May 29, 2023

Title: [MRKRABS.JPG]

Constructor: Sara Cantor

Editor: Erik Agard

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. The title is a nod to EUGENE (45A: Mr. Krabs' first name).

Things I learned:

• CHESS (31A: Board game combined with boxing in a hybrid sport) CHESSboxing is exactly what it sounds like - a hybrid sport of CHESS and boxing. The two sports are not done simultaneously, but rather games of chess are alternated with rounds of boxing. CHESS boxing as a sport was started by lepe Rubingh (1974-2020), a Dutch performance artist who got the idea from a comic book by French artist Enki Bilal. In this video, lepe Rubingh talks about the origins of CHESSboxing and talks about the first CHESSboxing event.
• CURVE-WASHING (47A: Using plus-size models without offering plus-size clothing) Although I was familiar with this marketing approach, this term for it was new to me. Happy to learn this phrase, because I think CURVE-WASHING is a perfect description for companies that tout body inclusivity in their ads, but in reality have limited size offerings.
• URL (29D: freerice.com is one) The answer here was inferable, but the site is new to me. When you visit the website Free Rice, you have the opportunity to play a trivia game. In a cool twist, "every question you answer correctly raises 10 grains of rice for the World Food Programme," an organization that believes "food is a human right" and "everyone deserves to live in a #ZeroHunger world." Each time you answer a question, a new educational tidbit pops up on the screen. This is a pretty cool idea.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• FAN (10A: This blows) A FAN does indeed blow. I had _AN here for the longest time until my ceiling FAN blew the cobwebs off of my sleepy brain.
• BEATBOXES (20A: Makes mouth music) This clue reminded me of someone I recently learned about; someone who BEATBOXES, of course. Kaila Mullady is a two-time winner of the Beatbox Battle World Championship in the solo female category. I learned about her when she was a guest on the NPR podcast Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me! (I was actually in the audience for the taping of this show.)
• THE BLUEST EYE (21A: Toni Morrison novel that explores Black girlhood) THE BLUEST EYE, published in 1977, was Toni Morrison's first novel. The novel is set in 1941 in Lorain, Ohio. It tells the story of a young Black girl, Pecola, who is consistently regarded as "ugly" as a result of her dark skin, and as a result, longs for the blue eyes she equates with "whiteness."
• TUBE (28A: 40-Across, for example) and STRAW (40A: "How many holes does a ___ have?") In case you haven't previously encountered the query, "How many holes does a STRAW have?" this article gives a nice recap of some of the online discussion about this question. If you'd like to approach the STRAW hole debate from a mathematical and scientific angle (and who wouldn't?!), check out this Science ABC article.
• ALI (37A: Mahershala or Muhammad) I have previously written about both Mahershala ALI and Muhammad ALI. 
• EUGENE (45A: Mr. Krabs' first name) EUGENE Harold Krabs, better known as Mr. Krabs, is the owner of the fast food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, in the animated TV series SpongeBob Square Pants. The Krusty Krab (just in case you're unfamiliar with the SpongeBob world) is where SpongeBob works as a fry cook.
• AMORE (2D: "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's ___") "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's AMORE," is a line from the 1953 song, "That's AMORE." The song was a hit and became a signature song for Dean Martin. I associate this song with the 1987 movie, Moonstruck. It has also been used in the movies Grumpier Old Men (1995) and Stuart Little (1999).
• LETTERS (8D: This clue has nineteen) I'm always up for a nice self-referential clue.
• FLAX (10D: ___ egg (vegan substitute)) To make a FLAX egg, combine one tablespoon of ground FLAX seeds with three tablespoons of warm water and let sit for five minutes. Once the mixture has thickened, it may be used as an egg substitute in recipes for cookies, brownies, and bars.
• POEMS (18D: Joy Harjo works) Joy Harjo, who I've written about previously, was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2019-2022.
• TIPS (28D: Frosted part of a '90s hairstyle) Apparently frosted TIPS are making a comeback?
• HAD TO (51D: Couldn't not) Nice use of a double negative.
• SNL (58D: TV show featuring the comedy group Please Don't Destroy) Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy are the comedy group Please Don't Destroy. In 2021, the group was hired to produce prerecorded videos for SNL. Here's a sample.

It's a long weekend of USA Today FREESTYLE puzzles, a TRIPLE-header, so to speak! This puzzle continued the trend of delightful easy-breezy themeless puzzles. I really enjoyed the center down answer of BE THAT WAY. This grid has interesting top-bottom mirror symmetry, and the + signs in the middle look like they're staring right at me. Sara and I are both editors at Lil AVC X, and she's another person I enjoyed meeting at this year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. (I failed to get a picture of the two of us together for the blog - next year, Sara!) Thank you, Sara, for this puzzle that was a marvelous way to start my Monday.