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

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

Constructor: Sally Hoelscher

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor

Sally: I'm wearing two hats today – constructor and blogger! When I blog about my own puzzle, I'm essentially writing one big constructor's note.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• SAINTS (1A: "When the ___ Go Marching In") Although "When the SAINTS Go Marching In" is often associated with jazz, the song likely originated as a Black spiritual, perhaps from the Bahamas. It has been recorded nearly 1,000 times, by a number of different artists. Louis Armstrong's 1938 recording of "When the SAINTS Go Marching In" was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2021. The registry preserves sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." I have fond memories of playing "When the SAINTS Go Marching In" as a piano duet with my cousin.
• I'M SORE (13A: "Really feeling that workout") and ACHE (27A: Feel yesterday's workout) When I realized these two answers were near each other in the grid, it was fun to clue them in a somewhat related way.
• TENNIS (16A: Coco Gauff's sport) Coco Gauff won her first singles TENNIS title (Upper Austria Ladies Linz) in 2019 at the age of 15. Last year, she won the U.S. Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
• BIRD BATH (17A: Place for a cardinal to get a drink) If you were describing a BIRD BATH to someone outside of the context of a crossword clue, you might say it's a "place for a BIRD to take a BATH." When you're writing a crossword clue, however, and trying to avoid duplicating the answer, that explanation becomes "place for a cardinal to get a drink." It just so happens that yesterday I looked out my dining room window and saw a cardinal getting a drink at our BIRD BATH.

• SNO (19A: ___-Cat (winter vehicle)) and ETSY (48A: Site where you might buy a personalized cat collar) One of the things I enjoy about constructing crosswords is getting to inject my voice and personality into the puzzles I make. This happens at every step, of course, from developing the theme to filling the grid, but is perhaps most notable in the writing of clues. It will likely not come as a surprise to anyone at this point that I am a cat person! As such, I enjoy putting cat content in my crosswords. When there are no obvious cat-related words in the grid, I try to find a way to add cat content to clues for answers that aren't necessarily cat-related at face value. This is what I did with these two clues. My cat, Willow, does not have a personalized collar from ETSY, however, because she won't keep a collar on. Every collar we've put on her she's managed to remove, and some of them she has hidden so well that we've never found them. So instead of a photo of her modeling a cute collar, here's a pic of Willow in the bathtub, where she sits nearly every morning to watch me while I brush my teeth.

