Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Roll the Dice

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Roll the Dice

Constructor: Larry Snyder

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• GOA (43A: Indian state where feni originated) The country of India is made up of 28 states and eight union territories. Located on the southwestern coast of India, GOA is the country's smallest state by area. Feni is a type of liquor that originated in GOA. There are several types of feni; cashew feni and coconut feni are the most popular. Feni is made in small batches, and many of the traditional practices are still used in the making of this colorless, aromatic spirit.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• SERVICE DOGS (20A: Common exceptions to a "no pets" rule) SERVICE DOGS are specially trained to perform certain tasks. Some SERVICE DOGS assist those who are visually impaired or deaf. Other SERVICE DOGS may help calm a person during an anxiety attack, remind a person to take medications, or protect a person having a seizure. In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that state and local governments, business, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public must allow SERVICE DOGS "to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is allowed to go."
• DEM (35A: "We ___ Boyz" (Wiz Khalifa song)) "We DEM Boyz" is a 2014 song by rapper Wiz Khalifa. The song has been featured on several TV shows, including Selfie, black⋅ish, and Hawaii Five-O. The song has been used by the Dallas Cowboys as an unofficial fight song.
• ELSA (44A: "Frozen" queen) The character of ELSA in the Disney movies Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019), is loosely based on the title character of the Danish fairy tale, "The Snow Queen," by Hans Christian Andersen. ELSA has a magical ability; she can create snow and ice. Idina Menzel provides the speaking and singing voice of ELSA in both Frozen and Frozen II. A third movie in the Frozen saga has been announced, but it likely won't be released until late in 2026.
• BANDANA (49A: Rosie the Riveter's headwear) Rosie the Riveter is the woman who appears on the iconic "We Can Do It!" posters. On the posters, she's pictured wearing a red-and-white, polka dot bandana on her head. As I have previously written, although the motivational posters have been around since 1942, the woman didn't become known as Rosie the Riveter until the 1980s.
• ALT (54A: ___-rock (genre for Pearl Jam and Nirvana)) ALT-rock, or alternative rock, is a category of rock music that arose in the late 1970s to 1980s, and gained mainstream success in the 1990s. Pearl Jam is an ALT-rock band formed in 1990 in Seattle Washington. Pearl Jam released their twelfth studio album, Dark Matter, in April of this year. The ALT-Rock band, Nirvana, also has its origins in the state of Washington. Nirvana was formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. The band disbanded in 1994 after the death of lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain. Nirvana's third and final studio album, In Utero, was released in 1993.
• KNAVE (63A: Another name for a jack, in cards) Historically, the face cards in playing card decks were referred to as the king, queen, and KNAVE. The term "KNAVE" was used to refer to a male servant. The transition from calling the KNAVE a jack happened in the 1800s, and was primarily a practical change. Older playing card decks had the letters and numbers printed in the center of each card. But eventually, a change was made to print the identifying marks in the corner of the cards. This allowed for cards to be identified when a player held them in their hands and fanned them out. The difficulty was that the letters "Kn," which were used to identify the KNAVE, were sometimes confused with the letter "K," used to identify a king. In 1864, an American cardmaker named Samuel Hart published a deck using a "J" instead of the "Kn" on the lowest-ranking face card. The rest, as they say, is history.
• EERIE (66A: Like every old mansion in "Scooby-Doo") I really enjoyed this clue! The EERIE mansion is a classic trope used in many Scooby-Doo episodes.
• GUAVA (4D: Tropical fruit used in many candies and jams) GUAVA is a fruit that grows on trees native to tropical and subtropical regions in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. GUAVA has been adopted as a crop in many subtropical and tropical parts of the world, and several species are grown commercially. India currently leads the world in GUAVA production.
• HELIUM (5D: Gas that makes your voice sound higher) The gas HELIUM is less dense than air. This explains why balloons filled with HELIUM will rise. Due to its lower density, sound moves faster through HELIUM than it does through air, about three times faster, in fact. This is the reason that inhaling HELIUM will result in your voice sounding higher. Inhaling a gas that is less dense than air will result in your voice sounding lower.
• A-ROD (7D: Record holder for career grand slams, to fans) Three days ago we saw ALEX RODRIGUEZ – whose nickname is A-ROD – as a theme answer. At that time I mentioned that A-ROD had 696 career home runs, and 25 of those were grand slams, "which is the most career grand slams by any MLB player." At the time I wrote that, I didn't realize that information would be helpful so soon. You see, reading "Off the Grid" is helpful for solving crosswords!
• GATORS (8D: Crocs' relatives) The short form of the word crocodiles in the clue alerts solvers that the answer will be the shortened from of the word alligators. Although GATORS and crocs are related, there are ways to tell them apart. These differences include their color, size, and the shape of their snout. I also read that crocodiles are more aggressive and have a more powerful bite than alligators. This is why I will not be getting close enough to either of these animals to make a definitive identification!
• MANDY (13D: "This Is Us" actress Moore) The TV series This Is Us (2016-2022) follows the lives of two parents (Rebecca and Jack) and their three children (Randall, Kate, and Kevin). MANDY Moore portrays Rebecca. In addition to acting, MANDY Moore also has a musical career. Her seventh studio album, In Real Life, was released in 2022. 
• OMEGA (31D: Letter after psi) Back-to-back appearances for OMEGA, as we also saw it in yesterday's puzzle.
• T-BIRD (34D: Classic Ford, for short) The Ford Thunderbird, or T-BIRD for short, was manufactured from 1955 to 2005 (except for a hiatus from 1997-2002). During that time, Ford made over 4.4 million T-BIRDs. The T-BIRD was originally introduced in the 1950s as a response to the Chevrolet Corvette. The first T-BIRD was a two-seater that had a detachable fiberglass hardtop.
• ALOHA (50D: Former airline with a hub at Honolulu International Airport) ALOHA Airlines, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operated passenger flights from 1946 to 2008.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• SERVICE DOGS (20A: Common exceptions to a "no pets" rule)
• CURBSIDE CHECK-IN (39A: Airport convenience)
• MULLED CIDER (55A: Spiced, warm winter drink)

Each theme answer contains an anagram of the word DICE: SERVICE DOGS, CURBSIDE CHECK-IN, and MULLED CIDER.

Today we have a hidden anagram theme. The word DICE is anagrammed to ICED, IDEC, and EDCI, and those letter patterns are hidden in the theme answers, where in each case they span the two words in the answer. Sometimes this type of theme is tricky for me to spot, but today I caught on fairly quickly. Thank you, Larry, for this enjoyable puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
• Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers

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