February 25, 2026

Title: PRESCHOOL

Constructors: Sally Hoelscher & Olivia Mitra Framke

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• PRIMARY SOURCE (15A: Firsthand account, for example)
• MIDDLE GROUND (33A: Area of compromise)
• HIGH MAINTENANCE (56A: Needing a lot of care and attention) 

PRESCHOOL: The first word of each theme answer is a type of SCHOOL: PRIMARY, MIDDLE, and HIGH.

And now a word from today's constructors:

Sally: When Olivia and I have collaborated in the past, we have split the gridding and clueing tasks. One of us starts constructing the grid and then the other one finishes, and then we work on clues together. However, with this puzzle it just so happened that when we got the theme query back I was on vacation. So I gave Olivia the go-ahead to grid the entire puzzle with the promise I would write all of the clues. I knew Olivia would be okay with this because she really likes to grid (much more than she enjoys writing clues)! It makes me happy that even after all the time we've been collaborators, we can continue to find new ways to approach things.

Olivia: This was a fun change of pace, where Sally and I collaborated on the theme, and then I took the gridding and she took the clueing! I do tend to enjoy gridding more than clueing, so much so that I absolutely will just open an empty midi grid to fill for stress relief. I definitely have modes, and my "gridding" mode shows up probably twice as often as my "clueing" mode!

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• LARA (1A: First name in the Tomb Raider franchise) I have previously written about the video game franchise, LARA Croft: Tomb Raider.
• ABCS (5A: Preschool basics) It was fun to include the ABCS as a bit of a bonus in this PRESCHOOL puzzle.
• LIMA (18A: ___, Peru (sister city of Stamford, CT)) LIMA is the capital and largest city of Peru. When I was learning more about LIMA, I discovered that one of its sister cities is Stamford, Connecticut. (Sister cities are cities that have formed agreements to promote each other culturally and commercially.) When I learned this fact, I knew I wanted to include it as "bonus added" content. I imagine most people would be able to solve this clue if it were simply [___, Peru]. However, Stamford, Connecticut has special significance in the crossword world, as for many years it has been the site of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT). This is actually the last year that ACPT will be held in Stamford, as the tournament has outgrown the Stamford Marriott. In 2027, ACPT will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• MISTYPE (19A: Enter "untied" for "united," e.g.) A word like MISTYPE is fun to clue, because there are so many fun examples of typos that can be used. This particular typing error has special significance to me. Thirty-seven years ago, my husband and I were preparing to be married. We ordered wedding invitations (as one does), and when they arrived, we discovered that we were apparently getting married in the "Eldon Untied Methodist Church," rather than the "Eldon United Methodist Church." Oops! I was afraid this might have been the result of me making a typo, but fortunately, it was the company that MISTYPEd the word, and so they replaced the invitations at no cost. (Had it been my mistake, we would have gotten married at the "Untied Methodist Church" ... and I'm guessing most people wouldn't have noticed.)
• MILO (24A: Venus de ___) The Venus de MILO is an ancient Greek sculpture that was discovered in 1820 on the island of Milos, Greece. Since 1821, the statue has been on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. It is believed that it was sculpted sometime between 160 and 110 BCE.
• IKEA (30A: Company that includes an Allen key in many of their boxes) Are you the type of person (like me) who keeps every Allen key that you've ever received in an IKEA box? I have previously written about Allen keys. It's estimated IKEA distributes over 100 million of these wrenches a year.
• MINION (36A: Kevin, Stuart or Bob in "Despicable Me") The MINIONs are yellow creatures that we first met in the 2010 animated movie, Despicable Me. The three most familiar MINIONs are named Kevin, Stuart, and Bob.
• CASA (41A: Mojo dojo ___ house) The "mojo dojo CASA house" is the name Ken gives to Barbie's dream house when he takes it over in the 2023 movie Barbie.
• IDIOMS (47A: "The cat's meow" and "let sleeping dogs lie") It was fun to choose IDIOMS that give a nod to Olivia and my pets: my cat, Willow and Olivia's cat, Whiskey, and dog, Charlie.

Olivia's dog, Charlie, and cat, Whiskey – let sleeping dogs (and cats) lie

Willow, my excellent helper and the cat's meow

• HIGH MAINTENANCE (56A: Needing a lot of care and attention) The phrase HIGH MAINTENANCE always makes me think of Meg Ryan's character, Sally, in the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally. (Whether or not I am HIGH MAINTENANCE I leave to your imagination...)
• ONE (60A: "I am ___ with the Force, and the Force is with me") "I am ONE with the Force, and the Force is with me," is a line (repeatedly) spoken by Chirrut Îmwe (a blind warrior who is not a Jedi, but believes in the Force) in the 2016 movie Rogue ONE: A Star Wars Story. 
• OGS (63A: Hip-hop pioneers, for short) OG stands for Original Gangster.
• APR (2D: Arbor Day mo.) Arbor Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In the United States, it is celebrated on the last Friday of April. The first Arbor Day in the U.S. was celebrated in 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Arbor Day is celebrated by planting trees.
• AGRA (5D: Taj Mahal city) The Taj Mahal, in AGRA, India, is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, favorite wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
• SPOIL (8D: Pamper, like a pet) Do Olivia and I SPOIL Whiskey, Charlie, and Willow? Of course we do!
• AMY (16D: ___ Dickinson (former "Ask ___" columnist)) AMY Dickinson is a former newspaper columnist. She wrote the syndicated advice column Ask AMY. I first learned of AMY Dickinson through her appearances as a panelist on NPR's podcast Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me. 
• MAKI (22D: ___ roll (sushi bar option)) MAKI is what many people think of when they think of sushi. It is a rice cylinder with nori, with additional ingredients in the middle. 
• AC/DC (29D: "Power Up" band) Power Up is AC/DC's seventeenth studio album. It was released in 2020.
• OOO (35D: "Away from work" letters) OOO = out of office
• RAPINOE (38D: Soccer great Megan) Megan RAPINOE is a former professional soccer player. She played on the U.S. national team from 2006-2023. She also played for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team, Seattle Reign FC, from 2013-2023. In addition to soccer, Megan RAPINOE is known for her advocacy, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community. 
• MOS (57D: Jan. and Aug.) The abbreviations of Jan. and Aug. in the clue alerts solvers the answer will be an abbreviation. There are 12 MOS., so how did I choose which two to use in this clue? I chose the months of Olivia and my birthdays.

Olivia and I headed back to PRESCHOOL for this theme. In this category theme, the "PRE" of PRESCHOOL is an indication that the theme will be at the beginning of the theme answers. And at the beginning of those theme answers we discover three types of SCHOOLs. In the U.S., PRIMARY SCHOOL is often called elementary school. Unfortunately, the phrase "ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON" is 22 letters long! PRIMARY it is, then. Thank you, Olivia, for another enjoyable collaboration. Thanks to Amanda and Amie for great edits as always. And thanks to you for solving and reading. I hope you enjoyed this puzzle.