May 20, 2026

Title: PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD

Constructors: Brian Callahan & Shannon Rapp

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• ROCKFORD PEACHES (20A: "A League of Their Own" team)
• SAVANNAH BANANAS (58A: Social media-famous ball club from Georgia)

PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD: Both theme answers are baseball teams whose names include a fruit.

And now a word from our constructors:

Brian: This apt pair is all Shannon. I had SAVANNAH BANANAS as a grid-spanning 15 in a themeless last year. Loved it as an entry, but it never even occurred to me that it could be a theme answer. Kudos to Shannon for finding ROCKFORD PEACHES, and thanks for splitting the byline. I don’t believe that there’s a third possible entry for this set, but if there is, please let us know about it in the comments!

Shannon: Always a pleasure working with Brian. Thank you for solving!

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ARIA (17A: Singing character in "My Little Pony") In the My Little Pony franchise, ARIA Blaze is a siren (a female humanlike being with an alluring voice). Along with her fellow sirens, Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk, she is part of the singing trio known as The Dazzlings. ARIA, Adagio, and Sonata are characters in the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls franchise (a spin-off of My Little Pony) and are the main antagonists in the 2014 movie My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks. Everything I know about My Little Pony I have learned from crossword puzzles.
• AARON (2D: "Mufasa: The Lion King" voice actor Pierre) Mufasa: The Lion King is a 2024 photorealistically animated movie that serves as a prequel and sequel to the 2019 movie The Lion King (which was a remake of the 1994 animated movie of the same name). AARON Pierre provides the voice for the title character, Mufasa.
• MIME (31D: Mr. ___ (mostly silent Pokemon)) Mr. MIME is a species of Pokémon that first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue (1996). As with My Little Pony, everything I know about Pokémon I have learned from crossword puzzles. This is the first time I have encountered Mr. MIME, but the "mostly silent" hint in the clue helped a lot.
• JAPAN (53D: Olympic snowboarding powerhouse) I do not follow the Winter Olympics closely, so I did not realize that JAPAN is a snowboarding powerhouse. At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, JAPAN won nine of the 33 snowboarding medals – four gold, two silver, and three bronze. No other country won more than four medals in snowboarding. (Austria won two gold, one silver, and one bronze.)

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MESCAL (7A: "Hamnet" actor Paul) Hamnet is a 2025 movie directed by Chloé Zhao. It is based on Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 historical fiction novel of the same name. The movie centers on the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway (Anne Hathaway's name in the movie), as they cope with the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. Paul MESCAL portrays William Shakespeare.
• ROCKFORD PEACHES (20A: "A League of Their Own" team)  A League of Their Own is a 2022 TV series that is an adaptation of the 1992 movie of the same name. Set in 1943, the TV show follows the formation of the ROCKFORD PEACHES, a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
• MOTH (31A: "The ___ Radio Hour" (NPR program named for an insect)) The MOTH Radio Hour is an NPR show that was launched in 2009 by The Moth, a nonprofit group dedicated to storytelling.  The show features storytellers relaying true stories, and also explores the stories behind the stories.
• SNL (34A: Ashley Padilla's show, for short) Ashley Padilla has been a featured player on Saturday Night Live (SNL) since 2024. She has played multiple characters on SNL, including Joann from Joann's Fabric and Crafts.
• MENTOS (42A: "Soda geyser" candy) Sometime in the 1980s, people realized that if you dropped MENTOS into Coca-Cola, a soda geyser reaction occurs. If you haven't ever done this, I encourage you to try combining MENTOS and Coke. Diet Coke works best, and I recommend you do this experiment in a backyard or some other space where mess is okay. If you want to take this experiment even further, here's some inspiration. (I've posted this video before, but it's worth a repost!) I like this clue / answer as a fun bonus in a "PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD" puzzle.
• GIF (45A: Image with a much-debated pronunciation) Ah, the long-standing debate about how to pronounce GIF! Unlike many people, I don't have a strong opinion about how to pronounce GIF, and usually simple try to avoid saying it aloud. However, I do find the debate amusing.
• FLY (47A: Travel Southwest?) The key thing to note here is that the word "Southwest" is capitalized, indicating it's referencing the airline, not the direction.
• PPE (49A: N95 respirator, e.g.) PPE = personal protective equipment
• SAVANNAH BANANAS (58A: Social media-famous ball club from Georgia) The SAVANNAH BANANAS are an exhibition baseball team based in SAVANNAH, Georgia. They play a variation of baseball known as BANANA ball. (Think the Harlem Globetrotters, but baseball rather than basketball.) The SAVANNAH BANANAS were founded in 2016, originally competing as a collegiate summer baseball team. Since 2023, the SAVANNAH BANANAS have toured around the country, playing against other exhibition teams who together make up the BANANA Ball Championship League (BBCL). I was excited to see this answer in the puzzle, because my husband and I have tickets to see the SAVANNAH BANANAS when they play in Iowa City (at the University of Iowa football stadium) this summer.
• BED (69A: Where lying is encouraged) That's lying down, of course, but if you want to tell a fib or two while you're in BED, I'd say that's none of my business.
• SPARK (1D: "Does it ___ joy?") "Does it SPARK joy?" is the catchphrase of Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (2011).
• LESS (12D: Word sometimes confused with "fewer") Ha! This clue amused me. As a reminder, "fewer" is used for things you can count (i.e. fewer pets); "LESS" is used for things that are measured not counted (i.e. LESS time).
• AFFOGATOS (37D: Espresso + ice cream treats) AFFOGATOS are Italian desserts that are exactly as the clue describes them. Place a scoop of ice cream (or gelato to be authentic) in a glass and top with espresso.
• KIX (40D: "Kid Tested. Parent Approved." cereal) I was surprised to discover that KIX has been on the market since 1937. Somehow I thought it was more recent than that. In 1978, KIX introduced the slogan, "Kid Tested. Mother Approved." The slogan was updated in 2018 to be more inclusive – "Kid Tested. Parent Approved."
• XENA (52D: Warrior Princess of 90s TV) XENA is the title character of the XENA: Warrior Princess franchise. Lucy Lawless played XENA on the TV series, which originally aired from 1995-2001.
• ANORA (56D: 2024 Palme d'Or winner) The Palme d'Or is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival and is considered one of the film industry's most prestigious awards. We saw ANORA in the puzzle two days ago clued as [2025 Best Picture winner].
• VOTE (60D: Cast a ballot) As regular readers of the blog know, I will take every opportunity the puzzle gives me to remind you to VOTE in every election you're eligible to do so. Local, state, and federal elections all matter.
• BIKE (61D: Little 500 vehicle) The Little 500 is a track cycling race held annually in Bloomington, Indiana during the third week of April. The BIKE race takes place at the Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University. The Little 500 was founded in 1951 and was modeled after the Indianapolis 500 auto race.
• Several other clues I especially enjoyed:
• KNEELS (23A: Protests during an anthem)
• XOXO (51A: "luv u!")
• JEERS (53A: Inapt rhyme of "cheers")
• TEENS (68A: Those born in 2012, in 2026)

I have always been the sort of parent who was fine with telling my kids, "PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD!" After all, life is too short to be taken seriously (imho). PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD is the perfect title today. It's fun that the ROCKFORD PEACHES and the SAVANNAH BANANAS are both baseball teams. With only two theme answers, this could have been labeled as a (themed-ish) themeless puzzle, but there's clearly a strong tie between the two grid-spanning answers, so I'd call this apt pair a theme. Thank you, Brian and Shannon, for this delightful puzzle. 

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.)