Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Double Up
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Double Up
Constructor: Mark Budovitch
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
IRAN (16A: Isfahan's country) Isfahan is the capital of the province that shares its name. Isfahan province, located in the central part of IRAN, is one of the 31 provinces that make up that country.
TOMATO (36A: Red fruit in pav bhaji) In Indian cuisine, pav bhaji is a dish that consists of a thick, spicy vegetable curry (the bhaji part of the dish) served with a soft roll (pan). The vegetables in the curry include potatoes, onions, carrots, chilies, peas, bell peppers, eggplant, cabbage, and tomatoes. And yes, the clue here is correct, in that technically a TOMATO is a fruit. As the saying goes, "Knowledge is knowing a TOMATO is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Better to put it in pav bhaji, perhaps.
STELLA (45A: Comedian/activist Young) STELLA Young (1982-2014) was an Australian comedian, journalist, and disability activist. She was a wheelchair user for most of her life, and when she was 14 years old, she conducted an accessibility audit of her hometown, thus beginning her work as an activist. STELLA Young is also credited with coining the term "inspiration porn," referring to the use of stories of disabled people to motivate non-disabled people rather than uplifting disabled people. In 2014 she gave a TEDxSydney talk titled "I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much." (Side note: I listened to her TEDX talk, and I recommend it as a worthwhile way to spend nine minutes.)
ACRE (10A: Unit that's about 75% of the size of a football field) This is an interesting tidbit, and one that actually helps me visualize how big an ACRE is. An ACRE is 43,560 square feet, which is about 75% of a football field's 57,600 square feet.
PLANE (20A: Vehicle that Superman might be mistaken for) "Look up in the sky ... it's a bird ... it's a PLANE ... it's Superman!" This is a fun clue for PLANE.
SGT (33A: "___ Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band") SGT. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the Beatles' eighth studio album, released in 1967. The album's title track appears on the album twice, as the opening track and as "SGT. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)," which is the penultimate track.
BERRA (42A: Yogi who said, "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore") Baseball catcher, manager, and coach, Yogi BERRA (1925-2015), was known for his pithy comments and witticisms that are sometimes referred to as "Yogi-isms." In addition to "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore," Yogi BERRA also said, "It's déjà vu all over again," "Ninety percent of the game is half mental," and "You can observe a lot by watching."
NEWT (65A: "Fire belly" salamander) A fire belly NEWT is a genus of NEWTs native to Japan and China. They are so-named because their skin contains a toxin that can be harmful if ingested. The quotation marks around "fire belly" in the clue indicate that the answer can be directly paired with these words.
URDU (69A: National language of Pakistan) The official languages of Pakistan are URDU and English. It's estimated that 75-85 different languages are spoken by the people of Pakistan, with URDU serving as the lingua franca (bridge language or common language), spoken by about 75% of the population.
OREO (70A: Cookie in some Blizzards) The capital B in the word "Blizzards" is a hint that this clue is not referring to a snowstorm, but to the Dairy Queen treat. Indeed, some Blizzards contain OREO cookies. This is the second time we have seen our crossword friend OREO this month, and the 15th time we have seen it this year (in case you're interested in data).
SPINAL (4D: "This Is ___ Tap" (1984 mockumentary)) This is SPINAL Tap is a 1984 mockumentary about a fictional heavy metal band. The movie was Rob Reiner's feature directorial debut. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer portray the members of SPINAL Tap. The movie has developed a cult following and is credited with launching the mockumentary genre.
CALC (Math subj. with infinitesimals) In case you've never studied calculus aka CALC, or if it's been a number of years, here's a little review. Infinitesimals are extremely small numbers that represent a non-zero quantity that is closer to zero than any non-zero real number. Infinitesimals do not exist in the standard real number system. (They exist in the surreal number system and the hyperreal number system.) Who put math in our word puzzles?!
RIALS (8D: Yemeni coins) Yemen is a country in West Asia. It is located on the Arabian peninsula, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The capital of Yemen is Sanaa, and its currency is the Yemeni RIAL.
AIR ("In the ___ Tonight" (Phil Collins hit)) "In the AIR Tonight" is the 1981 song by Phil Collins. It was a single from his debut solo album, Face Value. His previous releases were as the drummer and lead vocalist of the band Genesis. The song is particularly known for its drum break. The Internet being what it is, the drum break from "In the AIR Tonight" has been used in a number of short videos.
OPERA (54A: Word after word"soap" or "grand") A soap OPERA is a TV series characterized by melodrama. A grand OPERA is a genre of OPERA characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras and spectacular set designs.
THEME (56D: Feature of this crossword) I always enjoy a self-referential clue. This crossword does indeed have a THEME.
SEX (68D: Kinsey Institute focus) The Kinsey Institute for Research in SEX, Gender, and Reproduction is located at Indiana University. The institute is named for SEX researcher Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956), who was its first director when it was created in 1947.
WON AT LIFE (3D: Achieved all your dreams and goals)
TOO BAD SO SAD (25D: "Cry me a river!")
FOR INSTANCE (9D: "As an example...")
ATE AND RAN (37D: Dined, then dashed)
DOUBLE UP: The UP-most word of each vertical theme answer is a homophone of a number. The numbers that are represented DOUBLE as we move from left to right in the grid: WON/one, TOO/two, FOR/four, and ATE/eight.
The word UP in the title had me searching for the theme in the Down answers. I found it there, but not immediately, providing for a nice "Aha!" moment when I realized each theme answer begins with a number homophone. I enjoyed the cleverness of the extra step of identifying the homophones and then realizing the numbers DOUBLE. Thank you, Mark, for this clever puzzle.
USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles
Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 11, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
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