July 22, 2022

Title: IT'S AN ANAGRAM

Constructor: Erik Agard

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

WHAT'S YOUR INSTA (27A: "Can I follow you?")

SATIN PILLOWCASE (38A: Nighttime protector for natural hair)

STAIN REMOVER (9D: Substance used to get rid of splotches)

PATRON SAINT (20D: Patrick, Brigid, or Coimcille, for Ireland)

Theme synopsis: IT'S AN ANAGRAM! The first or last word of each theme answer is an ANAGRAM of the words IT'S AN: INSTA, SATIN, STAIN, SAINT.

Things I learned:

• PIP (19A: "Midnight Train from Georgia: A ___'s Journey") "Midnight Train to Georgia" was a 1973 hit song for Gladys Knight & the PIPs. William Guest (1941-2015) was a member of Gladys Knight and the PIPs. (He and Gladys Knight were cousins.) Midnight Train from Georgia: A PIP's Journey is William Guest's autobiography, co-written with his sister, Dame Dhyana Ziegler, Ph.D., and released in 2013.
• OUR (29A: "___ Flag Means Death") OUR Flag Means Death is an HBO Max TV series that premiered in March of this year. The show is loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet, a wealthy Barbadian aristocrat who abandoned his comfortable life in 1717 to become a pirate. OUR Flag Means Death, which has received kudos for its LGBTQ+ representation, has been renewed for a second season.
• U-PART (33D: Wig type) U-PART wigs are so-named because they feature hair extensions sewn onto a U-shaped wig cap.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PIT (8D: With 5-Across, times for tire changes in NASCAR) and STOPS (5A: See 8-Down) and OVAL (16A: Racetrack shape) We have a mini-NASCAR race going on in the upper left corner of the grid.
• WHAT'S YOUR INSTA (27A: "Can I follow you?") This is my favorite of today's theme answers. INSTA is short for the photo-sharing social media site, INSTAgram. I first ventured into the INSTA world at the urging of my daughter. (This is true of most of my social media interactions.) Over time, my INSTA account has evolved into mostly a sharing of my mug collection (#mugchoicematters).
• SAM (46A: Singer Smith) English singer and songwriter, SAM Smith has won three Grammy Awards. Their latest album is titled Love Goes (2020). 
• BIO (58A: Prefix for "chemistry") and ASTRO (59A: Prefix for "physics") A nice consecutive pair of clues. Hooray for science in the crossword!
• STEAM (63A: What comes out of an angry cartoon person's ears) This is a fun clue.
• ARAPAHO (3D: Language in which "thank you" is "hohou") The ARAPAHO language is spoken by the ARAPAHO of Wyoming and Oklahoma. ARAPAHO is an endangered language, with less than 1,000 active users.
• BEL (4D: "___-Air" (TV reboot)) BEL-Air is a 2022 reimagination of the TV series, The Fresh Prince of BEL-Air. Jabari Banks plays 16-year-old Will Smith, who moves from West Philadelphia to live with his aunt and uncle in BEL-Air.
• PATRON SAINT (20D: Patrick, Brigid, or Coimcille, for Ireland) SAINT Patrick is the primary PATRON SAINT of Ireland. His feast day is March 17 (aka St. Patrick's Day), the supposed day of his death. SAINT Brigid of Kildare and SAINT Colmcille are Ireland's other two PATRON SAINTs.  Brigid was an abbess who founded several convents in Ireland. Her feast day is February 1, which will be a holiday in Ireland, beginning in 2023. Colmcille, also known as Columba, was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist. His feast day is June 9.
• FBI (22D: COINTELPRO org.) I have previously written about COINTELPRO.
• SPELMAN (38D: College in Atlanta) SPELMAN is a private HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1871, it is the oldest HBCU for women. Its alums include Alice Walker and Stacey Abrams.

Geography review:

• CHI (10A: Ho ___ Minh City) Ho CHI Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. The city's name, adopted in 1976, honors Ho CHI Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam.
• MILAN (57A: Major Italian city) Located in northern Italy, MILAN lies south of the Alps, and north of the river Po. It is Italy's second-most populous city, after Rome.
• NESS (64A: Infamous loch) Loch NESS is one of more than 30,000 freshwater lochs (lakes) in Scotland. Loch NESS is the second largest loch in Scotland by surface area (after Loch Lomond), and is the largest by volume. Its deepest point is 755 feet. Loch NESS is infamous, of course, for alleged sightings of the Loch NESS monster.
• SAUDI (24D: ___ Arabia) SAUDI Arabia is a country in Western Asia, located on the Arabian Peninsula. The capital of SAUDI Arabia IS Riyadh.
• FASO (55D: Burkina ___) Burkina FASO is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its neighbors are Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast. The capital of Burkina FASO is Ouagodougou.
• STL (60D: Missouri city, for short) One of the nicknames of St. Louis, Missouri is "The STL." Another nickname of St. Louis is "Little Bosnia." During the Bosnian War in the 1990s, the city of St. Louis welcomed tens of thousands of Bosnian refugees. An estimated 70,000 Bosnians currently call the St. Louis metro area home, the largest population of Bosnians outside of Bosnia. The St. Louis neighborhood of Bevo Mill features many Bosnian businesses, and a replica of the Sebilj, an Ottoman-style wooden fountain in Sarajevo.

The title of today's puzzle tells us exactly what the theme is...IT'S AN ANAGRAM. I am a fan of ANAGRAM themes, and this is a fun one. A somewhat goofy thing unrelated to the puzzle is that as soon as I read the title, my brain popped those words into the song, "A Musical," from the musical Something Rotten, and I've been singing, "IT'S AN...ANAGRAM / AN ANAGRAM / And nothing's as amazing as AN ANAGRAM..." Anyway, back to the puzzle. In addition to the theme, I enjoyed the answers HOT DATE and COOLEST appearing side by side, and also liked ARMOIRE, TOUSLES, and EPITOME. Thank you, Erik, for this puzzle that was a fantastic way to begin my Friday.