June 8, 2021

Title: PREFIX MENU

Constructor: Rachel Fabi

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

******This puzzle is part of the USA Today Pride Puzzle Series******

Theme Answers:

PANCAKES (17A: *Stacked breakfast foods)

DEMI-GLACE (38A: *Rich brown sauce in French cuisine)

BIBIMBAP (63A: *Korean rice dish)

Theme synopsis: The first few letters of each food item theme answer are a possible PREFIX for the word sexual. We have PANSEXUAL, DEMISEXUAL, and BISEXUAL.

Things I learned:

• IRA (55A: Madison III of "Keep It!") IRA Madison III is a writer and podcaster. Along with Louis Virtel and Aida Osman, he hosts the podcast Keep It! which is a production of the political media company, Crooked Media. Each week the hosts of Keep It! and a guest discuss the ways pop culture and entertainment intersect with politics and society. 
• BRAND (59A: Dragun Beauty or Fluide, e.g.) Dragun Beauty is a cosmetic line founded in 2019 by  Nikita Dragun. When Dragun Beauty, one of the first cosmetic BRANDs owned by and made for trans people, first debuted, the initial stock sold out within a single night. Fluide is a makeup brand that markets their products as "designed for all gender expressions and skin tones. Fluide was launched in 2018 by Laura Kraber and Isabella Giancarlo.
• LEATHER (2D: Material worn at the Folsom Street Fair) The Folsom Street Fair is held each September in San Francisco, California. Begun in 1984, the festival has grown to be California's third-largest single-day street event (following the Rose Parade and San Francisco's Pride Parade). An article I found about the 2019 event states, "While the festival was created for people within the LEATHER and kink community, all are welcome to the festival, regardless if they're donning a corset, LEATHER chaps, jeans, or, perhaps, nothing at all." That statement was immediately followed with the sentence, "First timers to the event should keep an open mind..."
• LARD (39D: Main ingredient in manteca colora) Manteca colorá is Andalusian for "red LARD." It is prepared by adding spices to LARD - the characteristic color of the dish comes from paprika - and then cooking the LARD with minced pork. Manteca colorá is usually eaten spread on toasted bread.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• ELMO (1A: "Sesame Street" character with a pet goldfish) ELMO's pet goldfish is named Dorothy.
• SEAN (13A: Congressman Maloney) U.S. Representative SEAN Maloney represents New York's 18th congressional district. Elected in 2012, he was the first openly gay person elected to Congress from New York.
• THEDE (20A: Robin who created "A Black Lady Sketch Show") As the name suggests, A Black Lady Sketch Show features comedic sketches performed by a cast of Black women. Robin THEDE created the show for HBO, and is one of the stars of the show, along with Ashley Nicole Black, Gabrielle Dennis, Quinta Brunson, Laci Mosley, and Skye Townsend.
• DR. WHO (24A: Abbreviated name for a TV Time Lord) The "Doctor" of DR. WHO is spelled out in the title of the show, thus the "abbreviated name" indication in the clue. The Time Lord who is the main character of the British TV series, Doctor WHO, is also sometimes simply referred to as "the Doctor." 
• DEMI-GLACE (38A: *Rich brown sauce in French cuisine) DEMI-GLACE is traditionally made my combining a basic brown sauce (known as espagnole sauce in French cooking) with stock, reducing the liquid by half, and finishing it with a sherry wine. DEMI-GLACE may be used by itself, but it also used as a base for other sauces.
• SOUR (48A: ___ Patch Kids) My first thought here was "cabbage," but when that didn't fit I somehow ended up with "soul" Patch Kids...hmm. The crossing answer of LARD set that right. SOUR Patch Kids are a BRAND of candy whose slogans are "SOUR than sweet," and "SOUR, sweet, gone." SOUR Patch Kids are known as Very Bad Kids in France. The original name of the candy was Mars Men. Their name changed in 1985, perhaps due to the popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids at that time. (So I wasn't completely off-track!)
• BIBIMBAP (63A: *Korean rice dish) BIBIMBAP  is a rice dish in Korean cuisine, consisting of white rice topped with sautéed or fermented vegetables, chili pepper paste, soy sauce, and sometimes an egg and sliced meat.
• DEEPLY (16D: "Truly, Madly, ___") "Truly, Madly, DEEPLY" is the name of a 1997 song by the Australian duo, Savage Garden, and a 2012 song by the British-Irish boy band, "One Direction." Truly, Madly, DEEPLY is also the title of a 1990 movie starring Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman, and the title of a 2010 young adult novel by Faraaz Kazi. Take your pick!
• RON (21D: Actor Funches) I learned about comedian and voice actor RON Funches from the January 27, 2021 puzzle. 
• ABRAMS (40D: Stacey who founded Fair Fight Action) Stacey ABRAMS founded Fair Fight Action in 2018 to address voter suppression. The organization aims to make elections more equitable, and advocates for changes in voter registration laws that will increase the number of eligible voters.
• RAINBOW (44D: ___ flag (LGBTQ+ pride symbol) The RAINBOW flag has been used to represent LGBTQ+ pride since 1978.

Geography review:

• SRI (54D: ___ Lanka) SRI Lanka is an island country in South Asia. 

A prix fixe ("fixed price") MENU features a multi-course meal with only a few choices for a fixed total price. Today our puzzle creatively reimagines this phrase to be a PREFIX MENU, offering us an interesting meal of PANCAKES, DEMI-GLACE, and BIBIMBAP providing the PREFIXes of PAN-, DEMI-, and BI-. I enjoyed this clever theme! Inclusion of the RAINBOW flag was a nice touch. I was amused by the lower left corner - with LAZE, SNOOZE, and ASLEEP, this section of the puzzle has a definite "RATS, it's MONDAY...LET'S NOT" vibe. I enjoyed the cluing voice of this puzzle, which ranged from ELMO's goldfish to the Folsom Street Fair! This puzzle was an enjoyable way to begin my Tuesday.