November 8, 2022

Title: RAISED BED

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

JADE BANGLE (3D: Bracelet made from a green gemstone)

HOMEMADE BREAD (5D: Mom's ciabatta, for example)

SIDE BUSINESS (23D: Source of extra income)

Theme synopsis: The word BED is RAISED up (found going up the word) in each vertical theme answer.

Things I learned:

• ASSISTS (47A: Stat in which Natasha Cloud led the WNBA in 2022) Natasha Cloud is a professional basketball player. Since 2015 she has played for WNBA's Washington Mystics. During the 2022 WNBA season, Natasha Cloud had 239 ASSISTS.
• ELI (51A: Jesse's father in "The Righteous Gemstones") The Righteous Gemstones is an HBO TV series centered on a family of televangelists and megachurch pastors. ELI Gemstone (John Goodman) is the patriarch of the family, and his children are Jesse (Danny McBride), Kelvin (Adam DeVine), and Judy (Edi Patterson).
• MAPO (65A: ___ eggplant (dish made with doubanjiang)) MAPO eggplant is a variation of a popular dish from Sichuan province in China, MAPO tofu. MAPO eggplant is a stir-fried eggplant dish with a spicy sauce that contains doubanjiang (also known as fermented chili bean paste).

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GOJI (1A: Berry used in Chinese soups) GOJI berries are the fruit of two species of plants in the nightshade family. The plants are native to Asia, and GOJI berries are an ingredient in Asian cuisine.
• ONE HIT (14A: ___ wonder) What's your favorite ONE HIT wonder? For me it's a tie between "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone (1977) and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds (1985). When we were young, my sister and I had a ventriloquist act that we performed for various church groups and the like. One of the songs we sang was the chorus of "You Light Up My Life," so that song has a lot of nostalgia for me. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is from one of my favorite movies, The Breakfast Club.
• BATMAN (24A: "Wayne Family Adventures" superhero) BATMAN: Wayne Family Adventures is a digital comic book (also known as a webtoon) published by DC Comics and the South Korean company, Webtoon. The series is a comedic take on Bruce Wayne's family. Although I wasn't familiar with this webtoon, the answer was inferable if you know BATMAN is Bruce Wayne's alter ego.
• OLGA (39A: Gymnastics great Korbut) I wrote about OLGA Korbut when we saw the gymnast as a theme answer July 21, 2020. 
• ID TAG (64A: Item on a cat's collar) This photo was taken seven years ago

  

  Willow and Holly

  
  when we had two cats, Willow and Holly. I chose this photo because I think it's fun (cat convention in the bathtub!) and because you can see Holly's ID TAG. Willow used to wear a collar and ID TAG, but she has managed to get her collar off twice. The second time she got it off she hid it so well we have never found it! That was years ago and we have essentially remodeled our entire house since then...no collar. Since Willow is strictly an indoor cat, we gave up on trying to get her to keep a collar on.
• ORAL (2D: Like griots' stories) In some African countries, griots are those who collect and share the ORAL stories and cultural traditions of the community. 
• HOMEMADE BREAD (5D: Mom's ciabatta, for example) This clue and answer made me chuckle, as it reminded me that when my kids were younger, the majority of our BREAD was HOMEMADE. My kids' favorite bread? Store-bought Beefsteak Rye. (Now that they are older, they appreciate Mom's HOMEMADE BREAD.)
• POLAR (28D: ___ ice caps) Earth's POLAR ice caps have been in the news lately, as they are losing mass due to climate change. This is important because it affects sea levels, which in turn impacts storm surges and coastal erosion.

Geography review:

• IRAN (13A: Tehran's country) Tehran is the capital of IRAN.
• ERIE (63A: Pennsylvania city) ERIE, Pennsylvania is located on the shore of Lake ERIE, and is the county seat of ERIE County, Pennsylvania. ERIE is situated approximately halfway between Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio, two other cities along the shores of Lake ERIE. Fun fact: Buffalo, New York is also the county seat of ERIE County. (Cleveland is the county seat of Cuyahoga County.)

Today's RAISED BED is not a Murphy BED, but a clever theme. As the theme is in the Down answers, we get some enjoyable bonuses in the Across answers, including DO NOT REPLY, BLIND DATES, and FREE PR. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was a terrific way to begin my Tuesday.

One more thing: If you haven't voted early, please remember to vote today!