April 20, 2026

Title: FLIP ONE'S LID

Constructors: Beth Rubin & Will Nediger

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• CYNDI LAUPER (17A: "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" singer)
• WOULD I LIE TO YOU (37A: "Do you take me for a dishonest person?")
• AND I LOVE HER (58D: Ballad from the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night")

FLIP ONE'S LID: Each theme answer contains the letter sequence D-I-L, which is the word LID backwards (i.e., FLIPped): CYNDI LAUPER, WOULD I LIE TO YOU, and AND I LOVE HER.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• APART (1D: "You're tearing me ___, Lisa!") "You're tearing me APART, Lisa!" is a line from the 2003 indie movie The Room. The movie centers on a melodramatic love triangle between Johnny (Tommy Wiseau), Lisa (Danielle), and Mark (Greg Sestero). The Room has been dubbed by several publications as one of the worst movies ever made, but it has become a bit of a cult film. This line is one of the things the film is known for. This movie is new to me, and having now watched the scene with the line "You're tearing me APART, Lisa!," I'd say I'm unlikely to watch the entire movie.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CYNDI LAUPER (17A: "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" singer) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a 1983 song by CYNDI LAUPER. It was her breakthrough hit, reaching the number two spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. This song was released during my freshman year in college. It pretty much summed up my life at the time, and thus I've always had a soft spot for it.
• IT'S ME (29A: Words shouted by Elphaba as she rises into the air during "Defying Gravity") Regular readers know that I am here for any and all Wicked references. "Defying Gravity" is the final song of the musical's first act, and of the movie adaptation, Wicked: Part 1 (2024). In the movie adaptation, Elphaba (portrayed by Cynthia Erivo) says of Glinda, "No, leave her alone! / She hasn't done anything wrong / I'm the one you want / I'm the one you want! / IT'S ME!" She repeats the words "IT'S ME" as she rises into the air, and then continues to sing, "So, if you care to find me / Look to the western sky / As someone told me lately / 'Everyone deserves the chance to to fly...'" 
• ASMR (35A: Genre of whispery videos (Abbr.)) ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, and refers to a tingling sensation beginning at the scalp and moving down the back of the neck and the spine. ASMR may be triggered by auditory or visual stimuli, and some people are more susceptible to the experience. There are millions of YouTube videos designed to induce ASMR.
• ARABS (56A: Many thawb wearers) A thawb is a long-sleeved ankle-length robe traditionally worn by ARABS. Thawbs are the main formal wear for men in the ARAB world and are sometimes worn in informal setting as well.
• AND I LOVE HER (58A: Ballad from the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night") A Hard Day's Night is the Beatles' third studio album, released in 1964. "AND I LOVE HER" was released as a single from the album and reached number 12 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, though John Lennon also has a songwriting credit on the track. "I give her all my love / that's all I do / And if you saw my love / you'd love her, too..."
• TOY (65A: Silly Putty or Lite-Brite) I had some Silly Putty when I was a kid. (In fact, I think I just threw it away a couple of years ago.) Silly Putty is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that it takes on properties of a liquid or an elastic solid depending on how it is treated. My favorite things to do with Silly Putty were to make bubbles in it and pop them (similar to bubble gum) and to copy comics from the newspaper onto its surface. I never had Lite-Brite as a kid, but I did buy that TOY for my kids when they were younger. Fun choice of classic TOYs to highlight here.
• SONNY (66A: Jazz legend Rollins) SONNY Rollins is a retired jazz tenor saxophonist. He's currently 95 years old. Over an eight-decade career, SONNY Rollins has recorded more than sixty albums. 
• OPEN SHOP (40D: Business with no union membership requirement) In an OPEN SHOP, a union acts as a representative for all employees, though no union membership is required. In contrast, a closed SHOP is one in which an employer agrees to only hire union members, and therefore, union membership is required for employment.
• ANAIS (50D: "Hadestown" creator Mitchell) Folk singer-songwriter ANAIS Mitchell released Hadestown as her fourth studio album in 2010. The concept album tells a variation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It became the basis for the musical Hadestown, which premiered off-Broadway in 2016.
• Several other clues I especially enjoyed:
• PAR (13A: It's never one, in golf)
• RINSE (19A: Step after lather)
• DUST BUNNY (33D: Clump in an unvacuumed room)
• I WON (39D: Happy response to "How was the game?")

I hope you were able to figure out the theme of today's puzzle without flipping your LID. Today was one of those days when my guess about the theme was spot on. WOULD I LIE TO YOU? (Ha! I couldn't resist that one.) This is a great set of theme answers. Thank you, Beth, and Will, for this delightful puzzle.

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