October 26, 2021

Title: B&B Listings

Constructor: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

BIGGER AND BETTER (16A: Positive description for an expanded edition)

BOOKED AND BUSY (35A: Never out of work, per Rickey Thompson)

BUMBLE AND BUMBLE (56A: Haircare brand)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a phrase consisting of two B- words connected by "AND."

Things I learned:

• BOOKED AND BUSY (35A: Never out of work, per Rickey Thompson) Rickey Thompson is and actor and Internet personality. He coined the phrase BOOKED AND BUSY on an Instagram post that ended up going viral.
• BUMBLE AND BUMBLE (56A: Haircare brand) BUMBLE AND BUMBLE is a brand of hair care products founded in 1977. The company became a brand of Estée Lauder in 2006.. 
• MAE (39D: Actress Sandra ___ Frank) It was recently announced that Sandra MAE Frank is joining the cast of the medical drama TV series, New Amsterdam, for the fourth season. She will play the role of Dr. Elizabeth Wilder.
• ENID (54D: Thora Birch's "Ghost World" role) Ghost World is a 2001 movie based on a comic book of the same name by Daniel Clowes. Thora Birch and Scarlet Johansson play the roles of teenagers, ENID and Rebecca.
• UTE (57D: Recipients of Christine Sleeter's 2017 repayment) Christine Sleeter returned money she inherited from her grandmother to the UTE Nation. She did so after discovering the money was a result of homesteading, and based on the theft of UTE land. I found this article written by Christine Sleeter a good explanation of her methods of research and her reasoning. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• MEOW (8A: Kitten's call) I am always happy to see a cat/kitten clue, but it was especially welcome today. It has been a long stretch of 11 days since I've referenced cats in the blog, and my cat, Willow, was beginning to get grumpy about it. This clue is
  
  especially timely, because last night my friend Lynn, who recently returned from visiting family in The Netherlands, let me choose one of the cards she bought at the Rijksmuseum. However, she told me, "If you choose a card with a cat on it, I expect to see it on the blog." Here then, is a picture of the lovely card, a reproduction of the 1844 painting "Cat with Kittens," by Henriëtte Ronner.
• MOANA (15A: Disney heroine whose name means "ocean") Auli'i Cravalho, who we saw in the October 5 puzzle, voiced the role of MOANA in the 2016 animated movie.
• RNA (24A: Single-stranded molecule) and DNA (58D: Double-stranded molecule) This pair of clues made my scientist-heart happy. Both the single-stranded RNA (ribonucleic acid) and the double-stranded DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) store and transmit genetic information. Here's an article that looks at the similarity and differences of the two molecules, in case you'd like some more science in your day.
• PASTE (42A: Achiote ___) Achiote PASTE, also known as recado rojo, is a spice mixture associated with Mexican and Belizean cuisines.
• MOET (62A: Chandon's partner in champagne) MOËT & Chandon is a French winery founded in 1743. They are one of the world's largest producers of champagne.
• ORIOLE (2D: Baltimore bird) The Baltimore ORIOLE is a small migratory bird that was named because the male bird's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore, a 17th century English nobleman. The Baltimore ORIOLE is the state bird of Maryland, and the mascot for the Baltimore ORIOLEs baseball team. 

Geography review:

• ASIA (13A: Largest continent) Covering 17.2 million square miles, ASIA is the largest of the seven continents, and also home to the most people (about 60% of the world's population). The highest and lowest points on Earth are found in ASIA: Mt. Everest and the Dead Sea.
• USA (6D: Neighbor of Mex.) In addition to the USA, Guatemala and Belize are also neighbors of Mexico.
• ABU (50D: ___ Dhabi) ABU Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Come and stay awhile at this B&B puzzle. Although two of the theme answers were new to me, they were easily obtained by crossing answers, and fun to figure out. There are a fair number of animals in our puzzle today, with the LAB RAT, ORIOLE, MOUSE, ANTS, GNATS, and the cat's MEOW. This puzzle was not just SO-SO - it was an enjoyable way to begin my Tuesday.