TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Roast Me (Freestyle)

There are TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Centerspoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Roast Me (Freestyle)

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• LUC (62D: Ice skater Jean-___ Baker) Jean-LUC Baker is professional figure skater who competes in ice dancing. Fun fact: his father is a Star Trek fan, and he's named after Jean-LUC Picard. Since 2012, Jean-LUC Baker's ice dancing partner has been Kaitlin Hawayek. The two have won a number of medals, including a gold medal at the 2018 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Here's a video of Jean-LUC Baker and Kaitlin Hawayek ice dancing to U2's "With or Without You."

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Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• PUP (20A: ___ cup (Starbucks dog treat)) A Starbucks PUP cup, also known as a puppuccino, is a small cup of whipped cream. At most Starbucks locations, PUP cups are free.
• ALE (23A: India pale ___) India pale ALE, commonly referred to as IPA, is a hoppy style of beer.
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH (38A: Fall staple similar to a pumpkin) BUTTERNUT SQUASH and pumpkin are varieties of winter SQUASH. These SQUASH are harvested in late fall, but store well throughout the winter months. I am a fan of BUTTERNUT SQUASH, and I enjoy it roasted (as the title suggests!), baked, mashed, in soups, as a ravioli filling, and just about any other way it can be prepared. My favorite BUTTERNUT SQUASH story (doesn't everyone have a favorite BUTTERNUT SQUASH story?) is that one summer my husband and I noticed a vine growing in our compost pile, a result of some seeds we had thrown there the previous year. We decided to let the vine grow to see what it would become. Later that year, we harvested five beautiful BUTTERNUT SQUASH from that vine. This was definitely a case of minimal effort and maximum reward.
• OTIS (42A: Singer Clay in the Blues Hall of Fame) OTIS Clay (1942-2016) got his start in gospel music, growing up singing in church. He eventually began singing soul and R&B music as well. His R&B hits included "Trying to Live my Life Without You" (1972) and "That's How It Is (When You're in Love)" (1967). OTIS Clay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013.
• AVA (59A: "Sweet but Psycho" singer Max) Released in 2018, "Sweet but Psycho" is the lead single from AVA Max's debut studio album Heaven and Hell. The song reached number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Sweet but Psycho" received a Teen Choice Awards NOM (5D: Awards show recognition, colloquially) for Choice Pop Song in 2019.
• ASHE (66A: Tennis legend Arthur) Arthur ASHE (1943-1993) was a legendary tennis player, and also a civil rights activist, author, and educator. In 1968, Arthur ASHE became the first Black male to win the U.S. Open. He also won the Australian Open in 1970, and Wimbledon in 1975. Arthur ASHE was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. He is the author of A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African American Athlete. The three-volume set covers the history of Black athletes from 1619-1992.
• GRAPEFRUIT JUICE (6D: Tart, pink-red breakfast beverage) From personal experience, I know that GRAPEFRUIT JUICE is delicious. It's also a good source of vitamin C. As a pharmacologist by training, I also know that some people need to be careful about drinking GRAPEFRUIT JUICE. That's because there are drug-food interactions between GRAPEFRUIT JUICE and some drugs, that may cause either increased side effects and toxicity or decreased effectiveness, depending on the drug. Drugs that are affected by this drug-food interaction are labeled as such on the container or package insert.
• ACER (8D: Maker of Aspire laptops) Aspire is a series of PCs made by ACER, a Taiwanese electronics corporation.
• EURO (34D: Currency in Lisbon) Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal, a European country on the Iberian peninsula. Portugal is one of the 20 member countries of the European Union that uses the EURO as its currency.
• STAYS WARM (35D: Cuddles up by a fire on a cold day) Even though it's May, this clue is evoking cozy mid-winter vibes.
• TAMPA (48D: Florida city across the bay from St. Petersburg) TAMPA is located on the west side of Florida, with coastline on TAMPA Bay and Old TAMPA Bay. The city of St. Petersburg, Florida is also located on TAMPA Bay – across from TAMPA, as the clue informs us. St. Petersburg also has coastline along the Gulf of Mexico.
• COSMO (51D: Cocktail with cranberry juice, informally) A cosmopolitan, or COSMO, cocktail is made with vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and lime juice. If you swap out the Cointreau and lime juice for GRAPEFRUIT JUICE, you end up with a cocktail known as a sea breeze.
• UNTIL (52D: "It's all fun and games ___...") How do you complete this sentence? My mind went to "It's all fun and games UNTIL someone gets hurt," but I was curious whether there were other common endings of this sentiment. It looks like some folks get a bit more specific and say, "It's all fun and games UNTIL someone loses an eye."
• NAPA (54D: California wine region) Thanks to a combination of favorable climate, geography, and geology, NAPA Valley in California is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world. There are over 400 wineries in NAPA.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

There's no theme today, as this is a themeless, or freestyle puzzle. The title, ROAST ME, is a nod to BUTTERNUT SQUASH (38A: Fall staple similar to a pumpkin).

It was fun to see the grid-spanners BUTTERNUT SQUASH and GRAPEFRUIT JUICE crossing. SESAME BAGEL added to the food-centric vibe. In addition to the answers I've already highlighted, I also enjoyed IT'S NOT A RACE, PEACE SUMMIT, MINIMALISTS, and SCRAP HEAP. Thank you, Rafa, for this delightful puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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