May 24, 2026

Title: IT'S BTS!

Constructors: Kareem Ayas & Amie Walker

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• BUILT TO SCALE (20A: Like many a model train)
• BEHIND THE SCENES (40A: Out of public view)
• BROWN TREE SNAKE (56A: Invasive reptile that poses a threat to Guam's native birds)

IT'S BTS!: Each theme answer has the initials BTS: BUILT TO SCALE, BEHIND THE SCENES, and BROWN TREE SNAKE. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EAGLES (8A: Birds on Moldova and Montenegro flags) Moldova and Montenegro are countries in Europe. Moldova's flag has blue, yellow, and red vertical stripes, with a golden EAGLE bearing a shield on the yellow stripe. Montenegro's flag is red with a gold border. At its center is a double-headed EAGLE bearing a shield.
• ABA (14A: _merican _ar _ssociation) In this type of fill-in-the-blank clue, each blank represents one letter. In this case, those letters are ABA, for the American Bar Association.
• ROT (17A: "I need to just stay home and ___ today" ("I'm spent")) This clue made me chuckle. I would like to have a day to ROT (metaphorically, not literally).
• OBOE (33A: It leads the orchestra in tuning) An OBOE is a double-reed woodwind instrument. Orchestras tune to the OBOE, specifically to a concert A played by the first OBOE. The bright, penetrating sound of the OBOE is easy to hear, and it has a stable pitch, making it a good choice to be used for tuning.
• IDINA (38A: "Redwood" star Menzel) I am a fan of IDINA Menzel, and am always happy to see her mentioned in the puzzle. The musical Redwood played on Broadway in 2025. Idina Menzel portrayed Jesse, a mother grieving the death of her son. She impulsively starts driving away from her east coast home, and ultimately finds herself in a redwood forest on the west coast. My husband and I were fortunate enough to see Redwood when it was on Broadway. The show received mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. Getting to see Idina Menzel act and sing (sometimes suspended in the air while climbing a "redwood") was incredible. The set was amazing, using projection to make you feel as if you're in a redwood forest. I did cry through much of the show (it's an emotional topic), but there were also a few funny moments. One of my favorite moments was when one of the other characters said to Idina Menzel's character, "Just a minute ago you were a Disney princess."
• BEHIND THE SCENES (40A: Out of public view) Social media influencers sometimes use #BTS to denote posts in which they are providing BEHIND THE SCENES information about how their content is made.
• VENTI (43A: Starbucks size smaller than a Trenta) I've been to Starbucks a fair amount, but not enough to have their sizes memorized. Starbucks has five different sizes: short, tall, grande (Italian for "large"), VENTI (Italian for "twenty"), and Trenta (Italian for "thirty").
• COLE (44A: "Oh, Mary!" star Escola) The Broadway show Oh, Mary! is a comedic spoof of the lives of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. According to the show's website, "Oh, Mary! is "a dark comedy about a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln's assassination" and is "equal parts clever, chaotic, and completely unhinged." The play was written by COLE Escola, who also originated the role of Mary and won a Tony Award for the role. Currently Maya Rudolph is playing the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the Broadway production of Oh, Mary!, but only through July 5, then Meg Stalter will take on the role.
• GEESE (51A: About 22% of the total birds gifted in "The Twelve Days of Christmas") Ha! If you go through all 12 verses of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "my true love" presents a total of 364 gifts. Of those 364 gifts, 184 of them are birds: 12 partridges (in pear trees), 22 turtle doves, 30 French hens, 36 calling birds, 42 GEESE-a-laying, and 42 swans-a-swimming. So 42 of the 184 birds are GEESE, which is between 22 and 23%.
• BROWN TREE SNAKE (56A: Invasive reptile that poses a threat to Guam's native birds) The BROWN TREE SNAKE is native to coastal Australia, Papua New Guinea, and islands in northwestern Melanesia (a subregion of Oceania). As the clue notes, the BROWN TREE SNAKE is an invasive species in Guam, where it was accidentally introduced shortly after World War II, probably as a stowaway on a ship or a plane. Due to a lack of natural predators and an abundance of prey, the BROWN TREE SNAKE population on Guam has grown and is a threat to native birds.
• RAVE (62A: House party?) House music is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM), which is played at RAVEs.
• RNS (68A: Emma Nolan and Dana Evans on "The Pitt" (Abbr.)) and ERS (69A: Some sets on "The Pitt") The Pitt is a TV series set in the emergency room (ER) of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Emma Nolan and Dana Evans are nurses (RNS) on the show. Laëtitia Hollard portrays Emma Nolan who is a recurring character on The Pitt's second season. Katherine LaNasa portrays Dana Evans, who has been on The Pitt since the show's beginning.
• ESCAPE (8D: "___ (The Pina Colada  Song)") "ESCAPE (The Piña Colada Song)" was written by Rupert Holmes and was the lead single for his 1979 album, Partners in Crime. "If you like piña coladas / And gettin' caught in the rain..."
• LES (11D: Gibson ___ Paul (guitar brand)) LES Paul (1915-2009) was a jazz guitarist, songwriter, and an inventor. He teamed up with the Gibson Guitar Company in the early 1950s, which produced a guitar according to his specifications. Gibson LES Paul guitars are still used by many musicians. 
• RHO (37D: Letter after pi) It's been a little bit since the crossword encouraged me to review the Greek alphabet. RHO is the 17th letter of the 24-letter Greek alphabet. It follows pi and precedes sigma.
• PENNY (48D: Cartoon character ___ Proud) The Proud Family is an animated Disney TV series that originally aired from 2001 to 2005. A revival of the series, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, premiered in 2022. As you might expect from the name, the show is centered on the lives of the Proud family. The main protagonist is the teenage daughter, PENNY Proud, voiced by Kyla Pratt.
• ERROR (52D: Mistake) and GAFFE (54D: Mistake) I enjoyed seeing this clue echo in these consecutive clues. 
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• BEAST (27D: Roast ___ ("How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" food))
• SKIER (55D: Person going downhill?)
• BREW (56D: "___ at the Zoo" (rhyming 21+ after-hours event))

BTS often refers to the K-pop group whose hits include "Butter" and "Dynamite." It was fun to see those initials reimagined here. Thank you, Kareem and Amie, for this enjoyable 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.)