May 16, 2022

Title: GETTING IN SOME REPS

Constructor: Mark Valdez

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SQUAREPANTS (17A: Surname of the Bikini Bottom resident who lives in a pineapple)

PREMIERE PARTY (38A: Event to celebrate a film launch)

CARE PACKAGE (61A: Treat-filled parcel for a loved one)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains the word REP.

Things I learned:

• BONET (8D: Trinity K. ___, "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant) Trinity K. BONET (the K stands for Kardashian) appeared on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2014, and on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2021. Earlier this year, Trinity K. BONET joined the cast of the RuPaul's Drag Race Live! show in Las Vegas. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SQUAREPANTS (17A: Surname of the Bikini Bottom resident who lives in a pineapple) When I first read this clue, I started to go on, thinking, "I don't know this." Then I paused and realized, "This is a SpongeBob SQUAREPANTS reference." Aha! What a fun clue! More interesting than simply [SpongeBob ___]. I laughed when I later discovered SPONGE (11D: Item for washing dishes). After that, I was halfway expecting to encounter "Bob."
• INTO (22A: Sondheim's "___ the Woods") INTO the Woods, Stephen Sondheim's musical that interweaves several fairy tales, just finished a two-week run at the New York City Center as part of the Encores! concert series. 
• REC (60A: Book suggestion, for short) Thank you, puzzle, for this opportunity to share a book REC, as I just happen to have one. It's a REC that came to me from my daughter, and is definitely worth passing on. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, as well as the second book in this series, The Man Who Died Twice. These books are cozy mysteries, my favorite genre, and are filled with delightfully, quirky characters. (It occurs to me that the last book REC I made was the Thursday Next series...I detect a trend.) If you have a book REC, please leave it in the comments!
• CARE PACKAGE (61A: Treat-filled parcel for a loved one) Who doesn't like to receive a CARE PACKAGE? I used to send my kids a lot of CARE PACKAGES. Somehow over the last few years this has morphed into e-mailed gift cards and Venmo reimbursements for things they buy themselves. It's probably not fair to blame this transition all on Covid, but I'm going to anyway.
• DNA (65A: "I just took a ___ test..." (Lizzo lyric)) Shoutout to you if you heard Lizzo sing this clue in your head, along with the rest of the line..."turns out I'm 100% that b*tch." This lyric is from Lizzo's 2017 song, "Truth Hurts." 
• LAUGHTER (3D: Sound at a stand-up show, hopefully) This clue succeeded in producing LAUGHTER. It was that "hopefully" tacked on at the end that did it for me.
• OPRAH (37D: TV mogul Winfrey) and SILENT (45D: "Were you ___? Or were you silenced?" (37-Down quote)) "Were you SILENT? Or were you silenced?" is a question OPRAH Winfrey asked on the OPRAH with Meghan and Harry TV special that aired March 7, 2021. Meghan replied, "The latter."
• PASCAL (46D: "The Mandalorian" star Pedro) On the Disney+ TV series, The Mandalorian, Pedro PASCAL plays the title character, bounty hunter Din Djarin. Fun fact: His character is the only one that has appeared in every episode of the show. I learned Pedro PASCAL's name when his first name appeared in the puzzle a couple of months ago.

Geography review:

• STL (68A: City in Missouri, for short) St. Louis - STL for short - is on the eastern side of Missouri, across the Mississippi River from Illinois. If you've never been to St. Louis, why not visit next month and attend the first ever STL Crossword Puzzle Tournament on June 18. Registration is free, but space is limited, so if you're interested, I encourage you to check it out. And if you have been to ST. Louis before (or you happen to live there), you know it's a great place to solve puzzles, so what are you waiting for? Meet me in STL - I'd love to see you there.
• SRI (35D: ___ Lanka) The island country of SRI Lanka is in the Indian Ocean, southeast of the Indian subcontinent. SRI Lanka has an area just over 25,000 square miles; that's just slightly larger than the U.S. state of West Virginia.
• EST (64D: Brooklyn time zone, for short) Brooklyn is one of New York City's five boroughs, meaning it is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) when it is not on Daylight Saving Time.

Well, this is convenient; if I'm asked to go to the gym today, I can say I've already gotten in my REPS. And what a delightful way to be GETTING IN SOME REPS! We have three great theme answer surrounded by interesting fill, and with enjoyable cluing all around. Thank you, Mark, for this puzzle that was a fine way to start my Monday. THAT'S ALL!