April 27, 2021

Title: R&R

Constructors: Rebecca Goldstein & Rachel Fabi

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

RHYME AND REASON (15A: 1997 documentary about the evolution of hip hop)

ROCK AND ROLL (30A: "Let's do this!")

RANT AND RAVE (34A: Go on a tirade)

RINSE AND REPEAT (52A: Instructions after "lather")

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a phrase consisting of two R words connected by the word AND.

Things I learned:

• N.E.R.D. (13A: "Lemon" band) The members of the band N.E.R.D. are Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley. Their sound has been described as hip hop, rock, funk, and progressive pop. "Lemon" is a single from their 2017 album, No One Ever Really Dies. 
• RAP (21A: Rahrah Gabor genre) Black trans femme RAP artist and songwriter, Rahrah Gabor has been described by SoundCloud as "unruly," but at the same time as having a "critical presence, pointed and layered lyrics, hood savvy, a unique sense of style and an incorrigible self-possession that bucks at nay-sayers." Rahrah Gabor has described herself as "hip hop's Omar Little. Only prettier." 
• ANNE (26A: Diarist Lister) ANNE Lister was born in England in 1791, and died in 1840. Beginning in 1806, and continuing until her death, she kept a diary, part of it written in code. The diary consists of over 7,700 pages - that's about 5 million words! In her diaries, ANNE wrote in detail about her life as a landowner, business woman, traveller, and lesbian. ANNE's diaries have been added to the the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register, and are viewed as an important resource in Gender Studies and Women's History. ANNE Lister "married" her partner, Ann Walker, in 1834 at Holy Trinity Church in York. In 2018, the church unveiled a plaque dedicated to ANNE Lister. 
• T'NIA (57A: "The Haunting of Bly Manor" actress Miller) The Haunting of Bly Manor is a TV series centered on the events at a countryside Manor in the United Kingdom. It is adapted from an 1898 novella by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw. The show is also a follow up to a previous series, The Haunting of Hill House, though the narratives of the series are not connected. T'NIA Miller plays the role of Hannah Grose, Bly Manor's fiercely protective housekeeper. 
• RONDA (17D: "American Idol" contestant Felton) RONDA Felton was a contestant on the most recent season of American Idol, season 19. For her audition, 19-year-old RONDA sang, "One Night Only" from the musical Dreamgirls. (Spoiler alert! RONDA Felton was eliminated in the Showstopper Round.)
• PERL (22D: Programming language that sounds like a gem) PERL is a language designed by Larry Wall, and has been in use since 1987. PERL is sometimes said to stand for "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language." That phrase is a backronym, designed to describe PERL, which was not an acronym for anything when the language was first named. Not being familiar with programming languages, I was thankful for the gem-soundalike hint.
• NORMANI (41D: "Motivation" singer) "Motivation" was released in 2019, is the first single for NORMANI. Prior to her solo career, NORMANI was a contestant on The X Factor, and a member of the group Fifth Harmony. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SHE (8A: "Isn't ___ Lovely") As I have written about previously, Stevie Wonder wrote "Isn't SHE Lovely" to celebrate the birth of his daughter. 
• PIE (11A: Mar. 14 dessert) More PIE! This is the third puzzle appearance of PIE in the last week.
  
  After PIE's second appearance on Saturday, I noted that seeing so much PIE in the puzzle was making me want to make (and eat!) PIE. I haven't found time to make a PIE yet this week, so I'll leave you with a photo of a past Pi Day PIE.
• RHYME AND REASON (15A: 1997 documentary about the evolution of hip hop) In the process of making RHYME AND REASON, director Peter Spirer interviewed over 80 hip hop artists, including Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, and Ice-T.
• SANK (60A: Settled to the bottom) The bonus of this answer being on the bottom row was a beautiful touch!
• RIHANNA (2D: Savage X Fenty founder) Savage X Fenty is a lingerie line by RIHANNA.
• TED TALK (7D: Geena Rocero's "Why I must come out," for example) Geena Rocero is a professional model, and the founder of Gender Proud, a production company focused on telling the stories of the transgender community. Geena Rocero gave her TED TALK in Vancouver, Canada on March 31, 2014 in honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility. 

Geography review:

• EAST (56A: Rochester-to-Syracuse direction) Rochester and Syracuse are cities in New York. Syracuse is about 90 miles EAST of Rochester. 
• DHAKA (37D: Capital of Bangladesh) DHAKA is the capital and largest city of the South Asian country of Bangladesh. 

Ah, an R&R puzzle appropriately from constructors REBECCA AND RACHEL! Rachel told me that fellow constructor, Brooke Husic, once referred to Rebecca and Rachel as R&R, so they decided to build that into a theme. I'm glad they did. An enjoyable set of theme answers; I especially liked RINSE AND REPEAT. You'll notice there were quite a few things new to me in today's puzzle. I enjoyed learning about a number of interesting people today. The blocks of black squares in the upper right and lower left of the puzzle are a striking part of the grid. The use of these blocks is a good way to help incorporate 14-letter theme answers, which can be challenging. I loved the vibe of this puzzle; it was a great way to begin my Tuesday.

Two additional things:

• Last night was the last week of the Boswords Spring League. Congratulations to winners Erik Agard, Will Nediger, and Andy Kravitz. I'm already looking forward to the Boswords Summer Tournament! I will tell you more about that in future posts.
• If you are in the mood to solve another puzzle, today's Universal crossword, "Inner Beauty," was constructed by Brooke Husic and myself.