August 2, 2020

Title: FROZEN FOUR

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

TAKE INTO ACCOUNT (16A: Make allowance for)

COMFORT FOOD (28A: Dish whose ingredients include nostalgia)

SCARED STIFF (47A: Absolutely terrified)

BREAKS NEW GROUND (62A: Is innovative)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each of the FOUR theme answers can be paired with the word FROZEN to form a new phrase: FROZEN ACCOUNT, FROZEN FOOD, FROZEN STIFF, FROZEN GROUND.

Things I learned:

• TIVO (69A: Record to watch later) I do know what TIVO is, but this answer provided a funny moment which reminded me I'm not getting any younger. I read the clue and confidently typed in TAPE, while thinking, "That's odd. Do people really still TAPE shows?" Well, no, turns out they don't! 
• OIL UP (31D: Prepare for a Turkish wrestling match) Today I learned that the Turkish national sport is OIL wrestling. As is apparent from the name, wrestlers OIL UP by donning themselves with olive OIL before wrestling. In 1975, the duration of matches was capped at 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the event). Prior to that time, matches had no set duration and could go on for one to two days before a wrestler established superiority. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SIMON (15A: "You're So Vain" singer Carly) "You're so vain. You probably think this song is about you." Honestly, those may be the most perfect song lyrics ever. Carly SIMON wrote the song in addition to singing it, and there has been a lot of speculation about the subject of the song. SIMON has said that Warren Beatty called her after the song's release and thanked her for the song. Although she has confirmed that Warren Beatty was one of the song's subjects, Carly SIMON has repeatedly stated that the song is about three men, rather than one in particular. (She did say that the second verse is Warren's.) 
• COMFORT FOOD (28A: Dish whose ingredients include nostalgia) What a great theme answer! I am a fan of COMFORT FOOD, particularly these days when so many people in the world are hurting. What's your go to COMFORT FOOD? Potatoes, of any kind, in any form, are among my favorites. 
• DUET (46A: "Just Give Me a Reason," e.g.) "Just Give Me a Reason" is a DUET song by Pink and Nate Ruess (the lead singer of fun.)
• SCARED STIFF (47A: Absolutely terrified) and FEAR (50D: Cause of a cold sweat) Interesting and appropriate to see FEAR hanging off the end of SCARED STIFF. Also fun to see the juxtaposition of SCARED STIFF and COMFORT FOOD. Give that person SCARED STIFF from FEAR some COMFORT FOOD!
• ARLO (56A: Sarah Lee Guthrie's father) In case you didn't know, in mainstream crossword puzzles, men appear in clues and answers much more frequently than women do. In discussions about unequal representation of women in crossword puzzles, one of the things often noted is that when a woman's name does appear in the grid, the clue often cites the woman's association with a man. Yoko Ono is a classic example of this practice. Although a songwriter, artist, and activist in her own right, YOKO has been clued as "John's other half," "John's mate," or "Julian's stepmother." ONO has been clued as "Yoko who loved John Lennon," and "Middle name of Sean Lennon." (More recently, I have noticed a trend toward cluing Yoko Ono in relation to her own works, and I appreciate this.) All of this is to say, it made me smile to see ARLO Guthrie clued in relation to his daughter. 

Geography review:

• DELHI (42A: India's capital territory) The National Capital Territory of DELHI covers an area of 573 square miles, which is approximately one-third the area of Rhode Island. This probably makes a statement both about how large DELHI is and how small Rhode Island is. 
• RIO (7D: Brazilian city for short) RIO de Janeiro, Brazil is one of the Southern Hemisphere's most visited cities. One of RIO de Janeiro's nicknames is "Cidade Maravilhosa" - "Marvelous City."

This puzzle was an enjoyable Sunday morning solve. The theme answers were all interesting and fun. I did have a morbid moment, as I was solving and trying to deduce the theme, when I envisioned a STIFF (corpse) that was FROZEN. Fortunately, I quickly realized the idea was extremely cold, as in FROZEN STIFF! It's an interesting grid layout in that the two middle side sections are pretty closed off from the rest of the grid. This could be a challenge if you got stuck in one of these sections. Fortunately, I didn't. I'm off to eat some COMFORT FOOD. Enjoy your Sunday!