Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Squeeze In

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Squeeze In

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• NORMA SHEARER (20A: Actress who won an Oscar for "The Divorcee") The Divorcee is a 1930 movie based on Ursula Parrott's 1929 book, Ex-Wife. The movie follows the interconnected lives of two couples. NORMA SHEARER portrays one of the women, who becomes the titular divorcee. As the clue informs us, NORMA SHEARER won an Academy Award for Best Actress for the role.

• ERICA (40D: "Justified" actress Tazel) Justified (2010-2015) is a neo-Western TV series based on a character in Elmore Leonard's story, "Fire in the Hole." Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Oliphant) is a U.S. Marshal who is sent to work in Kentucky in the Appalachian mountains near where he grew up. ERICA Tazel portrays U.S. Marshal Rachel Brooks.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• SHAMU (4A: Former SeaWorld orca) The original SHAMU, a female orca, was at SeaWorld San Diego from 1965 to 1971, and became their star attraction. She is the namesake for other orcas at SeaWorld. The topic of whether it is ethical to keep orcas in captivity and whether it is safe for trainers to be in the water with orcas is beyond the scope of this blog. SeaWorld still has 18 orcas at their three U.S. parks, but they have discontinued their orca breeding program and are in the process of phasing out their orca program.

• NINE (16A: Number of letters in Louisiana) This is a fun clue for the word NINE. I did count the letters. Did you?

• OGRE (37A: Tall monster in EverQuest) EverQuest is a fantasy-themed video game franchise with multiple titles. According to the EverQuest wiki, OGREs are approximately ten feet tall.

• CHRISTMAS HAM (58A: Sugar-glazed holiday dish) The other day my husband and I drove by a small butcher shop that is along a route we often take. My husband commented that there were cars lined up and the store appeared to be unusually busy. I said, "Perhaps everyone is picking up a CHRISTMAS HAM."

• YETI (69 Cryptic seen on the Expedition Everest ride) Expedition Everest is a roller coaster ride at Disney World's Animal Kingdom in Florida. The ride is themed around YETI protecting their territory, the Forbidden Mountain next to Mount Everest.

• HIP HOP (5D: Megan Thee Stallion's genre) We saw HIP HOP artist Megan Thee Stallion three days ago in the clue for STALLION.

• ARIEL (6D: "Modern Family" actress Winter) Modern Family (2009-2020) is a mockumentary TV series that follows the lives of three families. ARIEL Winter portrays Alex Dunphy, the middle child of one of the families.

• METADATA (7D: Statistics about other statistics) I am a self-proclaimed data nerd, so I can see the appeal of METADATA. I keep all kinds of statistics about this blog. It's almost time to share some of them with you in a year-end wrap up.

• VIE (10D: "C'est la ___!") "C'est la VIE!" is a French phrase meaning "That's life!"

• RAMI (14D: "Oppenheimer" actor Malek) Oppenheimer is a 2023 biographical movie about theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop nuclear weapons during World War I. RAMI Malek portrays nuclear physicist David L. Hill.

• A TEAM (21D: First string squad) You might say that an A TEAM is TOP TIER (48A: Of the highest quality). I wonder how many A TEAM players are TYPE B (25A: Laid-back personality).

• POG (26D: '90s collectible disk) I have previously written about the '90s toy called a POG, a flat circular cardboard disk used to play a game.

• BEE (28D: Insect with five eyes) Fun animal fact! A honeybee has two large compound eyes made up of thousands of lenses, and three smaller eyes in the center of its head. The smaller eyes detect light, but not shapes, and help the BEE detect if it is being approached from above by a predator.

• DIRTY CHAI (35D: Spiced drink with a shot of espresso) A DIRTY CHAI may also be called an espresso CHAI, java CHAI, red eye CHAI, or CHAI charger.

• BTS (41D: "Butter" K-pop band) "Butter" is a 2021 song by BTS. "Smooth like butter / Like a criminal undercover..."

• APA (43D: "Riverdale" star KJ) Riverdale (2017-2023) is a TV series based on the characters of the Archie comic books. KJ APA plays the role of Archie Andrews.

• CATNAP (50D: Little snooze) My cat, Willow, is a fan of this answer.

• OSLO (57D: Scandinavian capital with many sauna rafts) OSLO is the capital and most populous city of Norway. A sauna raft is exactly what it sounds like, a floating sauna that allows the option of jumping into the water for a swim after enjoying the heat of the sauna. OSLO is located on a fjord, a great place for sauna rafts.

• RIPA (59D: Talk show host Kelly) Kelly RIPA is the co-host of Live! with Kelly and Mark. She has been a co-host of the morning talk show since 2001. In that time, her co-hosts have included Regis Philbin, Michael Strahan, Ryan Seacrest, and Mark Consuelos (her husband).

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• NORMA SHEARER (20A: Actress who won an Oscar for "The Divorcee")

• I'M ASHAMED (38A: "Boy, is my face red!")

• CHRISTMAS HAM (58A: Sugar-glazed holiday dish)

SQUEEZE IN: The word MASH – a synonym of SQUEEZE – is found IN each theme answer: NORMA SHEARER, I'M ASHAMED, and CHRISTMAS HAM.

From the title, I guessed this might be a hidden word theme, but I didn't think the hidden word would be SQUEEZE, as I imagine there aren't many phrases that contain the word SQUEEZE. It was fun to discover the word MASH in each theme answer. I enjoyed the extra layer of figuring out what the hidden word is. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this super puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles

• Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for December 23, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher