January 16, 2024

Title: AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Constructor: Billy Ouska

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

VIDEO ON DEMAND (20A: Modern alternative to over-the-air television)

DOESN'T RING A BELL (37A: "Can't say I've heard of it...")

HIGHER LEARNING (51A: College-level education)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each theme answer can be placed AHEAD OF THE word CURVE to form a new phrase. We have a DEMAND CURVE, a BELL CURVE, and a LEARNING CURVE.

Things I learned:

• CANOES (4D: Boats used in courtship in the early 1900s) In looking up specifics on courtship CANOES, I came across an essay that begins with the sentence, "A CANOE is like a banjo – it makes everyone happy." Although the CANOE'S original use was for transportation, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, people began to use CANOES for leisure. Courting CANOES, in which the passengers faced each other, became a way for couples to gain some privacy, and get away from their chaperones. I'm not sure I'd say this is something I learned today, as much as it is something I haven't really given thought to before. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AMPS (9A: Lollapalooza equipment) Lollapalooza is an annual music festival. When Lollapalooza began in 1991, it was a traveling festival. Since 2005, Grant Park in Chicago has been the festival's main home, with Lollapalooza events also being held outside of the U.S. (For my crossword-tournament-nerds, I feel the need to mention that Lollopalooza is not the same as Lollapuzzoola, "the greatest summertime crossword tournament ever held annually on a Saturday in August.")
• IT'LL (17A: "One Day ___ All Make Sense" (Common album)) One Day IT'LL All Make Sense is the rapper Common's third studio album, released in 1977. As I have said previously, I am a fan of using titles (of albums, songs, books, etc.) to add interest to the clues for common three- and four-letter words. This is an especially good clue, because the answer is inferable, even for solvers not familiar with this album.
• ODOM (8D: Tony winner Leslie ___ Jr.) In 2016, Leslie ODOM Jr. won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton.
• AMINO (9D: ___ acids) Over 500 AMINO acids (organic compounds containing AMINO and carboxylic acid groups) exist in nature. Only 22 of these AMINO acids are proteinogenic, that is, incorporated into proteins as directed by the genetic code of organisms. I could geek out some more about this science answer in the crossword, but that's probably enough.
• PRE (11D: Prefix in "prefix") This clue definitely made me laugh! Constructors generally try to avoid "dupes," making sure that no word in the answer appears in the clue. Sometimes, this is difficult. I am a fan of how this clue essentially says, "to heck with it," and leans into the dupe. 
• SLEUTHS (14D: Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown, e.g.) Ah, it's the SLEUTHS of my childhood reading choices. Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown are fictional SLEUTHS that originally appeared in books aimed at young readers. Both series have been adapted to other media. The Nancy Drew books have been written by a number of authors using the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The first book featuring the teenage SLEUTH was The Secret of the Old Clock, published in 1930. The Encyclopedia Brown books were written by Donald J. Sobol. The first book featuring the boy SLEUTH was Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, published in 1963. I'm pretty sure I own a copy of both of these books.
• SELLER (26D: Depop user) Depop is a social network and online marketplace with an emphasis on vintage and used clothing. Since 2021, Depop has been a subsidiary of Etsy.
• ELISE (28D: Actress Neal) ELISE Neal's film appearances include Rosewood (1997), Money Talks (1997), Mission to Mars (2000) and Hustle & Flow (2005). She currently plays the role of Sydney Johnson on the BET+ TV series The Black Hamptons. 
• ADAM (32D: "Ferrari" actor Driver) Ferrari is a 2023 movie based on Brock Yates's 1991 biography, Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, the Races, the Machine. ADAM Driver portrays Enzo Ferrari in the movie.
• BRAIN FOG (39D: Mental sluggishness) Other terms for BRAIN FOG are mental FOG or clouding of consciousness. BRAIN FOG can occur when a person is not quite awake (such as in the morning before my first cup of tea), but can also be a symptom related to other conditions, such as chronic pain or long COVID.
• HADES (50D: 2020 video game that takes place in the Greek underworld) In the video game HADES, players control Zagreus, the son of HADES. The goal of the game is to help Zagreus escape from the underworld and reach Mount Olympus. HADES has won multiple awards, including a Nebula Award for Best Game Writing, and a British Academy Games Award for Game Design.
• RHEA (53D: "Better Call Saul" star Seehorn) RHEA Seehorn plays the role of lawyer Kim Wexler on the TV show Better Call Saul. Both a spin-off and prequel of the series Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul's sixth and final season aired in 2021.

Geography review:

• LAOS (13A: Cambodia's neighbor) and THAI (49A: Cambodian's neighbor) This is a fun pair of clues. Cambodia is a country in Southeast Asia. Its capital is Phnom Penh. Cambodia's neighbors are LAOS, Thailand, and Vietnam. Cambodia has coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
• IOWA (55D: State that is nearly 90% farmland) Well, hello from the state that is nearly 90% farmland! Having traveled through many parts of IOWA, I can attest that the state does have a lot of farmland. Another thing IOWA has a lot of (sprinkled throughout the farmland) is wind turbines. IOWA has the second most wind turbines of any U.S. state (second only to Texas). IOWA generates just over 10% of the U.S.'s wind energy.

When I first read the title of the puzzle, I try to guess what the theme will be. Today, I thought we might see words that precede CURVE, but in my just-woke-up BRAIN FOG, I couldn't think of any examples. Fortunately, DOESN'T RING A BELL cleared everything up. Aha, BELL CURVE... Congratulations to Billy Ouska making a USA Today debut! Thank you, Billy, for this enjoyable puzzle.