NovaQuant-Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Backpack

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

Constructor: Rachel Fabi

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor

Rachel: I rediscovered this theme set in my email drafts folder in February 2024. It had apparently sat in my outbox, addressed to then-USAT editor Erik Agard, since early 2021 (!!), before I resurrected it and sent it to Amanda :)

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• INTO (18A: "Descent ___ Avernus" (D&D adventure)) Almost everything I know about the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), I learned from crossword puzzles. And Rachel Fabi's puzzles, in particular, have taught me quite a bit about D&D. (See exhibits A, B, and C.) Baldur's Gate: Descent INTO Avernus is one of many published D&D campaigns. Although I wasn't familiar with the title, the answer was fairly inferable.
• EGYPT (19A: Country that celebrates Sham El-Nessim) Sham El-Nessim is a national holiday in EGYPT that marks the beginning of spring. The holiday's name translates to "smelling the breeze" in English, and appropriately, it's celebrated outside with picnics, music, and games. Sham El-Nessim is celebrated on the Monday after Coptic Easter (which occurs later than the Easter holiday in Western Christianity).
• ADAH (45D: ___ Belle Thoms (co-founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses) ADAH Belle Thoms (1870-1943) served as the acting director of the Lincoln Hospital and Home School of Nursing in New York City from 1906-1923. As the clue informs us, ADAH Belle Thoms co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. Her co-founders were Martha Minerva Franklin and Mary Mahoney. ADAH Belle Thoms was an original inductee into the American Nursing Association Hall of Fame in 1976.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• TEAMS (8A: Fever and Dream, for two) The Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream are WNBA TEAMS. I appreciate the choice of using two TEAMS in this clue whose names can be linked together in a phrase. "Fever dream" is a term used to refer to vivid, often bizarre dreams that are sometimes experienced when running a particularly high fever.
• HANOI (16A: Towers of ___ (logic puzzle) The Towers of HANOI (also seen as the singular Tower of HANOI) is a classic math puzzle. It consists of three rods and a number of disks of various sizes that can slide onto the rods. The puzzle begins with all of the disks stacked on one of the outer rods, in order of decreasing size, to resemble a pyramid. The goal is to move all the disks to the opposite outer rod while only moving one disk at a time, and at no time placing a disk on top of a disk that is smaller than it. The complexity of the puzzle is increased as the number of disks is increased. If you don't have a physical TOWER OF HANOI handy, you can try your hand at a computer version. 
• MIRACLE ON ICE (20A: American name for a particular 1980 hockey game) At the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Soviet Union was heavily favored to win the gold medal in hockey. The Soviet team had won the gold medal at the previous four Olympics, and had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968. Enter the United States hockey team, whose average age was 22. On February 22, 1980, the U.S. team met the Soviet team in the first medal round. In an astounding upset, the U.S. team won 4-3. In the final ten seconds of the game, Al Michaels, who was commentating the game for ABC, said, "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" That commentary led to the game being known as the MIRACLE ON ICE. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland and win the gold medal. Several movies and documentaries have been made about the MIRACLE ON ICE game, including the Disney movie, MIRACLE (2004) and an HBO documentary, Do You Believe in MIRACLEs (2001).
• EPA (32A: Org. that designates Superfund sites) A Superfund site (which sounds like a good thing, but isn't) is a polluted location in the United States that has been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as requiring environmental remediation (a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contamination). Superfund sites designated by the EPA are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) and are then eligible for investigation and cleanup. As of June of this year, there are 1,340 sites on the NPL.
• MOTEL SIX (36A: Economical lodging option) I cannot think of MOTEL SIX (MOTEL 6) without hearing Tom Bodett in my head saying, "We'll leave the light on for you." Tom Bodett has been the voice of MOTEL SIX since 1986.
• NOME (38A: Alaska city where the Iditarod ends) The Iditarod is an annual long-distance sled dog race. The Iditarod is held in early March. The race begins with a ceremonial start Anchorage, Alaska, and then the official restart occurs in the city of Willow (not to be confused with my cat, Willow!), 80 miles north of Anchorage. The Iditarod ends in NOME.
• ONE (46A: "The loneliest number") "ONE is the loneliest number that you'll ever do," is the opening line of Harry Nielson's 1968 song, "ONE." Three Dog Night released a cover of "ONE" in 1969 that was a hit in the U.S. and Canada.
• YEAR OF THE RAT (54A: 2008, 2020, and 2032, in the Chinese zodiac) The YEAR OF THE RAT is the first of the repeating 12-YEAR cycle in the Chinese zodiac. You may recall that we saw a reference to the YEAR OF THE Dragon (which is the current YEAR) yesterday.
• OBIE (62A: Theater award that aptly sounds like the first letters of "Off" and "Broadway") The OBIE Awards, also known as the Off-Broadway Theater Awards are presented annually to honor off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatre. The OBIE Awards were created in 1955 by The Village Voice newspaper.
• ENNUI (64A: Existential boredom) This answer reminds me of the Pixar animated movie, Inside Out 2, which was released last month. The movie, a sequel to Inside Out (2015), introduced ENNUI as a new emotion, voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos. I really enjoyed this representation of ENNUI.
• LENT (65A: Period before Easter) In Christianity, LENT is the 40-day period (not counting Sundays) leading up to Easter. LENT begins each year on Ash Wednesday.
• THE CAPE (8D: Where P-Town is) THE CAPE – aka CAPE Cod – extends into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeast corner of Massachusetts. Provincetown, also referred to as P-Town, is located at the extreme tip of the peninsula. P-Town is one of 15 towns on THE CAPE. As a popular resort area, the population of THE CAPE increases greatly during the summer.
• CATS (21D: Pets that use scratching posts) Did someone say CATS? My CAT, Willow, approves of this answer.

• IN OT (22D: When some ties are broken) As I was reviewing this puzzle, I looked at this answer and thought to myself, "What is I NOT?" It is important to parse answers correctly! IN OT (overtime), makes much more sense.
• AXONS (33D: Central parts of neurons) Neurons are the cells that make up the nervous system. These excitable cells use electric signals, conducted through long slender projections known as AXONS, to communicate with other cells. Hooray for science in the crossword!
• DEB (35D: Politician Haaland) Since March 16, 2021, DEB Haaland has been the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. She is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, and the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary.
• JADA (43D: "Girls Trip" actress Pinkett Smith) JADA Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, and Tiffany Haddish play reunited college friends who travel to New Orleans in the 2017 movie, Girls Trip. A sequel, Girls Trip 2, is currently in the works, and is set in Ghana.
• RNA (61D: Messenger molecule) We saw RNA in yesterday's puzzle.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• MIRACLE ON ICE (20A: American name for a particular 1980 hockey game)
• MOTEL SIX (36A: Economical lodging option)
• JUMBO JET (41A: Boeing 747 or Airbus A380, e.g.)
• YEAR OF THE RAT (54A: 2008, 2020, and 2032, in the Chinese zodiac)

The last (i.e. BACK) word of each theme answer can be paired with the word PACK to give us ICE PACK, SIX-PACK, JET PACK, and RAT PACK.

I am so glad Rachel found this theme idea in her email. Note to self: check your drafts folder. Speaking of email, in addition to the answers I've highlighted above, I also enjoyed the reminder in the clue for SCAM [4A: Email from a prince, probably]. Thank you, Rachel, for this delightful puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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