Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword, Twist and Shout (Freestyle?)

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Twist and Shout (Freestyle?)

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

EMOTES (16A: Cosmetic items in Fortnite) Fortniteis an online video game first released in 2017 by Epic Games. EMOTES allow players to express themselves through certain gestures, dances, etc. The EMOTES do not affect gameplay, but are purely cosmetic.

HOST (28A: Shannon Beveridge, for the "Alphabet Club" podcast) The Alphabet Club podcast – with HOST Shannon Beveridge – bills itself as "The World's Most Inclusive Club." The podcast "celebrates the full spectrum of queer identity, community, and culture – one letter, one guest, and one joyful conversation at a time."

HONEY (53D: "Whoever You Are, ___" (Olivia Gatwood novel)) I have previously written about Olivia Gatwood's poetry, but I did not know she had written a novel. Whoever You Are, HONEY is Olivia Gatwood's debut novel; it was published last year. I enjoyed reading this Elle magazine interview with Olivia Gatwood in which she talks about Whoever You Are, HONEY.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

PHI (1A: Golden ratio symbol) The golden ratio, represented by the Greek letter PHI (Φ), is a mathematical ratio approximately equal to 1.618. The golden ratio commonly occurs in nature. For example, pine cone seeds tend to grow in patterns that relate to the golden ratio. The ratio is related to the Fibonacci sequence (a series of numbers where each number is added to the last).

NOUN (32A: Trick or treat?) The question mark here alerts solvers to expect a trick (pun intended!). The trick here is that this clue doesn't have anything to do with Halloween. Instead, "trick" and "treat" are examples of NOUNs. Speaking of NOUNs... Schoolhouse Rock is happy to remind us "A NOUN is a Person, Place, or Thing."

BALATRO (37A: Poker-themed roguelike deck-building game) I have previously written about the poker-themed game BALATRO (which I have played once or twice).

YES (47A: Ideal response to a proposal) This clue made me laugh!

A THOUSAND MILES (57A: Vanessa Carlton hit with the lyric "Makin' my way downtown, walking' fast / Faces pass and I'm homebound") "A Thousand Miles" is Vanessa Carlton's 2002 debut single. The music video for"A Thousand Miles"is worth a watch. Throughout the video, Vanessa Carlton is playing the piano, first in a garage, and then in various locations throughout Newbury Park and Los Angeles, California, where it was filmed.To film the video, the PIANO was put on a custom built dolly in order to transfer it to a flatbed truck.

PURINA (61A: Pet food brand) My cat, Willow, is happy for this pet content (even though she doesn't eat PURINA pet food).

ODE (65A: "___ to Epinephrine" (Franny Choi poem)) You can watch Franny Choi read her poem "ODE to Epinephrine" on the Button Poetry website.

POPEYE (66A: Spinach-eating sailor with giant forearms) The comic strip Thimble Theatre debuted in the New York Journal in 1919. The comic was in its tenth year, and had accumulated a modest following, when a new character was introduced. In 1929, a sailor named POPEYE was introduced to Thimble Theatre as a minor character. He became a fan favorite, and ultimately the comic was renamed after him. It was in 1932 that spinach was credited with the reason for POPEYE's strength.

ATHENA (18D: Goddess that burst from Zeus' head) In ancient Greek religion and mythology, ATHENA is a goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft. She was believe to have been born from the forehead of her father, Zeus, who was considered the king of the gods.

TIKTOK (21D: App with a Stitch feature) The Stitch feature on TIKTOK allows users to combine other publicly posted TIKTOK videos into their content.

ORA (29D: Pop singer Rita) My favorite Rita ORA fact (Everyone has a favorite Rita ORA fact, right?!) is that she is an honorary ambassador of Kosovo.

LOT (39D "I cry a ___ but I am so productive, it's an art") "I cry a LOT but I am so productive, it's an art," is a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song,"I Can Do It With a Broken Heart."The song is from her albumThe Tortured Poets Department.I would truly be disappointed if Amanda stopped including Taylor Swift content in her puzzles.

EARWIG (41D: Insect with pincers) Ten years ago I had one of those "word-of-the-day" calendars that I had been given as a gift. On February 17, 2015, the word of the day was EARWIG. You might ask how I remember that – and that's a valid question. I happened to take a photo of the entry and send it to a friend because at the time we had an inside joke about EARWIGs. Because of that, I still have a photo of the EARWIG day (the joy of digital photos!). The back of the calendar page informed me that EARWIGs got their name because people used to think that these insects crawled into people's ears while they slept. That is a truly horrifying thought, but fortunately untrue.

PSP (61D: _lay _tation _ortable) Clues using this divided fill-in-the-blank approach always look a bit strange to me. With this type of clue, each blank represents one letter. In this case, those letters are PSP for Play Station Portable.

A few other clues I especially enjoyed:

TEA (34A: It can be piping hot, literally or figuratively)

WHO'S WE (52A: "I did not sign on for that!")

ISN'T (5D: "This ___ my first rodeo")

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

WHAT'S THAT SOUND (20A: "Do you hear something?)

A THOUSAND MILES (57A: Vanessa Carlton hit with the lyric "Makin' my way downtown, walking' fast / Faces pass and I'm homebound")

TWIST AND SHOUT (Freestyle?): Each theme answer contains an anagram of the words "AND SHOUT": WHAT'S THAT SOUND and A THOUSAND MILES.

At first, I wondered if the question mark in the title was a mistake, but once I completed the puzzle and saw what was happening in the grid, I realize that the question mark is designed to invoke the question, "Is this a themed puzzle or a freestyle puzzle?" Each of the theme answers contains an anagram – a TWIST, if you will – of "AND SHOUT." I'm guessing there aren't an abundant number of possibilities for theme answers with this 8-letter anagram, and so we have two theme answers instead of the usual three or more. Let's call this one "themed-ish" (which happens to be my favorite type of freestyle puzzle). Thank you, Amanda, for this delightful puzzle.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for July 17, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher