July 4, 2020

Title: DOWNHEARTED

Constructor: Erik Agard

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

AMBASSADORIAL (20A: Like some diplomatic roles)

CARNE ASADA FRIES (40A: Meat-and-potatoes dish)

THESIS ADVISOR (54A: College research overseer)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer has the letters S-A-D in the center of the word. The theme answers are placed so if you scan down the center of the puzzle you will see "SAD, SAD, SAD". Poor DOWNHEARTED puzzle!

Things I learned:

• IDLE (68A: "Am I vital/ if my heart is ___?" (Moses Sumney)) This line is from Moses Sumney's song, "Doomed." A nice quote for a DOWNHEARTED puzzle.
• ANNIE (21D: Astronomer ___ Jump Cannon) ANNIE Jump Cannon's career in astronomy lasted more than 40 years. She retired in 1940, so while she was practicing astronomy she was one of the few women in her field. She is one of two astronomers (the other was Edward C. Pickering) credited with the creation of the Harvard Classification Scheme to organize and classify stars. In 1929 the League of Women Voters chose ANNIE Jump Cannon as one of the "greatest living American women." Nice to learn about this female pioneer in the area of astronomy.
• NEZ PERCE (41D: People also known as the Nimiipuu) The NEZ PERCE are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The NEZ PERCE call themselves Nimiipuu, which means "the people" in their language.
• TOAD (54D: Member of the family Bufonidae) All members of the family Bufonidae are TOADs (although some have the word "frog" in their name), but not all TOADs are members of the family Bufonidae. Members of the Bufonidae family are sometimes called "true TOADs." Now you know.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SLAB (1A: Large piece) and SLEW (70A: Large amount) Fun to begin the Across answers with a SLAB and end with a SLEW. 
• PSA (28A: Informative letters) I liked this clue although I drew a blank and couldn't immediately fill it in, instead running through all the common three-letter initialisms: IOU, CIA, FBI?
• WHEAT (31A: Resource in Catan fields) This is a reference to the board game Settlers of Catan (and its many variations) in which players gather resources in order to build settlements, cities, and roads. Our family has spent many enjoyable hours playing Catan, and I can tell you that WHEAT is a valuable resource in the game.
• CARNE ASADA FRIES (40A: Meat-and-potatoes dish) CARNE ASADA is a dish of grilled and sliced beef cooked with a marinade to impart a charred flavor. CARNE ASADA FRIES consists of French FRIES topped with CARNE ASADA, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. A restaurant in San Diego claims to have originated the dish. In non-pandemic times, you can get CARNE ASADA FRIES at Petco Park while attending a San Diego Padres home baseball game.
• BARBIE (4D: Doll invented by Ruth Handler) The first BARBIE doll, named after Ruth Handler's daughter, debuted in 1959. Since that time, over a billion BARBIE dolls have been sold. 

Geography review:

• IRISH (15A: From Dublin, say) Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Last month we saw IRISH clued in reference to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.
• ERIE (43A: Spooky-sounding lake) Although Lake ERIE is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, it is still 210 feet deep at its deepest point.
• SYRIA (62A: Aleppo's country) Prior to the Syrian Civil War, Aleppo was SYRIA's largest city. Damascus, the capital of SYRIA, is now its largest city. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. 

The "hidden word in the theme answer" is a common theme type. I enjoyed the added twist of placing the hidden words down the center of the puzzle and using that placement as part of the theme. I confess that the DOWNHEARTED title made me expect the theme answers would be vertical. I had an "aha!" moment when I GOT IT. I appreciated learning about the NEZ PERCE and ANNIE Jump Cannon.

Have a safe holiday!