August 1, 2022

Title: RIGHT QUICK

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

TAYLOR SWIFT (16A: "august" singer)

VISUAL PROMPT (33A: Image or video used in teaching)

RAMADAN FAST (59A: Rite that ends with a feast on Eid al-Fitr)

Theme synopsis: The RIGHT-most word in each theme answer is a synonym for QUICK. Our rapid words are SWIFT, PROMPT, FAST.

Things I learned:

• ANKLE (14A: Body part where ghungroos are tied) Ghungroos are anklets made of many small metallic bells (each bell is called a ghungroo). Tied around the ANKLE, ghungroos are a traditional part of many classical Indian dances.
• HEALER (24A: Practitioner such as a sangoma) A sangoma is a traditional HEALER among the Zulu people in Southern Africa. Sangoma are highly respected in Bantu communities, particularly in rural areas.
• AVA (31A: Wrestler Raine) AVA Raine is the wrestling name of Simone Johnson. On July 10 she announced she is now part of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Though she has yet to appear in her first match, that announcement made her a fourth-generation WWE wrestler. AVA Raine's dad is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
• NCAA (39A: Sports org. with an NIL policy) NIL here stands for "name, image, and likeness." The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has long had a policy that student athletes could not receive compensation based on their role as a student athlete. This policy had to be revised recently following the 2021 Supreme Court decision in NCAA v. Alston.
• RAP (53A: Perform like Katey Red) Bounce music is a style of RAP that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 1980s. New Orleans RAP artist Katey Red was one of the first transgender bounce artists. 
• INWARD (5D: Yung Pueblo poetry book) Yung Pueblo (which translates to "young people") is the pen name of Diego Perez. The name reminds him "of his Ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth." INWARD is Yung Pueblo's 2018 collection of poetry. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TAYLOR SWIFT (16A: "august" singer) An appropriate clue for today, the first day of August. The song "august" is from TAYLOR SWIFT's eighth studio album, Folklore, which was released in 2020. Although always a favorite topic on social media apps, many recent comments about TAYLOR SWIFT, including this tweet from today's constructor, are related to her appearance at the top of the list of private jet owners whose planes are producing climate-endangering emissions. One of the things that is difficult for me to wrap my head around about these reports is that there are people with enough money to buy private jets. 
• AMY (18A: "Jeopardy!" champion Schneider) I was delighted to see this clue for AMY! AMY Schneider is a 40-time Jeopardy! champion, and holds the show's second-longest winning streak (after Ken Jennings). She is also the most successful woman to compete on Jeopardy! During her run on Jeopardy!, AMY Schneider tweeted about her experience, often interacting with fans and responding to questions. When asked about her success with wordplay questions she said, "I think a lot of it comes from doing crosswords for years, it's given me practice at thinking of words as both a concept and a collection of letters at the same time." Hooray for crosswords!
• TATA (20A: "Doodle-oo!") and GOTTA RUN (13A: "See ya later!") It's a small thing, but I enjoy when related answers cross in the grid. I also enjoyed the appropriateness of the answer GOTTA RUN appearing in this RIGHT QUICK puzzle.
• TIN (38A: Metal with the chemical symbol Sn) It was just ten days ago that I provided you with this information in a blog post. Reason #425 why reading my blog every day is beneficial. 😊
• CAR (40A: It might have heated seats) Ten years ago when we were buying a CAR, heated seats were the one thing my husband really wanted. It's a feature that didn't matter to me, but I agreed. Needless to say, since we live in Iowa, there are many days (though not today) that heated seats are a welcome feature, and I have come to appreciate them. We just bought a new CAR a couple of weeks ago, and yes, it has heated seats.
• TUNA (43A: Common cat food flavor) When I open a package of TUNA, I know

  

  Willow keeping alert in case someone is eating TUNA

  it is just a matter of time before Willow appears at my feet vocally making her request for a taste.
• RHO (56A: The letter after pi) Each time I encounter a clue such as this, I think, "I should really brush up on the Greek alphabet..."
• OLA (58A: "___, como vai?") "OLA, como vai?" is Portuguese for "Hello, how are you?"
• GAS (27D: "Now we're cooking with ___!" and EAR (29D: Play it by ___) and SPOT (48D: "That hits the ___!") This is a fun trio of idioms. Not surprisingly, "Now we're cooking with GAS!" began as a gas company slogan. "We'll have to play it by EAR," was one of my dad's favorite sayings, and hearing it reminds me of him. Although the origin of the phrase "hits the SPOT," isn't clear, its first use likely had to do with hitting the center of a target.
• VINDALOO (33D: Goan curry) I recently wrote about VINDALOO. 
• DATE (55D: Romantic get-together) and MET (60D: Got together) and NEE (61D: "Formerly named," in a wedding announcement) We've got a QUICK romantic progression playing out at the bottom of the grid today.

Geography review:

• ORE (19A: Crater Lake's state (Abbr.)) Crater Lake is in a caldera formed over 7,500 years ago by the collapse of a volcano. Located in south-central OREgon, Crater Lake has a depth of 1,949 feet, making it the deepest lake in the United States. Crater Lake, which is known for its deep blue color, is the centerpiece of Crater Lake National Park. In 2021, my husband and I had plans to visit the park as a part of a driving trip out to see our son in Seattle. However, this was in February, and the day we were going to go to Crater Lake the forecast for the area was 15 inches of snow. We made the decision that our CAR at the time - a Prius C - was not up to that amount of snow! (We knew this was a possibility, and had planned to be flexible.) We're going to try again this fall on the way back from visiting our son.
• TSAR (23A: Serbian Empire title) This is more history than geography, I suppose, but the two subjects are often intertwined. The Serbian Empire existed during the Middle Ages, and was ruled by two emperors: TSAR Stefan Dušan (1346-1355) and TSAR Stefan Uroš V (1355-1371). The Empire included parts of the current countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. The Serbian Empire ended upon the death of TSAR Uroš V in 1371.
• LOS (62A: ___ Alamos, New Mexico) LOS Alamos is located in northern New Mexico. As the home to the LOS Alamos National Laboratory (a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory), it is recognized as the place where the atomic bomb was developed and created. That's quite the legacy, isn't it?

Ironically, I'm slow to posting today's write-up! A combination of Monday morning and finding a lot to write about, I think. I definitely enjoyed this theme, and its great set of theme answers. I also liked PLAYLIST and its clue (9D: "Queer Love" on Spotify, for example). Other fun answers: WINE GLASS, PANORAMA, TOEHOLD, and EDAMAME. Thank you, Rafa, for this puzzle that was a fabulous way to begin my Monday.