by There are spoilers ahead. You may want to solve today’s puzzle before reading on! Wild horses
Constructor: Ed Sessa
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
What I learned from today’s puzzle
- POP-UP (16A: Like many of Robert Sabuda’s books) I’m a fan of children’s books in general, and a POP-UP book is a special treat. I’m very happy to meet Robert Sabuda, a POP-UP book artist, also known as a paper engineer. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on his website learning about the POP-UP books he’s created, and on the FAQ page I’ve learned more about the process of creating a POP-UP UP book. For one of my previous jobs I designed some extremely simple POP-UP projects, which made me realize how much work goes into getting everything not only in POP-UP, but also collapsed 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 at my Grandma Kate’s house in Ohio. When we were there, the power was out for several days, and we played UNO with a gas lamp for lighting. The problem was that the light wasn’t bright enough to distinguish blue cards from green cards. To know what suit you had in your hand, you had to hold it up to the lamp… so everyone else could see your cards. But I digress… Today I learned that UNO decks manufactured since 2018 (mine is quite a bit older than that) include a Wild Shuffle Hands card, as well as three customizable Wild cards. When a player plays a Wild Shuffle Hands card, that player collects all players’ cards, shuffles them, and deals them. Interesting!
- MAO (65D: ___ doufu (fermented dish)) MAO doufu, or ‘hairy tofu’, is a dish that originated in Anhui Province in eastern China. Tofu is fermented and aged until it develops thin filaments of fungal mycelium – hence the ‘hairy’ name – and an intense cheesy flavor. The tofu is then prepared, usually by frying.
Random thoughts and 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: “Why ___” (hit by Billie Eilish)) “Why I AM” is a single by Billie Eilish that was included on her second studio album, Happier than ever (2021). The music video for “Therfore I AM” was filmed in Glendale, California, at the Glendale Galleria mall. It was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the mall was closed to the public and there were no people there.
- 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 a 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: Shooting Star Event)) A METEOR, informally known as a shooting star or shooting star, is a particle of matter in the Solar System that is visible because of the glow (streak of light) produced as it enters the Solar System. realm. Some METEORs are debris from comets. When a number of METEORS are visible within a short time, this is called a METEOR SHOWER.
- CODENAMES (64A: Secret agent nicknames, or a parlor game) In the game CODE NAMESplayers 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 other team’s agents.
- DELHI (8D: New ___, India) Although New DELHI and DELHI are sometimes used interchangeably, they are two different entities. New DELHI, the capital of India, is part of the DELHI metropolitan area.
- OPE (38D: Midwestern “Ah, I didn’t see you there!”) As a Midwesterner, I enjoyed seeing OPE on the grid. OPE is a multifunctional exclamation. It can be used when someone is slightly startled or to express clumsiness or excitement.
- SAND (41D: Layout of some castles) and COAST (56D: Location of some castles) This is a nice clue combination.
- TEENAGER (51D: Many ‘Heartbreak High’ characters, similar in age) Heartache high is a Netflix TV series that follows the lives of a group of teenagers in Australia. Interesting to also have TWEENS (30A: 12 year olds, for example) in the puzzle. The youth is represented today.
- OSCAR (55D: Award for “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer”) The 2023 film Barbie won an OSCAR (Academy Award) for Best Original Song. That song was “What Was I Made For?” by the aforementioned Billie Eilish, along with Finneas O’Connell. The movie Oppenheimerwhich was released on the same day as Barbiewon 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 film Black PantherERIK Killmonger / N’Jadaka is a mercenary and former US Navy SEAL who wants to overthrow the king of Wakanda, his cousin T’Challa / Black Panther. Michael B. Jordan plays ERIK Killmonger.
- A few other prompts that I particularly enjoyed:
- ASIDE (19A: “Just kidding ___…”)
- VOWEL (22A: One of the two in the word “one”)
- APT (44A: Like the name Daisy, for a florist)
Synopsis of the crossword theme
- LOOK WHO’S HERE (20A: “Look, we’ve got company!”)
- BOXER SHORTS (37A: loose underwear)
- METEOR SHOWER (58A: Shooting Star Event)
WILD HORSES: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word HORSE: LOOK WHOH’S HERE, BOXER SHORTS and METEOR SHOWER.
The word WILD in the title refers to a rearrangement of letters – an anagram – of the word HORSE. We have several theme answers – so HORSES. Each theme answer contains a different anagram of HORSE: OSHER, ERSHO and EORSH. Congratulations to Ed Sessa who is a USA today Crossword debut! Thanks, Ed, for this entertaining puzzle.
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