October 13, 2020

Title: EAT FOR TWO

Constructor: Amanda Rafkin

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SWEATER WEATHER (19A: Opportunity to sport a cardigan)

CREATURE FEATURE (36A: Monster movie)

GREATER SEATTLE (51A: Pacific Northwest metro area)

Theme synopsis: Each word of the TWO-word theme answers contains the letter string E-A-T.

Things I learned:

• COMIC (44A: Bianca Xunise creation) Bianca Xunise is one of six female cartoonists who draw the COMIC Six Chix. Appropriately, Xunise draws the COMIC each Tuesday. 
• HELEN (34A: "Asian American Dreams" author Zia) HELEN Zia's book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People describes the transformation of Asian Americans from a few disconnected groups to a self-identified racial group influencing American society and culture.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EVE (14A: "All About ___" (1950 film)) All About EVE, starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, was nominated for 14 Academy Awards. It won six, including Best Picture. It was one of the first 50 movies deemed, "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress, and chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry.
• ALPHABET (9D: The Arabic one begins "alif, ba, ta...") The basic Arabic ALPHABET contains 28 letters. Each letter represents a consonant. Vowel sounds are indicated by diacritical marks added to the letters.
• ROSE NYLUND (10D: Betty White's character on "The Golden Girls") Betty White played good-natured, but often naive, ROSE NYLUND in 204 episodes of the The Golden Girls.
• TARPS (25D: Sheets that are often blue) This was a fun clue. There is a color-coded system for TARPS. According to this system, blue indicates a lightweight tarp. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers follow the system, which limits its usefulness.
• LUNA (55D: Moon goddess for whom a moth species is named) The lime-green colored LUNA moth can have a wing span of over 7 inches, making it one of the largest moths in North America.

Geography review:

• ARBOR (47A: Ann ___, Michigan) Ann ARBOR, Michigan is the home of the University of Michigan.
• GREATER SEATTLE (51A: Pacific Northwest metro area) Over half of the population of the state of Washington lives in the GREATER SEATTLE area which includes the cities of SEATTLE, Tacoma, and Bellevue. Shoutout to my favorite GREATER SEATTLE resident, my son!
• CROW (2D: Montana people) The autonym for the CROW people (the name they use for themselves) is Absaroka, which translates as "children of the large-beaked bird," was given to them by a neighboring tribe.
• INCA (24D: Ancient Peruvian) The INCA people established the INCA Empire, which lasted from 1438 to 1533.
• OREGON (45D: The ___ Trail) The OREGON Trail was a 2,170-mile east-west route that connected the Missouri River to OREGON. Many of us are familiar with the difficulties and challenges presented by the trail from a computer game popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. 

SWEATER WEATHER is my favorite time of year. It's also my favorite of today's top-notch theme answers, though it's a close race. CREATURE FEATURE is so much fun to say, and I have emotional ties to the GREATER SEATTLE area. Nice long bonuses in ROSE NYLUND and STEP-PARENT. I don't have a NIT with this puzzle at all, it was delightful all around. Amanda also constructed today's New York Times puzzle, and it is enjoyable, too. (I'm not going to blog about that puzzle, but I'll just note that it has a similar theme construct.)