Concluding Thoughts

 Sally's Final Takes

A woman has a calico cat on her lap. The woman is wearing a teal dress, has brownish-gray hair and is wearing glasses.

Hey, friends!

As I write this, I've recently written my last Sally's Take blog post. I made a cup of tea and now I'm back at the keyboard. I couldn't say goodbye to 6+ years of Sally's Take without a few final comments. You know by now that I always have plenty to say. I also asked a few friends for suggestions of things to include in this wrap-up post. 

First, let's look at some data. I do like data and numbers. Here's a recap of Sally's Take by the numbers:

  • 3 = Goals. Since I began blogging about the USA Today crossword on June 9, 2020, I've had three goals for my write-ups: that they be Informational, Conversational, and Kind. From the beginning I have considered this blog to be less of a review of the puzzles, and more of a conversation about each day's puzzle. Yes, my goals form the acronym ICK! The acronym was unintentional, but when I realized it I was amused. I have tried to avoid being ICK by adhering to my ICK goals.
  • 2,275 = Blog posts. Since June 9, 2020, there have been 2,275 USA Today puzzles. (Side note: One of those puzzles was a rerun.) That means there have been 2,275 blog posts (not counting a couple of announcement posts and this one). From March 11, 2024 to July 31, 2025, the blog was on the USA Today website as the "Off the Grid" column. Those 508 blog posts are included in this total. 
  • 252 = Constructors. Those 2,275 puzzles have been created by 252 different constructors. Thank you to each and every one of those constructors for making delightful puzzles that have been a joy to write about.
  • 2 = USA Today lead editors. When I began writing this blog, Erik Agard was the USA Today editor. I didn't know him at the time, but I emailed him and said, "Hey, I'm thinking about blogging about the puzzle." Erik, if you're reading this, I cannot thank you enough for all of your support of this person who just contacted you out-of-the-blue with this crazy idea. Amanda Rafkin took over as the lead editor of USA Today in 2023, and she has been extremely supportive as well. Amanda, many thanks to you as well, for all of your support and for putting up with all of my emails.
  • 9 = Guest Bloggers. During the first few years of Sally's Take, I didn't have early access to the puzzles. That meant if I wanted to take a day off, I needed to ask someone to fill in for me. Much gratitude to these folks who wrote a collective total of 45 blog posts: Mollie Cowger, Kelsey Dixon, Enrique Henestroza Anguiano, Erica Hsiung Wojcik, Brooke Husic, Will Nediger, Shannon Rapp, Sid Sivakumar, and Matthew Stock. If you do the math and subtract the guest blogs and the duplicate puzzle (I mean, I did write a blog that day, but it referred back to my previous post), I have written 2,229 blog posts since June 9, 2020.
  • 19,967 = Answers highlighted. The unique answers I've highlighted in the blog (some have been mentioned multiple times, of course) range alphabetically from A FLASH IN THE PAN to ZOUK.
  • 191 = ERIE mentions. While I've been blogging, ERIE has appeared as an entry 191 times – that means it's been in 8% of the puzzles. (Side note: There are words that have been in the puzzle more often, I'm sure – looking at you ORE and OAR – but I don't always blog about them.) With these 191 mentions, ERIE wins the "Most blogged about crossword friend" award." ASIA was a fairly close second, with 172 mentions. We've seen our crossword friend OREO in 124 puzzles while I've been blogging. Congratulations to ERIE. I will note that we have only seen ERIE 7 times this year, while ASIA and OREO have each made 15 appearances each in 2026. I guess ERIE is lucky I've decided to stop blogging, or it may have lost its title. (As a reminder, the only thing these numbers mean is that I like data.)
  • 656 = Cat mentions. It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that I have talked about cats a lot during my time blogging! In fact, 29% of my blog posts mention cats. Often those mentions have been accompanied by a photo of my cat, Willow. Sometimes other cats have been featured, so I
    don't know exactly how many Willow photos I've shared over the last six years, but I think it's fair to say it's been close to 600. It may surprise some of you to learn that in my first year of blogging I only mentioned cats 49 times (13% of blog posts), and I only shared a photo of Willow on 19 of those occasions! The first time I shared a photo of Willow was on June 26, 2020. When I began blogging, Willow agreed to help me "write" Sally's Take, but in exchange for her assistance, she insisted I had to highlight all cat content in the puzzle. Apparently over time I began to share more and more photos of her, and here we are.
  • 48 = Pets featured. Speaking of cats... After I'd been writing the blog for a bit, I invited constructors and readers to share their pet photos with me to be featured on the blog. I have shared photos of 48 different pets: 32 cats, 14 dogs, and 2 guinea pigs. Some of those pets have (like Willow!) been featured multiple times, but you can see all 48 of them gathered in one place on the Cats+ page.
  • 13 = Mentions of my favorite word. A friend of mine suggested I choose a random word and see how many times I have mentioned it on the blog. I think this is a fun idea, and though it's not completely random, I decided to see how many times I have used my favorite word, ubiquitous. Approximately twice a year, though not evenly distributed, as I notice I've used it twice in the last week!
  • 10 = Kelly Clarkson mentions. This may seem like a random bit of data; well, it is! But there's a reason I decided to look up how many times I wrote about Kelly Clarkson (other than the fact that I'm a fan). After I decided Sally's Take would end on August 31, I discovered that The Kelly Clarkson Show is also ending after today. The show began on September 19, 2019, so about nine months before this blog. I'm honored to share an ending date with Kelly Clarkson.
