November 10, 2021

Title: NO QUESTION ABOUT IT

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

GENERATION Y (16A: Millenials)

LIU WEN (24A: Supermodel with over 25 million followers on Weibo)

MICROWATT (44A: Tiny unit of power)

GORDIE HOWE (60A: Red Wings legend known as "Mr Hockey")

Theme synopsis: The last part of each theme answer sounds like a QUESTION word: Y, WEN, WATT, and HOWE.

Things I learned:

• OPERA (13A: Beijing ___ (Chinese art form) The most dominant form of Chinese OPERA, Beijing OPERA combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. The art form is regarded as a cultural treasure of China. The art is also practiced in Taiwan, where it is known as Guójù.
• KARATE (5D: Rika Usami's martial art) Rika Usami is a practitioner of Shito-ryu KARATE. She was the Gold Medal winner at the 2012 World KARATE Championships. Rika Usami was born in Tokyo, Japan.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GENERATION Y (16A: Millenials) GENERATION Y, or millennials, is the generational tag used to refer to people born in the early 1980s to mid-1990s. (e.g. 1981-1996) GENERATION Y is often described as the first generation that grew up in the Internet age. As such, they are sometimes referred to as digital natives. I chuckled at Wikipedia's statement that "Most millennials are the children of baby boomers and early Gen Xers." Both of my children are in GENERATION Y. Their father is a baby boomer, and I was born in the year considered the beginning of Generation X.
• LIU WEN (24A: Supermodel with over 25 million followers on Weibo) LIU WEN has been called "China's first bona fide supermodel." Weibo is a Chinese social media platform. LIU Wen has over 5 million followers on Instagram as well. I first learned about LIU WEN from the May 12, 2021 puzzle. 
• MICROWATT (44A: Tiny unit of power) A MICROWATT is on millionth of a WATT. MICROWATTs are used in reference to some medical instrumentation (EEGs and ECGs, e.g.) and to measure the power of compact solar cells used in calculators and watches.
• GORDIE HOWE (60A: Red Wings legend known as "Mr Hockey") GORDIE HOWE was a professional hockey player from 1946 to 1980. He played his first 25 seasons with NHL's Detroit Red Wings. He is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five different decades. GORDIE HOWE was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He died in 2016 at the age of 88.
• REST (67A: Take a cat nap) Not surprisingly, Willow is a pro at taking cat naps.
  
  I often say (sarcastically) that she needs to learn to relax!
• RAN (8D: Did the last leg of a pentathlon) Although I thought I had a general idea, I was curious about what a pentathlon involved. I ended up learning that there are many types of pentathlon. Most of them do end with a running event. The five events of the "modern pentathlon" are: shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrian, and cross country running. The "athletic pentathlon" consists of five track and field events. The classic athletic pentathlon consists of: long jump, javelin throw, 200 meters, discus throw, and 1500 meters. There is also an indoor pentathlon: 60 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800 meters. The military also has their own version of the pentathlon governed by the International Military Sports Council. Confusingly, among these is the Aeronautical pentathlon that consists of six events. 
• MARA (33D: "Carol" actress Rooney) The 2015 movie, Carol, is based on Patricia Highsmith's semi-autobiographical 1952 novel, The Price of Salt. In the movie, Rooney MARA played the role of Therese Belivet, and Cate Blanchett played the role of Carol Aird.
• RENT (58D: "Take Me or Leave Me" musical) In the original Broadway production of RENT in 1996, "Take Me or Leave Me" was performed by Idina Menzel and Fredi Walker, who played the roles of Maureen and Joanne. 

Geography review:

• THAI (37A: Like many Siam Paragon shoppers) Siam Paragon is a shopping mall in Bangkok, THAIland.

There's NO QUESTION ABOUT IT, this is an interesting theme idea. At first I wondered when (WEN) I would figure out the theme. Once I realized what (WATT?) was happening, it was interesting to see how (HOWE) the theme played out, and I wondered why (Y) I hadn't seen it earlier. Due to the asymmetry of the puzzle, it did take me more time than usual to identify which of the answers were the theme answers. I initially wondered if the two long across answers and two long downs were the theme answers. Once I did realize the theme, it became clear that the 6-letter LIU WEN was a theme answer. It amused me that the puzzle seemed to be talking to itself: "BEAR WITH ME." "NOT A CHANCE!" I also enjoyed the answer LAST STRAW. All in all, this puzzle with its answers and NO QUESTIONs was an enjoyable way to begin my Wednesday.

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