March 27, 2026

Title: LATE BLOOMERS

Constructor: Lynn K. Watson

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• ALEXIS ROSE (21A: "Schitt's Creek" character who actually only said "Ew, David!" three times)
• SHRINKING VIOLET (38A: Wallflower's cousin)
• OOPSY DAISY (54A: Butterfingers' exclamation)

LATE BLOOMERS: LATE in each theme answer (that is, the second word), a flower (aka a BLOOMER) is found: ROSE, VIOLET, and DAISY.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• LEE (36A: "A House of Dynamite" actress Greta) A House of Dynamite is a 2025 political thriller movie. It centers on the responses of different U.S. government officials after an unknown adversary  launches a missile at Chicago. Idris Elba portrays the President of the United States, and Greta LEE plays Ana Park, the National Intelligence Officer for North Korea.
• IMAX (8D: Type of camera Nolan's "The Odyssey" was shot on) The Odyssey is an upcoming movie – scheduled for a July, 2026 release – directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie is an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic of the same name. Matt Damon stars as the Greek king of Ithaca, Odysseus. Anne Hathaway portrays Penelope, Odysseus' wife. The movie is the first of Christopher Nolan's films to be filmed entirely with IMAX 70 mm cameras.
• LEON (25D: Protagonist of many Resident Evil games) Resident Evil is a series of Japanese horror video games. The video game series has been adapted to movies, a TV series, comic books, and novels. Although I have written about these games previously, I have not written about LEON S. Kennedy, a protagonist who is a rookie police officer. LEON was first introduced in Resident Evil 2.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ADAM (18A: "Severance" star Scott) I have previously written about the TV series Severance and ADAM Scott who portrays Mark Scout on the show.
• ATL (20A: GA capital) The abbreviation of Georgia as GA in the clue alerts solvers that the capital of Georgia, which is Atlanta, will be abbreviated in the answer as ATL.
• ALEXIS ROSE (21A: "Schitt's Creek" character who actually only said "Ew, David!" three times) ALEXIS ROSE, portrayed by Annie Murphy, is a character on the sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015-2020). She is the daughter of Johnny and Moira ROSE and the younger sister of David Rose. Although ALEXIS ROSE only said, "Ew, David!" three times, the saying became a bit of a catchphrase. ALEXIS ROSE may have only said, "Ew, David!" three times, but she says her brother's name a lot!
• ROYALTY (23A: Kings and queens, but not aces) I thought this was fun.
• MOTTO (32A: "Strong deeds, gentle words," for Maryland) To go along with the other two Italian references in the puzzle, Maryland's MOTTO is in Italian, "Fatti maschi, parole femine." 
• RAGE (35A: ___ Against the Machine) RAGE Against the Machine is a rock band that was active from 1991-2024 (with a couple of breaks). The band's last album, Renegades, was released in 2000.
• ENOS (43A: Son of Seth) In the Bible, Seth is one of the sons of Adam and Eve. ENOS is the oldest son of Seth.
• SIR (49A: Title for David Beckham) I wrote about SIR David Beckham when we saw this same clue just over a week ago.
• DOT (59A: One of two in this clue) I am a fan of self-referential clues, and I really like this one! It's a bit fiendish. I needed some help from crossing answers, and then, of course, I had to search for the two DOTs to make sure the clue was correct.
• EVA (4D: "Desperate Housewives" actress Longoria) Many people know EVA Longoria from her role as Gabrielle Solis on the TV series Desperate Housewives (2004-2012). I know her best from her guest star role on the fourth season of  Only Murders in the Building. On Only Murders in the Building, EVA Longoria plays a fictionalized version of herself, as an actress cast to play the character of Mabel (played by Selena Gomez) in an Only Murders in the Building movie. I thoroughly enjoyed EVA Longoria's appearances on this show.
• DES (5D: ___ Moines, IA) Well, hello from Iowa! DES Moines is the capital of our state.
• ITALY (6D: Country shaped like a boot) and CIAO BELLA (11D: Friendly greeting in 6-Down) I've said it before, but it's still true that I am grateful to ITALY for being shaped like a boot. That makes it one of the few countries I can identify with certainty on a map. "CIAO, BELLA!" is Italian for "Hi, beautiful!"
• SPIRIT (10D: ___ Halloween (pop-up store that sells spooky stuff)) I wrote about the store SPIRIT Halloween on February 27, 2026 when we saw SPIRIT HALLOWEEN as a theme answer.
• CANOE (28D: "I can row a boat, ___? (punny phrase)) Groan ... in a good way.
• OHIO (33D: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame state) The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, OHIO. It's located on Lake Erie, and the current building was designed by I.M. Pei.
• KEA (39D: Mauna ___ (Hawaiian volcano)) Mauna KEA is one of five volcanoes that form the island of Hawai'i. Mauna KEA is a dormant volcano, and its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii.
• SISTER (46D: Venus, to Serena) Just in case you didn't know, tennis greats Venus Williams and Serena Williams are SISTERs.

Whether or not the weather has decided to be spring-like where you are, this puzzle will get you in the mood for some spring flowers. I enjoyed uncovering these flowery phrases. Thank you, Lynn, for this delightful puzzle.

A note about comments: I welcome your comments on the blog! For one thing it's nice to know folks are reading what I've written. My goal for this blog has always been for it to be informational, conversational, and kind. I ask that you keep those goals in mind when commenting. Unkind comments will be deleted. Note that I am more likely to delete a negative comment if it is posted anonymously. (P.S. You can point out when I make a mistake – in fact, I appreciate that so I can correct it.)