March 7, 2026

Title: RECORD HOLDER

Constructors: Brian Russell & Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• MUSIC STORE (17A: Shop that sells amps, reeds, and strings)
• GUINNESS BOOK (34A: Yearly publication of world records)
• PATIENT PORTAL (57A: Health care tool for tracking medical records, test results, etc.)

RECORD HOLDER: Each theme answer is somewhere that RECORDs can be found.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• BATTLE (20A: Fortnite ___ Royale (last-player-standing game mode)) In general, BATTLE royale is a genre of video game that involves last-player-standing gameplay. Fortnite BATTLE Royale is one example of such a game. Released in 2017, the game is part of the Fortnite series of video games. The game begins with up to 100 players who compete to be the last player remaining in a continuously shrinking safe zone.
• AHN (25D: "Dream" singer Priscilla) "Dream" is a single from Priscilla AHN"s debut album, A Good Day (2008). 
• KERI (37D: "___ is so very" (rhyming ad slogan)) "KERI is so very" is the advertising slogan of KERI lotion. In ads, the phrase is completed by different words, such as "different," "rich," "recommended," or "smooth." I realize that I've seen these ads before, but I drew a blank when I read the clue.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AREA (16A: 233.7 square miles, for Seoul) Seoul, with its AREA of 233.7 square miles, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. The population of Seoul is just over 9.6 million people. For comparison, the AREA of New York City is 472.4 square miles, and its population is slightly over 8.8 million people.
• ADAM (27A: First gentleman?) This is the first of several question mark clues in this puzzle. Question marks in a clue alert solvers to expect trickiness and wordplay. In this case, the clue is not referring to the first gentleman who is the spouse of the president, but the first man in the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden, which is ADAM.
• CST (41A: NOLA's time zone) The abbreviation of New Orleans, Louisiana as NOLA in the clue lets solvers know the answer will be an abbreviation. NOLA is on CST (central standard time).
• RENT (69A: First payment?) The answer to this question mark clue is a payment made on the first of the month, i.e. RENT.
• MAMBO (1D: Cuban dance) MAMBO is a Latin dance that developed in Cuba in the 1940s when MAMBO music became popular. 
• MODEM (32D: Bit of surfing equipment?) In this question mark clue, the surfing equipment is not a surfboard, but rather a MODEM, allowing one to surf the Internet.
• STREEP (36D: "The Iron Lady" actress Meryl) The Iron Lady is a 2011 biographical movie about the life and career of Margaret Thatcher, the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Meryl STREEP portrays Margaret Thatcher, a performance for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
• BRUNO (56D: Mars among the stars?) The question mark here indicates that the clue is not about the planet Mars out among a galaxy of stars. Instead, the clue is referring to singer-songwriter and star BRUNO Mars.
• ALPS (58D: Range that spans eight countries) The ALPS are the most extensive and highest mountain range system in Europe. The eight countries spanned by the ALPS are: France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.
• NINE (59D: Number of lives for a cat) Hopefully my cat, Willow, has the majority of her NINE lives left. She's been helping me write today by hopping up in the chair behind me and leaning on my shoulder.

• ALE (65D: Blond in a pub?) Not a person with blond hair, but a blond ALE.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• TEE (51A: It gives a golfer a raise)
• SOLAR (33D: Like power from rooftop panels)
• REFEREE (45D: Person making calls for a living)

I enjoyed this RECORD HOLDER category theme. It's especially nice that each theme answer holds different kinds of RECORDs: musical RECORDs, world RECORDs, and patient RECORDs. Congratulations to Brian Russell making a USA Today crossword debut! Thank you, Brian and Zhouqin, for this fun puzzle.