December 3, 2022

Title: TEA INFUSIONS

Constructor: Brooke Husic

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Theme Answers:

TAKING IT EASY (19A: Not working too hard)

INTIMATE APPAREL (39A: Clothing from Nubian Skin)

AOTEAROA (53A: Maori name for New Zealand)

Theme synopsis: Each theme answer is a TEA INFUSION. That is, the word TEA is found in each theme answer.

And now a word from our constructor:

Brooke: two notes:
- my favorite clue in this puzzle is 65a ORCA which reminds me of me and rafa's clue for EEL here. i also like the 38d ELM clue.
- women in wyoming, possibly including Black women, voted since 1869, before it was a state. when wyoming applied for statehood in 1890, they mandated women's suffrage; when congress pushed back on this, the wyoming legislature responded: "We will stay out of the Union a hundred years rather than come in without our women." they ultimately became the first state to have women's suffrage, although it did not include indigenous women until 1924 when indigenous americans were granted citizenship.

Things I learned:

• PLUM (1A: Fruit in the liquors maesil-ju and umeshu) Maesil-ju is PLUM wine that originated in Korea. Umeshu is a PLUM liqueur from Japan.
• ORCA (65A: Whale from taken by the mythological spirit Akhlut) In Inuit folklore, Akhlut is a spirit that takes the form of an ORCA when in the water, and a wolf (or a wolf-ORCA hybrid) when on land. Although Akhlut was new to me, it was easy to figure out that the whale in the answer was our crossword-friend, ORCA.
• ELM (38D: Tree associated with the underworld in Celtic mythology) In Celtic mythology, the ELM tree is said to grow close to passageways that lead into the underworld. ELM trees are also associated with the underworld in ancient Greek folklore.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• LINED (14A: Like some paper and bras) Ha! I laughed when I figured out this answer.
• KEN (25A: "The King and I" actor Watanabe) I learned about KEN Watanabe from the December 8, 2021 puzzle. 
• INTIMATE APPAREL (39A: Clothing from Nubian Skin) Nubian Skin is a lingerie and hosiery brand founded in 2014 by Ade Hassan. The company specializes in INTIMATE APPAREL for women of color. 
• CLE (43A: The Guardians, on MLB scoreboards) Cleveland (CLE), Ohio's MLB team officially changed its name to the Guardians this year. Guardians is the team's seventh name since it was established in 1894.
• NEEDLE (66A: Sewist's tool) Today I learned the term, "sewist." It's a gender-neutral term for one who sews, and serves as an alternative to the term seamstress or tailor. Why not use "sewer?" Merriam Webster does list "one that sews" as a possible definition of sewer, but the use of "sewist" avoids confusion and ambiguity with the "waste pipe" meaning of sewer. Although the term, sewist, was new to me, its meaning was inferable.
• SON (68A: Horus, to Isis) Horus is an ancient Egyptian deity who was worshipped as god of kingship and the sky. Horus is the SON of Osiris (the ancient Egyptian god of fertility, agriculture, the dead, resurrection, and life) and Isis (the Egyptian goddess believed to help the dead enter the afterlife and considered to be the divine mother of the pharaoh).
• LOT (70A: "I have a ___ to learn") This could be the MOTTO for my blog: I have a LOT to learn. I've been writing this blog for two and a half years now, and I can count on one hand the number of days there hasn't been a "Things I Learned" section. It's okay to admit you have a LOT to learn!
• ONE'S (56D: "This ___ for the Girls" (Martina McBride hit)) "This ONE'S for the Girls" is a 2003 song by Martina McBride. The song's lyrics salute women of various ages, with the overarching message, "You're beautiful the way you are." Fun fact: Two of Martina McBride's daughters sing back-up on the song.

Geography review:

• AOTEAROA (53A: Maori name for New Zealand) The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people whose ancestors migrated to the country known as New Zealand in the 1300s. AOTEAROA (here's a link to its pronunciation) is the name for New Zealand in the Māori language. The origin of the word, AOTEAROA, is unknown, but the most common translation is "land of the long, white cloud." Recently, there have been petitions put forward to change the name of New Zealand to either AOTEAROA, or AOTEAROA - New Zealand. Here's another article I recommend about the shift to using the name AOTEAROA.
• MOTTO (4D: "Equal Rights," for Wyoming) In addition to having "Equal Rights" as its MOTTO, the official nickname of Wyoming is the "Equality State." Thanks to Brooke for providing some background for this. One thing I noted in the linked article, is that women in Wyoming had the right to vote even though there weren't many women there. One source indicated that women were granted the right to vote in order to meet the population requirement for statehood. You know, doing the right thing for an interesting reason is still doing the right thing. Women have continued to play a role in Wyoming's politics. Wyoming was the first state to elect a woman as governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who serves as governor from 1925-1927. Side note: So far, she's also the only woman to have been governor of Wyoming.
• EAST (59D: BC-to-Alberta direction) British Colombia (BC) is a Canadian province on the western edge of the country. The Pacific Ocean is west of BC, and EAST of BC is the province of Alberta. Bonus review: The capital of British Colombia is Victoria, and the capital of Alberta is Edmonton.

I drank a TEA INFUSION while solving this puzzle and writing this post. Of course, that's something I do every day, but it felt particularly appropriate today! In addition to the theme, I really liked the grid-spanning vertical answer, CHUNKY NECKLACES. Thank you, Brooke, for this puzzle that was a wonderful way to start my Saturday.