November 29, 2022

Title: SPLITTING DESSERT 

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

FLINT, MICHIGAN (20A: Midwestern city where some people call paper grocery bags "Hamady sacks")

FLYING DUTCHMAN (46A: Legendary ghost ship from the Netherlands)

FLEXITARIAN (61A: Occasional meat-eater)

Theme synopsis: The word FLAN (a DESSERT) is SPLIT by each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• HULA (26A: Dance taught by Keali'i Reichel) Keali'i Reichel is a performer, recording artist, composer, and teacher. He founded a HULA school, Hālau Ke'alaokamaile, whose mission is "to perpetuate the Hawaiian tradition, culture and heritage through its arts beliefs, dance, language, and agriculture."
• HOME RUN (29A: Dong, in baseball) As regular readers know, "(almost) everything I know about sports I learned from crosswords." Baseball is the one sport I know a bit about, but today I learned that the term "dong" is used to refer to a HOME RUN. I did a brief search to see if I could discover the origin of "dong" used to refer to a HOME RUN, but didn't discover anything definitive. This MLB article that ranks 26 nicknames for HOME RUN uses "ding dong" instead of "dong," but I found plenty of instances talking of dongs (without dings). 
• UMA (30A: "A" in Portuguese) In Portuguese, UMA is the feminine indefinite article. The masculine "a" in Portuguese is "um." In the past, we have generally seen UMA clues that refer to UMA Thurman, and while she's certainly clue-worthy, it was nice to see a fresh approach (and learn something new).
• ATTACK ((51D: "___ on Titan") ATTACK on Titan is the title of a Japanese manga series by Hajime Isayama. It is also the title of a 2013 anime TV series, a 2015 movie, and a 2016 video game based on the series. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BACH (1A: The Three B's of classical music: Brahms, Beethoven and ___) This clue reminds me of my childhood piano recitals. Through the years I had several different piano teachers (we moved a lot), but one of them awarded small busts of classical composers for recital pieces performed from memory. Somewhere I may still have a small bust of Johann Sebastian BACH.
• SKIN (5A: The epidermis is its outermost layer) Oooo, SCIENCE in the crossword; I love to see it. As the outermost layer of the SKIN, the epidermis contains no blood vessels, and is nourished by diffusion. The epidermis is essentially a waterproof, protective wrap on the body, which also serves as a barrier to infection.
• ART (28A: Word hidden backward in "portrait") Nice find.
• MATT (332A: Daredevil aka ___ Murdock) In Marvel Comics, Daredevil is the alias of MATT Murdock, who was blinded as a child in an accident involving a radioactive substance. Although it left him blind, the accident heightened his other senses to a superhuman ability. Charlie Cox has played Daredevil aka MATT Murdock in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 
• FLYING DUTCHMAN (46A: Legendary ghost ship from the Netherlands) In maritime lore, the FLYING DUTCHMAN is a ghost ship doomed to sail the oceans forever. Due to the captain's decision to sail into stormy seas - so the legend goes - the ship is destined to never reach port. From time to time, a ship's crew claims to have seen the FLYING DUTCHMAN. This article gives a detailed history of the legend of the ghost ship and the ship from the Dutch East India Company which originated the stories. 
• FIRE (56A: ___ ants) and LOG (58A: Ants on a ___) You've heard of Ants on a LOG, the snack of celery sticks filled with peanut butter or cream cheese and topped with raisins. How about FIRE ants on a LOG? I was thinking of wasabi peas on filled celery sticks, but Betty Crocker uses chopped red bell pepper for a red color, but no spicy kick. The recipe does add a little cayenne pepper to the cream cheese, but I'm still thinking wasabi peas...
• FLEXITARIAN (61A: Occasional meat-eater) Hey, it's me! A FLEXITARIAN is one eating a semi-vegetarian diet, a diet focused on plant foods, with the occasional inclusion of meat. Fun fact: FLEXITARIAN, which seems to have surfaced as a word in 1998, was voted the most useful word of 2003 by the American Dialect Society. Merriam-Webster added FLEXITARIAN to its dictionary in 2012 (the same year F-bomb was added).
• BAG (1D: "The cat's out of the ___!") In honor of this clue I offer you a photo of a

  

  Toby in the BAG

  cat in the BAG. This is Toby, my daughter's cat, who makes occasional appearances on the blog.
• NORI (8D: Uramaki seaweed) Uramaki is a cylindrical style of sushi. Two or more fillings are wrapped in NORI, and the roll has a layer of rice on the outside. "Uramaki" means "inside out" or "reverse roll" in Japanese, and the sushi is named because the NORI is inside of the rice.
• SCIENCE (45D: Word after "rocket" or "computer") "Aerospace engineering, it's not rocket SCIENCE ... wait a minute, yes it is." Several years ago I gave my son a t-shirt with this slogan. He's an aerospace engineer. I'm sure he's tired of rocket SCIENCE jokes, but I will always find them funny.

Geography review:

• TETON (14A: Grand ___ National Park) Grand TETON National Park is located in Wyoming. The TETONs are a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains, and most of the east side of the range is within the Grand TETON National Park. I have previously shared photos of (and blogged from) Grand TETON National Park.
• FLINT, MICHIGAN (20A: Midwestern city where some people call paper grocery bags "Hamady sacks") The supermarket chain, Hamady, opened its first store in FLINT, MICHIGAN in 1911. The grocery store's prevalence in the area led to paper bags becoming known as "Hamady sacks." Although Hamady declared bankruptcy in 1988 and the last Hamady closed in 1991, the term "Hamady sacks" is still used by some residents of FLINT, MICHIGAN (and those that grew up in the area).
• KANGAROO (10D: Animal on the Australian coat of arms) The Australian coat of arms features a shield depicting symbols of Australia's six states. The shield is held up by a KANGAROO and an emu.
• LAREDO (47D: Texas city with a Jalapeno Festival) LAREDO is a city in South Texas, located on the Texas-Mexico border. The Rio Grande River runs along the border, separating LAREDO, Texas from Nuevo LAREDO, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Each year from mid-January to mid-February, LAREDO hosts a month-long festival celebrating George Washington's birthday. As a part of that celebration, a Jalapeño Festival is held. The next Jalapeño Festival in LAREDO will be February 17-28, 2023.

I'm generally not a fan of SPLITTING DESSERT, but I'll make an exception for this puzzle. I wouldn't say no to a FLAN at the moment, even if I had to share it. Three great theme answers here. I also enjoyed the answers SPOILERS, CONFETTI, MAI TAI, and NESTLE. Thank you, Rafa, for this puzzle that was a terrific way to start my Thursday.

One more thing: Congratulations to Erik Agard who won Boswords Fall League last night, and to Tyler Hinman and Will Nediger who placed second and third. The fun final puzzle was constructed by Kate Chin Park and Chandi Dietmer. Watching the finalists solve the puzzle was absolutely amazing, as there was less than a minute between their finishing times. I highly recommend watching the video, which is available on the Boswords Twitch channel (at the end of the most recent stream).