There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Now Presenting… (Freestyle)
Constructor: Leo Tsai
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor
Leo: I’m so excited to be making my USA Today debut with this puzzle! The central entry is something I’m really happy to debut—I noticed last year in June that it was a grid-spanning 15 letters long, and seeded my first-ever 15×15 themeless puzzle with it. While that puzzle didn’t end up getting published, I’m glad I could reuse the spanner for this crossword! Thanks for solving 
What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle
- OCEAN (45D: Setting for the game Subnautica) Subnautica is a video game published in 2018. Players control a survivor of a spaceship crash that occurred on an alien planet covered with OCEAN. I was not familiar with this game, but the answer here was fairly inferable from the game’s title.
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- OWLS (6A: Birds found in the subreddit r/superbowl) This is a fun clue. The subreddit r/superbowl plays on the fact that “superbowl” not only parses to “super bowl,” but also to “superb owl.” Therefore, someone made this subreddit about OWLS.
- WRITES (21A: Fills in a crossword answer, maybe) I’m always up for a self-referential clue, and this one is lovely. The “maybe” here is an acknowledgement that solvers who are solving the puzzle online type in answers.
- ACHOO (24A: Sneezing sound) and PSHAW (25A: Scorning sound) A nice clue echo in the sound of these consecutive clues. Fun to find the puzzle making more sounds further down with TSKS (41A: Disapproving sounds).
- IDA (40A: Activist ___ B. Wells) IDA B. Wells (1862-1931) was an investigative journalist and a co-founder of the NAACP. In 2020, IDA B. Wells was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for “her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching.”
- ASTER (42A: Daisy relative) A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the similarities of ASTERs and daisies. They are in the same plant family.
- TOE BEANS (5D: Super-cute feature of cats’ paws) My cat, Willow, says, “Why, yes, my TOE BEANS are super-cute. Thanks for noticing!”
- OTTER (6D: Sea animal that uses rocks as tools) An OTTER may use a rock to help them crack open a mollusk or a crab. OTTERs have a loose pouch of skin under their arms that functions as a sort of pocket. An OTTER may store their favorite rock in their pocket, so this handy tool is always available.
- LOG (8D: Spot for signing your name on a geocache) A geocache is a container of items (usually a LOG, pencil, and a variety of small, inexpensive objects) that is hidden at a specific location for searchers to find using GPS coordinates. Searchers sign the LOG to let others know they’ve succeeded in finding the geocache.
- PELE (12D: Brazilian soccer legend) PELÉ (1940-2022) is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. During his career, PELÉ averaged a goal per game. PELÉ would have said he played football, rather than soccer, as the game Americans refer to as soccer is known as football in Brazil (as well as many other countries).
- ANTS (13D: Insects that can carry over 10 times their body weight) To put this in perspective, this would be like me carrying a ton, which is certainly not something I can do. I estimate I could carry about one-fourth of my body weight.
- STRAW (15D: Drinking implement with one hole, topologically) This clue made me laugh, because I know many people have spent time online arguing about whether a STRAW has one hole or two. The addition of the word topologically here, is one of the main arguments used by those that say a STRAW has one hole. (I agree that a STRAW has one hole, for what it’s worth.)
- RHO (22D: Greek letter that looks like a “p”) RHO (ρ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It comes after pi and before sigma, and it looks like the letter p.
- LOSER (29D: Player who topples the Jenga tower) This is a fun and descriptive way to clue the word LOSER.
- HEIST (44D: Theme for some escape rooms) I have yet to do an escape room. I’m sure I would enjoy it!
- A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
- BIKERS (46A: Athletes who might have GoPros on their helmets)
- SCAR (48A: “The Lion King” antagonist with a cut across his eye)
- GENES (60A: They make you you)
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
NOW PRESENTING… (Freestyle): There’s no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. The title is a nod to NEXT SLIDE PLEASE (34A: Request to advance a PowerPoint presentation).
I enjoyed the story told in today’s puzzle. First we have a question to the presenter, “ALL SET TO GO?” (17A: “Ready?”). Then we come to the presenter’s request, “NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.” We also have a directive to the presenter, “TAKE IT AWAY!” (53A: “Go ahead!”). I also chuckled at the one audience member who missed the presentation, “AM I TOO LATE?” (11D: “Is it already over?”). Congratulations to Leo Tsai making a USA Today crossword debut! Thank you, Leo, for this delightful puzzle.
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