July 26, 2026

Title: OUTER EAR 

Constructor: Faren Roth

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• EASY TIGER (19A: "Chill out, buddy")
• EAGER BEAVER (35A: Enthusiastic go-getter)
• EAT KOSHER (56A: Follow Jewish dietary restrictions)

OUTER EAR: The word EAR is found on the OUTER edges of each theme answer: EASY TIGER, EAGER BEAVER, and EAT KOSHER.

And now a word from our constructor:

Faren: This puzzle took a surprisingly long email exchange to decide on a theme set! Other options included ESPRESSO BAR, ELECTRIC GUITAR, and EAST COASTER. I like all the food I fit into this puzzle! I tried pasteis de nata for the first time in Portugal in March of this year (so good). BANANA pudding was one of the best desserts served in the dining halls when I was in college. And I consumed tons of SHIN ramen in college as well. I'm also pretty happy with my misdirect-y clue for RUSH HOUR! Thanks for solving.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• SHIN (5A: ___ Ramyun (instant noodle brand)) SHIN Ramyun is a brand of instant noodles marketed by the South Korean food company Nongshim. I guess I don't eat enough instant noodles, because this brand is new to me.
• ALYSSA (29A: Phoenix Mercury star Thomas) ALYSSA Thomas plays basketball for WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Before joining the Phoenix Mercury last year, she played for the Connecticut Sun from 2014-2024. In the WNBA offseason, she plays for the Laces of Unrivaled, the women's three-on-three basketball league. ALYSSA Thomas is the WNBA's career leader in triple-doubles.

Rando-m thoughts and interesting things:

• IHOP (12A: Tres Leches Pancake Combo chain) IHOP advertises their Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes as "Four pancakes, three leches, two good to share." With the combo, you also get eggs, hash browns, and bacon or sausage.
• GENA (16A: "The Notebook" actor Rowlands) The Notebook is a 2004 movie based on Nicholas Sparks's 1996 book of the same name. Noah and Allie, an elderly couple, are the main characters of The Notebook. Allie has Alzheimer's, and Noah reads the story of their life to her in an effort to help her remember. Rachel McAdams played the role of Allie, and GENA Rowlands portrayed the older version of the character.
• OCELOT (24A: Spotted wildcat) The OCELOT is a medium-sized wild cat. The OCELOT's length is 21 to 39 inches (not counting its tail which can be 12 to 17 inches long). Ocelots weigh between 15 to 34 pounds. In comparison, domestic cats average 18 inches in body length (plus a 12 inch tail) and weigh 9 to 11 pounds (although there have been domestic cats that weighed up to 46 pounds!) Essentially, this spotted wildcat is a bit larger than a house cat. OCELOTs are native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. My cat, Willow, is on the small side for a house cat; she weighs in at six pounds. Willow got restless while I was writing this and put herself in the corner.

• PAYPAL (32A: Zelle alternative) Zelle and PAYPAL are both companies that provide methods for mobile payments.
• SPOTS (54A: Dice-rolling game with fetch, roll and bury actions) I learned about the game SPOTS from the September 2, 2025 puzzle. In the game, players roll dice and place them on cards that contain pictures of dogs. 
• IPO (58A: 2026 event for Cerebras, for short) IPO stands for "initial public offering" and refers to a company's stock launch. Cerebras is a tech and artificial intelligence company that develops semiconductors, supercomputers, and software. The company was founded in 2015. It had its IPO in May of this year, raising $5.55 billion.
• HECTOR (63A: "Coco" character voiced by Gael Garcia Bernal) The 2017 animated movie, Coco, is inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. The main character is a 12-year-old boy named Miguel, voiced by Anthony Gonzalez. Papá HÉCTOR is Miguel's late great-great-grandfather.
• PIGEON (1D: Bird that's scientifically the same as a dove) Whether you call this bird a PIGEON or a dove, it's a member of the family Columbidae. In common usage, the smaller species tend to be called dove, and the larger birds in the family are called PIGEON, but scientifically there's no distinction between these birds.
• BANANA (11D: ___ pudding (dessert with vanilla wafers)) Nilla Wafers are consistently in the top five best-selling cookie brands in Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas. This is due to the fact that BANANA pudding is particularly popular in the southern U.S.
• SPICY (13D: Like some Takis) Takis is a Mexican brand of chips with a rolled shape. Takis are sold in a variety of flavors, including "Fuego." Since "Fuego" means "fire" in Spanish, it's a safe bet this flavor is SPICY.
• EPAULET (28D: Ornamental shoulder piece) Thank goodness for crossing answers, because although I knew the answer here, I struggled to figure out how to spell this word!
• ABS (33D: Muscles used in the dead bug exercise) Here's a video demonstrating how to do a dead bug, if you'd like to exercise your ABS.
• TARTS (51D: Pasteis de nata (custard ___ often topped with cinnamon)) Pastéis de nata (singular pastel de nata) are TARTS that consist of flaky layers of pastry filled with creamy egg custard. The pastry originated in Portugal prior to the 18th century. Catholic convents and monasteries at that time used egg whites to starch clothing. This resulted in an excess of egg yolks, which were used to make cakes and pastries. One of those pastries was pastel de nata.
• OED (60D: Its 2025 Word of the Year was "rage bait" (Abbr.)) I'm thinking the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is trying to rage bait me by choosing a two-word phrase as their word of the year.
• Other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• NINETY (27A: Youngest age for a nonagenarian)
• RUSH HOUR (38D: Time when folks buckle up and try to get to work?)
• PROOFS (44D: Puts sourdough in the fridge overnight)

We saw the theme INNER EAR on July 3, 2020. It surprises me a little bit that it's taken six years for someone to think of doing OUTER EAR. Well done, Faren! I enjoyed the insight Faren shared about the other theme answers considered. Thank you, Faren, for this interesting puzzle. 

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