May 3, 2026

Title: MIXED BREEDS

Constructor: Joe Rodini

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• UNLEAVENED BREAD (16A: Matzah, e.g.)
• I MUST BE DREAMING (38A: "Is this real life?")
• RED BEANS AND RICE (61A: Creole dish simmered with the "holy trinity")

MIXED BREEDS: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word BREED: UNLEAVENED BREAD, I MUST BE DREAMING, and RED BEANS AND RICE.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• OPTION (48A: Football play that gives a quarterback multiple choices) Unsurprisingly, I didn't know this sports term. However, the name makes sense given how it's described in the clue, so it was fairly easy to figure out the answer with a bit of help from crossing answers. An OPTION offense is one in which the quarterback decides on the play based on what the opponent's defense does. 
• POST (67A: Put on sosh meed) Although it was fairly easy for me to deduce that "sosh meed" is a clipping of "social media," I have not heard or seen this usage before. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ALAN (14A: Actor Rickman) ALAN Rickman (1946-2016) has numerous film, TV, and stage credits. When I write about someone I've written about before, I often go back and read what I've written about them in the past. In doing so today, I was reminded of a video ALAN Rickman narrated several weeks before he died. It's a video of a tortoise eating a strawberry and ALAN Rickman narrated the video as only he could do. He worked with Oxford University students to make the video to raise money for refugees. In the ten years since it was originally posted, the video has been viewed over four million times.
• HYDRA (15A: Mythical monster with multiple heads) In Greek and Roman mythology, the HYDRA is a serpentine lake monster that lived in the lake of Lerna. The exact number of heads the HYDRA possessed varies according to the source. In some versions of the HYDRA story, if one head was chopped off, two heads would regrow in its place.
• RUG (26A: Throw on the floor?) This is a fun question mark clue. The word "throw" here is not used as a verb, but as a noun. In its noun form, "throw" is a synonym of RUG.
• C'EST LA VIE (43A: "That's how the cookie crumbles") Wouldn't it be fun if "C'EST LA VIE" were actually French for "That's how the cookie crumbles?" This French phrase is usually translated as "That's life." 
• ALI (47A: "Beef" star Wong) Beef is a Netflix anthology TV series. An anthology series is one that has a different story and a different cast each season. ALI Wong and Steven Yeun co-star in the first season of Beef as two people involved in a road rage incident that leads to them becoming enemies and getting involved in each other's lives. 
• RED BEANS AND RICE (61A: Creole dish simmered with the "holy trinity") In Creole cuisine, the "holy trinity" refers to onions, bell peppers, and celery. Many Creole dishes, including RED BEANS AND RICE, begin with these three ingredients.
• SKULL (1D: Talking ___ (character on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction)) The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is a ride at Disneyland (in California), Magic Kingdom (in Florida), Tokyo Disneyland (in Japan), and Disneyland Park (in Paris, France). The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was the basis for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. One of the features of the rides is a talking SKULL that offers warnings to riders.
• HANOI (1D: Capital of Vietnam) HANOI is the capital of Vietnam and its second-most populous city. Vietnam's largest city is Ho Chi Minh City.
• HBCU (15D: Sch. such as Spelman) Spelman is a private HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1871, it is the oldest HBCU for women. Its alums include Alice Walker and Stacey Abrams.
• ABRUPT (17D: Like transitions without segues) This clue made me laugh. When I was a kid, my mom was famous for her ABRUPT transitions in conversations. My siblings and I got to the point were we would look at each other and say (in what I'm sure was an annoying sing-song tone), "Transition..." Thanks for this memory, puzzle.
• ART DECO (25D: Style of the Chrysler Building) The Chrysler Building is an ART DECO skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. When its construction was completed in 1930, it was – at a height of 1,046 feet – the world's tallest building, a title it maintained for 11 months until the completion of the Empire State Building (also in New York City). 
• AVIV (30D: Hebrew for "spring") In addition to meaning "spring" in Hebrew, AVIV is the name of a month in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the Israeli city, Tel AVIV, means "spring hill."
• HOBBIT (45D: Bilbo Baggins, e.g.) Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The HOBBIT. Bilbo Baggins also features in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. That book takes place 60 years after the events of The HOBBIT, and begins on Bilbo's "eleventy-first" (111th) birthday.
• POET (49D: Writer such as Mary Oliver) Mary Oliver (1935-2019) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning POET whose writing was often inspired by nature. Almost every time I write about Mary Oliver I recommend you spend a few minutes of your day listening to her read her poem, "Wild Geese." It's a recommendation worth repeating. Today I'm going to add to the recommendation and suggest you also take the time to read the Mary Oliver poem, "The Summer Day," with its evocative ending question, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?"
• ODDS (57D: Ironic things to be even) Ha! This is fun. Even ODDS means something has a 50/50 chance of happening.

The word MIXED in the title is serving as an anagram indicator. It's fun that all three theme answers today are grid spanners. Thank you, Joe, for this enjoyable puzzle.

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