May 14, 2026

Title: PLUMBING THE DEPTHS

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• SHOULDER TAP (3D: Light touch that might precede a whisper)
• SHAMELESS PLUG (14D: Self-serving promotion)
• VAMPIRE DRAIN (22D: Battery depletion in an idle electric car)

PLUMBING THE DEPTHS: The bottom word of each theme answer is PLUMBING-related: TAP, PLUG, and DRAIN.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• AMY (24A: "Doubt: A Parable" star Ryan) Doubt: A Parable is a play by John Patrick Shanley. It debuted on Broadway in 2004, and in 2005 it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as a Tony Award for Best Play. The play is set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx and centers on a conflict between Sister Aloysius, a conservative nun who is the school's principal and Father Flynn, a progressive parish priest. The other two characters in the play are Sister James, a young nun, and Mrs. Muller, the mother of the school's first Black student. In a 2024 Broadway Revival of Doubt: A Parable, AMY Ryan portrayed Sister Aloysius and Liev Schreiber played the role of Father Flynn. 
• ISA (32D: "The Pitt" actor Briones) The Pitt is a TV series set in the emergency room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Each season of the show covers one 15-hour work shift, with each episode covering approximately one hour. I know about The Pitt because I have written about it several times. I haven't watched it, however, so am not familiar with the entire cast of the show. ISA Briones portrays Dr. Trinity Santos, who is an intern in the show's first season.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EDU (15A: www.gatech.___) EDU is an Internet domain for institutions of higher education. Georgia Tech, formally the Georgia Institute of Technology, is located in Atlanta, Georgia.  
• THONG (16A: Lingerie item shaped like its starting letter) This clue did AMUSE (29D: Cause to chuckle) me.
• HOUSE CATS (19A: Litter box users) My HOUSE CAT, Willow, says hello.

• AGE (29A: 60-69, for a sexagenarian) Well, the next time someone inquires about my AGE, I will inform them I am a sexagenarian.
• HELIUM (31A: Lightest noble gas) The six naturally occurring noble gases - HELIUM, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon - have low chemical reactivity, and under standard conditions are odorless and colorless. HELIUM is, as the clue informs us, the lightest of the noble gases. It is the second-lightest of all the elements – only hydrogen is lighter. Since HELIUM is lighter and less dense than air, HELIUM-filled balloons float.
• ESP (49A: Psychic skill in "Wednesday" (Abbr.)) Wednesday Addams is the daughter of the Addams Family franchise, which is based on characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Wednesday is a TV series based on the character that premiered on Netflix in November 2022. Jenna Ortega plays the title character. On the show, Wednesday possesses ESP (extrasensory perception). She experiences visions that are typically brought on by touching someone or something.
• END (52A: Period in a curling match) In the sport of curling, players slide stones on a sheet of ice. Each team has eight stones. An END is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game usually consists of eight or ten ENDs.
• ISLA (53A: Ibiza, por ejemplo) Ibiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. The "por ejemplo" here, Spanish for "for example," tips us off that we are looking for ISLA, the Spanish word for "island."
• HARD COURTS (58A: Australian Open surfaces) The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually in Melbourne, Australia. Typically held in January, it is the first of the four major tennis tournaments every year, followed by the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. The Australian Open switched to HARD COURTS in 1988; prior to that the games were played on grass COURTS.
• VAMPIRE DRAIN (22D: Battery depletion in an idle electric car) VAMPIRE DRAIN refers to the energy lost by the battery of an electric vehicle (EV) when it is not in use. (This also happens with other battery-operated appliances.) My husband and I have driven an EV for nearly four years now, and the VAMPIRE DRAIN has never been enough for us to notice.
• TESS (36D: Julia's "Ocean's Eleven" role) Ocean's Eleven (2001) is a heist film and the first movie of the Ocean's trilogy. Julia Roberts portrays TESS Ocean, the ex-wife of Danny Ocean.
• COB (38D: Elote discard) Elote, the term used in Central America and Mexico for an ear of corn, is derived from the Nahuatl word for "tender COB." Elote is sold as street food in some regions of Mexico.
• ALICIA (46D: Keys on the piano?) As a classically-trained pianist, ALICIA Keys is indeed "Keys on the piano."
• EURO (55D: French currency) France is one of the 20 European Union members that use the EURO as their currency.
• ATE (59D: Enjoyed some char siu, say) Char siu is a Cantonese-style of barbecued pork.
• TEA (62D: Hojicha or sencha) Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green TEA. The roasting process results in a TEA with a nutty, toasty, sweet flavor with little to no bitterness. Sencha is also a type of Japanese green TEA. Sencha is made by infusing processed whole tea leaves in hot water. 
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• CLASSY (25A: Like a gracious winner or loser)
• TULIP (66A: Flower with three upright petals)
• ACHOO (2D: Sound from Sneezy)

We're taking a deep dive today and PLUMBING THE DEPTHS of this puzzle. And in the DEPTHS we find PLUMBING-related terms. I enjoyed this interpretation of the title phrase. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this excellent puzzle.

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