Wednesday, August 26, 2026, John Kugelman and Lance Enfinger

SOMEPEOPLE are so EDUMACATEd that they able to come up with four perfectly cromulent theme answers in a crossword puzzle that are each composed of three or four first names. It took me some time to recognize both the gist of the revealer ("'Unbelieveable!' ... or what 17-, 25-, 35- and 46-Across are made from, letter-wise?") and the names of people therein. It turns out that within each theme answer, we have a crowd of some people's first names: BEAU/TY/MARK, ED/UMA/CATE, SAL/TED/CARA/MEL, MAC/ADA/MIA.

I made a few bad character judgments during the solve. I rashly entered the usual 'esc' for "PC key" (ALT) and 'tick' for "Bug on a pug" (FLEA), but otherwise, I GLAAD-handed my way through the grid.

One of my favorite C/APs today was 34A:"Wait for it!" (TIP) - ha! I also enjoyed various old timey references including MRSLATE, of Flintstone fame and the expression "Belly up to the BAR" as well as the amusing new-timey QMC, "Got it all off his chest?" (MANSCAPED). Interesting that "Almost a quarter of the Super Bowl's run time" is ADS. :/

Fun that MARACA crossed CARACAS and that there was room for both IAMBS and FEET. In short, IDSAY today's puzzle contained a host of good clues and fine fill. 

~Frannie.