November 15, 2025

Title: LAST PLACE FINISH

Constructor: Tom Pepper & Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme synopsis:

• WILD RICE SOUP (19A: Warm, hearty bowlful made with lake-grown grains)
• CLOSED THE GAP (36A: Reduced an imbalance)
• NEED SOME HELP (55D: "Can I assist you?")
• Revealer: DEPEND (49D: Rely, or when parsed differently, a feature of 19-, 36- or 55-Across)

LAST PLACE FINISH: Each of the theme answers features a D-E-P END: WILD RICE SOUP, CLOSED THE GAP, and NEED SOME HELP.

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• SINNER (45D: 2025 Wimbledon winner Jannik) Jannik SINNER is an Italian tennis player. In addition to winning Wimbledon this year (becoming the first Italian to do so), he also won the Australian Open. Last year he won the Australian Open and the US OPEN. I've heard Jannik SINNER's name before (probably when he won Wimbledon), but couldn't remember it today.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• KRILL (23A: Main food for blue whales) KRILL are small marine crustaceans. They live in all of the world's oceans, and are an important source of food for many marine animals, including whales, penguins, squid, and fish. Blue whales are filter feeders, and their diet consists almost exclusively of KRILL. They capture the KRILL through lunge feeding. The whale swims towards KRILL at high speeds with its mouth open, taking in a lot of water. The water is then squeezed out through their baleen plates and the remaining KRILL is swallowed. Here's a fun fact: Scientists look at a blue whale's earwax to estimate its age Each year a light and dark layer of wax is laid, corresponding with fasting and feeding times. Each set of wax is an indicator of age.
• IMAM (27A: Salat al-Eid leader) Salat al-Eid, also referred to as Eid prayers, are Islamic prayers used for holy holidays. An IMAM is a Muslim worship leader.
• EGGO (42A: Brand with emoji waffles) In 2021, EGGO released a line of Eggoji Waffles, waffles featuring animated faces inspired by emojis.
• ESSIE (53A: Square-bottled nail polish brand) and OPI (14D: Pink in Bio nail polish-brand) The rival nail polish brands, ESSIE and OPI, are both making a crossword appearance today. I don't wear much nail polish, so I don't have a preference here, but I know people who are team ESSIE (of the square bottles) or team OPI (offering the light pink color Pink in Bio). 
• ERIE (62A: Lake fed by the Detroit River) The primary inlet of Lake ERIE is the Detroit River. The Niagara River, Lake ERIE's main natural outflow, provides hydroelectric power to Canada and the U.S. This is the first appearance of our crossword friend ERIE this month.
• LOGIC (2D: Mr. Spock's strong suit) Mr. Spock is a Star Trek character who is half-Vulcan and half-human. The Vulcans are known for their adherence to LOGIC and reason. In the original Star Trek series that aired in 1966, Leonard Nimoy portrayed Spock, a role he would play until 2013.
• UVULA (3D: Body part that helps keep food out of your nose) The UVULA is the tissue that can be seen hanging down at the back of your mouth when you open wide and look in a mirror. (You know, the hangy-downy-thing...) It plays a role in preventing food from entering your nasal cavity when you eat, and is also used in articulation of certain sounds.
• READ LIPS (4D: See what someone is saying?) If you READ LIPS, you quite literally see what someone is saying.
• ANGER (6D: It's often a secondary emotion) A secondary emotion is, as the name implies, an emotion that is a response to a primary emotion. A primary reaction is a reaction to an event or situation, and a secondary emotion is a reaction to how we feel. ANGER, as the clue informs us, is often a secondary emotion. This is a complex subject that is beyond the scope of this blog, but here's a place to start if you want to learn more.
• POSSIBLE (7D: The "P" in ASAP) ASAP = as soon as POSSIBLE
• TRI (11D: Ironman race, briefly) an Ironman race is a triathlon (or TRI, briefly) that consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.22-mile run (i.e. a marathon).
• R.E.M. (20D: "Losing My Religion" band) "Losing My Religion" is a 1991 song by R.E.M. The song won two Grammy Awards (Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal) and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.
• ANDRE (28D: "The Princess Bride" actor ___ the Giant) The 1987 movie The Princess Bride is adapted from William Goldman's 1973 book of the same name. ANDRÉ the Giant portrays Fezzik. My husband and I have a collection of Princess Bride magnets on our refrigerator, including this one that features Fezzik, Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and Vizzini (Wallace Shawn).

• TV-PG (30D: "Modern Family" rating) Modern Family is a mockumentary TV series following the lives of three families. It originally aired for 11 seasons from 2009-2020. The rating TV-PG means "This program contains material that parents may find unsuitable for younger children."
• CHE (34D: "Weekend Update" comic Michael) Weekend Update is a satirical news sketch on Saturday Night Live (SNL). It is the longest-running recurring sketch on SNL. Chevy Chase was the first Weekend Update anchor, in 1975. The current Weekend Update anchors are Michael CHE and Colin Jost.
• TAP (58D: Gregory Hines' dance genre) Gregory Hines (1946-2003) was a dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most-celebrated TAP dancers of all time. He was an advocate for promoting TAP dancing in America, and petitioned Congress to create National TAP Dance Day, which they did in 1989. (National TAP Dance Day is May 25.) His 1989 TV special, TAP Dance in America, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program. Enjoy this video of Gregory Hines TAP dancing.
• EMU (60D: Bird in Liberty Mutual ads) The Liberty Mutual insurance company has used LiMu EMU as its mascot since 2019.

In crossword puzzles, a revealer is an answer in the puzzle that explains or reveals the puzzle's theme. USA Today crosswords often do not have a revealer; instead the title serves as the explanation of the theme. Occasionally, however, a USA Today crossword will have a revealer, and today is one of those days. Before I uncovered the revealer, I spent quite some time trying to figure out how the theme answers related to LAST PLACE FINISH. I was stymied by the theme, until the "Aha!" moment when I came across DEPEND (49D: Rely, or when parsed differently, a feature of 19-, 36- or 55-Across). The key here is to parse the word DEPEND as D-E-P END. The theme answers all consist of three words ending (in order) with the letters D-E-P. This theme gave my brain a workout, and I quite enjoyed that. Thank you, Tom and Zhouqin, for this engaging puzzle.