February 20, 2023

Title: LOOK OUT FOR NUMBER ONE

Constructor: Rebecca Goldstein

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

WHAT ON EARTH (17A: "The heck?")

STATION ELEVEN (33A: Dystopian miniseries based on an Emily St. John Mandel novel)

MOSQUITO NET (51A: Protective curtain over a bed)

Theme synopsis: The word ONE is found connecting two words in each theme answer.

Things I learned:

• STATION ELEVEN (33A: Dystopian miniseries based on an Emily St. John Mandel novel) STATION ELEVEN is an HBO Max miniseries that premiered in December 2021. As the clue informs us, the miniseries is based on a 2014 novel (of the same name) by Emily St. John Mandel. The miniseries and novel tell the story of a group of traveling performers. The group are survivors of a flu pandemic that resulted in the collapse of civilization. STATION ELEVEN is set in the Great Lakes region. Emily St. John Mandel is Canadian, and the majority of the book is set in Canada. Patrick Somerville, who wrote created the miniseries, moved the action to Chicago, where he lives. Ironically, although filming of STATION ELEVEN began in Chicago in January 2020,  it was eventually moved to Canada as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• AYO (13A: "Big Mouth" actress Edebiri) Big Mouth is an animated Netflix TV series for adults. The sitcom focuses on a group of 7th graders navigating puberty. Since season 4, AYO Edebiri has voiced the role of Missy. The character of Missy was voiced by Jenny Slate prior to AYO Edebiri taking over the role. Jenny Slate stepped away from the role near the end of season 4, believing that since Missy is Black, she should be represented by a Black voice. AYO Edebiri also stars on the TV series, The Bear, which I have previously written about. 
• TORAH (14A: Sofer's scroll) and SHOFAR (7D: Ram's horn blown at the end of Yom Kippur) It makes me happy that these two Judaism-related answers intersect. (It makes absolutely no difference; I just like it.) A sofer is a Jewish scribe. Sofers are specially trained to transcribe holy texts - including the TORAH - onto parchment using a traditional Hebrew form of calligraphy. Yom Kippur is a Jewish holy day known as the Day of Atonement. It is observed by fasting and prayer. Yom Kippur comes to an end with the recitation of a prayer (Shema Yisrael) and the blowing of the SHOFAR. 
• PHI (22A: The Eagles or Flyers, on scoreboards) The Philadelphia Eagles are an NFL team. (They recently lost the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.) The Philadelphia Flyers are an NHL team. 
• BEER (26A: Word after "ginger" or "root") In spite of their names, neither ginger BEER or root BEER are alcoholic beverages (at least not usually - alcoholic versions of both do exist). 
• AGE LIMIT (38A: The Senate has a lower one but not an upper one) My first thought here was "floor," which does not make much sense, and obviously didn't fit. The lower AGE LIMIT for the Senate is thirty. Additionally, a candidate for Senate must have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, and must reside in the state they represent at the time of election. The topic of an upper AGE LIMIT for the Senate (and the House of Representatives, the presidency, and the Supreme Court) is a tricky one. (I have thoughts, but I'm not going to go into them here!) The oldest senator currently is Dianne Feinstein, from California, who is 89 years old and has announced she will retire from the Senate at the end of 2024. The second oldest senator is Chuck Grassley from Iowa, who is also 89. He was recently reelected to another term. (Deep sigh.) Here's a list of the "10 Oldest Members of Current U.S. Senate."
• SHE'S (46A: "I'll have what ___ having") It's always a good day to link to a clip of the iconic line from When Harry Met Sally, "I'll have what SHE'S having."
• PIES (61A: Desserts that can have lattice crusts) This clue/answer pair made me realize that Pi Day is just over three weeks away. Time to start making plans for PIES. (Honestly, it's always a good

  

  Triple berry PIE with a lattice crust

  day to make plans involving PIES...)
• TED TALKS (20D: Presentations of "Ideas worth spreading") TED TALKS originated at the first TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference held in February 1984. TED conferences have been held annually since 1990. Since 2006, TED TALKS have been available to view online, with the tagline, "Ideas worth spreading." 

Geography review:

• SRI (46D: "___ Lanka") If you are a regular (or even an occasional) reader of this blog, I'm sure you know by now that SRI Lanka is an island country in the South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southeast of the Indian subcontinent. You also probably know by now that I enjoy data! So, here's a little data geek-out about SRI. Although SRI is a crossword frequent flier, we generally only see it about once a month. Since I have been blogging, there have only been three times that SRI has appeared multiple times in a month. In October 2021, we saw SRI three times, and in May 2022 we saw SRI a record four times. This is the third appearance of SRI this month. February isn't over; will we see SRI again this month? Stay tuned!

It's an easy day to LOOK OUT FOR NUMBER ONE - it's right there in the three theme answers! I enjoyed learning about STATION ELEVEN, but WHAT ON EARTH, with its delightful clue, was my favorite theme answer today. The 8-letter answers in the upper left and lower right were great today: EYEBALLS, LOVESEAT, EMOTICON, and NINTENDO. Thank you, Rebecca, for this puzzle that was a fantastic way to start my Tuesday.