May 19, 2022

Title: POP TRIO

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

SOOT SPRITE (19A: "Spirited Away" creature that sheds black dust)

FRIEND CRUSH (37A: "I sooo want to be besties with that person" feeling)

SALSA FRESCA (54A: Another name for pico de gallo)

Bonus theme-related answer: SODA (31D: Club ___ (mixer))

Theme synopsis: The last word of each theme answer is a type of POP (aka SODA). Today's POP TRIO members are SPRITE, CRUSH, and FRESCA.

And now a word from our constructor:

Brooke: this puzzle was built around SOOT SPRITE (here is a photo) and i am overall super happy with how the other two theme answers and the entire fill turned out. and alternative title for this puzzle is "club soda," which gets a nod in 31d.

Things I learned:

• TINA (13A: Gospel singer Campbell) TINA Campbell began her musical career as half of the gospel duo, Mary Mary. The other half of the duo was her sister, Erica. The duo was featured in the reality TV series, Mary Mary, that originally aired from 2012 to 2017. TINA Campbell began her solo career in 2014. 
• SOOT SPRITE (19A: "Spirited Away" creature that sheds black dust) The Studio Ghibli anime film, Spirited Away, won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003. The movie tells the story of Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl that enters the world of Shinto spirits. These things I knew, because I learned them from the July 23, 2020 and September 1, 2020 puzzles. Today I learned about the SOOT SPRITE. According to a Ghibli fandom wiki, SOOT SPRITEs, also known as Susuwatari, are "small, round balls made from the SOOT that dwells in old and abandoned houses." If a formerly uninhabited house becomes inhabited, the SOOT SPRITEs will decide whether the inhabitants are nice people; if they are, the SOOT SPRITEs will leave.
• IMPROV (34A: "The Black Version" comedy style) The Black Version is an IMPROV show featuring an all Black cast. The show began in 2010 at the Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles. At the beginning of the show, the director asks the audience for a movie title. The cast then improvises the "Black Version" of the movie.
• URN (30D: "Dropping a Han Dynasty ___" (Ai Weiwei photo series)) Ai Weiwei is an artist, activist, and documentarian whose art often includes political commentary about the Chinese government. You may recall that we saw Ai Weiwei as a theme answer in Brooke Husic's April 4, 2022 puzzle. The photographic series, "Dropping a Han Dynasty URN," was created in 1995, and consists of three photos of Ai Weiwei. In the first photo, the artist is holding a Hans Dynasty URN that was approximately 2,000 years old. As one might expect from the work's title, the second and third photos show Ai Weiwei dropping and then standing over the remains of the URN. Two Hans Dynasty URNs were used in producing the photo series, as during the first attempt, the photographer failed to catch the descent of the URN. If you want to learn more about "Dropping a Han Dynasty URN," and some of Ai Weiwei's thoughts about creation through transformation, I recommend this Smarthistory article. 
• PICKLE (46D: Papad condiment made with brine) Papad, also known as papadum, is a thin, crunchy flatbread made of lentil, chickpea, or black gram flour. Papad originated on the Indian subcontinent. Papad are often served with lime PICKLE, onion or mango chutney, and raita. This PICKLE is not a brined CUCUMBER (25D: Green ingredient in raita), but a condiment made from a variety of vegetables and fruits (such as limes, lemons, mangoes, ginger, eggplants, and chili peppers) that are preserved in brine with various spices. 

 Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PELT (12A: Hit with powder on Holi, say) Holi is a Hindu festival also known as the Festival of Colors or the Festival of Love. One of the way Holi is celebrated is by gathering with friends and family to PELT one another with colored powder. 
• AGING (14A: Growing older) and ANCIENT (11D: Mega-old) Interesting to see these two answers cross. As I have been AGING, I have discovered it is a constant challenge not to feel ANCIENT!
• YONCE (18A: Alter ego for Bey) My first thought was Sasha Fierce, but that obviously wouldn't fit (though I tried Sasha...) However, the answer here is Beyoncé's (aka Bey) other alter ego, YONCÉ. YONCÉ was introduced in Beyoncé's 2013 song, "Partition."
• KATSU (23A: Breaded and fried, in Japanese cuisine) If you see a dish called chicken KATSU, tonKATSU, or gyuKATSU, expect it to be breaded and fried. This answer was tricky for me only because I originally had "pesty" instead for PESKY for (12D: Annoying).
• LET (26A: "Never ___ Me Go" (Ishiguro novel)) I have previously written about author Kazuo Ishiguro. Never LET Me Go is his 2005 novel that takes place in an alternate reality of 1990s England in which cloning is performed. The book was adapted into a 2010 movie of the same name. 
• MAUS (28A: Pulitzer-winning graphic novel whose main characters are depicted as mice) I have previously written about MAUS. 
• RIOT (39A: "Let It Fall" demonstration) Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 is a 2017 documentary about the decade preceding and including the 1992 Los Angeles RIOT that erupted after the verdict clearing police officers of beating Rodney King. The movie was directed by John Ridley.
• SALSA FRESCA (54A: Another name for pico de gallo) Yum! SALSA FRESCA, also known as pico de gallo or SALSA cruda, is essentially fresh SALSA. It is made of chopped tomatoes, onion, and peppers with salt, lime juice, and cilantro. SALSA FRESCA is at its absolute best when it is made with garden-fresh tomatoes. It is one of my favorite late-summer treats.
• DIGIT (57A: One of four in 1,991) This is a fun, tricky clue!
• LISA (59A: Basketball great Leslie) I read this clue and thought, "I know this sports thing. I have learned it from previous puzzles." It took me a moment to recall, but I got there. LISA Leslie played for WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks from 1997-2009.
• ELLE (63A: "Legally Blonde" protagonist Woods) If you solved Brooke Husic's May 7, 2022 puzzle, you may remember that the LSAT is an [Exam for ELLE Woods].

Geography review:

• USA (42D: Brenna Huckaby's Paralympic team) Brenna Huckaby is a snowboarder. She represented Team USA in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, winning four medals - three gold and one bronze.
• ASIA (55D: Maldives' continent) Maldives is an island country in South ASIA. Located in the Indian Ocean, Maldives is an archipelagic country of 1,192 coral islands. Maldives is the lowest country in the world - its highest point is only 7 feet above sea level - making the country at high risk of disappearing as a result of climate-change-induced rising sea levels. The capital of Maldives is Malé.

What a fun theme with delightful theme answers. Although I didn't know about the SOOT SPRITE, I was able to get at that answer from crossings, and enjoyed learning about this spirit. RUBRICS, FIRST GEN, SUMMITS, and HINGLISH (a portmanteau of Hindi and English) were enjoyable fill. Thank you, Brooke, for this puzzle that was a fabulous way to start my Thursday.