January 12, 2021

Title: TURN! TURN! TURN!

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

COAT OF ARMS (20A: Design with a crest)

OVER AND DONE WITH (40A: Totally finished)

TABLECLOTH (60A: Protection from stains)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each of the three theme answers can follow the word TURN, giving us TURNCOAT, TURNOVER, and TURNTABLE.

And now a word from our constructor: 

Brooke: This is my last solo USA Today puzzle for January, and I'm really fond of it. I like the silliness of interpreting the titular song as a crossword theme—I think I thought of it after solving this Chris Piuma puzzle and laughing at their 57-Across clue.

I'm glad I got to include musicians Sudan Archives (check out "Come Meh Way") and Vanessa Carlton, and I really love all the long down entries, especially 41-Down. The last research Rosalind Franklin undertook before she died at age 37 was on polio. The research group she led focused on the relationship of viral proteins to RNA, and her findings were crucial to our current understanding of viruses. Franklin's mentee/colleague was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 1982.

Things I learned:

• KOANS (39A: Zen teaching tools) KŌANS are stories, questions, or dialogue used in Zen practice to test a students progress and generate the great doubt. A question asked by Hakuin Ekaku is an example of a KŌAN: "You know the sound of two hands clapping; tell me, what is the sound of one hand?" 
• PIANO (68A: Vanessa Carlton's instrument) Vanessa Carlton is a singer-songwriter and a PIANO player. In 2019, she made her Broadway debut playing the lead role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
• ARIA (5D: Jessye Norman solo) Jessye Norman was an opera singer who won four Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2006. Norman died in 2019 at the age of 74. 
• SUDAN (29D: Violin star Archives) If you'd like to add some joy to your day, watch the NPR Tiny Desk Concert given by SUDAN Archives in 2020. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GODS (23A: Ganesha and Parvati) Ganesha and Parvati are Hindu deities. Parvati is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love, beauty, harmony, marriage, children, and devotion. Parvati is the mother of Ganesha, who is recognizable by his elephant head. 
• STORM (24A: 2020 WNBA champs) That's the Seattle STORM, who defeated the Las Vegas Aces to become the 2020 WNBA champions.
• VENOM (44A: Defense mechanism for a platypus) The platypus! Just the other day, my daughter sent me a New York Times article (which may be behind a paywall - sorry!) that describes the platypus as having "a rubbery bill, ankle spikes full of VENOM, luxurious fur that glows under black light and a tendency to lay eggs." When my daughter was in fourth grade, she did a special report on the platypus. For this project, she and I designed and created a stuffed platypus (without a pattern). Her teacher asked me, "Do you think your daughter realizes not every mom would be able to do that?" My take is that not every mom would be silly enough to attempt it! 
• ROY (46A: ___ G BIV) Our friend ROY G BIV is the mnemonic device to help us remember the colors of the rainbow in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
• ADAM (52A: Rippon who wrote "Beautiful on the Outside") ADAM Rippon is a retired competitive figure skater. He won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Also in 2018, he won season 26 of Dancing with the Stars with Jenna Johnson. Beautiful on the Outside is ADAM Rippon's 2019 memoir.
• INUIT (64A: ___ Sign Language (endangered language)) INUIT sign language is a language native to INUIT communities in the Canadian Arctic. 
• ACAI (67A: ___ na tigela (Brazilian food)) AÇAI na tigela is essentially a smoothie in a bowl, as I learned from the November 24, 2020 puzzle.
• TACOS (2D: They might be topped with cotija) Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese made from cow's milk and named after the Mexican town of Cotija, Michoacán.
• HALF MOON (4D: Yoga asana that's a lunar phase) HALF MOON Pose, also known as Ardha Chandrasana, is a standing asana that strengthens the ankles and improves balance. I got distracted by HALF MOON, because I noticed that HALF can follow the word TURN to give us a HALF TURN. This had me looking for two other down answers that could follow TURN. (It's a danger of blogging the puzzle - you begin looking for theme everywhere!)
• ROSALIND (41D: Franklin who discovered DNA's shape) Always a fan of seeing ROSALIND Franklin in the puzzle. Photo 51 is an x-ray diffraction image of DNA fiber which was taken by Franklin and a graduate student, Raymond Gosling. This photo was critical in the discovery of the DNA double helix.
• TIC (50AD: Syllable before "tac" in a game) and TOE (65D: Syllable after "tac" in a game) A fun pair of clues.
• MAMMA (53D: "___ Mia! Here We Go Again") Please don't tell my daughter I didn't get this answer right away and needed a couple of letters filled in from crossing answers to identify the title of the sequel of MAMMA Mia! When I read Mia, I thought of Princess Mia of The Princess Diaries, and that distracted me. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Geography review:

• NEW DELHI (43D: India's capital) Although NEW DELHI and Delhi are sometimes used interchangeably, they are two distinct entities. NEW DELHI is a small part of the Delhi metropolitan area.
• STATE (56D: Connecticut, e.g.) The STATE of Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River which runs through the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from a Mohegan-Pequot word meaning "long tidal river."

A fun theme today and a nice use of "TURN! TURN! TURN!" for the title. My favorite theme answer is OVER AND DONE WITH, but that does not at all describe my feelings about the puzzle. Plenty to like here. I enjoyed DRAG SHOW in addition to the answers I've highlighted above. This puzzle was a delightful start to my Tuesday.