Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, National Backwards Day
Constructors: Amie Walker & Amanda Rafkin
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
Amie: Wishing Amanda Rafkin the happiest of birthday weekends!
FINITE (21A: "The rules of hair care are simple and ___") "The rules of hair care are simple and FINITE," is a quote from the 2001 movie Legally Blonde. It was spoken by the character Elle Woods (portrayed by Reese Witherspoon). Although I know quite a bit about the movie Legally Blonde from writing about it, I haven't actually seen it. (I'm always hesitant to admit I haven't seen a movie...) Thankfully, crossing answers helped me out here.
NINJA (39A: Scorpion, in Mortal Kombat, e.g.) The Mortal Kombat franchise began with a Mortal Kombat arcade game released in 1992. Since then, the franchise has grown to include comic books, card games, movies, an animated TV series, and even a live-action tour. Scorpion is one of the characters in Mortal Kombat, and is a playable character in most of the video games. Scorpion is a NINJA who dresses in yellow and uses a rope dart to harpoon opponents.
STARDUST (11D: "93 Percent ___" (Nikita Gill poem about our cosmic makeup)) Nikita Gill is a poet and writer who has written eight books of poetry, and also uses social media to engage with readers. She wrote her poem, "93 Percent STARDUST" after reading Carl Sagan's book "Cosmos."
ASL (17D: AIM-era icebreaker question (Abbr.)) Although I now know that I lived through the AIM-era, I didn't know what it was. AIM here stands for "AOL Instant Messenger," and the AIM-era was the late 1990s to 2000s, when AIM was popular. As I mentioned a few days ago, ASL in this context (usually written as "a/s/l?") stands for "age / sex / location."
RAP (1A: Genre featured in the "Karma" remix) "Karma" is a Taylor Swift song, from her Midnights album. A remix of "Karma" features the RAP artist Ice Spice.
BODY (4A: "Her ___ Is Bible" (Fletcher song)) Fletcher is a pop artist whose debut studio album, Girl of My Dreams, was released in 2022. "Her BODY is Bible" was the first single released from that album.
ANITA (14A: Ariana's "West Side Story" role) In the 2021 musical film West Side Story – which is an adaptation of the 1957 stage musical – Ariana DeBose portrays ANITA. The use of Ariana DeBose's first name here signals that the answer is the character's first name.
AMY ADAMS (16A: "Enchanted" star who sings "True Love's Kiss") In Disney's 2007 movie, Enchanted, AMY ADAMS portrays Princess Giselle. The movie is a hybrid of animation and live-action. The song "True Love's Kiss" occurs early in the movie during its animated portion.
SESAME (18A: Type of seed in tahini) Tahini is essentially ground toasted SESAME seed. You might think of it as SESAME seed butter. Tahini is a main ingredient in hummus and baba ghanoush
DIY (28A: Handyperson's letters) DIY = do-it-yourself. As I write this, my husband is working on a DIY project to redo the stairs leading into our basement.
EPA (29A: Clean Air Act org.) The Clean Air Act, which is intended to control air pollution in the U.S., was enacted in 1963 and has been amended multiple times since then. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the agency that administers the Clean Air Act and develops regulations to meet the law's mandates.
MUSEUMS (41A: LACMA, MoMA and the Louvre) LACMA is the Los Angeles County MUSEUM of Art in California. The MUSEUM of Modern Art (MoMA) is located in New York City. The Louvre is an art MUSEUM in Paris, France.
TWOFER (50A: BOGO offer) BOGO = buy one, get one
ELSA (56A: Older "Frozen" sister) and OLAF (5D: Snowman in "Frozen") The 2013 Disney animated movie Frozen was an absolute gift to crossword constructors. I'm sure that's not what Disney intended when naming the characters in Frozen, but it has certainly proven to be the case. There are a number of characters in Frozen with four-letter names, and those names are useful crossword fill. In addition to ELSA and OLAF, there's also Anna, Hans, and Sven.
ELENA (61A: Justice appointed after Sonia) Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009. The Supreme Court judge appointed after her was ELENA Kagan, in 2010. Both Sonia Sotomayor and ELENA Kagan were nominated by President Barack Obama. The use of Sonia Sotomayor's first name in the clue alerts solvers that the answer will also be a first name.
ARG (63A: Neighbor of Chile (Abbr.)) Chile is located along the western coast of the southern part of South America, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Chile's neighbor to the east, across the Andes, is Argentina (ARG.). The capital of Chile is Santiago, and the capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires.
REAL ID (1D: Requirement to fly domestically starting in 2025) The REAL ID Act of 2005 established specific requirements for U.S. driver's licenses and ID cards. Those requirements include verification of the personal information on the IDs. As of May 7, 2025, a REAL ID will be a requirement for domestic flights.
BAD (4D: "Now I'm down ___ crying at the gym") "Now I'm down BAD crying at the gym" is a lyric from Taylor Swift's 2024 song "Down BAD," which is on the album The Tortured Poets Department.
TIS (10D: "___ the damn season" (Taylor Swift song)) "'TIS the Damn Season" is a song from Taylor Swift's 2020 album, Evermore. Amie and Amanda have managed to get not just one, but three Taylor Swift references in this puzzle.
NUTELLA (39D: Hazelnut cocoa spread) Ah, NUTELLA! I am a fan of this hazelnut cocoa spread. (Its main ingredients are actually sugar and palm oil, with hazelnuts and cocoa appearing further down on the list...best not to think about that.) NUTELLA was introduced by the Italian company, Ferrero, in 1964, and is now produced in a number of facilities around the world. When I was a senior in high school, our family hosted an exchange student from Germany. Ursula was the one that introduced us to NUTELLA, which was not widely available in the United States at that time. I'm glad NUTELLA is now easy to find in the U.S., though I have to limit myself to only buying it occasionally.
ORANGE (46D: Gritty's color) Gritty is a 7-foot-tall furry ORANGE creature, and the mascot of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. Gritty was introduced as the team's mascot in 2018. In 2024, Gritty was selected as NHL's Mascot of the Year. You can follow Gritty on Instagram.
OED 51D: Its 2024 Word of the Year was "brain rot" (Abbr.)) The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been selecting a Word of the Year since 2004. The first word selected to be OED's Word of the year was "chav" (which is now listed in the OED as a derogatory term). As the clue informs us, the OED selected "brain rot" as the Word of the Year for 2024. Interestingly, the first recorded use of "brain rot" was as far back as 1854. Henry David Thoreau used the term in his book Walden.
ISN'T (53D: "It wasn't over. It still ___ over") "It wasn't over. It still ISN'T over," is a line from the 2004 movie, The Notebook. The movie is based on Nicholas Sparks' 1996 book of the same name. This line is spoken by Noah (portrayed by Ryan Gosling) to Allie (portrayed by Rachel McAdams).
AMY ADAMS (16A: "Enchanted" star who sings "True Love's Kiss")
DISNEY ADULT (36A: Grown-up who's Happy at the Magic Kingdom)
HOW YA DOIN' (58A: Casual check-in phrase)
NATIONAL BACKWARDS DAY: Each theme answer contains the word DAY going BACKWARDS: AMY ADAMS, DISNEY ADULT, and HOW YA DOIN'.
Happy NATIONAL BACKWARDS DAY! This light-hearted holiday is celebrated annually on January 31. I'm just now thinking that I really should have solved this puzzle from the lower right corner to the upper left corner, which is BACKWARDS from my usual process. One suggestion I read for celebrating NATIONAL BACKWARDS DAY is to eat dessert first. Suddenly I'm a fan of this holiday. Thank you, Amie and Amanda, for this delightful puzzle.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for January 31, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
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