October 24, 2025

Title: FALLING OFF

Constructor: Ryan Mathiason

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• OFFICE PARTIES (5D: Workplace celebrations)
• AS A MATTER OF FACT (7D: "Well, actually...")
• WANDA MAXIMOFF (19D: Marvel character who becomes the Scarlet Witch)

FALLING OFF: The word OFF is found in each vertical theme answer. Moving from left to right, the word OFF is FALLING lower in the grid.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• NFL (39A: Org. that has produced 15 scorigamis in the last two regular seasons) In the National Football League (NFL), a scorigami is a final score that has never happened before. The word scorigami – a portmanteau of score and origami – was coined by sportswriter Jon Bois in 2014. This answer pairs nicely with TDS (1D: Six-point scores (Abbr.). Because of the way points are scored in football, some scores are more probable than others. This differs from sports like baseball, soccer, or hockey, where points are scored one at a time. Add scorigami to the long list of sports knowledge I have gained from solving crosswords.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• DWARF (14A: ___ planet (Pluto, e.g.)) In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) passed a resolution listing three criteria an astronomical body must meet in order to be classified as a planet. Pluto, which had been considered a planet up to that point, only meets two of the criteria. It was therefore reclassified as a DWARF planet. Poor Pluto. Even though the scientist in my accepts that our knowledge expands and designations change as new discoveries are made, any mention of Pluto makes me want to curmudgeonly proclaim, "In my day Pluto was a planet..."
• ASIA (15A: Mount Everest's continent) Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. It is located in ASIA in the Himalayan mountain range on the Nepal-Tibet border. Our crossword friend ASIA is having a pretty good month. This is ASIA's third appearance this month and its 19th appearance of 2025. 
• EMO (21A: My Chemical Romance genre) My Chemical Romance is considered an influential band in the EMO genre, although the group itself has at times rejected the EMO label. EMO is making back-to-back crossword appearances. We saw it yesterday clued as [Genre for broody teens].
• ACCRA (23A: Ghana's capital) Ghana is located in West Africa, and has coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country's capital, ACCRA, is located on the southern edge of the country on the Gulf of Guinea.
• MEMES (37A: "Distracted Boyfriend" and "Sad Keanu") If you've been online at all, you've likely seen the "Distracted Boyfriend" MEME that has been used as a way to depict disloyalty since 2017. "Sad Keanu" is a MEME based on a paparazzi photo of Keanu Reeves sitting on a bench eating a sandwich.
• FLAIL (49A: Thrash like an inflatable tube man) This clue made me smile. I was immediately able to visualize an inflatable tube man FLAILing about.
• AMORE (51A: "That's ___" (Dean Martin song)) "That's AMORE" is a 1953 song by Dean Martin. "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's AMORE..." The song first appeared in the 1953 movie The Caddy and has appeared in a number of other movies since then including Rear Window (1954), Moonstruck (1987), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Stuart Little (1999), Enchanted (2007), and The Garfield Movie (2024).
• CATS (64A: Pumas and lynxes) My CAT, Willow, is always happy to see her big CAT cousins mentioned in the puzzle. Here's Willow perched on our fireplace mantel, looking down on me (perhaps in more ways than one).

• ALAMO (10D: San Antonio landmark) The ALAMO is a historic Spanish mission that was the site of the Battle of the ALAMO in 1836. Today the ALAMO is a museum located in the ALAMO Plaza Historic District in San Antonio, Texas. 
• CARDS (13D: Kings and queens, for example) This is one of those clues that is tricky in its simplicity. Of course kings and queens are CARDS. But they are also "royals" and "beds." The answer length and crossing answers help identify the correct choice here. 
• WANDA MAXIMOFF (19D: Marvel character who becomes the Scarlet Witch) In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), WANDA MAXIMOFF aka the Scarlet Witch is portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. The character, who has telekinetic and mind manipulation powers, is based on a Marvel Comics character of the same name.
• LENT (33D: Pre-Easter period) In Christianity, LENT is the 40-day period (not counting Sundays) leading up to Easter. LENT begins each year on Ash Wednesday.
• SEA (42D: Kraken's home) The legendary beast known as the kraken is a SEA creature. Tales of the kraken may have originated from sailors' sightings of giant squid. Any mention of the kraken makes me think of the 2006 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, in which the kraken plays a significant role.
• ULNA (52D: Bone near the radius) The ULNA and radius are the two long bones in the forearm. The ULNA is on the little finger side of the forearm, while the radius is on the thumb side.
• AOC (57D: Youngest-ever U.S. congresswoman) Alexandria Oasis-Cortez (AOC) represents New York's 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. AOC was 29 years old when she took office, making her the youngest woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. The abbreviation U.S. in the clue alerts solvers that the answer will be an abbreviation. 
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• SALSA (35D: Dip for chips, or a dance involving dips)
• MARGIN (45A: Place to doodle)
• EYE LEVEL (38D: Optimal height for hung artwork)

I enjoy themes such as this where there's an added visual element. The word OFF is FALLING downward in each vertical theme answer. But that's not all. As you move from left to right in the grid, the word OFF is also FALLING downward in the grid from top to bottom. Thank you, Ryan, for this excellent puzzle.