of the mountain. A single race may include multiple ascents and descents. The NICHE sport of ski mountaineering is making its Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Olympics (happening now!) in Italy.
• HATE (54D: Can't stand) and TSK (56D: "I disapprove") It was fun to see these two answers consecutively.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• BASE TAN (30A: Dubious bit of "protection" before a beach trip)
• COLON (7D: Punctuation seen on digital alarm clocks)
• GOOD SAVE (35D: Compliment for an ice hockey goalie)

Happy Chinese New Year! Today is the start of a new YEAR on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar.  We are saying goodbye to the Year of the Snake and ushering in the YEAR OF THE HORSE (just in case you hadn't figured that out from the theme of today's puzzle). Thank you, Stella, for this festive puzzle.