There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Thank You Again
Constructor: Mike Graczyk
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- SCAR (16A: Facial feature of Dr. Drakken) Kim Possible is an animated TV series in which the title character is a teenage girl who fights crime while also dealing with everyday adolescent issues. In 2019, Disney produced a live-action movie based on the series. I learned about Kim Possible from the July 20, 2021 puzzle, and I wrote about it again on December 11, 2023. What I did not learn from either of those puzzles is that Dr. Drakken is the main antagonist of the series, and Kim Possible’s archenemy. Dr. Drakken is a mad scientist with blue skin and a SCAR under his left eye.
- ACCUSE (2D: “Before You ___ Me” (Bo Diddley song)) Bo Diddley (1928-2008) was a rock and roll musician who was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. (This much I knew.) “Before you ACCUSE Me” is a 1957 song that Bo Diddley wrote and recorded. (This I learned.) The song has also been recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Eric Clapton.
- ROKU (7D: ___ City (metropolis in a certain streaming device’s screen saver)) Never having used any ROKU streaming devices, I was not familiar with ROKU City. Fortunately, the answer was fairly inferable here from the phrase “certain streaming device.” The ROKU City screensaver depicts a metropolis at night, colored in magenta and blue hues. Unlike most cities, however, in addition to the usual mix of buildings, ROKU City also has an abundance of giant robots, pirate ships, spaceships, and the like. ROKU city was illustrated by freelance graphic artist Kyle Jones.
- PEA (60D: “Marrowfat” legume) A marrowfat PEA is one that has been allowed to dry out in the field, rather than being harvested when fresh. Marrowfat PEAs are starchy, making them especially good for making mushy peas, a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips in England and Ireland.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- EARS (5A: Caracals have tufted ones) A caracal is a medium-sized wild cat that has long, black EARS topped with tufts of black fur. Caracals are native to Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Although my cat, Willow, does not have tufts of fur on the top of her ears, she’s happy to see her cat cousin mentioned in the puzzle.
- UCLA (13A: School that’s the answer to the joke “What happens when the fog lifts in SoCal?”) Ha! This clue makes me laugh. UCLA (which sounds like “You see L.A.”) is the University of California, Los Angeles.
- SCOT (14A: Edinburgh native) Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. This photo was taken from Edinburgh Castle.
- FENTY BEAUTY (38A: Rihanna’s cosmetics brand) FENTY BEAUTY is a cosmetics brand launched by singer Rihanna. The brand includes extensive shade offerings to be inclusive across a wide range of skin tones. FENTY BEAUTY was named one of Time magazine’s best inventions of 2017.
- RAE (42A: Actress Issa) The other day, my husband was stuck on a crossword puzzle he was solving, and I was giving him a bit of assistance. One of the clues he was stuck on was [“Insecure” star RAE]. After he’d finally gotten the answer from its crossings I gave him some advice. “You need to learn Issa RAE’s name. Both her first and last names are extremely useful to crossword constructors, and you’re going to see her a lot. Make your life easier and learn her name.” Besides, she’s worth knowing about. Her work includes co-creating and starring in Insecure (2016-2021), portraying President Barbie in Barbie (2023), and writing a memoir titled The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (2015).
- OREOS (47A: Cookies first sold in 1912) When OREOS came on the market in 1912, they were an imitation of the Hydrox cookie that was introduced four years early. OREOS became more popular than Hydrox, and are now the best-selling cookie brand, not only in the United States, but also globally.
- TAU (53A: Greek T) Regular readers of “Off the Grid” will recall that when letters of the Greek alphabet appear in the puzzle, I use that as an opportunity to review the Greek alphabet. The other night I dreamt that I was reviewing the Greek alphabet! In my dream I was reciting, “alpha, beta, chick…” I woke up right after this dream and I started laughing to myself. First of all, the Greek alphabet is a funny thing to dream about. Secondly, how did the letter gamma become chick? To be clear, the Greek alphabet begins with alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. TAU is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet.
- RIGHTY TIGHTY (56A: Clockwise, in a mnemonic) I frequently use the mnemonic RIGHTY TIGHTY – and its counterpart lefty loosey – to remember which way to turn screws, bottle caps, etc.
- PARIS (60A: Largest city in France) and ARC (61A: ___ de Triomphe (60-Across monument)) The ARC de Triomphe is a monument in PARIS, France. It is located at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, a wide avenue that runs from the Place de la Concorde in the east to the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west.
- ARLO (63A: “The Good Dinosaur” dinosaur) The Good Dinosaur (2015) is an animated Pixar film set in an alternate universe in which dinosaurs never became extinct. ARLO is a young Apatosaurus who becomes friends with a caveboy (Spot).
- ESTE (70A: Punta del ___, Uruguay) Punta del ESTE is a seaside resort city on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay. Its nicknames include “the Monaco of the South,” “the Miami Beach of South America,” “the St. Tropez of South America,” and “the Hamptons of South America.”
- ESPYS (5D: Awards for A’ja Wilson) A’ja Wilson plays basketball for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. She has won three ESPYS. In 2023 and 2024, she was awarded the ESPY for Best WNBA Player. In 2024, she also received the ESPY for Best Female Athlete.
- OLAY (25D: “Love the Skin You’re In” brand) “Love the Skin You’re In” is an advertising tagline used by the skin care brand OLAY.
- RISE (52D: “Still I ___” (Maya Angelou poem)) Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I RISE,” was first published in her 1978 book, And Still I RISE: A Book of Poems. The poem begins with the lines “You may write me down in history / With your bitter twisted lies,” and ends with “I RISE / I RISE / I RISE.”
- A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed:
- SAYS ME (50D: “I’m telling you, that’s who!”)
- HALL (57D: “Great” room in a palace)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- HUMPTY DUMPTY (19A: Nursery rhyme figure who fell to pieces)
- FENTY BEAUTY (38A: Rihanna’s cosmetics brand)
- RIGHTY TIGHTY (56A: Clockwise, in a mnemonic)
THANK YOU AGAIN: The letter pattern TY – as in the abbreviation for THANK YOU – is found at the end of both words in each theme answer: HUMPTY DUMPTY, FENTY BEAUTY, and RIGHTY TIGHTY.
When I read the title of this puzzle, my guess was that each theme answer would contain two occurrences of the letter U (sounds like YOU). HUMPTY DUMPTY seemed to confirm that my guess was correct, but then … FENTY BEAUTY only has one U and RIGHTY TIGHTY doesn’t have any. I was forced to take another look and think about the theme some more. A very nice “Aha!” moment when I noticed the TYs hanging out at the end of each word in plain sight. Thank you and THANK YOU AGAIN, Mike, for this delightful puzzle.
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