May 5, 2023

Title: TORN APART

Constructors: Anna Gundlach & Erik Agard

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

TOFFEE POPCORN (14A: Sweet, buttery movie snack)

TOOK A WRONG TURN (28A: Went off course somewhere)

TOOT YOUR OWN HORN (54A: Boast about past triumphs)

Theme synopsis: The word TORN is APART in each theme answer, with TO- at the beginning of the answer, and -RN at the end.

Things I learned:

• HAILEE (13A: "Starving" singer Steinfeld) "Starving" is a 2016 song by HAILEE Steinfeld and the duo Grey. The song also features Zedd, a Russian-German producer. In addition to being a singer, HAILEE Steinfeld has an acting career, and is known for portraying Emily Junk in the Pitch Perfect movies, and playing the role of Kate Bishop in the TV miniseries, Hawkeye. 
• OHLONE (43D: Indigenous people of northern California) The OHLONE are an indigenous people that lived along the coast of what is now northern California. Traditionally, the OHLONE lived in over 50 distinct villages along the coast, and although they shared a common language and interacted with each other, they did not view themselves as a single group.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• GOD (27A: Amaterasu or Ra) Amaterasu, a sun goddess in Japanese mythology, is a major diety in the Shinto religion. Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun GOD.
• LOOSE (32A: Like a tooth that's not quite ready for the Tooth Fairy) Such an evocative clue! Do you remember having a LOOSE tooth, and wriggling it to make it looser?
• ARIEL (37A: 2023 Disney role for Halle Bailey) The live-action adaptation of Disney's animated movie, The Little Mermaid, is scheduled for release later this month. Halle Bailey will play the role of the title mermaid, ARIEL. 
• THIS (49A: "___ Is How We Do It") "THIS Is How We Do It" is the title track from Montell Jordan's 1995 debut album. 
• SKUNKS (57A: Animals related to stink badgers) Stink badgers are endemic to the Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, and Borneo), Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and on the Philippine island of Palawan. As one might guess from their name, stink badgers are related to badgers and SKUNKS. Like SKUNKS, stink badgers expel a foul-smelling secretion as a self-defense mechanism.
• KOOL (29D: ___ & the Gang ("Summer Madness" band)) "Summer Madness" is an instrumental song from KOOL & the Gang's 1974 album, Light of Worlds. It is one of the most sampled R& B songs of all time. Additionally, "Summer Madness" appears in the 1976 movie Rocky, and in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Geography review:

• RICA (7D: Costa ___) Costa RICA is a Central American country located between Nicaragua and Panama. It has coastline on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The capital of Costa RICA is San José.
• MERENGUE (9D: National dance of the Dominican Republic) The Dominican Republic is a country that occupies the eastern portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The country of Haiti is located on the western part of Hispaniola. MERENGUE music and dance originated in the Dominican Republic. MERENGUE, which is lively and fast-paced, has been the national dance of the Dominican Republic since the 1930s.

This is a classic USA Today theme type, and it's well-executed today with three interesting theme answers. A few clues I especially enjoyed today: the aforementioned clue for LOOSE, [42A: Word before "shebang" or "enchilada"] for WHOLE, and [50A: Language spoken in "The Lord of the Rings"] for ELVISH. Thank you, Anna and Erik, for this puzzle that was a fantastic way to start my Friday. Go ahead and TOOT YOUR OWN HORN!