Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Closing Numbers

Sally Hoelscher, USA TODAY
·7 min read
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There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Closing Numbers

Constructor: Tracy Gray

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

March 21, 2024
March 21, 2024

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

  • LEE (7D: "Miss Korea" singer Hyori) From 1998-2002, LEE Hyori was a member of the South Korean girl group Fin.K.L. She launched a solo career in 2003. "Miss Korea" is a song from LEE Hyori's fifth studio album, Monochrome.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

  • PALM (5A: Rodeo Drive tree) Rodeo Drive is a shopping district in Beverly Hills, California. The PALM trees lining the street were planted in 2003 as part of a makeover of the district. Prior to that time, the streets were lined with ficus trees.

  • CEDAR (9A: Moth-repelling wood) CEDAR wood and CEDAR oil are natural moth repellents. This has led to CEDAR wood being used to line closets or chests designed to store wool clothing.

  • PONY (14A: Small horse such as Misty of Chincoteague) Misty of Chincoteague is a book by Marguerite Henry that was originally published in 1947. The book was inspired by the real-life story of a Chincoteague PONY raised on the Beebe Ranch in Virginia. Chincoteague ponies are a breed of feral ponies on Assateague Island (an island off the east coast of the U.S., which is two-thirds in Maryland and one-third in Virginia). The exact origin of the Chincoteague ponies is unknown. One theory is that the ponies are descendants of Spanish horses shipwrecked in the 16th century.

  • BAY (27A: Tampa or Chesapeake) Tampa BAY is located on the west coast of Florida, and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. Chesapeake BAY is located on the east coast of the U.S. and connects to the Atlantic Ocean. Chesapeake BAY borders Maryland and Virgina.

  • HALOS (30A: Wonderful ___ (mandarin oranges with an angelic name)) Wonderful HALOS is a brand of The Wonderful Company LLC, a private corporation in Los Angeles, California. Mandarin oranges are a small citrus fruit, known for their sweetness and easiness to peel.

  • ICE-T (31A: "You Played Yourself" rapper) "You Played Yourself" is a single from ICE-T's 1989 album, The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say.

  • PALE (33A: The "P" of IPA) IPA stands for India PALE ale. IPAs, known for their particularly hoppy flavor, are often associated with craft breweries.

  • OPERAS (36A: "Frida" and "Carmen") Frida is an OPERA based on the life of Frida Kahlo. It was composed by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, and premiered in 1991 in Philadelphia. Georges Bizet's OPERA, Carmen, was first performed in 1875. Since the clue gives two examples, solvers can be successful even if they are only familiar with one of these OPERAs.

  • PETITS FOURS (38A: Bite-sized confections) PETITS FOURS are bite-sized pastries, whose name derives from the French words for "small oven." The name is a reference to the method of baking these treats in the 19th century. They were baked using the residual heat in a brick or stone oven after baking bread or other food, which came to be known as baking "at small oven." There are many varieties of PETITS FOURS, the defining factor is their small size. My biggest challenge with this answer was remembering that the plural of PETIT FOUR is PETITS FOURS.

  • SISSY (46A: Actress Spacek) SISSY Spacek's extensive filmography has so far spanned six decades. Although she has numerous film and TV credits, I always think of SISSY Spacek in her role as Loretta Lynn in the movie, Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), and in the role of Babe in the movie, Crimes of the Heart (1986). More recently, SISSY Spacek portrayed Sally Rayburn in the TV series Bloodline (2017-2019), and Tina in the movie Sam & Kate (2022).

  • ALI (50A: Boxer Laila) Laila ALI is a former professional boxer. She retired from boxing in 2007, and was undefeated during her eight-year career.

  • ATARI (57A: Developer of the game Gauntlet) Gauntlet is an arcade game released by ATARI in 1985. In this multi-player game, players navigate through mazes with the objectives of finding treasure and killing monsters. Each player controls a different character with unique strengths and weaknesses: Thor (warrior), Merlin (wizard), Thyra (valkyrie) and Questor (elf). Gauntlet is notable for being one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games.

  • MONET (62A: "Water Lilies" painter Claude) The French painter Claude MONET (1840-1926) created approximately 250 "Water Lilies" paintings. The paintings were done in his garden at his house in Giverny. He had a water garden with several colors of water lilies. Easels were installed around the water garden to allow him to paint the lilies from various angles.

  • OKRA (63A: Bharwa bhindi veggie) The word bhindi is borrowed from Hindi and refers to the vegetable OKRA when used in Indian cuisine. Bharwa bhindi, also known as stuffed OKRA (the word "bharwan" means stuffed), is made by slitting OKRA, stuffing them with a spice mixture, and then cooking them in a pan.

  • AIN'T (6D: "___2 Proud 2 Beg" (TLC single)) "AIN'T 2 Proud 2 Beg" is a song by TLC, from their debut album, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip (1992). Not to be confused with the 1966 Motown song by the Temptations, "AIN'T Too Proud to Beg."

  • COSTA (32D: San Jose, ___ Rica) San José is the capital and largest city of Costa RICA.

  • PERSIA (33D: Iran's former name) It was in 1935 that the then Shah of PERSIA (Reza Shah) requested that the country be referred to as Iran rather than PERSIA. In 1959, Reza Shah's son decided the names PERSIA and Iran could be used interchangeably in formal correspondence, but Iran is the name generally used. The name of PERSIA is an exonym (a name given to a place by non-natives) coined by the Greeks.

  • PELICANS (38D: New Orleans NBA team) Since 2013, New Orleans's NBA team has been known as the PELICANS. The team was previously known as the New Orleans Hornets. The name change was inspired by the state bird of Louisiana, the brown PELICAN.

  • RED HOT (45D: Piece of fiery cinnamon candy) We saw the plural of this candy as an answer in yesterday's puzzle.

  • STEVEN (47D: "Invincible" actor Yeun) Invincible is an Amazon Prime animated TV series based on a comic book series of the same name. Invincible tells the story of 17-year-old Mark Grayson's transformation into a superhero. He is guided by the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man, who is his father. STEVEN Yeun voices the character of Mark, and J. K. Simmons voices Omni-Man.

  • LOHAN (52D: "Freaky Friday" actress Lindsay) There have been multiple versions of the movie Freaky Friday. The story is based on a 1972 novel of the same name by Mary Rogers in which a mother and daughter unexpectedly switch bodies and experience each other's lives. The first Freaky Friday movie was released in 1976 (starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster). Additional movie versions of Freaky Friday were released in 1995 (starring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman), 2003 (starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay LOHAN), and 2018 (starring Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Heidi Blickenstaff).

  • IKE (60D: Name hidden in "moniker") It's quite appropriate for the word "moniker," which means name, to have a name hidden in it.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

  • LOVED ONES (17A: People who are near and dear)

  • PETITS FOURS (38A: Bite-sized confections)

  • HIGH FIVES (59A: Hand-slapping celebrations)

The CLOSING words of the theme answers are plural NUMBERS: ONES, FOURS, and FIVES.

Today our word puzzle is about NUMBERS, specifically the CLOSING NUMBERS found in a number of common phrases. In addition to the answers I've already highlighted, I also enjoyed DIVE BARS, DOG SITS, TIE-DYE, and PUTS OFF. Thank you, Tracy, for this superb puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for March 21, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher