[.puz][PDF][Solution] 🛌☕️🌤

This is another easy puzzle, and it’s a bit saccharine. But S.N.L. got me weepy with some unexpected earnestness (Brad Pitt) for the first time since 2016 (Kate McKinnon), so I think I need this.

The news from New York–where my parents live–continues to weigh on me. And social isolation has made it increasingly difficult to maintain the routine I employ to manage pain. (I have a bunch of benign tumors, including one in my spinal cord, due to a rare genetic disorder.)

So while I remain cocooned in many layers of privilege AND I have the world’s dopest girlfriend to buoy my spirits, the last few days have been spiritually gloomy. Today’s puzzle is something of a note to self, and I hope the message resonates with you.

*SPOILER ALERT* I shipped a version of this for viewers of CBS Sunday Morning. Google their logo for a hint as to why. The 15-letter revealer sits prominently in middle column: HERE COMES THE SUN [1976 Beatles hit with the lyric, “It’s all right, it’s all right,” and a hint to the shaded letters].

It was important to me to have the S-U-N rising in an even path across the grid, which limited grid layout and theme answers more than I’d normally like. But the visual felt like a key part of the raison d’être, so I ran with it.

I’m not usually a huge fan of solving with a soundtrack, but if you’ve solved and enjoyed, I recommend throwing that track on and vibing for a while. I’m about to do just that with a momentarily docile murder cat in my lap. Life’s little blessings.

Warmly,

Ross