June 13, 2022

Title: SLRs

Constructors: Erik Agard & Neville Fogarty

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:
SHERYL LEE RALPH (22A: Actress in "Abbott Elementary" and Broadway's "Dreamgirls")
STATE LINE ROAD (35A: Street that divides Kansas and Missouri)
SRI LANKAN RUPEE (48A: South Asian currency)
ST. LOUIS RAMS (16D: Winners of the 2000 Super Bowl)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer has the initials SLR.

Things I learned:
  • HENRI (43A: French pigeon in "An American Tail") An American Tail is a 1986 animated movie about Fievel Mousekewitz, a seven-year-old Russian-Jewish mouse (voiced by Phillip Glasser) that becomes separated from his family while they are emigrating to the United States. Along the way, Fievel is befriended by a French pigeon named HENRI (voiced by Christopher Plummer). There have been several sequels to An American Tail, as well as video game and TV spin-offs. HENRI only appears in the original movie, though he has a silent cameo in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998).
  • ST. LOUIS RAMS (16D: Winners of the 2000 Super Bowl) The ST. LOUIS RAMS were an NFL team that played in ST. LOUIS from 1995 to 2015. Prior to that time the team was located in Los Angeles, and in 2016, they relocated and once again became the Los Angeles RAMS. (The team started out as the Cleveland RAMS in 1936, relocating to Los Angeles for the first time in 1946.) On January 30, 2000, the ST. LOUIS RAMS (who had had a losing record for the previous nine seasons) won Super Bowl XXXIV. It was the team's only Super Bowl win while they were located in St. Louis. The RAMS' only other Super Bowl win occurred earlier this year in Super Bowl LVI, as the Los Angeles RAMS. (I'll be honest, it wouldn't have mattered what the year was in this clue, I wouldn't have known the answer. Thank goodness for assistance from crossing answers.)
Random thoughts and interesting things:
  • KATY (19A: Name that sounds like two letters) and ELLEN (25D: Name that sounds like two letters) This was a fun repeated clue pair.
  • SHERYL LEE RALPH (22A: Actress in "Abbott Elementary" and Broadway's "Dreamgirls") In 1981, SHERYL LEE RALPH won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role of Deena Jones in Dreamgirls. She currently plays the role of Barbara Howard, a kindergarten teacher, on the TV series, Abbott Elementary. 
  • KOALA (29A: Australian "bear") Although the KOALA is frequently referred to as a KOALA "bear," it is not a bear, but a marsupial. Like other marsupials, when KOALAs give birth, their babies crawl into their mother's pouches where they spend the first six to seven months of their lives.
  • YMCA (52A: "It's fun to stay at the ___") Did you sing this clue (either in your head or aloud?) No? Just me? This is, of course, a line from the Village People's 1978 song, "YMCA."
  • CAMERA (7D: "Say cheese!" device) This is a great bonus answer today. With respect to CAMERAs, SLR stands for single-lens reflex. I really liked this playful clue, too.
  • BAO (59D: Bun dipped in soy sauce and vinegar) BAO are yeast-leavened buns with a variety of fillings. They are usually steamed, and served with soy sauce and vinegar for dipping. BAO originated in North China.

    Geography review:

    • STATE LINE ROAD (35A: Street that divides Kansas and Missouri) As the clue tells us, and the name of the street implies, STATE LINE ROAD runs (mostly) along the Kansas-Missouri boarder. STATE LINE ROAD is a 12.5 mile street in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. In some places the entire street is in one state or the other, but on the northern part of STATE LINE ROAD, northbound traffic is in Missouri, and southbound traffic is in Kansas. As you might imagine, this can lead to some confusion in terms of things like snow removal, and even traffic tickets. This article from the Kansas City Library discusses some of the quirks of the area around STATE LINE ROAD.
    • SRI LANKAN RUPEE (48A: South Asian currency) SRI LANKA is an island country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The SRI LANKAN RUPEE is its currency. The currency code "LKR" is used to distinguish the SRI LANKAN RUPEE from other currencies called RUPEE. The SRI LANKAN RUPEE, issued by the Central Bank of SRI LANKA, is the only currency accepted in SRI LANKA (and SRI LANKA is the only country in which the SRI LANKA RUPEE is used). A less than fun fact: As of April of this year, the SRI LANKAN RUPEE is the world's worst performing currency.
    • NEW (53A: Word in four U.S. State names) and CAROLINA (9D: Word in two U.S. state names) We're brushing up on our U.S. geography today. The two CAROLINAs are, of course, North CAROLINA and SOUTH Carolina. Geography Quiz: Can you name the four U.S. states whose names contain the word NEW? Answer is at the bottom of this blog post. (I did come up with all four without looking anything up...I'm not going to tell you how long it took me!)
    • YEMEN (32D: Country on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait) The Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Oman. It separates YEMEN, a country on the Arabian Peninsula, from Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa area of Eastern Africa.
    I almost missed ST. LOUIS RAMS as a theme answer today, and when I saw it I was impressed with this construction feat. This particular theme answer - placed vertically - intersects each of the other horizontal theme answers. High PRAISE from me for this puzzle! In addition to the answers I've already highlighted, I enjoyed CRADLES, SASSES, and GUSH. Thank you, Erik and Neville, for this puzzle that was a delightful way to begin my Monday.

    Answer to Geography Quiz: The four NEW U.S. states are NEW Hampshire, NEW Jersey, NEW Mexico, and NEW York.

    Comments

    1. Thanks for you kind comments and analysis, Sally! Erik is responsible for coming up with the theme answer lattice; I really appreciated that he dared to try intersecting them like that!

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