June 21, 2020

Title: PICK UP THE PACE
Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel
Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:
FIRE CAPTAIN (2D: Station leader)
TIME CAPSULES (7D: Buried caches for future generations)
STATE CAPITAL (21D: Denver or Dover, e.g.)
POLAR ICE CAP (26D: Frozen planetary region)

Theme Synopsis: All of the theme answers are Down entries today. Each theme answer has the letters E-C-A-P spanning two words in the answer. E-C-A-P is PACE backwards, so the word PACE goes UP each theme answer - PICK UP THE PACE.

Things I learned:
  • LORI (14A: "Dear Therapist" columnist Gottlieb) LORI Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and writer. She writes a weekly "Dear Therapist" column for The Atlantic. She has also written a memoir/self-help book titled Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed.
  • ROSA (53D: "La ___ de Guadalupe") La Rosa de Guadalupe is a Mexican TV series. Each episode features a story about people who are in difficult situations and pray to the Virgin Mary for help.
  • USA (9D: Country with the most FIBA Women's World Cup titles) The FIBA Women's World Cup is an international basketball tournament held every four years. Since it began in 1953, only four nations have won the tournament - USA (10), Soviet Union (6), Brazil (1), and Australia (1). The next FIBA Women's World Cup will be held in 2022.
Random thoughts and interesting things:
  • I AM MALALA (17A: Yousafzai autobiography) MALALA Yousafzai is a human rights activist known especially for her work advocating for the education of women and children in Pakistan. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17. MALALA graduated from Oxford University this month.
  • LOKI (46A: Trickster in Norse myth) In Norse mythology, the god LOKI is a shape shifter, sometimes appearing in the form of a salmon, a mare, or a fly. LOKI has made appearances in modern pop culture, including as a character in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, and making an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a villain in conflict with Thor.
  • EAT (54A: Have Hainanese chicken rice, say) Hainanese chicken rice - a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice - is served with chili sauce and cucumber garnishes.
  • OCEAN (48D: Title role for Bullock in 2018) and SEA (57D: Shark's home) Although they weren't clued together, and OCEAN was clued as a movie, it was fun to see these two words hanging out together side-by-side at the bottom of the puzzle.
  • DOMES (49D: They protect ball fields against rain) and TARPS (50D: They protect ball fields against rain) This was a fun clue pairing. I wanted TARPS at 49D and was confused until I moved on to 50D.
Geography Review - U.S. Edition:
  • STATE CAPITAL (21D: Denver or Dover, e.g.) Did you have to memorize the U.S. CAPITALs when you were in school? How many do you remember? Denver is the CAPITAL of Colorado. Its nickname is the "Mile-High City." Dover is the CAPITAL of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and was named for the city of Dover in Kent, England.
I had an "Aha!" moment when I discovered the theme and that was fun. (My fear is that one day I will not be able to figure out the theme of the puzzle and will have to confess my failing to all of you!) I liked the theme answer of TIME CAPSULES. What would you include in a TIME CAPSULE for 2020? 

Comments

  1. A mask, of course! Actually, I'd include some of those really funny quarantine jokes that made me laugh out loud, especially the cartoon ones.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment