Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Where It's At
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Where It's At
Constructor: Matthew Stock
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- ALYSSA THOMAS (19A: WNBA player with the most triple-doubles in league history) ALYSSA THOMAS has played for the WNBA's Connecticut Sun since 2014. A triple-double refers to a game in which a player has accumulated 10 or more (i.e. double digits) in three of five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. ALYSSA THOMAS has recorded 15 triple-doubles so far in her WNBA career.
- HINDI (63A: Language written in Devanagari script) Devanagari script is a writing system used for a number of languages and is one of the official scripts of India. In addition to HINDI, Devanagari script is used for writing a number of other languages, including Nepali, Sanskrit, and Marathi.
- BLAME (10D: "No ___, no shame" (one of the Monique Burr Foundation's five safety rules)) The Monique Burr Foundation was established by Ed Burr in 1997 to continue the child advocacy work of his late wife. The Foundation's mission is "to protect children from bullying, digital dangers, abuse, and exploitation with comprehensive, evidence-based, prevention education programs." The Monique Burr Foundation's five safety rules are used in their Prevention Education Programs for children in Pre-K through the 12th grade. The five rules are: Know what's up, Spot red flags, Make a move, Talk it up, and No BLAME, no shame.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- BAT (10A: Flying mammal such as Stellaluna) Stellaluna is a 1993 children's book written and illustrated by Janell Cannon. The book's title character is a young fruit BAT who gets separated from her mother and is adopted by a family of birds until she is reunited with her mother. In 1996, David Holt won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Stellaluna.
- SAMOA (13A: Polynesian island country) The island country of SAMOA is located in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. The capital of SAMOA, and its only city, is Apia.
- CREEK (22A: Muskogean-speaking Indigenous people) The Muscogee are a group of indigenous peoples whose historic homelands are in the southeastern United States. The Muscogee are also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee CREEK, or just CREEK. Muscogee is a CREEK language, one of six languages in the Muskogean language family.
- OREO (29A: Cookies and cream cookie, often) Cookes and cream is a popular ice cream flavor. Although any chocolate sandwich cookie might be used to make cookies and cream, crossword's favorite cookie – the OREO – is commonly used. Our crossword friend OREO is making its third appearance of 2025 today.
- OYE (31A: Spanish "listen up!") My Spanish is minimal and a bit rusty, so I never mind a bit of Spanish review with my crossword.
- WOOFS (47A: Speaks dog) This clue made me laugh. When my family had a dog, we definitely "spoke dog" to her at times.
- FETA (56A: Greek cheese) FETA is a soft brined cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. In the European Union (EU), FETA is a protected designation of origin, and the name can only be used to label cheese produced in a specific way in mainland Greece and Lesbos. FETA cheese sold in the United States might be made with cow's milk, as U.S. cheese producers aren't required to follow EU packaging laws.
- EAGLES (5D: Large birds of prey) The other day my husband and I caught sight of a bald EAGLE perched in a tree across the street from our house. In the picture you can see a couple of crows in the tree as well. The crows were not at all happy with the EAGLE'S visit. They cawed loudly and took turns flying at the EAGLE, who did not appear to be at all fazed by their attempts to make it leave.
- ALASKA (6D: Northernmost U.S. state) In addition to being the northernmost U.S. state, ALASKA is also the westernmost U.S. state. The southernmost U.S. state is Hawaii, and the easternmost U.S. state is Maine.
- AGRA (8D: City home to the Taj Mahal) The Taj Mahal, located in AGRA, India, is the tomb of Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, and his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
- ROOT BEER (9D: Barq's beverage) Although ROOT BEER is generally caffeine-free, that's not always the case for Barq's. Barq's ROOT BEER contains caffeine, but Diet Barq's ROOT BEER is caffeine-free.
- ARIA (25D: Solo in a 48-Down) and OPERA (48D: Performance such as "Carmen") Carmen is an 1875 OPERA by French composer Georges Bizet. Carmen is set in southern Spain, and tells the story of the downfall of a soldier who is seduced by the title character. The ARIA sung by Carmen when she first appears on stage is "Habanera" ('L'amour east un oiseau rebelle").
- MITZVAH (40D: Bat ___ (rite that includes preparing a Torah teaching)) Bat MITZVAH is a Jewish coming-of-age ritual for a girl. For boys, the equivalent rite is called a bar MITZVAH.
- LEO (45D: Astrological lion) LEO is the zodiac sign for those born between July 23 and August 22. Appropriately, my cat, Willow, is a LEO; she was born August 11.
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- ALYSSA THOMAS (19A: WNBA player with the most triple-doubles in league history)
- AIRPORT TERMINAL (36A: Place with gates and baggage claim carousels)
- APPLE TURNOVER (53A: Flaky, fruity pastry)
WHERE IT'S AT: Each theme answer has the initials A.T.: ALYSSA THOMAS, AIRPORT TERMINAL, and APPLE TURNOVER.
It took me a little longer than usual to figure out today's theme, which provided for a nice "Aha!" moment once I spotted it. I thought I had discovered the theme when I noticed ALYSSA THOMAS has the word AT connecting her names. Uncovering AIRPORT TERMINAL let me know I was on the wrong track with that guess. (Maybe that's a theme for a future puzzle...) Thank you, Matthew, for this interesting puzzle.