January 24, 2022

Title: CASH OUT

Constructor: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Editors: Mollie Cowger & Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

FORMULA ONE (17A: Car racing class with Grand Prix competitions)

GIVE ME FIVE (24A: "Up high!")

HANGING TEN (49A: Doing a tricky surfboard manuever)

BASE TWENTY (61A: Like the Kaktovik numeral system)

Theme synopsis: The last word (going OUT) of each theme answer is a denomination of CASH. In our puzzle wallet today we have a ONE, FIVE, TEN, and TWENTY.

Things I learned:

• ALAIN (13A: Harlem Renaissance writer Locke) Writer, philosopher, and educator ALAIN Locke was the first Black Rhodes Scholar (in 1907). He is sometimes referred to as the "Dean" or "Father" of the Harlem Renaissance for his 1925 book, The New Negro: An Interpretation, an anthology of essays by Black writers including Zora Neale Hurston and Claude McKay. 
• BASE TWENTY (61A: Like the Kaktovik numeral system) The Kaktovik numeral system was created by the Iñupiat. The Iñupiaq language, an Inuit language spoken by the Iñupiat in northern Alaska, has a base-20 numeral system. In 1990, some students at a middle school in Kaktovik, Alaska noted that Arabic numerals did not have enough symbols to represent Iñupiaq numbers. So the students created a BASE TWENTY numeral system. This newsletter article describes the process the students used and the system they invented. (Scroll down to page 12 to find the article, "Making the Old Way Count.") I was not familiar with the Kaktovik numeral system, but at this point in the puzzle I knew I was looking for an answer ending in TWENTY, so the answer was inferable. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the innovation of these students. Also Kaktovik numbers are quite interesting, visually.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ATMS (5A: Money dispensers) Nice bonus theme answer to see ATMS at the top of our puzzle ready to give CASH OUT.
• GIVE ME FIVE (24A: "Up high!") My first thought was the less formal, "Gimme FIVE," but when that didn't fit, it was easy enough to figure out what was needed.
• ALISON (37A: "GLOW" actress Brie) The TV series, GLOW, is about the 1980s syndicated women't professional wrestling circuit, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW). ALISON Brie played the role of Ruth "Zoya the Destroyer" Wilder. She also played the role of Diane Nguyen in the TV series, BoJack Horseman.
• HANGING TEN (49A: Doing a tricky surfboard manuever) HANGING TEN refers to HANGING all TEN of your toes off of the nose of the surfboard (while riding a wave, of course!) Here's a video explaining how to do this maneuver in case you're feeling adventurous.
• IOWANS (56A: Danai Gurira and Robin Thede, by birth) Actress and playwright Danai Gurira, who played the role of Okoye in the 2018 movie, Black Panther, was born in Grinell, Iowa. When she was five years old, she moved back to her parents' home country of Zimbabwe. Comedian, actress, and writer, Robin Thede, who created and co-stars in the TV series, A Black Lady Sketch Show, was born in Spencer, Iowa. She grew up in Davenport, Iowa, one of the Quad Cities. Although I am not, my husband and both of my children are IOWANS by birth, so Danai Gurira and Robin Thede are in good company.
• ANNE (64A: ""Interstellar" actress Hathaway) Interstellar is a 2014 movie centered on a group of astronauts searching for a new habitable planet. ANNE Hathaway plays the role of NASA scientist and astronaut, Dr. Amelia Brand. A week ago my daughter sent me a Snapchat that read, "ANNE Hathaway > other actresses." She was rewatching Ella Enchanted. Like my daughter, I am an ANNE Hathaway fan.
• MONTERO (7D: ___ Lamar Hill aka Lil Nas X) MONTERO is also the title of Lil Nas X's 2021 album.
• ORE (10D: Mined resource in Catan) In the board game, Settlers of Catan, players collect resources - ORE, wheat, wood, brick, and wool - that are used to build houses, roads, and cities. I am still waiting for brick and wool to appear in the puzzle to collect a full set of Catan-clued resources. 
• PIE (11D: Dessert served on March 14) March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day, as the date 3-14, includes the first three digits of pi. Is it too early to start planning what kind of PIE I'm going to make for this year's celebration? I might need to do a few practice runs.
• NUN (14D: Deloris pretends to be one in "Sister Act") In the 1992 movie, Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg plays the role of Deloris, a lounge singer placed in a convent and pretending to be a NUN as part of a witness protection act. A Sister Act 3 movie is in the works.
• INPUT (27D: Two cents) After I uncovered the theme answers of FORMULA ONE and
  
  GIVE ME FIVE, I was thinking (all in fun and not seriously!), "The two dollar bill would like a word..." However, I and the two dollar bill will accept the "two cents" in this clue as a bonus theme answer. That's my INPUT.
• ALOHA (33D: "___ nui loa") In Hawaiian, "ALOHA nui loa" means "all my love," or "lots of love."
• PANDA (52D: Bear used in diplomacy) Gifts of giant PANDAs have been a part of China's diplomacy since the 1970s. Since 1984, PANDAs have been offered on 10-year loans instead of being gifted.
• NSYNC ("Bye Bye Bye" boy band) "Bye Bye Bye" was released by NSYNC in 2000. The song won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video.

Geography review:

• ERIE (16A: Lake near Buffalo) Buffalo, New York is at the eastern end of Lake ERIE, and is the county seat of ERIE County. Amazingly, after a strong start with an appearance on January 1, this is only the second appearance of the year for our crossword-friend ERIE.

A fun CASH-infused theme today. I did not need to CHEAT to be successful, though it did take me three tries to get the answer LED IN (66A: Ushered through the door). I tried "saw IN" and "let IN" before landing on the correct answer. (As an aside, I jest about cheating, because I actually think it's fine to look up answers while solving a crossword.) Although we've seen Mollie Cowger as a constructor and as a guest blogger on this site, today is the first time we've seen her name as editor. Congratulations, Mollie - very exciting to see that. This puzzle was a delightful way to start my Monday.