January 11, 2023

Title: LIFT TRUCK 

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

FIGHTING IRISH (5D: Notre Dame's sports teams)

CURLING IRON (9D: Hairstyling tool)

UBANGI RIVER (25D: Major Congo tributary)

UNAGI ROLLS (30D: Maki sushi often served with eel sauce)

Theme synopsis: The word RIG (a synonym for TRUCK) is being LIFTed up in each vertical theme answer.

Things I learned:

• CELLO (7D: Soo Bae's instrument) Soo Bae is a Canadian Korean cellist. She has been playing CELLO since she was six years old, and currently plays on an Italian CELLO made in 1710.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AC/DC (6A: "Back in Black" band) AC/DC released the song, "Back in Black," in December 1980, as a single off of their studio album of the same name. The song was a tribute to AC/DC's former singer, Bon Scott, who died in February 1980.
• MONTHS (20A: Combining the first letters of five consecutive ones spells JASON) That would be July, August, September, October, November. 
• HATS (39A: Sandogasa, fez, etc.) A sandogasa is a traditional Japanese HAT that is woven from bamboo palms. It is wide in order to offer protection from rain and sun, but does not block the face from view. A fez is a felt HAT - often red - that is named for the Moroccan city of Fez. The dye originally used to color the fez came from crimson berries produced in Fez.
• TESSA (69A: Movie star Thompson) TESSA Thompson's movie credits include playing the role of Bianca Taylor in the movies Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and the upcoming Creed III (to be released in March of this year).
• APA (6D: "Riverdale" actor KJ) KJ APA plays the role of Archie Andrews in the TV series Riverdale. The show is based on the characters of the Archie comic books. 
• CNBC (10D: "Fast Money" channel) Fast Money is a stock trading talk show on CNBC that airs an hour after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Melissa Lee hosts the show, which features a discussion between professional Wall Street traders.
• MEL (13D: Pam Tillis' dad) Pam Tillis is a Grammy-Award-winning country music singer-songwriter. She has also appeared on multiple episodes of the TV series Nashville (as herself). Her songs include "Maybe It Was Memphis" and "Don't Tell Me What to Do." MEL Tillis (1932-2017), Pam's dad, was also a country music singer and songwriter. He was awarded the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award in 1976. I like that this clue used the daughter as a clue for her father, for the same reasons I liked the clue for Nick Jonas that we saw in November of last year. Also, this clue pairs well with TWANG (40A: Country singer's vocal feature).

Geography review:

• HANOI (14A: Vietnam's second-largest city) HANOI is the capital of Vietnam. As the clue informs us, it is Vietnam's second-largest city, behind Ho Chi Minh City.
• PERU (15A: Country with the most Quechua speakers) Quechua languages originated among the Indigenous people of PERU. In addition to PERU, which has the most, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina also have significant populations of Quechua speakers.
• NOLA (65A: Nickname for New Orleans) New Orleans, Louisiana is a city of many nicknames: NOLA, The Crescent City, The Big Easy, The City That Care Forgot, The City of Yes, and Hollywood South.
• UBANGI RIVER (25D: Major Congo tributary) The Congo River is the second largest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile. The UBANGI RIVER, as the clue tells us, is a main tributary of the Congo. The UBANGI RIVER is 660 miles long, and along its route it forms the border between the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo, and farther on, between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

This puzzle is doing some heavy lifting! As the theme was in the Down answers, we had some great bonus fill in the Across answers: STEP ON IT, MINI DONUT, CROSSWORD (always fun to see!), and ALL THE RAGE. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was an enjoyable way to start my Wednesday.