Pop Culture Cryptic 5: Awards Season 2026
Here’s the parsing for my latest cryptic grid, which you can find here!
1A: Surrender Dorothy: two characters returning in Wicked sequel
FOR GOOD is the title assigned to Part 2 of the musical adaptation, after the second act’s most memorable song. From FORGO (surrender) + OD (two characters [letters] from Dorothy, returning [running backwards]). Yes, the OD is a little crunchy, but how could I pass up a reference to the film’s source material?
5A: Whoopi's unspoken character objective: Sister Act nominated at the Grammys?
The “unspoken character” in “Whoopi” is the silent H. An “objective” is an AIM. That gives you HAIM, the band comprising three sisters, currently Grammy-nominated for their great album I Quit.
7A: Uneven and peculiar, like Tyler, the Creator's former collective, by their own account
Tyler, the Creator was the founder of ODD Future. Tyler is one of the big headlines of this year’s Grammys, with two different nominated albums. Since the link to his collective was a bit dubious in the cluing, I decided to triple up with two additional definitions for ODD.
8A: Chase after a Best Actress nomination? Interesting narrative for starters, initially without ally
Chase INFINITI is the newcomer currently in the hunt for a Best Actress Oscar for her breakout role in One Battle After Another. From INF (the starters of “interesting narrative for”) + INITI (initially - ally).
9A: A Los Angeles name: one-fifth actor and one-third of 5-Across
It’s the first of two referential clues. A + LA (Los Angeles) + N (name) + A (one-fifth actor) gives you ALANA, one of the three Haim sisters who also appears in One Battle After Another.
10A: If you want to seem cultured, put on these Grammy-nominated works, maybe
Putting on AIRS might make you seem cultured. AIRS can also refer to songs, like the kind nominated for Grammys.
13A: A French unknown from the East, whom Tom Cruise worships
UNE is French for “a”, and X is an algebraic unknown. Write it all backwards (“from the East”) and you get XENU, the deity of Scientology, to whom Tom Cruise presumably offers his nightly vespers.
14A: Every other letter from fan: "Hi, Emma! Pay attention to me!"
Taking every other letter from “fAn + Hi + EmMa” gives us AHEM, a vocalization you might use to demand attention. This is also a way to tangentially bring Emma Stone into the puzzle. She’s in the hunt for her sixth Oscar nomination for her performance in Bugonia.
18A: In frenzied mode: my sincere request to my celebrity crush
To be quite vulnerable with you, I will confess I wish my celebrity crush would go ahead and DO ME. That’s an anagram (“frenzied”) of MODE.
19A: Like the title character by the end of Die, My Love, by the sounds of it! [Not correct - Ed.]
Jennifer Lawrence gives a Golden Globe-nominated performance in Die, My Love, which sounds like it might end with her titular love being OFFED. Whether or not it does, I can’t say: I haven’t seen it. From OFF (“not correct”) + ED.
21A: Everyone who's anyone in Hollywood starts to lie and schmooze and hate it desperately
I’m rather pleased with this surface. THE A-LIST is an anagram (“desperately”) of L + S (“starts to lie and schmooze”) + HATEIT.
22A: Song that's half Korean and half from Mars? That's fitting
“APT.” (styled with the period, although you’ll forgive me for disregarding that in this puzzle) is the smash-hit collaboration between Rosé, who sings many of her lyrics in Korean, and Bruno Mars. Given its success, it’s APT, or fitting, that it’s currently nominated for both Record and Song of the Year at the Grammys.
23A: Gala cut short for short nonfiction film
I would normally say “doc” and not DOCU as the short form of “documentary”, but Merriam-Webster supports the four-letter version. from DO (“gala”) + CUt (“cut short”).
24A: Burst of productivity, then awry in the second half--that's Frankenstein's specialty
SURGE (“burst of productivity”) + awRY (“awry in the second half”) gives you SURGERY, the mastery of which allowed Oscar Isaac’s Victor Frankenstein to make a beastly Jacob Elordi out of sundry corpses.
