November 4, 2025

Title: THAT'S JUICY!

Constructor: Daniel Grinberg

Editor: Amie Walker

Theme synopsis:

• LITTLE MONSTER (17A: *Lady Gaga fan)
• YOU'RE UP EARLY (30A: *"Look who's awake already!")
• ROMAN GODDESS (40A: *Juno, Diana or Minerva)
• FRUIT FILLINGS (56A: Pie features … or what the starred clues' answers have)

THAT'S JUICY!: Each of the starred theme answers contains a FRUIT: LITTLE MONSTER (lemon), YOU'RE UP EARLY (pear), and ROMAN GODDESS (mango).

What I learned from today's puzzle:

• CHARGERS (9D: Los Angeles ___ (NFL team)) I don't follow sports closely, but I feel like I have a fairly good knowledge of the names of sports teams. Not today. I could not come up with the Los Angeles CHARGERS at all and needed a lot of help from crossing answers. The Los Angeles CHARGERS played their first season in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The next year the team moved to San Diego, and they were the San Diego CHARGERS from 1961 to 2016. In 1970, the team joined the NFL when the AFL and NFL merged. Then in 2017, the team moved back to Los Angeles. Add the Los Angeles CHARGERS to the sports knowledge I've gained from crosswords.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• I WAS HAD (13A: "They really got me!") As I was reviewing the grid, I looked at this answer and thought, "What is an I WASH AD?" In other words, I WAS HAD by this answer!
• SARA LEE (15A: Big name in desserts) The name SARA LEE has been appearing on desserts since 1939. For many years the company used the slogan, "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like SARA LEE."
• LITTLE MONSTER (17A: *Lady Gaga fan) and OREO (19A: Cookie with a limited-edition flavor inspired by a Lady Gaga album) and SINGER (47D: Lady Gaga, for one) We have a trio of answers creating a mini-Lady Gaga tribute. Lady Gaga's fans refer to themselves as LITTLE MONSTERs and refer to the pop SINGER as Mother Monster. The term has been in use since 2009, which is the year Lady Gaga released The Fame MONSTER, a reissue of her 2008 debut album, The Fame. Lady Gaga's sixth studio album, Chromatica, was released in 2020. OREO released a special edition cookie, known as Lady Gaga OREOs or Chromatica OREOs, with a pink cookie and green creme.
• ROMAN GODDESS (40A: *Juno, Diana or Minerva) I enjoyed seeing these GODDESSES from ROMAN mythology in the puzzle. Juno is the ROMAN GODDESS of marriage and childbirth, Diana is the ROMAN GODDESS of the hunt and of wild animals, and Minerva is the ROMAN GODDESS of wisdom, justice and the arts.
• EASEL (46A: Support for the arts?) Not financial support, but a literal support – an EASEL to hold artwork.
• XENON (50A: Noble gas used in strobe lights) XENON, like the rest of the noble gases, is odorless, colorless, and has low chemical reactivity. 
• TWINKLE (60A: What stars do) It took me far longer that it should have to figure out this answer. I guess it's been too long since I've sung "TWINKLE, TWINKLE, Little Star."
• ZOE (65A: "Big Little Lies" actor Kravitz) Big Little Lies is a TV series based on Liane Moriarty's 2014 novel of the same name. The show follows five women involved in a murder investigation. ZOË Kravitz portrays one of the women, Bonnie Carlson. Two seasons of Big Little Lies originally aired from 2017 to 2019. It was recently announced that a third season is in the works. 
• DST (66A: "Spring forward" letters) Please don't be talking about "springing forward." I have yet to recover from "falling back" when Daylight Saving Time (DST) ended where I live a few days ago.
• ANATOMY (2D: Grey's ___" (hospital drama)) The medical drama Grey's ANATOMY premiered in 2005 and has run for 22 seasons so far. The show is set in Washington at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, which is later named the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
• SILL (3D: Spot for a sunbathing house cat) My cat, Willow, doesn't generally sunbathe on the window SILL, because ours aren't quite wide enough for her to lay down comfortably. However, she does like to sit on the window SILL and keep track of what's going on in our yard. She was quite interested in this duck that wandered into our yard.

• KNEEL (4D: Prepare for camel pose) Camel pose is an asana in yoga as exercise. It is a backbend from a kneeling position.
• CAIRO (12D: Home of Egypt's Coptic Museum) CAIRO is the capital and largest city of Egypt. The Coptic Museum is located in a historic portion of the city. The museum is home to important examples of Coptic art, illuminated manuscripts, textiles, and metalwork that were originally in monasteries and churches.
• SHEILA (14D: Drummer ___ E.) SHEILA E. gave her first public performance, including a drum solo, at the age of five onstage with her dad, Pete Escovedo. Known as the "Queen of Percussion," SHEILA E. has performed with Prince, Beyoncé, and Phil Collins, while also having a successful career of her own.
• TRIX (34D: Cereal with a rabbit mascot) "Silly rabbit, TRIX are for kids!"
• DEAF (42D: Like many Gallaudet University students) Gallaudet University, in Washington D.C., is a school for DEAF and hard of hearing students. It is the only institution of higher education where all programs and services are designed to accommodate DEAF and hard of hearing students.
• EDGES (48D: "Love your curves and all your ___" (John Legend lyric)) "Love your curves and all your EDGES" is a line from John Legend's 2013 song, "All of Me." The song is from his fourth studio album, Love in the Future, and is dedicated to his wife, Chrissy Teigen. "'Cause all of me loves all of you."
• TMZ (60D: Celebrity gossip site)  TMZ, a news organization owned by Fox Corporation, advertises itself as having "the latest in celebrity gossip and entertainment news." TMZ is an acronym for "thirty-mile zone," a name used to refer to an area in Los Angeles that contains a number of film and TV studios.

This puzzle has a revealer, a theme answer that reveals or explains the theme. In the majority of USA Today puzzle's, the title serves as a revealer, so this is a fun change of pace. Today's title – THAT'S JUICY! – functions as an extra hint. I had a funny interaction with the theme today. I immediately saw LEMON hiding in LITTLE MONSTER and MANGO in ROMAN GODDESS, even before I uncovered the revealer, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. However, it took me the longest time to find a FRUIT in YOU'RE UP EARLY." I was wondering if there was some FRUIT called "reup." When I finally saw PEAR, I started laughing. I am not a fan of PEARs at all ... no wonder I couldn't see it. Thank you, Daniel, for this enjoyable puzzle.