Speech with a rising inflection (it's prominent in "Valley girl speak")
15A
What ∎ means in mathematical writing
16A
"Just ___ and do this weird thing that makes no sense, please?"
18A
Letter represented by ⠞
19A
In Minecraft, half a (stone, wood, etc.) block
21A
Sleep problem due to the movement of air
22A
Sibling's nickname
23A
In English, ARRÊT, PARE, or 止まれ
25A
$, €, £, or ¥ dispenser
26A
Letters on a sunscreen bottle
27A
Like shoots and leaves, to a panda (you know, like the joke where one walks into a bar?)
29A
Prefix for tourism or terrorism
30A
For instance, "missing closing parentheses in 3 + cos(2π"
33A
Mentions, as on Twitter or Discord
34A
Mesoamerican dish that can be hot
35A
Eleventh graders, for short
36A
Attaches to an email
37A
They hold up the pitch?
39A
Collar wearer
40A
Lazes around (like me on the weekends)
42A
Actress Cameron who voiced Princess Fiona in "Shrek"
44A
They can be porcelain, or perhaps medical?
45A
Like most of Japan geographically, or like most of Japan during the sakoku period
47A
CBS cop show
48A
Such as the nerve pinch or
50A
Genre for avoiding reality (can't wait for virtual reality tech to get better)
52A
Demand, such as via the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the world for Portugal and Spain (still used to this day‽)
53A
Type of pool
54A
They recently published the Yakuza video game series
55A
"Watch me ___ ___"
Verticales
1D
Records the War of 1812 to have started in 1821, say
2D
Software, for short
3D
Sodium hydroxide, symbolically
4D
Behave
5D
Blog and book written by Randall Munroe of XKCD, where he explores scientific inquiries to absurd degrees
6D
Romeo and Juliet, for two
7D
Oxen's harness
8D
Where heads are over
9D
Polynesian deity (I only know this from playing Danganronpa V3...)
10D
Such as
11D
Excludes from a tournament abbr.
12D
Tame Australian band
13D
Surrounding information to help you read between the lines or infer unknown words (such as this grid, its title, and the prompt in relation to the meta)
14D
Actress Thurman of "Pulp Fiction"
17D
Sleep stage
20D
Tattoos or piercings, for example
22D
Wound, on a spindle
24D
Several ⅛s of a gallon
26D
Like all the crosswords we've built but decided to not finish for some reason
28D
K-pop group
29D
"Uhhhhhhh..."
31D
Painting holders
32D
Plot in "Macbeth" and also "The Lion King"
35D
Sleep problem due to the movement through air
36D
Predecessor to DVDs
38D
Impertinent
39D
French hen (also, French chicken but remove the 18A)
40D
Adventurer's respite
41D
Burn down Rome, perhaps
43D
Nickelodeon's "Invader ___"
44D
Plastic pipe materials abbr.
45D
"I think, therefore ___"
46D
It would be ironic if it happened on your wedding day; I honestly don't know what ironic means anymore