September 18, 2020

Title: NO SOAP

Constructor: Claire Rimkus

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

MUDDY WATERS (17A: "Rollin' Stone" bluesman)

FILTHY RICH (30A: Excessively wealthy)

GROSS SALES (46A: Transaction total)

GREASY SPOON (62A: Casual diner)

Theme synopsis: If you have NO SOAP, you might end up with something MUDDY, FILTHY, GROSS, or GREASY.

Things I learned:

• EVE (64A: Co-host of "The Talk") EVE is a rapper, singer, songwriter, and actress. She joined "The Talk" in 2017 which was the TV show's eighth season. As the name implies, on "The Talk" the co-hosts have open conversation and discuss the latest headlines, current events, and human interest stories.  Sara Gilbert, a co-host on "The Talk" through its ninth season, originally pitched the show to CBS when they were looking for a program to run in the time slot that As the World Turns had occupied for 54 years. For the first nine seasons, the show ended with the sign-off, "Remember, it's always the right time to have The Talk!" In season 10 the sign-off was changed to "Let's Talk Tomorrow!"
• ROTI (7D: Kottu ___ (Sri Lankan street food)) Kottu ROTI is made from ROTI (flatbread), vegetables, egg and/or meat, and spices. In terms of its popularity, Kottu ROTI is considered the Sri Lankan equivalent of the hamburger.
• COEL (59D: "I May Destroy You" creator Michaela) I May Destroy You is a British TV series. Michaela COEL created, wrote, produced, and co-directed the series, inspired by her own experience of sexual assault. COEL also wrote and starred in the TV sitcom, Chewing Gum, for which she won British Academy Television Awards for Best Female Comedy Performance and Breakthrough Talent. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MUDDY WATERS (17A: "Rollin' Stone" bluesman) MUDDY WATERS was the professional name of musician McKinley Morganfield. "Rollin' Stone," recorded in 1950, was his signature tune and is among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The rock group Rolling Stones was named after the song. 
• PI DAY (36A: March 14 observance) March 14, or 3-14, is an annual celebration of the mathematical concept pi (3.14159265358979...) The earliest known large-scale celebration of PI DAY was in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives recognized March 14 as National PI DAY by a non-binding resolution. PI DAY is one of my favorite holidays, as it is celebrated mainly by eating pie!
• CTR (55A: Middle point (Abbr.)) This was the last answer I filled in on this puzzle. For some reason, my brain was just not coming up with anything for "middle point." It didn't help that I was trying to make (48D: Vessel from the heart) some form of AORTA instead of ARTERY. Once I got that straightened out, CTR fell into place.
• BOUNCE (57A: "Gotta ___!" (parting words)) I tried to discover the origin of "Gotta BOUNCE!" but didn't have any luck. I did discover that the use of the word BOUNCE in the sense of leaving can be traced back to at least 1874 when it was used in that manner in a book by J.C. Stewart. 
• ID EST (35D: What "i.e." is short for) ID EST is Latin for "it is" and is used as an abbreviation for "that is to say," or "that means." (i.e. when giving an example to clarify meaning).

Geography review:

• NILE (24D: River through Cairo) In addition to Cairo, Egypt, the NILE River also runs through Aswan, Egypt and Khartoum, Sudan.
• ESSEX (38D: County in Massachusetts or England) ESSEX is a county in the southeast part of England. In Massachusetts, ESSEX County is in the northeastern part of the state where it exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government.
• NOEL (58D: Christmas in Paris) I enjoyed this clue which refers to French as the language in Paris, France. The French word for Christmas is Noël.

I'm back! Many thanks to Sid Sivakumar for filling in yesterday! 

Another new constructor for the USA Today crossword (at least since I have been blogging) - welcome, Claire! I enjoyed the theme today. The theme answers are absolutely delightful. I particularly enjoyed the visual of applying some SOAP to the FILTHY RICH or to a GREASY SPOON. The long vertical, AS PROMISED was a lovely ASSET. WHAT DID I DO? I thoroughly enjoyed solving this puzzle to start off my Friday.