October 7, 2020

Title: TOUR DE FORCE

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SOCIAL LIFE (17A: Time spent with others)

TAKE TO TASK (55A: Scold)

TEST DRIVING (10D: Car buyer's activity)

PIECE OF WORK (24D: Unpleasant person)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each theme answer can precede the word FORCE to form a new phrase. We have LIFE FORCE, TASK FORCE, DRIVING FORCE, and WORK FORCE.

Things I learned:

• ECON (16A: Esther Duflo's subject, for short) Esther Duflo is a professor at MIT and the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Established in 2003,  J-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty through policy informed by scientific evidence. Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, and Michael Kremer won the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
• EDIE (39A: Protagonist of Raven Leilani's "Luster") Luster is the debut novel of Raven Leilani. The story centers around twenty-something EDIE, who is finding her way as she navigates, relationships, race, sex, jobs, status - in other words, life. Luster is part of the magazine Marie Clare's book club.
• OTIS (49D: Artist ___ Kwame Kye Qualcoe) OTIS Kwame Kye Qualco paints vivid, colorful portraits of Black subjects. Born and raised in Ghana, and currently painting in Portland, Oregon, Qualcoe had a solo exhibit titled "Black Like Me" at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles in early 2020. His paintings are stunning, and I am delighted to learn about this artist. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BABAR (1A: Kiddie-lit elephant) BABAR the Elephant first appeared in the 1931 French book, Histoire de BABAR by Jean de Brunhoff. An English-language version, The Story of BABAR, was
  
  published in 1933. Jean de Brunhoff's son, Laurent, helped with the writing and illustration of later stories. The stories center around BABAR, who likes to wear a bright green suit. When he was young, BABAR's mother was killed by a hunter. BABAR escapes to a big city and later returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants. I read  BABAR stories when I was growing up, and later read the stories to my children. I enjoyed them, and my kids enjoyed them, but reading the stories now, I can definitely understand why the books have been criticized for justifying colonialism. 
• FENG (46A: Chinese word for "wind") As in the Chinese term FENG-shui which translates to "wind-water." FENG-shui is a practice that involves situating buildings and furniture in specific orientations in an attempt to increase harmony between individuals and their environment.
• HUSK (61A: Tamal wrapper) A tamal, or tamale, is a dish made of masa (a corn dough) that is steamed in a corn HUSK or banana leaf. Tamale is the anglicized version of the Spanish word tamal.
• ARI (4D: Singer Lennox) ARI Lennox has been uploading her music on the internet since 2009, and released her debut studio album, Shea Butter Baby, in 2019. ARI was the first woman to be signed to Dreamville Records, a record label founded by J. Cole.
• TSAR (52D: "Russian Ark" title) Russian Ark is a 2002 movie about an unnamed narrator wandering through the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, where he encounters real and fictional people in each room. The Winter Palace was the official residence of the Russian Emperors from 1732 to 1917. The film was shot in one take in the Winter Palace which is now a part of the Hermitage Museum.

Geography review:

• MIAMI (41A: ___ Gardens, Florida) MIAMI Gardens, 16 miles north of MIAMI, is home to the MIAMI Dolphins football team who play in Hard Rock Stadium. 
• LANAI (60A: Third-smallest of Hawaii's main islands) In yesterday's puzzle, we saw the Hawaiian island Molokai in a clue and OAHU in the answer. The other five major islands of Hawaii are Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe.

I enjoyed this puzzle and its theme. The theme answers PIECE OF WORK and TAKE TO TASK are especially delightful. There were a couple of interesting answer pairs - we had both BASE and ACIDS, and LORD and SAVIOR. I appreciate learning about Esther Duflo's work, Raven Leilani's novel, Luster, and OTIS Kwame Kye Qualcoe. An enjoyable start to my Wednesday.