August 9, 2022

Title: PREMIER HOCKEY FEDERATION

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

WHALE WATCHING (20A: Activity where an orca might be seen)

SIX PACK ABS (33A: Muscles often compared to a washboard)

PRIDE MONTH (55A: Annual LGBTQ+ celebration)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each theme answer is the name of a team in the Premier Hockey Federation. Today's lineup: the Connecticut WHALE, the Toronto SIX, and the Boston PRIDE.

And now a word from our constructor:

Matthew: Back with some more grid art today! I’ve grown to love watching hockey even though I didn’t follow it at all growing up — if, like me, you’re eager for games to start back up on TV, I hope this puzzle is a fun little prelude to the fall :) Special shout-out to Mallory, my good friend from college who’s a defender and two-time champion with the PHF’s Boston Pride. I hope the team enjoys the puzzle!

Things I learned:

• AARI (19A: Atlanta Dream guard McDonald) AARI McDonald is a basketball player for WNBA's Atlanta Dream. During college, AARI McDonald played for the University of Washington and the University of Arizona. In her senior year (2021) she played a significant role in Arizona's NCAA tournament run. (They lost in the championship game.) Later that year she was drafted by the Atlanta Dream. Fun Fact: AARI McDonald and I share a birthday of August 20! 
• GEECHEE (42D: Gullah ___ Cultural Heritage Corridor (southeastern U.S. region)) I first learned about the Gullah people from the December 15, 2020 puzzle, while learning about the movie, Daughters of the Dust. The Gullah are an African American ethnic group living in a section of the southern United States. Also known as the GEECHEE and the Gullah GEECHEE, they are direct descendants of West African slaves brought to the United States in the 1700s. The Gullah GEECHEE Cultural Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Area extending along the coast of the southeastern United States through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The purpose of the Gullah GEECHEE Cultural Heritage Corridor is to "preserve, share and interpret the history, traditional cultural practices, heritage sites, and natural resources" of the Gullah GEECHEE people.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PRANK (5A: Replacing oreo creme with toothpaste) Just reading about this PRANK makes me cringe!
• WHALE WATCHING (20A: Activity where an orca might be seen) I have previously written about my experience of WHALE WATCHING. We did see an orca. In fact, we saw 13 of them!
• GROANS (42A: Rhyme and synonym for "moans") and KALE (35D: "Can I get a ___ yeah?!" (veggie pun)) KALE, yeah! There may have been a few GROANS from me as a filled in KALE.
• EYE (63A: Storm's center) What caught my EYE about this clue/answer pair is that the Seattle Storm is a WNBA team. All of the sports information I've learned from solving crosswords is informing the way I think about things... Anyway, pair this not-actually-Seattle-Storm-related clue with AARI McDonald to add some women's basketball information to this puzzle about women's hockey. 
• NCAA (8D: Big Ten Hockey's org.) and ARENA 31D: (Hockey venue) A couple of hockey clues as bonuses to go along with today's theme. One could include DQED (28A: Removed from competition, for short) as well, though the disqualification of players isn't unique to the sport of hockey. 
• BRAIN CORAL (11D: Reef organism that looks like a part of the human body) BRAIN CORAL is a common name given to several species of coral. It is so named because, as the clue informs us, the labyrinthian folds of the CORAL resemble a BRAIN. BRAIN CORALS grow in CORAL reefs, and can grow as large as six feet in diameter. Each BRAIN CORAL is comprised of a colony of individual polyps that are genetically identical.
• COD (22D: Fish in lutefisk) Lutefisk is made by drying and salting COD (or whitefish), and then rehydrating it in a lye-solution. The result is gelatinous in texture. Lutefisk originated from Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland). It is popular in some parts of the United States, where it is often associated with Christmas celebrations.
• COORS (34D: Colorado-based beer brand) COORS was founded in Golden, Colorado in 1873. Since 2005, the COORS brand has been part of the Molson COORS Beverage Company.
• ERNIE (48D: Bert's roommate on "Sesame Street") ERNIE is having a good crossword run at the moment. This is his third appearance in two weeks. When we saw ERNIE on July 26, I shared a rubber duckie story, and when he appeared on July 30, I shared a story about our son's ERNIE doll. 
• DUO (56D: Tegan and Sara, e.g.) Tegan and Sara are an indie pop DUO of identical twin sisters, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirstein Quin.
• END (57D: Conclusion) It's gratifying when a clue such as this is the last clue in a puzzle.

Geography review:

• IDAHO (10D: The Gem State) Although IDAHO is well known as "The Potato State," its official nickname is "The Gem State." More than 240 minerals, including aquamarine and vivianite, are found in IDAHO. The state contains deposits of gold, zinc, lead, copper, and cobalt. Opal, tourmaline, TOPAZ (49D: November birthstone), and star garnet can all be found in IDAHO.

Once again, solving crosswords is adding to my sports knowledge. The PREMIER HOCKEY FEDERATION (PHF) is a professional women's ice hockey league. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League. The league's name was changed to PHF in 2021. There are currently seven teams in the PREMIER HOCKEY FEDERATION, three of which are featured in today's theme answers. One of the team's featured here, Boston PRIDE, has won the Isobel Cup - the league's championship trophy - three times, in 2016, 2021, and 2022. The grid art hockey stick, formed by the black squares in the center of the grid, is an excellent accompaniment to the theme. In addition to today's theme, I enjoyed the answers SOUND BITE, BRICK OVEN, and EXPEDITION. Thank you, Matthew, for this puzzle that was a terrific way to begin my Tuesday.