January 20, 2023

Title: ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE 

Constructor: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

ULTRA RICH (17A: Group with super yachts and megamansions)

UPPER RANGE (32A: Highest set of notes a singer can reach)

USER REVIEW (48A: Bit of public feedback for an app)

UNION REPS (65A: Workers who lead collective bargaining efforts)

Theme synopsis: ALL THE theme answers are THINGS beginning with the letters U and R.

Things I learned:

• DELA (70A: Drag queen Ben___Creme) BenDELACreme is a drag queen currently based in Seattle. BenDELACreme was a contestant on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Spoiler alert! ... She placed fifth and was voted Miss Congeniality. She also appeared on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. In 2020, BenDELACreme starred with fellow drag queen Jinkx Monsoon in The Jinks and DELA Holiday Special, which has a tomatometer rating of 100% on the review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes. 
• LEE (13D: Pool player Jeanette aka "the Black Widow") Professional pool player Jeanette LEE, who always wears black when playing pool, was given the nickname "the Black Widow" by her friends. Jeanette LEE has been playing pool professionally since she was 21, and has won more than 30 national and international titles. In December of last year, a documentary about her life, Jeanette LEE vs., was released as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. The documentary covers her career, and also discusses the terminal diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer that she received in 2021. 
• LISA (39D: The ___ Rinna M&M) LISA Rinna is an actress and TV personality, who appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and has competed on The Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars. The LISA Rinna M&M refers to an orange M&M character with LISA Rinna's face, which was used for an ad for the Oscars in 2008. More recently, the picture was revived and has become a meme. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CHOW (1A: Word followed by "mein" or "fun") CHOW mein and CHOW fun are dishes in Chinese cuisine that consist of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and/or meat.
• REBA (14A: "Fancy" singer McEntire) The song "Fancy" was written and recorded in 1969 by Bobbie Gentry. REBA McEntire covered the song for her 1990 album, Rumor Has It, and "Fancy" became one of her signature hits. A remix of "Fancy" was included on the 30th Anniversary Edition of Rumor Has It.
• SEA (57A: Place for some non-equine "horses") A SEAhorse is a fish whose name comes from the shape of its head. Here's a link to a NatGeo Kids article with some other fun facts about SEAhorses. 
• CRUSTS (1D: Some pizza eaters don't eat theirs) Do you eat your pizza CRUSTS? I do, but I've grown into eating them. When I was a kid, I always gave my CRUSTS to my dad.
• USC (7D: UCLA's crosstown rival) The University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are both located in Los Angeles in southern California.
• OREO (10D: Name for a black-and-white cat) and DOG OWNER (11D: Person living with a

  

  Willow doing her book impersonation

  terripoo) Something for cat lovers and DOG OWNERs today with these consecutive clues and answers. Although Willow has both black and white on her, she has a mix of other colors, too, so she's happy not to be named OREO. We did have a black and white dog, but her name was not OREO either. (See a photo of her on this page!) A terripoo is a mix between an Australian Terrier and a poodle.
• EDU (12D: www.utep.___) The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was founded in 1913 as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy. 
• RDA (67D: Dentist's co-worker, for short) RDA here stands for a Registered dental assistant.

Geography review:

• KOSOVO (25A: Country northeast of Albania) KOSOVO is a country in Southeast Europe. In addition to Albania, KOSOVO shares borders with Serbia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. KOSOVO declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. It has gained recognition as a country by 101 of the 193 members of the United Nations. The capital of KOSOVO is Pristina.
• DHAKA (46A: Capital of Bangladesh) Bangladesh is a country is South Asia. It is bordered by India and Myanmar, and has coastline along the Bay of Bengal. In addition to being the capital, DHAKA is the country's largest city.

This is a straightforward theme type (initialisms), which for me is elevated by its creative and playful title in which the letter U and R are represented by their homophones. I hope this puzzle didn't send you into a TAILSPIN and lead to your saying, "HELP ME!" Thank you, Enrique, for this puzzle that was an enjoyable way to start my Friday.