September 8, 2020

Title: DO I HEAR AN ECHO?

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

BABY-BABY-BABY (20A: 1992 TLC hit)

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS (39A: 1999 Destiny's Child hit)

TURN! TURN! TURN! (52A: 1965 Byrds hit)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a song title comprised of one word repeated (or ECHOed) three times.

Things I learned:

• YAO (22D: Hoops star Ming) During his time as a professional basketball player, YAO Ming played for the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At 7'6", YAO Ming is one of the tallest players in NBA history. (Trivia: At 7'7", the tallest player in NBA history was Gheorghe Muresan.) The documentary, The Year of the YAO, is about Ming's rookie year in the NBA.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• A-LIST (1A: Desirable group of guests) and ANTS (6A: Undesirable picnic "guests") Given the title of the puzzle, it was a nice touch to start off with a pair of clues which ECHO a couple of words.
• ISLAM (17A: Religion with five pillars) The five pillars of ISLAM are the foundation of Muslim life. The pillars are basic acts considered mandatory by believers. The five pillars of Sunni ISLAM are: Shahada (Profession of Faith), Salat (Prayer), Zakat (Almsgiving), Shawm (Fasting), and Hajj (Pilgrimage). Shia ISLAM has the same basic acts, but they differ in the naming and numbering. 
• BONO (18A: Actor Chaz) Chaz BONO is the subject of the documentary, Becoming Chaz. He competed on season 13 of Dancing with the Stars, and has been a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. His parents are Sonny Bono and Cher.
• BABY-BABY-BABY (20A: 1992 TLC hit) "BABY-BABY-BABY" was the second single released from TLC's debut album, Ooooooohhh...On the TLC Tip. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
• BILLS, BILLS, BILLS (39A: 1999 Destiny's Child hit) "BILLS, BILLS, BILLS" is a song from Destiny's Child's second studio album, The Writing's on the Wall. It also reached number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as on the BillBoard Hot 100.
• UNDO (43A: Option on an edit menu) My absolute favorite option. It's use is usually accompanied by me shouting, "UNDO! UNDO! UNDO!" (Bonus theme answer.)
• TURN! TURN! TURN! (52A: 1965 Byrds hit) "TURN! TURN! TURN!" was written by Pete Seeger. It was originally released by Seeger, but became an international hit after being released by the Byrds in 1965. The Byrds adaptation of the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Geography review:

• OSLO (31D: Capital once called Christiania) OSLO is the capital and most populous city of Norway. When it was founded in 1040, the city was named Ánslo. The city was rebuilt in 1624 after being destroyed by a fire. It was renamed Christiania in honor of the reigning king, Christian IV. From 1877, the city's name was spelled Kristiania in government usage. In 1925, the city was named OSLO. 

HELLO, this was a fun, fun, fun theme! Enjoyable to see these three popular songs featured. Once you discerned the theme, it was helpful for solving purposes to be able to quickly fill in the repeated words. There's no REASON to ARGUE about the rest of the fill either, as it was smooth. (As an ASIDE, BATHROBE made me wish I was still in my pajamas.) Stella is known for constructing extremely difficult puzzles which she posts on her website Tough as Nails. As demonstrated here, she's no SLOB at constructing EASY (or at least easier) puzzles either. Solving this puzzle was an enjoyable start to my Tuesday morning.