The fourth MMMM of 2025 challenged solvers to find a famous rock band. The puzzle has five rebus squares that each read as a five-letter block in the Across direction, but a single “O” in the Down direction. The five-letter blocks are highlighted in blue below:

EARPLUGS
STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES
SEXUAL PREFERENCES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PARLEYED

These five-letter blocks all anagram to the word “pearl,” a stone whose spherical shape is also represented by the “O” in the vertical component of the rebuses. The scrambled five-letter blocks can be interpreted as “ground” pearls (as hinted at by the puzzle’s title), and the O’s can be interpreted as intact pearls. Thus, the rebuses effectively “jam” the ground pearls into the intact pearls, leading to this month’s meta answer, the famous Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam.

We had an all-time record number of solvers this month (798!), probably because the meta was relatively easy to figure out once you figured out the rebus structure.

Meta Song:

“Just Breathe” is one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs, and it was really fun to learn it and sing it. Enjoy!

Selected Solver Comments:

LaceyK   What a glistening gem of a puzzle!

the professor   Felt confused for quite a while, so the AHA! moment was fun when it arrived.

Matt M.   Tricky and fun… Thanks!

ALKinNYC   My first time doing a Meta. It was fun.

AZinDC   It’s oddly satisfying to get angry at a puzzle before it clicks!

Alternative Music Clues:

shirk suggests cluing SPLENDOR as [“___ in the Grass” (1966 Jackie DeShannon song)] and DIN as [1966 Jim Croce song “The Ballad of Gunga ___”].

EasyNow suggests cluing I GUESS as [“___ That’s Why They Call It the Blues” (Elton John single from 1983)] and EERIE as
[“Creepy creeps with ____ eyes start to shriek and harmonize” (lyric from a theme song for a popular Disneyland ride)].

DIS suggests cluing EDISON as [___ Lighthouse].

Evan suggests cluing OLDE as [Ye ___ Music Shop (instrument seller in Hanahan, South Carolina)], GAMGEE as [Samwise who’s the subject of “Samwise the Brave” on the soundtrack to “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”], and TAFT as [Blues musician Dudley who’s the great-great-grandnephew of the 27th U.S. president].

Groaners:

Andy   Couldn’t have planned this Eddie Vedder!

jandytopia   This puzzle had an “even flow” to it!

mlangschwager   Even swine could appreciate these pearls being cast!

mmurphy   Clearly, you’re a Better Man than I for having constructed this.

KelZ   This puzzle made me feel Alive!

FunkyPhD   I can only assume that Pete veddered this one, prior to publication.

Tyler Hinman   Your puzzles are very much not a stALE PRoduct.

hawkijac   I prefer strawberry.

Totals this month:

798 correct, 65 incorrect

Rating: 4.17 out of 5 stars

Difficulty: 3.02 out of 5

Monthly mug winner: Handsfuldad  

Thanks to Matt Gaffney for blogging the puzzle at Crossword Fiend, where you can rate the puzzle (thanks!) and/or leave a comment.

Thanks to Tamara Brenner for the graphic.

Thanks for playing and see you next month!