October 28, 2023

Title: GIVE ME SOME ROOM (Freestyle)

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. GIVE ME SOME ROOM is a nod to I NEED SPACE (17A: "We need to take some time apart")

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ISSA (18A: "The Hate U Give" actress Rae) The Hate U Give is the 2017 debut novel by Angie Thomas. The book tells the story of Starr Carter, a teenage girl, whose friend, Khalil - an unarmed Black teen - dies after being shot by a white police officer. In the 2018 movie adaptation of the book, ISSA Rae portrays civil rights lawyer, April Oprah.
• EAR (Organ with a hammer, anvil and stirrup) The ossicles are the smallest bones in the human body. Located in the middle EAR, they function to receive, amplify, and transmit sound. There are three ossicles: the malleus, incus, and stapes. The bones are more commonly known by names referencing their shapes: hammer, anvil, and stirrup. Hooray for science in crosswords!
• FDR (27A: Only U.S. prez to serve more than two terms) Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) (1882-1945) was President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. He died during his fourth term in office.
• TREATS (40A: Cats' might be tuna-flavored) My cat Willow is a fan of tuna-flavored TREATS, but she prefers actual tuna. As I mentioned yesterday, today is Willow's gotcha day.

  

  Baby Willow

  
  It was 12 years ago today that our family brought Willow home from the shelter. Here's a photo of Willow on her first day home.
• ALY (45A: Olympic gymnast Raisman) ALY Raisman is a retired gymnast. She was the captain of the USA women's gymnastic team in 2012 (known as the "Fierce Five") and 2016 (known as the "Final Five"). Team USA won the gold medal in the women's gymnastics team competition both of those years.
• ARYA (50A: Maisie's "Game of Thrones" role) Game of Thrones is the TV adaptation of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series of books, A Song of Fire and Ice. In the TV series, Maisie Williams plays the role of ARYA Stark.
• AMEN (3D: "Today Means ___" (Sierra DeMulder poem)) As I did the last time I wrote about "Today Means AMEN," I encourage you take four minutes of your day and listen to Sierra DeMulder read her poem. It begins with the words, "Dear you, / Whoever you are, / However you got here, / This is exactly where you are supposed to be."
• DAD (5D: James, to Princess Tiana) The 2009 Disney animated movie, The Princess and the Frog, is set in New Orleans. Tiana is a waitress aspiring to open her own restaurant, as she and her DAD, James, dreamed about before he died. Tiana turns into a frog when she kisses a frog prince.
• ALANA (7D: "Licorice Pizza" actress Haim) I wrote about Licorice Pizza when we saw the title of the 2021 movie as a theme answer last month. ALANA Haim and Cooper Hoffman star in the coming-of-age movie.
• TBS (24D: "Cougar Town" channel) Cougar Town is a TV sitcom that originally aired from 2009-2012 on ABC, and from 2013-2015 on TBS. I wrote about Cougar Town in July.
• LSU (32D: Univ. with Mike the Tiger) The athletic teams of Louisiana State University (LSU) are known as the Fighting Tigers and the Lady Tigers. The teams have two mascots known as Mike the Tiger: a costumed mascot, and a live tiger. LSU's current live tiger mascot, Mike VII is a Bengal-Siberian Tiger. Mike VII, who became the mascot in 2017, lives in a 15,000 square feet habitat located between Tiger Stadium (LSU's football stadium) and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (LSU's arena).
• NFL (39D: Org. with Jaguars and Lions) The Jacksonville Jaguars (Florida) and the Detroit Lions (Michigan) are NFL teams. Did you notice all the big cats mentioned in today's clues? We have references to Cougar Town, Mike the Tiger, and the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions. It's like a little mini-theme hiding in the clues. 
• SEPHORA (41D: MAC competitor) The capital letters here let us know that the clue is referring to the cosmetics company MAC (stylized as MᐧAᐧC), rather than a Mac computer. MᐧAᐧC stands for Make-Up Art Cosmetics. MᐧAᐧC was founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984, and since 1998, has been a subsidiary of Estée Lauder. SEPHORA is a French retailer with a cosmetics line. SEPHORA was founded in France in 1969.

Geography review:

• LAS (34A: ___ Vegas) and BEL (46A: ___ Air (L.A. neighborhood)) and TEL (47A: ___ Aviv) It's fill-in-the-blank geography featuring 3-letter words! We have LAS Vegas, Nevada; BEL Air, a Los Angeles, California neighborhood; and TEL Aviv, Israel.
• ARUBAN (38A: Like someone from Oranjestad) Aruba is an island in the Caribbean Sea, which is a constituent country of the Netherlands. The capital of Aruba is Oranjestad.
• CHINA (52A: Country that celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival) The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in CHINA in late May or early June (on the Gregorian calendar). In 2024, the Dragon Boat Festival will be June 10. This traditional Chinese holiday, a commemoration of the poet Qu Yuan, is celebrated with dragon boat races and by eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

Interesting shapes made of the black squares in today's grid. It looks striking, and provides space for eight 10-letter answers. All of the long answers are fabulous: DO ME A SOLID, I NEED SPACE, NO SIREE BOB, IT'S NOT SAFE, LOVEY DOVEY, ARE WE ALONE, HIT THE ROAD, and YOU'RE LYING. I was tempted to create a story out of those answers, but I'll let you use your own imagination. Thank you, Amanda, for this puzzle that was a super way to begin my Saturday.