March 8, 2023

Title: INTERNAL DETERIORATION

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CAIRO TOWER (3D: Tall Egyptian landmark)

ZERO TOLERANCE (8D: Strict enforcement of rules)

JETHRO TULL (29D: "Living in the Past" rock group)

PRO TENNIS (33D: Althea Gibson's domain)

Theme synopsis: The word ROT is found connecting the two words in each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• ROSE (11D: Flower in the Portland Thorns logo) The Portland Thorns are a professional women's soccer team. Since 2013, the Portland Thorns have been part of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Portland Thorns logo has a ROSE in the center, surrounded by a ring of thorns, and the team's name. Although I didn't know what the Portland Thorns' logo looks like, the hint of "flower" combined with the team's name made this answer fairly inferable.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SUCH (1A: "___ a Fun Age" (Kiley Reid novel)) I learned about Kiley Reid's 2019 debut novel, SUCH a Fun Age, from the November 24, 2020 puzzle. 
• MAR (19A: Mo. in which Nowruz is celebrated) Nowruz is the Iranian New Year. Nowruz is celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox (MAR. 20 this year), and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Nowruz marks the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian calendar.
• OMAR (22A: Singer Apollo) We saw OMAR APOLLO as a theme answer ten days ago.
• ORGAN (41A: Pipe ___, the largest musical instrument) I've never really thought about the pipe ORGAN being the largest musical instrument before, but it certainly makes sense. Each pipe of a pipe ORGAN produces a single pitch, meaning each pipe ORGAN consists of multiple pipes of various sizes. The number of pipes in a pipe ORGAN ranges from one dozen up to 33,000. The world's largest pipe ORGAN is the Midmer-Losh Pipe ORGAN, which has 33,110 pipes, and is located at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• MARINES (50A: Members of the President's Own band) The oldest of the United States military bands, the U.S. MARINE Band has been known as "the President's Own," since 1801, a title bestowed on it by Thomas Jefferson. The MARINES have played at every U.S. presidential inauguration since Thomas Jefferson's.
• TIP (55A: Tongue part) and TASTE BUDS (59A: Umami detectors) TASTE BUDS are located not just on the TIP of the tongue, but also on the rest of the upper surface of the tongue, as well as on the soft palate, the upper esophagus, the cheeks, and the epiglottis. Five TASTEs detected by TASTE BUDS have been identified: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. You may have learned that different areas of the tongue detect different type of TASTEs, but it has been found that this is not true. Regardless of their location, all TASTE BUDS can detect each of the elements of TASTE.
• SARA (14D: "Pretty Little Liars" author Shepard) I have previously written about SARA Shepard's book, Pretty Little Liars.
• MEME (23D: Evil Kermit or Arthur's Fist) Evil Kermit MEMEs feature Kermit talking to his doppelgänger, Constantine (from the Muppets Most Wanted). In the MEMEs, Constantine is wearing a dark hood (resembling a Sith Lord from Star Wars), and is encouraging Kermit to perform various "evil" acts. Arthur's Fist is a MEME featuring a photo of - you guessed it - the fist of the cartoon character Arthur. Here's a silly digression: I have a dark blue hooded sweatshirt jacket. Sometimes when I'm working at my computer and I'm cold, I'll put the hood up. This makes my husband laugh, and on several occasions he has commented that this is my "evil Kermit" impersonation. I just happened to put this sweatshirt on this morning (before solving the puzzle), so I snapped a selfie for you. Enjoy my silliness. 

  

  Channeling my inner evil Kermit

  
  
• JETHRO TULL (29D: "Living in the Past" rock group) "Living in the Past" is a 1969 song by JETHRO TULL. Those of you who are musical theorists might be interested to know (or may already know) that the song is written in the unusual 5/4 time signature.
• PRO TENNIS (33D: Althea Gibson's domain) I have previously written about PRO TENNIS great, Althea Gibson (1927-2003). 
• HUNTER (46D: "The Big Sick" actress Holly) The Big Sick is a 2017 movie written by Emily V. Gordon and her husband, Kumail Nanjiani. The film is loosely based on their real-life courtship. Holly HUNTER portrays the character Emily Gardner in the movie. Kumail Nanjiani portrays a fictionalized version of himself. 

Geography review:

• SOCHI (62A: Host of the 2014 Winter Games) Today I learned that the Winter Olympics are officially called the Olympic Winter Games. In 2014, the Olympic Winter Games were held in SOCHI, Russia. These games have the dubious distinction of being the most expensive Olympics in history, with a cost of over $51 billion. SOCHI is a city in southwestern Russia, along the Black Sea.
• CAIRO TOWER (3D: Tall Egyptian landmark) The CAIRO TOWER is a 614-foot tall concrete TOWER in Cairo, Egypt. A circular observation deck and a revolving restaurant top the TOWER.  
• DENALI (28D: Highest peak in North America) DENALI, which has a summer elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level, is located in Alaska.
• RICA (52D: San Jose, Costa ___) San José is the capital and largest city of Costa RICA. Here's a fun fact: In Costa RICA, a casual restaurant serving affordable traditional food is referred to as a soda.

This is a classic USA Today theme type, and from the title I was able to guess that the theme answers would feature the word ROT. My biggest challenge was finding the theme answers. It took me a bit to realize the theme answers were vertical today. Thank you, Zhouqin, for this puzzle that was an excellent way to start my Wednesday.