Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Starter Homes

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Starter Homes
Constructor: Sala Wanetick
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
APPLE (1A: "I guess the ___ don't fall far from the tree" (Charli XCX lyric)) "I guess the APPLE don't fall far from the tree" is a line from Charli XCX's 2024 song "APPLE." This is a fun clue, because fans of Charli XCX will enjoy seeing the song referenced. However, the answer is still gettable for solvers not familiar with Charli XCX, since "the APPLE doesn't fall far from the tree" is a common idiom.
ABBA (6A: "Mamma Mia" group) Mamma Mia is a jukebox musical featuring the songs of ABBA. I've seen Mamma Mia multiple times, both the stage production and the movie adaptation. As I was refreshing my memory about which ABBA songs were included in Mamma Mia, I noticed that ABBA favored repetition in their song titles: "Honey, Honey," "Money, Money, Money," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!," and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do."
SOLID (13A: Like Mercury, but not mercury) Mercury (with a capital M) is a SOLID, rocky planet. However, mercury (with a lowercase m) is a silvery element that is a liquid (therefore not a SOLID) at standard temperature and pressure. I quite like this somewhat science-y clue.
ALI (16A: Academy Award winner Mahershala) Mahershala ALI has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. In 2017, he received an Academy Award for his portrayal of Juan (a drug dealer who becomes a father figure to the film's main character) in the movie Moonlight. In 2019, Mahershala ALI received an Academy Award for his portrayal of Don Shirley (an African American pianist who hires an Italian American bouncer – played by Viggo Mortensen – as his driver) in the biographical movie Green Book.
THC (21A: Psychoactive ingredient in pot brownies) Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active ingredient in many weed gummies and other cannabis-infused edibles such as pot brownies. THC can induce a range of effects including, relaxation, euphoria, heightened sensory perception, and either decreased or increased anxiety.
OSCAR (31A: Muppet who lives in a trash can) I'm a fan of the curmudgeonly OSCAR the Grouch who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street. OSCAR was originally performed by puppeteer Caroll Spinney (1933-2019), who also played Big Bird. Since 2018, OSCAR has been performed by Eric Jacobson.
FUN (43A: "All I wanna do is have some ___ / I got a feelin' I'm not the only one" (Sheryl Crow lyric)) "All I Wanna Do" is a 1994 song by Sheryl Crow. "All I wanna do is have some FUN / I got a feelin' I'm not the only one..." Here's my FUN fact about Sheryl Crow: In the early 1980s, we both lived in Columbia, Missouri (though we didn't know each other). Sheryl Crow was a student at the University of Missouri at that time, and I was attending high school.
SOUL (44A: 2020 Pixar film about a jazz musician) SOUL is a 2020 Pixar movie. The animated film focuses on the life of Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a part-time music teacher who dreams of playing jazz full-time. After Joe's SOUL and body are accidentally separated, he must find a way to reunite them. SOUL won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.
TNT (45A: "Inside the NBA" channel) Inside the NBA is a TNT show that does halftime and postgame analysis of NBA games. The show is hosted by Ernie Johnson, and analysis is currently provided by Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kenny Smith.
EGGS (50A: Masala omelet ingredients) A masala omelet is an omelet variation associated with Indian cuisine. The main ingredients of the dish are EGGS, onions, green chilies, and tomatoes.
MALI (56A: Landlocked West African country) MALI is (as the clue informs us) a landlocked country in West Africa. MALI is bordered by Algeria, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Senegal. The capital of MALI is Bamako.
MACAROON (10D: Cookie often eaten during Passover) A MACAROON is a mounded cookie made with egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds; it often contains coconut. MACAROONs may be eaten during the Jewish holiday Passover, since they are kosher and do not contain leavening or flour.
ASS (35D: Mule's dad) A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (aka ASS) and a female horse.
GAMING (51D: Playing Minecraft, say) Minecraft is a sandbox game, a video game in which players have a chance to be creative and explore the world without a set objectives to accomplish. While GAMING, players can discover and extract raw materials, craft tools, and build things.
SITTER (53D: Person looking after pets) My cat, Willow, is not a fan of being left with a SITTER, and she always has a lot to say about it afterwards.
LGA (64D: Airport near JFK) John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA) both serve the New York City (NYC) Metropolitan area. Both JFK and LGA are located in the NYC borough of Queens, about 10 miles apart from each other.
OBI (65D: ___-Wan Kenobi) This clue has me wondering which Star Wars character shows up in crosswords most often. Is it OBI-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, Luke Skywalker...?
A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
PLURAL (3D: Like "geese" and "cacti")
ABACUS (6D: Calculator with beads)
HULA HOOP (39D: Round toy that's twirled)
STUDIO AUDIENCES (17A: Sitcoms are often filmed in front of them)
HOUSE DRESSING (39A: Part of a restaurant's standard salad)
LODGE A COMPLAINT (64A: Gripe to the manager, say)
STARTER HOMES: The first, or STARTER, word of each theme answer is a type of HOME: STUDIO, HOUSE, and LODGE.
Make yourself at HOME, whether you live in a STUDIO, a HOUSE, or a LODGE. I particularly enjoy the fact that each type of HOME does not mean HOME in the theme answer. Thank you, Sala, for this interesting puzzle.
USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 4, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher

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Lesser-Known Movie Facts You Might Not Know

Before The Devil Wears Prada was even published, Fox 2000 snapped up the film rights in a preemptive deal after reading 100 pages and an outline. The manuscript by Lauren Weisberger, a former assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, was generating significant industry buzz. Studio exec Carla Hacken recognized its cinematic potential and moved quickly to option it in 2003. Tasked with writing was Aline Brosh McKenna, who found it hard for anyone in the fashion world to talk to her because they feared being blackballed by Anna. According to McKenna, she did find someone (whom she will never name) who spoke to her, and then read the script. After reading the script, they told her, "The people in this movie are too nice. No one in that world is too nice. They don't have to be, and they don't have time to be." McKenna took the note and made "everyone a bit busier and meaner." The Devil Wears Prada isn't just one of the most iconic fashion films of the 2000s — it's a landmark in fashion cinema, period. But despite it being set in the fashion world, the film had a modest wardrobe budget of just $100,000, pushing legendary costume designer Patricia Field (who is best known for work on Sex and the City) to tap into her deep fashion Rolodex. Field envisioned Andy Sachs as a "Chanel girl" and personally reached out to the fashion house, leveraging her longtime relationship and sharing the script. Chanel eagerly came on board, excited to see their designs on a younger character. This partnership, of course, famously led to Andy's iconic Chanel boots moment. Field ended up pulling about a million dollars worth of clothes for the film. Her work on the movie was also recognized with an Oscar nomination for Best Costume in case you're wondering, Field imagined Miranda Priestly as someone who wore Donna Karan. She ended up pulling many archival pieces from Donna Karan for the film. After seeing a very rough cut of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma were skeptical, with Coppola saying that they were concerned for George Lucas. The early version lacked finished visual effects, had scenes of WWII dogfights as place holders for space fights, and had no music. All added up, it made it hard for viewers to grasp what Lucas's full vision was. Steven Spielberg, however, was one of the few who believed in the film from the beginning and predicted it would be a massive hit. Wicked was always meant to be a movie. Before it became a Broadway phenomenon, Universal had already acquired the rights to Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel with the intention of turning it into a film. However, producer Marc Platt struggled to adapt it into a screenplay, saying, "[It] felt that it was missing something." One day, he got a call from composer Stephen Schwartz, who knew he had the rights, and Schwartz asked him if he had ever thought of making it into a musical. That's when the "lightbulb went off" in his head, and Platt decided to work with Schwartz to make it into a musical. He thought that if the musical was successful enough, it could be turned into a movie. The term "prequel" is often associated with the Star Wars prequel films. However, those weren't the first movies to use the word. The 1979 movie Butch and Sundance: The Early Years is credited as being the film that helped popularize the term. The movie was a prequel