January 22, 2023

Title: YEAR OF THE RABBIT

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SILLY PUTTY (17A: Toy in an egg)

WHITE NOISE (64A: Sound in some sleep apps)

ROGER THAT (10D: "Message received)

MOON RIVER (35D: Song recorded by Audrey Hepburn and Frank Ocean)

Theme synopsis: The first word in each theme answer is a reference to a RABBIT. Our YEAR OF THE RABBIT cast includes SILLY RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT, ROGER RABBIT, and MOON RABBIT.

Things I learned:

• SWEET (40A: Like tong sui) Tong sui is a term used to refer to SWEET desserts (warm soup or custard) served in Cantonese cuisine.
• BENTO (47A: Kyaraben, for example) Kyaraben, whose name is derived from of "character BENTO" is a style of BENTO (Japanese boxed lunch) that features food decorated to look like characters, animals, and plants. Searching for #kyaraben on Instagram provides many examples of this art. Some of the BENTO creations are quite elaborate.
• SALT (4D: Shio kombu seasoning) Kombu is edible kelp. The seaweed is full of umami, and used to make dashi stock. The word shio means SALT in Japanese, and shio kombu, or SALTed kelp, is made by simmering kombu in soy sauce.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CATS (1A: Litter box users) Its fitting that CATS get a shoutout in today's grid. (Willow believes CATS deserve a shoutout in every crossword.) Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year. As you may have surmised from the title of the puzzle, we are beginning the YEAR OF THE RABBIT. Today is also the beginning of Tết Nguyên Đán, also known simply as Tết, the Vietnamese new year. The Chinese and Vietnamese zodiacs each follow a 12-year cycle, with an animal assigned to each year. Eleven of the 12 animals used in the Chinese and Vietnamese zodiacs are the same. The only difference is in the fourth year of the cycle, the Chinese zodiac celebrates the YEAR OF THE RABBIT, while the Vietnamese zodiac celebrates the YEAR OF THE CAT. This article talks about this variation, and gives the folklore explanation of why the CAT is not included in the Chinese zodiac. (Spoiler alert: It's the rat's fault.) Of course I have a photo of CATS to share with you.

  

  Holly and Willow

  It's a throwback to 2012, when Willow was a kitten and our cat, Holly, was still alive.
• ARIEL (14A: Disney princess who combs her hair with a fork) In Disney's The Little Mermaid, ARIEL is obsessed with all things human. She has a grotto filled with objects that once belonged to humans, including a fork, which she uses to comb her hair.
• SILLY PUTTY (17A: Toy in an egg) What do chocolate chip cookies, Post-it Notes, penicillin, and SILLY PUTTY have in common? Their discoveries were the results of accidents. Although it's unclear exactly who gets the credit for inventing SILLY PUTTY in the 1940s, it was Peter Hodgson who had the idea to market the substance as a toy. It was spring when he first marketed SILLY PUTTY, and Easter was approaching, so he put the substance in an egg. I spent numerous hours playing with SILLY PUTTY as a kid. I used to have my original egg of SILLY PUTTY around here somewhere, but I'm not sure where it is. Perhaps since SILLY is my chosen word for the year, I need to make an effort to find it.
• SEP (23A: Grandparents' Day mo.) Grandparents' Day is celebrated the first Sunday after Labor Day. This year, that will be September (SEP) 10.
• STIR (57A: Tend to laba congee) Congee is a type of rice porridge that originated in India, and is a part of many Asian cuisines. Congee is made by cooking rice for a prolonged time, while STIRring, so the rice disintegrates and thickens. Laba congee is a special variety of congee - made with rice, beans, nuts, and dried fruit - that is prepared and eaten for the Laba Festival, celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the Chinese calendar. The Laba Festival, which was celebrated on December 30, 2022, is the beginning of the Chinese New Year period.
• OWLS (59A: Birds that produce pellets) OWLS regurgitate undigested parts of their diet as pellets. Owl pellets may include bones, fur, feathers, and exoskeletons of insects, depending on what the owl has recently eaten.
• AGILE (2D: Like parkour athletes) Parkour is a type of movement and a training discipline in which practitioners attempt to get from point A to point B in the most fluid way possible. Usually carried out in urban spaces, parkour involves navigating over, under, and across various obstacles. As you can see in this video, parkour athletes are indeed AGILE!
• MOON RIVER (35D: Song recorded by Audrey Hepburn and Frank Ocean) "MOON RIVER" was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn for the 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's. The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2018, Frank Ocean released a cover of "MOON RIVER." 

Geography review:

• TULIP (3D: Flower celebrated in Holland, Michigan) Holland, Michigan, nicknamed "The TULIP City," is located in western Michigan along Lake Macatawa, which feeds into Lake Michigan. The city celebrates its Dutch heritage each year with a TULIP Time Festival held in May. Over five million TULIPs are planted throughout the city. 
• ERIE (34D: Smallest Great Lake by volume) The southernmost of the Great Lakes, Lake ERIE is also the shallowest and the smallest by volume of the five lakes. Our crossword-friend ERIE is off to a strong start this year, as this is its fourth appearance this month.

I was expecting this puzzle, and was not disappointed! It has become a tradition for Zhouqin Burnikel to treat us to a puzzle celebrating the Chinese New Year. (See February 12, 2021 and February 1, 2022) I enjoyed the RABBITs presented in the puzzle, and the diversions my mind took with each RABBIT discovered. SILLY RABBIT, Trix are for kids! The WHITE RABBIT: "I'm late. I'm late, for a very important date..." Who framed ROGER RABBIT, the 1988 live action/animated movie. And MOON RABBIT, the folklore figure based on markings on the MOON that are said to resemble a RABBIT. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to start my Sunday. Happy Chinese New Year!