Yahoo Lifestyle Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Please Please Please
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Please Please Please
Constructor: Lindsay Rosenblum
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
KARA (19A: Journalist Swisher) KARA Swisher's journalistic specialty is the business of technology. Over the years, she has worked for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and New York Magazine. In 2014, she co-founded Recode, a technology website focused on the business of Silicon Valley.
MIAMI (20A: "Unrivaled" 3x3 basketball league city) Unrivaled is a professional women's three-on-three basketball league. The league was founded last year in MIAMI, Florida by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Unrivaled is set to begin its first season January 17, 2025 in MIAMI. It is anticipated that in 2026, Unrivaled games will be played in cities across the United States, rather than all in MIAMI. I have actually heard of the Unrivaled league, but I haven't paid enough attention to know where it's located.
TONI (34A: "Unbelievable" actress Collette) Unbelievable (2019) is a Netflix miniseries that tells the story of a woman charged with a crime for reporting she was raped. It is based on a 2015 news article by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong titled "An Unbelievable Story of Rape," as well as a book the two wrote called A False Report (2018). TONI Collette portrays Detective Grace Rasmussen, a police officer in Westminster, Colorado.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
JONI (13A: "Big Yellow Taxi" singer Mitchell) JONI Mitchell's 1970 song, "Big Yellow Taxi," was also written and composed by her. She wrote the song while visiting Hawaii for the first time. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot..."
OBOE (18A: Woodwind featured in Madonna's "Crazy for You") Madonna released "Crazy for You" in 1985. An OBOE can be heard throughout the song, and particularly in the introduction. A couple of other pop songs that feature an OBOE are Donna Summer's "Last Dance," and the Mamma Mia! version of ABBA's "Honey, Honey."
SIR (33A: Rumi's twin brother) Rumi and SIR are the twins of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The twins turned seven this past June. Beyoncé's 2017 Instagram announcement that she was pregnant with the twins has received over 10 million likes. Beyoncé shared a photo of the twins on Instagram when they were one month old.
LOTUS (53A: National flower of India) The LOTUS is an aquatic plant that has adapted to grow in flood plains. LOTUS seeds can remain dormant for up to 1,300 years and still be viable. For this reason, the LOTUS is regarded as a symbol of longevity. In addition to being the national flower of India, the LOTUS is the unofficial national flower of Egypt and Vietnam.
SPELL CHECK (59A: Wut ths cloo culd yoos) This clue made me laugh; it's fabulous! Also, it was difficult to convince SPELL CHECK this was really how I wanted this clue to read...
AO DAI (5D: Vietnamese dress) The ÁO DÀI is a Vietnamese national garment. It is a long split garment, worn over trousers. "ÁO" translates to "shirt," and "DÀI" means long.
DESI (8D: South Asian) The term DESI is used to refer to the people of South Asia. It's also sometimes used to refer to South Asian culture and products.
MOBIUS STRIP (10D: One-sided figure formed by a loop with a half twist) I find MOBIUS STRIPs fascinating. You can make a model of a MOBIUS STRIP by taking a STRIP of paper, and giving one end a half twist before taping the ends together into a loop. To demonstrate that the MOBIUS STRIP only has one side, draw a line down the center of it. Without lifting your pencil or pen, you will meet your starting point. If a MOBIUS STRIP is cut in half (along the line you drew down the center) it will result in a long loop with two twists in it, rather than two loops.
APOSTLE (23D: "The Last Supper" figure) The Last Supper is a painting done by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 1400s. The painting depicts Jesus and his APOSTLEs at the Last Supper, a scene recounted in the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament of the Bible).
PANGAEA (25D: Early supercontinent) The supercontinent PANGAEA is thought to have formed approximately 335 million years ago during the late Paleozoic Era. PANGAEA began to break apart during the Mesozoic Era, approximately 200 million years ago. The break up of PANGAEA eventually led to the continents that we are familiar with.
BIRYANI (27D: South Asian rice dish) BIRYANI is a dish consisting of rice mixed with meat and vegetables. The exact ingredients vary depending on region.
TRY (28D: Highest-scoring rugby play) In rugby, a touchdown, called a TRY, scores five points. A TRY is scored when a player runs into the end zone carrying the ball and "touches it down" to score the TRY. I have often said that (almost) everything I know about sports I learned from crosswords. This is true in this case, as I learned this from the September 27, 2022 puzzle.
ALEC (47D: "Let Me Down Slowly" singer Benjamin) "Let Me Down Slowly" is a 2018 song by singer-songwriter, ALEC Benjamin, and is considered his breakout hit. ALEC Benjamin wrote the song about an experience with an ex-girlfriend. The song reached the top 40 in over 25 countries.
SPIT (55D: Fast-moving two-player, card game) In the card game SPIT, also referred to as Slam or Speed, the goal is to get rid of all of your cards before the other player gets rid of all of theirs. I have never played SPIT, but it has similarities to the game Nerts (which my family has always called Nuts) in which multiple people are essentially playing competitive solitaire.
EVA (60D: "Hadestown" actress Noblezada) The musical Hadestown tells a version of the Greek myth of Orpheus going to the underworld to rescue his fiancée, Eurydice. EVA Noblezada played the role of Eurydice in London and continued in the role on Broadway. For this role she won a Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
SHE SAID YES (16A: "We're fiancees now!")
SITTING PRETTY (38A: In a great spot)
SPELL CHECK (59A: Wut ths cloo culd yoos)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE: The last word of each of the three theme answers can be followed by the word PLEASE to create a common phrase: YES, PLEASE; PRETTY PLEASE, and CHECK, PLEASE.
Isn't this puzzle well-mannered? This is a fine set of theme answers. My favorite of the bunch is SPELL CHECK, which rises to the top as a result of its playful clue. Thank you, Lindsay, for this enjoyable puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for November 24, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher
