September 4, 2023

Title: HEAVEN'S ABOVE!

Constructors: Olivia Mitra Framke & Sally Hoelscher

Editors: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

MOONCAKES (3D: Mid-Autumn Festival treats)

STARBOARD (8D: Right side of a ship)

SUNFLOWER (33D: Bloom with seeds that follow the Fibonacci sequence)

SKYWALKER (35D: He fought alongside Kenobi in the Clone Wars)

Theme synopsis: The top (ABOVE) part of each vertical theme answer relates to the HEAVENS: MOON, STAR, SUN, and SKY.

And now a word from our constructors:

Olivia: Woohoo! Happy to be back with another great collab with my friend Sally. This is actually my first puzzle that has a theme revolving around themers running vertically (I checked my published crossword spreadsheet - it's true!). We had a lot of fun with this one, and I especially love that we got CROSSWORDS into the grid - the original clue for which was [Cruciverbalist's love].

Sally: I did promise you that the August 14 puzzle wouldn't be the last collaboration from Olivia and me! We continue to have a blast collaborating, and I'm delighted to be part of Olivia's first vertically-themed puzzle. (This is my fourth published puzzle with vertical theme answers.) I'm happy with how this puzzle turned out, particularly with all the dog and cat content!

Things I learned:

• WENDT (10D: "Sons for the Return Home" author Albert) Even though I co-constructed this puzzle, I learned something from it! This answer was added in an editorial tweak to the grid, and Amanda suggested we use Albert WENDT as the cluing angle. Albert WENDT is a Samoan poet and writer who currently lives in New Zealand. His debut novel, Sons for the Return Home, published in 1973, has been described as the first example of Pacific Islands Literature, writings created by people of the Pacific

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• HAMM (1A: Soccer star Mia) Mia HAMM is a retired professional soccer player and a three-time Olympic medalist. She was a member of the United States women's national soccer team that won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004, and an Olympic silver medal in 2000.
• ULTRASONIC (17A: Like sounds dogs can hear but humans can't) ULTRASONIC sounds have a frequency of greater than 20 kilohertz (kHz). Humans can detect sounds in a range of frequencies from about 20 Hz to 20 kHz. That high-frequency range is lost as people age. Dogs, on the other hand, have a hearing range (depending on breed and age) of approximately 40 Hz to 60kHz. So humans can hear some sounds dogs can't, and dogs can hear some ULTRASONIC sounds that humans can't. Cats are also able to hear at some ULTRASONIC frequencies. This is the first of this puzzle's multiple dog and cat references!
• AYESHA (34A: "Weekend Edition Sunday" host Rascoe) As the clue informs us, AYESHA Rascoe hosts Weekend Edition Sunday, the Sunday edition of NPR's radio news magazine program. She has been hosting Weekend Edition Sunday since March 2022. Prior to that, AYESHA Rascoe served as NPR's White House reporter.
• SKIN (42A: Largest human organ) Although it seems different than organs such as the heart, lungs, or liver, the SKIN is indeed an organ. With its multiple layers covering the entire body, it is the largest organ for humans. Along with the clue for ULTRASONIC, this is a nice dose of science in the puzzle.
• BOWIE (50A: ___ State University (Baltimore HBCU)) BOWIE State University is the oldest historically Black university in Maryland. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are colleges that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with the intention of primarily serving Black communities.
• CROSSWORDS (61A: Puzzles with across and down clues) You know I adore a good meta clue/answer, and what could possibly be more meta than having CROSSWORDS as an answer in a CROSSWORD puzzle?!
• MOONCAKES (3D: Mid-Autumn Festival treats) I have previously written about MOONCAKES. 
• PETS (6D: Dachshunds and calicos) This is our favorite clue/answer pair in the puzzle, and we're grateful to the editors for letting us keep it! Olivia has a dachshund mix named Charlie.

  

  Charlie

  
  Welcome to the PETS of Sally's Take, Charlie! I, of course, have Willow, who is a calico.

