January 11, 2021

Title: FINDING NEMO

Constructors: Pao Roy & Matthew Stock

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

ONE MORE THING (19A: "Oh, and also...")

FINE MOTOR SKILLS (35A: Small-muscle dexterity)

AIRPLANE MODE (52A: In-flight device setting)

Theme synopsis: The word NEMO can be found in each of the theme answers.

And now a word from one of our constructors:

Matthew (he/him): I’m so excited and grateful to team up with Pao on this puzzle! They’re an incredible constructor whom I’ve had the honor of working with this past year, and it’s amazing to see our very first collab out in the wild. I especially hope you enjoy the bonuses from today’s lower word-count grid — 74 words is definitely a challenge to fill while meeting USA Today’s high standards, but the more open layout (coupled with the choice to roll with just three themers instead of 4+) afforded us tons of room for fun non-theme stuff like 48-Across, 4-Down, 8-Down and 34-Down. Hope the puzzle helped get your week started on the right note!

Things I learned:

• WES (41A: NBA Hall of Famer Unseld) WES Unseld played basketball for NBA's Baltimore/Capitol/Washington Bullets from 1968 to 1981, and coached the team from 1987-1994. (The team was named the Baltimore Bullets when Unseld was drafted. In 1973 the team changed its name to the Capital Bullets, then to the Washington Bullets in 1974. In 1997 the team rebranded themselves and are now known as the Washington Wizards.) WES Unseld was named the NBA Most Valuable Player during his rookie season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.
• STAR (60A: Co-___ (astrology app)) Co-STAR is a social networking site founded in 2017. Users enter the date, time, and place they were born, and then receive astrological information they can compare with their friends.
• SHAMAN (43D: Txiv neeb, e.g.) In the Miao folk religion (or Hmong folk religion), the SHAMAN is called txiv neeb and performs healing rituals.
• ADELE (50A: Computer scientist Goldberg) ADELE Goldberg participated in the development of  Smalltalk-80, an object-oriented programming language.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• PEG (5A: Square ___ in a round hole) I was curious about the origin of this saying used to refer to a person who doesn't quite fit in a particular niche of society. Sydney Smith, a British writer and cleric, originated the metaphor in the early 1800s during a series of lectures he gave at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 
• MISSY (8A: "Get Ur Freak On" artist Elliott) "Get Ur Freak On" is a 2001 song by rapper and songwriter MISSY Elliott from her album Miss E...So Addictive. In 2020, Billboard ranked MISSY Elliott number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time.
• ALOO (13A: ___ gobi) ALOO gobi is a dish in Indian and Pakistani cuisines made of potatoes, cauliflower, and spices. The use of turmeric makes the dish yellow in color.
• BRA (27A: Ivy Park garment) Ivy Park is a line of athletic wear owned, managed, and operated by Beyoncé.
• ODE (42A: The Gwendolyn Brooks poem "Paul Robeson," for example) Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950, making her the first Black person to receive a Pulitzer Prize. One of her poems is an ODE to singer and actor, Paul Robeson. 
• PHONE TAG (48A: "Game" of missed calls) I enjoyed this clue immensely! When I first read the clue, I could not think of a game involving missed calls. It took a few letters filled in from crossing answers to realize the clue wasn't referring to an actual board or card game, but rather that "game" many of us have experienced when trying to connect with someone - PHONE TAG.
• QUEST (62A: A Tribe Called ___) Since I have been blogging, the hip hop group, A Tribe Called QUEST has appeared in the puzzle three times. The previous two times, on October 10, 2020, and October 17, 2020, they were in clues for the word TRIBE.
• PANEER (5D: Chef G. Sultan Mohideen made a 72-kilo block of it in 2014) PANEER is a fresh cheese made from cow or buffalo milk. It is commonly used in cuisines from the Indian subcontinent. As you might have guessed, the 72-kilo block of PANEER was made in an attempt to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. (I could not determine whether the attempt became a world record or not.) 
• BAR (27D: Lemon ___) and ZEST (29D: Lemon ___) Suddenly I find myself craving a lemon BAR made using lemon ZEST. Mmmmmm.
• KNISH (32D: Deli order similar to an empanada) A KNISH consists of dough enclosing a filling - the traditional filling is mashed potato - that is baked or deep fried.
• BBQ (54D: What some restaurants in K-Town offer) In this case, K-Town is a shortened term for Koreatown, and the BBQ offered is Korean BBQ. This puzzle is making me hungry.

Geography review: 

• OMAHA (15A: Nebraska city where Malcolm X was born) Malcolm X was born in OMAHA, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. His family relocated to Lansing, Michigan in 1926.
• FEZ (28A: Hat named for a Moroccan city) FEZ is the second largest city in Morocco. (Casablanca is Morocco's largest city.) The dye originally used to color the FEZ came from crimson berries produced in FEZ, Morocco.
• RHODE (46A: ___ Island) RHODE Island is the smallest U.S. state by area. By contrast, it has the longest official name of any U.S. State: "State of RHODE Island."

I found NEMO! Three times, as a matter of fact, in the three delightful theme answers in this puzzle. Lots to like in this puzzle, in addition to the NEMO sightings. There are a couple of mini-themes going on here. You might get a warm feeling from the puzzle with its FIRE EMOJI and HOT MESSES. I also spotted a couple of cows hiding in MOONWALK and MOODIEST. (Perhaps they were looking for NEMO?) ONE MORE THING, this puzzle was an enjoyable way to begin my Monday morning.