Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Mixed Results
- - - Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Mixed Results
Sally Hoelscher, USA TODAYJuly 1, 2025 at 7:00 AM
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Mixed Results
Constructor: Dennis McCartney
Editor: Amie Walker
July 1, 2025Random Thoughts & Interesting Things -
JAPAN (8A: Country made up of 14,125 islands) JAPAN is an island country that extends along the Pacific coast of Asia. Four of its 14,125 islands, are considered "main islands." Those are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The islands of JAPAN stretch across a distance of 1,900 miles. Approximately 260 of the islands are inhabited.
GURU (14A: Sikh spiritual leader) Sikhism is a religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. GURU Nanak, born in 1469, was the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other GURUs. The tenth GURU affirmed the sacred scripture, Adi Granth, as his successor, ending the line of human GURUs. The central religious scripture of Sikhism, GURU Granth Sahib, is regarded as the final, sovereign, and eternal living GURU.
IOWAN (18A: Person from Des Moines) Greetings from an IOWAN who lived in Des Moines (the state's capital) many years ago, but now lives elsewhere in the state.
ARIANA (22A: "Yes, And?" singer Grande) ARIANA Grande released "Yes, And?" in January 2024. The song debuted at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The lyrics of "Yes, And?" focus on self-confidence, and address negative press Ariana Grande received during 2020 to 2023.
SIDE (23A: A Mobius strip only has one) I find Mobius strips fascinating. You can make a model of a Mobius strip by taking a long, narrow piece of paper and giving one end a half twist before taping the ends together into a loop. To demonstrate that the Mobius strip only has one SIDE, draw a line down the center of it. Without lifting your pencil or pen, you will meet your starting point. If a MOBIUS STRIP is cut in half (along the line you drew down the center) it will result in a long loop with two twists in it, rather than two loops.
CERAMIC (30A: Like some tile) We just saw CERAMIC in the puzzle two days ago clued as [Made of fired clay]. When I wrote about it then, I commented that I don't usually consider bricks as being CERAMIC even though they fit the definition. I am familiar with CERAMIC tile, though, as we have a lot of it in our house.
POGO (39A: ___ stick (bouncing toy)) Several years ago (while writing a clue for POGO in a puzzle I was constructing), I learned about extreme POGO. Now that's what I think of anytime POGO sticks are mentioned. I am not a coordinated person (my family frowns on my use of ladders...), so I don't think extreme POGO is in my future. It's fun to watch though.
CALYPSO (41A: Harry Belafonte genre) I just mentioned Harry Belafonte three days ago while writing about the song "Hava Nagila," so it was fun to see his name pop up in the puzzle today. Harry Belafonte (1927-2023) was a singer, actor and activist whose third studio album was titled CALYPSO (1956). He is credited with popularizing CALYPSO music, a style of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early to mid-19th century. Harry Belafonte's nickname was the "King of CALYPSO."
MOD (45A: Online admin who might wield the "banhammer") "Banhammer" is an informal term used to refer to the power of a MOD (short for moderator) to block a user from participating in an online community. The term is especially popular in the online gaming community.
SRY (48A: "oops, my b") and OUCH (49A: "That hurt!") These consecutive clues seem to go together.
ALOO (58A: ___ tikki (potato snack)) I will occasionally give the reminder that ALOO is a South Asian word for potatoes and is often seen in the names of dishes that contain potatoes. I give these reminders for clues such as this. If a dish contains potatoes, it's quite possible the name of the dish includes the word ALOO, as is the case with ALOO tikki, a croquette made of potatoes, peas, and spices.
SLIP (61A: Freudian ___) A Freudian SLIP is an error that in psychoanalysis is attributed to a subdued unconscious wish or thought. One time when I was in college, a friend of mine dressed up as a Freudian SLIP for Halloween. She wore a SLIP and pinned a picture of Freud onto it.
LINDT (63A: Swiss chocolate brand) Just highlighting this to say that LINDT chocolate truffles are some of my favorite chocolates.
NASCAR (1D: Daytona 500 org.) The headquarters of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) are located in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 1959, the Daytona 500 has been held annually at the Daytona International Speedway.
PAW (10D: Cat's foot) My cat, Willow, will sometimes place her PAW on my arm. I like to imagine that it's to remind me I am hers.
Willow -
AMA (11D: Reddit Q&A) Reddit is an online social site for news aggregation and discussion. AMA stands for "ask me anything," a genre of interactive interviews that are especially popular on Reddit.
NIN (12D: Author Anais) I wrote about Anais NIN a couple of months ago.
ODE (21D: "___ to Our Ocean" (Amanda Gorman poem)) Amanda Gorman wrote "ODE to Our Ocean" in 2020 for World Ocean Day. It's always a good day to be reminded of this powerful poem and to take a few moments to read it.
CHE (33D: Activist Guevera) CHE Guevara was a major figure in the Cuban Revolution. He served as Minister of Industries of Cuba from 1961-1965, and was executed in Bolivia in 1967.
POP ART (42D: Andy Warhol's genre) POP ART includes imagery and themes from popular culture. Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was a leading figure in the POP ART movement. One of his most famous works is Campbell's Soup Cans a 32-painting series in which each painting depicted a can of Campbell's soup, representing each of the varieties offered by the company at the time.
DALLAS (47D: Texas home of the WNBA's Wings) The DALLAS Wings are a WNBA team founded in 1998. They have won three WNBA Championships, in 2003, 2006, and 2008.
SOIL (54D: Makeup of some beds) Think garden beds here, rather than beds that you sleep in.
ASL (55D: Language in the film "CODA") The 2021 movie, CODA, stars Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, a hearing "child of deaf adults" (CODA). Sian Heder, who wrote and directed CODA, learned ASL (American Sign Language) while working on the movie, and about 40% of the screenplay was in ASL. Emilia Jones also learned ASL before the filming of CODA started. CODA won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed:
FEDORA (51A: Hat for a film noir detective)
SUSHI CHEFS (7D: Culinary artists who might punnily say "That's how we roll!)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis -
CULTURE SHOCK (19A: experience for some travelers in new surroundings)
RULES THE ROOST (35A: Has complete control)
APPLE STRUDEL (53A: Fruit-filled Viennese pastry)
MIXED RESULTS: Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word RESULT: CULTURE SHOCK, RULES THE ROOST, and APPLE STRUDEL.
The word MIXED in the title is a hint that this might be a hidden anagram theme. Indeed, each of the three theme answers contains the MIXED up letters of the word RESULT: LTURE/S, RULES/T, and LE/STRU. Congratulations to Dennis McCartney making a USA Today crossword debut! Thank you, Dennis, for this enjoyable puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY's Crossword Puzzles -
USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles
Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for July 1, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Source: AOL Entertainment
