Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Wild Horses
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Wild Horses
Constructor: Ed Sessa
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- POP-UP (16A: Like many Robert Sabuda books) I am a fan of children's books in general, and a POP-UP book is a special treat. I'm delighted to learn about Robert Sabuda, who is a POP-UP book artist aka a paper engineer. I spent a fair amount of time on his website, learning about the POP-UP books he has created as well as learning more about the process of making a POP-UP book on the FAQ page. For one of my previous jobs, I designed a few extremely simple POP-UP projects, which gives me an appreciation of how much work goes into getting everything to not only POP UP, but then fold down correctly.
- UNO (53A: Game with a Wild Shuffle Hands card) Of course I am familiar with the card game UNO. I have particularly fond memories of playing it one time at my Grandma Kate's house in Ohio. The power was out for several days while we were there, and we played UNO using a gas lamp for illumination. The problem was that the light wasn't bright enough to distinguish blue cards from green cards, so to tell what color you had in your hand you had to hold it near the lamp ... allowing everyone else to see your cards. But I digress... Today I learned that UNO decks manufactured since 2018 (mine is quite a bit older than that), contain a Wild Shuffle Hands card as well as three customizable Wild cards. If a player plays a Wild Shuffle Hands card, that player collects the cards from all players, shuffles them, and deals them. Interesting!
- MAO (65D: ___ doufu (fermented dish)) MAO doufu, or "hairy tofu," is a dish that originated in the Anhui province in eastern China. Tofu is fermented and aged until it develops thin filaments of fungal mycelium – thus the "hairy" name – and an intense cheese-like taste. The tofu is then prepared, usually by frying.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- DIP (25A: Nam phrik or queso) Nam phrik is a Thai spicy chili sauce used as a DIP. Queso is a DIP of melted cheese and chili peppers that is part of Tex-Mex cuisine.
- I AM (36A: "Therefore ___" (Billie Eilish hit)) "Therefore I AM" is a single by Billie Eilish that was included on her second studio album, Happier Than Ever (2021). The music video for "Therefore I AM" was filmed in Glendale, California at the Glendale Galleria shopping mall. It was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the mall was closed to the public and absent of people.
- ESTONIA (50A: Country on the Baltic Sea) ESTONIA is a country in Northern Europe. ESTONIA only shares land borders with two countries, Latvia and Russia. ESTONIA has coastline along the Baltic Sea (as the clue tells us) and the Gulf of Finland.
- EOS (54A: Lip balm brand whose S stands for "Smooth") EOS lip balms are known for their colorful, egg-shaped packaging. EOS stands for "Evolution of Smooth."
- METEOR SHOWER (58A: Event with falling stars)) A METEOR, known informally as a shooting star or falling star, is a particle of matter in the solar system that is visible because of the incandescence (streak of light) produced as it enters the atmosphere. Some METEORs are debris from comets. When a number of METEORs are visible within a short period of time, it is referred to as a METEOR SHOWER.
- CODENAMES (64A: Secret agents' monikers, or a party game) In the game CODENAMES, players take turns giving their team one-word clues in an attempt to get them to choose certain words – the CODENAMES – associated with their agents but not the words associated with the agents of the opposing team.
- DELHI (8D: New ___, India) Although New DELHI and DELHI are sometimes used interchangeably, they are two distinct entities. New DELHI, which is India's capital, is a part of the DELHI metropolitan area.
- OPE (38D: Midwestern "Ah, didn't see you there!") As a Midwesterner, I enjoyed seeing OPE in the grid. OPE is a multipurpose exclamation. It can be used when one is mildly startled or to express awkwardness or excitement.
- SAND (41D: Makeup of some castles) and SHORE (56D: Location of some castles) This is a fun clue pairing.
- TEEN (51D: Many a "Heartbreak High" character, age-wise) Heartbreak High is a Netflix TV series that follows the lives of a group of TEENs in Australia. Interesting to also have TWEENS (30A: 12-year-olds, e.g.) in the puzzle. The youth are represented today.
- OSCAR (55D: Award for "Barbie" or "Oppenheimer") The 2023 movie Barbie won an OSCAR (Academy Award) for Best Original Song. That song was "What Was I Made For?" by the previously mentioned Billie Eilish, together with Finneas O'Connell. The movie Oppenheimer, which was released on the same day as Barbie, won seven OSCARs: Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score.
- ERIK (59D: Killmonger's first name, in "Black Panther") In the 2018 movie Black Panther, ERIK Killmonger / N'Jadaka is a mercenary and former U.S. Navy SEAL who want to overthrow the king of Wakanda, his cousin T'Challa / Black Panther. Michael B. Jordan portrays ERIK Killmonger.
- A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
- ASIDE (19A: "All kidding ___...")
- VOWEL (22A: One of two in the word "one")
- APT (44A: Like the name Daisy, for a florist)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- LOOK WHO'S HERE (20A: "Check it out, we have company!")
- BOXER SHORTS (37A: Loose undergarment)
- METEOR SHOWER (58A: Event with falling stars)
WILD HORSES: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word HORSE: LOOK WHO'S HERE, BOXER SHORTS, and METEOR SHOWER.
The word WILD in the title is pointing to a rearrangement of letters – an anagram – of the word HORSE. We have multiple theme answers – so HORSES. Each theme answer features a different anagram of HORSE: OSHER, ERSHO, and EORSH. Congratulations to Ed Sessa making a USA Today crossword debut! Thank you, Ed, for this entertaining puzzle.