February 24, 2026

Title: COED HOUSING

Constructors: Michael Drusedum & Jason Reuben

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• COMO ESTA USTED (20A: Spanish for "How are you?")
• COURTESY LAUGHED (40A: Chuckled to be polite)
• COIN OPERATED (55A: Like many laundromat appliances)

COED HOUSING: The word COED "houses" each theme answer: COMO ESTA USTED, COURTESY LAUGHED, and COIN OPERATED.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• SCENE (33D: "This Ain't a ___, It's an Arms Race" (Fall Out Boy song)) "This Ain't a SCENE, It's an Arms Race," is a 2007 single by the rock band Fall Out Boy. This was the band's first single to gain worldwide recognition.
• LEE (63D: Jeet Kune Do founder Bruce) Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is a hybrid martial art created by Bruce LEE (1940-1973), though he didn't formally codify the practice before his death. JKD centers the principle of counterattacking an opponent. JKD is sometimes cited as a precursor of mixed martial arts (MMA), as the philosophy draws from multiple combat disciplines.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SHIV (6A: Role for Sarah Snook, on "Succession") Succession is a TV series that focuses on the Roy family, the owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate, Waystar RoyCo. Siobhan "SHIV" Roy, portrayed by Sarah Snook, is the youngest child of the Roy family, and the only daughter.
• OWEN (16A: "Wedding Crashers" star Wilson) Wedding Crashers is a 2005 rom-com about two divorce mediators – played by OWEN Wilson and Vince Vaughn who make a habit of crashing weddings in order to meet women.
• DUNE (24A: Science fiction franchise featuring sandworms) The sci-fi franchise DUNE began with the 1965 book by Frank Herbert. New books have been added to the franchise since then, as well as movies, TV series, and games. Central to the DUNE stories is the fictional desert planet, Arrakis, which is the only source of the most valuable substance in the DUNE universe, a spice called melange. Arrakis is home to giant sandworms that guard the deposits of melange.
• RPG (25A: World of Warcraft, for one (Abbr.)) RPG here stands for role-playing game and refers to a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fantasy world. World of Warcraft is an online RPG. Although I'm not a gamer, I know of World of Warcraft from my son, and I'm always grateful to him for that knowledge when the game appears in the puzzle.
• MANES (31A: Mufasa and Scar have them) Mufasa and Scar are lion brothers from the 1994 animated movie The Lion King. My cat, Willow, is not a lion, but she is pretty proud of her MANE. (She doesn't really have a MANE, of course, but that's what I call the abundance of fluffy white fur below her face.)

• A-ROD (34A: Nickname for a 2000s Yankees superstar) Whenever a clue mentions a sports superstar or legend, I wonder, "Is this someone I know?" I relied on crossing answers here to point me in the right direction, but I do happen to know of A-ROD. Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed A-ROD, had a 22-year MLB career. During that time he played for the Seattle Mariners (1994-2000), Texas Rangers (2001-2003), and New York Yankees (2004-2013, 2015-2016). A-ROD was a 14-time All-Star and hit 696 home runs during his MLB career. That places him fifth in career home run leaders (behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Albert Pujols). Of those 696 home runs, 25 were grand slams, which is the most career grand slams by any MLB player.
• ROPE (61A: Piece of rock climbing gear) This answer reminds me of yesterday's puzzle, "I'm at the End of My ROPE!"
• ITALY (62A: Home to Rome) and CIAO (55D: Goodbye, in 62-Across) Rome is the capital of ITALY. In Italian, "CIAO" means "goodbye."
• MART (65A: "Crying in H ___") Crying in H MART is the 2021 memoir of Michelle Zauner, the lead vocalist of the band Japanese Breakfast. In the book, Michelle Zauner discusses her relationship with her mother and her grief after her mother's 2014 death as a result of pancreatic cancer. 
• SHE'S (6D: "___ the Man" (2006 movie)) SHE'S the Man is a movie inspired by William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. In the movie, teenager Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) dresses up as her fraternal twin brother in order to be taken seriously as a soccer player.
• SNL (13D: "More cowbell!" sketch show) "More Cowbell" is a Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch that originally aired on April 8, 2000. It's a classic. 
• SPORE (52D: reproductive part of a fern) A fern has neither seeds nor flowers, and instead reproduces via SPOREs.
• EPEE (57D: Pentathlon blade) Several years ago when the word RAN was clued as [Did the last leg of a pentathlon], I learned that there are many types of pentathlon. The five events of the "modern pentathlon" are: shooting, swimming, fencing (using an EPEE), equestrian, and cross country running.

The word HOUSING in the title tipped me off that this might be a "container theme," in which each theme answer is contained within a word. Today that word is COED. I don't think I've heard the phrase COURTESY LAUGHED before, but it was certainly inferable. Thank you, Michael and Jason, for this enjoyable puzzle.

One more thing today: Yesterday was the presentation of the ORCAS Awards, and I am extremely honored to have won the ORCA for "Best Crossword Commentary." Thanks to all of you who read my blog. Writing Sally's Take brings me a great deal of joy. It's amazing to be honored for it.