May 10, 2023

Title: ONWARD! (FREESTYLE)

Constructor: Kelsey Dixon

Editor: Erik Agard

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. To me, the title of ONWARD! nods at IT GETS BETTER (26A: "Things won't always be this hard")

Things I learned:

• PLANTAIN (38D: Fruit fried for a jibarito) A jibarito is a sandwich in which fried green PLANTAINs serve as the bread. This Puerto Rican sandwich originated in Chicago, Illinois, created by Juan "Peter" Figueroa.
• CHAI (41D: Adrak wali ___ (ginger tea)) Adrak wali CHAI is made using ginger root, tea leaves, and milk. I was not familiar with this beverage (though I would probably like it), but the hint of "tea" made it possible to deduce the answer.
• ADAMS (49D: NBA player Steven) Steven ADAMS currently plays for NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. Steven ADAMS was born in New Zealand.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• D'PHARAOH (20A: "Reservation Dogs" star Woon-A-Tai) I learned about the TV series, Reservation Dogs, from the October 22, 2021 puzzle, which featured the name of the show as a theme answer. D'PHARAOH Woon-A-Tai portrays Bear Smallhill, one of the four indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who are the focus of the show.
• EDY (22A: Dreyer's partner in cream) Partners in cream (ha!), William Dreyer and Joseph EDY founded Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc. in 1928. The company has two signature brands: Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream - sold in the Western United States and Texas, and EDY's Grand Ice Cream, sold in the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
• IT GETS BETTER (26A: "Things won't always be this hard") ONWARD! The phrase, "IT GETS BETTER," always makes me think of the 2010 song, "IT GETS BETTER," recorded by Broadway stars for The Trevor Project. I've written about this song before, but will always write about it when given an opportunity (and sometimes just because!). There's also an organization called the IT GETS BETTER Project, which is doing good work to empower LGBTQ+ youth.
• LUCY (37A: Early human ancestor fossil found in Ethiopia) The remains of LUCY (who acquired her name from the Beatles song, "LUCY in the Sky with Diamonds") were found in Ethiopia in 1974. It's estimated that LUCY lived 3.2 million years ago. This Arizona State University article provides a good overview of LUCY's story.
• WALDO (42A: "Where's ___?" (book series with a villain named Odlaw)) The titular character of the Where's WALDO book series is identifiable by his red-and-white-striped shirt, knit hat, and glasses. Odlaw (whose name is WALDO spelled backwards) looks similar to WALDO, but his clothes have yellow and black stripes, his glasses are blue-tinted, and he has a moustache. Fun fact: These books originated in the United Kingdom, where WALDO is known as Wally. Odlaw is still called "Odlaw" in the Where's Wally books.
• ACTION STAR (59A: Michelle Yeoh or Tony Jaa) Michelle Yeoh recently starred in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Tony Jaa is a martial artist, actor, and stuntman. He starred in the 2020 movie, Monster Hunter. These two ACTION STARs appeared together in the 2018 Chinese martial arts movie, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy. 

Geography review:

• LANAI (5A: Hawaiian island 98% owned by Larry Ellison) LANAI is the third-smallest (or the sixth-largest) of Hawaii's eight main islands. The island has one school, Lanai High and Elementary School, which serves students from kindergarten through high school. LANAI also has a hospital, but no traffic lights. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corporation (a computer technology company), bought 98% of LANAI in 2012. He moved to the island in 2020. In reading an article about "What it's like to visit LANAI," I learned about the LANAI Cat Sanctuary. With no natural predators, the feral cat population of LANAI was growing unchecked until 2004. That's when cat lover Kathy Carroll stepped in. In 2009, the LANAI Cat Sanctuary opened on its current site, which occupies four acres and is currently home to over 600 cats. Giving the cats a home not only takes care of the cats, but plays a crucial role in protecting the island's bird population. If you are ever in LANAI, you can visit the LANAI Cat Sanctuary; it's open 10 am to 3 pm, no appointment necessary. And according to their website, "We have wifi but know that you might have to stand on a makeshift box in the middle of a field to catch a cell phone signal."

  

  Willow

  Willow is delighted to live in her own private cat sanctuary, population: one extremely spoiled cat.
• ORE (40A: Pacific Northwest state (Abbr.)) The Pacific Northwest is one of those regions that has no official boundaries. It's generally considered to include the U.S. states of Oregon (ORE), Washington, and Idaho, and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
• ITALY (62A: Boot-shaped country) Geography students everywhere are grateful for ITALY's resemblance to a boot, which makes it easy to identify on a map. The capital of ITALY is Rome.
• RENO (31D: City near the Nevada-California border) I had the thought this morning that if you solve crosswords, you might be under the impression that RENO, which is crossword-friendly, is the only city near the Nevada-California border. I took a look at a map, and while RENO is certainly the most sizable town near the Nevada-California, there are others, such as Primm, Nevada, an unincorporated community in southern Nevada formerly known as State Line. It was renamed in 1996 to avoid confusion with Stateline, Nevada, which is southeast of Lake Tahoe, and also near the Nevada-California border.

It's another themeless puzzle; this one a delightful offering from Kelsey Dixon! On a recent Boswords interview, Erik Agard was asked why he chose to call the USA Today themeless puzzles, freestyle puzzles.  His answer was that "puzzles that are themeless can still have themes." I thought of this today, because while ONWARD! certainly applies to the answer IT GETS BETTER, I think it can also hint at WAS THAT TODAY? (43A: "I thought we said next Tuesday!?") And if your mind works like mine (which is unlikely!) it could even apply to the related answers AGE (36A: Grow old) and AARP (8D: Organization for people 50 and up). I just had a conversation yesterday with a friend (who happens to also be my eye doctor) about how those of us that are lucky enough to grow old have to deal with AGE-related things. ONWARD! One more thought I had today is that all of my blog posts could be described as "freestyle," as you just never know where I'm going to take you! (It's safe to bet on cats though.) Thank you, Kelsey, for this puzzle that was a grand way to start my Wednesday.