May 30, 2023

Title: CHOCK FULL

Constructor: Erik Agard

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

CHARGING DOCK (12A: Station for powering up devices)

CHICKEN STOCK (47A: Liquid ingredient in some soups)

CHURCH ROCK (9D: Site of the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history)

CHESS CLOCK (17D: Timer for a blitz game)

Theme synopsis: In each theme answer, the word CHOCK is FULL of the answer.

Things I learned:

• CHURCH ROCK (9D: Site of the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history) The small town of CHURCH ROCK is located in northwestern New Mexico, and is part of the Navajo nation. The discovery of uranium in the area led to the development of uranium mining in the early 1950s. On July 16, 1979, the CHURCH ROCK uranium mill was the site of the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history. A dam failure led to the release of 1,100 tons of uranium waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive water into the rivers surrounding the mill. The spill resulted in the death of livestock that drank the contaminated river. Contact with the contaminated water led to skin burns. Navajo Nation residents living in and around CHURCH ROCK are still dealing with the aftereffects of the accident. If you'd like to learn more about the CHURCH ROCK nuclear accident, this article is a good place to start. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• CLARKSON (16A: "Since U Been Gone" singer Kelly) "Since U Been Gone" is a 2004 song from Kelly CLARKSON's album, Breakaway. It has also been my earworm since I encountered this clue. "But since you've been gone / I can breathe for the first time / I'm so moving on, yeah, yeah / Thanks to you / Now I get what I want..."
• NASH (19A: Civil rights activist Diane) Diane NASH was prominently involved in organizing sit-ins to integrate lunch counters. She was also active in the Freedom Riders who worked to desegregate interstate travel. Diane NASH co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and worked for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• ANG (5D: Movie director ___ Lee) ANG Lee's directing credits include Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012). He won Academy Award Best Director honors for both of these movies.
• HIGHER (36D: "Move on up a Little ___" (gospel song)) Mahalia Jackson's 1947 recording of "Move On Up a Little Higher" was the first gospel song to sell two million copies (it eventually sold over eight million), and the first gospel song to reach the number two spot on the Billboard charts. The song has been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award (1998), and has been added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. This brought back some memories! I grew up listening to Mahalia Jackson.

Geography review:

• STL (1A: Missouri's second-largest city (Abbr.)) St. Louis (STL), located on the eastern edge of Missouri, is the state's second-largest city. If you travel west out of St. Louis on Interstate 70, you will eventually reach Missouri's largest city, Kansas City, on the western edge of the state. However, if you compare the metropolitan areas of the two cities, the St. Louis metropolitan area is larger than the Kansas City metropolitan area. The state capital, Jefferson City, is the sixteenth-largest city in Missouri.
• CHILE (39A: Country south of Peru) CHILE is a long (2,670 miles north to south) and narrow (217 miles east to west) country located on the western edge of South America. If you were to travel west or south from CHILE, you would find yourself in the Pacific Ocean. Traveling north from Chile will take you into Peru or Bolivia. The capital of CHILE is Santiago.
• MINSK (40A: Capital of Belarus) Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, which borders Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. The capital and largest city of Belarus is MINSK.
• TURKS (2D: People from Istanbul) Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey. With a population of nearly 16 million people, Istanbul is also the largest city in Europe.

Before I even began solving this puzzle, the grid had me thinking about crosswords as art. I think this grid would look striking framed and hung on the wall! I liked the choice here to place two theme answers horizontal and two vertical. I appreciated learning about CHURCH ROCK. I was fourteen at the time it happened, and even if the CHURCH ROCK spill had received the media attention of the Three Mile Island accident that occurred four months earlier, I doubt I would have remembered it. I appreciate filling in that gap in my knowledge. Thank you, Erik, for this puzzle that was an enjoyable and informative way to start my Tuesday.