  

  Willow

• STARBOARD (8D: Right side of a ship) Olivia: I was a rower in college, specifically rowing STARBOARD side. Of course, when you’re rowing you’re facing backwards - so STARBOARD is on your left!
• IDIOM (11D: "Let the cat out of the bag," e.g.) Happy to continue the cat-love with this IDIOM.
• CURD (14D: Poutine ingredient) Poutine, a dish associated with Quebec cuisine, consists of french fries and cheese CURDs topped with brown gravy.
• STONY (18D: Emotionless) and STOIC (54D: Emotionless) It wasn't until we were writing clues that I realized the grid contained both STONY and STOIC. (I realized this when I started to recommend the clue [STOIC] for STONY...) This seemed like a good opportunity for a clue echo.
• PATTI (30D: "Lady Marmalade" singer LaBelle) PATTI LaBelle was a founding member of the funk rock band, LaBelle, whose 1974 recording of "Lady Marmalade" was a number one hit. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.
• SUNFLOWER (33D: Bloom with seeds that follow the Fibonacci sequence) More science! And math! This is an extremely cool SUNFLOWER fact, which this short video explains much better than I can. This clue was added in editing, and we're definitely fans of this fun angle. However, I do want to tell you about the original clue Olivia and I suggested, because it's a fun story. I think it's safe to say that Olivia is an avid gamer, and I ... am not. Most of my limited gaming knowledge comes from talking to my son. So when Olivia suggested a gaming-reference clue for SUNFLOWER, [Plant that sings "Zombies on Your Lawn"] she helpfully provided a link for me on our cluing spreadsheet. Amazingly, Plants vs. Zombies is one of the video games I've played!
• SKYWALKER (35A: He fought alongside Kenobi in the Clone Wars) I am going to yield to my lover-of-Star-Wars-(especially-the-prequels) collaborator to discuss this answer! Olivia: Especially observant solvers may have noticed that in the past year there has been a massive (and purposeful) upswing in Star Wars references in my puzzles, especially for Anakin. I am, in a word, obsessed (you may in fact see yet another Anakin mention from me later this week...). I'm so glad the editors kept my clue for this, as it references my favorite pairing of Anakin and Obi-Wan, who fight side-by-side in the fantastic animated series The Clone Wars. I highly recommend it!
• LINT (39D: ___ roller (cat owner's tool)) Although we had this clued in respect to a LINT roller, we thank the editors for the addition of the cat angle.
• EARS (41D: Floppy parts of a beagle) One more dog-related clue! 

Geography review:

• ISLA (32A: Ibiza, por ejemplo) Ibiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. This Spanish ISLA is a good fit for a Spanish clue and answer.
• ASIA (67A: Largest continent) ASIA is the largest continent whether you are looking at land mass or population. ASIA is nearly 1.5 times larger than Africa, the second largest continent by land mass. Looking at population, ASIA and Africa also occupy the first and second spots, with 4.6 billion and 1.3 billion people, respectively.
• ANDES (37D: South American mountain range) The ANDES Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the world. Located on the western edge of South America, the ANDES span seven countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

There are multiple methods for developing a theme for a crossword puzzle. One is to come up with a theme idea, like TEA SET, and then search for theme answers to fit the theme, until you find a workable set. Another approach is to take a theme answer you want to include in a puzzle, and try to think of a theme that would include that answer. At the end of May, Olivia and I spent a delightful evening brainstorming themes using this approach. In particular, we were attempting to come up with possible themes that incorporated two different theme answers Olivia wanted to use in a puzzle. One of those answers was SKYWALKER. At the end of that brainstorming session we hadn't come up with a theme for SKYWALKER, though we'd tossed around some ideas. (We did come up with a theme for the other theme answer. We knew that particular puzzle idea was a bit too complex for USA Today, but we're happy to report it has found a home elsewhere, and will be out in the world soon!) About a week and a half later, Olivia came up with this theme idea to incorporate SKYWALKER, and here we are! We're delighted to have another puzzle together. Thank you, Olivia, for the continued collaboration, and thank you, Amanda for the editing.

One more thing: Some personal news today. As I've previously mentioned, for the past year, I've been one of the editors for Lil AVC X, the midi branch of AVCX Crosswords. It was recently announced that I will be part of the leadership team for Lil AVC X next year. Today seemed like a good time to share this with you, as Olivia is also part of the team! (Also, bonus pics of Charlie and Willow!)