May 24, 2022

Title: FREE FALLING

Constructors: Brooke Husic & Hoang-Kim Vu

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

NIGHT MARKET (3D: Where hawkers sell satay or stinky tofu after dark)

FAMILY STYLE (8D: Shared dining format)

TALENT AGENT (23D: Model's representative)

QUALITY TIME (26D: Something spent with a loved one)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each vertical (FALLING down the grid) theme answer can follow the word FREE. We have FREE MARKET, FREESTYLE, FREE AGENT, AND FREE TIME.

And now a word from our constructors:

Kim: This theme idea actually started from the seed entry at 3-Down, a wonderful and evocative food entry and one of my favorite things in the world... which actually came from Brooke. Other things you might be surprised to find out came from her and not me, given my normal constructor predilections: the clues at 16-A and 45-A. Just a really great collaborator mind meld, I think. Love this grid shape, which also gives us two bonus 15s (!), so really, I'm just once again very happy to be able to tag along. Hope you enjoy!

Brooke: Making this puzzle with Kim was a dream! I'm so glad to have worked together on this tough grid and am super happy it turned out so well, which is fully a function of doing it as a team. My absolute favorite part of this puzzle is 60-A and its amazing clue, both 100% Kim contributions. I also love Kim's clues for 19-D, 36-D, and 49-D. Regarding this puzzle's inspiration: I have fond memories of a trip to a Bangkok 3-Down with my best friend Qiqi, who tried (and liked) deep-fried scorpion there.

Things I learned:

• GOAL CELEBRATION (60A: Alex Morgan miming sipping tea at the 2019 World Cup, for example) I have watched enough sports (and seen enough sports clips on social media) to know what a GOAL CELEBRATION is. I wasn't familiar with the reference in the clue, however, so needed assistance from crossing answers to uncover the answer. Alex Morgan (who I have heard of!) plays soccer for NWSL's San Diego Wave FC, and is a part of the U.S. women's national soccer team. In 2019, the U.S. Team was playing England in the semi-finals of the World Cup, when Alex Morgan scored the goal that ultimately sealed a USA victory. After scoring the GOAL, Alex Morgan celebrated by pausing and miming sipping tea. Interestingly, this GOAL CELEBRATION provoked controversy and received pushback for being disrespectful. I say interestingly, because to me this GOAL CELEBRATION seems fairly tame compared to some I've seen. Wikipedia has a lengthy list of GOAL CELEBRATIONs. Here's a fun fact: The day Alex Morgan mimed drinking tea as a GOAL CELEBRATION was her 30th birthday.
• ONE (61D: "___ Last Stop" (Casey McQuiston novel)) Romance author Casey McQuiston says she lives "at the intersection of fun, escapist romantic adventure and smart-mouthed characters with bad manners and big hearts." ONE Last Stop, released in 2021, is Casey McQuiston's second book. Its protagonist is a cynical young woman (and pseudo detective) who moves to New York City to make a fresh start. She develops a crush on a woman she encounters on the subway, and discovers the woman is a time-traveler from the 1970s. Here's an Insider interview with Casey McQuiston in which she talks about ONE Last Stop, and also gives some advice to aspiring rom-com writers: "make funny friends."
• BAE (63D: Actress Doona) BAE Doona currently stars in the Netflix TV series, The Silent Sea, playing the role of astrobiologist, Doctor Song Ji-an. She also starred in the science fiction TV series, Sense8. BAE Doona was born in Seoul, South Korea.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ANGELS IN AMERICA (17A: Tony Kushner play subtitled "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes") ANGELS IN AMERICA: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a 1991 play that was adapted into a 2003 HBO miniseries. It tells the story of a gay man living with AIDS. I have written about ANGELS IN AMERICA several times, and in the most recent of those (just a few months ago) I mentioned this subtitle. Did I remember that when I encountered this clue? Maybe...
• THAI (20A: Muay ___) This was an interesting clue for me, because when I first read it, I had no idea what the answer was. (You might say I drew a blank...) Once I had a couple of letters filled in, I  was able to fill in THAI, and I had the sense I'd seen "Muay THAI" before. It turns out I was correct, and if you've been solving the USA Today crossword for a couple of years, you've seen Muay THAI mentioned before as well. Since I've been blogging, we've seen Muay THAI in clues for ACHE [Feeling after muay THAI practice], MAT [Muay THAI class need], and BOXING GLOVES [Some Muay THAI gear]. Muay THAI, sometimes referred to as THAI boxing, is a combat sport and martial art. The discipline uses techniques involving the fists, elbows, knees, and shins, earning it the nickname of the "art of eight limbs."
• NATS (31A: 2019 World Series champs) Of all the sports (which are not my strong suit, as I'm sure you know), baseball is the one I know most about, and do sometimes pay attention to. (Go Cards!) Therefore, I might have been able to come up with the Washington Nationals, aka the NATS, as the 2019 World Series champs if I'd thought about it long enough. Instead, I opted to wait for the answer to be mostly filled in from crossing answers. (That seems to be a theme today. Thank goodness for crossing answers, which are, of course, the hallmark of crosswords!)
• SILK (45A: Ao dai material) A long split garment worn over trousers and sometimes made of SILK, the áo dái is a Vietnamese national garment. 
• MAV (52A: Big D baller) The Dallas Mavericks are an NBA team. The abbreviated nickname for Dallas - Big D - used in the clue, alerts us that the answer is a basketball player using this team's shortened name - a MAV.
• NIGHT MARKET (3D: Where hawkers sell satay or stinky tofu after dark) A NIGHT MARKET is exactly what it sounds like. NIGHT MARKETS are typically open-air street MARKETS.
• BTS (4D: "My Universe" K-pop group) The 2021 song, "My Universe," is a collaboration between the K-pop group BTS and the rock band, Coldplay.
• LION (18D: Animal in India's national emblem) The emblem of India features a depiction of a statue from 250 BCE known as the LION Capital of Ashoka. The statue features four Asiatic LIONs standing back to back. 
• ELMO (19D: Muppet host of "The Not-Too-Late Show") The Not-Too-Late Show with ELMO is a series of 15-minute shows centered around bedtime routines. 
• LEEK (36D: Vichyssoise veggie) Traditionally served cold, vichyssoise is a soup made from LEEKs, onions, potatoes, and cream.
• ROTI (55D: Bread whose name comes from Sanskrit) "Rotikā" is the Sanskrit word for "bread." ROTI is a round flatbread made from stoneground whole wheat flour.
• NPR (65D: Home to the podcast "Rough Translation") The NPR podcast, Rough Translation, looks at topics familiar to Americans, but examines those topics through a different cultural lens. 

Today's FREE FALLING puzzle adventure lands solidly and successfully. An excellent set of theme answers today surrounded by interesting fill. Those two fabulous grid-spanning Across answers, ANGELS IN AMERICA and GOAL CELEBRATION, each cross two of the theme answers - a notable feat. Is anyone else hungry? Perhaps for some deep-fried scorpion? Or maybe you'd prefer vichyssoise or ROTI? Or maybe some satay, stinky tofu, or tortilla espanola? Served FAMILY STYLE, maybe - a great opportunity for QUALITY TIME. The puzzle also features a fair number of sports entries, and I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I conquer those! Thank you, Brooke and Kim, for a delightful puzzle to begin my Tuesday morning.