April 17, 2021

Title: IN THE CAST

Constructor: Evan Kalish

Editors: Erik Agard & Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

CASTRO DISTRICT (19A: S.F. neighborhood home to the Rainbow Honor Walk)

CABINET POST (36A: Political appointment)

CELEBRITY ROAST (52A: Event featuring jokes at a famous person's expense)

Theme synopsis: The theme answers are found IN THE word CAST.

And now a word from our constructor:

Evan: After a handful of theme answer set proposals we settled on three long answers, one reflecting each split. This was a puzzle that was fun to clue; 3-Down is among my favorite clues for today.

Things I learned:

• ELLE (28A: R&B singer Varner) ELLE Varner's debut album, released in 2012, was titled Perfectly Imperfect. The album debuted at number two on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
• SKI (48A: Compete like Mikaela Shiffrin) Mikaela Shiffrin has won two Olympic gold medals for alpine SKIing. At the age of 18, she was the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history when she won the event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
• ALBA (59A: Writer Alicia Gaspar de ___) Alicia Gaspar de ALBA's writings include novels, short stories, and poetry. Her 2005 book, Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders won a Lambda Literary Foundation Award. (I wrote about these awards two days ago.) Alicia Gaspar de ALBA is also a professor at UCLA, holding joint appointments in English and Women's Studies. In learning about Alicia Gaspar de ALBA, I discovered that she lived in Iowa City, Iowa for a time in 1985, five years before I moved there.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CASTRO DISTRICT (19A: S.F. neighborhood home to the Rainbow Honor Walk) The CASTRO DISTRICT in San Francisco, California installed the Rainbow Honor Walk in August 2014. The walk of fame honors LGBTQ individuals "whom have made a significant impact in global history" with bronze plaques. So far, 36 plaques have been installed, each featuring the honoree's image, signature, date of birth and death, and a brief bio. The first plaque honored singer Sylvester James. Other honorees include Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, and Alan Turing.  
• ONION (24A: Bloomin' ___ (vegetable appetizer) The "Bloomin' ONION" was popularized by Outback Steakhouse. When the restaurant chain opened in 1988, the dish was featured on its appetizer menu, served with a special dipping sauce. To make a "Bloomin' ONION," a large ONION is cut to resemble a blooming flower, then battered and deep-fried. This appetizer is delicious, and, of course, high in fat and calories.
• SAMURAI (32A: Warrior in Japan's Edo period) From the 12th century to their abolition in the 1870s, SAMURAI were members of the hereditary military officer caste in Japan. During the peaceful Edo period (1603 to 1868), SAMURAI were the stewards of the the feudal landholders (the daimyo). Although their roles ended in 1870 with the Meiji Revolution, the memory and weaponry of the SAMURAI still feature prominently in Japanese popular culture.
• CELEBRITY ROAST (52A: Event featuring jokes at a famous person's expense) A CELEBRITY ROAST is the grown-up version of "we wouldn't tease you if we didn't love you." It has always seemed like an odd thing to me, and a form of sanctioned bullying. Dean Martin is the name I associate most with these events. From 1974 to 1979, he hosted a series of CELEBRITY ROAST specials. Celebrities roasted by Dean Martin included Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, and Frank Sinatra.
• SIRI (7D: Virtual assistant with a Norwegian name) Dag Kittlaus, one of the co-founder's of SIRI, named it after a co-worker in Norway. Kittlaus says that in Norwegian the name means "beautiful woman who leads you to victory." He also asserts that Steve Jobs was not a fan of the name, but was unable to come up with an alternative he liked better.
• MAE (42D: Issa Rae's role in "The Photograph") The Photograph is a 2020 film about MAE (Issa Rae), the estranged daughter of a famous photographer, and Michael (Lakeith Stanfield), a journalist investigating her late mother's life.

Geography review:

• USSR (35A: World power from 1922 to 1991 (Abbr.)) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, or the Soviet Union was a group of multiple Soviet republics from 1922 to 1991. Until just prior to its dissolution, it was governed by the Communist Party and Moscow was its capital. During its existence, it was the largest country in the world by geographical area. Clues like this one make me pause - the USSR was in the news so much for a large part of my life, that I sometimes forget that it has never existed during my children's lifetimes.
• SYRIA (46A: Country whose capital is Damascus) SYRIA is a country in Western Asia. It is on the Mediterranean Sea, and shares borders with Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel.
• MECCA (1D: Umrah destination) MECCA is a city in Saudi Arabia. It is considered the holiest city in Islam. Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to MECCA. 
• EL PASO (2D: Texas city on the Rio Grande) EL PASO, Texas is the county seat of EL PASO County. It is in the far western part of Texas on the Rio Grande river.
• ALASKA (3D: U.S. state with the highest percentage of Native residents) ALASKA is the largest U.S. state by area - it is larger than Texas, California, and Montana combined. According to the 2020 census, over 15% of the population of ALASKA are Native residents.
• NOR (25D: Oslo's country (Abbr.)) Oslo is the capital and most populous city in NORway.
• KYOTO (49D: Former capital of Japan) KYOTO was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868. The name "KYOTO" means "capital city." The current capital of Japan is Tokyo.

This was one of those days where the title gave a perfect clue to guess the theme of the puzzle. CASTRO DISTRICT was the first theme answer I filled in today. As I began filling it in, the appearance of the word "CAST" in its entirety made me wonder if my guess about the theme was correct, but the split of the word CAST in the other two themers cleared that up. Lots of geography in today's puzzle, including the first three Down answers. This puzzle was an enjoyable way to begin my Saturday.