January 20, 2024

Title: FEELING SALTY (Freestyle)

Constructor: Claire Rimkus

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Freestyle: This is a themeless puzzle. FEELING SALTY is a nod to BAD ATTITUDE (3D: Negative outlook).

Things I learned:
  • GINA (65A: Comedian Yashere) GINA Yashere is a comedian and the co-creator of the TV sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola. GINA Yashere was born and raised in London. Her parents are Nigerian. According to her website, she "broke onto the American comedy scene with her appearances on Last Comic Standing ... and then never went home!" This answer pairs well with HUMOR (16A: Comedian's specialty).
Random thoughts and interesting things:
  • LAB (1A: Setting for much of "CSI") This is a creative clue for the word LAB. CSI, which stands for Crime Scene Investigation, is a franchise of TV shows about the work of forensic scientists. As such, much of the action of CSI takes place in a forensic LAB.
  • OREO (18A: Cookie that contains 90 ridges) Next time you have an OREO, please count the number of ridges on your cookie. Of course, each OREO cookie contains 90 ridges, but an OREO consists of two cookies sandwiching a layer of creme. Therefore, does each OREO contain 180 ridges?
  • PHIL (24A: Punxsutawney ___ (famous groundhog)) Punxsutawney PHIL is a groundhog that lives near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He usually gets attention once a year on Groundhog Day (February 2), but you can visit his website any day of the year. Among other things, the website contains a countdown clock to Groundhog Day.
  • PHI (33A: Greek letter before chi) I mentioned PHI and chi just two days ago as I was reviewing the Greek alphabet. PHI is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet's 24 letters.
  • PROUD (40A: Out and ___) It's especially delightful that this answer is in the center of the puzzle.
  • INUIT (43A: Many Alaskans) The INUIT are a group of indigenous peoples in Northern Canada and the U.S. state of Alaska. 
  • NESS (70A: Suffix that makes an adjective a noun) Examples of using the suffix NESS to convert an adjective to a noun include good/goodNESS, kind/kindNESS, and serious/seriousNESS.
  • ARIES (2D: Sign after Pisces) and RAM (49D: Aries animal) The first astrological sign of the zodiac, ARIES is the sign for people born between March 20 and April 19. The symbol for ARIES is the RAM. People born under the sign of ARIES include Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, and my mom, my daughter, my brother, and my dad.
  • PURR (9D: Sound of a cat's joy) The sound of a cat's PURR is quite comforting. Here's a photo of a perfectly content Willow, who is not PURRing at the moment because she is asleep. 
    A calico cat curled up and sleeping on a plaid blanket.
    Willow
  • SENOR (14D: Title with a tilde) The Spanish title SEÑOR has a tilde over the letter N. Crosswords often ignore diacritic marks, and I appreciated this clue drawing attention to it.
  • SIS (39D: What Ma may call Auntie) Your ma's SIS would be your auntie. I like the use of informal names in the clue here to indicate that the answer is an informal, shortened version of sister.
  • TENTH (56D: Like "Midnights", among Taylor Swift albums) Taylor Swift's TENTH studio album, Midnights, was released in October 2022. The album received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. The winners will be announced February 4, 2024.
  • CATE (57D: "The Hobbit" trilogy actress Blanchett) The Hobbit trilogy includes the movies An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). The films are based on J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 book The Hobbit. CATE Blanchett plays the role of Lady Galadriel.
  • CHI (61D: WNBA's Sky, on scoreboards) The Chicago Sky (CHI on scoreboards) are a WNBA team. The Sky won their first WNBA championship in 2021. 
  • EID (63D: "___ Mubarak" (holiday greeting)) "EID Mubarak" means "Blessed feast" or "Blessed festival" in Arabic. The Muslim greeting is used for the festivals of EID al-Fitr (a festival marking the end of Ramadan) and EID al-Adha (a holiday honoring Abraham's obedience to God).

    Geography review:

    • HAITI (66A: Port-au-Prince's nation) HAITI is a Caribbean country. It occupies part of the island of Hispaniola; the remainder of the island is the Dominican Republic. The capital of HAITI is Port-au-Prince.
    There's a lot to enjoy in this Freestyle puzzle. In addition to the answers I've already highlighted, I also like PEANUT BUTTER (I like the answer and the food!), POTATO CHIPS (ditto!), COME TOGETHER, and TOOTHBRUSH. Thank you, Claire, for this stellar puzzle.


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