July 9, 2022

Title: HIDE-A-BED

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Editor: Erik Agard

Guest Blogger: Shannon Rapp

Theme Answers:

TACO TUESDAY (17A: Time of the week for al pastor)

WACO TEXAS (42A: Birthplace of Doris Miller)

TOBACCO TAX (60A: Measure that makes cigarettes more expensive)

Theme synopsis: All answers have the word COT spanning a two-word phrase, thus the title "Hide-A-Bed"

Things I learned:

• COD (9A: Bacalhau fish) Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for cod, especially when salted and dried. Bacalhau stews often contain potatoes, eggs, and olives.
• ANA (20A: Actress ___ Maria Orozco) Ana Maria Orozco is most well known for starring in the Colombian telenovela "Yo soy Betty, la fea" which inspired the American sitcom "Ugly Betty".
• SAC (37A: ___ and Fox Nation) The SAC and Fox Nation is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki peoples. 
• WACO TEXAS (42A: Birthplace of Doris Miller) Doris Miller was the first Black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor. While working as a cook on board the battleship West Virginia during World War II, he shot down several enemy aircraft using a weapon on which he had no training. As a result, he became an icon of the fight for civil rights for Black Americans. 

Geography Review:

• PASO (41A: City of El ___) El Paso, Texas is the second-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, behind San Antonio, Texas.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• I love puzzles that make me hungry, and this was one of them! Besides the already mentioned TACO TUESDAY (17A: Time of the week for al pastor) and COD (9A: Bacalhau fish) we also got TBONE (35A: Beef cut named for a letter), SNO (4D: Hostess ___ Balls), PEA (8D: Pulao veggie), CELERY SALT (9D: Chicago dog seasoning), LYCHEE (15D: Fruit with white flesh), TRIX (43D: Cereal with a rabbit mascot), SAUCES (47D: Ponzu and mole), and MOMO (54D: Steamed Tibetan Dumpling). Yum yum yum.
• Ever since Sally asked me to fill in about a week ago, I've been hoping that today's puzzle would include an entry that would allow me to show off my new PET (67A: Companion animal). World, say hello to the newest cat to grace this blog, Roxie! One of her favorite activities is "helping" me do crosswords by laying across my keyboard. :) 

Hi readers! I'm Shannon Rapp, and I'm back with another guest blog for Sally's Take today. This is a fun puzzle with a cute theme that I really enjoyed solving this morning. Themes of this type are most interesting to me when the hidden word spans words in the entry, like all three do in this puzzle. I tried to think of some more entries that would fit with this theme; some of the ideas I came up with were also TACO related: CHOCO TACO and TACO TRUCK. To any aspiring constructors reading, one great tool for researching ideas for these kinds of themes is Wordlisted. It helps you search for theme entries that work with almost any kind of constraining factor. 

Zhouqin, thanks so much for the fun (and delicious) solve! Sally, thanks for letting me fill in today, and enjoy your day off! Readers, please consider supporting Sally's Take if you are able. (See the yellow Donate button to the side or below). If you are interested in talking puzzles with me more, or want to make a puzzle with me, please contact me on twitter.