June 29, 2020

Title: MUMBO JUMBO

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

HOCUS POCUS (18A: Magic words)

RAZZLE DAZZLE (26A: Vibrant display)

WALKIE TALKIE (47A: Tin can telephone upgrade)

LOVEY DOVEY (59A: Cloyingly affectionate)

Theme synopsis: The theme answers are all common two word phrases composed of rhyming words. 

And now a word from our constructor:

Brooke: My first draft of this grid actually had ten Z's, but almost certainly at a detriment to the solving experience. As my friends could tell you, XOXO is such a Brooke thing and I love when it shows up in my puzzles. I'm also fond of using more casual language in cluing, like I did here for TASTY and POOH. While researching clues, I learned that the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group was discontinued after it was awarded to "ON TO the Next One"! So meta. I saw the song performed live in STL in 2010 and it was amazing to hear it take up a whole arena. Finally — and I didn't even notice this until revisiting the grid to write these notes — I love the fortuitous BOOK REC / ZADIE / TONI sub-theme!

Things I learned:

• ON TO (16A: "___ the Next One" (2009 rap song)) "ON TO the Next One" is played when the New York Islanders win a home hockey game. It has also been used in Peloton TV commercials. The song is by rappers Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz.
• ALASKANS (22A: Most Unangax people) Unangax̂ people are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands. The Aleuts use the words Unangan or Unangas to refer to themselves, depending on their dialect. Unangax̂ is the singular of both terms.
• ZADIE ("White Teeth" novelist Smith) The main characters of White Teeth are Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and Englishman Archie Jones. The two were wartime friends, and the novel focuses on their lives and relationship after the war. White Teeth was ZADIE Smith's debut novel. ZADIE Smith is a Creative Writing professor at New York University. 
• COOKE (50D: Cycling champion Nicole) Nicole COOKE won a 2008 Olympic gold medal for Great Britain in the Women's Road Race cycling event. That year she became the first cyclist to win the  UCI Road World Championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year. COOKE's autobiography, The Breakaway, was named the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year in 2014.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MOOSE (5A: Largest deer species) It's interesting to think of MOOSE and deer being in the same family. MOOSE are impressively large.
• IRENE ("Fame" actress Cara) In addition to her work on Fame, IRENE Cara also sang and co-wrote the song "Flashdance...What a Feeling" from the movie Flashdance.
• PIZZAZZ (4D: Glamorous style) and ERSATZ (9D: Fake) Such fun words!
• REF (24D: NWSL official) NWSL = National Women's Soccer League
• DEREK (McDreamy's first name) DEREK Christopher Shepherd, M.D. is a character on the TV medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Patrick Dempsey portrayed DEREK, who was often referred to as McDreamy.
• ELVIS (51D: Name that's an anagram of "lives") What a clever clue for ELVIS!
• XOXO (57D: "Gossip Girl" signoff) Gossip Girl is a TV series based on a series of novels of the same name. The series is narrated by an omniscient blogger, voiced by Kristen Bell, who signs off by saying, "And who am I? That's one secret I'll never tell! You know you love me...XOXO Gossip Girl." At one time there were a lot of Gossip Girl books on our book shelves, as my daughter, Leah, read them all during her teenage years. 
• YES (61D: Active consent word) YES, this was a nice way to clue a simple, but important, word.
• HOY (63D: "___ todo va a salir bien") "Today everything will be fine." A lovely sentiment for the final clue of the puzzle.

Geography review:

• ERIE (44A: Southernmost Great Lake) ERIE has made three appearances in the puzzle in the last week.
• ARAB (27D: ___ American National Museum (Dearborn attraction)) Located in Dearborn, Michigan, the ARAB American National Museum is devoted to ARAB American history and culture. It includes a gallery about prominent Arab-Americans such as Helen Thomas and Ralph Nader. 

This puzzle was a delightful start to my Monday! The theme is a common type, but I don't view that as a negative, especially when it brings such delightful phrases as RAZZLE DAZZLE and LOVEY DOVEY. As Brooke noted, there's a BOOK REC sub-theme going on. BOOK REC's are always welcome, so if you're looking for your next read, I've analyzed the TEXT and this puzzle suggests: White Teeth by ZADIE Smith, Sula by TONI Morrison, Holes by Louis Sachar (featuring the character ZERO), or any book in the Gossip Girl series. XOXO

Connect with the constructor: You can follow Brooke Husic on Twitter: @brookehus and @xandraladee.