Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I learned from today’s puzzle

• ALTER (62A: Individual identity in a DID system) DID means here dissociative identity disorder, a condition previously called multiple personality disorder. People with IDD have at least two distinct identities, called ALTER (short for “alternative identity”). A DID system includes all ALTERs within a single body. This terminology is new to me and I’m happy to learn it.

Random Thoughts and Interesting Things

• DEADLY (12A: word after “simple” word or before “Kombat”) The Mortal Combat the franchise started with a Mortal Combat arcade game released in 1992. Since then, the franchise has grown to include comic books, card games, films, an animated television series, and even a live-action tour. I’m sure there’s a joke to be made about a mere MORTAL playing MORTAL Kombat.
• SLALOM (19A: Winding Event at the Winter Olympics) SLALOM skiing involves skiing between poles or gates in a winding or twisting pattern.
• Bog (28A: Where Cranberries Grow) Cranberries grow on low vines in bogs, areas of sand, peat, gravel, and clay that were originally created by my glacial deposits. Commercially, cranberries are grown in beds prepared with sand to ensure adequate drainage. The beds are surrounded by dikes to allow the beds to be filled with water during harvest. The majority of cranberries are harvested using a wet method, which involves flooding the fields, removing the cranberries from the vines using a harvester, and then harvesting the floating cranberries.
• MARIE ANTOINETTE (37A: French royal who probably didn’t say “Let them eat cake!”) “Let them eat cake!” is the English translation of the French expression “Qu’ils tangent de la brioche”, which MARIE ANTOINETTE (1755-1793) probably did not utter in response to being told that the peasants had no bread . MARIE ANTOINETTE was the wife of Louis XVI and was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. The saying “Let them eat cake!” » was attributed to MARIE ANTOINETTE some fifty years after her death, and most historians believe it is unlikely that she said it.
• YOM (39A: ___ Yom Kippur) YOM Kippur is a Jewish holy day known as the Day of Atonement. It is observed by fasting and prayer. This year, YOM Kippur was observed from sunset on October 11 until nightfall on October 12.
• ELI (40A: Name hidden in “delight”) I dEliI found a hidden word clue, and this was no exception.
• CPR (42A: procedure performed at approximately 110 bpm) and CLEAR (42D: shouted word when using a defibrillator). It is recommended that (for adults) CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) chest compressions be performed at a rate of 100-120 beats. per minute (bpm). If you ever need to perform CPR, there are several songs that can help you maintain the proper pace, including the Bee Gees song, “Stay alive.” This tip for keeping up is recommended by the American Heart Association. If “Stayin’ Alive” isn’t your jam, any song with 100-120 bpm will do. You might try “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, “Rumor Has It” by Adele, or “Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel. No matter what song you sing to maintain the appropriate pace for administering CPR, if someone yells “CLEAR,” stop the CPR and make sure you do not touch the person the defibrillator is about to apply to. be used. A defibrillator delivers a dose of electrical current to the heart to try to restore a normal heart rhythm. It is important that no one else touches the person on whom the defibrillator is being used, otherwise they may also receive a shock.
• LIU (50A: Actor Simu) Simu LIU’s acting credits include the main character of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and one of eight characters named Ken in the film barbie (2023).
• MING DYNASTY (57A: Chinese reign associated with porcelain) Among other things, the MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) was notable as an era of innovation in ceramic manufacturing. Blue and white porcelain is particularly associated with this period, although vases of other colors were also made.
• TENTS (64A: Shelters for Campers) and MAPS (65A: Guides for Campers) It was a fun choice to tie these consecutive clues together with a camping angle.
• HOLES (7D: Novel in which the protagonist digs in the Texas desert) I read a lot of books; it’s my favorite way to relax. The book HOLES by Louis Sachar is the one that struck me even though I read it shortly after its publication in 1998. HOLES won the United States National Book Award for Children’s Literature. He also won a Newberry Medal in 1999 for “most distinguished contribution to American children’s literature.” The book’s protagonist is Stanley Yelnats IV, who was wrongly convicted of theft and sent to a juvenile correctional center in the Texas desert called Camp Green Lake. Prisoners at Camp Green Lake must dig a cylindrical HOLE – five feet wide and five feet deep – every day.
• TINA (29D: eldest daughter in “Bob’s Burgers”) This is the third time this year we’ve seen the name TINA refer to the eldest daughter in the animated sitcom. Bob’s Burgers. In May we saw TINA as (the kid from “Bob’s Burgers” who likes horses, music and boys), and in July we saw her identified as (the butt-obsessed Bob’s Burger teen).
• BENIN (46D: Country west of Nigeria) BENIN is located in West Africa. BENIN is a relatively small country, whose coastline runs along the Bay of BENIN (part of the Gulf of Guinea). Besides Nigeria, its neighbors are Togo, Burkina Faso and Niger. The capital of BENIN is Porto-Novo.
• ANNA (48D: Actress ___ May Wong) ANNA May Wong (1905-1961) made her first film appearances during the silent film era. In 1921, she dropped out of high school to pursue a full-time acting career. She went on to star in numerous films and television shows and is considered Hollywood’s first Chinese-American movie star. ANNA May Wong is one of the women honored with the award American Women Quarters Program. The ANNA May Wong Neighborhood, released in 2022, features ANNA May Wong surrounded by marquee lights.
• ESTA (54D: “Tres leches? En ___ economia?”) This clue made me laugh! “Tres leches? In ESTA economy?” translates to “Three milks? In this economy? The phrase, which refers to tres leches cake (made with condensed milk, condensed milk and whole milk), has been used as a joke and a meme on social media.
• Some other answers that I particularly appreciated:
  • OKAY, YOU HAVE ME (5D: “Ugh, I don’t really know that”)
  • SENIORITY (9D: “Affliction” for future graduates)
  • RULES OF MERCY (27D: they are invoked to prematurely end very unbalanced games)