May 22, 2022

Title: WFH

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers: 

WITH FOLDED HANDS (17A: How some people pray)

WALK FOR HUNGER (46A: Annual fundraiser by Project Bread)

WI-FI HOTSPOT (61A: Place with Internet access)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains three words with the initials WFH. 

Things I learned:

• ELLA (15A: Actress Balinska) ELLA Balinska played the role of Jane Kano in the 2019 movie, Charlie's Angels. She also stars in the upcoming Netflix series, Resident Evil, based on the video game of the same name. 
• TAI (50A: "___ Chi Master" (Jet Li film)) Jet Li produced and starred in the 1993 martial arts movie, TAI Chi Master. Although I didn't know of the movie, the answer was inferable.
• MEG (51A: "The Wife" novelist Wolitzer) The Wife is MEG Wolitzer's 2003 novel about a famous novelist, and his wife who sacrificed her own literary talents to support him. The book was adapted into a 2017 movie of the same name starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce.
• MLS (54A: Minnesota United FC's org.) I'm giving myself half-credit for this one, because I did recognize Minnesota United FC as a professional soccer club. However, I did not know MLS, which stands for Major League Soccer. Now I know!
• WES (61D: Wizards head coach ___ Unseld Jr.) WES Unseld Jr. is the head coach for NBA's Washington Wizards, a position he has held since July 2021. WES Unseld, Jr. began his NBA career as a personnel scout for the Washington Wizards, working his way up to coaching. He has also coached the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets. WES Unseld Jr. is the son of Basketball Hall of Famer, WES Unseld.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ANIME (14A: "Spirited Away," for example) When you encountered this clue, did you remember reading about the ANIME, Spirited Away, three days ago when we saw SOOT SPRITE as a theme answer?
• OGRE (41A: Monster in "Hop-o'-My-Thumb") "Hop-o'-My-Thumb" is a fairytale first published in 1967 by Charles Perrault. In reading up on this fairytale, I learned about the Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) Index used to catalogue folktales. "Hop-o'-My-Thumb" is ATU type 327B: The small boy defeats the OGRE.
• WALK FOR HUNGER (46A: Annual fundraiser by Project Bread) Project Bread is an organization working to help end hunger in Massachusetts. Project Bread's first WALK FOR HUNGER was held in 1969.
• WI-FI HOTSPOT (61A: Place with Internet access) When I am writing, I often look up phrases to double-check whether they are written as one word, two words, or hyphenated. When I did so with WI-FI, I discovered that "Wi-Fi" is a registered trademark and a proper noun. This means that even though you commonly see "WiFi," "wifi," or "Wifi," these are all incorrect. 
• DIME (57D: Coin whose edge has 118 ridges) Well, here's your puzzle-supplied fun fact of the day! Those ridges are officially known as reeds, and they were originally used for two reasons. First of all, the ridges make coins more difficult to counterfeit. Secondly, they prevented a practice known as "coin-clipping," shaving off the edges of coins (which originally contained silver). Although a dime has 188 ridges, a quarter has 119. 

Geography review:

• UAE (37A: Zahra Lari's country) Zahra Lari is a professional figure skater. She is the first figure skater from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to compete internationally. Zahra Lari co-founded Emirates Skating Club, and is its CEO.
• SUGAR MAPLE (29D: State tree of Vermont) The SUGAR MAPLE, as the name suggests, is the primary source for the sap used to make MAPLE syrup. Vermont produces the most MAPLE syrup of any state in the U.S. SUGAR MAPLE trees are also known for their red and yellow foliage in the fall.
• ORE (63D: Portland's state (Abbr.)) Portland is the largest city in OREgon. There is also a Portland in Maine, which is the largest city in that state.

These days, WFH generally means "work from home," but this puzzle reinterprets the initialism nicely. Enjoyable fill: BELL PEPPER, MODEL PLANE, I'M HERE, and OK FINE. Thanks, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was an excellent way to begin my Sunday.

One more fun thing: My Timehop reminded me that it was one year ago today that we saw my favorite USA Today crossword clue to date.