May 5, 2022

Title: AHOY MATE-Y

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

QUEENIE MCKENZIE I16A: "Mistake Creek Massacre" painter)

PAWNEE NATION (38A: Central Plains tribe)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (64A: Award for Michaela Onyenwere in 2021)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer begins with the name of a chess piece: QUEEN, PAWN, ROOK.

Things I learned:

• QUEENIE MCKENZIE I16A: "Mistake Creek Massacre" painter) Aboriginal Australian artist QUEENIE MCKENZIE (1915-1998), began painting later in life, inspired by her friendship with artist, Rover Thomas. She used natural pigments in her paintings, which depict traditional stories. Her painting, "Mistake Creek Massacre" depicts a 1915 event in which seven Gija people were killed in Western Australia near Mistake Creek. The painting was purchased by the National Museum of Australia in 2005, but was not displayed until 2020 due to disagreement and controversy over the events at Mistake Creek. QUEENIE MCKENZIE was new to me, and I enjoyed learning part of her story.
• ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (64A: Award for Michaela Onyenwere in 2021) Michaela Onyenwere is a professional basketball player for WNBA's New York Liberty. As the clue informs us, she was the WNBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR in 2021.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TOE SHOES (13A: "Five-fingered" footwear) I had "TOE socks" at first, rather than TOE SHOES, and was ready to break out my TOE socks and model them. (I have multiple pairs, and most of them feature rainbow stripes...another day.) I was on the right track anyway, just a few letters off.
• PAWNEE NATION (38A: Central Plains tribe) The PAWNEE NATION was historically based on land that is now Nebraska and Kansas. Today the PAWNEE NATION has its headquarters in PAWNEE, Oklahoma.
• NUTELLA (62A: Chocolatey spread) Ah, NUTELLA! I am a fan of this chocolatey, hazelnut spread. (Its main ingredients are actually sugar and palm oil, with hazelnuts and cocoa appearing further down on the list...best not to think about.) NUTELLA was introduced by the Italian company, Ferrero, in 1964, and is now produced in a number of facilities around the world. When I was a senior in high school, our family hosted an exchange student from Germany. Ursula was the one that introduced us to NUTELLA, which was not widely available in the United States at that time. I'm glad NUTELLA is now easy to find in the USA, though I have to limit myself to only buying it occasionally.
• WEDNESDAY (70A: The "hump" of many workweeks) This puzzle just missed appearing on WEDNESDAY by one day. The good news is that if WEDNESDAY is hump day for you, you're now on the downhill side of this WEEK (40D: Row in a calendar app).
• SIERRA (15A: ___ Mist (soda)) SIERRA Mist, manufactured by PepsiCo, is a relatively newer soda product, being only 22 years old. The lemon-lime soft drink was first introduced in 1999. 
• I, TOO (30D: Langston Hughes poem) It's always a good day to read Langston Hughes's poem, "I, TOO."
• PET (33D: Stroke gently) This was Willow's favorite clue in today's puzzle.

  

  Willow insisting I PET her

  When she wants me to PET her and I am (in her mind) not getting the message, she will hop up behind me and flop over my shoulder. This makes her quite difficult to ignore, and she usually gets what she wants.
• TITLE IX (45D: Civil rights law of 1972) TITLE IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in any federally-funded education institution.
• STEWS (56D: Chakapuli and gumbo, e.g.) Chakapuli is a STEW of meat and onions in a cherry plum sauce with fresh herbs and garlic. It is a popular dish in the country of Georgia. Gumbo is a STEW of shellfish or meat with celery, bell peppers, and onions. It is the official state cuisine of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As always with a clue that gives two examples, a solver only needs to be familiar with one of these STEWS in order to be successful.
• TOAD (61D: Frog's partner in children's lit) Frog and TOAD are the best friends featured in the award-winning series of children's books by Arnold Label. I am a fan of the Frog and TOAD books, and have great memories of reading them to my children when they were younger. This is a great opportunity to remind you of Frog and TOAD Bot, the automated Twitter account that tweets out pictures and quotes from the Frog and TOAD books every three hours. It always makes me smile when one of these tweets makes its way into my Twitter feed.
• EYRE (63D: Charlotte Bronte's "Jane ___") Jane EYRE was originally published in 1847 under the pen name Currer Bell. I have read Jane EYRE, but it was many years ago now. Most of my familiarity with the story of Jane EYRE is from one of my favorite series, The Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde. The first book in the series is titled The EYRE Affair, and features characters and plot elements from Jane EYRE. On our recent vacation, I introduced my husband to the audible version of this series of books. It was so much fun to revisit them, and my husband enjoyed them (or says he did, anyway).

Geography review:

• USA (19A: "Party in the ___" (2009 hit)) The music video for the Miley Cyrus song, "Party in the USA," is an homage to the 1978 movie, Grease, and also contains elements honoring Miley Cyrus's parents. 

AHOY! In today's chess game, checkMATE(Y) is orchestrated by the QUEEN(IE), assisted by a PAWN(EE) and a ROOK(IE). This is a fun and creative theme. The grid is also interesting and creative, with the repetitive "sideways-L" blocks of black squares. It occurs to me that that L-shape is the movement pattern of the knight in chess, and that's fun. I enjoyed the cluing today. Here are three of my favorite clues: STRAWS (6A: Hot drinks usually aren't consumed through them), TEEN (47A: Many a college applicant, age-wise), and NAPKIN (48D: Wing-eater's need). PIQUE and EMULATE are lively fill words, and I enjoyed seeing EZ PASS, as I'm grateful for it every time we visit Chicago. Thank you to Matthew for this puzzle that was a delightful way to start my Thursday!