January 10, 2021

Title: DOWNTOWN

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CAPE CORAL (5D: Florida city known for its many canals)

GHOST STORY (9D: Scary campfire tale)

BOOM OR BUST (28D: Having "very good" and "very bad" as the two possible outcomes)

BOYS CHOIR (36D Children's singing group)

Theme synopsis: All of the theme answers are DOWN entries. The first word of each theme answer can precede the word TOWN, giving us CAPE TOWN, GHOST TOWN, BOOM TOWN, and BOYS TOWN.

Things I learned:

• PEDRO (17A: Puerto Rican leader ___ Albizu Campos) PEDRO Albizu Campos was an attorney and politician, and a leading figure in the Puerto Rican Independence movement. He spent 26 years in prison for attempting to overthrow the United States government in Puerto Rico. PEDRO Albizu Campos died in 1965, shortly after being pardoned and released from federal prison.
• LOTUS (29A: ___ root (Asian veggie full of holes)) Although it's called a root, the LOTUS root is actually a rhizome - a modified plant stem - of the aquatic LOTUS plant. The flavor of LOTUS root is described as mild and pleasantly sweet, with a crunchy texture similar to celery. I have not tasted this veggie, but sliced LOTUS root is beautiful, almost resembling a snowflake. 
• YOGA (10D: Tao Porchon-Lynch's exercise) Tao Porchon-Lynch was a YOGA master who was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2012 as the oldest YOGA instructor; she was 93 at the time. Her autobiography is titled Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern YOGA Master. Tao Porchon-Lynch died in February 2020 at the age of 101.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• FRAN (35A: Author Lebowitz) FRAN Lebowitz is a contributing editor and occasional columnist for Vanity Fair. FRAN Lebowitz's last published book was a 1994 children's book, Mr. Chas and Lisa Sue Meet the Pandas. Since the 1990's Lebowitz has been known for her writer's block, and is working on various uncompleted book projects. An excerpt of her book, Progress, was published in Vanity Fair in 2004. The book remains unfinished.
• TESS (65A: "Working Girl" heroine) In the 1988 movie, Working Girl, Melanie Griffith played the role of TESS McGill.
• SEED (70A: One of many inside a jackfruit) A jackfruit can have 100-500 SEEDs per fruit. A SEED from a ripe jackfruit is edible, and may be boiled, baked, or roasted.
• UCLA (51D: School discussed on gojoebruin.com) Gojoebruin.com, dedicated to UCLA sports, is one of more than 300 websites in the FanSided network. FanSided was co-founded in 2009 by brothers Zach and Adam Best who felt that their favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs, was not receiving adequate coverage by mainstream media. 
• NERD (59D: Crossword maker, e.g.) This clue made me laugh. Merriam Webster defines NERD as "one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits." I realize [Crossword blogger, e.g.] would be an equally appropriate clue for NERD.

Geography review:

• CAPE CORAL (5D: Florida city known for its many canals) CAPE CORAL, Florida has over 400 miles of navigable waterways. Some of the canals have access to the Gulf of Mexico. CAPE CORAL was founded in 1957 and developed as a planned community.
• STAN (24D: Central Asian country name suffix) Zhouqin Burnikel's December 23, 2020 puzzle taught us how many countries have names ending in -STAN. Do you remember how many there are and the names of all of them? Answer below.

I tend to approach solving in a methodical manner, beginning with the Across clues. (I realize this is part of the reason I will never be a good speed solver, as this approach isn't the quickest way to fill in the grid.) Because of this, when all of the theme answers are Down entries, the theme answers begin filling in before I get to the Down clues. Today I had significant parts of BOOM OR BUST and BOYS TOWN filled in from Across answers, and wondered if the theme related to answers beginning with BO-. (I'm not sure how I related this to DOWNTOWN!) However, when I began reading the Down clues, filling in GHOST STORY alerted me to the theme. Smooth fill (even including the word SMOOTHS!) and nice cluing all around, as I expect from Zhouqin Burnikel's puzzles. I appreciated learning about Tao Porchon-Lynch, and discovering the beauty of the LOTUS root. This puzzle was an enjoyable way to begin my Sunday. 

Answer: Seven countries have names ending in -STAN: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.