June 30, 2020

Title: GETTING IN YOUR HAIR

Constructor: Patrick Jordan

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

VIOLIN BOW (17A: Stradivarius player's stick) 

MOVIE CLIP (58A: Cinematic excerpt)

PAINT ROLLER (10D: Coat-applying tool)

LOBSTER PICK (24D: Seafood restaurant implement)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each theme answer - BOW, CLIP, ROLLER, PICK - is something that can be put IN YOUR HAIR.

Things I learned:

• BOWIE (57A: ___ State University (home of the Bulldogs)) BOWIE State University is the oldest historically Black university in Maryland. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are colleges that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with the intention of primarily serving Black communities. As the clue states, the Bulldog is the BOWIE State University mascot. The Bulldog is also the mascot of my undergraduate alma mater, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
• OSMOND (9D: Figure skater Kaetlyn) Kaetlyn OSMOND is a Canadian figure skater and has won three Olympic medals (gold, silver, and bronze). 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AMMO (15A: Opposition research goal) Although it took some crosses for me to fill this answer in, I appreciated the choice not to clue AMMO as weaponry. 
• STRESSED (44A: Placed emphasis on) and SWEETS (46A: 44-Across backward, usually) The fact that STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS has always brought me great delight. Clever to use that to clue SWEETS.
• AUNT (63A: Vi or Viv, on TV) AUNT Vi is a character played by Tina Lifford on the TV Series Queen Sugar. Janet Hubert played the role of AUNT Viv on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
• EVIL (2D: "Deception, disgrace, ___ as plain as the scar on his face") This quote is a line from "One of Us," a song from the movie The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.
• BLUE (54D: Word after "light" or "true") and RING (55D: Word before "light" or "true") This was a nice clue pairing, particularly with the words next to each other in the grid.

Geography review:

• OMAN (52A: Persian Gulf country) OMAN is on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It shares land borders with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The capital of OMAN is Muscat.

There were only a couple of things in the puzzle that were new to me. There were a couple of nice clue pairings. There wasn't anything that made me cringe. I picked up on the theme quickly, which is usually luck, but always makes me feel smart. I enjoyed working this puzzle; it was a pleasant way to start my day.