November 15, 2021

Title: US FIRST

Constructors: Brooke Husic & Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

UNITED STATES (18A: St. Louis' country)

USUAL SUSPECT (36A: Person likely to be involved in a particular situation)

URBAN SPRAWL (53A: Uncontrolled growth around a city)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer consists of two words where the FIRST letter of the first word is U-, and the FIRST letter of the second word is S-.

And now a word from our constructors:

Brooke & Matthew: From *us*: We’re so happy to be back in the USAT! We adore this puzzle; it’s the first asymmetric grid we’ve made together and it was really fun to try to squeeze as much amazing stuff into the puzzle as possible given the flexibility with black squares. When we saw we could run PARTNERS AND CRIME down the middle we were thrilled — and the clue makes us smile 👯. Our fave answers are PARTNERS IN CRIME (of course), LIVES IT UP, DEMISEXUAL, CROWN ACT, and JERSEY. We had the most fun writing clues about Cut the Rope, TESSA Violet, and pastina … we loled at our clue for AYE. Brooke is very happy to shout out the goat TEYANA Taylor, and Matthew hopes solvers enjoy the delicious array of KEBAB / TATER / PANEER. And of course, we couldn’t not clue UNITED STATES with respect to a city very near and dear to both of our hearts!

Things I learned:

• TESSA (21A: Singer-songwriter Violet) TESSA Violet began her career as a video blogger, winning a YouTube competition in 2009 for receiving the most comments on her video entry. Since 2013, her content has focused on her music. Her first album, Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled, was released in 2014. 
• RAP (49A: Genre for Zebra Katz) Although he has previously released singles and mix tapes, Zebra Katz's debut studio album, Less is Moor, was released last year. I enjoyed reading this interview withe the RAP artist, Zebra Katz.
• MAL (32D: "Descendants" protagonist) Descendants is a 2015 made-for-TV Disney movie. The movie centers on the teenage children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella de Vil. Dove Cameron plays the role of MAL, the daughter of Maleficent.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• JAVA (8A: Coding language with a coffee) My thought process when I read this clue: "I don't have any idea. How would I know that...wait...JAVA."
• POET (12A: Sharon Olds, e.g.) Pulitzer Prize-winner, Sharon Olds has appeared in the USA Today crossword four times since September 15, 2020, so hopefully her name is recognizable to you as a POET. Here's a clip of Sharon Olds reading her poem, "The Worst Thing."
• TEYANA (30A: "The Album" artist Taylor) TEYANA Taylor is a singer-songwriter, actress, dancer, choreographer, director, and model. Her third studio album, titled The Album, was released in June of last year. 
• CROWN ACT (50A: Bill aiming to end hair-related discrimination) I learned about the CROWN ACT from the August 7, 2021 puzzle. This California law was enacted in 2019 and prohibits discrimination based on hair style and hair texture. The CROWN ACT has also been passed in several other states, and work is ongoing to pass legislation in all states. CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
• ATE (11D: Enjoyed some pastina) Pastina is a term referring to tiny pieces of pasta. Some pastina has a diameter as small as 1/16 inch.
• PLUTO (12D: Dwarf planet past Neptune) When I want to pretend to be a curmudgeonly person, I say, "In my day, PLUTO was a planet!" I'm joking, of course. As a scientist I accept that our knowledge expands and designations change as new discoveries are made. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) passed a resolution defining a planet. According to the IAU definition, there are three criteria a planet must meet. Pluto only meets two of the criteria. Interestingly, I learned today that Mercury does not meet all three criteria either.
• PANEER (46D: ___ bhurji (scrambled cheese dish) PANEER is a soft cheese, resembling cottage cheese, made from cow or buffalo milk. The word "bhurji" means "scrambled" in Hindi. Therefore, as the clue informs us, PANEER bhurji is a scrambled cheese dish. Doesn't that sound delicious?
• BOWEN (47D: Julie of "Modern Family") Julie BOWEN plays the role of Claire Dunphy on the TV sitcom, Modern Family.
• UNIT (53D: The "U" of CPU) CPU = central processing UNIT

Geography review:

• LIMA (15A: Peru's capital) LIMA is located on the western edge of Peru, along the Pacific Ocean. LIMA is the capital and largest city of Peru, and is home to the oldest college in the Americas, the National University of San Marcos, founded in 1551.
• UNITED STATES (18A: St. Louis' country) As Brooke and Matthew mentioned in their notes, they used St. Louis in this clue because they both have ties to the city. Answers such as UNITED STATES, that can be clued in thousands of ways, are opportunities for constructors to personalize their puzzle, choosing cluing angles meaningful to them. Personal touches such as this are part of the joy of solving puzzles by a variety of constructors. I have also called St. Louis home before, and still have family there, so it made me smile to see it here.
• RIO (2016 Olympics city, for short) The 2016 Summer Olympics were held in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil. Countries that participated in the Olympics for the first time in RIO were Kosovo and South Sudan. A Refugee Olympic Team also competed for the first time.
• SRI (57A: ___ Lankan) SRI Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean. The South Asian country is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait.

A fun and solid set of "US" theme answers today. USUAL SUSPECT was my favorite theme answer; its clue was perfect and allowed me to figure out the answer right away. When I saw the title, I correctly deduced the theme might consist of words beginning with the initials U.S. After uncovering PARTNERS IN CRIME (such a great grid-spanning entry), I had the thought that the title US FIRST could also be used for a puzzle of phrases beginning with synonyms for "US," such as PARTNERS, friends, etc. As Brooke and Matthew mentioned in their note, this grid is asymmetric. In addition to the entries I've highlighted above, I enjoyed LIVES IT UP, BLAST IT, DEMISEXUAL, and COINED. You could make a delicious MEAL from the food entries here: PANEEER bhurji, KEBABs, pastina, and TATER tots. This puzzle by PARTNERS IN CRIME, Brooke and Matthew, was a delightful way to begin my Monday.

One more thing today. The crossword subscription service The Inkubator is publishing a book! Inkubator Crosswords: 100 Audacious Puzzles by Women and Nonbinary Creators will be published in April of next year, but it's now available for preorder. I'm excited for this book to come out. I guarantee you'll recognize the names of some of the constructors that have made puzzles for this book.