March 13, 2023

Title: BOOK LAUNCH

Constructor: Bruce Haight

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

NOVEL IDEA (20A: New notion)

MANUAL LABOR (40A: Strenuous work)

VOLUME CONTROL (62A: Knob on a radio)

Theme synopsis: The first word of each theme answer is a synonym for BOOK.

And now a word from our constructor:

Bruce: This is my first puzzle for USA Today - woohoo! I have done a lot of crosswords for the NYT and LAT and have co-constructed with Erik in the past. I have always preferred making easy crosswords so this is a great fit for me - looking forward to more publications here in the future!

Things I learned:

• CAB (64D: Vehicle in the "Fresh Prince" intro) Although I'm familiar with the TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which originally aired from 1990 to 1996, I haven't ever watched it, and therefore haven't seen the intro. Fortunately, the word "vehicle" and the help of crossing answers helped me out. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• OLSEN (5A: The ___ twins, stars of "Holiday in the Sun") Twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley OLSEN played the roles of twin sisters Madison (Mary-Kate) and Alex (Ashley) Stewart in the 2001 movie, Holiday in the Sun. The (movie) twins travel to The Bahamas for a winter break vacation, and (rated G) shenanigans ensue. 
• MIDAS (27A: Mythical king who loved gold (at first)) The parenthetical "at first" here made me smile. The clue would work without it, but it's a nice reminder that King MIDAS' mythical ability to turn everything he touched into gold didn't quite work out as he'd hoped. 
• SHARDS (31A: Pieces of glass) Sadly, this clue/answer pair is timely for me, as this weekend I broke a glass measuring cup. I was trying to set it on the corner of the stove, and misjudged, resulting in it falling onto our tile floor between the stove and the refrigerator. Fortunately, the measuring cup had been empty, but SHARDS of glass flew across the kitchen. Well, we needed to clean under the stove and refrigerator anyway...
• SIMILE (58A: "Cool as a cucumber," for example) and CALM (25D: Cool as a cucumber) This is a fun clue pair. The usage of the phrase "cool as a cucumber" dates back to at least 1732, when it appeared in a poem called, "New Song on New Smiles," by British poet John Gay. That same poem contained the SIMILE, "pert as a pear-monger," which appears not to have caught on as a popular saying. 
• OLIVER (45D: Literary Twist) OLIVER Twist, the NOVEL by Charles Dickens, was first published as a serial in monthly installments, from 1837-1839. This is a fun bonus in a puzzle with a BOOK theme.
• REAR UP (50D: Stand on hind legs) This was the last answer I entered in the puzzle, and the source of much pondering ... the result of a silly typo. When entering the answer TRIED (49A: Attempted), I accidentally entered two Ts, resulting in TTIED. This meant that 50-Down ended up as "TEA_UP." When it became obvious that the blank would be filled with a T, I spent a few moments pondering how [Stand on hind legs] meant TEAR UP. It's a good idea to type in answers correctly.
• IN CODE (51D: Like this: CFXBSF UIF JEFT PG NBSDI) Ha! This is a fun clue, and I enjoyed the timely phrase that appears IN CODE. If you haven't yet decoded the message, I won't spoil it for you, but I will give you a hint. The CODE here is a straightforward letter substitution, with each letter in the original phrase shifted to the next letter in the alphabet. To decode the message, shift each letter back one letter. For example, the first coded word that starts with "CF-" would begin "BE-."

Geography review:

• NOTRE (15A: ___ DAME) NOTRE Dame most commonly refers to the cathedral in Paris France, or the University of NOTRE Dame in NOTRE Dame, Indiana. The NOTRE Dame Cathedral is currently undergoing restoration, following a 2019 fire. The New York Times recently published a fascinating article on the acoustics of NOTRE Dame, and the efforts being made to restore its unique sound. (Note on the link: I generally avoid linking to NYT articles, as a subscription is required to read them. However, I have used a "gift link," which means you should be able to access the article without a subscription for the next two weeks.)
• AUDI (68A: Popular auto brand on the Autobahn) The Autobahn is the national expressway system in Germany. Although many areas of the Autobahn do not have a mandated speed limit, the richtgeschwindigkeit (advisory speed limit) is 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph). AUDI is a German car manufacturer, so it makes sense that AUDIs would be popular on the Autobahn.

This puzzle can be described by its first theme answer; it's a NOVEL IDEA. In addition to the answers highlighted above, I enjoyed ORIGAMI and AFRAID SO. Congratulations to Bruce Haight on his USA Today debut! Thank you, Bruce, for this puzzle that was an excellent way to start my Monday.