3/2/25 - Rainbow Connection 🌈

🏁 Solve –> Rainbow Connection by Adam Wagner

16A | N.Y.C. neighborhood where the Cronut was invented

SOHO

The brainchild of French pastry chef Dominique Ansel, the "Cronut" – a donut with flaky croissant-like layers– occupies a sweet spot on the menu of other famous portmanteau foods alongside Starbucks' Frappuccino and the turducken.

When Ansel introduced the hybrid treat at his namesake SoHo bakery in May 2013, its arrival was met with such instantaneous acclaim that he applied for a trademark on the name that same week.

Time magazine lauded the culinary creation as one of its "25 Best Inventions of the Year" (thereby placing it in the esteemed company of the Oculus Rift VR headset and a waterless fracking process) and in 2014 Ansel received the prestigious James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef.

29A | Follower of Robespierre, in 18th-century France

JACOBIN

Members of The Society of the Friends of the Constitution, a revolutionary-minded French political group who presided over the country's "Reign of Terror," were nicknamed Jacobins on account of their chosen meeting place – the Couvent des Jacobins, a Dominican monastery in Paris.

The monastery's name, in turn, was due to the Dominicans having dedicated their first chapel in the city – established all the way back in 1218 – to Saint James the Great ("James" equates to "Jacobus" in Latin).

34A | Photographer Goldin

NAN

American photographer Nancy "Nan" Goldin (1953-) is known for her candid snapshots documenting the HIV/AIDS outbreak in the 1980s and members of the LGBT community.

In 1986, Goldin published her most renowned work – The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, a book (adapted from a slideshow set to music) of more than 700 autobiographical images featuring the artist and her circle of friends as they navigated life, lovers, and drug addiction in New York City's Lower East Side.

37A | One of two, in this clue

ANAPEST

A poem's rhythmic structure is determined by its meter, which in turn is made up of a certain number of "feet" (units of stressed and unstressed syllables).

An anapest is the term for a foot comprised of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, such as:

one of TWO, in this CLUE

⚠️ FYI: The reverse of an anapest is a dactyl, which occurs when a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables.

51A | Taiwan-based tech giant

ASUS

Founded in 1989 by former employees of Acer (another Taiwanese tech giant), Asus derives its name from the last four letters of "Pegasus," a winged horse from Greek mythology.

In the late 2000s, Asus found a way to put the previously discarded first half of the creature's name to use – spinning off an independent company called Pegatron in order to sell manufacturing components to other brands (e.g. Apple. Tesla) and avoid a conflict of interest with Asus's direct-to-consumer electronics business.

92A | ___ Rebellion (19th-century Chinese conflict)

TAIPING

The Taiping Rebellion was a Chinese civil war led by Hong Xiuquan, whose multiple failed attempts to pass the government's imperial examinations and secure a prestigious bureaucratic job precipitated a mental breakdown during which he experienced visions that convinced him he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ (and thus the son of the God in Christianity).

In 1851 Hong declared himself the ruler of a new dynasty – the Taiping Tianguo  (or "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace") – which, contrary to its name, was the catalyst behind a 14-year uprising that caused great social and political upheaval and resulted in the deaths of at least 20 million civilians and soldiers.

118A | Filmmaker John who directed the "Thriller" music video

LANDIS

Director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Coming to America) was approached to helm Michael Jackson's landmark "Thriller" music video after the singer saw his 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. (In addition to Landis, the movie's special effects and makeup artists were also employed.)

Often ranked as the greatest music video ever made, the zombie-filled spectacle clocks in at nearly 14 minutes (8 minutes longer than the song itself) and cost $500,000 (over $1.5 million in today's dollars) to make. Financing came from fledgling premium cable channel Showtime as well as MTV (the station that first aired the clip on December 2, 1983) after Jackson's label declined to put up the funds.

👉 BONUS BIT: The red jacket donned by Michael Jackson was designed by Deborah Nadoolman, Landis's wife, and sold at auction in 2011 for $1.8 million to a Texas-based gold trader.

121A | Big name in Western wear

STETSON

Born in New Jersey, John B. Stetson (1830-1906) left home in his late 20s and headed west in an attempt to revive his health after contracting tuberculosis.

While on his sojourn, Stetson began fashioning headwear for himself and fellow travelers from animal pelts (a skill he learned from his hatter father) and after returning to the east coast started a company to produce his unique creation, which melded the Mexican sombrero with bowler hats.

Considered to be the original "cowboy hat," Stetson's design – termed the "Boss of the Plains" – featured a wide brim to protect against the elements and was constructed using waterproof materials.

Originally available in two colors (black and pearl white), the new product was an instant hit when introduced in 1865. By 1906, the Stetson factory had grown to occupy 9 acres in Philadelphia and was manufacturing over 2 million units a year.

6D | Pantheon of Norse gods

AESIR

Æsir (ah/eye + sir/sear – mix and match!) simply means "gods" in Old Norse, a North Germanic language used by the Vikings.

The word can be used to refer to either (1) all of the gods in Norse mythology, or (2) specifically the primary group (including Odin and Thor) that won a war against a secondary group of gods known as the Vanir. [An unsurprising outcome seeing as the Æsir gods are associated with strength and power, while the Vanir gods valued harmony and nature.]

57D | 16 years, for Little League Baseball

AGE LIMIT

When Carl Stotz established Little League Baseball in 1939 with 30 players spread across three teams, it became the world's first organized youth sports program.

Today, approximately 2 million children between the ages of 4-16 participate in the organization's various divisions across more than 80 countries.

Its premier event – the Little League World Series (LLWS) – is a tournament for 10-12-year olds that brings 20 teams (10 U.S, 10 international) to compete in Stotz's hometown of Williamsport, PA each August.

👉 BONUS BIT: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pitched and played third base for the Dunedin, FL team that lost in the quarterfinals of the 1991 LLWS. He then went on to college at Yale, where he served as captain of the baseball team before hanging up his cleats to pursue politics.

Hmm, that sounds familiar 🤔

82D | Rockefeller Plaza muralist

SERT [see The Sunday Glossword - 2/9/2025]