September 13, 2022

Title: INNER CIRCLE

Constructor: Kate Chin Park

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CRINGE HUMOR (20A: Type of comedy that's painful to watch)

LEMON MERINGUE (39A: Tart and sweet pie variety)

SHOESTRING FRIES (56A: Much thinner alternative to potato wedges)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer has an INNER CIRCLE in the form of the word RING.

Things I learned:

•  DRAW (43A: Participate in Blacktober) Blacktober is a month-long event aimed at celebrating the creativity of Black and Mixed Black people. Daily prompts are provided to inspire people to DRAW or create in any way. Prompts for Blacktober 2022 include: Welcome, Indie Game, Reimagined, and Mischief. 
• OP-EDS (46A: Jamelle Bouie columns) Jamelle Bouie has been a columnist for The New York Times since 2019. He previously worked for Slate and The Daily Beast. His recent NYT OP-EDS include "It Is a Well-Known Truth That Opponents of Democracy Don't Want You to Have Nice Things," and "Democrats Didn't Conjure Up the Demand for MAGA Candidates." (Note: I generally try to avoid linking to NYT articles because reading them requires a subscription, but in this case it was the best choice. Apologies if you are unable to access these articles.)
• ARM (23D: Ayami Sato has a powerful one) When I uncovered this answer thanks to the help of crossing answers, I surmised that Ayami Sato is a baseball pitcher, and indeed she is. Ayami Sato is a pitcher in Japan's Women's Baseball League. She is also a starting pitcher for Japan's women's national baseball team that has won five World Cup medals. Ayami Sato has been called the "best female baseball player on Earth."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TIA (15A: Hermana de una madre) Your mother's sister (Herman de una madre) would be your aunt (TIA).
• CRINGE HUMOR (20A: Type of comedy that's painful to watch) A characteristic of CRINGE HUMOR is that you feel embarrassed on behalf of some of the subjects, while at the same time being amused. Laughing at awkwardness provides us the chance to see the comedy in certain behavioral standards. Classic examples of CRINGE HUMOR include the TV shows The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Peep Show. This Big Think article discusses why people have different tolerances for CRINGE HUMOR. 
• ACA (37A: Healthcare law signed in 2010, for short) When I read this clue I thought, "That must be the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Has it really been 12 years?" Apparently time flies when you're living through unprecedented times... President Obama signed the ACA into law on March 23, 2010, and many of the law's provisions were put into place by 2014. For those keeping track, the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the ACA three times. 
• LEMON MERINGUE (39A: Tart and sweet pie variety) Yum! I have only made

  

  MERINGUE with a little LEMON pie

  LEMON MERINGUE pie once, and the result was a pie that, while delicious, was mostly MERINGUE, as you can see in this photo. I was just thinking the other day that I would like to make this recipe again. This answer may spur me on to do that.
• STAGE NAME (6D: Brie Larson, for Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers) I appreciate the choice of using an example to clue STAGE NAME. Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers chose the stage name Larson from her Swedish great-grandmother and the name of an American Girl doll.
• COMMA (9D: Unnecessary punctuation mark in, this clue) This clue made me laugh out loud! Fabulous.
• SOUL (24D: "Break My ___" (Beyonce hit)) Today's Share the Earworm offering is "Break My SOUL," the lead single from Beyoncé's album, Renaissance, released earlier this year. Last month I shared a story of sharing a moment of joy bonding with strangers over Beyoncé's new album.
• DRIVEL (47D: Nonsense) and PSHAW (49D: "Nonsense!") Have you noticed that the bottom of this puzzle is all partly nonsense?!
• SEEING (48D: "I'll Be ___ You") "I'll Be SEEING You" is the title of multiple songs, books, and movies, so you may take your pick at which one is referenced in your puzzle. 

Geography review:

• SEOUL (38A: Capital city home to the Noryangjin Fish Market) SEOUL is the capital of South Korea. SEOUL is also, as the clue informs us, home to the Noryangjin Fish Market, an extensive farmer's market that is open 24/7 and sells fresh seafood of all varieties. On-site restaurants will prepare your selections for you.
• AREA (54A: The Bay ___) The Bay AREA, also known as the San Francisco Bay AREA, is a nine-county region surrounding San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays in California.
• SAHARA (44D: Desert where the Tuareg people live) The SAHARA Desert, located in northern Africa, is Earth's largest hot desert. The Tuareg people are a Berber ethnic group who are semi-nomadic. They live in the SAHARA Desert in parts of Libya, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.

Today we're all in the INNER CIRCLE. This is a fun set of theme answers...suddenly I have begun to CRAVE SHOESTRING FRIES... Shout out to a couple of clues that especially delighted me: (32A: Tearfully chopped vegetable) for ONION, and (48D: Hotter, in a hiding game) for CLOSER. I also liked the answers CAR CHASE, IRON GRIP, and I DARE YOU. This puzzle has left-right mirror symmetry. If you squint while looking at the grid it looks a bit like some sort of creature with antennae, and that made me happy. (And this "creature" has a SOUL/SEOUL on each side.) Thank you, Kate, for this puzzle that was an excellent start to my Tuesday.