December 11, 2020

Title: UP THE ANTE

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

BLACKFEET NATION (4D: Home to the Siksikaitsitapi people)

STREET NAMES (16D: Parts of some addresses)

VIETNAM MEMORIAL (9D: The Wall That Heals is a replica of it)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains the letter string E-T-N-A. Since all of the theme answers are vertical Down entries, reading UP you will find the word ANTE.

Things I learned:

• MENA (3D: Actress Suvari) MENA Suvari has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, and has modeled for Lancôme cosmetics. As I was looking at her acting credits, I noticed they include the movies, American Pie, American Beauty, American Virgin, American Pie 2, and American Reunion, and the TV shows American Horror Story: Murder House, American Ninja Warrior, American Woman, and American Horror Story: Apocalypse. 
• JIM (61D: Marial arts star Kelly) World karate champion JIM Kelly was the first Black martial arts film star. He co-starred with Bruce Lee in the movie, Enter the Dragon. Kelly played the title character in the 1974 movie, Black Belt Jones. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AMELIA (13A: Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic) AMELIA Earhart made her solo transatlantic flight in 1932. It was five years later, in 1937, that Earhart disappeared while attempting to become the first female pilot to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe. 
• SANTERIA (16A: Afro-Cuban religion) The polytheistic religion, SANTERIA, arose through a blending of Yoruba and Roman Catholic Christianity. Though there are SANTERIA communities throughout the Americas, practitioners of SANTERIA are primarily found in Cuba.
• NSA (44A: Cryptanalysis org.) Cryptanalysis is is the study of decoding encrypted messages. The National Security Agency (NSA) originated from a unit formed to decipher coded communications in World War II. The NSA became an official U.S. agency in 1952.
• NBA (47A: Org. that penalizes traveling) That's traveling in the sense of moving across the basketball court in possession of the ball without dribbling.
• KEN (53A: Filmmaker Burns) KEN Burns is known for his documentary films, including The Civil War, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, and The Roosevelts.
• BLACKFEET NATION (4D: Home to the Siksikaitsitapi people) BLACKFEET NATION is located in northern Montana.
• VIETNAM MEMORIAL (9D: The Wall That Heals is a replica of it) The main part of the VIETNAM Veterans MEMORIAL in Washington, D.C. is the wall of names, two black granite walls etched with the names of service members declared dead. The Wall That Heals is a traveling half-scale replica of the VIETNAM MEMORIAL. Funded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, The Wall That Heals is transported on a 53-foot tractor-trailer which converts to a mobile Education Center at each stop. The Wall That Heals is currently on permanent display in front of the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center in Altoona, PA.
• EYES (35A: "Their ___ Were Watching God") Their EYES Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by Zora Neale Hurston. It was adapted into a 2005 movie of the same name. 
• DRE (59D: "Brown Sugar" role) Taye Diggs plays the role of Andre Romulus "DRE" Ellis in the 2002 movie, Brown Sugar.

Geography review:

• ERIE (43A: Creepy-sounding lake) Ah, hello to our crossword friend, the eerie-sounding Lake ERIE. This is the second time we have seen ERIE this month.
• EAT (6D: Madagascar time zone, for short) Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. The time zone in Madagascar is East Africa Time (EAT). I thought this was a clever way to clue EAT. It was also a nice way to differentiate the answer from ATE, which also appears in the puzzle.
• ALTO (26D: Palo ___, California) Palo ALTO is in the San Francisco Bay area, and is ranked number 1 on the "Top 101 cities with the most people having Master's or Doctorate degrees." (My city is number 19 on the list, leading a friend of mine to describe our city as "horribly overeducated.")

I enjoyed this puzzle's theme, particularly the solid grid-spanning vertical entries of BLACKFEET NATION and VIETNAM MEMORIAL. But wait...THERE'S MORE! I also enjoyed the cluing here - using gefilte fish to clue ATE, the linked Star Wars clues, and the delightful I'M GAY and I SAID YES! Solving this puzzle was a lovely way to begin my Friday.