June 15, 2023

Title: EARRING BACKS

Constructor: Stella Zawistowski

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

BASKETBALL HOOP (20A: Fixture at a free-throw contest)

SHOP TILL YOU DROP (38A: Go on a spending spree)

SEVEN-CARD STUD (51A: Poker variety also known as "Down the River")

Theme synopsis: The BACKS of the theme answers - that is, the last words - are types of EARRINGs: HOOP, DROP, and STUD.

Things I learned:

• CRAB (1D: Singapore chili ___ (seafood dish)) Chili CRAB is made by stir-frying CRAB (of course!) with a sweet and savory tomato-and-chili sauce. The dish's origin can be traced back to the 1950s in Singapore and Malaysia. The Michelin Guide has a page dedicated to where to find Singapore chili CRAB.
• CASBAH (6D: North African fortress) I've definitely heard the word CASBAH before, but I couldn't call it to mind today without help from crossing answers. A CASBAH, also spelled "kasbah," is a fortress or the fortified part of a city. The CASBAH of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• TAPS (33D: Dances like Ayodele Casel) Ayodele Casel is a TAP dancer and choreographer. She was the first (and so far only) woman to TAP with Savion Glover's group, Not Your Ordinary Tappers. (I have previously written about Savion Glover.) She's also featured on a postage stamp. Here's a fun fact about Ayodele Casel: she didn't take a TAP dance class until she was a sophomore in college. Here's a video of Ayodele Casel giving some history while she TAPS. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PIN IT (19A: Save button on a certain social media site) That certain social media site is Pinterest, where one can create boards to collect ideas. If you find a website you want to remember, you can "PIN IT" on one of your boards to find later. My Pinterest has boards titled "Artsy crafty ideas," "Misc cool stuff," "books," "clay," "rainbows," and "someday," just to name a few. If I were to do one of my pinned Pinterest ideas a day, it would keep me occupied for years!
• AHA (23A: Shout of discovery) AHA! It's my favorite exclamation!
• HINT (25A: Bit of help with solving a puzzle) Did you need a HINT to discover this answer?
• TAT (49A: Stick-and-poke art, for short) Stick-and-poke is a nonelectric tattoo method. This Glamour article gives an overview of the technique.
• SEVEN-CARD STUD (51A: Poker variety also known as "Down the River") and DEAL (57D: Hand out cards) SEVEN-CARD STUD begins with each player being dealt two face-down cards and one face-up card. After a round of betting, players are dealt an additional face-up card. Subsequent rounds of betting and dealing ensue until players have been dealt a total of SEVEN CARDs, three face-down and four face-up. Each player then makes the best five-CARD poker hand they can out of their seven cards.
• STAY (64A: "___ (I Missed You)" (1994 Lisa Loeb hit)) Lisa Loeb's song, "STAY (I Missed You)" is played over the credits in the 1994 movie, Reality Bites.

  

  Willow

  Willow is excited to tell you that the video for "STAY (I Missed You)" features a cat. 
• LANA (2D: "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" actress Condor) The 2018 movie, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, is based on Jenny Han's 2014 book of the same name. When Han was a teenager, she wrote (undelivered) letters to boys she had a crush on. This habit was the inspiration for a book about a teenager, Lara Jean Covey, who wrote such letters. Unbeknownst to Lara, her sister mails the letters. In the film adaptation, LANA Condor plays the role of Lara Jean Covey.
• SMITH (5D: Most common surname in the U.S.) On the list of most common U.S. surnames, SMITH is followed by Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones. Unsurprisingly, Hoelscher doesn't make the top 100, and neither does Zawistowski or Gundlach.
• DAPHNE (8D: "Scooby-Doo" character who wears purple) In the Scooby-Doo franchise, DAPHNE Blake's signature color is purple, which she often pairs with pink. (We've seen this clue before in a Stella Zawistowski puzzle.)
• ISLAM (29D: Religion that celebrates Eid al-Adha) Eid al-Adha is an ISLAM holiday honoring Abraham's obedience to God. This year Eid al-Adha will be celebrated June 28-July 2.
• UNITS (40D: Kelvin and hertz, e.g.) Kelvin is a UNIT of measure for temperature. Hertz is a UNIT of measurement used to describe periodic waveforms and musical tone, as well as clock speeds. A hertz is equivalent to one cycle per second.
• LAW (58D: Ketanji Brown Jackson's field) Ketanji Brown Jackson is a Supreme Court Justice. She has been on the Supreme Court since June 30, 2022. She is the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Geography review:

• IOWA (37A: Corn Belt state) Hello from IOWA! The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern U.S. that leads in the country's production of corn. The term is sometimes used more generally to refer to a focus on farming and agriculture in the region. Although there's a lack of consensus about what states are part of the Corn Belt, there is no doubt that IOWA is part of this region. Of all the U.S. states, IOWA produces the most corn, followed by Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota. If you've ever traveled across IOWA on Interstate 80, you might appreciate the "Interstate 80 IOWA" song. 

I did not get bonus points for wearing a dress while solving the DRESS DOWN puzzle a few days ago. However, I am awarding myself bonus points for wearing DROP EARRINGS while solving today's

DROP EARRING

puzzle. I promise I had them on before I opened the puzzle and saw the title! Thank you, Stella, for this puzzle that was a fabulous way to start my Thursday.