to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In 1988, when it was announced that Michael Keaton was cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's Batman, fans were outraged and very skeptical, reportedly sending over 50,000 protest letters to Warner Bros. At the time, Keaton was best known for comedic roles like Mr. Mom, and many felt he lacked the physicality and gravitas required to play the Dark Knight. Critics and fans also feared that, because of his casting, the film would be too campy or repeat the tone of the 1960s TV series. Similar to Michael Keaton, fans were not happy that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Today, it's hard to even imagine anyone else in the Oscar-winning role. However, when it was first announced that he would be playing the role in 2006, people online lost their collective shit, thinking he was too much of a "pretty boy" for the role, wouldn't have the chops to do it, and overall just a really bad choice. Some even campaigned for him to be removed from the part. After Chris Farley's death (who was originally cast as the voice of Shrek), Nicolas Cage was offered the role by his friend and the head of DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg. However, Cage turned down the role because he didn't want to play an ugly green ogre. In a 2013 interview with Today, he clarified what he meant by that when he turned down voicing the character, saying, "Truth is, I'm not afraid to be ugly in a movie.... When you're drawn, in a way it says more about how children are going to see you than anything else, and I so care about that." In All About Eve, Bette Davis as Margo Channing wears an off-the-shoulder silk cocktail dress in the party scene that is not only one of the most iconic dresses in film history, but has also become synonymous with Davis herself. Legendary costume designer Edith Head designed the dress; however, it was not meant to be off the shoulder — it was supposed to be a square neckline. The dress was made late and delivered to the set right before filming the scene. According to Head, she came to the studio to find Davis wearing a dress that "didn't fit at all... Someone had miscalculated, and the entire bodice and neckline were too big." Horrified, Head prepared to go tell the film's director that the dress was not ready, but Davis shrugged it off, pulled it down around her shoulders, and quipped, "Don't you like it better like this anyway?" As part of her contract, Glenn Close got to keep all her Cruella de Vil costumes from 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians. However, according to Close, when Disney "found out how expensive they were, they were unhappy that it was in my contract." Disney then offered to create replica outfits for her to take instead of the originals, but she said no. It's hard to imagine anyone other than Emma Thompson as the deliciously wicked Baroness in Cruella — her performance was pitch-perfect and effortlessly commanding. But surprisingly, she wasn't Disney's first pick for the role. The studio initially eyed Nicole Kidman to play the icy fashion designer. Also, the original live-action Cruella de Vil, Glenn Close, is an executive producer on Cruella. Elton John's journey with Disney began when lyricist Tim Rice was tapped to help complete Aladdin following the death of Howard Ashman, who passed away from complications related to AIDS in 1991, just months before Beauty and the Beast was released. Rice had been brought in to collaborate with composer Alan Menken (who had had a musical partnership with Ashman), but when Disney began work on The Lion King, Menken was unavailable. Looking for a new musical partner, Rice suggested none other than Elton John. The pairing proved legendary, resulting in one of the most iconic and beloved soundtracks in Disney history. The two had worked together in 1982 on John's song "Legal Boys." The Wizard of Oz may be a beloved classic today, but it wasn't a box office hit when it premiered in 1939. With a massive budget for its time, the film struggled to earn back its production costs. Despite critical acclaim, its initial theatrical run fell short financially. It wasn't until years later — thanks to frequent re-releases and television broadcasts — that the film finally turned a profit. Also, the reason the film has become such an iconic piece of pop culture is that starting in 1956, it began having yearly TV showings that helped introduce it to new generations of kids over the decades. The first gay kiss in a film was in 1927's Wings. The movie is about two World War I combat pilots and close friends fighting for the same woman's affection. But many have pointed out over the decades that the film has a subtle gay subtext about the two being more than just friends. Wings is also noted as the first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Truman