April 10, 2026

Title: CORN CRIB

Constructor: Sally Hoelscher

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• COLEMAN LANTERN (20A: Popular camping light)
• COUNTRY WESTERN (35A: Music genre influenced by the popularity of line dancing) 
• CONTROLLED BURN (53A: Carefully monitored fire utilized in prairie restoration)

CORN CRIB: Each theme answer is contained by the word CORN. In other words CORN is acting as a CRIB for each theme answer: COLEMAN LANTERN, COUNTRY WESTERN, and CONTROLLED BURN.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PROP (14A: Play thing?) Not a "plaything" in the sense of a toy, but a "play thing" in the sense of a thing used in a play – a PROP.
• EGAN (18A: "A Visit From the Goon Squad" author Jennifer) Jennifer EGAN won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011 for her novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad.
• COLEMAN LANTERN (20A: Popular camping light) The COLEMAN Company has been selling their camping LANTERNs since 1914. 
• SRI (23A: ___ Jayawardenepura, ___ Lanka) SRI Jayawardenepura is the capital of SRI Lanka. The  long name of SRI Jayawardenepura makes me smile, so I decided to use it in this clue.
• PARADE (25A: Pride celebration with floats) and LION (55D: Animal in a pride) When I am writing clues for a puzzle, I am always on the lookout for answers that I can connect with similar clues. It's not a requirement for a crossword, of course, but it's something I appreciate seeing when I am solving. As a solver, these connections feel like little bonuses. In this case, I had already referenced Pride in the clue for PARADE, so when I wrote the clue for LION I decided to use a pride angle for that clue as well.
• LEO (34A: Astrological cat) LEO is the astrological sign for those born between July 24 and August 3. Appropriately, my cat, Willow, is a LEO (as am I).

• MELLOW (41A: Laid-back and easygoing) and ICY (42A: Steely and unwelcoming) It was fun to clue these consecutive answers in a parallel manner, to highlight that they are opposites.
• ELOTE (45A: Grilled corn dish served with cotija) ELOTE, or grilled corn on the cob, is sold from food carts in some parts of Mexico. It is sometimes referred to as Mexican Street Corn. The corn is charred on the grill, and served with a spicy and creamy cotija cheese sauce. Did you notice the fun little bonus of a corn dish in this CORN CRIB-themed puzzle?
• PAMELA (48A: "The Naked Gun" star Anderson) I wrote about The Naked Gun movie franchise a few months ago. PAMELA Anderson appears in the most recent of the four movies in the franchise, The Naked Gun (2025).
• AMI (50A: French for "friend") and OUI (51A: "Yes," from a 50-Across) OUI, mon AMI, I did enjoy linking these two consecutive answers together.
• CONTROLLED BURN (53A: Carefully monitored fire utilized in prairie restoration) A CONTROLLED BURN, also known as a prescribed burn, is an intentionally set and carefully monitored fire used in certain situations, such as forest management, prairie restoration, or wildfire fuel management. In prairie restoration, a CONTROLLED BURN can be used to give native plants and advantage over invasive species.
• NORSE (57A: Like Freya) Freya is a NORSE goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, gold, and magic that influences the future. She was busy! Also, here's a fun thing: Freya is said to ride a chariot pulled by two cats. 
• DEKE (62A: Feint at a Blues game) Oh, look, it's my favorite hockey term. I included a reference to NHL's St. Louis Blues because I grew up in Missouri.
• LIVER (10D: Organ that produces bile) Bile is a substance that aids in the digestion of fats. In humans, bile is produced in the LIVER and stored in the gallbladder. Hooray for science in the crossword!
• REINDEER (12D: Dancer, e.g.) Did you see through this mildly tricky clue right away, or did you need some help from crossing answers?
• MAYAN (21D: Like the Tzotzil language) Tzotzil is one of the MAYAN languages. It is spoken by the indigenous Tzotzil Maya people in Chiapas (a state in Mexico).
• COCA-COLA (35D: One side of a soda rivalry) This soda rivalry is, of course, between COCA-COLA and Pepsi COLA.
• OXYMORON (36D: "Terribly good," e.g.) An OXYMORON is a combination of contradictory words.
• ELEMENTS (37D: Strontium and hydrogen, for two) There are 118 ELEMENTS on the periodic table. How does one choose just two ELEMENTS to use as example in this clue? Well, it happens that the chemical symbol for strontium is Sr and the chemical symbol for hydrogen is H. My initials are SRH, so this was a fun Easter egg I put in this puzzle for myself.
• TWO (39D: Point value of "G" in Scrabble) Numbers are fun to write clues for, because there are so many possible angles. Appropriately, there are TWO letters that have a point value of TWO in Scrabble; they are "G" and "D."
• BODY (56D: "no ___, no crime" (Taylor Swift song)) Taylor Swift's song, "no BODY, no crime," is from her 2020 album, Evermore. The song is about the killing of a woman named Este and her friend who avenges the murder. The song features the band Haim (the Haim sisters – Este, Danielle, and Alana).
• NFL (57D: Org. with Jaguars and Panthers) Of course I chose to highlight NFL teams that have cat names.

I try to always be on the lookout for possible themes. You just never know when inspiration is going to strike. This theme idea came to me when I was driving through rural southern Iowa on my way to visit my mom and sister in Missouri. There is a lot of CORN grown in Iowa, and I was passing fields and fields of CORN it suddenly occurred to me that CORN CRIB could be a container theme. I did wait until I was done driving to look for CO___RN phrases, and I was happy to find three fun possibilities. (It's not uncommon to think of a theme, but then not be able to find workable theme answers). I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle. Thanks for solving and reading!

One more thing today: This weekend is the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) in Stamford, Connecticut. If you happen to be at ACPT, please find me and say hello! Also, I'll have Sally's Take stickers.

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.)