May 11, 2021

Title: TRIPLE CHOCOLATE

Constructors: Rachel Fabi & Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

WHITENING STRIPS (17A: Stain-removing dental applications)

MILKY QUARTZ (37A: Cloudy white crystal)

DARKEST TIMELINE (58A: Worst of all possible universes)

Theme synopsis: The first part of each theme answer is a type of CHOCOLATE. Our TRIPLE treat includes WHITE CHOCOLATE, MILK CHOCOLATE, and DARK CHOCOLATE.

And now a word from our constructors:

Rachel: Brooke and I are always looking for new themes to collaborate on, and this one originated with our mutual enjoyment of the entry at 58-Across (DARKEST TIMELINE). I was driving when the full theme idea snapped into place, and I voice-texted the theme to myself so that I wouldn’t immediately forget it (as so often happens when brainstorming themes in bed/the shower/the car). As soon as I got where I was going, I sent the theme idea to Brooke, and we landed on today’s themeset after a lot of wrestling with the central entry. As usual, cluing with Brooke was a delight, as she always nails every clue she writes. See below for some of our favorites!

Brooke: I love this puzzle and am so glad Rachel looped me in on her idea! I’m really glad we got a lot of great stuff in the grid despite the tricky theme set. I love our clues for WAP [Best song of 2020, per Pitchfork and Rolling Stone] and ASH [Fire pit schmutz] and I like our shoutouts to beanie-knitter Rachel (via YARN) and my JETTA-driving self. I love that the last across answer vibes with how I end many an email — XOXO!

Things I learned:

• EMERALD (18D: "Promising Young Woman" director Fennell) Promising Young Woman is EMERALD Fennell's directorial debut. She also wrote the screenplay for the movie about a young woman seeking revenge after her best friend died by suicide after being raped. Also an actress, EMERALD Fennell played the roles of Nurse Patsy Mount in the TV series Call the Midwife, and Camilla Parker Bowles in the TV series The Crown. 
• WII (23D: Game console with a bowling ball accessory) Although this answer was news to me - I don't have any experience playing WII Sports - it was definitely inferable. As I understand it, you don't need the bowling ball accessory to play WII bowling, you can simply use the WII remote. However, it looks like a cool option. WII Sports was released by Nintendo in 2006, and included sports simulations for tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing.
• ONE (42D: "___ From the Vaults" (trans history podcast)) ONE From the Vaults is hosted by writer, performance artist, and activist Morgan M. Page. According to its Twitter bio, ONE From the Vaults promises to bring you all of the "dirt, gossip, and glamour from trans history."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PIXAR (28A: "Soul" studio) Soul is a 2020 movie from  PIXAR Animation Studios. The movie follows a middle school music teacher in his attempts to reunite his soul and body after they are accidentally separated. The movie's musical sequences were animated using Jon Batiste, the bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as a reference. I enjoyed this movie. It's an engaging story with a positive overall message. Shortly before I watched Soul, I read an interesting article about the representation of Black characters in animated movies. It's an interesting read; I recommend it whether or not you've seen Soul. 
• MILKY QUARTZ (37A: Cloudy white crystal) The semi-transparent to white color of MILKY QUARTZ is a result of trapped particles of liquid or gas during crystal formation. MILKY QUARTZ is the most common variety of crystalline QUARTZ.
• WAP (50A: Best song of 2020, per Pitchfork and Rolling Stone) It was just a few days ago that I mentioned this song by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. Pitchfork describes "WAP" as "decisively absent of shame," and Rolling Stone declares it "was just the escapist raunch America needed in 2020." 
• EDU (51A: URL ending for Fisk) Fisk University is an HBCU (historically Black college and university) in Nashville Tennessee. W.E.B. Dubois received a bachelor's degree from Fisk University.
• DARKEST TIMELINE (58A: Worst of all possible universes) DARKEST TIMELINE is a podcast hosted by Ken Jeong & Joel McHale. Their YouTube channel says that while quarantined and socially distant within Hollywood, Ken Jeong and Joel McHale FaceTime each other to answer all your questions about Community, Coronavirus, and all things in between. The DARKEST TIMELINE is also a reference to a theory that there are multiple universes outside of our own. The TV series, Community, did an episode in its third season which played on this theory. 
• SYKES (68A: Comedian Wanda) Wanda SYKES plays the role of Daphne Lido on the TV show, Black-ish. She also voiced the role of Granny, an aging sloth, in the movies, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and Ice Age: Collision Course. 
• ALI (3D: Actor Mahershala) At the end of last year, The New York Times included Mahershala ALI in their list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far). I wrote about Mahershala ALI when he appeared in the November 30, 2020 puzzle. 
• LIN (7D: Architect Maya) Maya LIN won a public design competition held to select a design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. At the time, she was an undergraduate at Yale University. She has designed numerous other memorials and public buildings, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
• MAN U (26D: Manchester United, informally) Manchester United, or MAN U, is a professional football club (that's soccer to Americans) in England.
• DAMES (52D: Jocelyn Barrow and Judi Dench, e.g.) DAME Jocelyn Barrow was an educator, community activist, and politician, and the first Black woman to be a governor of the BBC. DAME Judi Dench is an actress with numerous stage and screen credits.
• ALEX (57D: USWNT star Morgan) ALEX Morgan is a professional soccer player. She has also appeared in a movie, which I wrote about last week. 

Geography review:

• OSLO (13A: Capital city where Alisha Boe was born) Alisha Boe played the role of Jessica Davis on the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. She was born in OSLO, Norway.
• ADIEU (40A: Farewell in Bordeaux) Bordeaux is a city in southwestern France, located on the river Garonne.
• AMSTERDAM (9D: Dutch city with canals) AMSTERDAM is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. One of its nicknames is the "Venice of the North," due to it large number of canals. 

CHOCOLATE! Needless to say, like yesterday's puzzle, this one made me hungry!

I liked that the varieties of CHOCOLATE were all (slightly) hidden in the theme answers as partials of words. When Rachel sent me the constructors' notes last night, she included this photo of a TRIPLE CHOCOLATE cake that she and her partner made to celebrate today's puzzle. I wish I lived closer to Rachel... It was fun to see appearances by letters we don't always see in the puzzle: 4 Xs, a Q, a Z, and a J. It was a nice touch to place XOXO in the bottom corner of the puzzle, as if the puzzle is signing off! This puzzle was a delightful way to begin my Tuesday. I'm off to find some CHOCOLATE!