October 15, 2021

Title: PREMIER LEAGUE KICKOFF

Constructor: Hoang-Kim Ve

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

CITY SLICKER (17A: Person who might feel out of place on a dude ranch)

SPURS INTO ACTION (28A: Galvanizes)

PALACE INTRIGUE (48A: Secret schemes within a powerful group)

UNITED FRONT (60A: Group with no infighting)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer KICKs OFF (begins) with a nickname for a PREMIER LEAGUE team. In our LEAGUE we have CITY (Manchester CITY F.C.), SPURS (Tottenham Hotspur F.C.), PALACE (Crystal PALACE F.C.), and UNITED (Manchester UNITED F.C.).

And now a word from our constructor:

Kim: Hi all! I originally submitted this theme as a different symmetrical set on April 15, which footie knowers may recognize as three days before the European Super League debacle which would have made the title and themers very silly. Luckily those days are behind us, and in the interim, USAT switched up its rules to allow asymmetry if it creates better themers and fill.
In this case, the politically sensitive and not Prem-nicknamey CHELSEA CLINTON, the blander CITY GOVERNMENT and UNITED KINGDOM, and the slightly less grammatical SPURS TO ACTION made way for their current counterparts. This had the positive effect of having all the themers be real Prem nicknames (as opposed to just, you know, CHELSEA instead of CHELSEA FC) as well as much livelier phrases, at the expense of symmetry. Plus, you know, the added benefit of not having Chelsea in the grid (#COYS). Anyway, come for the footie, stay in spite of the helper squares, hope you enjoy the puzzle!

Things I learned:

• PREMIER LEAGUE (title) The PREMIER LEAGUE was established in 1992, and is the top level of play in the English football league system. (Note: The game we are talking about here is the one people in the United States refer to as soccer. To be consistent, I will refer to it as football throughout this blog post.) The Premier League's season runs from August to May, with games played mostly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Each of the 20 clubs plays 38 games in the season, playing each other team twice - once at home and once away.
• ANT (16A: Flik in "A Bug's Life," e.g.) In the 1998 animated movie, A Bug's Life, Dave Foley voiced the role of Flik, a clever, but accident prone ANT. I have not seen A Bug's Life, but this answer was inferable. 
• OLE (20A: Cheer at an El Clasico match) El Clásico is the name used to refer to any football match between rival Spanish clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Some extra football content here to go along with the theme.
• NEW (61A: "___ Kid" (graphic novel)) NEW Kid is a 2019 graphic novel telling the story of Jordan Banks, a 12-year-old Black boy enrolled at a private school. Jerry Craft based the graphic novel on his own experiences and those of his two sons. The book was the first graphic novel to win a Newberry Medal. NEW Kid also won a Coretta Scott King Award. On his website, Jerry Craft says, "I make the books I wish I had when I was a kid."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• HAN (32A: Chinese dynasty found in the word "Shanghai") The HAN Dynasty, lasting from 206 B.C.E. to 220 A.D., was the second imperial dynasty of China.
• ENYA (33A: "Only Time" singer) ENYA released "Only Time" in 2000 as the lead single from her album, A Day Without Rain. As a tie-in with another clue in this puzzle, I will remind you ENYA lives in a castle in Ireland with her cats.
• PALACE INTRIGUE (48A: Secret schemes within a powerful group) Wiktionary defines PALACE INTRIGUE as "a situation in which powerful individuals within an organization are working against each other." If you'd like to learn more about the phrase, PALACE INTRIGUE, and its application to "White House Happenings," I found this article by Ben Zimmer interesting. 
• TEA (65A: Drink that might be served with scones) I just wanted to say TEA and scones are a lovely combination.
• TAYLOR (4D: Singer and cat lover Swift) TAYLOR Swift has three cats, and they are all named after TV and movie characters: Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button. TAYLOR's cats sometimes travel with her, and make appearances in her work, including in the music video for "Me!" I currently only have one cat, but Willow also likes to help me work,
  
  though she's not always helpful. 
• INDIGO (12D: Color of the rainbow not in the Pride flag) This was a fun way to clue INDIGO. Although INDIGO is included in the helpful rainbow mnemonic, ROY G. BIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, INDIGO, Violet), it is often neglected in many rainbow depictions.
• ASH (23D: Pikachu's trainer) I learned this from the January 29, 2021 puzzle, though I admit I needed the help from crossing answers to remember it. 
• I AM NOT (26D: Words preceding "You are too!") I appreciated the specificity of this clue. I've seen I AM NOT clued simply as [playground retort] and then been in a quandary about whether the answer is "I am, too!" "I do not!" "You are!" or some other variation.
• TTY (64D: Telephone device used less widely since the invention of smartphones (Abbr.) A TTY, or teletypewriter, can be used to send and receive typed messages. As the clue mentions, the availability of smartphones with texting capabilities has made the use of TTY much less common.

Geography review:

• STATEN (13D: ___ Island (NYC borough)) STATEN Island is the least-populated borough of New York City. New York Bay separates STATEN Island from the rest of New York, and a couple of tidal straits separate the island from New Jersey. 
• NYU (30D: Big Apple school) The nickname of New York University's sports teams is the NYU Violets. The school's mascot is the bobcat.

 I admit that when I saw the title of this puzzle I had a brief moment of panic. It's a sports theme, and as you are probably aware by now, almost everything I know about sports I've learned from crossword puzzles. I needn't have worried, though. This was an enjoyable puzzle with solid and interesting theme answers, and Kim's note and "Dr. Google" ("She knows everything," as I'm fond of saying...) helped me figure out what I needed to tell you about the theme. (I will add for others not into PREMIER LEAGUE, that the hashtag Kim included in his note - #COYS - stands for "Come on, you SPURS!") In addition to the theme answers, and those answers I've highlighted above, I liked IS IT ME, AUTOTUNE, and EDGES OUT. This puzzle, as Kim pointed out, is asymmetrical, and I appreciated reading how the asymmetry was used to allow an improved theme set. As I mentioned Wednesday, I am a fan of occasional asymmetry to allow for smoother fill. Allowing stronger theme answers is another good use of asymmetry. The use of asymmetry also adds another dimension of puzzling, as one tries to figure out if the puzzle is symmetrical or not, and where the asymmetrical squares are. This puzzle - sports theme and all! - was a great start to my Friday.