EchoSense:Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Face First

There are EchoSensespoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Face First

Constructor: Mark Valdez

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Comments from Today’s Crossword Constructor

Mark: I'm so happy to finally have this puzzle published! I submitted my theme query September 13, and it took me many tries to get the fill in a place I liked. I'm not sure why it caused me such headaches, so I would stop and start and restart over and over. With Amanda's editing help, I finally got this grid in a place that I'm very proud of! Then, the cluing was the icing on the cake. It has a lot of my interests: Sondheim musicals, Taylor Swift, my alma mater, ABBA. Happy Solving!

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• ESME (55A: "Silver Haze" actress Creed-Miles) Silver Haze is a 2023 movie that was released in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and is now available via streaming services. Vicky Knight stars as Franky, a nurse that works in a hospital where she was a patient when she was a child following a traumatic fire. She falls in love with one of her patients, Florence, portrayed by ESMÉ Creed-Miles. Although the movie Silver Haze is new to me, I first learned about ESMÉ Creed-Miles from the May 19, 2021 puzzle when I wrote about her performance in the TV show, Hanna.
• HAT (58A: Accessory sold at Lids) Lids is a store that specializes in athletic headwear, aka HATs. I'm not a big shopper, so while the answer was fairly inferable here, I also relied on the help of crossing answers to figure this one out.
• TOM (6D: Former "Dancing With the Stars" host Bergeron) TOM Bergeron was a host on Dancing With the Stars for the show's first 28 seasons (2005-2019).

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• TBT (4A: Hashtag for an old pic) TBT = throw back Thursday
• OREO (13A: Cookie with a version inspired by Lady Gaga's "Chromatica" album) Released in 2020, Chromatica is Lady Gaga's sixth studio album. OREO released a special edition cookie, known as Lady Gaga OREOs or Chromatica OREOs, with a pink cookie and green creme.
• SIMBA (14A: Fictional lion who sings "I Just Can't Wait to Be King") "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated movie, The Lion King. The song was written by Elton John, and is sung by Jason Weaver, who provided the singing voice for young SIMBA. "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" is also included in the 2019 version of The Lion King, sung by JD McCrary. As always, my cat, Willow, is happy to see her big cat relatives mentioned in the puzzle. Here's a photo of Willow pretending to be queen of the houseplant jungle.

• AMAS (22A: Reddit Q&As) AMA stands for "ask me anything," a genre of interactive interviews that are especially popular on the social site Reddit.
• CHINA (28A: Country home to the Great Wall) The Great Wall is a series of walls in northern CHINA that together stretch nearly 13,000 miles. Although parts of the wall were constructed as early as 200 BCE, most of the construction was done from 1368-1644 during CHINA's Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall is an impressive architectural feat, and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• BANKS (37A: "Pitch Perfect 2" director Elizabeth) The Pitch Perfect movies, of which there are three, are musical comedies centered on a female a cappella group, The Barden Bellas. The movies are based on Mickey Rapkin's non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory. Each of the three movies has a different director. Elizabeth BANKS directed Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), which was her directorial debut of a feature film.
• DESSERT (39A: Ice cream or cheesecake) Yum! Don't make me choose – I would like ice cream and cheesecake for DESSERT, please.
• TIDE (54A: "The ___ Is High" (Atomic Kitten bop)) Atomic Kitten is a British band whose current members are Jenny Frost, Liz McClarnon, and Natasha Hamilton. "The TIDE Is High (Get the Feeling)" is a 2002 cover by Atomic Kitten of a song originally released by the Paragons. The Atomic Kitten version of the song is used during the opening credits of The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003). "The TIDE is high, but I'm holding on / I'm gonna be your number one..."
• TRAIN (4D: The Polar Express, for one) The Polar Express is the TRAIN featured in the 1985 children's book that bears its name, written by Chris Van Allsburg. The TRAIN journeys to the North Pole. Its passengers are pajama-clad children who will see Santa off on his yearly journey, and one of whom will receive the first gift of Christmas. The Polar Express was adapted into an animated movie in 2004.
• IKEA (19D: Furniture store with a cafeteria) At IKEA's restaurant, one can order Swedish food, such as meatballs and lingonberry jam. Each store also has a Swedish Food Market where packaged food can be purchased to take home.
• PAINTBRUSH (25D: Prop for Seurat in "Sunday in the Park With George") Sunday in the Park With George is a Stephen Sondheim musical. It won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two Tony Awards. The musical was inspired by Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. A fictionalized version of Goerge's Seurat (complete with PAINTBRUSH) is the main character of the show. The painting that inspired the musical is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

• CO-ED (28D: Like Brown University after merging with Pembroke College in 1971) From 1891-1971, Pembroke College in Providence, Rhode Island was a women's college in conjunction with Brown University. It allowed women to essentially attend Brown University, which was an all-male institution. In 1971, the two schools merged completely, and Brown University became CO-ED.
• DID (29D: "Why ___ It Have To Be Me?" (ABBA tune)) "Why DID It Have to Be Me?" is a 1976 song by ABBA. I am a fan of the use of song titles to add interest to clues for common three-letter words.
• EMMA (48D: "When ___ Falls in Love" (Taylor Swift vault track from "Speak Now")) Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is the 2023 rerecording of Taylor Swift's 2010 album, Speak Now. The song "When EMMA Falls in Love" was originally intended for the 2010 album, but didn't make the final cut. It was one of six songs from the vault that were included on the rerecorded album.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• PALM READER (16A: Mystic who sees the future in hand lines)
• PLANT SEEDS (49A: An aspiring gardener might purchase these)
• CARD TRICKS (3D: Some sleight of hand illusions)
• PAINTBRUSH (25D: Prop for Seurat in "Sunday in the Park With George")

The FIRST part of each theme answer can be paired with the word FACE to create a new phrase: FACE-PALM, FACE-PLANT, FACE CARD, and FACE PAINT.

Today's puzzle has four theme answers, two of which are placed horizontally, and two of which are placed vertically. From a construction standpoint, placing two theme answers Across and two Down, lessens the constraints on the grid. Each theme answer is essentially in its own corner. Thank you, Mark, for this splendid puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
• Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers