January 27, 2023

Title: COUNTDOWN

Constructor: Erik Agard

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:
I GIVE YOU MY WORD (7D: "Promise!")
LOSES THE THREAD (12D: Stops following a conversation)
COME TO A HEAD (13D: Finally reach a critical point)

Theme synopsis: The last (DOWNmost) word of each theme answer can follow the word COUNT, giving us WORD COUNT, THREAD COUNT, and HEAD COUNT.

Things I learned:
  • MOHAWK (34A: Another name for the Kanien'keha:ka) Kanien'kehá:ka is the autonym (the name they use for themselves) of the MOHAWK. The MOHAWK are an Indigenous people with communities in southeastern Canada and northern New York.
Random thoughts and interesting things:
  • PROFESSOR (15A: X, Oak or Plum) PROFESSOR Plum is my character of choice when I play the game Clue, perhaps explaining why I was able to fill in this answer without the help of any crossings. Professor X is a Marvel Comics character that first appeared in 1963 in The X-Men #1. Professor Oak is a Pokémon character, who is often considered the leading Pokémon expert. I really like this clue that provides a possibility of recognition from three different genres.
  • MEET-CUTE (23A: First encounter in a rom-com) The MEET-CUTE is the film or TV scene where a future romantic couple meets for the first time. The circumstances of the meeting are often humorous or unusual. As a rom-com fan, I enjoyed seeing this answer.
  • TURE (38A: "The Pitfalls of Liberalism" essayist Kwame) Kwame TURE (1941-1998) was a civil rights activist who is credited with originating the slogan, "Black Power." Kwame TURE was known as Stokely Carmichael before changing his name to honor his friends and political allies. "The Pitfalls of Liberalism" is an essay from the 1971 book Stokely Speaks: Black Power to Pan-Africanism. You can read about the essay here, or hear it read here. I learned about Kwame TURE when we saw his full name as a theme answer on August 11, 2022.
  • CLEMENCY (44A: 2019 movie about a prison warden) In the movie CLEMENCY, Alfre Woodward portrays a prison warden overseeing death row. The film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. 
  • REREAD (51A: Check back out of the library) I know some people don't REREAD books (and I do get that), but - as I've previously explained - I enjoy the comforting familiarity of a REREAD of some of my favorite books.
  • RNA (6D: "Transfer" or "messenger" molecule) In contrast to the double-stranded DNA (which we discussed yesterday), RNA is a single-stranded molecule (double-stranded RNA can form, but is less common). Transfer RNA (tRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) play roles in the synthesis of proteins.
  • APRIL (10D: Aries or Taurus birth month) In western astrology, those born between March 21-APRIL 19 (such as my mom, my daughter, my dad, and my brother) are under the sign Aries, while those born between APRIL 20-May 20 are under the sign Taurus.
  • CHESS (44D: Game with castling) I know just enough about CHESS to know that castling involves the rook and the king, and can only be done if those two pieces haven't moved yet, and if the squares between them are vacant. The king moves two spaces toward the rook, and the rook moves to the space the king passed over. 
  • SLED (50D: Land vehicle with no wheels) I thoroughly enjoyed this clue. Yes, the SLED is a land vehicle, even though I don't usually think of it in those terms.
  • DEE (54D: Actress Ruby) I have previously written about Ruby DEE (1922-2014). 
  • NPR (56D: Broadcaster with a Tiny Desk Concerts series) I wrote about NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series when we saw TINY DESK CONCERT as a theme answer.

    Geography review:

    • ATLANTIC (10A: Cape Verde's ocean) Cape Verde is an archipelagic country in the ATLANTIC Ocean. The ten volcanic islands that comprise Cape Verde lie several hundred miles west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The capital of Cape Verde is Praia.
    • CAIRO (17A: Capital of Egypt) CAIRO is Egypt's largest city in addition to being its capital. CAIRO is located in northern Egypt, near the Nile River delta.
    • EURO (28D: Currency in France and Finland) France and Finland are two of the 20 European Union countries that use the EURO as their currency. 
    Today we're COUNTing DOWN with THREADs, HEADs, and WORDs. I did not figure out the theme until after I was done solving, which provided (a brief moment of panic followed by) a nice "Aha!" moment. I liked the variety of the items being COUNTed. I also am a fan of this grid. Just yesterday I was discussing grids that are just slightly asymmetrical, and this is another great example. The nearly rotationally symmetric grid made me look closely. I'm a fan. Thank you, Erik, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to start my Friday.


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