Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, It's the Muppet Show!
Constructor: Justin Werfel
Editor: Anna Gundlach
ALAN (16A: "Galaxy Quest" actor Rickman) Galaxy Quest is a 1999 movie that parodies and pays homage to sci-fi movies and TV series and their fandoms. In the movie, fans of a fictional cult TV series, Galaxy Quest, become involved in an interstellar conflict with aliens who think the series is a documentary. ALAN Rickman portrays Alexander Dane, the ship's science officer on the fictional series, who is a member of an alien species known for superhuman intelligence, and whose catchphrase is "By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!" Although I know ALAN Rickman, and so was able to figure out the answer here, I was not familiar with this movie. In learning about Galaxy Quest, I discovered that scenes of the alien planet were filmed at Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. My husband and I have been to that park. It's an amazing place, and with its red rock hoodoos (rock formations) it does look a bit alien.
GONZO JOURNALISM (35A: Hunter S. Thompson's reporting style) GONZO JOURNALISM is a non-objective style of reporting that centers personal experience and emotion rather than the detached style of traditional JOURNALISM. Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) was a journalist and author. For his 1967 book, Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, he spent a year living with the Hells Angels motorcycle club in order to write a first-hand account of the experience. In 1970, Hunter S. Thompson wrote an article for Scanlan's Monthly titled "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." An editor of The Boston Globe commented on the Kentucky Derby article, saying it was "pure GONZO JOURNALISM." This was the first use of the term GONZO JOURNALISM.
TAMPA (8A: Florida city near St. Petersburg) TAMPA is located on the west side of Florida, with coastline on TAMPA Bay and Old TAMPA Bay. The city of St. Petersburg, Florida is also located on TAMPA Bay – it's across the bay from TAMPA. The port of TAMPA BAY is the largest in the state of Florida.
APE (13A: Donkey Kong or King Kong) Donkey Kong is the titular gorilla of the Donkey Kong video game franchise. King Kong is a gorilla-like monster who has appeared in movies, comics, video games, and TV series since 1933. An APE is a tailless primate, and the classification includes gorillas.
HULU (14A: "Shogun" streaming service) Shōgun is a HULU TV series that premiered in 2024. The show is based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name. A 1980 miniseries of the same name by Paramount Television was also based on the novel. HULU's Shōgun series features a mostly Japanese cast and much of the dialogue is in Japanese. Shōgun won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. It is the first Japanese-language series to win that award.
WALDORF ASTORIA (19A: Luxury resort brand of Hilton Worldwide) According to their website, WALDORF ASTORIA has resorts in a number of locations worldwide, including Doha, Qatar; Beverly Hills, California; Osaka, Japan; and Beijing, China.
RTS (24A: Some football linemen (Abbr.)) In football, RTS are right tackles. I'm pretty sure I learned that information from a crossword puzzle at some point.
LEG (27A: One of a quadruped's four) In this photo, my cat, Willow is showing all four of her LEGs, helpfully demonstrating that she's a quadruped.
DUSTS (40A: Does a housecleaning task) My husband and I do a fairly good job of working together to keep our house clean. We make a pretty good team, because we are generally bothered by different types of messes, so we each take responsibility for cleaning those that bother us. However, neither my husband nor I DUSTS on a regular basis; apparently DUST doesn't bother either of us as much as it should.
THE (43A: Most common word in English) Just for fun, I counted up the number of times the word THE appears in this article. THE answer is 101 times.
ALEC (55A: Actor and comedian Mapa) The comedy special, ALEC Mapa, Baby Daddy, premiered on Showtime in 2015, and is based on ALEC Mapa's one-man show of the same name. The show tells the story of ALEC Mapa's experience of becoming a father through the process of foster adoption.
INCA (56A: Creator of a 40,000 km-long South American road system) In the late 1400s and early 1500s, the INCA Empire incorporated a large part of western South America, including portions of the modern-day countries of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The INCA built an extensive and advanced road system that had two main north-south roads. One of the main roads ran along the west coast of South America, while the other main road was further inland and in the mountains. Both roads had numerous branches.
SUET (58A: Beef fat in some bird feeders) This clue feels timely for me, as the birds in our neighborhood have been particularly hungry recently. For the last week I have been putting a new SUET block in the bird feeders on a daily basis.
DALAI (1D: ___ Lama) The Dalai LAMA is a spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism. The current and 14th Dalai LAMA is Tenzin Gyatso.
