New York Times, Tuesday, May 18, 2021

I am humbled and thrilled to have a second puzzle in The Times. I started working on this theme during a lecture on constitutional history in February 2020. As we discussed the Warren Court, I jotted down "FELIX FRANKFURTER (16)" in my notebook margins. I was later pleasantly surprised to see how many nicknames there are for sausage.

The justice did not make it into my final submission, as I chose 34-Across as the central themer instead. I know this entry may be unfamiliar to some, but I am delighted to debut a truly "colorful" answer from my childhood. I hope the puzzle brightens your day!

SPOILED BRAT, HEAD BANGER … I can Name That Theme in two entries, boo-yah! The third themer had to end in FRANK. What FRANK sells school supplies, though?

Said the dad who forces his kids to reuse the leftover school supplies from my college days I've carefully hoarded for 30 years now.

I was speeding through the puzzle until I ran over that nail, SSS is right. Given that my daughter's eyes sparkle for anything that sparkles — there's a lot of pained blinking at my house — I suppose I'm doomed to get to know the LISA FRANK catalog. Ah well, that logo is ... memorable?

Every Friday, we get pickup from our local burger joint, and by Wednesday, my son keeps asking if it's French Fry Friday yet, his agitation growing if the answer is no. He always orders a hot dog, which seems to calm him down. Talk about a THERAPY DOG.

Fun theme, tied together by SAUSAGE LINK. I'll admit this confused me for a hot minute, wondering what the SAUSAGE synonyms linked to. A THERAPY DOG MINION is not a thing, but it should be.

A middle nine-letter themer creates big corners, always tough to fill. Lovely use of those mid-length slots today, MARSHAL kicking things off, along with IRELAND, EMBASSY, MACRAME, INDIANA/STOOGES/MAGNETS. Nothing flashy, but so many solid entries added heft to the solve.

Not so hot on PHLEGM. For those of you with a six and four-year-old, you understand. I'd much rather wade through a bit of metaphorical NGO TAI ENE glue than actual goo. My household is responsible for approximately 43% of nationwide tissue sales.

Easy-breezy theme, neat that there aren't many (any?) other SAUSAGE synonyms that would work so perfectly — BRAT, BANGER, FRANK, DOG are all disguised so well. I'd almost rather use MISSING LINK as a fifth themer, and give no revealer, so the set is complete. That, or aim for a later-week puzzle, adding in an extra layer by somehow playing on the LINK part of SAUSAGE LINK (perhaps SPOILED BRAT PACK, THERAPY DOG EARS, etc.).