Title: TRIPLE DOUBLE
Constructor: Brooke Husic
Editor: Erik Agard
Theme Answers:
DJ JAZZY JEFF (19A: Producer who boycotted the 1989 Grammys alongside the Fresh Prince)
SUMMER ROLL (33A: Rice paper-wrapped appetizer)
SWEET TOOTH (42A: Affinity for sugary foods)
FEELING GOOD (58A: In a positive emotional state)
Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains three sets (a TRIPLE) of DOUBLE letters.
And now a word from our constructor:
Brooke: i love when clues accidentally tell a story! i think there's a story in 1a + 61a, and also a story in 61a + 63a + 64a. and i like the 23a + 24a mirroring (but that was on purpose). this grid was very tough to make given DJ JAZZY JEFF! you can see i used some giant angular black square shapes to help break things up. even so, i'm surprised that all the J's ended up being part of 5-letter words.
Things I learned:
- DJ JAZZY JEFF (19A: Producer who boycotted the 1989 Grammys alongside the Fresh Prince) In 1989, DJ JAZZY JEFF was half of the hip hop duo, DJ JAZZY JEFF and The Fresh Prince. Their song, "Parents Just Don't Understand" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance. This was a new category for the Grammy Awards that year, and although they added the category, the Grammy Awards made the decision not to televise the award presentation for that category. However, the Grammys did ask DJ JAZZY JEFF and The Fresh Prince to perform their song on the show. The decision of the Grammys not to televise the award led to the rap duo turning down the invitation to perform, and boycotting the award ceremony. As it turned out, DJ JAZZY JEFF and The Fresh Prince won that first ever Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance. It's possible I heard about this boycott when it happened, but I did not remember it when I encountered this clue. Fun to be reminded/learn about it.
- QUESTLOVE (9D: "Summer of Soul" director) This is another answer that I may have known at one time but couldn't recall when I read the clue. QUESTLOVE (whose name is sometimes stylized as ?uestlove) is a rapper, dj, record producer, and filmmaker. The 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul, was his directorial debut. Summer of Soul is about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of events that took place on six Sundays in a park in Harlem, and included performers such as Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Mahalia Jackson.
- ALAIA (52D: Fashion designer Azzedine) Azzedine ALAÏA was a fashion designer whose form-fitting designs for women earned him the nickname, "King of Cling. He was born in Tunis, Tunisia, and eventually moved to Paris to pursue his career in fashion design. Azzedine ALAÏA was known for his independence, operating on his own timeline, and often alone. This Harper's Bazaar article describes "6 Ways Azzedine ALAÏA changed the fashion landscape as we know it." Azzedine ALAÏA died in 2017 at the age of 82.
Random thoughts and interesting things:
- RATIO (23A: 1:1,000,000, for example) and IN A (24A: One-___-million chance) This fun pair of consecutive clues made me smile.
- SUMMER ROLL (33A: Rice paper-wrapped appetizer) I confidently filled in "spring ROLL" here - though I was confused because this slot seemed to be a theme answer, but that answer didn't fit the theme... Eventually, crossing answers helped me sort out my mistake, and I ended up with the correct, theme-appropriate answer of SUMMER ROLL. This made me wonder what the difference between a spring roll and a SUMMER ROLL is. My inquiry into this question revealed that the difference isn't well-defined. One article told me, "All SUMMER ROLLs can be categorized as spring rolls, but not all spring rolls can be SUMMER ROLLs." (This reminds me of, "All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.")
- JORGE (37A: "Love, Simon" actor Lendeborg, Jr.) I have previously written about the 2018 movie, Love, Simon. JORGE Lendenborg, Jr. played the role of one of Simon's best friends, Nick Eisner.
- EDU (53A: www.cheyney.___) Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is the oldest HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). It was founded in 1837.
- REEFS (53A: Coral ___ (endangered marine ecosystems)) This seems like a great opportunity to once again recommend taking the time to watch and listen to Amanda Gorman's "Ode to Our Oceans."
- EMOJI (5D: Image such as Pleading Face or Sparkling Heart) 🥺💖
Geography review:
- SRI (70A: ___ Lanka) Located in the Indian Ocean, SRI Lanka is an island country in South Asia. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait separate SRI Lanka from the Indian subcontinent.
- ASPEN (6D: Tree that's the name of a city in Colorado) As you might guess, the city of ASPEN, Colorado is named for the abundance of ASPEN trees in the area. ASPEN was originally founded as a mining camp in the late 1800s. Any mention of ASPEN trees reminds me of my favorite fun fact about them: ASPEN trees propagate through their roots, so when you see a grove of ASPEN trees - as those near ASPEN, Colorado, for example - it is one organism sharing a common root system.
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