ELSA (6D: "Frozen" princess) In the 2013 Disney animate movie, Frozen, the princess ELSA is voiced by Idina Menzel. Wait, has it really been 12 years since we first heard "Let it Go," ELSA's iconic song?
TAHOE (8D: Lake on the California/Nevada border) Lake TAHOE is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the California/Nevada border, and is the second-deepest lake in the U.S., after Oregon's Crater Lake.
MAUI (10D: Second-largest Hawaiian island) and LEIS (27D: Hawaiian necklaces) As the clue informs us, MAUI is the second-largest Hawaiian island; the largest is Hawai'i. If you visit any of the Hawaiian islands, you're likely to receive LEIS.
PITA (11D: Bread served with hummus) and ATE (12D: Had some hummus) It's fun to see hummus linking these two consecutive clues together. PITA is making back-to-back puzzle appearances, as we saw it yesterday clued as [Pocketed bread for souvlaki].
MONA (33D: "___ Lisa") Leonardo da Vinci's painting MONA Lisa is on display at the Louvre in Paris, France.
BLUE SKIES (34D: Jazz standard that describes sunny weather) The jazz standard "BLUE SKIES" was written by Irving Berlin in 1926. The song was written (as a last-minute addition) for the Rodgers and Hart musical Betsy. Although the musical wasn't much of a success, the song became a hit. It has been sung by numerous artists over the years, including Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye for the 1954 movie White Christmas. "BLUE SKIES, smilin' at me / Nothin' but BLUE SKIES do I see..."
RIVER (44D: Tigris or Euphrates) The Tigris RIVER and the Euphrates RIVER both begin in the Armenian highlands of Turkey and then flow, in a somewhat parallel fashion, down through valleys and gorges in a south-easterly fashion before joining and discharging into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris-Euphrates RIVER system lies in the Fertile Crescent region where Mesopotamian civilization flourished.
HENRY (47D: Shakespeare wrote seven plays about kings with this name) The seven plays William Shakespeare wrote about kings named HENRY are (rather unimaginatively) titled HENRY IV, Part 1, HENRY IV, Part 2, HENRY V, HENRY VI, Part 1, HENRY VI, Part 2, HENRY VI, Part 3, and HENRY VIII.
ORCAS (48D: Whales commonly seen in Haida art) The Haida are indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They are one of 231 federally recognized tribes in Alaska. ORCAS are prominent and significant symbols in Haida art and stories.
CLUE (53D: You're reading one right now) Self-referential CLUEs always bring a smile to my face.
AOL (54D: "You've got mail" ISP) Who else is old enough that they can still hear AOL's "You've got mail" message in their head? I sometimes wish I had saved all of the CDs AOL sent me in the mail, as they surely would have been useful for making some marvelous, creative artwork. (Actually, I'm extremely glad I did not save all of those CDs...)
WALDORF ASTORIA (19A: Luxury resort brand of Hilton Worldwide)
GONZO JOURNALISM (35A: Hunter S. Thompson's reporting style)
ANIMAL CRACKERS (50A: Zoo-or circus-themed snacks)
IT'S THE MUPPET SHOW: The first words of the theme answers are names of characters on THE MUPPET SHOW: WALDORF, GONZO, and ANIMAL.
Cue The Muppet Show theme song, "It's time to play the music / It's time to light the lights / It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight..." As a tremendous fan of The Muppet Show, I thoroughly enjoyed this theme. The Muppets we're meeting in today's puzzle are: WALDORF - one of the two elderly men (along with Statler) who sit in the balcony of the show and heckle people, GONZO - a Muppet of ambiguous species who is known for his passion for performing stunts, and ANIMAL - the wild and frenetic drummer of the Muppet band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Congratulations to Justin Werfel on a USA Today debut! Thank you, Justin, for this delightful puzzle.
USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles
Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 2, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Benson Boone Flies Back To No. 1 With One Of The Biggest Pop Songs In Years
Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things' returns to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart as other American Heart singles gain ground across Billboard rankings. Benson Boone at the 2025 Governors Ball Music Festival held at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on June 06, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Nina Westervelt/Billboard via Getty Images) Billboard via Getty Images A month into its run on the Billboard charts, Benson Boone's sophomore album American Heart continues to descend. This week, the set falls outside the top 40 on both the Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums rankings, and it comes dangerously close to slipping from that region on the Billboard 200. Several singles from the project are still performing relatively well — one even reaches a new peak on several tallies — but the spotlight remains, as always, on 'Beautiful Things.' The track that turned Boone into a household name is somehow still reigning supreme in America. To this day, 'Beautiful Things' remains a hit, jumping back into first place on the Adult Contemporary radio list. In the previous frame, the tune held in the runner-up spot behind 'Lose Control' by Teddy Swims, another historic leader to emerge in the past year. This time around, the two swap spots, with Boone hitting No. 1 again. 'Beautiful Things' has now spent 73 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart. That's a long time, even for a ranking known for its lengthy stays. The global smash has led the tally for 13 nonconsecutive frames. It first climbed to No. 1 in March and has risen and fallen since, but it's never strayed too far from the summit. It was just a few weeks ago, on the chart dated July 12, that 'Beautiful Things' last claimed the throne. That week, 'Beautiful Things' sat at No. 1 while 'Lose Control' was pushed to second place. Then, the two traded positions, and 'Lose Control' has ruled ever since, until this period. Benson Boone Lands Three Adult Contemporary Hits Boone currently occupies three spots on the Adult Contemporary ranking, with his oldest hit being the biggest. 'Sorry, I'm Here for Someone Else' climbs to a new all-time high of No. 11, while fellow American Heart single 'Mystical Magical' debuts at No. 25. Boone earns his fifth career win on this list as the latter track arrives. Both 'Sorry, I'm Here for Someone Else' and 'Mystical Magical' have now landed on all three of Billboard's pop radio rankings. Those two tracks — as well as 'Beautiful Things' — also live on the all-genre Radio Songs tally.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Homeowners take legal action after HOA's sudden action causes dangerous issues: 'We have children going to school without proper hygiene'
Homeowners take legal action after HOA's sudden action causes dangerous issues: 'We have children going to school without proper hygiene' At the Waldrop Place Condominiums in DeKalb County, Georgia, what started as a dispute over water meters escalated into a full-blown crisis — leaving dozens of residents without water for up to three weeks. Condo owner Caroline Simmons told WSB-TV that nearly 50 units were impacted by abrupt water shut-offs ordered by the homeowners association and its utility contractor, Jasber Utility Services. "We had people who are on dialysis and chemo who did not have water," Simmons said. "We have children going to school without proper hygiene." A judge has since issued a temporary restraining order to force the water back on, but residents said it should never have reached that point. According to Simmons, the conflict began when residents were told they would need to pay $1,600 out of pocket for new water meter installations — a cost many, especially those on fixed incomes, simply couldn't afford. Despite lacking legal authority, Jasber allegedly proceeded to shut off water service anyway. "They have a court order that lets them know they shouldn't be turning the water off, but they've been doing it anyway," Simmons said. Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated case. Across the country, homeowners associations have faced criticism for controlling or outright neglecting access to essential utilities. Whether it's preventing residents from installing solar panels, banning native plant lawns, or — like in this case — shutting off water altogether, these decisions often increase costs for homeowners, harm property value, and put people's safety at risk. The environmental impact can be just as severe. Water shut-offs force families to rely on wasteful bottled water, which generates excess plastic pollution. A lack of water can also disrupt the balance of local ecosystems when lawns and landscapes are damaged. Should the government be allowed to restrict how much water we use? Definitely Only during major droughts No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. If you're navigating a frustrating HOA situation, know that you're not alone — and you do have options. Residents can work with their board to change outdated rules and push for eco-friendly updates, like installing solar panels that protect both the planet and wallets. Solar panel installation is the ultimate home energy hack — it can bring your power bills down to at or near $0. EnergySage offers a free service that makes it easy to compare quotes from vetted local installers and can save customers up to $10,000 on solar installations. As Simmons put it, "Our next steps are to go through the court process. It's the only thing that's available to HOAs so that we can go ahead and have all of this resolved without anyone else losing water." Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
100+ of Life's Simple Pleasures to Enjoy & Be Grateful For
