September 16, 2020

Title: CHEST DIPS

Constructor: Zhouquin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

ICE MOUNTAIN (5D: Bottled water brand)

TOY POODLES (10D: Lap dogs with curly coats)

HOPE DIAMOND (23D: Large and supposedly cursed gem)

TOOL AROUND (25D: Drive aimlessly)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each vertical theme answer can precede the word CHEST to create a new phrase. We have ICE CHEST, TOY CHEST, HOPE CHEST, and TOOL CHEST.

Things I learned:

• GAME (1A: Chess or xiangqi) Xiangqi, also called Chinese chess, is one of the most popular games in China. Chess and xiangqi are both strategy games. A game of xiangqi represents a battle between two armies; the game is over when one player checkmates the other's general. Similarly, a game of chess is over when an opponent's king has been placed in checkmate. (Chess games can also be won by an opponent resigning or forfeiting, or in a timed game, by an opponent running out of time.) Both chess and xiangqi are believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga. This clue is an example of introducing new information in an accessible way. By providing two examples, solvers need know only one to come up with the answer, but in the process are introduced to a new term.
• PIETY (7D: "Classic of Filial ___" (Confucian treatise)) The Classic of Filial Piety is also known by its Chinese name, Xiaojing. It is thought to date to the 4th century BC, and was used to teach young children basic moral messages as they learned to read.
• RUSSO (28D: Singer-songwriter Cailin) Cailin RUSSO is the lead singer of her eponymous band, RUSSO. Cailin is also known for appearing in Justin Bieber music videos.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TWO (10A: Eight's cube root) and DOS (26D: Cuatro's square root) If your grid features the same word in multiple languages, it's a nice touch to tie the clues together. This was a clever way to do it, which I, as a person who enjoys math, enjoyed. (Apologies to solvers who are not fond of math.)
• ASH (19A: Wood stove refuse) ASH makes an appearance in the puzzle for the second day in a row. Let's send more good vibes to those on the west coast dealing with ASH in the atmosphere and those fighting the wildfires.
• BETTE (17D: "The L Word" role for Jennifer Beals) Jennifer Beals's character, BETTE Porter was ranked number 10 on AfterEllen.com's list of Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters. Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you: The theme song for the last five seasons of The L Word was performed by the band Betty (spelled with a Y).

Geography review:

• CAIRO (14A: Largest city in the Middle East) If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might remember reading this fun fact two days ago when I mentioned that Tehran is the third-largest city in the Middle East, behind CAIRO and Istanbul.
• ALPS (45D: Matterhorn's range) The Matterhorn is located in the ALPS on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The Matterhorn has a pyramidal shape, with the four steep sides facing the four compass directions. 
• RENO (48D: Nevada Museum of Art city) In 2003, the Nevada Museum of Art moved into a new building designed by architect Will Bruder. 
• WACO (50D: Home of Baylor University) Baylor University is a private Baptist university located in WACO, in central Texas. Back in July (in another of Zhouqin Burnikel's puzzles) we saw the flip of this clue: BAYLOR (University in Waco).

When my kids were in elementary school, the 100th day of school was a big deal. Each class would have a Day 100 celebration, with many opportunities to count to 100. One year, at my daughter's request, I put her hair in 10 ponytails with 10 ponytail holders on each ponytail. (Somewhere I have a picture of that...!) All of this is to say that today I am celebrating Blog Day 100! This post is the 100th blog post for SALLY'S TAKE. (Matthew Stock guest-blogged for two of those posts, so I've only personally written 98, if you're into technicalities!) When I started this blog, I dove right in after only a couple of days considering whether to pursue the idea. Along the way I've learned a lot - about blogging, from the crossword puzzles, and from interacting with you. Starting out, I had three goals. I wanted the blog to be 1) informational, 2) conversational, and 3) kind. Those are still my goals. I continue to thoroughly enjoy writing the blog. It has brought me joy each time I've realized someone actually reads what I write! 

Because I like data, here are a few statistics for you from my first 100 days of blogging. These 100 puzzles were constructed by 21 different constructors. 71% of the puzzles were constructed by women (solely or as co-constructor). The word I have highlighted most frequently in the blog so far is ERIE, which has appeared 10 times in the last 100 days. (ASIA is a close second, appearing eight times.) Interestingly, when I first began blogging I did not intend to have a Geography Review section in the blog. However, I quickly noticed geography-related clues and answers were common. This section is helping me brush up on my geography, which has never been a strong suit of mine. I hope it's helping you as well. 

Now let's talk about today's puzzle! Some nice theme answers here, particularly TOY POODLES and TOOL AROUND. Since the theme answers were all vertical, this allowed for some nice across bonuses: LET'S BE REAL and PILLOW TALK are gems. This was an enjoyable solve for my Wednesday morning and for Blog Day 100. Here's to hundreds more days of blogging!

Oh, one more thing, I'm taking a break tomorrow and I have a new guest blogger lined up. Who will it be? Tune in tomorrow to find out!