June 11, 2022

Title: OPENING STATEMENTS

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

FASHION JEWELRY (18A: Accessories designed to be trendy)

MISSION DISTRICT (35A: San Francisco neighborhood home to Calle 24)

FALSE EYELASHES (48A: Extensions that can be magnetic)

Theme synopsis: The first word (OPENING) of each theme answer can precede the word STATEMENT. Today's OPENING STATEMENTS: FASHION STATEMENT, MISSION STATEMENT, and FALSE STATEMENT.

And now a word from our constructor:

Brooke: i love all of the theme answers in this one! here is a scene from "That Thing You Do!"

Things I learned:

• BELLES (43A: Philadelphia Liberty ___ (WFA team)) The Philadelphia Liberty BELLES are a Women's Football Alliance (WFA) team founded in 2009. I admit I skipped this clue when I realized it was a sports thing, and waited for some assistance from crossing answers. If I'd thought about it a minute, I might have been able to come up with this team's punny name.
• BHUJA (7D: Puffed rice snack) BHUJA is a snack mix that originated in India. The main ingredient of BHUJA is puffed rice, and it may also contain crackers, dried noodles, dried peas, and nuts.
• THE (11D: "Go Ahead in ___ Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest" (Hanif Abdurraqib book) Go Ahead in THE Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest is a 2019 nonfiction book by Hanif Abdurraqib. As the title suggests, the book is about the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PATH (14A: The Eightfold ___) The Eightfold PATH is a Buddhist teaching consisting of eight practices as a means of attaining Nirvana (a place of perfect peace and happiness). The Eightfold PATH includes right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
• WALKED (23A: Participated in an overnight American Foundation for Suicide Prevention event) The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's stated mission is "to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide."
• WET (27A: Drenched) and SOAK (32A: Drench) This clue echo made me think the rain had not LET UP (1A: Subside, like rain)
• POET (39A: Performer at a slam) A poetry slam is a competitive event at which POET's perform spoken word poetry. 
• IDRIS (59A: "Yardie" director Elba) Yardie is a 2018 British crime drama movie. The film was IDRIS Elba's directorial debut.
• IT'S (60A: "___ not easy being green") "IT'S not easy being green / It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things / And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out / Like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky." 
• TATS (3D: Think Before You Ink pics, informally) "Think Before You Ink" is a slogan used to encourage people to do exactly that, as tattoos (TATS) are not returnable. Think Before You Ink is the name of a tattoo studio in Jamaica, New York, and Instagram and Twitter accounts. 
• PERI-PERI (5D: Red chili hot sauce) PERI-PERI, also seen spelled piri-piri, is a sauce made from Birdseye chili peppers
• LAURYN HILL (9D: "Ready or Not" singer) LAURYN HILL has won an impressive eight Grammy Awards. "Ready or Not" is a 1996 song from the hip hop group, Fugees (LAURYN HILL, Wyclef Jean, and Peas Michel). The song is from the group's album, The Score, which is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• SEAT (17D: Bench or zabuton, e.g.) I just learned what a zabuton is a few weeks ago. 
• WOMAN (23D: Superhero suffix with "Cat" or "Bat") This is a fun clue, and is Willow's

  

  Willow

  favorite clue in this puzzle. 
• LAS POSADAS (25D: December novena) A novena is a Christian tradition of praying for nine successive days. LAS POSADAS is mainly celebrated in South America, Mexico, Guatemala, and Cuba between the 16th and 24th of December. During LAS POSADAS, two people dressed as Mary and Joseph lead a procession to certain houses designated to represent inns.

Geography review:

• MISSION DISTRICT (35A: San Francisco neighborhood home to Calle 24) The MISSION DISTRICT is one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, California. The neighborhood's name is derived from MISSION San Francisco de Asis, also known as MISSION Delores, a Spanish MISSION founded in 1776. MISSION Delores is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. A 14-block section of 24th Street, or Calle 24 ("calle" means "street" in Spanish) in the MISSION DISTRICT is known as "El Corazón de la Misión" - The Heart of the MISSION. In 2014, Calle 24 was designated as a Latino Cultural DISTRICT.
• RIO (58A: ___ de Janeiro) RIO de Janeiro, whose name means "River of January," is the second most populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo). 
• LEAF (1D: Symbol on Canada's flag) The flag of Canada features vertical bands of red on the outer edges, with a white band in the center and a red maple LEAF on the band of white.
• UTAH (4D: Park City's state) Park City is located in northern UTAH. It is home to the annual Sundance Film Festival. Although UTAH is home to perhaps the most famous Park City, I discovered that it is not the only state with a Park City.
• SYRIA (46D: Neighbor of Jordan) SYRIA is a country Western Asia. In addition to neighboring Jordan, SYRIA neighbors Turkey, Iraq, Israel, and Lebanon, and has coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.
• EURO (49D: Coin in Paris) Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. The currency in France is the EURO.
• ERIE (52D: Pennsylvania town in "That Thing You Do!") That Thing You Do is a 1996 movie written and directed by Tom Hanks. The movie is the story of four young men from ERIE, Pennsylvania that form a band and achieve success with the song, "That Thing You Do!" Fun fact: Although the movie was set in ERIE, Pennsylvania, it was filmed in Orange, California.

Today's puzzle is making a STATEMENT...well, actually more than one! I enjoyed this THEMATIC puzzle. As I mentioned two days ago, Brooke Husic is the "Queen of Collaboration" for USA Today crosswords, but we are also treated to plenty of solo Brooke puzzles such as this one. As I noted in my second year of blogging round up, Brooke collaborated on 44 of the 67 collaborations during the second year of SALLY'S TAKE. What I should have also mentioned is that during that time she also constructed 21 solo puzzles. Thank you, Brooke, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to start my Saturday.