Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, The Price Is Right
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! The Price is Right
Constructor: Matthew Luter
Editor: Anna Gundlach
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor
Matthew: In difficult times, one thing we can all agree on: The Price Is Right remains delightful. Who among us has not shouted “one dollar!” at the screen? And who among us has not thought, “hey, that title is a good phrase to build a puzzle theme on”? (Okay, maybe that one’s just me.) At any rate, please enjoy this puzzle. I wish you happy solving and no overbids.
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- LAMB (6A: Meat in merguez sausage) Merguez is a spicy LAMB-based sausage in Maghrebi cuisine. The Maghreb is an area in Northwest Africa that includes the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia. Cumin and chili pepper give merguez its spiciness and characteristic red color.
- RENT (46A: ___ Is Too Damn High Party (single-issue political group)) The RENT Is Too Damn High Party – whose key issue is stated in its name – was founded in 2005 in New York city by Jimmy McMillan. The party has nominated candidates for mayor of New York City (in 2005 and 2009) and governor and senator of New York (2010). The RENT Is Too Damn High Party has not been successful in getting a candidate elected. Fun Fact: The name of the party was changed to "RENT is 2 Damn High" to meet the state board of elections guidelines that party names be no more than 15-letters long.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- BABS (10A: Streisand's nickname) Barbra Streisand, aka BABS, has had an impressive career as singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. That career has spanned six decades and resulted in a plethora of accolades. Last year she published her autobiography, My Name is Barbra. I have the audiobook in my library, but I haven't listened to it yet. It's 48 hours long, so I'm saving it for a long road trip.
- ACNE (18A: Salicylic acid target) Salicylic acid is related to acetylsalicylic acid, which is better known as aspirin. Salicylic acid is used topically to treat a number of skin conditions, including ACNE.
- ADOPTEE (26A: Simone Biles or Nicole Richie, e.g.) Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. She is the daughter of Ron and Nellie Cayetano Biles. Nicole Richie is a media personality and fashion designer. She appeared on the reality TV show, The Simple Life (2003-2007). She is the daughter of Lionel and Brenda Harvey Richie. One thing Simone Biles and Nicole Richie have in common is that they are ADOPTEEs. I like the choice to use examples of ADOPTEEs here rather than clueing the word in a generic way.
- OLD (40A: Like the Muppets Statler and Waldorf) I am always here for any Muppets reference, and I knew this one right away. Statler and Waldorf are the two OLD Muppets who sat in a box seat during The Muppet Show. They are known for their cantankerous attitudes and heckling behavior. Statler and Waldorf are named for historic New York City hotels, the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria. I have previously written about my first cat, who was called Indy, but his full name was Independence Waldorf Rambo Kupitz Hayes Hoelscher. (You can understand why we called him Indy!) The Waldorf in Indy's name was bestowed on him by my best friend in college, and was a nod to Waldorf of Statler and Waldorf fame.
- BAJA (44A: ___ California (Mexican peninsula)) Mexico is comprised of 31 states and Mexico City, which is the country's capital and an autonomous administrative entity. The BAJA California Peninsula, located south of the U.S. state of California, is home to two Mexican states, BAJA California and BAJA California Sur.
- MELISSA (48A: "Come to My Window" singer Etheridge) "Come to My Window" is a song from MELISSA Etheridge's 1993 album, Yes I Am. MELISSA Etheridge won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Come to My Window."
- OED (64A: Ref. with over 600,000 words) The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was first published by Oxford University Press in 1884. The online version of the OED is updated quarterly, with the addition of new words as well as new uses of existing words. Because 600,000 words is a lot, this clue made me wonder how many words an "average person" (realizing there's no such thing) actually knows. It's difficult to quantify how many words a person knows, but I saw several studies that suggested an average adult knows a little over 40,000 words. Even if this number is not exact, it tells me there are always more words to learn.
- NSYNC (66A: "It's Gonna Be Me" pop group) "It's Gonna Be Me" is a song from NSYNC's 2000 album, No Strings Attached. The song hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The song's music video depicts NSYNC members as action doll figures in a store. I do quite enjoy this music video, and seeing NSYNC as action dolls. Every time this song is mentioned in the puzzle, I take the time to watch it.
- ARI (2D: NPRs Shapiro) I wrote about ARI Shapiro a couple of weeks ago.
- TULIPS (4D: Flowers associated with Holland) The Netherlands, informally referred to as Holland, is a country in northwestern Europe. The Netherlands exports two-thirds of the world's total of fresh-cut flowers and flower bulbs. Although TULIPS are associated with Holland, the Netherlands voted in 2023 to make the daisy the country's national flower.
- TIKTOK (34D: Where Khaby Lame has over 162 million followers) I learned about social media content creator Khaby Lame from the September 25 puzzle. Many of his TIKTOK videos silently mock overly-complicated "life hacks" from other social media posts. Khaby Lame has the most-followed account on TIKTOK.
- ALFRED (45D: Batman's butler) ALFRED Pennyworth is the loyal butler, housekeeper, and legal guardian of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. The character first appeared in Batman #16 in April 1943. ALFRED is a retired actor and intelligence agent who serves the Wayne family to keep a promise made to his father.
- RAMONA (46D: Beezus Quimby's sister) RAMONA and Beezus Quimby are sisters in a series of books – including one titled Beezus and Ramona – written by Beverly Cleary.
- MOTTO (48D: "Hope," for Rhode Island) Rhode Island is one of six U.S. states that have chosen one-word mottos. In this choice, Rhode Island is in the company of California ("Eureka" – Greek for "I found it"), Maine ("Dirigo" – Latin for "I lead"), New York ("Excelsior" – Latin for "Ever upward"), Texas ("Friendship"), and Utah ("Industry").
- A few more clues I especially enjoyed:
- LUAU (6D: Party with poke and poi)
- MENTAL (8D: ___ health day (self-care break))
- ET TU (25D: "Now YOU'RE a traitor?")
- IT'S ME (30D: Unhelpful response to "Who's there?")
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- I'M JUST ASKING (20A: "Merely posing a question here!")
- BUMPER STICKER (35A: It might start with "Honk if you...")
- OFF THE MARKET (52A: Not up for sale, or not up for dating)
THE PRICE IS RIGHT: The word on the RIGHT of each theme answer can be paired with the word PRICE: ASKING PRICE, STICKER PRICE, and MARKET PRICE.
"Come on down!" THE PRICE IS RIGHT has been encouraging people to guess the cost of items since 1972 when it premiered with Bob Barker as its host. Drew Carey has been the host of THE PRICE IS RIGHT since 2007, and the show is on track to air its 10,000th episode in 2025. Today THE PRICE IS RIGHT makes an excellent theme for this crossword. Thank you, Matt, for this enjoyable puzzle.