81 Across
NYT Daily • August 24, 2025
If FORD & WALGREENS merged and became a landscaping company, they would sell ___
Answer:
FLOWERGARDENS
Hint:
Think of a blooming business name combining a car pioneer and a pharmacy chain’s green thumb.
Explanation:
This clue plays on combining the names of two well-known brands, Ford (the car company) and Walgreens (the pharmacy chain), to create a new hybrid business. By taking "FORD" and "WALGREENS," you merge parts of their names—specifically "FLOW" from Walgreens (sounding like "flower") and "GARDENS" from Ford (imagining "Ford" as a play on "forward," but here just using the "G" sound). The result is "FLOWERGARDENS," a fitting product for a landscaping company formed by their fictional merger.