June 17, 2021

Title: REC CENTER

Constructors: Emily Sharp and Kunal Nabar

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CREATURE COMFORT (19A: Good food or a warm bed)

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY (36A: "There's really nothing else to add")

PRESSURE COOKERS (52A: High-intensity environments)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains the word REC at the exact CENTER of the entry, with the letters split across two of the words in the answer.

Things I learned:

• HOPI (14A: Language in which "water" is "kuuyi") The HOPI language is spoken by the HOPI people, and is one of the official languages (along with English) on the HOPI Reservation in northeastern Arizona. As I've mentioned before, I welcome seeing languages in addition to Spanish and French in the puzzle. I wasn't familiar with the word "kuuyi," but the answer was easily attainable from crossing answers, and now I've learned something new.
• COPA (59A: Word before "America" or "Mundial") Speaking of Spanish..."COPA" is the Spanish word for "cup." The COPA América is a football tournament among the national teams in the South American Football Confederation, along with invited teams from North America and Asia. (Here football refers to what Americans call soccer.) The 2021 COPA América began on June 13, and is being hosted by Brazil. "COPA Mundial" is Spanish for "World Cup." The FIFA World Cup is an international football competition held every four years. The next FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be hosted by Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the tournament, in 2022. I also learned that Adidas makes a soccer cleat called Adidas COPA Mundial. The shoe was first designed for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CREATURE COMFORT (19A: Good food or a warm bed) I might have said, "Oh, that's so nice..." as I filled in this answer. Just the words CREATURE COMFORT are comforting. A cup of tea, a cat on my lap, a good book...
• EVERS (22A: Civil rights activist Medgar) Medgar EVERS civil rights efforts included working to end segregation at the University of Mississippi, expand voting opportunities for Black Americans, and end segregation of public facilities. In 1963, EVERS was assassinated at the age of 37, as he was returning home from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. One thing I learned was that after EVERS was shot (at his home) he was taken to a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, and the hospital initially refused to treat him because of his race. He was admitted after his family explained who he was, but died shortly thereafter. Fortunately, things have changed since 1963, but we still have much work to do. A good time for the reminder Black Lives Matter.
• I TINA (30A: 1986 Turner autobiography) I, TINA by TINA Turner was the basis for the 1993 movie, What's Love Got to Do With It. (And it appears "What's Love Got to Do With It" is now my earworm for the day.)
• ADA (33A: Computer scientist Lovelace) Always happy to see ADA Lovelace in the puzzle. ADA was one of the first computer programmers, and is considered to be one of the first to recognize the full potential of computers.
• ROVER (6D: Robot on Mars) The current NASA ROVER on Mars is named Perseverance. As I've mentioned before, the Perseverance has its own Twitter account. I find it fascinating.
• EPICS (7D: The Gilgamesh story and others) The EPIC of Gilgamesh is an EPIC poem written during the second millennium BCE. It is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature.
• MAYAN (21D: Like the inhabitants of Chichen Itza, long ago) Chichán Itza is an archeological site in Mexico. The pre-Columbian city was built by the MAYAN people.
• ART (27D: "It's more of an ___ than a science") I thought this was a nice way to clue the word ART. It led me to wonder - is crossword construction more of an ART or a science?
• IDA (39D: NAACP co-founder ___B. Wells) As with ADA Lovelace, I'm always happy to see IDA B. Wells in the puzzle. In addition to being a co-founder of the NAACP, IDA B. Wells was an investigative journalist. In 2020 she was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for "her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching."
• UCLA (53D: School home to Jackie Robinson Stadium) Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player, attended UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) from 1939-1941, where he earned varsity letters in baseball, basketball, football, and track. The Jackie Robinson Stadium was opened in 1981.

Geography review:

• BOISE (13A: Capital of Idaho) BOISE, in southwestern Idaho, is also the state's most populous city.
• ISLA (3D: Mallorca, por ejemplo) Mallorca is a Mediterranean island off the cost of Spain. The "por ejemplo" - Spanish for "for example" - in the clue alerts us the answer is the Spanish word for "island" - ISLA.
• HANOI (10D: Capital of Vietnam) Vietnam is a Southeastern Asian country. HANOI is the second largest city in Vietnam, following Ho Chi Minh City.

There's something about seeing three grid-spanning entries in a puzzle that brings me great joy. And these three 15-letter theme answers are all lovely. I appreciated that the word REC was located exactly in the CENTER of each entry. This is the first USA Today crossword for constructors Emily Sharp and Kunal Nabar - welcome Emily and Kunal! If you enjoyed this puzzle, you can check out Kunal's puzzle blog, knxwords, where the most recent puzzle was constructed by Emily. This puzzle was an enjoyable way to begin my Thursday. WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?

It was such a great closing line, but I do have one more thing to say. If you solve the USA Today puzzle on the USA Today crossword app, you probably received a message about the upcoming updates to the app, but I wanted to mention it just to make sure. Looking forward to a hopefully-improved app solving experience soon.