• OHIO (20A: Only U.S. state with a nonrectangular flag) This is a fun piece of trivia. The OHIO flag is a swallow-tailed burgee – it is shaped like a triangle pennant with a notch cut out of the point. The flag has 17 stars, representing the fact that OHIO was the 17th state.
• BAA (30A: Sheep's statement) and ROAR (34A: "I'm a lion!") The animals have spoken!
• OBIT (40A: Bio in the NYT's "Overlooked No More" series) The "Overlooked" series in The New York Times features "obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times." It's a fascinating series, and I recommend checking it out. Recent articles include "Overlooked No More: Miriam Solovieff, Lauded Violinist Who Suffered Tragedy," "Overlooked No More: Betty Fiechter, Pioneer in the World of Watches," and "Overlooked No More: Pierre Toussaint, Philanthropist and Candidate for Sainthood." The shortening of the word biography to bio in this clue indicates the answer will be a shortened form as well, OBIT for obituary.
• EDNA (43A: Irish author O'Brien) EDNA O'Brien's first book, The Country Girls was published in 1960. It is the first in a trilogy of books about two Irish country girls that move to the city in search of love and adventure. The other two books in the trilogy are The Lonely Girl (1962) and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964). During a time when women in Ireland did not have many rights, EDNA O'Brien wrote about sexual matters and social issues facing women. All three books of the trilogy were banned by the Irish censorship board when they were published.
• SMH (51A: "i can't believe u did that") SMH = shaking my head.
• EID (66A: "___ Mubarak!")  "EID Mubarak" means "Blessed feast" or "Blessed festival" in Arabic. The Muslim greeting is used for the festivals of EID al-Fitr (a festival marking the end of Ramadan) and EID al-Adha (a holiday honoring Abraham's obedience to God). During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. This year Ramadan began on March 11, and will last through April 8, making this answer timely.
• TRIOS (5D: The Chicks and Haim) The Chicks are a country music TRIO whose members are Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer, and Martie Maguire. Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire are sisters. The Chicks released their latest album, Gaslighter, in 2020. Haim is a pop rock TRIO whose members are sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim.
• ADHD (12D: "Adulting With ___" (Sarah Snyder podcast)) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was previously thought to be a childhood condition. However, though the symptoms may exhibit differently in adulthood, ADHD is now classified as a "lifespan neurodevelopmental condition." ADHD was also thought, for many years, to occur more frequently in boys and men than in girls and women. Studies have found that ADHD presents differently in girls and women, and therefore, many cases have gone undiagnosed in females. Sarah Snyder was diagnosed with ADHD in 2015 at the age of 34. Following her diagnosis, she began blogging about her experience, and sharing resources she had discovered. Recent episodes of her podcast, "Adulting with ADHD," include "The ADHD Drug Shortage," "AI and ADHD," and "How do people with ADHD stay motivated."
• CHEAT (28D: Use the "rosebud" code in "The Sims," say) This is an example of a clue that was improved during the editing process. I have a limited gaming experience, and so, although I did originally clue the word CHEAT in relation to video games, my clue was generic [Video game code that enables a shortcut]. Amanda made this clue more interesting by adding a specific example of a CHEAT code. The Sims is a series of video games in which the player creates and controls virtual people and manages their living environment. (I have played The Sims before!) While playing The Sims, the cheat code "rosebud" gains a player money. The term "rosebud," is a reference to the 1941 movie, Citizen Kane. Thank you, Amanda – I appreciate you!
• ARIES (31D: Some March births) If your birthday is today, or coming up soon, you're an ARIES. The first astrological sign of the zodiac, ARIES is the sign for people born between March 20 and April 19. People born in March under the sign of Aries include Mariah Carey (March 27), Lady Gaga (March 28), my mom (March 27), and my daughter (March 31).
• EAR (39D: Play it by ___) "Play it by EAR," is a saying I associate with my dad. "We'll just have to play it by EAR," he'd say, sometimes while tugging on his EAR as he spoke. This one's for you, Dad.
• REE (50D: "Feel So High" singer Des'___) "Feel So High" is a single from British singer Des'REE's debut album, Mind Adventures (1992). Interestingly, this song is excluded from the U.S. edition of the album, and is instead included as a bonus track on the U.S. edition of Des'REE's second album, I Ain't Movin'.
• TESS (58D: "The Surgeon" author Gerritsen) TESS Gerritsen is an author and a retired physician. Her medical thriller, The Surgeon, published in 2001, featured homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. TESS Gerritsen's series of books based on these characters inspired the TV series Rizzoli & Isles.
• EPA (60D: Org. concerned with air quality) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the U.S. government. One of its duties is to administer the Clean Air Act, a law intended to decrease and control air pollution in the U.S.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• IS NOTHING SACRED (3D: "Show some respect!")
• I CAN'T BE BOTHERED (10D: "That's not worth my time")
• BORN AND BRED (17D: Having grown up in a certain place)

Each vertical theme answer ends with the letter string -RED, meaning the word RED is DEEP in each answer: IS NOTHING SACRED, I CAN'T BE BOTHERED, BORN AND BRED.

As a crossword constructor, I am always on the lookout for theme inspiration. The idea for this puzzle's theme came to me last September while my husband and I were on a road trip and I was enjoying the fall color. "Fall color," I thought, "that could be a theme with phrases ending in different colors." As sometimes happens, the execution of this idea proved tricky, as I couldn't find any phrases ending with the letter strings "yellow" or "orange." There were many options for phrases ending with the letter string -RED, however, so the theme shifted to become DEEP RED. I'm particularly happy with the grid-spanning conversational phrases, "IS NOTHING SACRED?" and "I CAN'T BE BOTHERED." I hope you enjoyed this puzzle as much as I enjoyed constructing it and writing about it.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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