Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Back Track
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Back Track
Constructor: Taylor Johnson
Editor: Anna Gundlach
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- CHOO CHOO TRAIN (20A: Thomas the Tank Engine, to a toddler) Thomas the Tank Engine is a blue steam locomotive in The Railway Series, a series of British books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. The series includes 42 books, published between 1945 and 2011. Thomas is just one of the anthropomorphic (with human attributes) CHOO CHOO TRAINs in the series. The animated TV series Thomas & Friends (1984-2021) was based on the book series.
- ALIA (23A: "Search Party" star Shawkat) Search Party is a dark comedy that premiered in 2016 and ran for five seasons. The TV series follows the life of Dory Sief, portrayed by ALIA Shawkat. In the first season, Dory begins searching for a college acquaintance whom she believes to be in danger.
- TABASCO (26A: Hot sauce brand with a namesake pepper and Mexican state) TABASCO sauce is a brand of hot sauce produced by the McIlhenny Company of Louisiana. The sauce is made from TABASCO peppers, which were originally all grown on Louisiana's Avery Island. The company now has farms in other countries that provide a year-round supply of the peppers. TABASCO sauce shares its name with one of Mexico's 31 states. The state of TABASCO is located in southeast Mexico.
- TEA (30A: Oolong or kukicha) Oolong is a TEA made from semi-oxidized TEA leaves, and can be made from a variety of TEA plant cultivars. Oolong TEA is similar to black tea, but varies in its preparation; the latter is more oxidized. Kukicha is a Japanese TEA blend with a unique flavor that is due to it being made of the stems, stalks, and twigs of the TEA plant, instead of the leaves. Kukicha is sometimes called stalk TEA, stick TEA, or twig TEA.
- ARAB (33A: Like many Yemenis) ARAB is a cultural and linguistic term used to refer to those who speak Arabic as their first language. Many ARABs live in West Asia and North Africa, although there are ARABs living in many other parts of the world as well. Yemen is a country in West Asia, located on the Arabian peninsula.
- FTW (1D: "Victory!" in online shorthand) FTW = For The Win
- SUSHI (4D: Tobiko-topped roll) A tobiko roll is a SUSHI roll that is rolled in or topped with tobiko, the roe of flying fish.
- DIDO (5D: "Thank You" singer) "Thank You" is a hit single from DIDO's 1999 debut album, No Angel, though it made its first appearance in 1998 on the soundtrack for the movie Sliding Doors. The song became a hit in multiple countries, including the U.S. and DIDO's home, the United Kingdom.
- ORC (22D: Middle-earth monster) and IAN (47D: Bilbo Baggins portrayer Holm) Middle-earth is the fantasy setting described in the J. R. R. Tolkien works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In Middle-earth, ORCs are humanoid monsters that are brutish and malevolent. In the movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, IAN Holm portrays Bilbo Baggins.
- AURORA (23D: ___ borealis) The AURORA borealis, also known as the northern lights, is a natural light display in the sky that occurs when solar winds disturb the magnetosphere.
- EUGENE (31D: "Schitt's Creek" actor Levy) Schitt's Creek (2015-2020) is a TV series about a formerly wealthy family that relocates to a small town named Schitt's Creek, which they once purchased as a joke. We have seen this exact clue previously and the answer was "Dan" – how can that be?! EUGENE Levy and his son Dan Levy co-created Schitt's Creek. On the show, EUGENE Levy portrays Johnny Rose, and Dan Levy portrays his son, David Rose.
- ATHENS (32D: Capital city that's home to the Parthenon) ATHENS is the capital and largest city of Greece. The acropolis of ATHENS contains the remains of several ancient buildings, including the Parthenon. The Parthenon was a temple built in the 5th century BCE and dedicated to the goddess Athena.
- BTS (34D: "Dynamite" K-pop band) and IDOL (55D: Any member of 34-Down, e.g.) "Dynamite" is a 2020 song by the K-pop band BTS. The members of BTS are certainly IDOLs. Their song, "Dynamite," reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200; they were the first all-South Korean group to have a song top both charts.
- EAR (41D: Corn unit) The EAR of corn invasion of the crossword continues! This is the fourth time in the last five days that we've seen EAR in the grid and clued in reference to corn.
- FROG (59D: "___ and Toad Are Friends" (children's book)) FROG and Toad are the title characters of a series of four children's books written by Arnold Lobel, published between 1970 and 1979: FROG and Toad Are Friends, FROG and Toad Together, FROG and Toad All Year, and Days with FROG and Toad. An animated series based on the books premiered on Apple TV+ in 2023.
- A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
- NICE TRY (46A: "Almost got me!")
- SOLO (66A: Drummer's moment in the spotlight)
- NAG (69A: Pester, pester, pester)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- CHOO CHOO TRAIN (20A: Thomas the Tank Engine, to a toddler)
- DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH (38A: "Pfft, what a foolish thing to say!")
- LIGHTNING FAST (54A: Extremely quickly)
BACK TRACK: The last word of each theme answer – that is, the one at the BACK – can be paired with the word TRACK: TRAIN TRACK, LAUGH TRACK, and FAST TRACK.
From today's title, I was on the lookout for a synonym of the word TRACK hidden in each theme answer in reverse, going BACK. (There's an idea for another puzzle!) Filling in CHOO-CHOO TRAIN quickly got me on the right TRACK, so to speak. I can imagine today's constructor saying of my original thought, "Of course that's not today's theme; DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Thank you, Taylor, for this enjoyable puzzle.