The simple pleasures in life can give us joy in our day-to-day moments. If you're looking to practice some gratitude or change your perspective on a tough day, a list of things you can be thankful for might help. They may be simple, but the gifts on this list are ones we are truly appreciative of. They aren't things we necessarily need, but they produce some of the greatest moments of happiness in life. These simple life pleasures are some of the reasons why just being alive is a joy. A familiar face at a social gathering A coworker who makes your job more fun Waking up to a new day Excited pets to greet you at the end of the day The sweet laughter of children playing A sleeping baby Snuggling with someone you love Endorphins after a great session at the gym A loved one or acquaintance sharing a vulnerability and letting you see more of who they are A friend who calls just to check-in A loved one who knows exactly what you need or want without having to ask The smell of fresh herbs A coffee shop nailing your order in every way A sale at your favorite store A book with the perfect ending Catching your favorite movie on TV That fresh feeling after hair-washing day Getting your winged eyeliner right the first time Meeting someone new and clicking right away Your favorite pair of comfortable jeans The kind smile of a stranger A long, heartfelt hug from someone you love The first warm sip of coffee on a quiet morning Plans you were dreading getting canceled at the last minute Being able to help someone Making another person smile Laughing until you cry Your favorite sports team winning unexpectedly Hearing your favorite song play on the radio The smell of books in a library or bookstore Spending some time alone in the quiet Staying up all night talking to someone you love Being complimented Finishing your to-do list Discovering a bill is cheaper than you expected Your spouse unloading the dishwasher without having to be asked That beautiful baby smell Seeing a cute dog while on a walk Dancing as if no one is watching Seeing your child experience pure happiness The joy of a crisp, new journal A weekend with no plans Rest is something to appreciate all on its own, but there are countless restful and relaxing things in life that we take pleasure in. If you're in a season of busyness, these things might be even more meaningful to you. A relaxing bath or long, hot shower Taking your shoes off at the end of a long day A warm and cozy blanket A full night of uninterrupted sleep Sleeping in on a weekend A comfortable bed Your favorite cozy chair, recliners especially Your favorite comfort meal after a tough day An afternoon at the salon Pajamas that fit just right Taking an energizing nap Getting into bed with clean sheets Pulling the blankets up as far as you can on a cold night Sitting outside in the fresh air Nature is a true gift in life and gives us countless other gifts to appreciate. If you have a moment to be in nature, these are some of the simple and sweet things you might get to enjoy. Birds chirping early in the morning The first warm day of spring The pure quiet after a heavy snow The clean air plants produce outside and in our homes Clear blue skies The pitter-patter of a cool summer rain Cool blades of grass against your bare feet A double rainbow after a storm A cool breeze on a hot day Bodies of water to admire and enjoy The smell of fresh-cut grass The sound of wind rustling in the trees The changing of leaves in the fall Catching sight of a shooting star An unforgettable sunset Seeing a deer, squirrel, or rabbit near your home Beautiful flowers to admire in the spring The feeling of sand between your toes A beautiful sunrise to greet a new day The look of the afternoon sun shining into your window The sound of crickets in summer The unique beauty of snowflakes The various colors of butterfly wings The peace and calm of twilight The beauty of animals in their natural habitat The sound of leaves crunching beneath your feet The magical twinkling of stars The sound of waves crashing along the shore The quiet splashes of fish and ducks in a lake From the people around you to the basic necessities of life, these things may not always come to mind when you're counting the things you're grateful for, but they definitely count. Hot water on demand Air conditioning and electric heat Clean water to drink Grocery stores with readily available food Light at any time of the day, thanks to electricity Appliances to make cooking and cleaning easier A safe home to provide shelter and warmth Personal care items to keep you clean and feeling fresh Family members who love and care for you The benefits of modern medicine The love of a true friend Living in the technological age comes with its own long list of privileges. Though the items we're fortunate enough to have today may seem simple to us, they would have been true miracles in earlier times. Answers to virtually any question you have through the internet The ability to call friends and family for a chat The ability to work from home Facetiming with people you love Storing memories as photos and videos Vehicles for easy transportation Shopping for virtually anything online Having a full, ongoing conversation over text Always being connected to the people you love most The ability to ask Siri or Alexa to do just about anything Smart appliances that make life even easier Keeping up with friends and family through social media Now that you have a long list of things to be grateful for, you can weave them into your gratitude practice. Gratitude can help you focus on all the good things in life and help you have a positive perspective. One study on the connection between gratitude and well-being even found that those who list their blessings in a gratitude journal report a more positive emotional state overall. Additionally, another study found that practicing gratitude prior to sleeping produced better sleep. If you're wondering if adding a bit of gratitude to your day is worth the effort, this might be your sign to give it a try. Practicing gratitude has less to do with what you have and more to do with your intentionality. Gratitude doesn't come from a perfect life or having everything you may want or need. Rather, it's a state of mind that changes your perspective and helps you see the positive side of nearly any situation. Solve the daily Crossword
