July 21, 2023

Title: GEEZ

Constructor: Wendy L. Brandes

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

GENTLE GIANT (17A: Large, but sweet creature)

GENERATION GAP (27A: Feature of a May-December romance)

GABBY GIFFORDS (48A: Gun control advocate and former congresswoman for whom a naval ship is named)

GOLDEN GLOBE (64A: Acting award that may foreshadow an Oscar win)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is comprised of two words that each begin with the letter G. The theme is Gs, or GEEZ.

Things I learned:

• SPIKE (6A: Powerful pickleball shot) Pickleball is a game that combines elements of badminton, ping-pong, and tennis. Players use paddles to hit a plastic ball (similar to a Wiffle ball) back and forth over a net. This much I knew. I've previously written about pickleball. I learned that in pickleball, a player may SPIKE the ball.
• RITE (55A: Guan Li or Ji Li, for example) Guan Li (for men) and Ji Li (for women) are Confucian coming of age ceremonies. The RITEs mark a young person's entry to adulthood. Guan Li is also known as a capping ceremony, and Ji Li is also known as a hairpin ceremony. 
• ANI (64A: Organic chef Phyo) ANI Phyo is a cookbook author and chef who promotes the eating of organic, raw, unprocessed foods. 
• FBI (44D: Org. in Beverly Gage's "G-Man") Beverly Gage is a professor of history, and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century. Although I hadn't heard of this book, I knew that G-Man is a term used for an FBI agent.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ODE (16A: Each poem in the book "Black Roses") Black Roses: ODEs Celebrating Powerful Black Women is a 2022 book by Harold Green III. The book includes ODEs to Ava DuVernay, Janelle Monae, Kamala Harris, Simone Biles, and others.
• TEEN (22A: Ms. Marvel, age-wise) If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may have read this clue and remembered that just five days ago I described Ms. Marvel, aka Kamala Khan, as "a Pakistani American TEENager from New Jersey with shapeshifting abilities."
• GENERATION GAP (27A: Feature of a May-December romance) I've heard the term "May-December romance" to describe a relationship between two people of different ages. This clue had me wondering how different the ages needed to be in order to be classified as a May-December romance. Well, the short answer is that there isn't agreement. While I did find one site that defined anything over a five-year gap as a May-December romance, most articles hedge their bets and define May-December romances as ones where there is a "significant age difference." Anyway, by some standards, my husband and I apparently have a May-December romance! There is a GENERATION GAP between us. My husband is a Baby Boomer, and I am in Generation X. We've been married for 34 years, so it seems to be working out okay! We've always said that my husband is four years immature for his age, and I'm four years mature for my age, so we're actually the same age. 
• GABBY GIFFORDS (48A: Gun control advocate and former congresswoman for whom a naval ship is named) I confess that when I come across a theme answer that is obviously a person's name, I often assume I don't know the answer and wait for crossing letters to help me out. So I read this clue and went on, and then I thought, "Wait, I know this one!" GABBY GIFFORDS served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007-2012, representing Arizona. In 2011, she was shot in the head during an assassination attempt outside of an Arizona grocery store. Six people were killed during the shooting. She resigned from Congress in 2012 in order to focus on her recovery. GABBI GIFFORDS and her husband, Captain Mark Kelly, are advocates for gun control. The USS Gabrielle GIFFORDS is a U.S. Navy ship commissioned on June 12, 2017.
• TLC (54A: "Unpretty" group) "Unpretty" is a 1999 song by the group TLC.
• GOLDEN GLOBE (64A: Acting award that may foreshadow an Oscar win) The GOLDEN GLOBEs are awarded in January of each year, and the Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, are held in February or March.
• ADELE (67A: "Easy on Me" singer) Here's a little "Easy on Me," in case you need some ADELE in your day. 
• ESSAYS (18D: Some Helen Zia works) Helen Zia is a journalist and an advocate for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. In addition to writing ESSAYS, Helen Zia is the author of the books, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People (2000) and Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution (2019). I learned about Helen Zia from the October 13, 2020 puzzle. 
• TEA (30D: Ingredient in a London fog) A London fog is a hot drink made with Earl Grey TEA, steamed milk, vanilla (optional), and honey (or other sweetener).
• NFL (46D: Org. name in which "F" stands for football) This is a straightforward and fairly easy way to clue NFL, which stands for National Football League. I'm guessing the decision was made to make this clue on the easy side since it crosses two other proper nouns, TLC and GABBI GIFFORDS. 
• YELLER (50D: "Old ___" (Disney film)) Old YELLER is a 1957 movie based on Fred Gipson's 1956 book of the same name. I have never seen Old YELLER, but I have several friends that remember seeing the movie when they were children and recall it as an upsetting experience. (SPOILER ALERT...the dog dies. I think I'll continue to skip watching this one.)
• OCELOT (51D: Spotted wildcat) The OCELOT is a medium-sized wild cat, a bit larger than most house cats. Willow is always delighted to see her wild cat relatives mentioned in the puzzle.

  

  Willow on my shoulder

  Today I'm wondering what the wild cat equivalent is to Willow's habit of perching on my shoulder. Perching in a tree, perhaps?

Geography review:

• KENYAN (9D: Like Eliud Kipchoge, ethnically) Kenya is a country in East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Several of the top athletes in long-distance running are KENYAN. This includes Eliud Kipchoge, who I have written about previously. Eliud Kipchoge holds the world record for the marathon, with a time of 2:01:09. Eliud Kipchoge, set this world record at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, breaking his own record to do so. Of the six fastest marathon times in history, Eliud Kipchoge holds four of them.

GEEZ, there are a lot of Gs in this puzzle! A fun set of theme answers today. In addition to the answers I've already highlighted, I also liked HOME OPENER, and the NAVIGATION / GPS pair. Thank you, Wendy, for this puzzle that was an excellent way to start my Friday.