Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Ceiling Fans
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Ceiling Fans
Constructor: Michael Berg
Editor: Anna Gundlach
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor
Michael: Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season with lots of 40-across to 22-across!
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- SON (28A: Kai, to Marlon Wayans) Marlon Wayans is an actor and comedian. He and his brother Shawn are the titular brothers in the sitcom The Wayan Bros. (1995-1999). Kai Wayans is Marlon Wayans' SON. Kai Wayans is a transgender man, and Marlon Wayans has been affirming and supportive of his SON's transition. He says, "At the end of the day, in my heart, only thing that matters to me is that my child is happy."
- FANTASY FOOTBALL (7D: Subject of the sitcom "The League") The League is a sitcom set in Chicago. It originally aired from 2009 to 2015. The show centers on the interactions of six friends who participate in a FANTASY FOOTBALL league.
- SHANE (9D: Pogues singer MacGowan) The Pogues are a Celtic punk band that was once described as "a barroom brawl with instruments." SHANE MacGowan was the frontman of the Pogues from 1982 until his death in 2023.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- ARYA (35A: Youngest daughter of Ned Stark, on "Game of Thrones") Game of Thrones (2011-2019) is the TV adaptation of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series of books, A Song of Fire and Ice. There are a lot of Starks on the show, and (as I've never seen it) my knowledge of them comes from crossword puzzles. Ned Stark is portrayed by Sean Bean. (Sebastian Croft and Robert Aramayo also portrayed Ned Stark at different ages.) Ned Stark's youngest daughter, ARYA, is portrayed by Maisie Williams.
- CITY (49A: Fort Wayne or Fort Worth) Fort Wayne is a CITY in northeastern Indiana. Fort Worth is a CITY in northeastern Texas.
- MALALA (59A: Youngest Nobel Prize winner Yousafzai) 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.
- MANN (64A: Singer-songwriter Aimee) Aimee Mann has released ten solo albums since 1993. Her fifth album, The Forgotten Arm (2005) won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. Her ninth studio album, Mental Illness (2017) won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
- BLUE (70A: ___ raspberry artificial flavor) Food touted as having a BLUE raspberry flavor does not actually come from raspberries at all, but contains esters found in bananas, cherries, and pineapple. Food using the flavoring are dyed BLUE to differentiate them from other flavors traditionally associated with the color red – cherry, strawberry, and watermelon. The creation of BLUE raspberry was also driven by the banning of some red food dyes. This clue made me wonder how long BLUE raspberry has been around. In the United States, BLUE raspberry flavoring was first used for snow cones in 1958.
- OMANI (6D: Muscat resident) Oman is a country in West ASIA, located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Muscat.
- GOATS (25D: Sources of milk for chevre) Chèvre is a another name for GOAT cheese.
- DIA (48D: Sabado o domingo) Sábado y domingo son dias de la semana. (Saturday and Sunday are days of the week.)
- OMEGA (51D: Alpha's opposite) The 24-letter Greek alphabet begins with alpha, beta, gamma, and delta and ends with phi, chi, psi, and OMEGA.
- HINDU (55D: Person celebrating Diwali) Diwali is the HINDU festival of lights celebrated during the Hindu month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). During Diwali, diyas – oil lamps made from clay – are lit throughout the home and outside.
- DEETS (58D: The 411) Since 1930, the telephone number 411 has been used in the United States and Canada for directory assistance, or information. (The service is not used as much since cell phones became ubiquitous.) By extension, the number 411 came to be used as shorthand meaning information or DEETS (itself short for details).
- ASIA (60D: Bhutan's continent) Bhutan is a landlocked country in South ASIA. It is located between China and India. The capital of Bhutan is Thimphu. This is the first occurrence of our crossword-friend ASIA this month. We have seen ASIA in the puzzle 33 times so far this year. (A reminder that the only thing these numbers mean is that I like data.)
- A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
- LOSE (44A: Go bankrupt in Monopoly, say)
- BIKE LANE (61A: Cyclist's section of the road)
- GET IT (66A: Question following a groaner)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- FANNY PACK (3D: What Brits call a "bum bag")
- FANTASY FOOTBALL (7D: Subject of the sitcom "The League")
- FANCY PANTS (30D: Highfalutin)
CEILING FANS: Each vertical theme answer has the word FAN at the top (on the CEILING, say): FANNY PACK, FANTASY FOOTBALL, and FANCY PANTS.
Are you a FAN of this puzzle? (GET IT?) The word CEILING in the title allowed me to guess that the theme answers would be vertical today. Thank you, Michael, for this enjoyable puzzle.