1D: Fans of Oscar forecasting, get started! A series of campaigns reaching for the top...it's a circus!
F + O + O + F (first letters [“get started”] of “fans of Oscar forecasting”) + A + RAW (war [“series of campaigns”] backwards [“reaching for the top” in a Down clue]). That’s a lot of rigamarole to get FOOFARAW.
2D: Passed with flying colours after colourful failing grade, quite the opposite of Elphaba
From ACED (“passed with flying colours”) coming after RED + F (“colourful failing grade”) we get RED-FACED. If you know nothing else about the Wicked media empire, I hope you know that Elphaba is a green gal.
3D: "One Battle..." is winning accolades, not foremost among them a nominated role for the late Sir Alec
I’m using the current Best Picture frontrunner to disguise some Oscar lore from years past. The Oscar-nominated role for Sir Alec Guinness was OBI-WAN Kenobi, from the first letters (“foremost among them”) of One + Battle + Is + Winning + Accolades + Not.
4D: Served up major "on-the-rise" label for Teyana Taylor
Teyana Taylor is one of the big stories of the 2026 awards season. She’s the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in One Battle After Another, and she’s also nominated for her first Grammy for her album Escape Room from her record label DEF JAM. From FED (“served”) and MAJ (“major”), both reversed (“up” and “on-the-rise”) in a Down clue).
5D: They’re going up, up, up! It’s their moment! (Seek prescription)
If you didn’t recognize the allusion to the lyrics of 2025’s most inescapable song, then I would love to visit your house on the moon some time. The song “Golden” from the fictional band HUNTR/X, of K-Pop Demon Hunters fame, is nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, and is also expected to win the Best Original Song Oscar. From HUNT (“seek”) + RX (“prescription”).
6D: Star quality, and no first-, second- or third-place for Marty? Far from Supreme!
Does “far from Supreme” work as a definition for ITTY? I hope you’ll think it does, because I had almost finished the grid when I realized I hadn’t made room for the Timothée Chalamet Best Actor contender. From IT (“star quality”) + marTY (“Marty” without its first, second or third letters).
11D: 8-Across's audition for One Battle After Another reportedly feels pat, unfortunately
Here’s the second referential clue, which I hope can help ease the earlier clues toughness. It has been reported the Chase Infiniti submitted a SELF-TAPE audition to book her role. That’s an anagram (“unfortunately”) of "feels + pat”.
12D: The art of predicting awards is the lowest form of humour: dirty, messy
PUNDITRY isn’t just for politics, you know. From PUN (“the lowest form of humour”) + an anagram (“messy”) of DIRTY.
15D: Sinners actress's selection of mimosa? Kumquat
I like to use hidden answers when I’m worried I’ve gone with too obscure a proper noun. If you’re like me, you weren’t familiar with Wunmi MOSAKU before seeing awards hopeful Sinners last summer. But if you ask me, she very nearly walks away with the movie. Her name is hidden (“selection of”) in miMOSA + KUmquat.
16D: The Avatar films, say, finally pass three! (After I lose eagerness...)
It’s true that I find it hard to muster eagerness for the Avatar SERIES. From the last letters (“finally”) of pasS+ threE + afteR + I + losE + eagernesS.
17D: Skarsgard, to Reinsve, in Sentimental Value...Oscar confusion surrounds Trier's debut
I hope you weren’t put off by all the proper nouns here. All you needed to surmise was that Stellan Skarsgard is Renate Reinsve’s CO-STAR in the film, not to mention the Best Supporting Actor frontrunner. From an anagram (“confusion”) of OSCAR surrounding T (“Trier’s debut”).
20D: Hamnet helmer injects laughter into upcoming magical land of witches (4)
One last proper noun answer to send us out. The director of Hamnet is Chloe ZHAO, the third woman to win an Oscar for Best Director. From HA (“laughter”) in the middle of OZ backwards (“upcoming [in a Down clue] magical land of witches”).
