Fastexy:Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Spare Change

There are Fastexyspoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Spare Change

Constructor: Lynn K. Watson

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• SURPRISE PARTY (20A: Celebration you can't throw for yourself) I chuckled at the image of trying to throw a SURPRISE PARTY for oneself. Cute clue. I also imagined an interplay between this clue and 38-Across. "How was that SURPRISE PARTY you threw for yourself?" "IT WAS PRETTY GOOD." (38A: "I enjoyed that a fair amount.")
• ASHE (27A: Person for whom the largest tennis arena in the world is named) The largest tennis arena in the world is Arthur ASHE Stadium, which is part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. The Arthur ASHE Stadium is the primary stadium for the US Open, and has a seating capacity of 23, 771. The arena is named for tennis great Arthur ASHE, who won the inaugural US Open in 1968.
• SAN (41A: ___ Salvador) El Salvador is a Central American country. It is bordered by Honduras and Guatemala, and has coastline along the Pacific Ocean. SAN Salvador is the capital of El Salvador.
• COCKER SPANIEL (51A: Disney's Lady, for one) This clue is a reference to the 1955 Disney animated movie, Lady and the Tramp. The title characters are dogs. Lady is a COCKER SPANIEL, who is pampered by her adoring owners, appropriately named Jim Dear and Darling. Tramp is a mutt, who is homeless and living on the street.
• ORA (64A: British singer Rita) Rita ORA's most recent album, You & I, was released in July 2023. Singles from that album include "Praising You" and "You Only Love Me."
• NON (67A: ___ sequitur) "NON sequitur" is a Latin phrase meaning "does not follow." The phrase can be used to refer to a comment that does not relate to the conversation that preceded it. Last year my husband and I took a road trip across Canada. That's true, but it's also a NON sequitur, as it has nothing to do with today's crossword, or the things I've been writing about so far.
• THERAPIST (4D: Professional who might be trained in CBT or DBT) CBT here stands for cognitive behavioral therapy, and DBT stands for dialectical behavior therapy.
• TREE (7D: 35-Across that's the centerpiece of the board game Everdell) and PLANT (35A: ___-based (like many options in a vegan restaurant)) I was so excited to see this clue for TREE, that I almost missed the cross-reference here. A TREE is indeed a PLANT. Everdell is a board game set in a valley populated with woodland critters. Each player directs these critters to collect resources and establish a city. The game includes a three-dimensional cardboard tree (seen in the photo), which provides a place for the deck of cards, and serves as a holder for playing pieces waiting to be put into play. Everdell is one of my favorite board games. It has a fun story line, a beautiful board and TREE, tactile playing pieces, and is engaging even when played with only two players.

• SPARE (9D: Prince Harry's bestselling memoir) Prince Harry's memoir, SPARE, was published last year. Its title refers to the adage, "an heir and a SPARE," that has been used to describe what is necessary to make sure royal inheritance stays in a family. Over 1.4 million copies of SPARE were sold on the day it was released. This set a Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time.
• ROOTS (32D: 1976 Alex Haley novel) Alex Haley's novel, ROOTS: The Saga of an American Family, was adapted into a TV miniseries that originally aired in 1977. The book spent 46 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list (22 of those weeks it was number one). Alex Haley was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for Roots. The miniseries won nine Emmy Awards.
• APRIL (50D: Autism Acceptance Month) Autism Acceptance Month celebrates the talents, contributions, and diversity of people in the Autism community. Of course, acceptance and celebration of the Autism community is a great thing year-round, not just in APRIL.
• IRON (55D: Monopoly token that was replaced by a cat) In 2013, Hasbro – the company that has published Monopoly since 1991 – allowed people to vote for a new token to be added to the game. The choices were a guitar, a diamond ring, a helicopter, a robot, and a cat. At the same time, people voted for their favorites among the current tokens; the token receiving the least votes would be retired. This promotional campaign led to the IRON token being replaced by the cat. My cat, Willow, is not at all surprised that the cat received the most votes. Willow's favorite parts of board games are not the tokens, but the boxes.

• EURO (56D: French "bread" or Swiss "cheddar") This is a fun clue. "Bread" and "cheddar" here are not food items, but nicknames for money. France and Switzerland are two of the European countries that use the EURO as their currency.

Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis

• SURPRISE PARTY (20A: Celebration you can't throw for yourself)
• IT WAS PRETTY GOOD (38A: "I enjoyed that a fair amount")
• COCKER SPANIEL (51A: Disney's Lady, for one)

The word SPARE has undergone a CHANGE – that is, it has been anagrammed – and is then found hidden in each theme answer: SURPRISE PARTY, IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. and COCKER SPANIEL.

Today's puzzle has a hidden anagram theme. The word SPARE is anagrammed, that is, the letters are rearranged to SEPAR, ASPRE, and ERSPA. None of those anagrams are words themselves but the letter patterns are then hidden in phrases. A nice set of theme answers today, and it was fun to figure out where the SPARE CHANGE was hiding in each one. Thank you, Lynn, for this enjoyable puzzle.

For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles

• USA TODAY’s Daily Crossword Puzzles
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