For those who still don’t see it (and maybe find the starred clues’ answers strange):
The grid literally has a PIZZA “topping” in the sense that the starred Downs should be topped with the letters P-I-Z-Z-A in order to make sense (PRESENT, IDEAL, ZERG, ZEROS, ASPIRES)
didn't catch on until the very end--had all of the bottom part done, but couldn't figure out the top until i got SPIRES and RESENT through crosses--awesome work! the non-topped clues being actual words is a nice touch as well :)