Capote, who wrote the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, disliked Audrey Hepburn's performance as Holly Golightly in the film adaptation. He had really wanted Marilyn Monroe (who turned down the role after being advised against it) to play the character. In fact, Hepburn wasn't even a second, third, or fourth choice to play Holly. After Monroe turned down the role, the producers considered casting Debbie Reynolds, Doris Day, and Elizabeth Taylor in the part before finally settling on Audrey. And for the record, Capote didn't just hate Hepburn's performance; he hated the entire movie in general because it steered away from the darker themes in his book. In the original script for The Addams Family, it was supposed to be revealed at the end that Uncle Fester truly was an imposter. However, Christina Ricci voiced her concern about that ending to the film's director, Barry Sonnenfeld, who decided to change the scene after talking to her. According to Sonnenfeld, the entire cast was unhappy with that ending during the first table read, except for Christopher Lloyd. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Sonnenfeld explained how, with some nudging from Anjelica Huston, Ricci made a really thoughtful case: "Christina explained to me how the audience would be left emotionally adrift if it wasn't the real Fester. Does that mean the real Fester is still out there? And how could Gomez just give up his search for his brother after all these years just because this impostor came into their family?" Contrary to popular belief (internet lore?) Leonardo DiCaprio never turned down the role of Max in Hocus Pocus because he couldn't have accepted even if he wanted it. It's a bit convoluted, but he was asked to come in to read for it, but with director Kenny Ortega being fully aware that he was unavailable to do the movie because he was already committed to filming What's Eating Gilbert Grape and This Boy's Life. According to Ortega, DiCaprio was brought in to read for the role because the casting people knew he would be very good and that it would inspire Ortega to find the right guy to play Max. Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis paid for two Forrest Gump scenes (one was the scene where Forrest runs across the US) to be filmed out of their own pockets. According to Hanks, Paramount refused to increase the film's $55 million budget, and just the running scene alone would be very expensive to shoot. Hanks and Zemeckis agreed to pay for the scenes in return for a larger percentage of the film's box office gross. He said that they both put in a lot of money, but it paid off! Reportedly, Hanks earned $65 million from his percentage of the box office gross. The iconic boulder-rolling scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark is an homage to a very similar thing that happened in the 1954 Scrooge McDuck comic "The Seven Cities of Cibola." 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How ‘Elio' Pays Homage to Classic Sci-Fi Films Like ‘The Thing,' ‘Close Encounters' and ‘Alien'

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for 'Elio,' now playing in theaters. Disney Pixar's latest animated feature, 'Elio' centers on a young orphan boy who is desperate to be abducted by aliens. More from Variety Box Office: '28 Years Later' Chomps on $14 Million Opening Day; 'Elio' Facing Pixar's Lowest Debut Ever as 'How to Train Your Dragon' Rules Again New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Box Office: '28 Years Later,' Pixar's 'Elio' to Battle for Second Place as 'How to Train Your Dragon' Looks to Hold at No. 1 The premise of the film igave the creatives a perfect opportunity to pay homage to great sci-fi classics, including 'Alien' and John Carpenter's 'The Thing.' But the one film directors Domee Shi ('Turning Red') and Madeline Sharafian ('Burrow') referenced a lot was 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' Shi explains, 'We reference that movie a lot because it's also about a guy who's in love with space.' She adds, 'We loved how that film gave the aliens a big drum roll and with the tone, you didn't quite know were they friendly? What are their intentions? And we liked that aura of mystery for the Communiverse.' Disney Pixar's 28th feature was also co-written and directed by Adrian Molina ('Coco') with Shi and Sharafian stepping in to take over directing. The two spoke with Variety from Annecy, where the film screened for audiences, about Easter eggs and how its theme of loneliness resonates in today's world. Madeline Sharafian: What helped us a lot was that, as Adrian was making 'Elio' and his original pass, he screened it many times as we do at Pixar. Over the years, we have watched the story grow, and we were familiar with the characters and with the world, which I think made it a lot easier for us to jump in. We were aligned