Crossword Blog & Answers for March 4, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher

Constructor: Kiran Pandey

Editor: Anna Gundlach

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• WING COASTER (54A: Theme park ride where riders sit on either side of a track) The first WING COASTER, named Raptor, opened in 2011 at Gardaland, an amusement park in northern Italy. The first WING COASTER in North America was Wild Eagle at Dollywood in Tennessee, which opened in March of 2012. As the clue informs us, on a WING COASTER, riders sit on either side of the track. There is no track below riders, giving the impression of free flight. I’ve seen pictures of this type of roller coaster, but I did not know the term WING COASTER.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• ALI (4A: “Tuca & Bertie” star Wong) Tuca & Bertie is an animated sitcom that aired on the Cartoon Network as part of their Adult Swim programming from 2021 to 2022. Tuca and Bertie are anthropomorphic birds. They live in the same apartment complex, and the show’s episodes focus on their interactions with each other and with their friends. ALI Wong voices the character Bertie, a career-minded song thrush and an aspiring baker. Tiffany Hadish voices the character of Tuca, a newly sober toucan working odd jobs and relying on her wealthy aunt’s financial support.
• HER (13A: Half of a common pronoun pair) and SHE (49A: Half of a common pronoun pair) This is a fun clue echo. If HER and SHE are in the grid, you might as well pair them together.
• ORA (17A: “Girls” singer Rita) “Girls” is a 2018 song by Rita ORA. The song also features Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, and Charli XCX. 
• ASIA (18A: Most populated continent) ASIA is home to about 60% of the world’s population. This is the first appearance of our crossword friend ASIA this month, and the fourth appearance of ASIA this year.
• MATTEL (24A: Barbie’s company) The MATTEL toy company was founded in 1945 by Elliot and Ruth Handler. You may remember that a couple of weeks ago we saw RUTH clued as [Barbie doll creator Handler]. Barbie debuted in 1959, and became MATTEL’s best-selling toy.
• ROMEO (34A: He compares Juliet to the sun) In William Shakespeare’s tragedy ROMEO and Juliet, ROMEO says, “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” He says a lot of other words, too, but those are the ones pertinent to this clue.
• TED (66A: “The Good Place” star Danson) The Good Place (2016-2020) is a TV series about a heaven-like utopia where humans spend their afterlife. TED Danson portrays Michael, an afterlife “architect” who designs the Good Place neighborhood where the main characters of the show reside. My husband and I really enjoyed TED Danson in the recent Netflix series A Man on the Inside, and have been meaning to go back and watch The Good Place. This is a reminder to me to try to make that happen.
• LOS ALAMOS (5D: New Mexico town of note in “Oppenheimer”) LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico is located near Santa Fe, and is the home of the LOS ALAMOS National Laboratory (LANL). One of sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy, LANL was established in 1943 as a top-secret site for designing nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. The 2023 biographical movie, Oppenheimer, is about the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop nuclear weapons during World War I, and was the first director of LANL, serving from 1943 to 1945.
• IRIS (6D: Pigmented eye part) IRIS is making its third puzzle appearance in four days, as we saw it on Saturday clued as [Rainbow goddess] and Sunday clued as [Colorful part of the eye].
• AMORE (7D: “That’s ___” (Dean Martin song)) “That’s AMORE” is a 1953 song by Dean Martin. “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s AMORE…” The song first appeared in the 1953 movie The Caddy, and has appeared in a number of other movies since then including Rear Window (1954), Moonstruck (1987), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Stuart Little (1999), Enchanted (2007), and The Garfield Movie (2024).
• MALTA (26D: Island country south of Italy) MALTA is an archipelagic country (one consisting of islands) in the Mediterranean Sea. The country and its main island share the name MALTA. The capital of MALTA is Valletta, whose metropolitan area covers the entire island of MALTA. 
• HAL (39D: “2001: A Space Odyssey” computer) The 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, who won an Academy Award for Best Special Visual Effects. HAL 9000 is the name of the sentient supercomputer in the movie.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
  • ACT NOW (7A: “Don’t delay!” in an infomercial)
  • MOI (27A: “Surely I’m not to blame?”)
  • NICE MOVE (10D: “Well played”)