April 30, 2026

Title: FIRST DATE

Constructor: Dena R. Verkuil

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• COURT JESTER (17A: Medieval entertainer)
• SEE WHAT I'M SAYING (39A: "Do you catch my drift?")
• TAKE-OUT MENU (59A: List of dishes that might be distributed as a flyer)

FIRST DATE: The FIRST part of each theme answer is a synonym of DATE: COURT, SEE, and TAKE OUT. 

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• PAMPA (15A: Spanish for "prairie") I have a minimal knowledge of Spanish, and this exceeded its limits. That's what crossing answers are for. And once I got the answer, PAMPA reminded me of "pampas grass," so that made sense.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BALSA (1A: Wood that rhymes with a type of dance) and SALSA (23A: Dance that rhymes with a type of wood) This is a clever clue pairing. When I read the clue for BALSA, I thought, "Well, that's an interesting way to clue that..." But then when I encountered the clue for SALSA, I thought, "Aha! That makes sense now."
• ELEVEN (21A: Highest volume setting on a Spinal Tap amp) This is Spinal Tap is a 1984 mockumentary about a fictional heavy metal band. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer portray the members of Spinal Tap. There's a scene in the movie in which the band's amps are being discussed that has popularized the saying "these go to ELEVEN."
• LIV (31A: "Yellowjackets" actor Hewson) The TV series Yellowjackets (2021-present) tells the story of a high school girls' soccer team whose plane crashes in the wilderness. The show recounts the time of survival after the crash, as well as events that occur 25 years later. LIV Hewson portrays Vanessa "Van" Palmer, the soccer team's goalkeeper.
• AMELIE (32A: Title role for Audrey Tautou) In the 2001 French movie, AMÉLIE, Audrey Tautou portrays the title character. AMÉLIE is a waitress who, inspired by an accidental discovery, begins to concoct schemes to make other people happy.
• ROSA (36A: Civil rights activist Parks) In December 1955, ROSA Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a bus so a white person could sit down. ROSA Parks (1913-2005) was not the first Black person in Montgomery to be arrested for refusing to give up their seat. At the time of ROSA Parks' arrest, local civil rights leaders were searching for an arrest to use as a test case, and decided to use hers. Four days later, on December 5, 1955, on the day of ROSA Parks' trial, the Montgomery bus boycott began, protesting the policy of racial segregation on Montgomery's buses. The bus boycott lasted over a year, until December 20, 1956, when a Supreme Court decision declared laws that segregated buses to be unconstitutional. 
• ASIA (42A: Sri Lanka's continent) Sri Lanka is an island country in South ASIA. Its legislative capital is Sri Jayawardenepura, and its executive and judicial capital is Colombo. Our crossword friend ASIA is making its third April appearance today, squeezing in one more appearance as the month comes to an end. 
• ISLETS (43A: Keys on some maps?) The "keys" here are not the insets on maps that provide an explanation of the symbols used. Rather, this is a reference to the Florida "keys," coral ISLETS off the southern coast of Florida.
• DIA (44A: "Bom ___" (Portuguese greeting)) "Bom DIA" is Portuguese for "good morning."
• DOH (58A: Word claimed as a sound trademark by 20th Century Studios) "D'OH!" is the catchphrase of Homer Simpson on the animated TV series The Simpsons. The show first aired in 1989, and in 2001, 20th Century Studios filed for Homer's "D'OH!" to be sound trademarked. It has been registered as such since 2008.
• LSU (3D: "Geaux Tigers" sch.) The athletic teams of Louisiana State University (LSU) are known as the Fighting Tigers and the Lady Tigers. A common cheer for the sports teams is "Geaux Tigers!" (pronounced "Go Tigers!"). The spelling is a nod to "-eaux" being a common ending in French Cajun names.
• PASTA (7D: Pappardelle or penne) Pappardelle are large, broad PASTA, similar to wide fettuccine noodles. Penne is tubular PASTA with the ends cut at an angle.
• JAN (18D: National Blood Donor mo.) Blood donation tends to drop off in the winter months. Designating January (JAN.) as National Blood Donor month is one way to bring awareness to the need for blood donations year round.
• CLOGS (52D: Shoes the Dutch call "klompen") The wooden CLOGS known as klompen (singular: klomp) are a national symbol of the Netherlands (i.e. the Dutch). 
• KIN (60D: Niblings, e.g.) Niblings is a non-gender specific term which can be used to refer to certain KIN, the children of one's siblings.
• ESI (61D: "Washington Black" novelist Edugyan) Washington Black, published in 2018, is ESI Edugyan's third novel. The book tells the story of George Washington "Wash" Black, born into slavery in Barbados. I enjoyed this article by ESI Edugyan talking about the room where she wrote Washington Black. She says, "The place where I write can be summed up in one word: chaos."

From the title, my first guess about today's theme was that the FIRST words of the theme answers would pair with the word DATE. When I filled in COURT JESTER, I was feeling pretty good about this, as COURT DATE is a thing. However, SEE WHAT I'M SAYING, forced me to reevaluate. Is SEE DATE a thing? It is not. It took me a bit to realize this is a synonym theme. There was a nice "Aha!" moment when I saw it. Thank you, Dena, for this enjoyable puzzle.

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