Over The Rainbow

We’ve breached June and with it, a few different things. When you think of June, what do you think of? That’s right, hockey, as we wait with baited breath on the Stanley Cup playoff run. However, while the orange-and-blue are doing their thing, another more colourful group also comes to mind in June. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Gender? I Hardly Know Them, who are perhaps my biggest window into the hilarity of online queer culture. Here’s a tweet from one of their weekly meme round-ups that may or may not make sense to you, but made me blow air out my nose.

Happy Pride to all my LGBTQIA2S+ folks out there! I’ve put a little extra charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent into this one, so hopefully you slay, queen!

Discussion (and spoilers!) below the break.

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Discussion

If there’s one thing I thank the queer community for, it’s stellar music. The Japanese House, Girl in Red, Lucy Dacus, Troye Sivan, Frank Ocean… I could go on. Don’t make me. Unfortunately, I can only get so much theme in here, so most of today’s musical references were not queer. Here’s a great song from SOPHIE who makes an appearance, though.

Today’s Theme

The starred answers are all colours of the rainbow - and of Gilbert Baker’s Pride Flag. Many people assume each colour represents a different group, but they actually represent ideas! Here’s the original version (the pink and turquoise were later taken out).

Tricky Clues

19A. [What your Crush might be (or Healing, on a certain flag)] is a perfect summer clue. You’re 14, you’re at a backyard BBQ, someone is at the grill. You see a cooler, open it up - and it’s filled with sweet, ice-cold pop cans. Do you go for a Nestea? No, today you go for an ORANGE Crush (s/o cream soda though). Wait, Crush Orange Zero Sugar launched in Canada??? brb

26A. You might know that [Aphrodite and Loki, for two] are GODS, sure, but there’s some fun queerness in here. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation (I’m not the only one who always picked her boons in Hades, am I?). And Loki, who in the MCU is explicitly bisexual, and in Norse Mythology, can change his gender? Neat.

30A. His Dark Materials - what a fantastic book trilogy (and HBO series, I hear). Part of what makes the series lovable are each character’s DAEMON, the “external physical manifestation of a person's ‘inner-self’ that takes the form of an animal.” I would love a daemon but I’m not sure what animal it would be. Maybe an otter.

4D. I couldn’t get Alan in here, but I could get ALLEN, the [Wrench that sounds like a notable gay mathematician], so I guess close enough? Alan Turing wasn’t just the star of The Imitation Game - he was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century and instrumental in World War II.

9D. Gather your sage, sweetgrass, cedar, or tobacco, it’s time for some spiritual cleansing. Did you see an Indigenous person burn one of these sacred materials? They just SMUDGED, making the self and the space spiritually cleansed.

26D. I’m not sure if this is still a thing, but I thought it was interesting. Oscar Wilde, noted queer author and writer of two of my favourite classics (The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest), was also a sneaky guy. He popularized the GREEN carnation as a flower to secretly signal your preferences to other gay men, and Elliot Page included one on his lapel at the 2021 Met Gala.

I hope you enjoyed this puzzle!

Until next Friday,

Brandon