October 12, 2020

Title: FAST FORWARD

Constructor: Caitlin Reid

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

TRACK RECORD (20A: Performance in history)

FOOD NETWORK (58A: Culinary cable channel)

BREAK BREAD (10D: Share a meal)

LANE BRYANT (29D: Plus-size clothing brand)

Theme synopsis: The word FAST can be put in front of the first word of each theme answer to form a new phrase. FAST FORWARD to FAST TRACK, FAST FOOD, FAST BREAK, and FAST LANE.

Things I learned:

• OPAL (15A: Juneteenth advocate Lee) Ninety-three year old OPAL Lee has been advocating to have Juneteenth recognized as a holiday for over 40 years. She began with her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, which now celebrates Juneteenth with multiple days of festivities. In September, OPAL Lee delivered over 1.5 million signatures to Capitol Hill in support of making Juneteenth a national holiday. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States. On June 19, 1865, nearly two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Texas received the news of their freedom. As OPAL Lee is fond of saying, "none of us are free till we're all free." Black lives matter.
• STEPH (44A: "Holey Moley" golf pro Curry) Holey Moley is a TV series featuring contestants competing  against each other on a super-sized mini-golf obstacle course. A super-sized miniature golf course seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?
• TACOS (7D: Food sold by Mama Fina's in "Gentefield") Gentefield is a Netflix TV series centered on three Mexican-American cousins chasing the American Dream. Mama Fina's is the name of their family taco shop.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SALSA BAR (27A: Station with pico) Pico de gallo is fresh salsa made with tomato, onion, hot pepper, salt, lime juice, and cilantro. A delicious component of any SALSA BAR.
• BOOT (49A: To ___ (in addition)) Interestingly, the origin of the phrase "to BOOT" has nothing to do with footwear. It comes from an Old English word, "bot," which meant "advantage." Bot is also the origin of the word "better." 
• FOOD NETWORK (58A: Culinary cable channel) As I've mentioned before, the FOOD NETWORK is my channel of choice when staying in a hotel. I will have a lot of episodes of Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay to catch up on when we start traveling again! 
• ONWARD (52D: 2020 Pixar movie) ONWARD was released in February of this year. It was made available digitally several weeks after movie theaters closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ONWARD tells the story of two elf brothers on a quest to find an artifact to bring back their deceased father. 
• AARON (54A: Baseball legend Hank) I often mention not knowing much about sports, but I do know Hank AARON! Hank AARON held the Major League Baseball record for career home runs for 33 years. He is ranked fifth on a list of "100 Greatest Baseball Players," compiled by The Sporting News. AARON was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Geography review:

• ERIE (38D: Native people after whom a Great Lake is named) The ERIE lived on the south shore of Lake ERIE on land that is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio. This is the third crossword appearance for ERIE in October, and also the third appearance in the last four days.

Good stuff here all around. Any puzzle that contains the word CANOODLE is a winner as far as I'm concerned. I also enjoyed seeing STINKER (which this puzzle was not!) and SALSA BAR. The theme answer BREAK BREAD is a lovely phrase. I appreciated learning about OPAL Lee. This puzzle was a delightful addition to my Monday morning - NO LIE!