Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Paste BN's daily crossword puzzle, Intro to Sculpture
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Intro to Sculpture
Constructors: Olivia Mitra Framke & Sally Hoelscher
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructors
Sally: It's always a joy to collaborate with Olivia. We came up with this theme because Olivia wanted to include the phrase MARBLE OLYMPICS in the puzzle. If you are thinking, "Wait, I don't remember seeing that in the grid...?" you are correct. It turns out that the MARBLE OLYMPICS are no longer a thing (or rather, they exist under a different name now). So we pivoted to include MARBLE RUN instead. This isn't the first time we've made a puzzle that didn't include the seed entry; the creative process is sometimes a winding road! I'm especially excited to have a puzzle published today, because my first published crossword appeared five years ago today! February 17 also happened to be Presidents' Day that year. What an adventure this last five years has been! It will be interesting to see the constructing adventures the next five years hold.
Olivia: I discovered Jelle's Marble League during quarantine. I spent countless days diving into the backlog of the MARBLE RUN sports competitions, complete with team drama and lore. The production in these videos is incredible; do yourself a favor and check it out! Oh, and did you know that there are no more LINE JUDGEs at the four annual tennis majors? Wimbledon was the last hold out for AI-powered line calling, but they have finally given in, and will be using the technology for the first time in 2025. Players are thrilled, because it removes human error. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I want to thank Sally for a smooth collab as always. Hope you enjoyed the puz!
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- GLASS CANNON (18A: Gaming term for a low-defense, high-damage character) As with most gaming content that appears in our puzzles, credit for this theme answer and clue goes to Olivia. I do like this term – GLASS CANNON – to describe a character that has great offensive capabilities (the CANNON part) but is fragile (the GLASS part).
- BRINDLE (24A: Stripey coat pattern) The BRINDLE fur pattern is stripey, but more subtle than, say, a tiger's stripes. This coloring pattern shows up in dogs, guinea pigs, cats, and cows, and occasionally in horses. My cat, Willow, does not have a BRINDLE coat, but our former cat, Holly, did.
- MINAJ (26A: "Fly" singer Nicki) "Fly" is a 2011 song by Nick MINAJ, from her debut studio album, Pink Friday. Rihanna is featured on the song, and in the music video.
- STATUE (27A: Sculptor's creation) We were thrilled to be able to include this bonus theme answer.
- MIT (28A: Astronaut Cady Coleman's alma mater, briefly) Chemist and engineer Catherine "Cady" Coleman is a former United States Air Force colonel and a retired NASA astronaut. She is also an alum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is where she obtained her BS degree. She went on to get MS and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Cady Coleman participated in two Space Shuttle missions for NASA and spent time on the International Space Station in 2011.
- CONCRETE JUNGLE (35A: Urban area with few green spaces) In addition to the general meaning of the term CONCRETE JUNGLE, I notice there have been a number of albums, songs, movies, and even a video game with the title CONCRETE JUNGLE.
- RICOH (39A: Electronics company headquartered in 38-Down) and JAPAN (38D: Home of manga and anime) The electronics company, RICOH, was founded in 1836. Its headquarters are in Ōta, Tokyo, JAPAN. The company makes digital cameras, printers, and projectors, as well as other electronics and software.
- MARBLE RUN (55A: Kinesthetic toy with funnels and slides) I have always been fascinated by MARBLE RUN sets. There's something extremely satisfying about connecting multiple pieces to form a pathway and then watching the MARBLEs make their way along the track. When my kids were born, I eagerly anticipated them being old enough for MARBLEs to be safe toys. I have fond memories of many hours spent creating MARBLE RUNs with my kids.
- PLUTO (58A: "I love you to ___ and back!") I adore this clue, which was Olivia's suggestion! The saying, "I love you to the moon and back," is a little more common, but the distance to PLUTO is even farther. Therefore, "I love you to PLUTO and back" describes an even more dramatic love.
