There are spoilers ahead. you may want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Open Door

Constructive: Kapil Mehta

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Comments from Today’s Puzzle Creator

Kapil: The title of the puzzle came to mind after listening to Shruthi Kumar’s Harvard commencement speech, and she concluded with these words from Emily Dickenson: “I open every door because I don’t know when the dawn will come.” I find this poem evocative and inspiring. Glad this could be turned into a USAT puzzle? The title also reminds me of my dear friend Salt, who loves open doors.

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• AJA (34A: Actress ___ Naomi King) AJA Naomi King, How to Get Away with Murder (2014-2020). The TV show is a legal thriller series about a law professor who becomes involved in a murder plot with his five students. AJA Naomi King plays Michaela Pratt, one of the students.

Random Thoughts and Interesting Stuff

• YELLOW (16A: Women’s national dress in Bangladesh) Bangladesh is a country in South ASIA. Dhaka is the capital and largest city. As the clue informs us, YELLOW is the national dress of Bangladeshi women. YELLOW is also traditionally worn in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. A YELLOW consists of a single unstitched length of fabric ranging from four and a half to nine yards in length. YELLOW can be wrapped and draped in a variety of styles.

• INTROS (45A: They can be skipped while watching a TV series) The first thing that came to my mind here was “advertisements”, which frankly did not fit well. INTROS can of course be skipped. I often forget that this is an option!

• ALL (48A: “The Winner Takes It ___” (ABBA hit)) “The Winner Takes It ALL” is a 1980 song by ABBA reflecting the end of a relationship. It has been described as the ultimate breakup song. “The Winner Takes All” music video It was filmed 10 days after the divorce of two ABBA members, Agnetha Fältskog (the song’s lead vocalist) and Björn Ulvaeus (one of the song’s co-writers), became official.

• LOVE (7D: “Heart-Eyed Smiley Face” emoji feeling)

• TOON (8D: Animated “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” character) Who blamed Roger Rabbit? It is a 1988 live action/animated film. Set in the 1947 version of Hollywood, the movie features cartoons and people living together. The film is loosely based on the 1981 book by Gary K. Wolf. Who censored Roger Rabbit? I saw the movie Who blamed Roger Rabbit? The Jessica Rabbit character stayed in my mind when it first came out. Especially the line, “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”

• ASIA (34D: Indian continent) India is located in South ASIA. Its capital is New Delhi. Yesterday, when we saw our puzzle friend ERIE in the puzzle, I said that we haven’t seen ERIE as often in recent years as in years past. For our puzzle friend ASIA, the situation is exactly the opposite. This year we saw more ASIAN appearances in the puzzle than in previous years. So far this year we have seen ASIA in the puzzle 32 times; this number was 22 times in the entire year 2023. ERIE has appeared in the puzzle 21 times so far this year for a total of 36 appearances in 2023. (These are the statistics brought to you by my love for data!)

• ALI (60D: “Moonlight” actor Mahershala) moonlight Tarell is a 2016 film based on the unpublished semi-autobiographical play by Alvin McCraney. Black Men Look Blue in Moonlight. The film tells the story of its main character throughout his childhood, adolescence and young adult life, while also addressing themes of sexuality and masculinity. Mahershala ALI plays Juan, a drug dealer who becomes the father figure of the main character. moonlight It won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Mahershala ALI won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

• A few more tips and answers that I particularly enjoyed:

Puzzle Theme Summary

• DO ME A FAVOR (17A: “I need some help”)

• DOCTORAL ADVISER (37A: Graduate student’s advisor, sometimes)

• DOUBLE MAJOR (59A: Obtain two university degrees)

OPEN DOOR: The word DOOR is OPEN with each theme answer: TO DO MY FAVORITESOR, TO DOCOCKTOR CONSULTANCYORAnd TO DOUBLE MAJOR.

Today’s title tells me exactly what to expect in terms of theme. Here are three great theme answers. I appreciate the consistency of having the DOOR OPEN in the same place in each theme response. Thanks Kapil for this enjoyable puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crosswords

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog and Answers for November 7, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher