September 12, 2020

Title: HOLDING DEAR

Constructor: Paolo Pasco

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

HARD EARNED (16A: Not acquired easily)

MADE A RACKET (28A: Got noisy)

PIERCED EARS (42A: Places for hoops or studs)

ANA DE ARMAS (57A: "Knives Out" star)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains the letter string D-E-A-R. Therefore, each answer is HOLDING the word DEAR.

Things I learned:

• APA (1A: "Riverdale" actor KJ) Riverdale is a TV series based on the characters of the Archie comic books. KJ APA (Keneti James Fitzgerald APA) plays the role of Archie Andrews.
• TROY (8A: "Just One Look" singer Doris) Doris TROY's nickname was "Mama Soul." "Just One Look," a top 10 hit in 1963, was her biggest hit. TROY also sang backup for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon album, and Carly Simon's song, "You're So Vain."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BLOB (4A: Rhyme and synonym of "glob") and ANOINT (19A: Rhyme and synonym of "appoint") You know I enjoy rhyming synonyms. I especially liked the ANOINT/appoint pair. Nice find.
• ENYA (20A: "Only Time" singer) When Adele appeared in the June 25 puzzle, I expressed my desire for a concert of "Crossword-Friendly-One-Named Singers" featuring Adele, Cher, Enya, Sia, and Lizzo. Since then, Adele has made a second appearance in the puzzle, and Sia has appeared three times. This is ENYA's first appearance in my imaginary concert.
• ALTAR (34A: Place where grooms exchange vows) Hooray for inclusive cluing!
• LIV (44A: "___ and Maddie" (Disney series)) In the TV series, LIV and Maddie, Dove Cameron plays dual roles. She plays the role of LIV, an actress returning to her home after living in Hollywood for four years and starring in a popular TV series. She also plays the role of Maddie, LIV's identical twin sister who remained in their hometown.
• TEA TIME (48A: Meal break similar to merienda) Merienda is a light meal taken in the afternoon, filling the gap between the noontime meal and the evening meal. Countries in which merienda is a common practice include Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Italy, Brazil, and the Philippines. 
• ANA DE ARMAS (57A: "Knives Out" star) When the movie, Knives Out, was in theaters, three separate friends of mine told me I should see it because it made them think of me and they thought I would enjoy it. My friends know me well! I thoroughly enjoyed Knives Out, and ANA DE ARMAS did a fabulous job in her role as Marta Cabrera. (I also enjoyed Chris Evans in that fabulous sweater, but I digress.) My husband and I recently rewatched Knives Out, and even though we knew the ending, it was still enjoyable. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
• DYES (63A: Substances like henna) and BODY ART (7D: Henna designs, etc. ) Nice to tie these two clues/answers together. I particular enjoyed the answer BODY ART.
• BATMAN (14D: Poison Ivy's enemy) This clue thoroughly misled me, as I'm sure was intended! I completely missed the capital I of Ivy, and was trying to think of a chemical that kills poison ivy. No, the Poison Ivy here is the supervillain who first appeared in BATMAN comics in 1966. Poison Ivy has supernatural control over plant life and the power to transfer poison through touch. Although a supervillain, Poison Ivy has at times worked with BATMAN to achieve common goals, and has even been portrayed as a romantic interest of BATMAN's. Here's a piece of trivia for you: In one episode of the TV series, Riverdale (mentioned above), one of the characters (Cheryl Blossom) dresses up as Poison Ivy for Halloween.
• APP (34D: KakaoTalk, e.g.) KakaoTalk is an instant messaging APP. It is the number one messaging app in South Korea.
• CEO (43D: Oprah, for Harpo Productions) Perhaps you remembered seeing HARPO in Thursday's puzzle, and were able to immediately fill this in. This is a nice example of cluing a short answer commonly seen in crosswords in a way that highlights a woman in a leadership position.
• TART (49D: Like a tamarind's taste) The tamarind fruit becomes sweeter and less TART as it ripens. Young fruit, which is quite sour and TART, is often used as a component of savory dishes and as a pickling agent. Tamarind is a key ingredient in flavoring curries and rice in south Indian cuisine, and is sometimes used as flavoring in Masala Chai tea. Tamarind pulp is also found in Worcestershire Sauce. 

Geography review:

• STL (64A: Maya Angelou's city of birth (Abbr.)) Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
  
  When she was three years old, she and her brother were sent to Arkansas to live with their grandmother. Before I solve the crossword each morning, I make myself a cup of tea, choosing my mug carefully from my extensive mug collection. Today I fortuitously matched my mug to the puzzle. (This happened once before on August 29.)
• DES (58D: Word before "Moines" or "Plaines") DES Moines is the capital of Iowa. Shoutout to Iowa, and to DES Moines, where I lived while an undergraduate in college! There is also a DES Moines River, which is a tributary of the Mississippi. DES Plaines, Illinois is a suburb of Chicago, and is named after the DES Plaines River which runs through the city.

A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle to begin my Saturday morning. A straightforward theme with some nice theme answers. My favorite theme answer was MADE A RACKET. I would also like to REMARK ON the entries MERMAID and CONCEIT, which were delightful. I always enjoy seeing a science-related answer like LITMUS. Nothing EERIE here to leave one AGHAST.