April 1, 2021

Title: BURY THE HATCHET

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SYNTAX ERRORS (20A: Source code issues)

WAX ELOQUENT (37A: Speak at length)

TAX EXEMPTION (52A: IRS form claim)

Theme synopsis: There is a HATCHET (AXE) BURIED within each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• OUTRO (41A: Closing bit of music) An OUTRO is the opposite of an intro. It can refer to a concluding track of an album, or to a bit of music played as a song fades. I was not familiar with this term, though I had the sense I should have known it. Now I know it.
• COMETS (42A: "Deep Impact" threats) Deep Impact is a 1998 movie about COMETS on a course to collide with Earth, and the attempts to destroy the COMETS and avoid a mass extinction event.
• BURR (7D: Gucci Mane ad-lib) In 2011, the rapper Gucci Mane released a song titled "BURR BURR." At the beginning of the song, the word BURR is repeated multiple times. Since then, Gucci Mane has used the word frequently as an ad-lib. According to a 2018 article by Billboard, "Nothing truly makes as little sense in rap as the ad-lib. It's a sometimes complimentary, sometimes abrasive sonic measure of emphasis that can create status, be distracting, or in some cases, become bigger than the artist itself."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PSA (1A: "Queer the Census" ad, e.g.) "Queer the Census" ads were public service announcements (PSAs) from the National LGBTQ Task Force to encourage everyone, especially people from marginalized communities, to complete the census.
• OLLIE (16A: Basic skateboarding move) This clue made me chuckle. It's true that an OLLIE is a move that is a basic part of most skateboarders' repertoire. An OLLIE is not basic in the sense that it would be easy for anyone, such as me, to do it, however.
• PEDRO (18A: "Vote for ___" ("Napoleon Dynamite" slogan) Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 movie whose title character is a socially awkward high school student who lives in Idaho. Napoleon becomes friends with PEDRO, a student who has moved to Idaho from Mexico, and decides to run for class president.
• BASS (44A: Esperanza Spalding instrument) Esperanza Spalding is a jazz BASSist. She performed as a violinist with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon when she was five years old, and has taught herself to play a number of instruments, including BASS. Spalding has won four Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award.
• SOB (48A: React to the first 10 minutes of "Up" perhaps) This is a great clue - it is creative and I immediately knew the answer. If you haven't seen the 2009 animated movie Up, and don't know the story of Carl and Ellie, the clue is still inferable. However, if you haven't seen Up, I highly recommend you watch it. (But have Kleenex handy; you've been warned.)
• SNAKE (62A: Animal in a 2001 Britney Spears performance) At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), Brittney Spears performed the song "I'm a Slave 4 U" with an albino python draped around her.
• NET (63A: Pickleball divider) Pickleball is a game that combines elements of badminton, ping-pong, and tennis. Players use solid paddles to hit a ball over a NET. The pickleball itself has multiple holes in it. Invented in the 1960s as a backyard game for children, the popularity of pickleball has recently grown. There is even an International Federation of Pickleball. 
• ARIANA (45D: Actress DeBose) ARIANA DeBose played the role of Alyssa Greene in the 2020 Netflix movie, The Prom. She was also in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton.
• GEESE (50D: Wild birds in a Mary Oliver poem) Mary Oliver's poetry was inspired by nature and often contained imagery from the daily walks she took near her home. Her many published poetry collections include the 2004, Wild GEESE: Selected Poems. If you take a couple of minutes of your day to listen to Mary Oliver read "Wild GEESE," I think it will be time well spent.
• XENA (53D: Warrior princess who's a lesbian icon) XENA is the title character of the XENA: Warrior Princess franchise. Lucy Lawless played XENA on the TV series.
• ALF (56D: Furry sitcom alien) ALF is  a TV sitcom that ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990. The title character ALF was an "alien life form" from the planet Melmac.

Geography review:

• TETON (23A: Grand ___ National Park) Grand TETON National Park is in northwestern Wyoming and includes much of the TETON Mountain Range.
• ALA (26D: The Legacy Museum's state (Abbr.)) The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration is located in Montgomery, ALAbama. The museum, founded by the Equal Justice Initiative, displays the history of slavery and racism in America.

I feel like I should WAX ELOQUENT about this puzzle to pay homage to my favorite of its theme answers. However, I'll keep it short and simply say that I enjoyed this puzzle. It was a delightful way to begin my Thursday, and to start off my April. Speaking of the start of April, my PSA for the day: Treat any news story you read today as if it is from The Onion.