May 19, 2023

Title: START SIMPLE

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

CLEAN COMEDY (16A: Family-friendly stand-up)

SPARTAN RACE (29A: Competition with mud and obstacles)

BARE MINIMUM (45A: It's the least you can do)

PLAIN DEALER (60A: Cleveland newspaper)

Theme synopsis: The START of each theme answer is a synonym for SIMPLE: CLEAN, SPARTAN, BARE, and PLAIN.

Things I learned:

• DRAM (34A: Allspice-flavored liqueur) DRAM is an allspice liqueur with a rum base. The liqueur is also called Pimento DRAM because allspice is a berry from the pimento tree. DRAM originated in Jamaica
• CELIA (32D: Broadway star ___ Rose Gooding) CELIA Rose Gooding made their Broadway debut playing the role of Frankie Healy in the jukebox musical, Jagged Little Pill. The show's cast won a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. You might also recognize CELIA Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SPARTAN RACE (29A: Competition with mud and obstacles) A SPARTAN RACE may be as short as 3 miles, or as long 30 miles, and include various obstacles requiring competitors to run, crawl, jump, or even swim. We've seen SPARTAN RACE as a theme answer before, on November 1, 2020.
• LEGO (38A: Toy company that makes Ninjago sets) LEGO Ninjago sets were first sold in 2011. The ninja-based sets draw from the animated fantasy superhero TV series, Ninjago.
• SEA (65A: Anglerfish's habitat) Anglerfish are incredibly fascinating creatures. Anglerfish live in the deep SEA, and are named because they use a specially-adapted luminescent fin to lure prey close enough to be eaten - a specific sort of deep-SEA fishing. Some species of anglerfish exhibit sexual symbiosis. The male anglerfish, who is much smaller than the female, bites the female, and spends the rest of his life fused to her. You might be familiar with the anglerfish if you've seen the movie Finding Nemo.
• OXYGEN (9D: Element carried by hemoglobin) Hemoglobin is an OXYGEN-transporting protein found in red blood cells. 
• AAPI (10D: ___ Heritage Month (May)) May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Always fun to see a clue such as this in its appropriate month. This clue reminded me of this puzzle that we saw two years ago.
• MEEPLE (46A: Human-shaped board game piece) Isn't MEEPLE just a fun word? It's a portmanteau of the words "my" and "people." The term was introduced in 2000 by the board game Carcassonne.

Geography review:

• ERIE (44A: Great Lake near Buffalo) Buffalo, New York is located on the eastern end of Lake ERIE. Buffalo is the second-largest city in New York, after New York City. For comparison, the population of Buffalo is just under 280,000, while the population of New York City is just over 8.8 million. Hello to our crossword-friend ERIE, that is making its first appearance of this month!
• PLAIN DEALER (60A: Cleveland newspaper) Speaking of cities along the shores of Lake ERIE, Cleveland, Ohio is located on the lake's southern shore. With a population of just over 372,000, Cleveland is the largest city on Lake ERIE. The PLAIN DEALER is Cleveland's major newspaper, started in 1842, by brothers Joseph William Gray and Admiral Nelson Gray.
• NATION (23D: Guatemala or Guinea) Guatemala is a Central American NATION. Its capital is Guatemala City. Guinea is a West African NATION. Its capital is Conakry.

SIMPLE, ironically, has a number of different meanings. It's a nice touch that the SIMPLE synonyms here all reflect the same meaning of the word, i.e. SIMPLE meaning free from embellishment. (It might be possible to do a similar theme where the SIMPLE synonyms each reflected a different meaning of the word. Hmmm...) Thank you, Stella, for this puzzle that was a simply marvelous way to start my Friday.