August 22, 2026

Title: CENTRAL PERK

Constructor: Matthew Sherman

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• SUPER KOOPA (17A: Mushroom Kingdom menace with a cape)
• TRAPPER KEEPER (32A: '90s school binder with a Velcro flap)
• COOPER KUPP (54A: Wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks)

CENTRAL PERK: The word PERK is found in each of today's theme answers: SUPER KOOPA, TRAPPER KEEPER, and COOPER KUPP.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• COOPER KUPP (54A: Wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks) COOPER KUPP joined the Seattle Seahawks in 2025, and therefore was on the team earlier this year when they won Super Bowl LX. From 2017-2024, COOPER KUPP played for the Los Angeles Rams. He was named MVP when the Rams won Super Bowl LVI in 2022. Add COOPER KUPP to the sports knowledge I've gained from crosswords.
• HAS (1D: "Time ___ Come Today") "Time HAS Come Today" is a 1967 song by the psychedelic soul group, the Chambers Brothers. The first episode of Grey's Anatomy's third season is titled "Time HAS Come Today," after the song, and the song was used in the opening of the episode. Although I wasn't familiar with this song, I appreciate that the answer is fairly inferable.
• AUNT (23D: Nancy Cartwright, to Sabrina Carpenter) Nancy Cartwright is a voice actor. She provides the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons, a role for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance. She also provides the voice of Chuckie Finster on the TV shows Rugrats and All Grown Up!, as well as a number of other characters. Her 2000 autobiography is titled My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy. Sabrina Carpenter is a singer, who I have written about previously. Nancy Cartwright's stepbrother is Sabrina Carpenter's father. That makes Nancy Cartwright Sabrina Carpenter's AUNT.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SCOT (6A: Person from Glasgow) Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland. The country's capital, Edinburgh, is Scotland's second-most populous city.
• ADELE (14A: "Easy on Me" singer) "Easy on Me," is a single from ADELE's 2021 album, 30. The song's lyrics are a plea to ADELE's son to be kind to her after her divorce.
• WHO'S (15A: "___ on First?") "WHO'S on First?" is a classic comedy sketch made famous by Abbott and Costello. 
• SUPER KOOPA (17A: Mushroom Kingdom menace with a cape) In the Mario video game franchise (which is set in the Mushroom Kingdom), KOOPAs are turtle-like characters. There are different types of KOOPAs. SUPPER KOOPAs wear capes, which allow them to fly.
• GINA (19A: "Jane the Virgin" star Rodriguez) On the TV show Jane the Virgin (2014-2019), GINA Rodriguez portrays the 23-year-old title character, Jane Gloriana Villanueva, a religious Latina whose doctor artificially inseminates her by mistake. GINA Rodriguez won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for this role. 
• O. HENRY (20A: "The Gift of the Magi" author) O. HENRY was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). Although he also wrote poetry and nonfiction, O. HENRY is best known for his short stories. "The Gift of the Magi" was first published in The New York Sunday World newspaper in 1905. The story tells of a young couple who each sell their prized possession to purchase a Christmas gift for the other. The story is known for its ironic surprise ending.
• THAT'S (21A: "___ a spicy meatball!") "THAT'S a spicy meatball!" is a line (that was preceded by "Mamma Mia...") from a classic 1969 Alka-Seltzer commercial.
• KNEE (30A: Femur-tibia connector) In humans, the femur is the thigh bone, and the tibia is the shinbone (one of two lower leg bones, along with the fibula). The KNEE is where the femur and tibia connect. 
• TRAPPER KEEPER (32A: '90s school binder with a Velcro flap) I was a little bit confused by this clue, because I remember TRAPPER KEEPERs from when I was in school, which was a decade or two before the '90s! Sure enough, for once my memory was accurate. The TRAPPER KEEPER was introduced in the late 1970s and they're still available today.
• BASSISTS (41A: Thundercat and Paul McCartney, for two) Rolling Stone included both Thundercat and Paul McCartney on their 2020 list of "The 50 Greatest BASSISTS of All Time."
• MEGHAN (10D: Archie and Lilibet's mom) MEGHAN is the Duchess of Sussex, the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. MEGHAN and Harry have two children, Archie and Lilibet (aka Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex).
• RIDE (26D: Imagineer's creation) I recently wrote about the role of imagineers at Disney's theme parks.
• LEA (28D: "Back to the Future" costar Thompson) In the 1985 movie Back to the Future, LEA Thompson portrays Lorraine Baines McFly, the mother of teenager Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox).
• SPONGE (43D: Mr. SquarePants, for one) This clue made me chuckle. It was funny to see the title character of SPONGEBob SquarePants addressed as Mr. SquarePants.
• MODE (51D: Edna ___ ("The Incredibles" character)) This clue makes me happy! In the 2004 animated movie, The Incredibles, Edna MODE is a superhero costume designer. The character was inspired by Hollywood costume designer Edith Head (1897-1981). Edna MODE has a strict no capes policy for the superhero costumes she designs.
• CAT (54D: "Unofficial mascot of the Internet") It was in 2011 that ThoughtCatalog described CATs as the "unofficial mascot of the Internet." Certainly nothing has changed since then. CAT memes and CAT videos are abundant on the Internet. My CAT, Willow, is happy to report that she is the "official" mascot of Sally's Take. It's such a demanding job she is forced to take numerous catnaps to maintain her strength.

• PIE (56D: Popular March 14th dessert) March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day, an annual celebration of π, the mathematical constant whose first three digits are 3.14. Many people celebrate the day by eating PIE.
• A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• EARPLUGS (36D: A snorer's spouse might use these)
• RICE (37D: Most consumed food in the world)
• LEG (40D: one of 1,306 for some millipedes)

A PERK of this puzzle is that the theme was fairly easy to spot. Congratulations to Matthew Sherman making a USA Today crossword debut! Thank you, Matthew, for this enjoyable puzzle.