October 7, 2021

Title: LIFE PARTNERS

Constructor: Emily Sharp & Kunal Nabar

Editors: Erik Agard

Guest Blogger: Brooke Husic

Theme Answers:

SOCIAL SCIENCES (16A: Human geography, education, economics and others)

SECOND STORY (27A: Level above the ground floor)

GIVING BLOOD (37A: Donating for a transfusion)

WORK EXPERIENCE (50A: Resume section)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a phrase whose first and second words can follow and precede the word LIFE, respectively: SOCIAL life/life SCIENCES, SECOND life/life STORY, GIVING life/life BLOOD, WORK life/life EXPERIENCE.

And now a word from our constructors: 

Emily: It was such a pleasure to work with Kunal on this puzzle. This was his awesome theme idea, and I love that LIFE always comes after the first word and before the second word — I thought that made it really clean. Thanks so much to Erik for his openness and brilliant clue edits! My favorite clues are 23-A, 36-A, and 12-D. 

Kunal: Loved working with Emily on this puzzle! There were (surprisingly) a ton of different theme possibilities for this. Some other favorites that we opted not to use were BATTERYSIZE, FAMILYSTYLE, and THATSEXTRA. A big thanks to Erik for all his help! My favorite entries for the puzzle are 2-D, 7-D, 22-D, 25-D.

Things I learned:

• RYE (61A: Flour in a sultsina) Sultsina is a crepe/flatbread hybrid from North Karelia, which is located in modern-day Finland. Here is a recipe!
• ATE (62A: Had some qatayef, e.g.) Qatayef is a dumpling that is made from pancake batter and stuffed with nuts and/or cream. It’s often served during Ramadan. Here is a recipe!
• HIRO (25D: Director Murai) HIRO Murai has directed music videos for world-famous artists like Childish Gambino, St. Vincent, the Shins, and FKA Twigs. He's also directed episodes of Atlanta and is an executive producer for the show.
• WAAD (50D: "For Sama" journalist Al-Kateab) WAAD Al-Kateab is the pseudonym of a Syrian journalist and documentarian who reported on the Syrian civil war and created the documentary “For Sama” about her relationship with her husband and their newborn daughter Sama against the background of the war. She fled Aleppo in 2016 for the UK.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SECOND STORY (27A: Level above the ground floor) In Europe the first floor above the ground floor is called the first floor whereas in the U.S. the first floor above the ground floor is called the second floor!
• GIVING BLOOD (37A: Donating for a transfusion) There is a long and problematic history of the FDA advising against men who have sex with men giving blood. As of 2020 the FDA recommends that men who have sex with men wait three months (shortened from a year) since the last time they had sex to donate. The Red Cross opposes this recommendation on their website and says it is participating in a study that ideally will lead to the FDA removing this restriction.
• IDLI (2D: Lentil-and-rice cake that might be served with chutney) I can eat idli because they are gluten free (and delicious)!
• ZIWE (7D: Talk show host Fumudoh) Ziwe Fumudoh hosts the YouTube/Instagram Live show “Baited with Ziwe,” created “Pop Show,” and has her own eponymous variety show as of May 2021. She has also written satire and comedy.
• POT (22D: "Loud" plant) Especially pungent marijuana is described as “loud.”

Geography review:

• LESOTHO (23A: Home to the tallest mountain in southern Africa) This mountain is called Thabana Ntlenyana.
• USA (36A: Chant for Megan Rapinoe's team) I think this counts as geography! Megan Rapinoe is an American soccer player/Olympian/queer icon.
• CSI (13D: Show with a Miami-based spinoff) Locations of CSI shows are Las Vegas, New York City, Miami, and DC.
• PENN (46D: Philly Ivy) The University of Pennsylvania, one of the Ivy League schools, is in Philadelphia, PA.

Solar system review:

• NEPTUNE (41A: Outermost planet in our solar system) A year on Neptune is about 165 Earth years. Neptune is very dense and has six rings.

Hi everyone! I’m honored to be back as a guest blogger for Sally’s Take and especially honored to blog a Sharp/Nabar puzzle. I super admire their previous work for the USA Today and this puzzle was no exception! I’m really wowed that Emily and Kunal found such a fun set of phrases to make this double-theme work, with a perfect title no less. I think the grid layout is super beautiful and it’s filled with fun clues throughout — and this one is very food-forward! I am always learning about new foods from the USA Today and think it would be fun to compile a set of recipes only from foods mentioned in USA Today puzzles. I liked that "Partners" was in the title of a collab puzzle, I really appreciated seeing the short fill WAAD and ZIWE, and I thought the two length-14 theme answers, which can be tricky to place, were incorporated seamlessly.

As a constructor I always look forward to reading Sally’s blog on days when my puzzles are published and I’m so grateful for her positive, constructor-centric reviews! I can’t believe she does this every day with such thoughtfulness and thoroughness, and it feels special as a constructor to have my work chronicled. Please consider donating at the bottom of this page to show your appreciation!

xoxo, Brooke