Will Sage Astor-Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Smooches

There are Will Sage Astorspoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Smooches!

Constructor: Nate Cardin

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• ORVILLE PECK (17A: Singer who covered "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other") ORVILLE PECK is a country music artist who won Libera Awards (honors for independent music) in 2020 for Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Country Album (for Pony). In addition to his music, ORVILLE PECK is known for wearing a mask when performing and not showing his face publicly. (He wears a variety of masks, some of which cover his entire face, and some that only cover the area around his eyes.) The song "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" was written by Ned Sublette, who recorded the song in 1981. Willie Nelson covered the song in 2006. In April of this year, ORVILLE PECK and Willie Nelson released a duet of "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other."
• ATE (8D: Had some kosambari) Kosambari is a dish in Indian cuisine. It's traditionally made from cucumber, mung bean, and coriander, although variations exist. Kosambari is a traditional food served for festivals and special occasions. (As an aside, isn't it fun that ATE is the answer for 8-Down?)

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• UNO (11A: Game where +2 cards are stacked (under house rules, at least!)) Stacking Draw 2 (or +2) cards is not part of the official rules for the card game UNO. It is, however, a common variant of the game. Essentially it means that when a Draw 2 card is played, the next player must either draw two cards, or play another Draw 2 card, which passes the action on to the next player who must draw four cards. Note to self: Remember not to play UNO with Nate...
• CAIRO (14A: Egypt's "City of a Thousand Minarets") CAIRO is the capital of Egypt. Its nickname, "City of a Thousand Minarets," is a reference to the city's abundance of Islamic architecture. A minaret is a tower typically built into mosques. The functional purpose of a minaret is to provide an elevated vantage point for the projection of the Muslim call to prayer.
• ROW (16A: Propel a scull) and OAR (43A: Sculler's propeller) A scull is a long, narrow boat. A sculler ROWs the boat using OARs.
• PERSIAN (24A: Language aka Farsi) PERSIAN is an official language in Iran (Iranian PERSIAN), Afghanistan (Dari), and Tajikistan (Tajiki). Each country uses a distinct version of the language, though the varieties are mutually intelligible. Farsi is an endonym for PERSIAN. An endonym is a name used by a group of people to refer to themselves or their language.
• CLAW (38A: Arcade game grabber) and TOKENS (10D: Arcade coins) and INKY (41D: Cyan Pac-Man ghost) One could potentially use their TOKENS at an arcade to play the CLAW machine and try to pick up a prize with the mechanical CLAW. One could also use TOKENS to play Pac-Man and attempt to out-wit the Pac-Man ghosts INKY (cyan), Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), and Clyde (orange).
• CLUES (39A: "Blue's ___" (TV show)) Blue's CLUES is a children's TV show that originally aired on Nickelodeon from 1996-2006. On each episode, an animated dog named Blue left a trail of CLUES (paw prints) for viewers to attempt to figure out her plans for the day.
• ALI (42A: "Baby Cobra" comic Wong) Baby Cobra is ALI Wong's 2016 stand-up comedy special. Topics that ALI Wong covers on Baby Cobra include "her sexual adventures, hoarding, the rocky road to pregnancy, and why feminism is terrible."
• FORD (57A: "___ v Ferrari" (2019 film)) FORD v Ferrari is a biographical movie about the rivalry between the automotive companies FORD and Ferrari. The movie specifically documents their efforts to dominate the Le Mans auto race, an endurance-focused sports car race that takes place annually near Le Mans, France. In FORD V Ferrari, Matt Damon and Christian Bale portray race car drivers Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles.
• GENERATION X (61A: Group after boomers) GENERATION X refers to those born between 1965 to the early 1980s. (Hello, fellow GENERATION Xers!) GENERATION X follows the baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.
• BTS (67A: "Go Go" K-pop group) "Go Go" is a 2017 song by the K-pop band BTS. BTS is the best-selling musical act in South Korean history. The group has currently paused their musical activities to allow the members to complete their 18 months of mandatory South Korean military service. Their reunion is planned for next year.
• RIVER (3D: Mekong or Ganges) The Mekong RIVER flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and is the third largest RIVER in Asia, following the Yangtze and Yellow RIVERs. The Ganges is a RIVER that runs through India and Bangladesh.
• ARI (4D: "The Mole" host Shapiro) The Mole is a reality competition show. It originally aired on ABC from 2001 to 2008. In 2022, The Mole was reintroduced on Netflix. Contestants on the show work together to add money to the prize pot, while trying to determine which of them has secretly been designated by the producers as "the mole," and is sabotaging their efforts. ARI Shapiro – of NPR's All Things Considered podcast – hosted the show's seventh season, which aired in June and July of this year.
• RAPS (7D: Performs like Missy Elliott) Missy Elliott is a Grammy Award-winning RAP artist. I'm 100% certain I cannot even come close to performing like Missy Elliott.
• SCAT (33D: Improvise like 34-Down) and ELLA (34D: "Queen of Jazz" Fitzgerald) This is a nice cross-reference clue because the clues and answers are next to each other, making it easy to find the reference while solving. As I have mentioned previously, ELLA Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was known as the "Queen of Jazz," and the "First Lady of Song." She was particularly known for her SCAT singing skills (vocal improvisation with nonsense syllables or no words at all). I also cannot improvise like ELLA.
• ICED TEA (44D: AriZona drink) The key here is noticing the letter Z in AriZona is capitalized, meaning the reference here is to the company that makes ICED TEA, rather than the state.
• ABRA (49D: Pokemon that evolves into Kadabra) The thing I like about this clue is that even solvers who may not be familiar with Pokémon have a chance of figuring out the answer since ABRA and Kadabra sound like the magical incantation "abracadabra."
• FETA (57D: Cheese in spanakopita and dakos)  Spanakopita is a spinach pie of Greek origin. A filling - traditionally spinach, eggs, FETA cheese, and onions - is layered in phyllo pastry. Dakos is also a Greek dish. It consists of a slice of soaked dried bread topped with chopped tomatoes and FETA cheese.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• ORVILLE PECK (17A: Singer who covered "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other")
• HERSHEY'S KISS (27A: Teardrop-shaped chocolate)
• TALKING SMACK (45A: Making insulting comments)
• GENERATION X (61A: Group after boomers)

SMOOCHES: The last words of the theme answers are synonyms of SMOOCH: PECK, KISS, SMACK, and X.

Lots of SMOOCHES today – what's not to like about that? I enjoyed the playfulness of this theme, and it was fun to uncover each SMOOCH synonym. Thank you, Nate, for this delightful puzzle. For some reason I feel I need to sign off today with XOXO.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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