October 2, 2020

Title: OUTSIDE CAT

Constructor: Caitlin Reid

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

COWBOY HAT (17A: Accessory often worn with boots)

CASINO HEIST (31A: "Ocean's Eleven caper)

CANDLELIGHT (45A: Illumination for a romantic dinner)

CURED MEAT (62A: Bacon or pepperoni, e.g.)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer either begins with C- and ends with -AT, or begins with CA- and ends with -T. Therefore, the word CAT is on the OUTSIDE of each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• RACE (24A: Competition for Perdita Felicien) Perdita Felicien is a retired hurdler. When she won the women's 100 m Hurdles at the 2003 World Championships, she became Canada's first female world gold medalist. She was named Canada's female athlete of the year in 2003.
• KEVIN (27D: Riverdale's Keller) In the TV series, Riverdale, KEVIN Keller is played by Casey Cott.  KEVIN Keller joined the Archie Comics universe in 2010, premiering in the comic book Veronica #202. KEVIN was the first gay character in Archie comics history. In June 2011, a four-issue miniseries titled KEVIN was released. From 2012-2014, KEVIN was featured in another series using his full name as the title. 
• ELENA (29D: Author Ferrante) ELENA Ferrante is the author of multiple books, including a series of four books known as the Neapolitan Novels. The fourth book of the Neapolitan Novels series, The Story of the Lost Child, appeared on The New York Times' list of the Ten Best Books of 2015. ELENA Ferrante is a pseudonym. In spite of her recognition as an influential writer, the Italian author has kept her identity secret since her first book was published in 1992.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TOTAL (1A: "___ Eclipse of the Heart") Well, here's my crossword-supplied earworm for the day! "TOTAL Eclipse of the Heart" is sung by Bonnie Tyler, and became her biggest career hit. The song was released in 1983, the year I graduated from high school. "TOTAL Eclipse of the Heart" was also the title of an episode of the TV series The Vampire Diaries. 
• ELECTS (35A: Puts in office) This is a good opportunity to encourage you to exercise your right to vote if you are eligible to do so. Please make a plan to vote in the November 3 election, and encourage those you know to vote also. 
• TOILE (49A: Fabric whose name is French for "canvas") TOILE is sometimes used to make a test version of a pattern in order to perfect a design, and the term may also be used to refer to the test garment. In the United States, TOILE is often referred to as muslin. TOILE is different than TULLE, which is a type of netting.
• TOOTSIE POP (11D: Sucker with a chewy center) "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a TOOTSIE POP?" It depends on who is conducting the study. Purdue University: an average of 364 licks by a "licking machine" and an average of 252 licks by students. University of Michigan: 411 licks. Swarthmore College: median of 144 licks. University of Florida: a calculated 130 +/- 29 licks, independent of licking style. I enjoyed seeing this answer in the puzzle, and it makes me chuckle to think of the time and effort invested in researching an advertising slogan.
• I.M. PEI (32D: Louvre Pyramid architect) The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass and metal pyramid in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris. It was completed in 1989, and serves as the main entrance for the Louvre Museum. It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular panes of glass. I.M. PEI was a Chinese American architect, and was the first foreign architect to work on the Louvre.

Today's puzzle theme receives a pawprint of approval from Willow, although she is strictly an indoor CAT. The straightforward theme was well-executed. I liked that the split of the word CAT alternated between C-AT and CA-T. TOOTSIE POP and LEMON TWIST were enjoyable long bonuses. This puzzle was just the distraction I needed this morning, and a delightful way to begin my Friday.