As I've made the decision to stop blogging, I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting on my blogging experience. Here are a few highlights from those reflections:
  • Memorable puzzles. Several people have asked me to comment on my favorite puzzles. Honestly, I have enjoyed every single USA Today puzzle over the last six years, and it's impossible for me to pinpoint one as a favorite. Part of my blogging philosophy has been to find something great to highlight and enjoy in each puzzle. That being said, there have been some memorable puzzles. These puzzles have stuck with me and I continue to think about them.
    • At the top of this list is Erik Agard's January 16, 2023 puzzle, "'Tis the Season." This puzzle was made to make a point and it does so absolutely brilliantly. I still think about this puzzle on a regular basis.
    • One of the things I appreciate about USA Today as a venue is that they are willing to run consecutive puzzles that form a series, either by their content or simply their titles. A very memorable example of this is the week-long series of puzzles that ran in April of 2022. 
    • Matthew Stock has constructed a couple of puzzle series that have stuck with me. The puzzles didn't run consecutively, but were definitely related.
    • It's a surreal and fun thing to blog about one's own puzzles! When I began blogging about the USA Today puzzles, I hadn't yet had a USA Today crossword. A couple of my puzzles that were extra special to blog about were my first USA Today puzzle, a collaboration with Olivia Mitra Framke (that turned out to be the first of many!) and the puzzle I constructed to celebrate my 60th birthday. (Many thanks to Amanda for being willing to run that puzzle on my birthday!)
  • Memorable clues. I've also been asked about my favorite clue(s). There have been many excellent clues over the last six years. 
    • Favorite clue: I do have a favorite clue! My favorite clue of the last six years appeared in Erik Agard's May 22, 2021 puzzle, "Bothsidesism." The clue is ["___'s Take on the USA Today Crossword" (blog)]. You can understand why it's my favorite! I have a distinct memory of sitting in my kitchen solving this puzzle. I almost fell off my chair when I came to this clue. This was the first time I had experienced seeing myself in a crossword. (Thank you, Erik!)
    • One of the wonderful things about solving puzzles made by a variety of constructors is that each constructor brings their own voice to the table. As I've gotten to know the constructors of the USA Today puzzles, it's been lovely to become familiar with each constructor's voice. Amanda Rafkin and Amie Walker's puzzles frequently have Taylor Swift references. Taylor Swift also makes regular appearances in Rafael Musa's puzzles and I expect to see geography references in Rafa's puzzles as well. Rachel Fabi is fond of putting Dungeons & Dragons content in her puzzles. I've learned a lot about Asian culture from Zhouqin Burnikel. I could go on and on! When I am solving a constructor's puzzle and I encounter a clue that I recognize as their voice, it always makes me smile.
    • There have been a few times when a certain type of clue begins trending in the puzzle. When I recognize those, I always enjoy them. (See my aforementioned fondness for series.)
  • Realizations. I've spent the last six years not just solving the USA Today crosswords, but delving into them. I have gained an amazing amount of knowledge from this process.
    • There's the actual knowledge I've gained. I'm fond of saying "(Almost) everything I know about ___ I've learned from crosswords." Fill in the blank: sports, TV shows, Dungeons & Dragons, Pokémon... The list goes on and on. On an almost daily basis, I'll come across a topic and think, "Oh, I've written about that..." I hope I'll continue the habit of looking up things I encounter in crosswords that I want to learn more about.
    • Blogging has made me a better and more intentional constructor (at least I'd like to think so). They say "if you want to improve as a crossword constructor, solve more crosswords." This is true, and I would add, "then write about them." For example, I took notice of the clues for EYRE I mentioned above and thought, "Oh, using those quotes made those clues interesting." It always made me happy to see science in the puzzle, so I started making an effort to put more science in my puzzles. These are just two examples. There are so many of these little observations I've noted and internalized over the years. 
    • I've discovered there's something to celebrate in every single puzzle. You don't have to like every puzzle you solve. But there's fun to be had and things to enjoy even in puzzles that may not be your favorite. I've occasionally noted things I don't care for. (I am human!) I made a deliberate choice not to call those things out, because my goal has been to lift up and celebrate what works in the puzzles. I'm reminded of the saying, "You find what you're looking for." During the early days of this blog I received a few comments along the lines of "But what about (fill in something the commenter didn't like about the puzzle)? It took practice for me not to get defensive on behalf of the constructor. In general, my eventual approach to those comments became, "Did you notice (something great about the puzzle)?" 
There's so much more I could say! But I've rambled on quite a bit already. One final word of thanks, though, and it's perhaps the most important of all. Thank YOU! Thank you for supporting the blog in so many ways, by reading, by reaching out to me by email, by sharing your pet photos, by financial support, by commenting, etc. This is a bittersweet ending for me. How blessed I am to have gotten to do something that is difficult to say goodbye to.

With much gratitude,

Sally

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