December 15, 2022

Title: INTERNAL MEMO

Constructor: Mark Valdez

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

HOME MORTGAGES (20A: Residential loans)

TELL ME MORE (38A: "And then?! Keep going!")

LIFETIME MOVIE (57A: "12 Men of Christmas" or "Fatal Lessons: The Good Teacher")

Theme synopsis: The word MEMO is found inside each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• YARA (42A: "Grown-ish" star Shahidi) Grown-ish is a spin-off of the ABC sitcom Black-ish. In both series, YARA Shahidi plays the role of Zoey Johnson, the oldest daughter of Andre "Dre" Johnson, Sr. (played by Anthony Anderson) and Dr. Rainbow "Bow" Johnson (played by Tracy Ellis Ross). The first four seasons of Grown-ish follow YARA Shahidi's character as she leaves home and goes to college.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• EGG (1A: Ingredient for making pasta) Pasta has a simple ingredient list: flour, EGGs, water, and salt (optional). EGG was the only one that fit here.
• HEAT (15A: "Salt Fat Acid ___" (Samin Nosrat book)) Salt Fat Acid HEAT is a 2017 cookbook by Samin Nosrat which was a New York Times bestseller, and won the James Beard Award. A four-part Netflix series of the same name, and starring Nosrat, premiered in 2018. In the cookbook and on the show, Samin Nosrat proposes that salt, fat, acid and HEAT are the four elements of successful cooking.
• ELUDE (16A: Slip past) ad EVADE (23A: Slip past) and PURSUED (10D: Chased) When I came to the clue at 16-Across, I wondered, "Is it ELUDE or EVADE?" I chose ELUDE, which happened to be correct, and when 23-Across presented the clue-echo, I thought, "Aha, there's the other option!" Later on in the solving journey, I realized I was being PURSUED, which made me glad I had two options to [slip past].
• TEA (48A: Sleepytime Bear product) Sleepytime is a variety of Celestial Seasonings TEA, and has been marketed by the company since 1972. In 1973, Beth Underwood drew the first Sleepytime Bear to decorate the boxes of Sleepytime TEA. Sleepytime TEA and its bear mascot have always been popular, but experienced a resurgence of popularity in 2020. If you are a Sleepytime Bear fan, you can purchase a Sleepytime Bear stuffed toy and mug (and lip balm) on the Celestial Seasonings website. 
• LIFETIME MOVIE (57A: "12 Men of Christmas" or "Fatal Lessons: The Good Teacher") The LIFETIME MOVIE Network (LMN) is owned by A&E Networks, and carries many made-for-TV movies, such as the two examples given in the clue. 12 Men of Christmas is a 2009 romantic comedy starring Kristin Chenoweth. Its plot reads like a typical Christmas romance movie. (Woman living in a big city has relationship troubles and moves to a small town, where she finds true love through a series of predictable encounters and misunderstandings.) Fatal Lessons: The Good Teacher is a 2004 thriller about a beautiful but sinister tutor. 
• OTOE (67A: The ___-Missouria Tribe) The OTOE-Missouria Tribe is headquartered in Red Rock, Oklahoma.
• GROOVE (2D: "Virgo's ___" (Beyonce song) "Virgo's GROOVE" is a song from Beyoncé's 2022 album, Renaissance.
• GORMAN (3D: Amanda ___, (the first National Youth Poet Laureate)) In 2014, Amanda GORMAN was named the first youth poet laureate of her hometown, Los Angeles, California. In 2017, she was named the first National Youth Poet Laureate. I had a hard time deciding which Amanda GORMAN poem to share with you today, but I finally decided on "The Miracle of Morning." I hope you'll take a few minutes today to watch Amanda GORMAN read this poem that she wrote in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• EDM (11D: Music genre whose E stands for "electronic") EDM, or electronic dance music, is a broad label for percussive electronic music that includes the genres dance-pop, house, techno, trance, drum and bass, dubstep, and trap.
• RAE (34D: "Rap Sh!t" creator Issa) I wrote about Issa RAE's TV series, Rap Sh!t, a week ago.
• TRIPLETS (38D: Identical ones are rare) This was a fun clue. How rare are identical TRIPLETS? Depending on which statistician you talk to, identical TRIPLETS are one in a million, or one in two million.
• IS IT ME? (50D: "Am I the drama?") Why yes, this clue-answer pair did remind me of Taylor Swift's new song, "Anti-Hero." ("It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me...")

Geography review:

• EAST (6D: Texas-to-Louisiana direction) Louisiana is Texas's neighbor to the EAST. Time for a Geography Review Quiz! If you continued traveling EAST from Louisiana, what states would you encounter? Answer at the bottom of this blog post.

Did you get the MEMO? My favorite theme answer today is TELL ME MORE. Thank you, Mark, for this puzzle, that was a great way to begin my Thursday.

Answer to the Geography Review Quiz: Traveling EAST from Louisiana, you would enter Mississippi and then Alabama. Traveling EAST from Alabama, you would either enter Georgia or Florida, depending on where you started your journey. Traveling EAST from (north or central) Georgia will take you into South Carolina. And, of course, EAST of South Carolina, south Georgia and Florida is the Pacific Ocean.