Title: OPENING MOVE
Constructor: Gail Grabowski
Editor: Erik Agard
Theme Answers:
RUN RINGS AROUND (19A: Be markedly superior to)
BOLT OF LIGHTNING (40A: Thunderstorm sighting)
DASH OFF A LETTER (56A: Quickly take care of some correspondence)
Theme synopsis: The OPENING word of each theme answer describes a way to MOVE. You might RUN, BOLT, or DASH.
Things I learned:
- DOG (27A: Fisk University's mascot, e.g.) Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Fisk University is a historically black university that was founded in 1866. I knew of Fisk University, but I did not know its mascot, the bullDOG. Alumni of Fisk University include Constance Baker Motley (the first Black woman elected to the New York State Senate), W.E.B. DuBois (one of the founders of the NAACP), and Ida B. Wells (suffragist and investigative journalist).
- LPGA (44A: Org. in which Lexi Thompson competes) Lexi Thompson was the youngest golfer to play in the U.S. Women's Open, first competing in the tournament when she was 12 years old. Thompson has been a professional golfer since she was 15 years old (2010).
- ENID (71A: "OK K.O.!" character (or a city in OK)) OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes is an animated TV series set in the year of 201X. While trying to become the world's greatest hero, the title character, K.O., also works at a hero supply shop, Gar's Bodega. ENID is one of O.K.'s co-workers. I was grateful for the OK city hint in the clue. In 1991, ENID, OK was designated the "purple martin capital of Oklahoma" by the state legislature.
Random thoughts and interesting things:
- RUN RINGS AROUND (19A: Be markedly superior to) The phrase RUN RINGS AROUND has its origin in a type of hunting called hare coursing. In this type of hunting, practiced historically in England, greyhounds were used to chase hares. In an attempt to fool the hounds, the hares would RUN RINGS AROUND them. Hare coursing has become banned in England, though it is still practiced in some places, including Ireland. The phrase has been used in its figurative sense since the late 1800s. (Hare coursing sounds horrendous to me, and I'm a little bit sorry I looked up the origin of this phrase!)
- BOLT OF LIGHTNING (40A: Thunderstorm sighting) This clue made me think of Usain BOLT, the Jamaican sprinter widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. With the nickname, "LIGHTNING BOLT," Usain fits in with this puzzle's theme. Usain and his girlfriend, Kasi Bennett, have a daughter born in May of this year. Her name is Olympia Lightning Bolt.
- RED (20D: Color on the Pan-African flag) Pan-Africanism is a movement aimed at strengthening bonds of solidarity among ethnic groups of African descent, both in Africa and elsewhere in the world. The Pan-African flag is a horizontal triband of RED, black, and green. The flag was adopted by the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) in 1920.
- I WILL (31D: "For You ___" (Monica song)) Monica recorded "For You I WILL" for the soundtrack of the movie Space Jam.
Geography review:
- PERU (3D: Neighbor of Chile) PERU is a country on the western edge of South America, with a Pacific Ocean coastline. In addition to Chile, its neighbors include Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. The capital of PERU is Lima.
I enjoyed this puzzle - a classic theme type with three nice theme answers. The rhyming pair of SLAW and CLAW in the first row made me smile. Solving this puzzle was a PERFECT distraction on a day when I, like many others, am feeling a great deal of anxiety. I WILL take one more opportunity to remind you to vote today if you are eligible to do so and haven't already voted. A shout out and thank you to the auditors and election workers who have been making adaptations for a safe election in the midst of a pandemic.
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