August 4, 2021

Title: IT'S NOT THE REAL THING

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SYNTHETIC RUBBER (17A: Garden hose material)

IMITATION PEARLS (36A: Beads on some wristlets)

ARTIFICIAL LAKES (56A: Water storage sites)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each theme answer is a synonym for "NOT THE REAL THING." Our group of "fake" words includes SYNTHETIC, IMITATION, and ARTIFICIAL.

Things I learned:

• TARO (12D: Root veggie in Chikuzenni) Chikuzenni is a dish of braised chicken and vegetables (including TARO root). The dish originated in Japan, and is often eaten in Japan as part of a celebration of the new year.
• SUMAC (26D: Spice in za'atar) Za'atar is a spice mixture associated with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. The mixture contains sesame seeds, SUMAC, and a mixture of spices. The recipe for za'atar varies by region. Za'atar is also the name of a specific herb in the mint family, that is sometimes used in the spice mixture. 
• ATM (59D: 99 Ranch convenience) 99 Ranch Market is a supermarket chain headquartered in Buena Park, California. The store was founded in 1984 by Roger H. Chen, and is now the largest Asian supermarket chain in the United States. While I guessed it must be the name of a store, and the answer of ATM was then inferable, I wasn't familiar with 99 Ranch. There aren't any 99 Ranch Markets in the midwest. The chain's 52 locations are currently on the west coast (California, Oregon, Washington), and in Nevada, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TIRE (23A: Recycled item used to make sandals) Because TIREs are inherently durable, as well as prevalent, used TIREs have long been a challenge for landfills. TIRE swings and planters made out of recycled TIREs are great, but you only need so many of them. The durability of a TIRE makes it useful as material to create the sole of a shoe. There are several companies that sell sandals made from a TIRE, but you could also try making your own TIRE sandals. 
• BLANC (24A: "Knives Out" sleuth Benoit) I have previously written about the 2019 movie Knives Out, and how much I enjoyed it. Daniel Craig played the role of Benoit BLANC, the private detective hired by an anonymous party to solve the mystery of a wealthy mystery novelist's death. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as Detective Benoit BLANC in the movie Knives Out 2, which is currently filming in Greece. I'm looking forward to watching the further exploits of Benoit BLANC.
• YAWL (29A: Boat that sounds like a pronoun) A YAWL, pronounced like the pronoun y'all, is a type of sailboat.
• PURRS (32A: Sounds from contented cats) When our cat, Willow PURRS,
  
  my husband and I tell her, "Your motor is running." Yesterday, Willow was feeling quite needy and wanted a lot of attention, so we did a photo shoot together. I have additional cat content for you today...keep reading!
• RAE (35A: Hollywood star Issa) Issa RAE recently posted photos from her July 2021 wedding on Instagram.
• GROKS (42A: Intuitively understands) GROKS is an interesting word. According to Merriam Webster, the word "GROK" means "to understand profoundly and intuitively," and is derived from Martian. Yes, you read that correctly. The word was introduced in a 1961 science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.
• STRIP (62A: Pore ___ (skincare product)) It took me longer than it probably should have to fill in this answer. I know what a pore STRIP is, but my extremely low maintenance skin care routine has never included one. Do pore STRIPs work? Apparently the answer is yes, if used correctly, though repeated use is required as they don't have a long-lasting effect. 
• ACHE (63A: Tiger Balm target) I wrote about Tiger Balm last October. 
• RAYA (2D: Disney character voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) Kelly Marie Tran voiced the title character in the animated Disney movie, RAYA and the Last Dragon. I learned about RAYA from the June 6 puzzle. 
• IRIS (6D: Flower with standards and falls) An IRIS has six petals. Three of the petals, referred to as the standards, stand upright. The other three petals, the falls, spread or droop downward.
• BABY CARROT (10D: Hummus scooper) and PITA (32D: Hummus scooper) This is a nice pair of echoed clues. 
• USA (19D: Lily Zhang's Olympic team) Lily Zhang is a table tennis player. She is representing Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. She also competed at the Olympics in 2012 and 2016. 
• ARAB (39D: ___ diaspora (Lebanese Chileans, etc.) The term "diaspora" is used to describe people settled in countries other than their homelands. ARAB diaspora refers to emigrants from ARAB countries and their descendants. 
• ERIC (51D: "Swim" author ___ C. Wat) On his website, ERIC C. Wat says he tells "stories that challenge harmful narratives about race, gender, immigration, sex, and health." Or in other words, "inconvenient stories that others try to erase or ignore." His 2019 novel, Swim, tells the story of a meth addict who is trying to stay sober while planning his mother's funeral. 
• ESPY (55D: Chloe Kim won one for Best Female Athlete in 2018) Chloe Kim is a snowboarder. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, when she was 17 years old, she won a gold medal in women's snowboard halfpipe. Chloe Kim is also a singer, and competed on season 4 of the TV series, The Masked Singer. 

Geography review:

• ALBANY (9D: Capital of New York) ALBANY, New York is located on the Hudson River.

Fortunately, this puzzle's title refers to the theme, and not the puzzle itself - this is a REAL crossword! I needed help from crossing answers to figure out all of the grid-spanning theme answers today, but they fell into place quickly once I had a few letters filled in. This puzzle has a few words we don't see often in crosswords, such as GROKS, YAWL, and DAUB. Solving today's puzzle was an enjoyable start to my Wednesday.

But wait, there's more! Here's the additional cat content I promised. Crossword Twitter is an interesting place. The crossword community is generally a fabulous, welcoming group. Like any community, however, they have their moments, and yesterday some community members were grumbling. Rafael Musa, who constructed Monday's puzzle, offered a break by inviting crossword people to post photos of their cats. (A lot of crossword people have cats!) The crossword community responded, and the resulting thread is heartwarming, so if you need more cat content in your life, check it out.