September 1, 2020

Title: SEE YOU AROUND

Constructor: Paolo Pasco

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CONSTANCE WU (16A: "Crazy Rich Asians" star)

COCKTAIL MENU (26A: Happy hour listing)

CHICKEN KATSU (42A: Dish with breadcrumb-coated cutlets)

CHEVY MALIBU (56A: Car named after a California city)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer begins with the letter C and ends with the letter U. Therefore, C (SEE) and U (YOU) are AROUND each theme answer.

And now a word from our constructor:

Paolo: This came from a place of "really wanting to put CONSTANCE WU" in a puzzle and building a theme around it. 40A is a tribute to my dad, who's a huge Shin Lim fan. Many thanks to Erik for his great editing on this one!
(P.S. This is unrelated but for more puzzles, i just released a pay-what-you-want crossword suite called Expansion Pack! Check it out if you're a crossword fan)
(P.P.S. watch "Wells for Boys," it rules)

Things I learned:

• CHICKEN KATSU (42A: Dish with breadcrumb-coated cutlets) The Japanese dish, CHICKEN KATSU, is just as the clue described - chicken cutlets coated with panko bread crumbs and then fried. It is sometimes referred to as panko chicken, and is related to the dish tonkatsu, which is breaded, fried pork cutlets.
• AWAY (11D: "Spirited ___" (Miyazaki film)) The anime film, Spirited AWAY, tells the story of a ten-year-old girl, Chihiro, who enters the world of Shinto spirits. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
• CHE (43D: Writer Gossett) CHE Gossett is known for their writing on Black and trans visibility, and queer, trans, and Black radicalism. CHE is currently a doctoral candidate in trans/gender studies at Rutgers University.
• ANT (57D: Eusocial insect) The word eusocial was a new one to me. It describes living in a cooperative group with one reproductively active female.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CONSTANCE WU (16A: "Crazy Rich Asians" star) CONSTANCE WU played the role of Rachel Chu in Crazy Rich Asians. My husband and I recently rewatched Crazy Rich Asians; she's so wonderful in that role. She also plays the role of Jessica Huang in the TV series, Fresh Off the Boat. This appears to be a debut for CONSTANCE WU in mainline crosswords. 
• ANN (59A: TV star Carrie ___ Inaba) Carrie ANN Inaba is a judge on Dancing With the Stars.
• NATE (35A: Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's "Great" detective) Since 1972 when the first book was published, there have been 29 children's detective stories featuring NATE the Great. NATE solves mysteries with his dog, Sludge. I grew up reading NATE the Great, and then read them to my children. Fun to see him in the puzzle today.
• SHIN (40A: "America's Got Talent"-winning magician Lim) SHIN Lim originally planned to be a pianist, but took up magic as his career after being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. 
• LISTICLE (4D: "Top 10" blog post, say) LISTICLE is such a fun word! Seems like a LISTICLE should specifically be a list of the Top 10 popsicles.
• SMARTEN UP (9D: Become brainier) and PALM (10D: Place for a cheater's notes, maybe) You're not going to SMARTEN UP by writing cheat notes on your PALM. These two clues and answers next to each other gave me a chuckle.
• SNARK (13D: Sarcastic attitude) I do like some friendly SNARK (emphasis on friendly!) Another great word.

Geography review:

• INCA (1D: Ancient Peruvian) From 1438 to 1533, the INCA empire was centered in South America, in what is now the country of Peru.
• MAUNA LOA (38D: Volcano near Hilo) MAUNA LOA is one of five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii. MAUNA LOA is an active volcano and is estimated to have been erupting for at least 700,000 years.

I enjoyed this theme. I'm guessing there aren't many phrases beginning with the letter C and ending with the letter U, so today's theme answers were some nice finds. The puzzle was packed with delightful answers, including SMARMY, HOW'S LIFE, and AT WIT'S END. I say with a completely absence of SNARK, that this was a delightful solve to begin the month of September. Thanks, Paolo!

Also, I recommend checking out Paolo's Expansion Pack puzzles mentioned above. I thoroughly enjoyed them!