October 20, 2023

Title: BIG ENERGY (Freestyle)

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. BIG ENERGY is a nod to EVERYBODY ON MUTE (18A: Beyonce lyric after which the crowd goes silent at her concerts).

And now a word from our creator:

Brooke: if you haven't heard of 18-across, search videos for "beyoncé mute challenge

Things I learned:

• CLAY (24A: Golem material, often) A golem, in Jewish tradition, is a CLAY creature that has been magically brought to life. The golem, after being brought to life by ritual incantations or the writing of Hebrew letters, becomes a helper or companion. If you'd like to learn more about golem, here's an article from My Jewish Learning, and one from the Jewish Virtual Library.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AGO (12A: "We broke up a month ___..." (first line of Olivia Rodrigo's "Happier") "Happier" is a song from Olivia Rodrigo's debut album, Sour, released in 2021. The song begins "We broke up a month AGO / Your friends are mine, you know, I know / You've moved on, found someone new / One more girl who brings out the better in you..." The lyrics go on to hope the ex is happy, "But not like how you were with me."
• EVERYBODY ON MUTE (18A: Beyonce lyric after which the crowd goes silent at her concerts) Here's another instance of how being a regular reader of Sally's Take might help you solve crosswords. It was just nine days ago that I wrote about the Beyoncé fan challenge, "EVERYBODY ON MUTE." This refers to a moment during Beyoncé's recent Renaissance World Tour. When she performed the song, "ENERGY," after Beyoncé sang the line, "Big wave in the room / the crowd gon' move / Look around, EVERYBODY ON MUTE," the crowd would go silent while Beyoncé paused, and stay silent until she went on, "Look around, it's me and my crew / BIG ENERGY." Videos from the challenge are fun to watch. Some crowds did a better job than others! EVERYBODY ON MUTE is a fabulous grid-spanner, and it was fun to see it today. I was also delighted to be able to fill it in without crossings - always a thrill for a grid-spanner.

  

  Beyoncé in concert

  As I've mentioned before, I always think of my daughter when I write about Beyoncé, because she's a huge fan. She was fortunate enough to see Beyoncé twice on her recent tour, and as she happens to be visiting me at the moment, I asked her for a photo from one of the concerts to share with you. This photo is from Kansas City on October 1, the last concert of the tour. She chose this photo to share, because it also shows Blue Ivy, Beyoncés daughter.
• GOLFED (30A: Used clubs to get a little ball in a little hole over and over) Ha! It's amusing to describe the essence of sports, and I enjoyed this clue.
• WILLIAMS (47A: Tennis great Venus) Speaking of sports, Venus WILLIAMS is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles. Venus WILLIAMS has also won 14 women's double titles, partnered with her sister, Serena WILLIAMS.
• PET (59A: Animal that might eat people food) My PET, Willow, doesn't beg for people food often, but there are a couple of things she simply cannot resist. One of them is tuna, which makes sense to me; she is, after all, a cat. The other food that Willow cannot resist is graham crackers! When I open a package of graham crackers, she comes running and begins pestering me to share.

  

  Willow

  This makes less sense to me. I don't have a picture of Willow eating graham crackers, but here she is being goofy while we eat supper. 
• ESC (61A: Competition that Loreen won in 2023 and 2012 (Abbr.) The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is an international competition in which participants representing European countries sing original songs. Countries then cast votes to determine the winner. Loreen is a Swedish singer and songwriter. As the clue informs us, Loreen won ESC in 2012 (with "Euphoria") and 2023 (with "Tattoo"). Loreen is the only woman to have won Eurovision twice. 
• LAS (25D: Dia de ___ Brujas (Halloween)) The Spanish phrase, "Dia de LAS Brujas," translates to "Witches' day."  
• DOESN'T ("She ___ Mind" (Sean Paul hit)) Sean Paul is a Jamaican Dancehall recording artist. "She DOESN'T Mind" is a single from Sean Paul's 2012 album, Tomahawk Technique.
• EVIL (28D: Like IT, in "A Wrinkle in Time") A Wrinkle in Time is a 1962 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book, which describes a journey through space and time and a battle between good and evil, has been adapted into plays, movies, an opera, and a graphic novel. IT is an evil telepathic brain that can speak to people via telepathy.
• LSAT  (49D: Exam for Elle Woods) Elle Woods is the main character of the 2001 movie, Legally Blonde, based on Amanda Brown's book of the same name. Elle Woods takes the LSAT, and gets admitted to Stanford Law School.

 This puzzle definitely has BIG ENERGY! In addition to the answers I've highlighted above, I also enjoyed RICE NOODLES, DAIRY-FREE, BODY MIST, and ALMOST DONE. Thank you, Brooke, for this puzzle that was an energetic way to start my Friday.