August 20, 2020

Title: TOPKNOT

Constructor: Rachel Fabi

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

GRANNY SMITH (3D: Green apple variety)

SLIPSTREAM (19D: Low-pressure wake behind a moving object)

BARREL ROLL (21D: Showy aerial maneuver)

SQUARE MEALS (25D: Some people eat three a day)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each theme answer, which is at the TOP of the answer since they are all Down entries, is a type of KNOT: GRANNY KNOT, SLIP KNOT, BARREL KNOT, SQUARE KNOT.

And now a word from our constructor:

Rachel: I wear my hair in a topknot most of the time, so I decided to make a puzzle about it! The original title of this puzzle was "It's not a manbun!" but that didn't exactly fly. Hope you enjoy the solve!

Things I learned:

• RAE (42A: Pulitzer-winning poet Armantrout) Versed is the book of poetry for which RAE Armantrout won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award. RAE Armantrout is currently a Professor of Poetry and Poetics at the University of California, San Diego.
• HALLE (51A: Chloe x ___) Chloe x HALLE is the R&B duo of sisters, Chloe and HALLE Bailey. Beyoncé discovered Chloe x HALLE's YouTube videos and signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment. The sisters also star in the TV series Grown-ish. 
• ANT (58D: Insect with a queen) We more commonly hear about the queen bee, and I did not realize ANTs also have a queen. A queen ANT will generally be the mother of all the ANTs in a colony. Some female ANTs do not need to mate to have offspring, reproducing through a process called asexual parthenogenesis.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MONAE (16A: "Make Me Feel" singer Janelle) In addition to her musical accomplishments, Janelle MONAE also played the role of aerospace engineer, Mary Jackson, in the movie Hidden Figures, and starred in Moonlight.
• REPS (46A: Congress members (Abbr.)) and SEN (61A: Congress member) We are treated to a trio of repeated clue pairs today.
• AHEM (49A: Attention-grabbing sound) and PSST (65A: Attention-grabbing sound) Of course I confidently filled in PSST at 49-Across until I reached 65-Across. 
• DALAI LAMA (55A: Spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism) A group of my friends recently read The Book of Joy, which is an account of a week that author, Douglas Abrams, spent with His Holiness the DALAI LAMA and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. There's a lot of wisdom in the book, as you can imagine. But what I enjoyed most was gaining insight into the personalities of the DALAI LAMA and Desmond Tutu and their unique friendship. I was struck many times while reading the book by the DALAI LAMA's sense of humor. 
• SAL (5D: Partner of pimienta) In Spanish, pimienta means pepper and SAL means salt. Although I know it wasn't intended as such, I'm choosing to see this answer as a shoutout to me because today
  
  is my birthday! My sister gave me the perfect mug to add to my collection.
• RIOT ACT (6D: It's read as a reprimand) Clever clue! The R was the last letter I filled in in the entire puzzle. Even as I filled it in I was wondering, "What in the world is a RIOTACT?" After I finally saw the answer was two words, I read my brain the RIOT ACT for confusing me.
• EAR (31D: Organ with an anvil) The anvil, along with the hammer and stirrup, are bones in the inner EAR. This clue made me laugh because the night before Rachel's last puzzle ran I dreamt I was solving her puzzle. The theme of the puzzle in my dream was Inner EAR, featuring theme answers containing hammer, anvil, and stirrup. (The theme of Rachel's last puzzle was actually SPLIT ENDS.)
• DAD (39D: Palindromic family member) and SIS (Palindromic family member) Another fun clue pairing. 

Geography review:

• ITALY (17A: Olympic host country for 2006 and 2026) The Winter Olympics were held in Turin, ITALY, a city in northern ITALY in the Piedmont region. The 2026 Winter Olympics (surely we will be able to have sporting events by then...) will take place in Milan and Cortina, which are also in northern Italy.

This was an enjoyable puzzle. Fun theme entries - I particularly liked BARREL ROLL and SQUARE MEALS. Colorful fill including YUMMIER, SNIVEL, CONFAB, and SELFIE. Solving this puzzle was a delightful way to start my birthday!

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