January 1, 2024

Title: GREETINGS, 2024! (Freestyle)

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. GREETINGS, 2024! is a nod to HAPPY NEW YEAR (49A: First words on January 1st).

Things I learned:

• ALANA (58A: Paralympian Nichols) ALANA Nichols is a five-time Paralympian, and the first American female to win gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. In the Summer Paralympics, ALANA Nichols competes in wheelchair basketball and sprint kayaking. She won a gold medal in wheelchair basketball in 2008. At the Winter Paralympics, ALANA Nichols competes in alpine skiing. In 2010, she won gold medals in downhill sitting and giant slalom sitting.
• SAM (63A: Writer and comedian Jay) Comedian SAM Jay was a writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 2017-2020. From 2021-2022, she hosted the HBO talk and variety show, Pause with SAM Jay. She's also a co-creator and co-star of the Peacock TV series, Bust Down.
• DYLAN (48D: TikToker Mulvaney) DYLAN Mulvaney has over 10 million followers on TikTok. Since 2022, she has posted daily videos documenting her gender transition. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• SOFT (1A: Like a cat's fur) and HAPPY NEW YEAR (49A: First words on January 1st)

  

  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  
  Willow is delighted that this year started off with a puzzle that has a cat reference as the first clue! HAPPY NEW YEAR from Willow and me!
• KEEP US POSTED (19A: "We want all the updates!") Well, I do have an update to share with you today! Today is the announcement day for a crossword tournament that will be launching this year! The Midwest Crossword Tournament will happen October 5, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. On the website you can say KEEP US POSTED, i.e. "Sign up for email updates." Sally's Take is an official sponsor of the Midwest Crossword Tournament (if you go to the website, it will become clear why!), so I will be keeping you posted with updates as constructors are announced, registration opens, etc. Speaking of crossword tournaments, there's also a west coast crossword tournament launching this year. Westwords recently announced that registration for that tournament will open on January 27. Westwords will he held on June 23. And continuing to speak of crossword tournaments (Bring on ALL the tournaments; a rising tide carries all ships, as they say!), registration for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) opens at noon Eastern time today. ACPT is April 5-7 this year.
• MOB (43A: Group of kangaroos) Fun fact: MOB is a collective name not only for kangaroos, but also for emus.
• ORG (57A: transequality.___) The National Center for Transgender Equality "advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people." I am a fan of highlighting specific websites in clues like this. It's a great opportunity to raise awareness of great organizations.
• DIY (60A: Like some cheap at-home repairs (Abbr.)) I'm glad this clue contains the word "some," because in my experience, not all "do it yourself" (DIY) home repairs end up being cheap!
• YANG (62A: "SNL" actor Bowen) Bowen Yang has been part of the SNL cast since 2019. He also co-hosts a comedy pop-culture podcast, Las Culturistas, with Matt Rogers.
• OTOE (2D: Chiwere speaker) The OTOE are indigenous people of the Midwestern United States. Their language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family of languages. The Missouria and Iowa peoples also originally spoke Chiwere. The language is endangered, as the last two fluent speakers died in 1996, and a limited number of semi-fluent speakers of Chiwere remain.
• PUPPUCCINO (5D: Espresso-sized cup of whipped cream for dogs) It is a joyful experience to watch a dog enjoy a PUPPUCINO!
• DOTS (7D: ___ and boxes (paper-and-pencil game)) DOTS and boxes is a game that starts with an empty grid of DOTS. Players take turns connecting adjacent DOTS. When a play results in a completed box, the player gets an extra turn. The player that completes the most boxes wins the game.
• ONE ACT (24D: Length of the musical "Come From Away") I have previously written about the ONE ACT musical, Come From Away, which is based on the true story of the planes that landed in Newfoundland following the September 11 attacks. This musical ranks among my top five favorite musicals. If you ever get the chance to see it, I encourage you to do so!
• POKEMON GYM (29D: Battle arena for a Pikachu) The yellow, mouselike Pikachu serves as a mascot for the video game POKÉMON. The game involves catching and training POKÉMON (fictional creatures such as Pikachu). A player – known as a trainer – uses their trained POKÉMON to battle the POKÉMON of other trainers. Those battles take place in a POKÉMON GYM.
• TERI (35D: "Meet the Parents" actress Polo) TERI Polo played the role of Pam in the movies, Meet the Parents (2000), Meet the Fockers (2004), and Little Fockers (2010).
• OBI-WAN (41D: Kenobi who trained Anakin Skywalker) OBI-WAN Kenobi is a Jedi Master. In the original Star Wars trilogy, OBI-WAN Kenobi is portrayed by Alec Guinness. In the prequel Star Wars trilogy, a younger OBI-WAN Kenobi is portrayed by Ewan McGregor. It's in the prequels, specifically Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, that OBI-WAN trains Anakin Skywalker to be a Jedi. (That didn't turn out so well, did it...)
• A few other clues I especially enjoyed:
• ROUND (18A: Theater-in-the-___ (space in which an audience sits on most or all sides of the stage))
• MOOD RINGS (8D: Pieces of jewelry that claim to show how you're feeling)
• TEA (55D: It can be spilled literally or metaphorically)

Geography review:

• ISLAM (30D: Main religion in Indonesia) The country of Indonesia consists of over 17,000 islands located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world. Over 86% of Indonesias follow ISLAM. One of Indonesia's provinces is a notable exception. Bali is the only province of Indonesia where Hinduism is the main religion.
• SYRIA (47D: Damascus is its capital) SYRIA is located in Western Asia. Its neighbors are Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Israel, and SYRIA has coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. As the clue informs us, the capital of SYRIA is Damascus.

GREETINGS, 2024! A timely freestyle puzzle to begin this NEW YEAR. Thank you, Amanda, for this puzzle that was the perfect way to start 2024. HAPPY NEW YEAR!