December 28, 2022

Title: ANAGRAM ET AL.

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

BLUE-WINGED TEAL (19A: Colorful North American duck)

FASHIONABLY LATE (34A: How a person might show up to a party, but not to a meeting)

CAUTIONARY TALE (52A: Story used as a warning)

Theme synopsis: The last word of each theme answer is an ANAGRAM of the letters ET AL: TEAL, LATE, TALE.

Things I learned:

• CHUG (1A: Chihuahua-pug mix) I had not heard of this dog mix, but its name was inferable. The CHUG is a designer breed of dog that has been around since the early 2000s. In addition to being called a CHUG, this mix may be called a Pughuahua. 
• JEWELL (8D: Seattle Storm guard Loyd) JEWELL Loyd played college basketball at Notre Dame, and has played for WNBA's Seattle Storm since 2015. In her starting year with the Seattle Storm, JEWELL Loyd was the WNBA Rookie of the Year. JEWELL Loyd was also part of the gold-medal-winning Team USA at the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021).
• EEL (11D: Fish in hitsumabushi) Hitsumabushi is a traditional dish originating from Nagoya, Japan. It consists of sliced grilled EEL served on top of steamed rice. Hitsumabushi is to be eaten in a specific manner. The dish is divided into four portions: The first portion is eaten as is. The second is eaten with condiments such as nori, green onions, and wasabi. The third portion is eaten with the same condiments as the second, but with the addition of dashi broth or green tea so it resembles a soup. The fourth portion may be eaten however you like. Although I had not heard of hitsumabushi, it was easy to figure out that this three-letter fish must be EEL.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• BLUE-WINGED TEAL (19A: Colorful North American duck) As you might guess, the BLUE-WINGED TEAL is named for the light BLUE patches on its WINGs. These patches are near the shoulder, and are most visible when the bird is in flight. BLUE-WINGED TEAL are the second most abundant duck in North America, second only to the Mallard. These ducks are migratory, heading north (to the United States and Canada) late in the spring and south (to Mexico and Central and South America) early in the fall.
• MULAN (57A: Disney hero who sings "Reflection") The song "Reflection" was written for the soundtrack of Disney's 1998 animated movie, MULAN. Lea Salonga provided the singing voice for MULAN. Christina Aguilera also recorded a version of "Reflection," and the song became her debut single. For the 2020 live action adaptation of MULAN, Christina Aguilera recorded a new version of "Reflection."
• GAME (4D: Wingspan or Scrabble, e.g.) I'm a fan of providing two examples in a clue, allowing solvers to be successful even if they only know one of them. In this case, I know and highly recommend both of these GAMEs. I have previously written about the GAME Wingspan several times, and we've even seen WINGSPAN as a puzzle theme. ( I do want to note that, sadly, there is no BLUE-WINGED TEAL card in Wingspan, only a Common TEAL and a Grey TEAL. There's also a BLUE-WINGED Warbler.) I've also written about my history with the GAME of Scrabble that dates back to before I was born.
• DILL (10D: Kind of a Big ___ (punny name for an herb shop)) This clue made me laugh!
• POR (45D: "Ayudame, ___ favor") "Ayúdame, POR favor" is Spanish for "Help me, please."
• UNCLE (48D: Ben, to Peter Parker) Peter Benjamin Parker was an orphan living with his UNCLE Ben and Aunt May when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him the abilities that led to him becoming Spider-Man.

Geography review:

• ERIE (15A: Lake south of Ontario) Lake ERIE is bordered on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario (therefore it is south of Ontario, as the clue tells us). Lake ERIE is also bordered - on the west, south, and east - by the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. This is the second appearance this month for our crossword-friend ERIE. Will it be the last appearance for this year? Tune in the next three days to find out! In the time I have been blogging, ERIE has been the answer we've seen most frequently. This had me wondering whether there has ever been an ERIE-less month. The answer is no. There have been three months when ERIE has only appeared once, but so far, there hasn't been a month when ERIE has not appeared at all. Again a reminder that the only thing this means is that I like data!

Although today's title looks like an excerpt from a bibliography citing a paper by Dr. ANAGRAM and others (ANAGRAM ET AL.), it is in fact telling us exactly what to do to figure out the theme. I really enjoyed the theme answers, particularly FASHIONABLY LATE and CAUTIONARY TALE. The clueing in this puzzle is so delightful. The clue for FASHIONABLY LATE [How a person might show up to a party, but not to a meeting] is great. Then we have the clue for LONG (47A: How a boring story might feel), which was immediately followed by an appropriate-timed UH OH (48A: "That's not good...). Another two clues I appreciated: ERUPT (60A: Go boom, volcano-style) and SHAKY (44D: Like a Jenga tower just before toppling, often). Thank you, Matthew, for this puzzle that was a wonderful way to start my Wednesday.