Charles H. Sloan-Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, The End of Time

There are Charles H. Sloanspoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! The End of Time

Constructor: Mark Budovitch

Editor: Jared Goudsmit

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• ERICA (1D: Actress Hubbard) ERICA Hubbard is one of those performers whose work I have seen, but I just couldn't come up with her name without the help of crossing answers. In the 2006 movie Akeelah and the Bee, ERICA Hubbard portrays Akeelah's sister, Kiana. She also played the role of Kita Whitmore on the TV series Let's Stay Together (2011-2014).
• THAI (35D: Pla ra cuisine) Pla ra is a fermented fish seasoning in THAI cuisine.
• NOVEL (52D: Book such as "Take My Hand") Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a 2022 NOVEL set in Montgomery, Alabama in 1973. The book tells the story of Civil, a Black nurse just out of nursing school who takes a job at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. Two of her patients are sisters who are 11 and 13 years old. Take My Hand is inspired by the true story of two sisters, who in 1973 at the ages of 12 and 14, were sterilized against their will. Take My Hand was awarded the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Fiction.

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• ERA (1A: Mesozoic ___) The Mesozoic ERA lasted from about 252 million to 66 million years ago. It was comprised of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods. The Mesozoic ERA includes the time of the dinosaurs. The Mesozoic ERA followed the Paleozoic ERA and preceded the Cenozoic ERA (Earth's current geological ERA).
• SPAR (4A: Practice like Laila Ali) LAILA Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali, retired from an eight-year undefeated professional boxing career in 2007.
• ERIE (8A: Uncanny-sounding lake) The name of the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake ERIE, does indeed sound a bit "eerie."
• EUROPE (17A: Second-smallest continent) The only continent smaller than EUROPE is Australia. EUROPE is divided politically into 50 countries, of which Russia is the largest.
• MAI (30A: ___ tai (cocktail)) A MAI TAI cocktail is often made using rum, orange liqueur, orgeat syrup, and lime juice, though many variations of the recipe exist.
• SAMOA (43A: Island country, or a Girl Scout cookie) SAMOA is an island country located about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, in the Pacific Ocean. The Girl Scout cookies known as SAMOAs (and also known as Caramel DeLites) are vanilla cookies coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and iced with chocolate stripes.
• YEAR (44A: ___ of the Dragon) We are currently in the YEAR of the Dragon. The dragon is the fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals in the Chinese zodiac.
• BABA (45A: ___ ghanoush) BABA ghanoush (also spelled BABA ghanouj or BABA ganoush) is a dish in Levantine cuisine (the cuisine of eastern Mediterranean countries) that consists of mashed, cooked eggplant combined with olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings. BABA ghanoush is often served with pita bread.
• NYT (46A: "All the News That's Fit to Print" paper (Abbr.)) "All the News That's Fit to Print" has appeared on the masthead of the New York Times (NYT) since 1897.
• SIGMA (48A: Letter between rho and tau) I felt like we've seen a lot of references to letters of the Greek alphabet lately, so – because I like data – I went back and checked. So far in this month's puzzles, we've seen the Greek letters TAU, THETA, CHI, OMEGA, and PSI. That makes SIGMA the sixth Greek letter we've seen in July. Since the Greek alphabet has 24 letters, we've seen a fourth of the Greek alphabet this month. I wonder how many more Greek letters July has in store for us?
• LAVA (63A: Mount Fuji output) Mount FUJI is located on the island of Honshū, the main island of Japan. Mount FUJI is an active volcano that last erupted in 1708. It's the tallest mountain in Japan, with a height of 12,389 feet.
• RNA (66A: _ibo_ucleic _cid) When we see a split fill-in-the-blank clue, one letter is to be placed in each blank. In this case, those letters are RNA to make ribonucleic acid.
• FOLK SONG (20D: Joan Baez piece) Joan Baez is a singer, songwriter, and activist, whose FOLK SONGs often deal with protesting and social justice. Joan Baez has released 30 albums since her self-titled debut album was released in 1960. We saw JOAN BAEZ as a theme answer in January of this year.
• EMAIL (21D: Alternative to a text or call) Back-to-back appearances for EMAIL, as we also saw it in yesterday's puzzle.
• PTS (31D: Caitlin Clark scored 3,951 in the NCAA (Abbr.)) Caitlin Clark is a professional basketball player for the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Those 3,951 points (PTS.) that she scored while playing for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes make her the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer. Last week at the 2024 ESPY Awards, Caitlin Clark won the Best Female College Athlete award for the second year in a row. She was also awarded an ESPY for the Best Record-Breaking Performance, and is the first female athlete to win that award.
• HELLO (50D: With 51-Down, "Hey! We've met before!") and AGAIN (51D: See 50-Down) HELLO AGAIN! I really enjoyed the pairing of these two answers.
• STATE (53D: Alagoas or Arizona) Alagoas is one of 26 STATEs in Brazil. Arizona is one of 50 STATEs in the U.S.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• COMFORT ZONE (19A: Familiar psychological territory)
• THE SKY'S THE LIMIT (40A: "You can do anything!")
• KITCHEN SINK (59A: Place to rinse produce)

The last word (THE END) of each theme answer can be paired with the word TIME to create a new phrase: TIME ZONE, TIME LIMIT, and TIME SINK.

This is an excellent set of theme answers. Solving this crossword was definitely in my COMFORT ZONE. You might say THE SKY'S THE LIMIT for this puzzle, as it includes a little of everything and the KITCHEN SINK! Congratulations to Mark Budovitch making a USA Today debut! Thank you, Mark, for this delightful puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

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