with his taste. I'd worked with him on 'Coco' and Domee worked with him on 'Turning Red.' Once we had the film in our hands, we were given a lot of freedom, and we were allowed to make big shifts. One of the things we did was we changed Elio's drive. We added the idea that he wants to be abducted by aliens, which was a really fun thing to play with, and that made him this weird, compelling character. Like, why do you want to be abducted? Domee Shi: We were inspired by our past and our childhoods. Being these lone, nerdy kids in our hometown who like drawing every single day, hoping and praying that we could go to animation school one day and find our people. That was the inspiration for the character of Elio. We always loved Adrian's concept of the world's weirdest kid being mistaken for the leader of Earth and getting abducted. But in giving him this kooky drive at the beginning of the movie, it endeared us to him because we were fellow nerds who eventually found our people, not in space, but at Pixar. Sharafian: Olga, voiced by Zoe Saldaña, is an amazing character because she is representative of Earth for Elio. She's part of the reason why he's writing Earth off entirely, because he doesn't realize at the beginning of the film that she's just as lonely as he is. She's right there next to him, but we always talked about how he's too busy looking at the stars, and he never looks at her. We told the animators to focus on that and the scenes that they have together. He never directs his attention at her until the end of the film, when he finally returns to Earth. We made that scene where they reunite, all about seeing each other and their similarities. Shi: It was always the core relationship of the story: Olga and Elio. That was another shift in the story that we brought on when we joined. Writer Julia Cho ('Turning Red') pitched to us the idea of turning Olga from Elio's mom to Elio's aunt. It's a family dynamic that isn't as commonly seen in a lot of movies. But there are all kinds of families in real life, and it clicked for us. It made Elio feel like his life on earth was more unstable. It made Olga feel unprepared, put her under pressure, and more prone to making mistakes. It gave them more conflict. Also, it was another way that we were able to relate personally to the character of Olga, too, of this career woman overwhelmed with a sudden and unexpected present that lands on their lap. Shi: We talked to a lot of child psychologists for this film. We even consulted with the U.S Surgeon General at the time, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who talked about the epidemic of loneliness in our current day society, and how a lot of people are finding it harder to connect with others and to make friends. One of the things we discovered with the experts this idea that one of the steps to curing loneliness is to admit that you are lonely and that you need help. But a lot of people don't do that, because it's also a feeling that brings about a lot of guilt and shame. The first thing that Elio does, when he really does cement his bond with Glordon in the movie, is that he lets his walls down and reveals that deep, vulnerable part of himself that he's been burying inside. When he admits to Glordon, 'I'm afraid that there's something wrong with me, that it's not earth.' That's a really big step for him. He's never admitted that to anybody. Shi: Both of us are huge fans of horror, and it was fun to pitch ways that we could include it in the movie. Sharafian: The musicality and the way the Communiverse first contacts Elio is totally an homage to 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' We reference that movie a lot because it's also about a guy who's in love with space. But we loved how that film gave the aliens a big drum roll, and with the tone. You didn't quite know, are they friendly? What are their intentions? And we liked that aura of mystery for the Communiverse before we reveal it. Shi: John Carpenter's 'The Thing' with the clone. And definitely 'Alien' (in an exchange between Elio and Glordon). Sharafian: We were inspired by 'Contact' as a movie that uses space as healing for the main character. Shi: All the classic Pixar Easter eggs are in there, too. We got the Pizza Planet Truck, the Luxo Ball. We even have an Easter egg that hints at our next movie, 'Hopper.' It's hidden in plain sight, and there's an Easter egg for Maddie's short film 'Burrow' (on the sunscreen bottle). Shi: In our post-COVID, current world of craziness, I feel like a lot of people are probably feeling how Elio is feeling. They're struggling with a lot of their issues, silently. But when they watch 'Elio,' our hope is that they feel inspired to share their struggle and make a connection with someone. This interview has been edited and condensed. 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