January 1, 2022

Title: G2G

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

GIG (5A: Magician's booking)

GAYLE KING (16A: TV journalist and O magazine editor-at-large)

GO OVER BIG (57A: Be really well-received)

GAG (7D: Practical joke)

GET CRACKING (8D: What are you waiting for?)

GOOD MORNING (22D: Greeting that might be given groggily)

Theme synopsis: Since all of the theme answers begin and end with the letter G, they all go from G to G, or from G2G.

And now a word from our constructor: 

Brooke: happy new year! the g's in the 22d clue were intentional. the extra theme answers at 5a and 7d were not. i was happy to read more about the etta zuber falconer (see here, here) and liv boeree (see here) during my cluing journey, and was very excited to write a clue featuring "the amazing days of abby hayes" books, which i absolutely adored growing up. finally, here's a bit more about chaos emeralds.

Things I learned:

• ETTA (1A: Mathematician ___ Zuber Falconer) ETTA Zuber Falconer devoted her life to "increasing the number of African American women in mathematics and mathematics-related careers." If you read more about her, you will see that she did just that. She received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Emory University in 1969. She was a professor and provost at Spelman College, a HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia, where, among many other things, she started a NASA Women in Science Program. ETTA Zuber Falconer died in 2002, at the age of 68.
• KERI (39A: "Pretty Girl Rock" singer Hilson) "Pretty Girl Rock" is a song from KERI Hilson's 2010 album, No Boys Allowed. 
• ONEIDA (44A: Joanne Shenandoah's people) Joanne Shenandoah was a Grammy Award-winning singer, composer, and instrumentalist. She was a member of the ONEIDA Nation. She died in November 2021 at the age of 64.
• DOBRO (61A: Guitar brand) DOBRO is a brand of resonator guitar, and is also used as a generic term for those guitars. DOBRO is a contraction of "Dopyera brothers" (who founded DOBRO Manufacturing Company) and also means "goodness" in Slovak.
• LIV (50D: Poker great Boeree) I wasn't familiar with LIV Boeree, but her story is interesting and I enjoyed learning about her. She won the European Poker Tour in 2010, and the World Series of Poker in 2017. She retired from professional poker in 2019, and is now a writer and speaker. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GAYLE KING (16A: TV journalist and O magazine editor-at-large) In 2019, Time named GAYLE KING on of their "100 Most Influential People."
• SAEED (37A: "How We Fight for Our Lives" author Jones) I first learned about SAEED Jones from the October 2, 2021 puzzle. How We Fight for Our Lives is his coming-of-age memoir, published in 2019.
• SEAM (40A: Jorts line) Jorts are denim shorts. The term "jorts" is a portmanteau of "jeans" and "shorts." Jorts is also the name of a cat that has recently achieved Internet fame. 
• SPIRIT (42A: Two-___) Two-SPIRIT is a term used in some indigenous cultures to describe a person with both a feminine and masculine spirit living in the same body.
• NAME (25D: "Say My ___" (Destiny's Child hit) Why, yes, let's start 2022 with a little, "Say My NAME."
• ABBY (53D: "The Amazing Days of ___ Hayes") The Amazing Days of ABBY HAYES is the first of a series of twenty-two books for middle school readers by Anne Mazer. My daughter loved reading these books, and I was happy to see a reference to them in the puzzle.
• SIS (56D: Tegan, to Sara, for short) Tegan and Sara are the identical twin sisters of the indie pop duo, Tegan and Sara.
• GEM (57D: Chaos Emerald, e.g.) Chaos Emeralds are GEMs in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games that have special mystical powers. 

Geography review:

• GOBI (8A: Desert in Mongolia and China) The GOBI Desert, which covers parts of northeastern China and the southern part of Mongolia, is the sixth largest desert in the world. The first time I read this clue, I read "Desert" as "Dessert," and had no idea what the answer could be.
• USA (14A: Yosemite's country) Yosemite, located in California, is one of the USA's 63 National Parks. You may remember that my husband and I are on a quest to visit as many national parks as we can. ( So far I've been to 26 and my husband has been to 21.) We were fortunate to visit Yosemite in 2017. It's an amazing place, and is on our "go visit again" list.
• GUINEA (5D: Equatorial ___) Equatorial GUINEA is on the west coast of Africa. As one might expect from its name, it is near the Equator and the Gulf of GUINEA. The capital of Equatorial GUINEA is Malabo.
• ERIE (34D: Southernmost Great Lake) How nice to start off the year with an appearance of our crossword-friend ERIE! Any guesses how many times we'll see ERIE in the USA Today puzzle in 2022?

I think of "good to go" when I see G2G, but it is more commonly used to mean "Got to go" (or "gotta go"). Today it is a delightful theme for our puzzle. I especially liked the theme answer GET CRACKING, and the clue for GOOD MORNING. This puzzle was a fabulous way to start 2022. Happy New Year!