Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Back End

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Back End

Constructor: Margi Stevenson

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• KARA (63A: "Fleeing" poet Jackson) KARA Jackson was the United States National Youth Poet Laureate in 2019. You can read KARA Jackson's poem, "Fleeing," on the Poets.org website. KARA Jackson is also a singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? (2023) was highlighted by Pitchfork as "Best New Music."
• CLEO (35D: Jazz singer Laine) British jazz singer Dame CLEO Laine (aka Lady Dankworth) is known for her scat singing. In 1983, she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Jazz Vocalist. CLEO Laine has performed at Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall. She has also performed on stage in musical theatre, both on the West End in London, and on Broadway. CLEO Laine's singing career began in the 1950s and spanned seven decades. She's currently 96 years old.
• ETHAN (50D: Food activist Tyo) ETHAN Tyo is an Indigenous food activist. A member of the Akwesasne Mohawk, Wolf Clan, ETHAN Tyo has done work to help make traditional foods more accessible to indigenous people. He calls his work The AlterNative Project, and he's "passionate about building food sovereignty, creating pathways for experiential education and access, and sustaining Indigenous food knowledge for the next seven generations."

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• DOVE (17A: "Laughing" or "mourning" bird)The laughing DOVE and the mourning DOVE are two of the 344 species in the family Columbidae, which includes DOVEs and pigeons.
• ORIGAMI PAPER (20A: Sheets that get folded) This is a fun clue that might at first lead a solver to think it is referring to bedsheets. (This makes me think of all the instructional videos about how tofold a fitted sheet.) The sheet here, however, is a sheet of PAPER that gets folded when doing ORIGAMI. The Japanese art of PAPER folding known as ORIGAMI can technically be done with any PAPER. ORIGAMI PAPER is sold as precut squares, and is often colored on one side and white on the other. It is slightly thinner than copy paper, which is helpful when making multiple folds and creases.
• ITS (28A: "___ not rocket science") My son has a degree in aerospace engineering aka rocket science. When he was in college, I bought him a t-shirt that reads, "Aerospace Engineering: IT'S not rocket science – oh, wait, yes it is."

• EON (31A: Unit of time equal to one million millennia) In case you were in any doubt, an EON is a very, very, very, very long time.
• BLINI (32A: Pancakes that may be served with tvorog) BLINI are thin pancakes made using wheat flour. They are popular in Eastern European cuisine, and are considered a traditional Russian dish. BLINI may be served with tvorog (a fermented milk product), smetana (a type of sour cream), or caviar (salt-cured roe).
• CATS (35A: Pets that, according to a meme, can have a little salami as a treat) The Cats Can Have a Little Salami meme arose out of a 2017 Google result for "can cats eat salami?" Isn't it amazing what will become a meme?! My cat, Willow, does not get salami as a treat, and now she wants to know why not. (Do not let her fool you, she gets plenty of other treats.)

• ETNA (65A: Volcano in Sicily) Mount ETNA (also referred to simply as ETNA) is an active volcano on the island of Sicily, Italy. ETNA has a height of just over 11,000 feet; its height varies with eruptions. ETNA is in an almost constant state of activity. 
• DODO (1D: Extinct bird) The DODO was a flightless bird that lived on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. DODOs have been extinct since the 1600s. Their extinction was a result of being hunted by sailors and invasive species, as well as destruction of habitat.
• MOVIE (3D: "Selma" or "Fargo") When you need to choose a couple of MOVIE examples for a crossword clue, how do you choose? I appreciate that the examples here are both MOVIEs that take their names from a city. The 2014 MOVIE, Selma, directed by Ava Duvernay, is a historical drama about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Fargo is a 1996 MOVIE directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The crime film is set in Fargo, North Dakota and Brainerd, Minnesota. The TV series Fargo that premiered in 2014, was inspired by the movie.
• CAMELS (8D: Gobi Desert animals) The Gobi Desert covers parts of northeastern China, and the southern part of Mongolia. Although we often imagine deserts as being hot and sandy, the Gobi is a cold desert, which occasionally receives snow. Wild Bactrian CAMELS live in parts of the Gobi Desert.
• AWARE (9D: "Be bear ___" (rhyming advice for hikers)) "Be bear AWARE" is good advice. My husband and I enjoy hiking, especially in U.S. National Parks. Whenever we go hiking in bear country, my husband always says, "I hope we see a bear!" And I say, "I hope we do not see a bear." So far we have only encountered a bear once while we were hiking. Fortunately, the bear was quite interested in the berries it was eating and did not pay attention to us as we carefully went on down the trail.
• ETS (12D: Beings in the movie "Planet 51" (Abbr.)) Planet 51 is a 2009 animated movie about a NASA astronaut who lands on the titular planet. Green extraterrestrials (ETS) live on Planet 51.
• OTIS (30D: "That's How Strong My Love Is" singer Redding) OTIS Redding's version of "That's How Strong My Love Is" was released in 1965. The song was initially recorded in 1964 by O. V. Wright. OTIS Redding's version of "That's How Strong My Love Is" was one of four cover versions recorded in 1965. The others were by The Rolling Stones, The In Crowd, and The Hollies.
• ITALY (34D: Home to Rome) I like the rhyming words in this clue. Yes, ITALY is "home to Rome." In fact, Rome is the capital of ITALY.
• AMISH (39D: People who value Gelassenheit) In AMISH culture, the concept of Gelassenheit refers to a submission to the will of God. An AMISH person is expected to suppress their own will in order to follow the will of God and the will of their church, elders, parents, community, and traditions.
• PAELLA (46D: ___ mixta (rice dish)) In Spanish cuisine, PAELLA is a traditional dish consisting of rice, vegetables, meat, and seasonings. It has a yellow color, which comes from saffron or turmeric. PAELLA mixta is a variation that includes meat, seafood, and sometimes beans.
• ABE (58D: 6'4" prez) ABE Lincoln, at 6 feet 4 inches tall, was the tallest of the U.S. Presidents to date. Interestingly, he was only half an inch taller than Lyndon B. Johnson, and yet I don't recall hearing stories about Lyndon B. Johnson's height. The shortest U.S. president was James Madison, who was 5 feet 4 inches. The use of the word "prez" in the clue alerts solvers that the answer will be ABE, the shortened form of Abraham.
• A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed:
  • BLAM (4A: "And suddenly, boom!")
  • BLOOP (32D: Machine's low-pitched noise)
  • ARROW (38D: "You can turn" symbol at a stoplight)
  • DON'T ASK (40D: "I'm not in the mood to discuss it")

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• ORIGAMI PAPER (20A: Sheets that get folded)
• LET'S CALL IT A DRAW (37A: "We can say we tied")
• DOWN THE HATCH (52A: "Bottoms up!")

The END word of each theme answer can precede the word BACK to form a new word: PAPERBACK, DRAWBACK, and HATCHBACK.

Interestingly, both words in today's title point solvers to the BACK END of the theme answers. It took me a minute to figure out which word was telling me where to look for the theme (END), and which word was involved in forming the new words (BACK). That made for a fun "Aha!" moment. I enjoy ORIGAMI, and have folded many a PAPER crane, as well as numerous other shapes, so I really liked seeing ORIGAMI PAPER as a theme answer. Congratulations to Margi Stevenson making a USA TODAY debut! Thank you, Margi, for this delightful puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
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