Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's crossword, "All Together Now" (Freestyle)
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! "All Together Now" (Freestyle)
Constructor: Matthew Stock
Editor: Amanda Rafkin
TINGA (51D: Mexican chicken dish) The Mexican dish TINGA consists of shredded chicken in a sauce of tomatoes, chipotle chilis in adobo, and sliced onions.
RAO (61D: Bollywood legend Akkineni Nageswara ___) Bollywood is a term used to refer to Hindi cinema. The word is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (the former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood." Akkineni Nageswara RAO (1923-2014) was an actor and film director. He had a seven decade career in Teluga cinema (films in the Teluga language), and appeared in over 250 movies. During that time he was honored with multiple awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest recognition in Indian cinema..
INTEGRATIVE CARE (17A: Collaborative practice among social workers, mental health counselors, doctors, etc.) INTEGRATIVE CARE seeks to address each patient's unique needs through the collaboration of professionals in various fields. Studies have shown that INTEGRATIVE CARE can improve outcomes for patients, as well as increase patient satisfaction.
DEERE (19A: John whose name is on lawn mowers) John DEERE founded his company in 1837 in Grand Detour, Illinois. That same year, he began manufacturing steel plows, which had an advantage over the iron and wooden plows Midwestern farmers had been using, because the steel surface slid easily through the soil. John DEERE now manufactures many kinds of machinery, including lawn mowers, combine harvesters, excavators, and tractors.
REGGAE (21A: Jamaican music genre) and SKA (47A: Jamaican music genre)This is a fun clue echo. SKA originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor of REGGAE, which developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
OPERAS (31A: Prima donna's shows) and ARIA (46D: 31-Across highlight) It's fun to see OPERAS and ARIA in the same puzzle. This reminds me of the April 29 puzzle, when we saw ARIA cross-referenced to the singular OPERA.
COSTA RICA (52A: Central American country home to over 900 species of birds) COSTA RICA is a country in the Central American portion of North America. It has coastline along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and borders Nicaragua and Panama. The capital of COSTA RICA is San José. COSTA RICA has a land area of just under 20,000 square miles, making it a bit smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia. Although it's a small country, its climate and varied habitat make it home to numerous bird species. It makes sense, therefore, that COSTA RICA is a popular birding destination.
YOGA MAT (66A: Floor covering in a hatha studio) Hatha YOGA is a branch of YOGA that focuses on stretching and flexibility, balancing periods of movement with periods of stillness.
OTTER (3D: Aquatic mammal with dense fur) A sea OTTER has the densest fur (nearly one million hairs per square inch) of any mammal. An OTTER's dense fur keeps them warm in the water by trapping air that acts as insulation. This trapped air also provides some buoyancy. Their dense fur is important, as OTTERs lack a layer of blubber found in some other marine mammals.
OSLO (29D: Norway's capital) OSLO is the capital of Norway and the country's most populous city. The city of OSLO was founded in 1040 A.D. Its original name was Ánslo. It has also been named Christiania (also spelled Kristiana).
AHOY MATEY (32D: Talk Like a Pirate Day greeting) AHOY, MATEY! You have some time to practice your pirate talk before the next Talk Like a Pirate Day. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19. The holiday began as an inside joke between two guys in Albany, Oregon – John Baur and Mark Summers. It gained more widespread recognition when they sent an email about their invented holiday to humor columnist Dave Barry, who liked the idea and promoted it in his column.
HAWK (35D: Javan ___-eagle (national bird of Indonesia)) The Javan HAWK-eagle is a medium-sized raptor endemic to Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
EDNA (36D: Novelist Ferber) EDNA Ferber (1885-1968) won a Pulitzer Prize for her 1924 novel, So Big. Some of her other works include Show Boat (1926, which was adapted into a musical), Cimarron (1930, adapted into a 1931 Academy Award-winning movie), and Ice Palace (1958, adapted into a 1956 movie).
CABO (52D: ___ San Lucas) CABO San Lucas is a city in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is located on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. CABO San Lucas is a resort city, and is one of Mexico's top tourist destinations. This answer brought up a memory of watching the TV series The Love Boat when I was growing up. Wow, I haven't thought about that for a long time! I looked it up to see if my memory was correct, and CABO San Lucas was one of the stops the boat made on the show.
PUMA (57D: Shoe brand named for a big cat) This may be my cat, Willow's, favorite shoe brand, as it's named for one of her big cat cousins)
STET (58D: Editor's "leave this") STET, a Latin word meaning "let it stand" is used in proofreading to indicated that a previously marked change is to be ignored.
A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed:
BLOOP (41A: Robot sound)
AHA (6D: "Eureka!")
"ALL TOGETHER NOW" (Freestyle): There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless puzzle. The title is a nod to INTEGRATIVE CARE (17A: Collaborative practice among social workers, mental health counselors, doctors, etc.)
Whenever a puzzle includes the entry NO NOTES (38D: "I think it's perfect") I'm tempted to use that phrase as my comments and leave it at that. Of course, I inevitably think of more I want to say! In addition to pertaining to the grid-spanning entry INTEGRATIVE CARE, the title "ALL TOGETHER NOW" could also pertain to a couple of other entries: CO-TEACHER (14A: One of two colleagues working together to run a classroom) and TEAM GAME (64A: Pastime such as baseball, but not ping-pong. Thank you, Matthew, for this enjoyable puzzle.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for May 4, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
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