November 27, 2021

Title: AV CLUB

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

ABSENTEE VOTING (18A: Process for mailing in a ballot from out of state)

AFRICAN VIOLET (34A: Purple flower native to Tanzania)

ALICIA VIKANDER (53A: Swedish actress who played Lara Croft)

Theme synopsis: The theme answers are members of the AV CLUB; that is, each theme answer has the initials A.V.

Things I learned:

• NINE (6D: Number of forms for the goddess Durga) Durga is a Hindu deity also referred to as the mother goddess. During Navaratri (also spelled Navratri), the NINE forms of Durga are worshiped.
• SNL (24D: Aristotle Athari's show) Aristotle Athari joined the Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast in 2021. 
• ELI (26D: Jazz saxophonist ___ "Lucky" Thompson) ELI "Lucky" Thompson was a jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. His playing combined elements of jazz, swing, and bebop, and during his career he worked with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. ELI "Lucky" Thompson died in 2005 at the age of 81.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ASL (1A: One of two languages in Deaf West Theater productions) Productions at the Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles feature deaf and hearing artists, and combine ASL and spoken English. I first learned about Deaf West Theatre from the April 9 puzzle earlier this year. 
• TEAL (33A: Color of some sapphires) The precious gemstone sapphire is a variety of the mineral corundum. The principal source of TEAL sapphire, a special variety of corundum with blue and green coloring, is Australia. 
• AFRICAN VIOLET (34A: Purple flower native to Tanzania) How many flowers have a society specifically dedicated to them? The AFRICAN VIOLET Society of America has been helping people grow these purple flowers since 1946.
• APR (49A: MLB Opening Day month) Although it's true that the opening day of Major League Baseball (MLB) is often in APRil, in 2022 it is scheduled for March 31. Assuming opening day happens as scheduled, it will be the first time since 1968 that all MLB teams play their first game on the same day.
• ALICIA VIKANDER (53A: Swedish actress who played Lara Croft) ALICIA VIKANDER played the role of Lara Croft in the 2018 movie, Tomb Raider. She also played the role of Gloria Steinem in the 2020 biographical movie, The Glorias. 
• OPEN TO (59A: Not completely against) My brain had the most difficult time parsing this answer for some reason. The first letter of this answer was the last letter I filled in, and I spent some time trying to figure out what "O PENTO," or "OPENTO" meant before OPEN TO finally clicked!
• ARI (64A: "Shea Butter Baby" singer Lennox) "Shea Butter Baby" is the title track from the 2019 debut album of ARI Lennox. The song appeared in the movie, Creed II. 
• RAN (67A: Dashed) and RUN (45D: Series of performances) This puzzle is doing lots of running. I appreciated that since the two tenses of RUN were located close together in the grid, they were clued with different meanings of the word.
• RIO (51D: Animated movie set in Brazil) The 2011 animated movie, RIO, was set in RIO de Janeiro, Brazil. The movie is about a domesticated Spix's macaw (Blu, voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) taken to RIO de Janeiro to mate with a female Spix's macaw (Jewel, voiced by Anne Hathaway).
• ONO (59D: Sushi chef Jiro) I learned about sushi chef Jiro ONO from the March 17, 2021 puzzle. Jiro ONO is the chef/owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.

Geography review:

• SERBIA (2D: Nikola Jokic's country) Nikola Jokić is a basketball player for NBA's Denver Nuggets. He was born in Sombor, SERBIA. Jokić played for the Serbian Basketball Team in the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal after SERBIA was defeated by Team USA in the finals. The Republic of SERBIA has been an independent country since 2006. It was previously part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1992-2003), and the State Union of SERBIA  and Montenegro (2003-2006). The capital of SERBIA is Belgrade.
• ATL (31D: Capital of GA) In addition to being the capital of Georgia, ATLanta is its largest city. Nicknames of ATLanta include "Hotlanta," "The City in a Forest," and "Hollywood of the South."
• SIERRA (47D: ___ Nevada mountains) The SIERRA Nevada mountain range lies primarily in central and eastern California, with part of the range extending into Nevada.

A fun puzzle today. The title immediately had me looking for phrases with words beginning with an A- and a V-, and I was not disappointed. A solid theme set, and great fill and cluing all around. I particularly liked the entry and clue DANCE MOVE (25A: One might be shown off on the floor). This puzzle was a great way to begin my Saturday. 

One more thing today. The title of this puzzle has me thinking of the American Values Club crossword, or AVCX, an excellent subscription puzzle service. The AVCX recently announced an upcoming expansion of their services and has launched a Kickstarter campaign. The plans for the expansion are exciting, and it would be great to see this happen. I encourage you to check out the plans and invite you to consider contributing to the project.