“God Bless the ___”

Once upon a time, a young girl named Lily was sitting with her grandfather, working on a crossword puzzle. They had made some good progress, but were now stuck on a clue that read “God Bless the ___.”

Lily’s grandfather looked thoughtful for a moment, and then started chuckling to himself. “I know the answer to this one,” he said. “But you might not understand why it’s funny.”

Intrigued, Lily begged him to explain.

“Well, you see, back during World War II, a famous songwriter named Irving Berlin wrote a song called ‘God Bless America,’” her grandfather explained. “It was a big hit and came to be seen as a sort of unofficial national anthem for the United States.”

“I see,” said Lily, starting to understand.

“But over time, some people started to get a little tired of hearing that song all the time,” continued her grandfather. “So sometimes when they saw that clue in a crossword puzzle, they would write in ‘USSR’ instead of ‘USA’ as a little joke.”

Lily giggled. “That’s a funny joke,” she said.

“Yes, but it’s not exactly accurate,” said her grandfather. “The truth is, ‘God Bless America’ is still a popular and beloved song in the United States today. So ‘USA‘ really is the right answer to that clue.”

Lily nodded knowingly. “I’m glad we got that one right,” she said, getting back to work on the puzzle. She couldn’t wait to see what other interesting clues and stories her grandfather would help her uncover.