August 4, 2026

Title: Fringe Benefits

Constructor: Jake Halperin

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• PERSONAL CHECK (20A: Old-school payment with a routing number)
• PETULA CLARK (42A: "Downtown" singer)
• POST OFFICE CLERK (58A: One might sell stamps)

FRINGE BENEFITS: The word PERK (a BENEFIT) is found at the FRINGEs (outer edges) of each theme answer: PERSONAL CHECK, PETULA CLARK, and POST OFFICE CLERK.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• ARIA (7D: Moment to shine for Lise Davidsen) Lise Davidsen is a Norwegian opera singer. She has performed at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and Carnegie Hall, as well as at other venues worldwide.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SWAMP (5A: "This is my ___!" ("Shrek" line)) This is a fun clue for the word SWAMP. It's also an opportunity for me to be reminded that the animated movie Shrek came out in 2001 (25 years ago!). 
• SLAV (14A: Croat, e.g.) The SLAV people are the largest ethnographic-linguistic group in Europe. The group includes those who who speak any of the Slavic languages: Russian, Belarusian, Ukranian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian, and Slovene.
• AERIE (15A: Nest that can literally weigh a ton) AERIE can refer to the nest of a number of bird species. The word is often used to refer to the nests of eagles and other birds of prey. This is a fun animal fact that an AERIE can weigh a ton (that's 2,000 pounds!). Some bird species – including eagles – use their AERIEs for multiple years, with birds returning to lay eggs there each year. The nests of bald eagles – who have wingspans of over seven feet – are about six to eight feet long and two feet deep.
• KATE (17A: Actress Winslet) KATE Winslet has appeared in a plethora of movies and TV shows since her 1991 debut in the sci-fi TV series Dark Season. Last year she made her directorial debut with Goodbye June, a movie written by her son, Joe Anderson.
• LAILA (18A: Second-generation boxer Ali) LAILA Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali, retired from an eight-year undefeated professional boxing career in 2007.
• PERSONAL CHECK (20A: Old-school payment with a routing number) I realize it's probably accurate to describe a PERSONAL CHECK as an "old-school payment," but as someone who still occasionally writes PERSONAL CHECKs, this kind of hurt.
• PETULA CLARK (42A: "Downtown" singer) PETULA CLARK is a British singer and songwriter. Her 1964 song, "Downtown," became an international hit and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fun fact: PETULA CLARK's given name is Sally.
• MANES (45A: Lions' heads of hair) My cat, Willow, is always happy to see her big cat cousins mentioned in the puzzle. Here's a photo of Willow sitting at the end of my bed telling me it's time to get up. She's helpful like that.

• SELMA (63A: Alabama city in civil rights history) SELMA, Alabama is located about 50 miles west of Montgomery on the banks of the Alabama River. In 1965, the Edmund Pettus Bridge that crosses the Alabama River in SELMA was the starting point for a series of civil rights marches from SELMA to Montgomery to advocate for voting rights.
• CLAP (2D: Keep the beat with your hands) and TAP (59D: Keep the beat with your feet) This is a nice clue echo.
• TINKER BELL (32D: "___ and the Lost Treasure" (movie in the "Disney Fairies" franchise)) TINKER BELL is, of course, the fairy from Disney's 1953 animated movie Peter Pan. In 2005, the Disney Fairies franchise was launched, built around the character TINKER BELL. The 2009 animated movie TINKER BELL and the Lost Treasure is the second film in the franchise.
• ACME (55D: Cartoon TNT vendor) The ACME Corporation is a fictional business featured in the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. ACME is the source of many devices used by Wile E. Coyote in his futile attempts to outwit the Road Runner. ACME sells invisible paint, anvils, exploding tennis balls, dehydrated boulders, rocket-powered roller skates, and, of course, TNT.
• A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
• OTTER (46A: Aquatic furball)
• LICK (12D: Smooch from a pooch)
• PAPER (48D: Origami necessity)

I appreciate themes that require me to do a little bit of extra work (but not so much that I can't figure them out...). In this case, the title led me to believe that BENEFITS would be found at the edges of the theme answers (the FRINGES). The extra step was figuring out that the BENEFITS were PERKS. Very nice. Thank you, Jake, for this enjoyable puzzle.

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