Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's crossword, Who's Your Friend Who Likes to Play

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Who's Your Friend Who Likes To Play? (Freestyle)

Constructors: Amie Walker & Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• ADIA (36A: Sarah McLachlan song hidden in "glad I asked") Sarah McLachlan is a Grammy-Award winning Canadian singer. I have written about her previously in relation to the Lilith Fair tour she founded as a way to showcase female musicians. Sarah McLachlan is one of those musicians I know of, while not being too familiar with their music. I was grateful for the hidden word clue here. "ADIA" is a song from Sarah McLachlan's 1997 album, Surfacing.
• RAVI (14D: "Animal Control" actor Patel) Animal Control is a sitcom that premiered last year. The show is about a group of animal control workers. One of those workers is Amit Patel, portrayed by RAVI Patel. Each episode of the show features the name of animals, such as "Weasels and Ostriches," "Cats and Monkeys," and "Dogs and Chickens."
• SUCK (31D: "My Life Would ___ Without You") Apparently today is a day to learn about songs I'm not familiar with that are sung by artists I know. "My Life Would SUCK Without You" is a 2009 song by Kelly Clarkson. Here's an interesting thing: Kelly Clarkson turned down a songwriting credit for this song, because she didn't want her name to be associated with one of the song's writers.
• LOCO (52D: El Pollo ___) There are three independent restaurant chains that operate under the name El Pollo LOCO – one in Mexico (the original franchise), one in the United States, and one in the Philippines. Although the chains have different menus, they all specialize in Mexican-style grilled chicken. "El Pollo LOCO" means "the crazy chicken" in Spanish. Although there are about 500 El Pollo LOCO locations in the United States, their website tells me the closest one to me is in Allen, Texas, 654 miles away. That may explain why I didn't know about this restaurant.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• RHO (1A: Greek letter after pi) It's a good thing I reviewed the Greek alphabet yesterday.
• SHE (8A: "___ did it right there out on the deck / Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck") and SANG (31A: Performed like Chappell Roan) "SHE did it right there out on the deck / Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck," is a lyric from the Chappell Roan song, "Red Wine Supernova" (that I learned about August 22).
• NDAS (41A: Docs often signed before hooking up with celebs) NDAS here are confidentiality documents known as "non-disclosure agreements." This clue made me chuckle, because I thought, "well, I suppose that's true, though I've never hooked up with a celebrity..." The shortening of celebrities to celebs in the clue alerts solvers the answer will be an abbreviation.
• SCRUBS (47A: "No ___" (TLC hit)) "No Scrubs" is a 1999 song by the girl group TLC off of their album FanMail.
• MET GALA (49A: "Fashion's biggest night") The Costume Institute Benefit, familiarly called the MET GALA, is an annual fundraiser for the Costume Institute at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The event is known as "fashion's biggest night." It has also been referred to as "the fashion Oscars." the MET GALA is invitation-only, and this year the price for a single ticket was $75,000.
• NEUROSPICY (58A: A lil' cognitively different) NEUROSPICY is a term that has been adopted by some people in the neurodiversity community to describe themselves. Neurodiversity is a portmanteau of the words neurological diversity. The term has been used since 1998 to describe the concept of natural diversity in the neurological expression of humans. NEUROSPICY is a newer term. As with any community, different members of the community prefer different terms. While some folks embrace the term NEUROSPICY, others prefer neurodistinct, neurowonderful, neurosparkly, or other terms. Just a reminder before using any of these terms to refer to a specific person: the best way to discover someone's individual language preference is to ask them.
• PET (59A: Furry family member) and HISS (2D: Sound from an annoyed cat) and TAIL (6D: Part of a cat costume) My cat, Willow, is a fan of all this cat content. She even grudgingly admires ARF (5D: "I want my bone!") and INU (40D: Shiba ___ (dog breed)), admitting that it's nice to have something for those whose PET is a dog.

• ETS (10D: "Space Jam" villains, for short) In the 1996 movie, SPACE JAM, Michael Jordan plays a fictionalized version of himself. He stars alongside Looney Tunes characters that bring him out of retirement to win a basketball match against ETS (extraterrestrials, also known as aliens).
• GIL (11D: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" poet Scott-Heron) GIL Scott-Heron (1949-2011) was a jazz poet known for his spoken-word performances. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a poem recorded first in 1970, and again in 1971, the latter released as the B-side to the single, "Home Is Where the Hatred Is." "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" takes its name from slogans of 1960s Black Power movements. The poem contains a myriad of cultural references, as in this excerpt: "Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction will no longer be so damned relevant / and women will not care if Dick finally got down with Jane on Search for Tomorrow / because black people will be in the streets looking for A Brighter Day. / The revolution will not be televised." GIL Scott-Heron's work is often cited for its influence on hip-hop. He referred to himself as a "bluesologist." 
• VEEP (13D: Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy) On the TV series, VEEP (2012-2019), Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer, the (fictional) Vice-President of the United States. Julia Louis-Dreyfus won six Primetime Emmy Awards (and numerous other accolades) for her work on VEEP.
• AED (19D: Defibrillator letters) An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that can diagnose life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, and treat them through the application of electricity that then allows the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm.
• BING BONG (34D: "Inside Out" imaginary friend who cries candy) The 2015 animated movie, Inside Out, centers on the emotions – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust – of a young girl named Riley. BING BONG is Riley's imaginary friend, who Joy and Sadness discover in Riley's long-term memory. I'm not going to give away the plot for those who haven't seen the movie, but BING BONG has a song-fueled wagon rocket. The title of today's puzzle is a nod to the song that fuel's BING BONG'S rocket, "WHO'S YOUR FRIEND WHO LIKES TO PLAY? / BING BONG, BING BONG / His rocket makes you yell 'Hooray!'..."
• NUT (56D: Trail mix morsel that is technically a fruit) It's true. Although we often don't think of them as such, NUTs are technically fruits. Fruits are the seed-bearing structures of flowering plants. NUTs are characterized by a hard outer shell that protects the seed.
• There are a number of conversational clues today, and I really enjoyed them:
  • I'M SURE OF IT (15A: "Never been more certain")
  • NEED (27A: "I must have that")
  • OH NO REASON (55A: Juuust wondering")
  • CRUD (32D: "Aw, rats")
  • NO NOTES (35D: "Nothing I would change here")

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

WHO'S YOUR FRIEND WHO LIKES TO PLAY? (Freestyle): Since this is a freestyle puzzle, there's no theme today. As mentioned above, the title is a reference to BING BONG (34D: "Inside Out" imaginary friend who cries candy).

NO NOTES! Just kidding; when have I ever had NO NOTES? I am a fan of the movie Inside Out, and I also enjoyed the sequel that came out this year, Inside Out 2. (In fact, I'm sure my friends are tired of me telling them how good these movies are...) I enjoyed the nod to BING BONG in the title of today's puzzle. There's a ton of other great stuff here, too. It's one of those days where it was difficult for me to decide which answers I would write about. Thank you, Amie and Amanda, for this delightful puzzle.

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• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
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