November 17, 2023

Title: KEEP IT BETWEEN US (Freestyle)

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. KEEP IT BETWEEN US is a nod to IT'S A SECRET.

Things I learned:

• TASTE (54D: "The ___ of Ink" (The Used song)) The Used is a rock band from Utah. When they formed in 2000, the group decided to name their band "Used." After they discovered a Boston band had already trademarked the name, they added a "the," becoming "The Used." "The TASTE of Ink" is their debut single, released in 2002.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SHUI (7A: Feng ___ (interior design philosophy)) The practice of feng SHUI involves situating buildings and furniture in specific orientations in an attempt to increase harmony between individuals and their environment. The Chinese term feng SHUI translates to "wind-water" in English.
• ELLA (19A: "___ Enchanted") Ella Enchanted is a 1997 book by Gail Carson Levine. A 2004 movie of the same name, and starring Anne Hathaway as Ella, was loosely based on the book. Ella Enchanted is a retelling of Cinderella.
• CREE (20A: Indigenous people of Canada) The CREE are one of the largest First Nations people in Canada. It's estimated that over 350,000 people in Canada are CREE or have CREE ancestry.
• SULTANS (25A: Ottoman Empire rulers) The Ottoman Empire was founded around 1299, and existed in some form until 1924. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire controlled areas of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. The leaders of the Ottoman Empire were referred to as SULTANS. 
• SPECTRUM (7D: What the "S" in ASD stands for) ASD here stand for Autism SPECTRUM Disorder. The word SPECTRUM is a reminder that the condition of autism manifests itself in different ways in each person with ASD.
• SNOW (22D: Precipitation that almost never happens in Florida) This is a fun way to clue the word SNOW. I am a fan of SNOW, so in my opinion, Florida is missing out. It also occurred to me that it's probably difficult to buy a SLED (47A: Winter vehicles with no wheels) in Florida.
• LOCK SCREEN (27D: What a user sees before entering their phone password) and JOY (46A: Happiness) Up until a couple of months ago, my LOCK SCREEN showed a family photo. While it's a great photo, it was taken on a trip to Ireland in 2018, so it was a bit dated. Recently, I did an update. My LOCK SCREEN photo is now randomly pulled from an album of photos, and changes every hour. Therefore, I never know what photo I'm going to see when I reach for my phone. This one simple change has brought me a ton of JOY.
• STAN (40D: Swiftie or Twihard) A STAN is a devoted fan. The term comes from an Eminem song, which I have previously written about. A Swiftie is a Taylor Swift STAN, and a Twihard is a STAN of the Twilight franchise.
• SPORES (45D: Fungi's reproductive units) Fungi are organisms that feed by absorption and reproduce by forming SPORES. For many years, fungi were classified as plants, but they are not plants, and are not capable of photosynthesis. The Fungi kingdom is the most populous kingdom on Earth; it includes yeasts, mold, and mushrooms. Check out this BBC Earth article: "8 Fantastic Facts about Fungi."
• CARDI (52D: Rapper ___ B) I have written about CARDI B a number of times. 
• IRON (60D: Metal with the symbol Fe) The Fe symbol for IRON is from the Latin word "ferrum."
• LENA (61D: Actress Headey) LENA Headey portrayed Cersei Lannister on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Her numerous film roles include Gorgo, Queen of Sparta in 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). 
• SNL (65D: Bowen Yang's show, for short) Bowen Yang has been part of the SNL cast since 2019. In reading about Bowen Yang's recent work, I discovered that he portrays God in a musical film (with a raunchy name) that was released last month.

Geography review:

• EAST (17A: Chile-to-Argentina direction) Chile is a country located along the western coast of the southern portion of South America. Chile is a long and narrow country, stretching over 2,670 miles north to south, but only 217 miles at its widest point EAST to west. EAST of Chile, the country of Argentina extends to the eastern coast of South America. Capital review: The capital of Chile is Santiago, and the capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires.
• DESERT (3D: Gobi or Atacama) The Gobi DESERT covers parts of northeastern China, and the southern part of Mongolia. We often imagine DESERTs as being hot and sandy, but the Gobi is a cold desert, which occasionally receives SNOW. Much of the Gobi is exposed bare rock rather than sand. And speaking of Chile, the Atacama DESERT is located along the Pacific coastline of Chile, west of the Andes Mountains. Atacama is the largest fog DESERT in the world, and is known as the driest place on Earth. In a fog desert, the majority of moisture needed by plants and animals is provided by fog drip.

Here's my confession: I was halfway through today's solve, and stymied by my inability to recognize the theme, when I had the "Aha!" moment that this puzzle is constructed by Rafa, who specializes in themeless puzzles, and so, of course, this is a freestyle puzzle with no theme! Somehow I had missed the word "Freestyle" when I first read the title. And, honestly, KEEP IT BETWEEN US could be a theme. In fact, we have seen KEEP IT BETWEEN US as a theme before. Anyway, this is a lovely Freestyle puzzle! So many delightful answers: VIBE CHECKS, I'M USED TO IT, SET IN STONE, DO BETTER, HEART EMOJI, and, of course, IT'S A SECRET. Thank you, Rafa, for this puzzle that was a wonderful way to start my Friday.