Crossword Blog & Answers for May 3, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• MINORITY REPORT (34A: 2002 cyberpunk Spielberg film) Steven Spielberg’s movie Minority Report is based on a 1956 novella by Philip K. Dick. The movie is set in the year 2054 in the Washington metropolitan area. Tom Cruise stars as the chief of a specialized police department known as Precrime, which apprehends criminals based on knowledge learned from psychics. Several of the futuristic technologies in the movie – such iris scanners, personalized advertising, and autonomous cars – now exist.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• OMW (14A: “Heading over now,” for short) OMW = on my way
• BILLY PORTER (15A: Actor and singer who starred in “Kinky Boots” and “Pose”) In 2013, BILLY PORTER originated the role of Lola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. For that role he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In the TV series Pose (2018-2021), BILLY PORTER portrays Pray Tell, an emcee of New York City’s balls and a fashion designer. For this role, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
• FUTON (19A: Foldable couch) and COTS (21A: Foldable beds) This is a fun duo of foldable furniture clues.
• RAT (31A: Remy, Rizzo or Templeton) Remy is a RAT in Disney’s 2007 animated movie Ratatouille. Rizzo the RAT is a Muppet character who often appears with Gonzo the Great. Templeton is a RAT in Charlotte’s Web. This is a nice trio of RAT characters. Solvers only need to be familiar with one RAT in order to be successful.
• LEIS (33A: Garlands that might be made using hala fruit) LEIS made using hala fruit – the fruit of the Pandanus pectorius tree – are traditionally used for special occasions, particularly the celebration of the end of an era (graduation, e.g.) or the transition to a new era (celebrating a New Year, e.g.).
• ORA (40A: “The Masked Singer” judge Rita) The Masked Singer is a reality singing competition that features celebrities vying to be the favorite singer. Contestants perform in costumes and masks that conceal their identities. Rita ORA has been on the show’s panel of judges since its eleventh season.
• KERI (50A: “The Diplomat” actress Russell) On the Netflix TV series The Diplomat, KERI Russell stars as Kate Wyler, U.S. ambassador to the U.K.
• TED TALK (54A: Lecture that’s around 18 minutes long) TED TALKs originated at the TED Conference in 1984. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED TALKs present an idea in 18 minutes or less. Since 2006, TED TALKs have been available to view online, with the tagline “Discover ideas worth spreading.” TED TALKs cover a variety of topics, such as “The power of vulnerability” (Brené Brown), “Magic and wonder in the age of AI,” (David Kwong), and “The Black history of twerking — and how it taught me self-love” (Lizzo).
• EMU (64A: LiMu ___ (rhyming insurance mascot)) LiMu EMU has been a mascot for Liberty Mutual insurance since 2019.
• REPUTATION (4D: Taylor Swift album with a snake aesthetic) and NAME (53D: “Say my ___ and everything just stops”) REPUTATION is Taylor Swift’s sixth studio album, released in 2017. The imagery of snakes associated with REPUTATION was inspired by (and a response to) online criticism of Taylor Swift that referred to her as a snake. REPUTATION includes the song, “Look What You Made Me Do.” The album also includes the song “Dress,” which includes the lyric “Say my NAME and everything just stops.”
• ACT (6D: Perform in “Redwood”) The musical Redwood opened on Broadway earlier this year. Idina Menzel portrays Jesse, a mother grieving the death of her son. She impulsively starts driving away from her east coast home, and ultimately finds herself in a redwood forest on the west coast. I was excited to see this clue, as my husband and I were fortunate enough to see Redwood on Broadway last month. The show has received mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. Getting to see Idina Menzel ACT and sing (sometimes suspended in the air while climbing a “redwood”) was incredible. The set was amazing, using projection to make you feel as if you’re in a redwood forest. I did cry through much of the show (it’s an emotional topic), but there were also a few funny moments. One of my favorite moments was when one of the other characters said to Idina Menzel’s character, “Just a minute ago you were a Disney princess.”

• DRUM (13D: Djembe or conga, e.g.) A djembe is a goblet-shaped DRUM, and a conga is a tall barrel-shaped DRUM. Both of these DRUMs are played with bare hands. 
• TAILOR (20D: Make alterations to) My first thought here (before I looked at the letter count) was “edit.” After all, we see EDIT in the puzzle on a regular basis. “Aha!” These are different kinds of alterations. That’s fun.
• SHAPES (45D: The Tetris tetrominoes come in seven different ones) Tetris is the second-best-selling video game franchise. (The Mario franchise is the first.) There’s just something about those falling SHAPES that makes this game a classic. As the clue informs us, the Tetris tetrominoes come in seven different SHAPES. It occurs to me that this fact could also be used to clue the word “seven.” (I’m tucking that thought away for future use.)
• DESK (55D: Tiny ___ Concert) A Tiny DESK Concert is exactly what it sounds like, performers give a concert behind a desk in the NPR offices. Recent Tiny DESK Concerts feature performances by Madison McFerrin and Grupo Frontera.
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
  • ERR ( Play an F♯ in a C major scale =, say)
  • I’M INTO IT (9D: “Love that, love that!”)
  • AT MY AGE (23D: “When you get to be this old…”)