August 12, 2021

Title: MIDDLE OF THE PACK

Constructor: Rebecca Goldstein

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Guest Blogger: Will Nediger

Theme Answers: 

PAIN IN THE NECK (19A: Major nuisance)

PASS THE BUCK (35A: Shift blame to someone else)

PATS ON THE BACK (52A: Encourages, in a way)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer starts with PA and ends with CK, so the rest of the letters are in the middle of the PACK

Things I learned:

• CATFISH (27A: Staple in cajun cuisine) Wikipedia tells me that cajun cuisine has seen an increase in the use of catfish in recent years, though of course it uses a wide variety of seafood. For mouthwatering depictions of cajun food and culture, I highly recommend the documentaries of Les Blank, including Yum, Yum, Yum!
• UDON (56A: Noodle served with Japanese curry) Japanese curry is a dish that can be served over rice, over udon noodles, or in bread. Having Japanese grandparents, I had a lot of Japanese food growing up, but not this dish.
• UZO (25D: Aduba of "In Treatment") In Treatment is an HBO series about a psychotherapist, which debuted in 2008 with Gabriel Byrne in the lead role. In 2021, it was rebooted, this time starring Uzo Aduba, along with Anthony Ramos of In the Heights fame. I've seen a few UZO clues mentioning In Treatment before, but this clue finally inspired me to look the series up.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EGGS (63A: Shakshouka ingredients) As I type this up before breakfast, my stomach is rumbling from all the food-related content in this puzzle. I love this clue for EGGS, since shakshouka (a dish of poached eggs in a vegetable-based sauce) is one of my favorite foods.
• FLAT WHITES (5D: Cafe orders similar to lattes) More culinary content! I learned this phrase from a previous crossword, since I'm not a coffee drinker. This entry's symmetrical partner is the also-food-related BEER BATTER.
• BOOP (55D: Sound made when touching your pet's nose, maybe) Even though I'm not a pet owner, I love this entry/clue pairing.
• PUNK ROCK (10D: Anti-establishment music genre) I love me some punk rock, and this is also just a fun phrase to say, much like its symmetrical counterpart, PING PONG.

Geography review:

• EUROPE (40A: Croatia's continent) Croatia is a country on the Adriatic Sea, not too far from our next bullet point, ASTI, since it has a maritime border with Italy.
• ASTI (4D: Italian wine region) An old crossword staple, this is a province in the Piedmont region, in the north of Italy near Turin.

Hi folks! This is Will Nediger, delighted to have the opportunity to fill in for Sally for a day. I'm especially delighted, because today's puzzle was excellent. It's a standard USA Today theme type, but the fact that all the theme entries have the word THE in the middle (echoing the title, MIDDLE OF THE PACK), is an elegant touch that really elevates it. The fill is unsurprisingly smooth, too - overall, a lovely experience.