October 27, 2022

Title: MUD WRAPS

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

MURPHY BED (17A: Pull-down sleeping furniture)

MAKE ME PROUD (28A: "I hope you do great out there!")

MUSTARD SEED (49A: Aromatic curry ingredient)

MAIL FRAUD (65A: Crime involving the postal service)

Theme synopsis: The word MUD is split and found at the outer edges of each theme answer, as a WRAP of sorts.

Things I learned:

• NERD (46A: Chidi from "The Good Place," for example) The Good Place is a TV series about a heaven-like utopia where righteous humans spend the afterlife following their death. William Jackson Harper plays the role of Chidi Anagonye, a NERD who was a professor of ethics and moral philosophy before he died. I knew of The Good Place but did not learn about the character of Chidi when I wrote about the show previously.
• DOUG (64A: Nicktoon character with a dog named Porkchop) DOUG is and animated Nickelodeon TV series that originally aired from 1991-1999. The title character, DOUG Funnie, is a pre-teen boy who narrates the show by writing in his journal. As the clue tells us, DOUG has a dog name Porkchop.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MURPHY BED (17A: Pull-down sleeping furniture) The MURPHY BED, also known as a pull-down bed or a wall bed, is named after William Lawrence MURPHY (1876-1957). MURPHY holds several patents for bed design, including a 1912 patent for "Disappearing BED," and a 1916 patent for "Design for a BED." William Lawrence MURPHY's impetus for designing the MURPHY BED was his desire to entertain a lady in his one-room apartment at a time when courting conventions prohibited a lady to enter a gentleman's bedroom.
• TALK (23A: First T in TTYL) TTYL = TALK to you later
• POUND (40A: UK's currency unit) and PENCE (62A: Coins that are fractions of a 40-Across) The United Kingdom's currency (and that of nine of its territories) is the sterling, most commonly referred to by its main unit, the POUND. There are one hundred PENCE in a POUND.
• LEG (48A: ___ day (time for squats and lunges)) and ARM (27D: ___ day (time for bicep curls and tricep curls)) Oof, it's both LEG day and ARM day in today's puzzle. We are going to be achy tomorrow!
• SKYPE (53A: Zoom alternative) I really wanted this answer to be email, as in "This Zoom meeting could have been an email!"
• DEITY (71A: Athena or Amaterasu) Athena is a Greek goddess (who takes her name from the city of Athens) associated with wisdom. Amaterasu is a DEITY in Japanese mythology, in which she is the goddess of the sun.
• TUSKEGEE (39D: Alabama HBCU founded in 1881) TUSKEGEE University is a historically Black university in TUSKEGEE, Alabama. TUSKEGEE Alumni include Alice Coachman and Claude McKay. 
• DEEP FRY (47D: Cook like curry puffs) Curry puffs consist of a filling of chicken and potatoes seasoned with curry, wrapped in pastry. To cook curry puffs, you can DEEP FRY or bake them. Curry puffs are associated with Southeast Asian cuisine.
• DEER (52A: "___ XING" (rural road sign)) DEER XING signs are certainly the most prevalent animal crossing sign in the rural parts of my state (Iowa). This answer reminded me of a fun article I've linked to previously, about interesting animal crossing signs from around the world. 
• SCUBA (56D: Diving equipment acronym) SCUBA = Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
• NOOK (58D: Cozy reading spot) Such a cozy reading spot might even be called a book NOOK. Several months ago I learned about a different kind of book NOOK, a diorama that sits on a bookshelf. It's a miniature scene/bookend combination of sorts, an idea that originated in 2018 from a Japanese artist called Monde. As soon as I learned about book NOOKs, I knew I had discovered my newest hobby! I finished my first book NOOK - a library scene - about six weeks ago, and am already at work on my second one. I've put a few photos of my book NOOK at the end of this post.
• CITI (61D: ___ Field (Mets' ballpark)) The New York Mets have been playing in CITI Field since it opened in 2009. CITIgroup pays $20 million dollars a year (which it will do for a total of 20 years) for its name to be on the ballpark.

No spa day necessary to get your MUD WRAPS today; you simply had to solve a puzzle. MAKE ME PROUD was my favorite theme answer, though they were all good. I also liked MINUSCULE, UNNATURAL, KNACK, and SORTS OUT. Thank you, Stella, for this puzzle that was a fabulous way to start my Thursday.

book NOOK

I spy a cat 

I spy crosswords