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

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

Constructor: Jared Goudsmit

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• TEAL (1A: Bluish color in the Jacksonville Jaguars logo) The Jacksonville Jaguars are an NFL team based in Florida. The team's colors are TEAL, black, and gold. The logo of the Jacksonville Jaguars is the head of a jaguar that has TEAL eyes, nose, and tongue. I was thankful for the "bluish" hint here, as I'm certainly not up on sports logos and colors.
• JANE (37A: Journalist Velez-Mitchell) JANE Velez-Mitchell is a writer and TV journalist. She is the founder of Unchained TV, a free streaming TV network that streams original content centered on a plant-based lifestyle. JANE Velez-Mitchell's 2009 memoir is titled iWant: My Journey from Addiction and Overconsumption to a Simpler, Honest Life.
• LES (54A: Tous ___ Jours (bakery chain)) Tous LES Jours is a South Korean bakery franchise with over 1,000 stores worldwide. The name of the bakery is French for "every day." There aren't any Tous LES Jours bakeries in Iowa at the moment, so it makes sense that I'm not familiar with this chain. To sample Tous LES Jours, I will need to travel to Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; or Kansas City, Missouri.
• BASIL (32D: "Holy" herb in phat kaphrao) Phat kaphrao – a dish whose name translates to "stir-fried holy BASIL" – originated in Thailand. The dish consists of meat (pork, chicken, beef, or seafood) stir-fried with Thai holy BASIL, an aromatic plant cultivated throughout Southeast Asia.
• TUNA (53D: Negitoro fish) In Japanese cuisine, negitoro is made of minced green onion and TUNA scrape (the fatty part of the fish scraped off the bones after filets have been cut).

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• ICE T (36A: "Rhyme Pays" rapper) Rhyme Pays is the 1987 debut album of rap artist ICE T.
• GLUTEN-FREE PASTA (38A: Buckwheat spaghetti, e.g.) The grain-like seeds of buckwheat have a high starch content, allowing them to be used in cooking similar to cereal grains. In spite of its name, the buckwheat plant is not closely related to wheat. Since buckwheat does not contain GLUTEN, it is used in making some GLUTEN-FREE products, such as GLUTEN-FREE PASTA.
• ROT (45A: What old apples do) and MEALY (46A: Like some old apples) We have a couple of bad apple clues in the puzzle! This pair of consecutive clues made me laugh.
• I PUT A SPELL ON YOU (59A: R&B hit covered by Nina Simone) Nina Simone (1922-2003) was a singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. "I PUT A SPELL ON YOU" is the title track from her 1965 studio album.
• ERIE (64A: Great Lake home to Snow Island) Snow Island is an uninhabited island in Lake ERIE. The island is located near Long Point, Ontario, Canada. Hello to our crossword-friend ERIE making its third appearance of the month, and its 18th appearance of the year.
• SLATE (66A: Traditional material for black Go stones) Go is a board game that originated in China more than 2,500 years ago. The black and white game pieces are called stones, and players attempt to capture each other's stones. Traditionally, the black stones were made of SLATE, and the white stones were made of clam shells.
• ANNA (3D: "X-Men" actress Paquin) The X-MEN are a team of superheroes appearing in Marvel comic books, TV shows, films, and video games. X-MEN are humans born with the X-gene, a genetic mutation that confers superhuman abilities. In the X-Men franchise, ANNA Paquin portrays Rogue, who is capable of absorbing the powers, abilities, and knowledge of those she touches, and using them as her own.
• HOT (7D: Like Naga Viper peppers) Naga Viper peppers have a rating of 1,382,118 on the Scoville scale (used to describe the spiciness of chili peppers). That's HOT! For comparison, jalapeño PEPPERS measure 2,500 - 10,000 Scoville heat units, and habanero chili PEPPERS measure 100,000-350,000. 
• ELLE (13D: Sports anchor Duncan) ELLE Duncan is an anchor for ESPN. She currently co-hosts an edition of SportsCenter with Kevin Negandhi. ELLE Duncan also co-hosts a YouTube show and podcast, The ELLE Duncan Show.
• CHLOE (27D: Filmmaker Zhao) CHLOÉ Zhao's directing credits include Nomadland (2020) and Eternals(2021). For Nomadland, she won an Academy Award for Best Director.
• TEAK (34D: Cutting board wood) TEAK has several qualities that make it particularly useful for the production of, not only cutting boards, but also flooring, countertops, and veneer for furniture. TEAK has a high oil content, high tensile strength, and a tight grain. It is also resistant to termite attacks and damage caused by other insects.
• GEM (38D: Lapis or peridot) Lapis lazuli, or lapis, for short, is a GEM with a deep blue color. Peridot is a green GEM.
• MEWLED (46D: Whimpered) Although the definition of MEWL is simply "to cry weakly," in my mind I associate this sound specifically with kittens. It's been a while since my cat, Willow, has been a kitten and MEWLED. Nowadays her meows are generally loud and robust. Willow decided to help me with this article. Of course, her idea of helping is different from mine.

• RYAN (57D: "I'm Just Ken" singer Gosling) "I'm Just Ken" is a song from the 2023 movie, Barbie. Ryan Gosling plays one of many Kens in the movie. His character is referred to as Beach Ken to differentiate from Tourist Ken (Simu Liu), Basketball Ken (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Artist Ken (Ncuti Gate), Stereotypical Ken (Scott Evans), Merman Ken (John Cena), etc.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• ISN'T THAT SPECIAL (17A: "What a ... unique situation")
• GLUTEN-FREE PASTA (38A: Buckwheat spaghetti, e.g.)
• I PUT A SPELL ON YOU (59A: R&B hit covered by Nina Simone)

Each theme answer contains the letters in the word TAPES in a MIXed-up order: ISN'T THAT SPECIAL, GLUTEN-FREE PASTA, and I PUT A SPELL ON YOU.

Today we have a hidden anagram theme. The word TAPES is anagrammed to ATSPE, EPAST, and TASPE, and each of those letter strings are found spanning two or three words in a theme answer. Thank you, Jared, for this entertaining puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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

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