Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword, Right Over There (Freestyle)-InfoExpress

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Right Over There (Freestyle)

Constructor: Carolyn Davies Lynch

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor

Carolyn: One of my favorite things about cluing a puzzle is the opportunity it creates to read Wikipedia pages about such a wide variety of topics as I look for fun ways to clue the different puzzle entries. For this puzzle, I was so glad for the chance to learn more about some folks with the focus and strength to accomplish amazing things. For instance -- the iconic Anna Sui knew she wanted to be a fashion designer from age four (!!!), and followed that dream to the top of her field. The incredibly brave Little Rock Nine integrated a previously all-white Arkansas high school in 1957, standing up to hate and physical danger as they played a key role in our country's (still-ongoing) fight for educational equity. Soccer star Kate Markgraf has won Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship, and went on to be the General Manager of the US Women's soccer team. When I solve puzzles, I rarely take the time to read up on the people included in the grid -- so it's really fun to have a nudge to do so when I'm the one writing the clues! :)

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

KATE (55A: U.S. World Cup gold medalist Markgraf) KATE Markgraf is a retired professional soccer player. She was a member of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team from 1998-2010, playing in three Olympics (winning two gold and one silver medal) and three World Cup Championships (winning one gold and two bronze medals). KATE Markgraf was the General Manager of the U.S. National Team from 2019 to 2023. She was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame last year.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

PEA (8A: Veggie under a fairy tale mattress) This clue is a reference to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, "The Princess and the PEA." I went on a trip down memory lane with this clue, and dug out my copy of this story, which, as you can see from the picture, has been well-loved. The inscription inside of the book says it was given to me in 1968 by my grandparents. I read this book so many times as a child, and then read it to my children. My favorite illustration is the one showing the princess climbing a ladder to get to the top of the precarious stack of mattresses.

LITTLE ROCK (19A: "The ___ Nine" (teens who were involved in the desegregation of an Arkansas high school)) The LITTLE ROCK Nine were a group of Black students enrolled in the racially segregated LITTLE ROCK Central High School in 1957. (This was after the 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, that declared segregated schools unconstitutional.) The governor of Arkansas initially prevented the students from entering the school. President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened, issuing an executive order and instructing the Arkansas National Guard to support the integration of the school. The names of the LITTLE ROCK Nine are Melba Pattillo Beals, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Thelma Mothershed, Terrence Roberts, and Jefferson Roberts. Two TV movies have documented the story of the LITTLE ROCK Nine, Crisis at Central High (1981), and The Ernest Green Story (1993). Melba Pattillo Beals wrote a memoir about the experience titled Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate LITTLE ROCK's Central High (1994).
SUI (36A: Designer Anna who said "You have to focus on your dreams, even if they go beyond common sense") I first learned about fashion designer Anna SUI from the April 19, 2021 puzzle. Anna SUI's dreams of becoming a fashion designer certainly came true. She has been part of the New York fashion industry since the 1970s. As described on her website, Anna SUI is "known for creating contemporary original clothing inspired by spectacular amounts of research into vintage styles and cultural arcana."
SAINTS (41A: New Orleans NFL players) and MIAMI (43D: Home of the Heat) Today's puzzle is providing me with a review of the names of sports teams. The New Orleans SAINTS are a football team that joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1967. The MIAMI Heat are a basketball team that joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1988.
TRANS (44A: Like many of the characters and actors in "Pose") The TV series Pose (2018-2021) is centered on the Black and Latino LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming drag ball culture of the 1980s and 1990s. The series set a record for the number of TRANS actors cast as series regulars. One of those actors, Michaela Jaé (MJ) Rodriguez was the first TRANS lead to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
EDM (7D: Genre with drops) EDM, or electronic dance music, is a broad label for percussive electronic music that includes the genres dance-pop, house, techno, trance, drum and bass, dubstep, and trap. EDM popularized drops, or beat drops, which are parts of the music with a sudden change in the rhythm or bass line.
EUROS (9D: Italian money) Italy is one of the 20 European countries that use EUROS as their currency.
NILES (12D: "This Is Us" actor Fitch) The TV series This Is Us (2016-2022) follows the lives of two parents (Rebecca and Jack) and their three children (Randall, Kate, and Kevin). The show is set in the present, but uses flashbacks and flash forwards to tell the family's story across several time frames. NILES Fitch portrays the character of Randall as a 16-18 year old.
GRU (17D: "Despicable Me" protagonist) The animated movie, Despicable Me was released in 2010, and introduced the world to GRU (voiced by Steve Carell), a supervillain who turns out to be not as evil as he thought he was. That movie also introduced the Minions, GRU's childlike yellow assistants. Despicable Me 4 was released just over a week ago.
ECHO (31D: Fifth letter of the NATO alphabet) The NATO phonetic alphabet is a widely used radiotelephone spelling alphabet. Like the Greek alphabet, the NATO alphabet makes occasional appearances in crossword clues, so I like to take the opportunity to review it when it shows up. The NATO phonetic alphabet begins with Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, ECHO, Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel.
RENT (35D: Musical based on "La Boheme") Giacomo Puccini composed the opera La Bohème in the 1890s. It tells the story of the Bohemian lifestyle of a seamstress and her artist friends. Jonathon Larson loosely based his 1996 rock musical, RENT, on La Bohème. RENT tells the story of a group of struggling young artists living in the East Village neighborhood of East Manhattan.
PSY (51D: "Gangnam Style" artist) Remember "Gangnam Style" by the South Korean artist, PSY? It was in 2012 that the music video for "Gangnam Style" went viral and became the first YouTube video to exceed one billion views. The video now has over five billion views.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. RIGHT OVER THERE is a nod to ACROSS THE STREET (4D: Like a neighbor's house, maybe).

There are lots of lively answers in this puzzle. In addition to those I've highlighted above, I also enjoyed BETTER HALF, RAISES HELL, STRAIGHT UP, SWEET DREAMS, NEXT BEST, and WELL SAID. Thank you, Carolyn, for this enjoyable puzzle.