March 14, 2021

Title: PATIENT PEOPLE

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editors: Erik Agard & Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

ORDERLY FASHION (19A: Organized manner)

NURSE A DRINK (36A: Take infrequent sips)

DOCTOR THE BOOKS (57A: Falsify records, maybe)

Theme synopsis: The first words of the theme answers are PEOPLE a PATIENT might see.

Things I learned:

• ELI (24A: Beeding who endured 82.6 g's while riding a rocket-powered sled backwards) Well, this was fascinating to learn! The g here stands for g-force, or gravitational force equivalent. The back story about this 1958 sled run that set a record for g-force endured which appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for several decades, is that it wasn't quite planned. ELI Beeding was a captain in the U.S. Air Force, and was participating in experiments designed to learn more about the effects of g-force limits on the human body. The experiments used a miniature water-braked rocket sled that participants rode in a variety of positions. The plan was for Beeding to make a 40g run. The rocket accelerated to 35 mph, and then decelerated and stopped in less than a tenth of a second, resulting in a brief peak of 82.6 g's. Beeding experienced tunnel vision and passed out from shock. The experiment badly bruised his back and landed him in the hospital for three days. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PLANE (15A: Title location of the snakes in a 2006 film) Snakes on a PLANE is a 2006 film starring Samuel L. Jackson. The premise of the movie is the release of hundreds of venomous snakes on a PLANE in an attempt to kill a key witness in a trial who is traveling on the plane. Snakes on a PLANE is an example of a subgenre of horror movies known as "natural horror" or "creature features." There have been other killer snake movies - the 1997 film Anaconda (and it's three sequels), and the 1999 movie Silent Predators.
• ELSA (17A: Singer of "Into the Unknown" in "Frozen II") In the 2019 movie, Frozen II, ELSA sings "Into the Unknown" in response to hearing a call from The Voice. Idina Menzel, who voiced ELSA sang the song, which featured Norwegian singer and songwriter, Aurora, as The Voice.
• KNEE (41A: Patellar reflex site) The patellar reflex is also known as the KNEE-jerk response. It is used to test the responsiveness of certain segments of the spinal cord.
• EID (20D: ___ al-Fitr) EID al-Fitr is a Muslim holiday marking the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan. 
• MOCHI (56D: Wagashi rice cake) MOCHI are made of short-grain japonica glutinous rice which is pounded into a paste and molded into cakes.

Geography review:

• ATL (23A: City home to Bankhead, for short) Bankhead is a neighborhood of ATLanta, Georgia. Bankhead is the former home of several artists, including Shop Boyz, Dem Franchise Boyz, and D4L. There is a dance, known as the Bankhead Bounce, which originated in the neighborhood. The dance involves moving one's shoulders up and down with arms bent toward the chest. The dance received widespread recognition when Michael Jackson performed it during the 1995 MTV Music Video Awards. 
• NAT (47A: ___ Turner Park, Newark) Named after the leader of an 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia, and dedicated in 2009, NAT Turner Park is the largest city-owned park in Newark, New Jersey. 
• STRIP (53D: Las Vegas ___) The Las Vegas STRIP is a portion of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada. Although often referred to as Las Vegas, the approximately 4-mile long STRIP is technically outside of the city limits and located in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester. Many of the largest hotels and casinos in the world are located on the Las Vegas STRIP.

Although the puzzle's theme tells us about the PEOPLE our PATIENT sees, the remainder of the puzzle fills us in on the rest of the details of our PATIENT'S story. We notice that the PATIENT spends time watching the TVS in the waiting room, before seeing the ENT. (Hopefully, the ENT did not tap the PATIENT's KNEE to check the patellar reflex, as this would be out of the scope of their specialty!) Having received a diagnosis, surgery is recommended and our PATIENT heads to the OR(S). Hopefully our PATIENT's journey proceeded in an ORDERLY FASHION and they are now in post-op, where they might NURSE A DRINK. Hopefully nobody will DOCTOR THE BOOKS to overcharge our PATIENT for their stay. This puzzle was a fun way to start my Sunday morning. 

Happy Pi Day - I have plans to celebrate with pizza and a French Silk pie! Have a mathematical day.