July 25, 2026

Title: SNEAKY LINK

Constructors: Amie Walker & Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• ANIMAL KINGDOM (19A: Disney Wold park with the Tree of Life)
• IT TAKES ALL KINDS (37A: Different strokes for different folks)
• I THINK I'LL PASS (55A: "None for me, thanks")

SNEAKY LINK: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word LINK: ANIMAL KINGDOM, IT TAKES ALL KINDS, and I THINK I'LL PASS.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ASIDE (34A: "Stand ___, the queen's arrived" ("Love Ain't It" lyric)) "Love Ain't It" is a song from the Descendants: The Rise of Red (soundtrack). Descendants: The Rise of Red is a 2024 musical comedy movie, the fourth installment in the Descendants franchise. The song is sung by the following characters: Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), Red (Kylie Cantrall), Cinderella (Brandy), and Chloe Charming (Malia Baker). Although I wasn't familiar with this song, the answer here was inferable.
• MAC (52A: "___ and C.H.E.E.S.E" ("Friends" show-within-a-show)) In Season 6 of the TV series Friends, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) gets a role in a cable TV series called Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. He stars alongside a crime-fighting robot.
• TEEN IDOL (39D: Freya Skye, e.g.) TEEN IDOL Freya Skye is an English singer and actress. She represented the United Kingdom at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Armenia, where she won the online global public vote, and finished fifth overall in the competition.
• CLAIRO (46D: "Flaming Hot Cheetos" singer) "Flaming Hot Cheetos" is a 2017 song by CLAIRO. In the song's music video, CLAIRO is, appropriately I guess, surrounded by dancing Flaming Hot Cheetos (well, technically, they are people dressed as Flaming Hot Cheetos...).

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CARDS (1A: 7 Wonders Duel components) The board game, 7 Wonders, was first published in 2010. It's a CARD drafting game featuring ancient civilizations. Players attempt to build a city and construct an architectural wonder. The original game is designed for three to seven players, but in 2015, a version of the game called 7 Wonders Duel was released, which is specifically designed for two players. 
• NANO (15A: Small iPod model) and MINI (6D: Small iPod model) It turns out there was more than  one small iPod model. Too bad the word "shuffle" isn't in the grid. It also could be clued as [Small iPod model].
• ANIMAL KINGDOM (19A: Disney World park with the Tree of Life) At Disney's ANIMAL KINGDOM, the Tree of Life is a 145-foot sculpture of a baobab tree. The sculpture features 337 carvings of existing and extinct animal species on its trunk and roots.
• PIECES (41A: "___ of Me" (Ashlee Simpson's debut single)) Ashlee Simpson's debut single, "PIECES of Me" was released in 2004.
• DEN (49A: Lion's home) My cat, Willow, is always happy to see a mention of her big cat cousin in the puzzle. Here she is trying to roar like a lion. (Not really, since house cats can't roar. I'm not exactly sure what she was trying to do here...)

• MELT (66A: "I'll stop the world and ___ with you") "I'll stop the world and MELT with you" is a lyric from the 1982 song "I MELT with You" by the British band Modern English. The band rerecorded the song in 1990 for their album Pillow Lips. They reworked it and recorded it once more in 2010 for the movie I MELT with You.
• AVENUE (2D: "Ocean ___" (Yellowcard song)) "Ocean AVENUE" is a 2003 song by Yellowcard. It is the title song from their fourth studio album.
• DRUM (4D: Instrument for Tara Reid in "Josie and the Pussycats") Josie and the Pussycats is a 2001 musical movie based on the Archie comics and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name. Tara Reid portrays Melody Valentine, the bands drummer and backup singer.
• FAKE IDS (14D: They may have outrageous names like McLovin) This clue is a reference to the 2007 coming-of-age movie Superbad. One of the characters in the movie obtains a FAKE ID using the name McLovin.
• LILIES (20D: Flowers in some O'Keeffe works) Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) is known for her paintings of enlarged flowers (including LILIES), New Mexico landscapes, and New York skyscrapers.
• NAACP (29D: Civil rights org.) The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has been fighting for racial equality since 1909. Their vision is "an inclusive community rooted in liberation where all persons can exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination."
• LEARN (31D: "I want to ___ everything about you") "I want to LEARN everything about you" is a line spoken by Leonardo diCaprio as Howard Hughes in the 2004 movie The Aviator. 
• HAITI (33D: Hispaniola country) Hispaniola is a Caribbean island that is part of the Greater Antilles. The countries of HAITI and the Dominican Republic are located on Hispaniola.
• EISNER (47D: Former Disney exec Michael) Michael EISNER was the CEO of Disney from 1984 to 2005. 
• DESERT (48D: Sonoran or Mojave) The Sonoran DESERT covers parts of the Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur and the U.S. states of Arizona and California. The Mojave DESERT is located north of the Sonoran DESERT in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada.
• Other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• ICON (9A: "___ status" ("You are goals"))
• CALM DOWN (10D: Take some deep breaths, maybe)
• PLOP (58D: Rock-into-a-river sound)

The word SNEAKY in the title is acting as an anagram indicator. I like that the anagrams of the word LINK are the literal LINK between two of the words in each theme answer. Thank you, Amie and Amanda, for this enjoyable puzzle.

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