April 12, 2023

Title: NO RIGHT ANSWERS

Constructor: Will Nediger

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

JULIA SERANO (16A: Author of "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity")

DETROIT TECHNO  (35A: Music genre from Michigan)

PLAYER PIANO  (58A: Mechanical keyboard)

Theme synopsis: Each of the theme ANSWERS has the letters N-O on the RIGHT.

Things I learned:

• JULIA SERANO (16A: Author of "Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity") JULIA SERANO is a writer, performer, speaker, and activist. She has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and spent 17 years working as a researcher at UC Berkeley. JULIA SERANO's first full-length book was published in 2007, and is titled Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. The book addresses and debunks many myths and misconceptions about trans women. JULIA SERANO's most recent book, published in 2022, is titled Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us and How We Can Fight Back.
• DETROIT TECHNO (35A: Music genre from Michigan) In the November 12, 2020 puzzle, I wrote about the genre of electronic dance music (EDM) known as TECHNO originating in DETROIT. In the TECHNO genre, DETROIT TECHNO has become its own subgenre. If you'd like to learn more about DETROIT TECHNO, check out this article: "DETROIT TECHNO Music: The What, Where and Why."
• TIL (4D: "We Do This ___ We Free Us" (Mariame Kaba book)) Mariame Kaba is an organizer, educator, archivist, and curator. Her work "focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice and supporting youth leadership development." Mariame Kaba's 2021 book, We Do This TIL We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice, is a collection of essays reflection on the work of abolition of the prison system. (For more about abolition, see Monday's puzzle.)

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• TACO (4A: Al pastor food) A TACO al pastor is made with pork marinated with pineapple, dried chilies, and spices, and then skewered on a spit and grilled.
• DESI (23A: Member of the Pakistani diaspora, for example) The Pakistani diaspora are people from Pakistan currently living in other countries. The term DESI is used to refer to the people of South Asia. It's also used to refer to South Asian culture and products. I found this opinion piece interesting. It discusses how some people view the word "DESI" as a positive, helpful term, while others find the term more complicated. 
• EVA (57A: Actress Mendes) In addition to her acting, EVA Mendes is the co-founder and creative director of CIRCA Beauty, a line of cosmetics sold at Walmart. 
• JACKET (16D: Jean ___ (item of clothing, or the UFO in "Nope")) I have previously written about the 2022 movie, Nope, directed by Jordan Peele. In Nope, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer costar as siblings trying to capture evidence of a UFO. What I learned from this clue is that Daniel Kaluuya's character nicknames the UFO "Jean JACKET." Fortunately, the answer here was inferable, as a jean JACKET - hopefully of the non-UFO variety - is a classic piece of clothing. 
• LION (26D: Animal in a pride) LIONs are a social species, and these big cats live in groups called prides. Speaking of cats, I'm missing my usual helper today, as I'm currently at

  

  Toby was my helper today

  my daughter and future son-in-law's house in Chicago. Not to worry though, I still had feline help writing this morning's blog. Toby was on the job!

Geography review:

• STL (47A: Missouri city (Abbr.)) St. Louis (STL) is located on the eastern edge of Missouri along the Mississippi River. Across the river is the state of Illinois.
• SCOT (63A: Person from Glasgow) Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland. The word Glasgow is derived from Welsh words meaning "green hollow." One of Glasgow's nicknames is "The Dear Green Place."
• ASIA (5D: Largest continent) ASIA is nearly 1.5 times larger than Africa, the second largest continent. Not only is ASIA the largest continent, it is also home to the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest.

Fortunately, in spite of this puzzle's title, there are RIGHT ANSWERS today! I enjoyed this playful theme; so fun to see the NOs fall into place along the RIGHT edge of the puzzle. I appreciated the choice to shift the theme answers to the RIGHT. "WHAT IS THIS PLACE?" is a delightful grid-spanning answer. I also liked TEAMED UP, DECORATE, and ON FIRE. Thank you, Will, for this puzzle that was a wonderful way to start my Wednesday.