Yahoo Lifestyle Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Lead Singer
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Lead Singer
Constructor: Bruce Haight
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
OREO (15A: Cookie similar to a Caco) I am obviously familiar with our crossword-friend OREO, and it was fairly easy to infer the answer here, but Caco is new to me. Caco sandwich cookies are made by Bud's Best Cookies, a company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. An OREO is indeed similar to a Caco, as both consist of vanilla crème sandwiched between chocolate cookies.
NUN (51A: Religious person in the film "Rebel Hearts") Rebel Hearts is a 2021 documentary. The movie tells the story of a group of progressive NUNs at Immaculate Heart College, a private Catholic college in Los Angeles, California. Immaculate Heart College was in operation from 1906-1981. In the 1960s, a group of NUNs at the college (Sisters of the Immaculate Heart) stood up to the patriarchy of the Catholic Church as they fought for equality and women's rights.
THE CURE (43A: "Friday I'm in Love" band) THE CURE is an English rock band formed in 1976. "Friday I'm in Love" is a 1992 song by THE CURE, from their album, Wish. The song was a worldwide hit, and its music video won an MTV Video Music Award for European Viewer's Choice Best Music Video.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
BEES (5A: The ___ knees (the cat's meow)) My cat, Willow, says, "Did someone mention a cat?" I like both of these sayings – the BEE'S knees and the cat's meow – and it was fun to see them paired together in this clue. I have previously written about the origin of "the BEE'S knees," when we saw the entire phrase in the puzzle.
MOMA (13A: NYC home of Van Gogh's "Sorrow") "Sorrow" is a drawing by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Drawn in 1882, it depicts a pregnant woman hunched over in despair. The model was Clasina Maria Hoornik, who was known as Sien. Van Gogh depicted Sien in a number of works between 1882 and 1883. The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City (NYC) owns a print of "Sorrow," though according to their website, it's not currently on display.
KANSAS (31A: Janelle Monae's birth state) Singer-songwriter-rapper-actor Janelle Monáe was born in KANSAS City, KANSAS.
MEMES (34A: Sleeping Squidward, Nyan Cat, etc.) The Sleeping Squidward MEME features the SpongeBob SquarePants character Squidward. The MEME shows a close up of Squidward's eyes – first closed and then open – and is generally used to express shock upon remembering a forgotten task. I have previously written about the Nyan Cat MEME. Nyan Cat is an animated cat with a cherry Pop-Tart for a torso. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
STALE (42A: Like month-old cake) I am not disputing the fact that month-old cake would be STALE. I am wondering, however, who lets cake sit around for a month without eating it? That's never been an issue at our house.
ERMA (66A: Humorist Bombeck) From 1965 until 1996, ERMA Bombeck (1927-1996) wrote a syndicated newspaper column titled "At Wits End." The column provided a humorous take on everyday life as a Midwestern housewife. Many of her columns have been compiled into books, with titles such as Aunt ERMA's Cope Book (1979) and Family — The Ties That Bind ... and Gag! (1987).
ELMO (68A: Zoe's friend on "Sesame Street") ELMO is making back-to-back puzzle appearances. In yesterday's puzzle, ELMO was clued as [Muppet with a pet named Tango]. Zoe is an orange Muppet, who's three years old and is ELMO's best friend.
MORANIS (2D: "Ghostbusters" actor Rick) The first Ghostbusters movie was released in 1984. Rick MORANIS portrayed Louis Tully, who was possessed by "Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster." Rick MORANIS reprised the role for the sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989).
TOM (9D: Male turkey, or a name) and IRIS (10D: Eye part, or a name) I enjoyed this consecutive pair of "or a name" clues.
REEK (18D: Stink SO bad) and NOSE (22D: Body part that smells) I also enjoyed this humorous pair of consecutive clues.
APU (23D: _laska _acific _niversity) Alaska Pacific University (APU) is located in Anchorage, Alaska. APU is known for its Nordic Ski Team. Its Nordic Ski Center serves as an Olympic training center for cross-country skiers.
DELTA (30D: Fourth Greek letter) Looks like it's time for some review. The 24 letter Greek alphabet begins with alpha, beta, gamma, DELTA, epsilon. That was as far as I could go without looking. Next up are the rhyming letters zeta, eta, theta, followed by iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu. That will do for today's review.
NAE (32D: Scottish denial) My husband and I visited Scotland earlier this month. One thing we never said "NAE" to was the dessert sticky toffee pudding. We ate it whenever we had the opportunity.
JLO (37D: "Get Right" singer, for short) "Get Right" is a 2005 song by Jennifer Lopez, JLO for short. In the song's music video, JLO portrays eight different characters attending a nightclub.
ALTER EGO (38D: Diana Prince, for Wonder Woman) The character of Wonder Woman first appeared in DC Comics in 1941. In her homeland – the fictional island country of Themyscira – her ALTER EGO is Princess Diana of Themysciara. Outside of her homeland she uses the ALTER EGO Diana Prince.
ANNA (56D: Princess who sings "Love Is an Open Door") "Love Is an Open Door" is a song from the 2013 animated movie Frozen. It is sung by the characters of ANNA (voiced by Kristen Bell) and Prince Hans (voiced by Santino Fontana). This song contains a line that always cracks me up. Hans: "We finish each other's..." ANNA: "Sandwiches!"
A few conversational clues I especially enjoyed:
WE COOL (46A: "No hard feelings, yeah?")
AM I LATE (3D: "Have y'all already started?")
FALSE (26D: "You're wrong!")
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
PRINCE CHARMING (16A: Heroic fairy-tale suitor)
JEWEL CASE (37A: CD holder)
PINK GRAPEFRUIT (60A: Deep-colored, citrusy juice source)
LEAD SINGER: The LEAD (first) word of each theme answer is the name of a SINGER: PRINCE, JEWEL, and PINK.
For some reason, I've recently had PRINCE's 1985 song, "Raspberry Beret," going through my head. It made me smile, therefore, to discover PRINCE as the LEAD SINGER in the first theme answer. I enjoyed the anticipation of wondering who the other LEAD SINGERs would be. This is a clever and creative theme. Thank you, Bruce, for this delightful puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for October 26, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher
