There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solvetoday's puzzlebefore reading further!Stay Away (Freestyle) Constructor:Rafael Musa Editor:Amanda Rafkin RIO (56A: Rocinha's city, for short) Rocinha is a neighborhood in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil. Rocinha is RIO's largest "favela" or urban slum. It's estimated that 100,000 to 120,000 people live in Rocinha, which covers less than a square mile of land on a hillside overlooking RIO. ASTLEY (1A: "Never Gonna Give You Up" singer Rick)"Never Gonna Give You Up"was Rick ASTLEY's debut single, released in 1987. The song was a worldwide hit when it was first released and then experienced renewed popularity in 2007 when it was used in a bait-and-switch "Rickroll" meme. Rickrolling is the unexpected appearance of the music video for "Never Gonna Give You Up," when one is expecting something different. CHOO (16A: Shoe designer Jimmy) Jimmy CHOO is a Malaysian fashion designer known for making women's shoes. OREO SUNDAE (17A: Dessert with ice cream and crumbled cookies) Yes, please, I would like an OREO SUNDAE! CAVS (19A: Cleveland NBA team, for short) TheCleveland Cavaliersare an NBA team often referred to as the CAVS. The CAVS have won one NBA championship, in 2016. HEARST (21A: Media conglomerate that owns Elle) HEARST is a media conglomerate whose headquarters are located in HEARST Tower in New York City. In addition toElle, HEARST also owns a number of other magazines includingPopular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping,andCosmopolitan. HEARST's newspaper holdings include theSan Francisco Chronicle, theHouston Chronicle, and theSeattle Post-Intelligencer. TET (23A: Vietnamese New Year) TẾT, short for TẾT Nguyên Ðán, and also known as Vietnamese Lunar New Year, celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar. TẾT is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The next celebration of TẾT will February 17, 2026. CATS (25A: Purr-fect pets) My CAT, Willow, is peeking out to say, " This is a purr-fect clue." TERESA (26A: "Get Christie Love!" actress Graves)Get Christie Love!is a TV series that originally aired in 1974. TERESA Graves (1948-2002) played the title role of undercover detective Christie Love. With this role, TERESA Graves became the second Black woman to have a leading role in an hour-long TV series. (Diahann Carroll was the first, in the sitcomJulia, from 1968-1971.) TERESA Graves was also a regular on the third season of the comedy sketch showRowan & Martin's Laugh-In. RAS (47A: ___ el hangout (North African spice mix)) RAS el hanout is a spice mix that varies in composition depending on who prepares the mixture. It is used in Moroccan cuisine, as well as in the cuisines of Tunisia and Algeria. SARA (50A: Singer Bareilles) SARA Bareilles is a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress. My favorite SARA Bareilles song is"Brave,"which was released in 2013. "Say what you wanna say / And let the words fall out / Honestly I wanna see you be brave." AMONG (1D: ___ Us (online game))AMONG Usis a an online multiplayer game that was first released in 2018. Players are represented as cartoon astronauts, and each player is either a Crewmate, whose objective is to complete assigned tasks, or an Impostor, whose objective is to kill Crewmates. The Crewmates have the additional task of identifying and voting out Impostors.AMONG Usbecame popular in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, likely aided by being a way for people to safely connect while in quarantine. Fun fact: If you've seen the movieGlass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, you may remember the scene where Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is in the tub and is online with Angela Lansbury, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Stephen Sondheim. The game the group is playing isAMONG Us. THETA (3D: Greek letter often representing an angle) THETA is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (occurring after eta and before iota). In geometry, theta (θ) is used to represent the measure of an angle, essentially acting as a variable representing an unknown angle measurement. LEOS (4D: People born just before Virgos) Those born between July 22 and August 22 (on August 20, for example) are LEOS. Virgos are those born between August 22 and September 22. YOU HAD TO BE THERE (6D: "This was way funnier in person") I refer to these types of funny situations as "location jokes," but I think that might just be a "me term," rather than a widely used term. Example: "I guess that was a location joke; YOU HAD TO BE THERE." I really liked seeing this answer in the grid. CONN (25D: Stamford's state (Abbr.) Stamford is a city in Connecticut (CONN.). It is located about 34 miles from New York City and is considered part of the New York metropolitan area. Some fun facts about Stamford: WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is headquartered in Stamford. On the TV seriesThe Office, Stamford is one of the locations of the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper company. In the 2006-07 Marvel ComicsCivil Warseries, Stamford is destroyed when the supervillain Nitro explodes. All of these things are interesting, but for crossword fans, the important fact about Stamford, CONN. is that it is currently the site where theAmerican Crossword Puzzle Tournament(ACPT) – the oldest and largest crossword tournament – is held. I have attended ACPT the last three years, and I would describe it as a truly wonderful and welcoming gathering of crossword nerds. RATHER (27D: Would You ___ (party game)) Would you RATHER play the party game, "Would You RATHER", or solve a crossword puzzle constructed by Rafael Musa? (Heads up, I'm choosing a Rafa puzzle every time.) In the game "Would You RATHER, participants are asked to choose between two options. Often both options appear equally good or equally bad. STATE SEAL (30D: California's features Minerva and a bear) Minerva is the Roman goddess of war. In Roman mythology, Minerva was born as an adult. Her appearance on the STATE SEAL of California is meant to symbolize that California was not a territory before it became a STATE. A Grizzly bear, California's STATE animal, is next to Minerva. TWO (31D: Solution to 4x + 5 =13) There's math in the word puzzle! Did you solve this equation or simply wait for crossing answers to reveal the answer? ICE MARIO (33D: Video game plumber who can freeze enemies) In theMARIOvideo games, when MARIO touches an ICE flower, he takes on the form ofICE MARIO. As ICE MARIO, the titular plumber can throw ICE balls, freezing his enemies. A few other clues and answers I especially enjoyed: EASTER EGGS (53A: Hidden video game levels, e.g.) SHE'S THE REAL DEAL (9D: "Her work is super legit!") SPIRALS (36D: Shapes of some galaxies and staircases) STAY AWAY (Freestyle): There's no theme today, as this is a freestyle, or themeless, puzzle. The title is a nod to IT'S NOT WORTH IT ("Seems too messy to get involved in"). The title also pairs well with SCAT (36A: "Shoo!") and I HATE THIS (11D: "The vibes here are awful"). If you're reading this, it's likely that you didn't heed the title of this puzzle and STAY AWAY. That's fortunate, as there is so much to enjoy here. "I HATE THIS" is definitely not the vide here (though it is a fun entry). Thank you, Rafa, for this excellent puzzle. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Crossword Blog & Answers for June 23, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher