Crossword Blog & Answers for March 7, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• TBS (27A: “American Dad!” network) American Dad! is an animated sitcom which premiered on Fox in 2005. The TV show moved to TBS in 2014 for its 12th season. The 21st season of American Dad! premiered on TBS in October 2024. The show centers on an eccentric upper middle class family – the Smiths – who live in a fictionalized version of Langley, Virginia. Stan Smith is the title character, who is a right-wing CIA agent.
• BRA (55A: Cosabella product) Cosabella is an Italian luxury lingerie brand founded in 1983 by Valerie Campello. This brand is new to me.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• SHOE (16A: Flip-flop or flat) Lovely alliteration here: Flip-flop or flat.
• MIAMI (17A: City in “The Birdcage” and “The Golden Girls”) The Birdcage is a 1996 movie adapted from a 1978 French movie, La Cage aux Folles (which was, in turn, adapted from a 1973 play). The movie is set in the South Beach neighborhood of MIAMI. The Golden Girls (1985-1992), the TV sitcom about four older women who are roommates, is also set in MIAMI, Florida.
• SLIME (32A: Glue-and-contact-solution concoction) SLIME is a non-Newtonian compound, which means it doesn’t behave like a solid or a liquid. You can pick it up like a solid, but it oozes like a liquid. SLIME can be made at home using glue, baking soda, and contact solution.
• BAHA’I (37A: Religion that originated in Iran) The BAHÁ’Í faith was established in the 1800s by Bahá’u’lláh, its prophet-founder who lived in Iran. The religion emphasizes the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. 
• BAD FEMINIST (56A: 2014 essay collection by Roxane Gay) Roxane Gay is an author, social commentator, and professor. She is currently the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and FEMINIST Studies at Rutgers University. She is also a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. BAD FEMINIST is Roxane Gay’s 2014 best-selling collection of essays, which explores what it means to be a FEMINIST while loving things that seem at odds with feminism.
• NACHO (66A: “What do you call cheese that’s not yours? ___ cheese!”) I am here for all the clues containing cheesy jokes!
• ATTA (70A: Chapati flour) ATTA is a type of wholemeal wheat flour that is often used to make flatbreads such as chapati, roti, and naan. Because of the high gluten content of ATTA flour, dough made with it is strong and elastic, and can be rolled into thin sheets.
• SAMBA (4D: Dance with lots of hip action) SAMBA is a dance that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro. SAMBA is characterized by fast, rhythmic footwork and rolling hip movements.
• AAVE (6D: Dialect in the Black community) I wrote about AAVE when we saw it a few days ago.
• SERIAL (8D: Sarah Koenig’s investigative journalism podcast)  SERIAL is an investigative journalism podcast that narrates a nonfiction story over several episodes. Sarah Koenig hosts SERIAL, which first aired in 2014. The fourth season of SERIAL aired last year. It focused on the history of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
• CHEESEHEAD (10D: Fan of the Green Bay Packers) CHEESEHEAD is a nickname used for Wisconsin residents. The nickname refers to Wisconsin’s abundant cheese production. It’s said that CHEESEHEAD was first used as an insult, but residents decided to embrace the name, which has also come to be associated with fans of the state’s NFL team, the Green Bay Packers. CHEESEHEAD hats (think large yellow foam triangles resembling cheese) are common sights at Green Bay Packers games.
• CORGI (21D: Burrito-esque dog breed) The Welsh CORGI is a breed of herding dog that originated in Wales. The dogs have short legs and a long body. Inspired by a video of a CORGI wrapping itself in a towel, it has become an online trend for CORGI owners to post burrito-esque photos and videos of their dogs.
• TRIBE (22D: Kaw Nation, for example) The Kaw Nation, also known as the “People of the South Wind” are a TRIBE of indigenous people in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas. 
• OBAMA (51D: “Becoming” author Michelle) Becoming is Michelle OBAMA’s 2018 memoir. I have previously written about the great memories I have associated with this book.
• TOTE (62D: Canvas bag) and TEA (64D: Leaves in a bag) Combining these clues here to get (a) TEA (bag) in a TOTE (bag).