Yahoo Lifestyle Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, What's With the Getup?
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! What's With the Getup?
Constructor: Juliana Tringali Golden
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
BUN (1A: Longevity peach, for one) A longevity peach is a type of steamed BUN. The BUNs are sometimes filled with red bean paste or lotus paste. The shape of a longevity peach BUN mimics that of a peach, thus the name. In Chinese culture, longevity peach BUNs are often served at birthday celebrations.
THAI (17A: Gaeng daeng cuisine) Gaeng daeng is a curry dish also known as THAI red curry with chicken.
EPEE (43A: Sword for Koki Kano) Koki Kano represented Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in Individual ÉPÉE.
TATTOO (4D: Design on a flash sheet) A flash sheet is a sheet of paper displaying pre-made TATTOO designs. The flash sheets may be displayed on the wall or in a book.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
BAGEL (8A: It might have sugar and spice or everything. Nice!) It was the word "everything" that tipped me off to the answer here. This is a fun clue.
BET (24A: "For sure") I confidently filled in "yes" here, and then was stymied when the across answers weren't cooperating. I finally accepted that yes was not right, and used crossing answers to uncover BET, which can be used as a synonym of "for sure" or "okay." This usage is a shortening of the phrase "you BET."
SPIDER PLANT (38A: Greenery with leaves that resembles legs) It is definitely understandable why the SPIDER PLANT is so named.
ELI (50A: Peyton's co-host on "ManningCast") ManningCast is an informal name for "Monday Night Football with Peyton and ELI." The show airs on ESPN2, ESPN+, and TSN+, and is an alternative broadcast of Monday Night Football, which airs on ESPN and ABC.
HOU (53A: The Dynamo, on scoreboards) Houston Dynamo FC – HOU on scoreboards – is a professional soccer club based in Texas.
MALI (63A: Timbuktu's nation) Timbuktu is a city in the West African country of MALI. Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. It was founded in the fifth century.
TED (70A: "Mr. Mayor" actor Danson) Mr. Mayor is a TV sitcom about a retired billionaire businessman who becomes the mayor of Los Angeles. TED Danson portrays Neil Bremer, who ran for mayor in an attempt to prove himself to his teenage daughter (played by Kyla Kennedy).
LEX (12D: Superman villain Luthor) LEX Luthor is a DC Comics supervillain and an archenemy of Superman. LEX Luthor made his first appearance in 1940. Over the years he has been portrayed as both a mad scientist, a power-hungry CEO of a corporation called LexCorp, and the President of the United States.
PREP (29D: Get ready quickly?) A question mark at the end of a clue (that isn't a spoken phrase in quotes) is an indication that there's a bit of trickiness and wordplay going on. The trickiness in this clue is that "quickly" is not an indication of the speed of getting ready, but a nod that PREP is a shortened (i.e. quick) form of the word "prepare."
ANT (42D: Dot in "A Bug's Life," e.g.) A Bug's Life is a 1998 animated movie whose plot was inspired by the Aesop fable, The ANT and the Grasshopper. There are a number of ANT characters in A Bug's Life. Dot is an ANT voice by Hayden Penettiere. She is the younger daughter of The Queen, an ANT voiced by Phyllis Diller. Dot's sister, Princess Atta, is voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
ORBIT (56D: Neptune's takes about 165 Earth years) Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun. Here's a fun science fact: Neptune is the only planet in the Solar System whose existence was deduced from mathematical predictions before it was observed. Unexpected changes in the ORBIT of Uranus (the seventh planet from the Sun) led scientists to predict the existence of an unknown planet.
ELLE (59D: "The Great" actress Fanning) The Great (2020-2023) is a satirical historical fiction TV series very loosely based on Catherine the Great. In the first and third seasons, the show was titled onscreen as The Great: An Occasionally True Story. During the second season, the title used was The Great: An Almost Entirely Untrue Story. ELLE Fanning portrays Catherine, who was the empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796.
We have a nice collection of bonus Halloween answers:
POEM (69A: Robert Burns' "Halloween," e.g.) "Halloween" is a 1785 POEM by Robert Burns. The POEM is written in a mixture of Scots and English. "Upon that night, when fairies light / On Cassilis Downans dance, / Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze, / On sprightly coursers prance..." You can read the entire POEM on the Academy of American Poets website (even though Robert Burns was Scottish).
TRICK (7D: Hoodwink) "TRICK or treat!"
BEETLEJUICE (24D: 1988 horror/comedy with a 2024 sequel) I wrote about the 1988 movie, BEETLEJUICE, and its 2024 sequel, BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, two days ago.
DEMON (39D: Spirit in "The Exorcist") The Exorcist is a 1973 horror movie based on William Peter Blatty's 1971 book of the same name. The movie centers on the story of a DEMON who possesses a young girl, and her mother's attempts to have the DEMON exorcised.
TACO (58D: Treat from a truck) Here's the treat to go with our TRICK.
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
SKELETON CREW (19A: Bare bones staff)
SPIDER PLANT (38A: Greenery with leaves that resembles legs)
MONSTER TRUCK (57A: Huge vehicle with heavy-duty suspension)
WHAT'S WITH THE GETUP?: The first word of each theme answer is a GETUP, or costume, that one might wear on Halloween: SKELETON, SPIDER, and MONSTER.
This is a great Halloween puzzle! I enjoyed the costumes appearing in the theme answers, and also appreciated the number of bonus answers and clues. Congratulations to Juliana Tringali Golden, making a USA TODAY debut! Thank you, Juliana, for this delightful puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for October 31, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher
