May 18, 2022

Title: OUTRIGHT

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

READING LIGHT (20A: Aid for enjoying "The Night Watchman" at night)

RAPPER'S DELIGHT (39A: First hip-hop single to enter Billboard's Top 40 chart)

RED-EYE FLIGHT (55A: Overnight travel option)

Theme synopsis: The word RIGHT is found at the OUTside edges of each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• IDA (33A: "Oh My God" singer Maria) Released in 2007, "Oh My God" was the debut song of Norwegian rock musician, IDA Maria. The song was used in an episode of the the Netflix TV series, Big Mouth in 2018. 
• SIEGE (26D: "State of ___" (Mahmoud Darwish poetry collection)) Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) was regarded as a Palestinian national poet. State of SIEGE is one of Mahmoud Darwish's numerous published poetry collections. It was published in 2002, when Mahmoud Darwish was under SIEGE in Ramallah, Palestine, during an Israeli invasion.
• ESME (36D: Arthur's wife in "Babe") In the 1995 movie, Babe, Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) is a farmer who wins the orphaned piglet, Babe (Christine Cavanaugh) in a "guess the weight" contest at a county fair. ESME (Magda Szubanski) is Arthur's wife. I needed the help of crossing answers for this one, as I've never seen Babe. I hesitate to admit this gap in my movie-watching, as the last time I admitted I hadn't seen a movie (Hocus Pocus), I received grief about it (and a homework assignment to watch it) from both Amanda Rafkin and my daughter! In my defense, in this case, when Babe was released I was a little busy; I had an 18-month-old son and was finishing up graduate school.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ANTE (17A: Prefix meaning "before") Examples of ANTE as a prefix are: antecedent (preceding event), antebellum (before a war), and antechamber (a small room before a larger room). 
• READING LIGHT (20A: Aid for enjoying "The Night Watchman" at night) The Night Watchman is a 2020 historical fiction novel by Louise Erdrich. The protagonist of The Night Watchman, Thomas Wazhashk, is based on Louise Erdrich's maternal grandfather. This is a fun clue.
• SEE (24A: "Whatcha ___ Is Whatcha Get") "Whatcha SEE Is Whatcha Get" is the title track from a 1971 album by The Dramatics. A nice clue, because the answer is inferable for solvers not familiar with the song. 
• RAPPER'S DELIGHT (39A: First hip-hop single to enter Billboard's Top 40 chart) "RAPPER'S DELIGHT" is a 1979 song by the hip-hop trio, The Sugarhill Gang. It reached a peak of number 36 on the Billboard chart. Here's a little more music trivia: Although it was the first hip-hop song to reach the Top 40, "RAPPER'S DELIGHT" wasn't the first hip-hop song to be commercially released. That would be "King Tim III (Personality Jock)" by the Fatback Band, released just a few months before "RAPPER'S DELIGHT."
• LIAR (64A: "You know that's not true!") and HONEST (2D: "I'm not making this up!") The puzzle seems to be having an argument with itself here.
• EVER (57D: "Don't ___ give up!") I enjoy it when the puzzle seems to be giving me
  
  encouragement. This reminded me of a sign my husband and I sometimes see when we're out walking. "If you're looking for a sign to stay alive today, this is it."

Geography review:

• JAVA (60A: Island west of Bali) The country of Indonesia consists of over 17,000 islands. Two of those islands are JAVA and Bali. Over half of Indonesia's population lives on the island of JAVA. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is located on JAVA.
• IDAHO (27D: State with a Potato Museum) It makes sense that the state nicknamed "The Potato State" would be home to a Potato Museum. The IDAHO Potato Museum is located in Blackfoot, IDAHO. Its displays include the world's largest potato chip, a Pringles chip measuring 25 inches by 14 inches. If you enjoy learning about potatoes, you're in luck because the IDAHO Potato Museum isn't the only potato museum in the world. There are two potato museums in the United States (the other one is in New Mexico), and there are potato museums in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and Italy. 
• LHASA (54D: Capital city where laping is a popular street food) LHASA is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region within China. Laping is a street food dish popular in Tibet. It consists of cold mung bean noodles served in a soy sauce gravy, and topped with red pepper chili, coriander, and green onions.

When I saw the puzzle's title, I wondered if the theme would be words on the RIGHT side of the theme answers that either precede or follow the word OUT. AHA! (61D: "Now I get it!") I was OUTRIGHT wrong. Instead we get a nice set of theme answers with RIGHT on the OUTer edges. I also enjoyed the answers PASTRAMI and RICE PILAF. (Anyone else getting hungry?) Thank you, Zhouqin, for a puzzle that was a great way to begin my Wednesday.