October 14, 2022

Title: OUTLANDISH

Constructor: Rafael Musa

Editors: Anna Gundlach & Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

LAGS BEHIND (19A: Doesn't keep up)

LABOR DAY WEEKEND (36A: The unofficial end of summer)

LAST SECOND (52A: Eleventh hour)

Theme synopsis: The word LAND is found at the OUTer edges of each theme answer

Things I learned:

• THAI (5D: Cuisine seen on the YouTube channel Pailin's Kitchen) Pailin's Kitchen is the YouTube channel of Pailin "Pai" Chongchitnant. The trained chef grew up in Thailand, went to College in Vancouver, Canada, and started her YouTube channel (at the suggestion of her brother) in 2009 while living in San Francisco. Pai Chongchitnant focused her videos on THAI cuisine, because she realized THAI food in America didn't taste the same as what she had eaten while growing up. You can also find THAI recipes on the official website of Pailin's Kitchen, Hot THAI Kitchen. I've bookmarked the recipe for THAI Pineapple Fried Rice, and I will be trying it soon.
• WOMAN (9D: "Girl, ___, Other" (Bernardine Evaristo novel) Girl, WOMAN, Other, was a co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize, alongside Margaret Atwood's The Testaments, making Bernardine Evaristo the first Black woman to win the Booker. Told in a hybrid of prose and poetry, Girl, WOMAN, Other tells the story of 12 people in Britain (the majority of them Black women), whose ages range from 19 to 93. 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BANE (21A: The ___ of my existence) The word BANE comes Middle English, and derives from the word "bana" meaning "destroyer" or "murderer." In botany, the common names of some toxic plants contain the word BANE in their names, such as WolfsBANE or dog BANE.
• ADVERB (25A: Word that often ends in "-ly") This is an excellent opportunity to share the Schoolhouse Rock song about ADVERBs, "Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your ADVERBs Here."
• BREAKDANCING (21D: One of the foundational elements of hip-hop) BREAKDANCING originated in the late 1960s and early 1970s among Black and Puerto Rican communities in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City. A breakdancer is known as a breaker, or a b-boy or b-girl.
• EIGHT (49D: Number of planets in the solar system) If you'd solved this puzzle prior to August 24, 2006 (I know the puzzle didn't exist then...just humor me), you would have been confused because "nine" didn't fit. That was the date the International Astronomical Union downgraded the status of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet. And so, now we have EIGHT planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
• NEWT (56D: Amphibian that can regenerate limbs) This is the second day in a row the puzzle has featured an animal that can regenerate limbs, as yesterday we learned about the ability of a starfish to regrow arms. Over the course of several months, a NEWT can regenerate a limb to replace one that has been lost. NEWTs even have the ability to regenerate parts of their tails, jaws, ears, hearts, and their brains. Nature is amazing!

Geography review:

• ASH (61A: Mount St. Helens output) Mount St. Helens is an active volcano in southern Washington. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (I remember this...) resulted in the deaths of 57 people, and the destruction of 47 bridges and miles of railways and highways. During the eruption, the ASH plume was visible for over nine hours, and ASH from the eruption was found as far away as Idaho and Edmonton, Canada. In 1982, Mount St. Helens and the area surrounding it was established as the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
• ATL (25D: Morehouse College city (Abbr.)) Morehouse College is a historically Black men's college in Atlanta, Georgia. Notable alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Raphael Warnock.
• POLAND (44D: Country where kielbasa originated) POLAND is a central European country. Warsaw is its capital and largest city. Kielbasa, a type of meat sausage, originated in POLAND and is a staple of Polish cuisine.
• ALTO (53D: Palo ___, California) "Palo ALTO" is Spanish for "tall stick." Palo ALTO, California, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area, was named for a specific tall stick, a redwood tree known as El Palo ALTO. 

It needs to be said...this puzzle is OUTLANDISH! In the best possible way, of course. An enjoyable take on a classic USA Today theme type. I also liked the answer NEWS REPORTER, with its great clue (3D: Job that involves looking into leaks and leads). Thank you, Rafa, for this puzzle that was a fantastic way to start my Friday.