November 30, 2022

Title: FINAL CUT

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

COMMON COLD (18A: Winter ailment)

RICE PAPER (24A: Translucent wrapping for summer rolls)

OSCAR BUZZ (51A: Awards hype for "Everything Everywhere All at Once")

AT THIS RATE (61A: "The way things are going..."

Theme synopsis: The FINAL word of each theme answer can precede the word CUT, giving us COLD CUT, PAPER CUT, BUZZ CUT, and RATE CUT.

Things I learned:

• OTIS (13A: "Double Trouble" blues guitarist Rush) OTIS Rush (1934-2018) was a blues guitarist who was influential in the Chicago Blues scene in the 1950s. In addition to his music, he was known for his playing style; he was left-handed and played his guitar upside down and backwards. His song, "Double Trouble"was released in 1959. Stevie Ray Vaughan's blues rock band, Double Trouble, was named after OTIS Rush's song.
• ROC (38A: '90s TV show about a garbage collector) The TV series, ROC, originally aired from 1991-1994. The title character was a garbage collector in Baltimore, Charles "ROC" Emerson, played by Charles S. Dutton.
• ARES (68A: War god killed by Kratos) ARES and Kratos are characters in the action-adventure video game series, God of War. The characters are based on Greek and Norse mythology. Killing ARES turned Kratos into the new "God of War."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MULAN (4A: Hua ___, Chinese folk hero) Hua MULAN is a legendary folk heroine of Chinese history. Disney's 1998 animated movie, MULAN, is based on the legend of Hua MULAN.
• ALOO (16A: ___ tikki (potato snack)) ALOO tikki is a croquette made of potatoes, peas, and curry spices. Once again, knowing that ALOO is a South Asian word for potatoes comes in handy.
• MONO (22A: The M in MSG) MSG stands for monosodium glutamate, the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer. 
• NEA (23A: Union for schoolteachers) The National Education Association (NEA) was founded in 1857. It represents public school teachers and support personnel, college and university faculty and staff, and retired teachers, as well as college students preparing to be teachers. With just under 3 million members, the NEA is the largest labor union in the U.S.
• OSCAR BUZZ (51A: Awards hype for "Everything Everywhere All at Once") The Academy Awards, known as the OSCARs, air their next ceremony live on March 12, 2023. That means OSCAR BUZZ is definitely happening now, as people make their predictions for who the winners will be. Everything Everywhere All at Once, the movie that was released in March of this year and stars Michelle Yeoh is definitely the subject of some of that OSCAR BUZZ. 
• ATARI (2D: Developer of the arcade game Breakout) The ATARI game Breakout was initially released in 1976. Gameplay involves destroying a wall of bricks by repeatedly bouncing a ball into them. You can play a version of ATARI Breakout on Google Images. 
• ICE CASTLE ((33D: Palace built in the winter) An ICE CASTLE is exactly what it sounds like, a CASTLE built out of blocks of ICE. For obvious reasons, ICE CASTLEs are generally built in areas with a cold climate. This morning just before solving the puzzle, I saw a post from a friend who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota about an ICE maze.
• ZESTS (56D: Yuzu scrapings) Yuzu is a citrus fruit cultivated mainly in East Asia. Whether it is yellow or green depends on its ripeness. Yuzu is rarely eaten as a fruit, but its ZESTS and juice are used in ways similar to lemons.

Geography review:

• ARABIC (20A: Syria's official language) Syria is a country in Western Asia. It borders Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, and has coastline along the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of Syria is Damascus, and its official language is ARABIC.

I enjoyed this puzzle, but I admit that when I filled in RICE PAPER and realized it led to PAPER CUT, I actually said, "Ouch!" What is it about PAPER CUTs that make them sting so much? Anyway, I digress. I really enjoyed the answers ALONE TIME and MORE LATER. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was a great way to start my Wednesday.