The clue at 32A today was “Kind of belt,” and the answer was BIBLE. The question was posed as to whether “belt” in that geographical sense, rose to the level of a “category.” Rex said all he could think of was the Bible Belt, the Rust Belt, and the Sun Belt. Of course, there’s the Borscht Belt. But research revealed an amazing number of “belts” of this nature, some of which are a hoot.
The best by far is the Jell-O Belt: a region containing a large Mormon population, which includes Utah, of course. Mormons love Jell-O. Who knew? One of the official pins for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was a green Jell-O jiggler in the shape of the state.
“Salt Lake City is America’s Jell-O-eating capital. Every man, woman and child in Salt Lake City buys two boxes of the stuff annually, or twice the national average,” says Mary Jane Kinkade of Jell-O maker Kraft Foods. Utah residents also eat twice as much lime Jell-O as anyone else on the planet.” Come on Jersey — step it up!!
Get this — In 2012, Slate criticized the phrase “Jell-O Belt” as rooted in misogyny and infantilizing stereotypes of Mormon culture. “In making Jell-O ‘their’ food, Mormons (or Lutherans or Methodists) are making a statement about their identity, accepting all of the food’s positive connotations of family-friendliness, child-centeredness, and domesticity. Outsiders, in contrast, often see Jell-O as a mark of a lack of taste that renders this group strange, immature, and ultimately mockable.”
Personally, I can take it or leave it. I enjoyed it very much after my prostate surgery when it was all I could eat for a short period . Not lime, though.
Overall, there are roughly 20 belts including the Black Belt in the South (particular concentration of Blacks), Indiana Gas Belt (an area in Indiana (duh) where there was a gas boom in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s), Lead Belt (SE portion of Missouri with a long history of lead mining), Pine Belt (southern Mississippi), Pretzel Belt (Pennsylvania, of course), Rice Belt (southern states), and the Salt Belt (Northeast and Midwest where much salt is used on the roads in the winter).
The scariest is the Stroke Belt, a region in the Southeast that has an unusually high incidence of stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease. Ouch!
The name of this poem is “Daughter,” and it’s by Lisel Mueller. It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac.
My next poem will be happy,
I promise myself. Then you come
with your deep eyes, your tall jeans,
your narrow hands, your wit,
your uncanny knowledge, and
your loneliness. All the flowers
your father planted, all
the green beans that have made it,
all the world’s recorded pianos
and this exhilarating day
cannot change that.
Today’s theme was magic, in particular pulling a rabbit out of a hat. You can see the hat in the center of the grid and the word TIBBAR emerging from it. That’s RABBIT backwards to show that it’s being pulled out of the hat.
Quite a few commenters were upset that the rabbit seems to be pulled out upside down. In the actual trick, the magician reaches in and pulls the rabbit out right-side-up. But I agree with the comment that said the letters only indicate the direction the rabbit is moving in — coming out of the hat as opposed to going in — and that it may not itself be upside down.
I added my two cents to the discussion with the following inane post:
If the rabbit him (or her) self does not sense that he or she is upside down, I don’t have a problem with it. But that may be hard to discern.
The very pretty ARIANA Grande dropped by the grid today, perhaps to pick up some vocal tips from old pro ETTA James. Nice to see you both! Fred’s here too — Fred ASTAIRE. No doubt he’ll make good use of that top hat once the rabbit it out of it. Quite a music fest for us today. (Wow. Nice shot, Philly.)
Here’s Etta, in full command.
Some interesting material flared up over 54A. The clue was “Not as well,” and the answer was (the awful, IMO), ILLER. A commenter who goes by ghostofelectricity posted:
My favorite use of the word “ILLER” occurred in the 1946 film version of W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge,” directed by Edmund Goulding (don’t bother with the ridiculous 1984 remake, starring a badly miscast Bill Murray). Near the end of the film, American expat socialite Elliott Templeton (Clifton Webb in one of his best performances), in bed and gravely ill from a heart condition, cries bitter tears and complains for ten minutes about not being invited to a soirée being given by another American expat socialite whom Elliott helped introduce to European high society and whom he insulted (he revealed that she was carrying on with her chauffeur). Maugham (Herbert Marshall), calms Elliott and tells him “I’m afraid you’re much ILLER than you realize.” Elliott immediately calms down and says “Do you mean I’m going to die?” He then placidly begins planning for his imminent demise, calling for the priest to give him last rites, etc. Elliott cries and whines like a baby at length about being snubbed at an invitation for a party, but takes the news of his impending death with equanimity and courage. Great scene. If only they made movies like that now.
A later comment noted that the wedding gown Gene Tierney wears in the film was the actual wedding gown her husband–the designer Oleg Cassini–made for her. But they eloped and the film was the only time she wore it.
I knew it was a long shot but I asked our incredible Owl Chatter photographer Phil if he might have caught Tierney wearing that gown.
“Of course,” he said. “Who do you think caught the bouquet?” Here she is.
See you tomorrow! Thanks for dropping in.
The Wellington Files 