October 15, 2023

Title: STICK TO THE STATUS QUO (Freestyle)

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. STICK TO THE STATUS QUO is a nod to DON'T ROCK THE BOAT (35A: "Careful not to cause any issues").

Things I learned:

• PASTEL GOTH (56A: Aesthetic that incorporates both black and bright colors) GOTH originated as a music subculture in the early 1980s. Developed by fans of gothic rock, it's also influenced by 19th century Gothic fiction and horror movies. GOTH style is known for its abundance of black - black hair, black clothing, and black makeup. PASTEL GOTH (a subculture of the subculture so to speak) emerged in 2010. As the name implies, the PASTEL GOTH aesthetic adds color, particularly PASTEL pinks, blues, and purples, to the underlying palette of black. 
• NBC (55D: "Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge" channel) Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge is a competition show that premiered on NBC in May of this year. Contestants compete to renovate and transform cars that are meaningful to them into Hot Wheels-style vehicles. Each contestant works with a team of technicians and car experts. I watched a little bit of Best Builds (the after show that dissects what happened on each episode) to get a feel for the show. I also learned from this article that the cars aren't necessarily designed to be driven, and contestants don't get to keep them. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SCAT (4A: Improvise at a jazz club) and SOLO (60A: Improvise at a jazz club) I was thankful I encountered the clue for SCAT first, as I confidently filled in the answer. Fortunately, it was correct. When I read the clue for SOLO I experienced a classic "Wait a minute ... didn't I already fill that in?" moment.
• HAMER (22A: Activist Fannie Lou ___) Fannie Lou HAMER was the co-founder of the Freedom Democratic Party, a political party created in 1964 to challenge the established power of the Mississippi Democratic Party. At the time, the Mississippi Democratic Party did not allow Black people (who made up 40% of the state's population) to participate. In 1971, Fannie Lou HAMER was one of the co-founders of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), an organization which describes itself as "a national, pro-choice, multi-partisan, grassroots membership organization dedicated to identifying, recruiting, training and supporting women candidates for elected and appointed office."
• OREO (39A: Black-and-white milkshake flavor) I would not say no if someone offered me an OREO milkshake.
• CAPE (61A: Red accessory for Evil Emperor Zurg) Evil Emperor Zurg is a character from the Toy Story movies. He is a robotic action figure that parodies the Star Wars character Darth Vader. Evil Emperor Zurg is the villain of the series, and the archenemy of Buzz Lightyear. Although Zurg originally wore a red CAPE, the character went through a redesign for the 2022 movie Lightyear, and no longer wears a CAPE. Perhaps Zurg visited Edna Mode, the fashion designer in The Incredibles, who is famously anti-CAPE.
• STONEWARE (30D: Pottery fired at high temperatures) By high temperatures, the clue means between 2,010 - 2,370 °F (1,100 - 1,300 °C). That's the temperature range used when firing STONEWARE.

Geography review:

• OCEAN (59A: The Pacific, for example) With an average depth of 13,000 feet, the Pacific is the deepest of Earth's OCEANs. The deepest point of the Pacific OCEAN, which has been named Challenger Deep after the survey ship HMS Challenger, has a depth that has been measured at over 35,700 feet. That's over 6 and a half miles deep.
• ALOHA (6D: Big Island greeting) The island of Hawai'i, where you might be greeted with "ALOHA," is often referred to as the Big Island. It is the largest of the islands that comprise the state of Hawaii, and the largest island in the United States.

I have a new rule for Matthew Stock puzzles. Before I solve the puzzle, I google the title to see if it's the name of a High School Musical song. After all, IT COULD BE! Matthew has been treating us to a series of High School Musical  puzzles. Sure enough, today's puzzle is the sixth in the series (if I've caught them all). "STICK TO THE STATUS QUO" is a song from Disney's 2006 movie, High School Musical. Thank you, Matthew, for this puzzle that was a super way to start my Sunday.