- TODD (62A: "Sweeney ___") Sweeney TODD is a 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical based on a 1973 play of the same name by Christopher Bond. The musical's full title is Sweeney TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Sweeney TODD uses his razor for nefarious purposes, thus the "Demon Barber" nickname.
- STEVIA (3D: Natural sugar alternative) STEVIA is an extract from the STEVIA rebaudiana plant. STEVIA is about 50-300 times as sweet as sugar.
- SANTACON (10D: Festive pub crawl held each December) and BELT (30D: Black part of a 10-Down costume) SANTACON began in San Francisco in 1994, and has grown to include events in hundreds of cities around the world. During SANTACON, people dress in Santa Claus costumes, complete with black BELTs, or in other Christmas costumes, and parade through the streets.
- ANN (19D: Anthropologist Dunham, who was also Barack Obama's mother) Anthropologist ANN Dunham (1942-1995) specialized in economic anthropology and the rural development of Indonesia. Working as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development, she created microcredit programs to address poverty in rural Indonesia. As the clue informs us, ANN Dunham was the mother of President Barack Obama.
- MULAN (34D: Disney princess with a dragon sidekick) In the 1998 Disney animated movie MULAN, the title character has a dragon sidekick named Mushu.
- WILLOW (45D: Alyson Hannigan's role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") Buffy the Vampire Slayer originally aired from 1997 to 2003. Sarah Michelle Gellar portrayed the titular vampire slayer. Alyson Hannigan portrayed WILLOW, one of Buffy's high school friends. Fun fact: Buffy and WILLOW are the only characters who appear in every episode of the series. Olivia is the Buffy fan, so I asked her if she'd like to weigh in. Olivia: Throughout the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, WILLOW's character arc touches on themes of belonging, addiction, and sexuality. In fact, she was featured in the first prime time lesbian sex scene aired on American TV, in 2003. Sally: My cat, WILLOW, says, "Meow! What about me?!" I did jokingly suggest we clue this as [Sally's cat's name]. WILLOW is delighted to have her name featured in this grid, even if we clued it to a non-feline TV character. I took this photo of WILLOW the other day because I thought the way she had her paws arranged as she slept was cute.
- LAURA (49D: Dern who played Amilyn Holdo in "The Last Jedi") Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo is a character portrayed by LAURA Dern in the 2017 movie Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. Amilyn Holdo and Leia Organa (Princess Leia who becomes General of the Resistance) met when they were teenagers. Amilyn Holdo eventually becomes an important member of the Rebel Alliance.
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- GLASS CANNON (18A: Gaming term for a low-defense, high-damage character)
- CONCRETE JUNGLE (35A: Urban area with few green spaces)
- MARBLE RUN (55A: Kinesthetic toy with funnels and slides)
INTRO TO SCULPTURE: The beginning word of each theme answer (i.e. the INTRO) is a medium that can be used for SCULPTURE.
This was a fun theme to put together, and I'm happy with the theme set we ended up with. Thinking of GLASS SCULPTURE reminds me of the work of Dale Chihuly. If you're not familiar with his stunning GLASS work, I recommend checking it out. This photo was taken at Chihuly Garden and GLASS in Seattle, Washington. Thank you, Olivia, for collaborating with me, and thanks, Amanda, for editing. Thank you for solving – hope you enjoyed it.
One more thing today: Occasionally I like to let you know of events happening in the broader crossword community. Last month I let you know about the Boswords Winter Wondersolve online crossword tournament. Boswords holds four events a year, and registration is now open for their Spring League. They offer one puzzle a week in March and April. Solvers choose their difficulty level: Smooth, Choppy, or Stormy. You can solve the puzzle anytime during the week, but on Monday evenings they have a livestream event with a featured solver and interviews with the constructor. These interviews are always interesting. You can find more information on the Boswords website. Full disclosure: You'll notice a familiar name among the list of constructors for the Spring League, but I would recommend Boswords anyway!