March 21, 2021

Title: SILVER STARS

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

AMANDA GORMAN (20A: First National Youth Poet Laureate)

ANNA GUNN (35A: She played Skyler White in "Breaking Bad")

AMY GRANT (41A: "Baby, Baby" singer)

ARIANA GRANDE (53A: "Baby I" singer)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a STAR with the initials AG, the chemical symbol for SILVER.

Things I learned:

• CIA (49A: Agent Sydney Bristow's employer on "Alias") On the TV show, Alias, Sydney Bristow works as a spy for the CIA. Played by Jennifer Garner, Bristow is an American woman with a Russian-Canadian family background. 
• MOON (22D: Where Chang'e flew to) Chang'e is the Chinese goddess of the MOON. Chang'e is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ELIE (17A: Fashion designer Saab) ELIE Saab is a fashion designer with workshops in Lebanon, Milan, and Paris. I learned about ELIE Saab from the December 6, 2020 puzzle.
• AMANDA GORMAN (20A: First National Youth Poet Laureate) The Urban Word NYC , partnered with the Library of Congress, and other local and national organizations that support youth literacy to create the National Youth Poet Laureate program in 2016. AMANDA GORMAN became the first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017. Earlier this year, AMANDA GORMAN delivered her poem, "The Hill We Climb," at President Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony.
• GOD (25A: Inti or Thor) Inti is an ancient Incan sun GOD. Thor is a GOD in Norse mythology who is associated with lightning, thunder, and storms.
• ANNA GUNN (35A: She played Skyler White in "Breaking Bad") ANNA GUNN won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Skyler White on Breaking Bad. In the TV series, Skyler White is married to Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher with a recent diagnosis of lung cancer who begins producing and distributing meth in order to secure his family's financial future.
• AMY GRANT (41A: "Baby, Baby" singer) "Baby, Baby" is a 1991 song by AMY GRANT, from her album, Heart in Motion. AMY GRANT credits her daughter Millie, who was six weeks old at the time the song was written, as inspiration for the song's lyrics. My playlists include many AMY GRANT songs, including this one, and it was fun to see her name in the puzzle.
• HER (47A: "___ Body and Other Parties") HER Body and Other Parties is a collection of short stories by Carmen Maria Machado. It won the Shirley Jackson Award, a literary honor given for outstanding achievement in psychological suspense, horror, and dark fantasy.
• ARIANA GRANDE (53A: "Baby I" singer) "Baby I" is a 2013 song from ARIANA GRANDE's debut album, Yours Truly. I liked the echo of the word "Baby" in this clue and the clue for AMY GRANT.
• LOLA (60A: "Run ___ Run") Run LOLA Run is a 1998 German film about a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutschmarks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film features several time loops, with the characters experiencing the same events multiple times with different outcomes.
• RNA (57D: Molecule with uracil) The building blocks of the ribonucleic acid (RNA) are guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine, denoted by the letters G, U, A, and C. In deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), thymine (T) replaces uracil. 

Geography review:

• O'HARE (16A: Airport with "Kids on the Fly" exhibit) O'HARE International Airport in Chicago, Illinois is one of the world's busiest airports. "Kids on the Fly" is a Chicago Children's Museum installation at O'HARE. The aviation-themed playground provides a hands-on introduction to aviation, and a fun way for kids to spend some time while at the airport. 
• RIO (31A: Brazilian city, for short) RIO de Janeiro is the second-most populous city in Brazil. One of its famous landmarks is the statue "Christ the Redeemer," an Art Deco statue that is 98 feet high and sits on top of a 26 foot pedestal. The statue is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. 
• ENG (39A: Official language of Barbados) Barbados is an island country in the West Indies. The country's official language is ENGlish. Bajan Creole is recognized as a regional language. Barbados has been an independent Commonwealth realm since 1966, with Elizabeth II as its queen. Last year, Barbados announced plans to remove Elizabeth II as head of state and become an independent republic by November of this year. 
• PETE (46A: St. ___ (Florida city, informally) St. Petersburg, Florida, referred to as St. PETE by the locals, has earned a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive days of sunshine - 768 days between 1967 and 1969. St. PETE has an average of 361 days of sunshine a year.

This is an impressive group of SILVER STARS! Fun to see this collection of people with the initials AG. Other answers I enjoyed included SQUARE KNOTS, REPASTS, and SWATH. Solving this puzzle was a fun way to start my Sunday.