The Golden Clues From the 2020 Olympics

Gotta love it when theme letters work out as nicely as they did on Wednesday. With the Tokyo Olympics here, I noticed that two of Japan's biggest cities could be found in two great athletes' names: NAOMI OSAKA and KOBE BRYANT (Osaka and Kobe are the third- and sixth-biggest cities in Japan, to be precise).

Also working out great: that Naomi Osaka is competing in the Olympics for the first time this month (with tennis now an Olympic sport), and that the late, great Kobe Bryant won two Olympic gold medals for basketball in 2008 and 2012. So everything is teeing up for a nice little theme, but...will the letters work out?

Yes, they will! Both 10 letters long, which is perfect for a 10x10 grid. If one of those names had been 9 or 11 letters, then the theme wouldn't fit in the grid and would've had to be scrapped. But the Crossword Gods were smiling that day, and when that happens, there's nothing you can't achieve in a crossword grid.

Do you think crossword writing should be an Olympic sport in 2024? Sound off by tweeting to #beastxword. If we can make it happen, I'll see you in Paris in four years!

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