December 4, 2023

Title: LIME WEDGE

Constructor: Malaika Handa

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

COMPLIMENT (15A: Singer DeFranco)

ALL I MEANT WAS (48A: "Just saying...")

MILLIMETER (61A: Metric unit about the thickness of a credit card)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer contains the word LIME:

• COMPLIMENT
• ALL I MEANT WAS
• MILLIMETER

Things I learned:

• BLUE (13A: Carolina ___ (UNC's color)) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, commonly referred to as UNC, is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. UNC is one of three colleges that claims the title of the oldest public university in the United States. UNC's colors are Carolina BLUE and white. I did not know this answer, but it was inferable once I had the B filled in from the crossing answer HBCU.
• MARIO (14A: Italian soccer player Balotelli) MARIO Balotelli is a professional soccer player (known as a footballer in Europe). MARIO Balotelli was born in Palermo, Italy, and has played for the Italian national team. He currently plays for Adana Demirspor, a club based in Turkey.
• ELON (2D: North Carolina university) ELON University is a private school located in ELON, North Carolina. The schools colors are maroon and gold, and the mascot of the sports teams is the ELON Phoenix. Apparently I need to brush up on my North Carolina universities.
• RONALDINHO (30D: Legendary Brazilian midfielder) RONALDINHO is a retired Brazilian soccer player. He played mostly as an attacking midfielder, and was honored with the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2004 and 2005. In 2005, RONALDINHO also received the Ballon d'Or, an annual award presented by the French magazine, France Football.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ANI (15A: Singer DiFranco) ANI DiFranco is a singer-songwriter, activist, and feminist icon. Her lyrics are "often autobiographical, and strongly political." All of her albums have been released on her own record label, Righteous Babe. ANI DiFranco's most recent album, Revolutionary Love, was released in 2021. ANI DiFranco will make her Broadway debut next year, playing the role of Persephone in Hadestown.
• COMPLIMENT (16A: "You look amazing!" is one) I rather enjoyed getting a COMPLIMENT with my solve today. Thank you very much, puzzle.
• MTV (23A: "Jersey Shore" network) Jersey Shore is a reality TV series that originally aired from 2009-2012 on MTV. The show followed the lives of eight housemates at a vacation home. In seasons one, three, five, and six, that vacation home was located on the Jersey Shore for which the show was named. In season two the show was located in South Beach, Florida, and in season four it was in Florence, Italy.
• BUTTER (34A: Ingredient that original pound cake recipes called for one pound of) Traditionally, a pound cake was made with a pound each of BUTTER, flour, eggs, and sugar. BUTTER is the only one of those four ingredients that fits in this six-letter slot.
• LOCS (36A: Halle Bailey's hairstyle in "The Little Mermaid") Halle Bailey has waist-long LOCS, a hairstyle that she's had since she was five years old. When Halle Bailey portrayed Ariel in the 2023 live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, the decision was made to keep her natural hairstyle. Halle Bailey's LOCS were wrapped to achieve Ariel's signature red hair color.
• DAVE (51A: ___ & Buster's) DAVE & Buster's is a chain of restaurants that feature a video arcade. DAVE & Buster's was founded in Dallas, Texas in 1982, and has since expanded to other locations.
• SHE'S (65A: "Now That ___ Gone" (Destiny's Child song)) "Now That SHE'S Gone" is a song from Destiny's Child's 1999 album, The Writing's on the Wall.
• ORION (66A: Constellation with a belt) ORION is one of the constellations included in a star catalogue compiled by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. The constellation is named for a hunter in Greek mythology. Three of the brightest stars in the constellation appear to be in a straight line, and are referred to as ORION's belt. When I was checking to see if I'd written about ORION before, I was reminded of the following clue used for PUN in the May 18, 2021 puzzle: ["Orion's Belt is a waist of space," e.g.].
• HBCU (1D: Sch. that might have a majorette team) HBCU stands for historically Black college and university, and refers to colleges and universities that were established prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to serve Black students. A majorette is a baton twirler that performs dance movements. Majorette dance is an HBCU tradition.
• RUM (Many tiki bar liquors) Some of the RUM drinks at tiki bars are certainly served with a LIME WEDGE.
• IRON MAN (26D: Tony Stark alter ego) In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr., is an industrialist, genius inventor, playboy, MIT grad (he graduated at age 17), and the CEO of Stark Industries. He is commonly known by his alter ego, IRON MAN.
• ARENA (55D: Venue for the Hunger Games) The Hunger Games is a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. Just yesterday we saw a clue referencing the protagonist of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen.

Geography review:

• EVEREST (19D: Mountain between China and Nepal) With a peak elevation of over 29,031 feet, Mount EVEREST is Earth's highest mountain. EVEREST is part of the Himalayas, a range of mountains in Asia that crosses five countries: Nepal, China, Pakistan, Bhutan, and India. The China-Nepal border runs across the summit of Mount EVEREST.
• PERTH (38D: Australia's fourth-largest city) PERTH is located in southwestern Australia, along the country's western coast. PERTH is the capital Western Australia, one of Australia's six states. The city was named after PERTH, Scotland.
• SALEM (46D: Oregon's capital) SALEM is the capital of Oregon, and the state's third most-populous city, following Portland and Eugene. SALEM is located in northeastern Oregon.
• LOS (64D: ___ Angeles (Laker's city)) LOS Angeles, California is the home of the NBA team, the LOS Angeles Lakers. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com ARENA, a venue which is also the home ARENA for the NBA's LOS Angeles Clippers, the WNBA's LOS Angeles Sparks, and the NHL's LOS Angeles Kings.

I enjoyed finding a LIME WEDGE in each theme answer today. After I opened the puzzle and noted the title, I looked at the grid, and thought that the black squares in the center of the puzzle seem to form a LIME WEDGE. I've added some shading to the grid (seen below) to make the LIME WEDGE more visible. Thank you, Malaika, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to start my Monday.