Yahoo Lifestyle Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Talking Heads
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Talking Heads
Constructor: Will Eisenberg
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor
Will: When I considered a Talking Heads theme, and I thought about USA Today, I realized this must be the place for my puzzle! I asked Amanda if she'd be interested... and she was! Making this puzzle was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope you stay up late to solve it.
Sally's note: Hey now, clever Will has given us an additional puzzle in his constructor's note. I've found the titles of four Talking Heads songs in his note. Can you find them? (Have I missed any?!) You'll find the answer to this puzzle in my summary below.
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
AERO (16A: Marvel superhero from Shanghai) The Marvel Comics superhero AERO made her first appearance in the comic book Aero #1 in September 2018. AERO's alias is Lei Ling, and she is an architect with air-based superpowers; she was born with the ability to manipulate her chi to control the air around her. As Lei Ling the architect, she helps build Shanghai. As AERO, she uses the power of wind to protect the city. In addition to her solo comics, AERO has appeared in Marvels Agents of Atlas series. Interestingly, this is the second time this month that AERO has appeared in the "What I Learned" section. The other day I learned about the AERO Press Coffee Maker.
OWE (25A: "What We ___ to Each Other" (T.M. Scanlon book)) Thomas Michael Scanlon, usually cited as T. M. Scanlon, is a philosopher and a Harvard philosophy professor emeritus. His book, What We OWE to Each Other was published by Harvard University Press in 1998. What We OWE to Each Other is referenced multiple times on the TV series The Good Place, and the phrase is used as the title of the sixth episode of season one.
GRIM (9D: ___ Fandango (LucasArts game)) GRIM Fandango is a 1998 video game originally published for Microsoft Windows. Set in the Land of the Dead in a version of the 1950s, the LucasArts adventure game requires users to chat with characters and collect and use items in order to solve puzzles.
TVS (30D: TCL products) TCL Electronics Holdings Limited is a Hong Kong company that manufactures TVS and other consumer electronics.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
SUNG (6A: Like recitative in an opera) Recitative is a singing style that, while SUNG, has the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech.
RAMI (18A: Until Dawn voice actor Malek) Until Dawn is a 2015 horror video game in which the playable characters are eight young adults on Blackwood Mountain whose lives are threatened. All characters can survive or die depending on the choices players make. RAMI Malek provided motion capture for and voices a character named Josh Washington.
STATE GEMSTONE (20A: Lake Superior agate, for Minnesota, e.g.) Thirty-nine of the fifty U.S. STATEs have an official STATE GEMSTONE. Some STATEs that don't have a STATE GEMSTONE have designated a STATE mineral or a STATE rock instead. (And some STATEs have designated all three of these categories.) Lake Superior agate has been the STATE GEMSTONE for Minnesota since 1969.
TBT (30A: Hashtag on some nostalgic pics) TBT = throwback Thursday
TDS (32A: Plays shown on NFL RedZone) TDS here are touchdowns. NFL RedZone is a sports TV channel that has been owned and operated by the NFL Network since 2009.
ABC (50A: "Lost" network) Lost is a sci-fi TV series that originally aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010. The show follows the survivors of a plane crash that happened on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. Much of the show was filmed on location in Oahu, Hawaii.
RNA (51A: Molecule in all living cells) The molecule ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential part of all living cells. It is involved in performing biological functions and in providing a template for the production of proteins. I'm always happy to see science in the crossword.
ARTS (65A: Kintsugi and origami, e.g.) Kintsugi is a Japanese ART of mending broken pottery by filling in the cracks with gold, silver, or platinum mixed with lacquer. Origami is a Japanese ART of paper folding.
BRAT (4D: 2024 album with a lime-green cover) BRAT is Charli XCX's sixth studio album, released in June of this year. This is the album that inspired the "BRAT summer" trend that I have previously written about.
PASTA (10D: Radiatori, for example) The PASTA shapes known as radiatori are short and squat and have ridges; they are so named because they are said to resemble radiators.
APP (23D: Merlin Bird ID, e.g.) The Merlin Bird ID APP is a free APP published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If you enjoy bird watching, even casually and occasionally, I highly recommend this APP. It can ID a bird from a photo you have taken. Alternatively, you can answer a short series of questions about the bird you have seen and it will provide you with a list of likely species. There's also an option to identify birds by their sounds. And no, I'm not sponsored by the Merlin APP, I just happen to enjoy it a lot!
ENOS (35D: Chimp who orbited the Earth) ENOS (1957-1962) was a chimpanzee who completed 1,250 hours of training with NASA before he was launched into space aboard the rocket Mercury-Atlas 5 on November 29, 1961. ENOS orbited the Earth twice before the space capsule made an ocean landing. ENOS was the second chimpanzee to be launched into space, after Ham (2957-2983), a chimp on NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2 mission on January 31, 1961. Ham's flight was suborbital, however, making ENOS the first – and so far only – chimp to orbit Earth.
ALUMNA (43D: Smith College graduate) Smith College is a women's college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) was a Smith College ALUMNA, as is Wisconsin U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin.
CATSIT (45D: Watch a sphynx) A sphynx is a breed of CAT that lacks fur. My CAT, Willow, has plenty of fur, and she is happy to see CAT representation in the puzzle, even though she's not a fan of having someone CATSIT her.
OREO (54D: Cookie with a Tiramisu Thins flavor) OREO Thins Tiramisu were introduced as an OREO flavor in February of this year. I haven't tried them, but I definitely would if someone offered me one.
WES (61D: "Scream" director Craven) WES Craven (1939-2015) was a movie director and screenwriter. He directed the first four Scream movies.
A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
TOO TRUE (21D: "Right you are, mate")
ANGST (50D: Emotion in many YA novels)
OHO (60D: "So that's what those noises were!")
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
STATE GEMSTONE (20A: Lake Superior agate, for Minnesota, e.g.)
EXPRESS LANE (36A: "10 items or less" queue)
UTTER NONSENSE (52A: Complete balderdash)
TALKING HEADS: The first words of the theme answers – the HEADS – are synonyms of TALK: STATE, EXPRESS, and UTTER.
The TALKING HEADS were a band comprised of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison. They were active between 1975-1991, and their songs included "This Must Be the Place" (1983), "And She Was" (1985), "Once in a Lifetime" (1981), and "Stay Up Late" (1985). Incidentally, those are the four songs Will surreptitiously mentioned in his constructor's note. Astute readers might have noticed that I snuck in another TALKING HEADS song title in my note about Will's note: "Hey Now" (1986). Thank you, Will, for this delightful puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for December 28, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher
