August 4, 2022

Title: WRAPAROUND PASS

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

PANDA EXPRESS (20A: American Chinese restaurant with a black, white and red logo)

PARTY DRESS (36A: Formal garment)

PAPER TOSS (53A: Office game involving a wastebasket)

Theme synopsis: The word PASS WRAPs AROUND each theme answer.

And now a word from our constructor: 

Brooke: i love this puzzle! i'm really happy with the title/concept, the non-theme fill 4d, 9d, 34d, and 37d, and the red+black echoes in the clues.

Things I learned:

• PAUL (32D: NBA star Chris) Chris PAUL is a basketball player for NBA's Phoenix Suns. During his NBA career, which began in 2005, he has also played for the New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder. It's appropriate to have an NBA player featured in this puzzle whose theme is based on a basketball move. When I first saw this puzzle's title, I thought, "That must be a sports thing." It is; a WRAPAROUND PASS is a throw used in basketball to toss the ball around your opponent. Here's a video of Chris PAUL (when he was playing for the Los Angeles Clippers) executing a WRAPAROUND PASS.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TORI (5A: "Hollow" singer Kelly) "Hollow" is a 2015 song by TORI Kelly, which she also co-wrote. We saw TORI Kelly's full name used as a theme answer February 26, 2021.
• PANDA EXPRESS (20A: American Chinese restaurant with a black, white and red logo) PANDA EXPRESS was started in 1983, and its first locations were located in shopping mall food courts. Although still a food court staple, some of the chain's over 2,200 locations are now stand-alone restaurants, and others are located in a variety of locations including casinos, airports, amusement parks, and universities. It's fun that this is the second day in a row we've seen a theme answer containing the word PANDA.
• EOS (42A: Lip balm brand) EOS lip balms are known for their colorful, egg-shaped packaging. EOS stands for "Evolution of Smooth."
• OWL (45A: "Wise" bird) and SAGE (46A: Wise person) I liked this wise pair.
• ANA (47A: Actress de la Reguera) I learned about ANA de la Reguera from the March 13, 2022 puzzle. She currently stars in the TV series ANA, in which she (appropriately) plays the title character. ANA de la Reguera created the show, and it is loosely based on her life.
• FLOP ERA (4D: Artist's floundering phase) FLOP ERA has been used to describe a time when an artist is not as successful as they had been previously. The term (not at all surprisingly...) has most often been used to refer to female artists, as stated in this Vice article that gives a good overview of the term FLOP ERA and its use. The term has also appeared in multiple social media memes.
• OP-ED (6D: Essay arguing for reparations, perhaps) Here are a couple of OP-EDs arguing for reparations for you to add to your reading list: "The Time For Reparations is Now" and "Is it time for the US to pay reparations for the legacy of slavery?"  
• IVER (10D: Indie band Bon ___) I learned about Bon IVER from the April 5, 2021 puzzle. 
• XER (22D: Gen ___ (millennial's parent)) Oh, hey it's me! A Gen XER is one born between 1965 and 1980. (I just made it!) Millennials, also referred to as Gen Y, are those born between 1981 and 1995. My son was born in 1994. My daughter, who was born in 1996 is on the cusp, and is sometimes considered part of the millennial generation, and sometimes placed in Generation Z (1996-2010).
• LAND (23D: Native ___ (app showing maps of Indigenous territories)) The app, Native LAND, uses data from the website, Native Land Digital, combined with geolocation to pinpoint your location and map indigenous territories, treaties and languages.
• MARS (28D: The Red Planet) An appearance of MARS in the puzzle is an opportunity to check in with the Twitter account of Perseverance, NASA's MARS Rover. The rover has been collecting rock samples from MARS, and plans have been made to retrieve these samples and bring them to Earth.

Geography review:

• NOLA (31A: City aka the Big Easy) NOLA is an abbreviation used as a nickname for New Orleans, Louisiana. The abbreviation "aka" in the clue (for "also known as") signals that the answer will be an abbreviation. The Big Easy is another nickname for NOLA, and I have previously written about its possible origin. Other NOLA nicknames: "The Crescent City," (a reference to the path of the Mississippi River around the city) "The City that Care Forgot," (a reference to the easygoing nature of the city's residents), and "Hollywood South" (due to its prominent role in the film industry and pop culture).
• UVA (33A: Charlottesville school, for short) Charlottesville is a city in Virginia, and was the home of two presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, UVA for short, which was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819.
• OAHU (57A: Hawaiian island home to the Byodo-In temple) OAHU is the third largest of Hawaii's islands. It is home to the Byodo-In Temple, a Buddhist temple that is a replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist temple with the same name in Kyoto, Japan. The OAHU temple was dedicated in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants arriving in Hawaii.

As I mentioned above, the puzzle's theme relates to a basketball technique, thereby adding another item to my list of Things I've Learned About Sports from Crosswords! I enjoyed the theme answers. As I typed in PARTY DRESS, I realized that a WRAPAROUND DRESS is a thing. That's totally unrelated to today's theme, but fun nonetheless. As Brooke mentioned in her notes, there are recurring appearances of the colors black and red in today's clues: KIWI (9A: Egg-shaped fruit with little black seeds), PANDA EXPRESS, MARS, and POWER (36D: Word after "Black" or "Red"). A nice subtle (black and red) thread running through the puzzle. Enjoyable answers in addition to those I've already highlighted include: KEEP YOUR SECRETS, SASHAY, YEAH SURE, and ASK ANYONE. Thank you, Brooke, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to begin my Thursday.