May 31, 2023

Title: MAKING REPAIRS

Constructor: Bruce Haight

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

FARE REDUCTION (20A: Public transportation discount)

ROSES ARE RED (38A: Start of a romantic rhyme)

NATURE RESERVE (56A: Protected area for animals and/or plants)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains a PAIR of the letter string RE.

Things I learned:

• ESPN (69A: "Around the Horn" channel) Around the Horn is a sports discussion show that has aired on ESPN for over 20 years (since 2002, with a break in 2020 when many sports were suspended). It is currently hosted by Tony Reali. The show is presented in the form of a panel game show. The description of Around the Horn which I read reminded me of Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! but for sports.
• TRAP (36D: Lex Luger music genre) Lexus Arnel Lewis is known professionally as Lex Luger, a name inspired by the professional wrestler that uses that name. The musician Lex Luger is a producer of hip hop and TRAP music. TRAP music is a subgenre of hip hop that uses synthesized drums and is characterized by complicated drum patterns.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• DIME (5A: Coin with a torch on it) The U.S. DIME features a profile of Franklin D. Roosevelt on one side. The other side of the DIME features an olive branch, a torch, and an oak branch, symbolizing peace, liberty, and strength. The DIME is the smallest and thinnest of the current U.S. coins.
• APEX (15A: ___ predators (sharks, panthers, etc.)) An APEX predator is a predator at the top of a food chain that does not have any natural predators itself, such as a shark or a panther. This answer reminded me of the February 19, 2021 puzzle. 
• FIRST (19A: "The ___ Time Ever I Saw Your Face") Roberta Flack's 1969 cover of "The FIRST Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Here's a fun fact: "The FIRST Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was the wake-up music for the Apollo 17 astronauts on their last day in orbit around the moon. (I went down a bit of a rabbit hole learning about NASA's tradition of streaming wake-up music for astronauts.)
• YAP (25A: Sound from a small dog) and DANE (5D: Great ___ (dog breed)) and INU (46D: Shiba ___ (dog breed)) A trio of clues for the dog lovers today. I'm not sure either Great DANEs or Shiba INUs YAP though. 
• LIU (48A: Actress Lucy) Lucy LIU's film and TV credits are numerous. I particularly enjoyed her in the role of Joan Watson in the TV series, Elementary. Lucy LIU portrays Kalypso in the DC Comics movie, Shazam! Fury of the Gods that was released in March of this year.
• MENU (7D: Ghost kitchen's list) A ghost kitchen is not a kitchen for a supernatural being, but rather a virtual restaurant, complete with a menu. I wrote about GHOST KITCHENS when we saw the phrase as a theme answer October 31, 2022. 
• GO FISH (9D: "Do you have any sevens?" game) It has been a long time since I have played the classic game of GO FISH!
• LET (42D: "___ America Be America Again" (Langston Hughes poem) You can read Langston Hughes's poem, "LET America Be America Again," on the Poetry Foundation site. I recommend taking a couple of minutes to read these thought-provoking words today.
• KITTEN (45D: Litter box trainee) It's been a bit since Willow was a KITTEN.

  

  Willow

  
  She's happy for this clue to balance out the dog-related content of this puzzle. Today Willow is enjoying having the windows open.

Geography review:

• OHIO (10D: Akrons's state) Akron is located in the northeastern part of OHIO, about 40 miles south of Cleveland. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is based in Akron, OHIO, and gave the city the nickname "Rubber Capital of the World."

Today's title, MAKING REPAIRS, gave me no idea about the theme. After filling in FARE REDUCTION, I noticed the word DUCT hidden in the answer, and wondered -with a chuckle - if the theme was DUCT tape-related. Filling in ROSES ARE RED proved that theory wrong! And then I had a delightful "Aha!" moment of noticing the repeated RE RE. It's not MAKING REPAIRS, it's MAKING RE PAIRS. Tricky! I appreciated that the RE PAIRS bridged two words in each theme answer. Thank you, Bruce, for this puzzle that was a wonderful way to start my Wednesday.