August 18, 2026

Title: CRUNCH TIME

Constructors: Michael Drusedum & Jason Reuben

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• SCREEN SAVER (20A: Program designed to prevent "burn-in")
• WASTE MANAGEMENT (38A: Trash service)
• PEACEKEEPER (54A: Person who helps mediate disputes)

TIME CRUNCH: The word TIME can be placed after the first part of each theme answer and before the second part of each theme answer:  SCREEN TIME, TIME SAVER, WASTE TIME, TIME MANAGEMENT, PEACE TIME, and TIMEKEEPER.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• AZTEC (1A: Like the deity Xipe Totec) In AZTEC mythology, Xipe Totec was a god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, spring, goldsmiths, liberation, deadly warfare, the seasons, and the earth. (That seems like a lot of varied things.) Xipe Totec was also known as a god of ritual flaying; it was thought he flayed himself in order to give food to humanity. It's believed that sculptures of Xipe Totec were ritually dressed in the flayed skin of sacrificial victims. Well, that's pleasant ... enough about Xipe Totec and the AZTECs.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• VISAS (33A: "Everywhere you want to be" cards) VISA adopted the advertising slogan, "Everywhere you want to be," in 2014. It wasn't really a new idea, however, but rather a slightly truncated version of the advertising slogan the company used from 1985 to 2006, "It's everywhere you want to be."
• DIANE (65A: Photographer Arbus) DIANE Arbus (1923-1971) was a photographer whose work highlighted the importance of all people. Her photography subjects often included those on the periphery of society. She was known for befriending her subjects, sometimes photographing them multiple times. About her work she said, "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know." 
• TEAM (67A: ___ USA) and SPURS (13D: Victor Wembanyama's 67-Across) Victor Wembanyama has played for NBA's San Antonio SPURS since 2023. He does not play for TEAM USA, however, as he plays for the French National team. At 7 feet 4 inches, tall, Victor Wembanyama is one of the NBA's tallest players.
• SPARE (6D: Result from picking up a 7-10 split) We're talking bowling here. A 7-10 split is when the first bowl knocks down eight pins, leaving the two pins in the back corners standing. In order to pick up a 7-10 split and achieve a SPARE, the ball has to hit one of the pins such that it slides across and knocks down the other pin. As you might imagine, this is a difficult split to turn into a SPARE.
• GRAVE (11D: "Take This to Your ___" (Fall Out Boy album)) Take This to Your GRAVE is Fall Out Boy's 2003 debut studio album. 
• TIGER (12D: Tony the ___ (Frosted Flakes mascot)) Tony the TIGER, known for describing Frosted Flakes as "gr-r-reat!" made his debut as a Kellogg's cereal mascot in 1952. He looks pretty good for being 74 years old, doesn't he? Fun fact: Tony the TIGER beat out other potential mascots to become Kellogg's spokesTIGER, including Katy the Kangaroo, Elmo the Elephant, and Newt the Gnu.
• SATAN (23D: The Devil) SATAN is making back-to-back puzzle appearances. Yesterday SATAN was clued as [Fiend in Dante's "Inferno"].
• ENO (32D: "Discreet Music" artist Brian) Discreet Music is a 1975 studio album by Brian ENO. The album contains only four songs. Side A contains the 30-minute long title track. Side B contains three variations of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. Brian ENO is known for creating ambient music, music designed to blend into the background rather than be directly focused on.
• SEINE (35D: River that served as a backdrop for the 2024 Olympics' opening ceremony) The SEINE flows through Paris, France and into the English Channel. The 2024 Summer Olympics were held in France, with Paris acting as the host city. During the opening city, athletes were paraded by boat along the SEINE.
• STAR (37D: One of an estimated 100-400 billion in the Milky Way) As you might imagine, it is impossible to count the number of STARs in the Milky Way. Even if you could count them all, counting to 100 billion would take a really long time! To come up with the 100-400 billion STAR number, scientists at NASA have figured out ways to estimate the numbers of STARs.
• GOODE (40D: "Imagine Me & You" star Matthew) Imagine Me & You is a 2005 rom-com about a relationship between two women who meet on the day one of the women is getting married (to a man). Matthew GOODE portrays that man, Hector (aka Heck).
• PAIGE (50D: WNBA player Bueckers) PAIGE Bueckers plays basketball for the WNBA's Dallas Wings. She was the number one pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. In her first season, she was named WNBA Rookie of the Year. PAIGE Bueckers also plays for the Unrivaled team Breeze.
• MECCA (52D: Hajj destination) MECCA is a city in Saudi Arabia. It is the birthplace of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, and is considered to be the holiest city in Islam. Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to MECCA. Under Saudi law, non-Muslims are not permitted to enter MECCA.
• ERIE (55D: Lake named after an indigenous people) The ERIE people lived in the Great Lakes region along the southern shore of Lake ERIE. In the mid-17th century, warfare with the neighboring Iroquois forced most of the tribe to leave the area. Lake ERIE and ERIE, Pennsylvania are named for the ERIE people. Hello to our crossword friend ERIE, making its second appearance this month.
• YES (62D: Hai, in English) Hai is the Japanese word for YES. The Japanese word for no is īe.
• A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• COACH (14A: "Put me in, ___!")
• LOGO (42A: An apple for Apple, e.g.)
• SIEVE (22D: Kitchen tool with holes, or a metaphorical faulty memory)

 I enjoyed figuring out this theme. I saw SCREEN TIME first, and thought, "Okay, TIME goes after the first words of the theme answers." WASTE TIME confirmed that hunch, but I wondered what the word CRUNCH was doing in the title. I had a nice "Aha!" moment when I saw TIME SAVER and realized that the word TIME is being (metaphorically) crunched by the words of the theme answers. Thank you, Michael and Jason, for this splendid 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.)