The clue at 17A today is “Any facial feature of the man in the moon, in reality” and the answer for the puzzle was CRATER, but that’s not a good answer! Those blotches you see when you look up there are actually called MARIA (with the first syllable accented), the plural of MARE (pronounced MAR-ay). They got that name because it’s Latin for seas, and the early astronomers mistook them for actual seas. Only ignorant slobs who don’t read Owl Chatter would make such a blunder. Not worth getting into a BAR FIGHT over it (19D: “Pub brawl”), but good to know.

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Remember this sweet punim?

It’s OLGA Korbut — 4-time Olympic gold-medal-winning gymnast. She was in the grid today even though her heydays were back in 1972 and 1976 for the USSR. She’s from Belarus. She retired in 1977 at age 22 and was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988. She’s 68 now.

Olga married Leonid Bortkevich and they had a son. Fearing the effects of Chernobyl, they emigrated to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey, ironically the only state the toxicity of which rivals that of Chernobyl. She lives in Arizona now and teaches gymnastics.

Hubby Leonid was a member of the popular Belarusian folk band Pesniary, among whose influences was early Frank Zappa.

Pesniary was one of the few (and maybe the first) Soviet band to tour the US. This was in 1976 and they toured with the New Christy Minstrels. After joining them for dinner at Wendy’s (and too many drinks back at their home), Phil was able to tease this rare video out of Leonid. It’s the 1972 video from the band’s song “Alicia.” It’s a romance, sort of, with a handsome couple cavorting in the woods. Owl Chatter fans should be warned, however, — it will be the longest 4 minutes of your life.

Olga’s legacy includes her incredible “Korbut flip,” which entails, in part, her standing on top of the bars. It has since been banned, in part for safety reasons. This video of her performance speaks for itself. Unfortunately, it speaks for itself in German, but it’s still worth a look.

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After our long drive back from Brookville, PA (stopping point on the journey back from MI), I still have exams to grade, so I gotta go. Will return when I can. Thanks for popping in!