November 2, 2020

Title: FIRST PLACE/ TOP DOG

Constructors: Paolo Pasco & Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

GOOD AND READY (20A: All set to go)

WORK OF ART (36A: Creation in a museum)

HAPPY TO HELP (57A: "Glad I could contribute!")

POODLE SKIRTS (4D: Retro garments with patches)

LAB REPORT (7D: Assignment from a chem teacher)

BOXER BRIEFS (25D: Sleep shorts, maybe)

Theme synopsis: There's a dual theme here. In the FIRST PLACE, the FIRST word of each horizontal theme answer can precede the word PLACE. That gives us GOOD PLACE, WORK PLACE, and HAPPY PLACE. Secondly, the TOP word of each vertical theme answer is a DOG breed. We have POODLE, LAB, and BOXER. (More thoughts on the theme below.)

And now a word from our constructors:

Brooke: I'm always learning from Paolo and it was an amazing opportunity to both be inspired by and work with him on the same puzzle! I was honored that he looped me in on this, and the two-orthogonal-themes take on diagonal symmetry is, in my opinion, galaxy-brain level. I super recommend his puzzles on his website or his recent Expansion Pack project, the latter of which I had the great joy of test-solving. The 18-Across clue is a shoutout to this Lorde song (you're welcome).

Paolo: after erik ok'd the theme(s) and grid skeleton, i knew who i had to loop in—doing a diagonal-symmetry-inspired puzzle without brooke would be like doing a mamma mia movie without an abba cameo. check out her website for more crosswords of the boundary-pushing symmetry-playing variety, which are without fail high-quality.
also co-signing 18-across by lorde. absolute banger

Things I learned:

• JOEY (34A: Actress King) JOEY King played the role of Ramona Quimby in Ramona and Beezus, a movie based on the Beverly Cleary novels.
• RAE (51A: Painter Senarighi) According to his website, "RAE Senarighi is your average non-binary cancer survivor inspiring self-compassion, activism and gender resilience via unapologetic portraiture of vibrant transgender and non-binary power and spreading joyful presentations and meditations worldwide." Netflix and GLAAD invited RAE Senarighi to create a series of portraits of trans people. The portraits are part of an exhibit titled "Transcend." The portraits are stunning, with rainbow colors for skin tones and gray-scale tones for clothing, against a background of blue sky. I highly recommend taking five minutes to watch this video about the Transcend project. You can also find RAE Senarighi on Instagram.
• EVA (12D: Comedian Victor) EVA Victor occasionally posts comedic videos on Twitter, including this one, which is not only funny, but a good opportunity for me to remind you to vote if you haven't already done so. If you are eligible to vote, please exercise that right today or tomorrow. 
• NERD (30D: Black ___ Problems (pop culture website)) Black NERD Problems is a website focusing on "popular, NERD and geek culture from the perspective of People of Color."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PANERA (28A: Bakery-cafe chain founded in Missouri) PANERA Bread began in Kirkwood, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis), as The St. Louis Bread Company. In the greater St. Louis area, it still operates as St. Louis Bread Company.
• BLESS (39A: "___ your heart!") This clue/answer pair made me chuckle. "BLESS your heart!" is sometimes said sincerely, but often, especially in the southern part of the United States, it is used as an insult. It is a polite way of indicating you think someone is an idiot.
• YVETTE (47A: Actress ___ Nicole Brown) YVETTE Nicole Brown played the role of Shirley Bennett on the TV series Community.
• HALO (2D: Beyonce song with the lyric "I got my angel now") "HALO" is a song from Beyoncé's album, I Am...Sasha Fierce.
• E-BOY (10D: Guy with an alternative internet-influenced aesthetic) The E-BOY and e-girl look may include baggy clothes, neon-colored hair, nail polish, and decorative chains. This alternative fashion subculture emerged in the late 2010s, and was popularized by TikTok.
• TRES (27D: ___ leches cake) The appropriately-named TRES leches cake is a sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. TRES leches translates to "three milks."
• ALOE (29D: Edible succulent) When I think of ALOE, I generally think of the gel being applied topically for soothing purposes. However, some varieties of ALOE are edible.
• JANE (34D: The "J." in Mary J. Blige) Mary J. (as in JANE) Blige is a singer-songwriter and actress. Rolling Stone magazine listed her album, My Life, among its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." She plays the role of Monet Stewart Tejada in the TV series Power Book II: Ghost.

Geography review:

• CALI (5A: Fresno's state, for short) Fresno is a city in central California in the San Joaquin Valley.
• OMAN (15A: Sharqiya Sands country) Sharqiya Sands is a desert region in OMAN. Sand dunes in the northern area of the region measure up to 100 meters (330 feet) high.

It's a double feature crossword today, with not one, but two themes! This puzzle has diagonal symmetry - if you folded it in half diagonally along a line from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, the black squares would match up. Because of this, the horizontal theme answers intersect with the vertical theme answers along the diagonal axis. Think of the diagonal axis as the slash in the title: FIRST PLACE/ TOP DOG. It's a fun idea, and my mind kept finding more and more theme connections. The intersection of GOOD AND READY and POODLE SKIRT evokes the image of a GOOD DOG. The intersection of WORK OF ART and LAB REPORT made me think of the labradors who are working dogs, such as service dogs, therapy dogs, and police dogs. Most dogs are HAPPY DOGs at some point, as the intersection of HAPPY TO HELP and BOXER BRIEFS reminds me. The four intersecting theme answers in the upper right corner is an impressive feat. The theme answers are all delightful phrases, too.

In addition to the abundance of theme, there are plenty of other things to like about this puzzle. I greatly appreciated learning about RAE Senarighi; I could have easily written an entire blog post about him. A couple of fun intersecting pairs in ZIPPY and ZAGS and BLESS and BOOS. This puzzle did indeed WOW - it was a lovely way to begin my Monday.