Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Geez Louise!
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Geez Louise!
Constructor: Jess Rucks
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor
Jess: A few of my recent themes have played with rhymes or word patterns. This theme set was great to land on, as I feel like all the theme answers are fun, and as a bonus, they can all be clued as "Oh my!". I am also happy that my clues for EVE, SEX ED, and LOVE stuck around! Thanks for solving and I hope you enjoyed the puzzle!
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- ABE (32A: Homer's dad in "The Simpsons") On the animated TV series The Simpsons, Abraham Jay "ABE" Simpson II is often referred to as Grampa Simpson. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who also voices ABE's son Homer, . I think I probably knew this answer at one time, but needed the help of crossing answers to jog my memory.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- HACK (14A: Life ___ (efficiency tip)) The term "life HACK" was coined at a technology conference in 2004 by technology journalist, Danny O'Brien, to describe shortcuts IT professionals use to get their job done. After his presentation, the term caught on and its usage has grown to include tricks and shortcuts outside of the tech realm. One of my favorite life HACKs is related to the holiday season. We store our artificial Christmas tree (I'm allergic to pine, so artificial is the only realistic option for us) fully decorated with lights and ornaments. Several years ago after our kids had moved away from home, decorating the Christmas tree began to be something I didn't enjoy as much as I used to. I bought some Christmas fabric and sewed it into a giant bag with a hole in the bottom for the trunk of the tree. I then turned the bag inside out and bagged the Christmas tree, gathering the bag at the top with a rubber band. The bagged tree went into a corner of the laundry room. The next year we pulled out the tree, opened the bag and arranged it around the bottom of the tree as a tree skirt. Fully decorated Christmas tree in less than 10 minutes – voila! What's your favorite life HACK?
- OBOE (18A: Instrument used for tuning) Orchestras tune to the OBOE, specifically to a concert A played by the first OBOE. The bright, penetrating sound of the OBOE is easy to hear, and it has a stable pitch, making it a good choice to be used for tuning.
- ARI (19A: NPR host Shapiro) ARI Shapiro has been one of the hosts of NPR's podcast All Things Considered since 2015. Since 2020, he has also co-hosted the NPR podcast Consider This. Each episode of Consider This takes a look at a major news story – in 15 minutes or less. ARI Shapiro's memoir, published in 2023, is titled The Best Strangers in the World: Stories from a Life Spent Listening.
- I'M A (22A: "___ Barbie girl, in the Barbie world / Life in plastic, it's fantastic" (Aqua lyric)) The lyrics, "I'M A Barbie in the Barbie world / Life in plastic, it's fantastic," are from the 1997 song "Barbie Girl," which was the third single for the dance-pop band Aqua. These lines are followed by, "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere / Imagination, life is your creation." When the song was first released, the song's double entendres led to a lawsuit from Barbie doll makers, Mattel. In 2002, the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge who ruled, "The parties are advised to chill." Apparently they did, as the song was sampled in Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj's song, "Barbie World," which appears on the soundtrack for the 2023 movie Barbie.
- MASS (23A: The "m" of E = mc2) Albert Einstein's famous formula, E=mc² (energy equals MASS times the speed of light squared), describes the relationship between MASS and energy. In physics, this is referred to as the MASS-energy equivalence. Hooray for science in the crossword!
- INCAS (33A: Quechua speakers) In the late 1400s and early 1500s, the INCA Empire incorporated a large part of western South America, including portions of the modern-day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The official language of the INCAS was Quechua.
- BLEU (44A: "Sacre ___!") Sacré BLEU, which translates to "sacred blue" derived as a phrase used to avoid blasphemy. It was essentially a way of saying, "Mon Dieu!" ("My God!") without mentioning the lord's name. This type of expression is referred to as a minced oath. This clue made me think of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, for whom "Sacré BLEU!" is a catchphrase.
- EVE (62A: World's first seeker of knowledge, according to the Bible) In the Biblical story of EVE and Adam in the Garden of Eden, EVE ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil because she desired to be wise. All Biblical stories are open to interpretation, and EVE's actions have sometimes been looked at as negative and disobedient. I appreciate this interpretation that portrays EVE as seeking wisdom. (A full look at the many ways EVE's actions have been interpreted is outside the scope of "Off the Grid!")
- OLAF (63A: "Frozen" snowman) Ah, OLAF, Disney's Frozen snowman who said, "Some people are worth melting for."
- RED (65A: First color in the rainbow) On our recent trip to Scotland, my husband and I visited the Isle of Skye. While we were there, we experienced an amazing full rainbow that hung around for about 20 minutes.
- UFO (9D: Vehicle associated with Area 51) Area 51 is a highly classified U.S. Air Force training facility in Nevada. All research at Area 51 is classified as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information, and the CIA did not publicly acknowledge the existence of Area 51 until 2013. Area 51 has been the subject of multiple conspiracy theories, and many of those theories involve UFOs (unidentified flying objects).
- GOBI DESERT (10D: Expanse that makes up much of Mongolia) The GOBI DESERT covers parts of northeastern China, and the southern part of Mongolia. We often imagine DESERTs as being hot and sandy, but the Gobi is a cold desert, which occasionally receives snow. Much of the GOBI DESERT is exposed bare rock rather than sand.
- ZOOMER (17D: Member of Gen Z, informally) Gen Z, aka ZOOMERs, includes those born between 1996 and 2010.
- GIRLS (30D: Recipients of the Malala Fund's advocacy efforts) Malala Yousafzai is a human rights activist known especially for her work advocating for the education of women and children in Pakistan. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17. In 2013, Malala Yousafzai co-founded Malala Fund with her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. Malala Fund is an international non-profit organization that advocates for the education of GIRLS.
- SEX ED (49D: It might include lessons on consent) I really like this clue. It's my (perhaps naive) hope that all SEX ED classes include lessons on consent.
- NIA (59D: "The Marvels" director DaCosta) The Marvels is a 2023 movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which serves as a sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), and a continuation of the TV miniseries Ms. Marvel (2022). The movie was directed by NIA DaCosta, who also co-wrote the screenplay. NIA DaCosta is the fourth woman (and the first Black woman) to direct a Marvel movie. She is also the youngest director of a Marvel movie. Her other directing credits include Little Woods (2018) and Candyman (2021).
- A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
- LITERAL (54A: Like the phrase "seeing eye to eye" for two people who are the same height)
- MINI-ME (61A: Kid who looks just like you)
- ELEPHANT (36D: Mammal that might wrestle with its trunk)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- WOWIE ZOWIE (16A: "Oh my!")
- JEEPERS CREEPERS (34A: "Oh my!")
- HOLY MOLY (60A: "Oh my!")
GEEZ LOUISE!: Each theme answer is a rhyming exclamation with similar meaning.
Yippee skippy! This is a delightful theme set. It was a great idea to clue the theme answers identically. I also noticed that SHOUTS (5D: Yells "yippee!") and HOORAH (1D: Yippee!), when paired together, are somewhat descriptive of the theme. Thank you, Jess, for this excellent puzzle. And thank you for continuing to share photos of Milo.