March 6, 2026

Title: SECOND OPINION

Constructor: Jake Halperin

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• PANORAMIC VIEW (19A: Expansive outlook offered by an observation deck, perhaps)
• CABINET POSITION (38A: High-level government post)
• BATTING STANCE (52A: Pre-swing form)

SECOND OPINION: The SECOND word in each theme answer is a synonym for OPINION: VIEW, POSITION, and STANCE.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ECHO (15A: Feature of a "wet" acoustic) I was not familiar with the terms "wet" and "dry" as they relate to acoustics. Today I learned that "dry" audio is unprocessed. When the audio is processed, by adding a reverb or ECHO, for example, that's referred to as "wet."
• ROME (22A: City with the Villa Borghese) Villa Borghese is a public park in ROME, Italy. The park covers just under 200 acres and is free to visit.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CRATE (1A: Soapbox, e.g.) This is a fun bonus for this puzzle, alluding to the phrase "get on one's soapbox," which means to passionately express one's OPINION.
• LIMES (13A: Citrus fruits in margaritas) and CUBA (48A: Country where daiquiris originated) Cocktails containing LIME juice are having a moment in the puzzle today. Margaritas consist of Tequila, triple sec, and LIME juice. The main ingredients of a daiquiri are rum, LIME juice, and sugar. 
• BODY (18A: "The Three-___ Problem" (Liu Cixin novel)) Liu Cixin's 2008 sci-fi novel, The Three-BODY Problem won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The book is the first of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. In the series, Earth encounters an alien civilization from Trisolaris (three Sun-like stars that are orbiting each other). The novel's name references the three-BODY problem, a classic physics conundrum. The 2024 Netflix TV series, 3 BODY Problem, is based on this book.
• MAE (42A: Astronaut Jemison) Unlike The Three BODY Problem that discusses fictional space travel, the space travel MAE Jemison did was quite real. MAE Jemison was a mission specialist on NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1992. 
• OREO (61A: "Stay Playful" cookie) "Stay Playful" is the current tagline for OREO. This is the first appearance of our crossword friend OREO this month and its fourth appearance of 2026.
• TOES (64A: Garfield has three on each foot) Cat's generally have 18 TOES, five on each front paw and four on each back paw. Polydactyl cats (which I have written about previously) have more than 18 TOES. Garfield only has 14 TOES – three on each "foot" (or rear paw) and four on each "hand" (or front paw).  My cat, Willow, says, "It doesn't matter how many TOES I have ... I have one adorable tail!" (She has 18 TOES.)

• CLAP (1D: Stomp-stomp follower in "We Will Rock You") Did anyone else run through this song in their head to come up with this answer? Just me? With the exception of the last 30 seconds of the song (which features a guitar solo by Brian May), Queen's 1977 song, "We Will Rock You" is sung a cappella, accompanied only by stomps and CLAPs. [stomp-stomp CLAP, stomp-stomp CLAP...]
• RIGA (2D: Latvian National Opera's city) Latvia is a country in northern Europe. It covers an area of just under 25,000 square miles and has a population of 1.83 million people. For some perspective, that's about the size and population of the U.S. state of West Virginia. RIGA is the capital and largest city of Latvia. About a third of the country's population lives in RIGA. As the clue informs us, RIGA is also home to the Latvian National Opera.
• ERIC (7D: Disney prince with a dog named Max) Prince ERIC is a character in Disney's The Little Mermaid franchise. Max, an Old English Sheepdog, is Prince ERIC's pet.
• RUB-A-DUB-DUB (27D: Sound from a nursery rhyme trio) "RUB-A-DUB-DUB / Three men in a tub, / And who do you think they be? / The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, / And all of them out to sea."
• MALTA (51D: Island  country near Italy) MALTA is an archipelagic country (one consisting of islands) in the Mediterranean Sea about 50 miles south of Italy. The country and its main island share the name MALTA. The capital of MALTA is Valletta, whose metropolitan area covers the entire island of MALTA.
• EMMY (58D: Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live)) In 2025, the Primetime EMMY Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) was won by SNL50: The Anniversary Special.
• BTW (59D: "Oh, also..." in a text) BTW = by the way
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• GUTTERS (28A: Parts of roofs and bowling lanes)
• ECO WARRIOR (10D: Environmental activist)
• AMUSE ME (20D: "I could use a silly distraction")

I enjoy a synonym theme. I find it interesting to think about words that have similar meaning. I guess you'd say that's my OPINION / VIEW / POSITION / STANCE. Thank you, Jake, for this excellent puzzle.