April 22, 2022

Title: NEW BEGINNINGS

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

MODERN DANCE (18A: Hemsley Winfield's performance art)

FRESH POWDER (33A: Favorable forecast for a skier)

NEOPRONOUNS (49A: Ze/hir/hirs and fae/faer/faers, for example)

Theme synopsis: The BEGINNING word of each theme answer is a synonym for NEW: MODERN, FRESH, NEO.

And now a word from our constructor: 

Brooke: i love this grid! it's 70 words, which is my lowest yet for the USAT, but it came together really smoothly. i like the little nods to the theme in NEWS, USED, and ROOKIE. i have so many favorite clues! i love COWS, TRUER, WEREWOLF, SHO, PAWPRINT, SPELL, and HIP, and especially loved including my former neighborhood of nollendorfplatz, BERLIN. i enjoyed solving neville's version of this last month!

Things I learned:

• ILE (17A: Singer with the 2016 album "iLevitable") ILE is the nickname of singer, Ileana Mercedes Cabra. Before embarking on her solo career, ILE sang with her brothers in the group Calle 13, using the stage name PG-13. ILE's album, iLevitable, won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album. 
• MODERN DANCE (18A: Hemsley Winfield's performance art) Hemsley Winfield was a dancer, and the creator and director of the New Negro Art Theater Dance Group. He is considered to be the first Black MODERN DANCEr. Hemsley Winfield died of pneumonia in 1934 at the age of 26. 
• TEN (54A: Number of All-Star selections for Tamika Catchings) Tamika Catchings is a retired professional basketball player. She played for WNBA's Indiana Fever for her entire 15-year career. As the clue informs us, she was selected for TEN WNBA All-Star teams. She was also part of four USA teams that won Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016). Tamika Catchings was inducted into the WNBA Hall of Fame in 2020. 
• WEREWOLF (3D: Creature in Jessica Cage's "Anew") Jessica Cage is an author of urban fantasy novels. On her website she says, "I can remember as a little girl wondering why there were no black vampires, werewolves, and fairies in the stories I read. Well, now there are because I've written them!" Anew is a book about a Black WEREWOLF that lives with the vampire family which adopted her. 
• SPORT (21D: Goalball, for example) The sport of goalball was designed specifically for vision-impaired athletes. Teams of three players compete on an indoor court, and attempt to throw a ball with bells embedded in it into the opponent's goal. Since the game relies heavily on the sense of hearing, all outside noise, including cheering, clapping, or cellphone sound, is prohibited. Goalball was originally designed in 1946 as a rehabilitation exercise for World War II veterans, and gradually evolved into a competitive sport in the 1950s and 1960s. Since 1981, the International Blind Sports Federation has been the official governing body for the sport. Although I hadn't heard of goalball, its name made it easily identifiable as a SPORT. 
• SHO (26D: Sumo great Hakuho) Hakuhō SHŌ retired in September 2021 after a 20-year career as a professional sumo wrestler. He holds the sumo record for most career wins. 
• AO DAI (28D: Vo Viet Chung dress) The ÁO DÀI, a long split garment worn over trousers, is a Vietnamese national garment. Vo Viet Chung is an award-winning Vietnamese fashion designer.
• SELLS (32D: Makes available on Miiriya) Miiriya is a Black-owned online marketplace founded by Lamine Loco. It allows Black-owned businesses to SELL their products without transaction or listing fees. The word "miiriya" means "thoughts" or "ideas" in Lamine Loco's native language, Bambara/Dioula.
• CREAMY (40D: Like navratan korma) Navratan korma is a vegetarian dish originating in South Asia. It consists of vegetables braised with yogurt and spices, and either paneer or nuts, to produce a thick, CREAMY sauce. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• COWS (1A: Animals protected by Krishna) Krishna is a major Hindu deity worshipped as the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love. Krishna is considered a friend and protector of COWS, and is often pictured surrounded by COWS.
• WILL (23A: "___ You Love Me Tomorrow" (Shirelles hit)) "WILL You Love Me Tomorrow" (sometimes referred to as "WILL You Still Love Me Tomorrow") is a 1960 song by the Shirelles. It was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. (Carole King recorded a version of the song in 1971.) The song has the distinction of being the first number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 by an all-Black girl group. When I read this clue, the song immediately began playing in my head, "Tonight you're mine completely / You give your love so sweetly / Tonight the light of love is in your eyes / But WILL you love me tomorrow?" It's been 62 years since this song was a number one hit. This made me wonder what 2022 number one songs will be familiar to crossword solvers in the year 2084.
• NEOPRONOUNS (49A: Ze/hir/hirs and fae/faer/faers, for example) I have previously written about NEOPRONOUNS, words created to serves as nongendered pronouns. 
• SMILING (58A: ___ Face with Heart-Eyes emoji) 😍
• PAW PRINT (27D: A single one on a snowy doorstep might represent a cat going "...nope") This is an elaborate clue for PAW PRINT, and of course I love it! Being an indoor cat,
  
  Willow would definitely say "nope" to a snowy doorstep. Willow spent most of yesterday snoozing on my lap. She's still upset with us for going on vacation for over two weeks, and I think she calculates that if she stays on my lap I won't be able to leave again. 
• SPELL (46D: Say "M-U-R-R-A-Y-A," for example) Fun clue. In case you're wondering, Murraya is a genus of flowering plants. Murraya is also the word Zaila Avant-garde SPELLed correctly to win the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

Geography review:

• BERLIN (14A: German city home to Nollendorfplatz) Nollendorfplatz is a square in BERLIN, Germany. It is located in one of BERLIN's oldest LGBTQ+ areas. The U-Bahn station at Nollendorfplatz was destroyed during World War II. In 2002, the dome of the station was rebuilt with rainbow-colored neon stripes.

  

  Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station 

  
  Brooke was kind enough to send me a picture of the dome she took while living in BERLIN. Inside the U-Bahn station, there is a pink triangle memorial plaque remembering the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany.

The first thing I noticed about this puzzle was the fun grid shape. I like the stacked blocks of black squares on each side of the grid, and there's almost a yin and yang type pattern happening in the center of the puzzle. The puzzle itself was as enjoyable as the grid. As you can see, I learned a lot from this puzzle! Although many of the answers were new to me, the puzzle was still accessible from the help of crossing answers. As Brooke mentioned in her notes, just last month we saw a theme based on NEW synonyms constructed by Neville Fogarty. That puzzle was titled "...SOMETHING NEW." (Here's a fun thing: That puzzle featured Zalia Avant-garde, SPELLer of murraya, as a theme answer.) It's interesting to me that there are so many synonyms for the word NEW, that only MODERN appears in both Brooke's and Neville's puzzle. Constructors try not to repeat themes that have been done previously, and while it's important to not plagiarize another's ideas, these two puzzles illustrate that there are often multiple ways to execute a similar idea. And both of these puzzles were a delight to solve! (Also, be honest...would you have remembered you solved a puzzle with a similar theme a month ago if Brooke and I hadn't pointed that out to you?) Lots of fun clues today. Some I've already highlighted, but I also liked the clue for OMELET (2D: Folded brunch entree). This puzzle was a great way to begin my Friday, and definitely left me SMILING. 😍