ALLEGEDLY*
THE MORGUECASE CLOSEDSeptember 18, 2026
▶ PLAY THIS CASE BLIND Loads the redacted lede with the answer hidden. Three strikes, same as the day it ran.

Case No. 55: Steve Buscemi

For days after 9/11, this hangdog indie-film character actor turned up unannounced at his old firehouse in New York and worked 12-hour shifts in the rubble — and asked not to be photographed doing it.

The full story

Steve Buscemi served as a New York City firefighter with Engine Company 55 from 1980 to 1984. After September 11, 2001, he returned to his old firehouse and worked 12-hour shifts alongside FDNY crews at Ground Zero, largely without press. He has since spoken publicly about the PTSD that followed.

The clues we handed out

— Before acting he really was a New York City firefighter, with Engine Company 55 in Little Italy.

— He said decades later that he came home from those shifts with PTSD, and that it never fully left.

— He directed episodes of The Sopranos before appearing on it as Tony's cousin.

— He has been a bowling-alley nihilist, a Fargo kidnapper, and a scare-floor lizard named Randall.

— Initials: S.B.

How this case played

ALLEGEDLY* edition No. 55. Three strikes to name Steve Buscemi, with a free clue unlocked after every miss.

More closed cases from the Film desk

CASE No. 51September 14, 2026 In August 2019, this tattooed tough-guy character actor was at the scene of a two-car crash in Sylmar within seconds — and crawled… It was Danny Trejo CASE No. 50September 13, 2026 For three awards seasons this veteran character actor handed his screener tapes to a man in Illinois who copied them to disc and p… It was Carmine Caridi CASE No. 44September 7, 2026 Midway through the 2022 Oscars — less than an hour before winning Best Actor — this Philadelphia-born megastar walked onstage and … It was Will Smith CASE No. 40September 3, 2026 In 2009 four minutes of audio leaked from a film set, on which this intensely committed leading man tore into a crew member for wa… It was Christian Bale

Every closed case from the Film desk →

🗞️ PLAY TODAY'S EDITION ← THE MORGUE
*A blind item you can check. Every puzzle is drawn from the public record — court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television — and the records are linked above. Allegedly.
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