July 31, 2023

Title: $4,000

Constructor: Nate Cardin

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

THOU SHALT NOT (24A: *Start of many a commandment)

K-CUPS (37A: *Disposable coffee cups)

G-STRING (38A: *Minimal bikini bottom)

GRAND OLE OPRY (49A: *"Country's Most Famous Stage")

Theme synopsis: Each of the 4 theme answers begins with a nickname for $1,000: THOU, K, G, and GRAND.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PERON (15A: Last name in "Evita") Evita is a 1976 concept album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Evita is also the title of a 1978 musical and a 1996 movie, both of which are based on the concept album. Evita is also the title of a 2008 documentary. All of these works tell the story of the life of Eva PERÓN, whose nickname was Evita. Eva PERÓN was the first lady of Argentina from 1946-1952.
• ARIAL (18A: Font that sounds like the Little Mermaid's name) and ARIEL (7D: "The Little Mermaid" name that sounds like a font) This is so fun! This is a great way to pair ARIAL and ARIEL, and the fact that the answers cross makes it even more delightful.
• LAP (27A: Spot for a clingy pet) Willow's absolute favorite place to be is on

  

  Willow

  my LAP either under or on top of a fleece blanket. (Yes, even in the summer!) The fleece blanket in this photo happens to have cats on it, which always amuses me as Willow tends to blend in.
• ELMO (40A: "Tickle Me" Muppet) I remember the Tickle Me ELMO craze well. When I read this clue I thought, "What year was that? Do I want to know how long ago it was?!" It was 1996.  Tickle Me ELMO is a stuffed version of the furry red Muppet, that, when squeezed, shakes vibrates, and giggles. Released in July of 1996, the toy became immensely popular later that year, and sold out at many stores. By the end of December, one million Tickle Me ELMO dolls had been sold. Fortunately, my kids were still young enough at that point that Tickle Me ELMO wasn't on their radar!
• GRAND OLE OPRY (49A: *"Country's Most Famous Stage") The GRAND OLE OPRY is a country music radio program broadcast live each week and performed in front of an audience at the OPRY House in Nashville, Tennessee. The radio program began as "a barn dance" in 1925, was named the GRAND OLE OPRY in 1927, and has had multiple homes before moving to the GRAND OLE OPRY House in 1974. The GRAND OLE OPRY showcases famous singers, as well as newcomers, performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music.
• ICEE (57A: Slush Puppie cousin) A fun fact about ICEE is that, like post-it notes and chocolate chip cookies, its invention was a happy accident. In 1958, a Dairy Queen owner named Omar Knedlik had a problem. The soda machine in his store was broken. He placed bottles of soda in the freezer to keep them cold. When the soda was opened, it would turn to slush. The frozen soda was popular with customers, which gave Omar Knedlik the idea to develop a machine to make flavored frozen drinks. He received a patent for the machine in 1960. ICEE's cousin, the Slush Puppie, differs from an ICEE in the fact that a Slush Puppie isn't carbonated.
• HAM (58A: Monte Cristo's meat) A Monte Cristo sandwich is a HAM and cheese sandwich that is battered and deep fried.
• NBA (64A: Clippers' org.) The Los Angeles Clippers are an NBA team that plays their home games at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Crypto.com Arena is also home to NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, and NHL's Los Angeles Kings.
• PEACH (2D: Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom) Princess PEACH Toadstool is a character in the Mario franchise. She is the leader of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she lives in her castle. She is sometimes a protagonist and sometimes the damsel in distress.
• POLIO (3D: Disease largely eradicated by Salk's vaccine) I think it's easy to sometimes take vaccines for granted, and thus important to remember their importance. POLIO is a highly infectious viral disease that mostly affects children under the age of five, and can lead to permanent paralysis. POLIO has existed for thousands of years, but in the last 70 years - and with a push for global elimination begun in 1988 - POLIO has been nearly eradicated. This is a vaccine success story. Many thanks to Jonas Salk, who developed a POLIO vaccine, and Albert Sabin, who developed an oral POLIO vaccine. (Also, hooray for science in crosswords!)
• UCLA (32D: SoCal school where the world's first internet transmission was made) Fun fact alert! On October 29, 1969 (unrelatedly, that was my husband's 12th birthday!), a computer science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his graduate student sent a transmission from UCLA to a computer at Stanford. The message was sent through ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. What was that first message? It was supposed to be "login," but the computer crashed after sending the first two letters, so the first internet transmission was, "Lo."
• PUMA (33A: Mountain lion) The PUMA is a big cat of many names: mountain lion, cougar, catamount, and panther.
• SPONGEBOB (34D: Squidward's neighbor) On the animated TV series, SPONGEBOB SquarePants, the title character and his neighbor, Squidward Q. Tentacles, live in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom.
• KEN (37D: Ryan Gosling's "Barbie" role) It's been just a few days since we saw BARBIE in the puzzle, and now we have KEN. In Greta Gerwig's movie, Barbie, that was released earlier this month, Margot Robbie portrays the title character, and Ryan Gosling portrays KEN. I still haven't seen the movie! Putting it on my to-do list for this week. 

Geography review:

• RIO (36A: ___ de Janeiro, Brazil) RIO de Janeiro, Brazil is known for hosting the largest Carnival in the world, a five-day event that occurs prior to Lent each year. Festive parades are a part of Carnival, and in 1984, the Sambódromo was built. Also known as the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucai, the Sambódromo was built to be a parade area for the RIO Carnival, with permanent bleachers and grandstands. During non-Carnival season, the Sambódromo is used as a concert venue.
• TAHITI (10D: French Polynesian island) French Polynesia is an administrative region of France that has semi-autonomous status. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, French Polynesia is comprised of 121 islands and atolls. One of those islands is Tahiti, which serves as the economic, cultural, and political center of French Polynesia.

I enjoy an intriguing puzzle title, and this one is fantastic! $4,000 immediately had me trying to guess what the theme would be. My guess (theme answers containing 4 Ks) didn't turn out to be correct, but that's okay, as it led to a nice "Aha!" moment. If you're wondering why the theme answers have asterisks (*) in the clues, it's to assist solvers in identifying the theme answers, since they aren't the longest answers in the puzzle (as is often the case). I thoroughly enjoyed this theme and felt TRIUMPHANT upon uncovering the four $1,000 nicknames - aka $4,000. Thank you, Nate, for this puzzle that was a fantastic way to start my Monday.