March 20, 2023

Title: HOWLS MOVING CROSSWORD

Constructor: Paolo Pasco

Editor: Erik Agard

Theme Answers:

SCREECH OWL (16A: Despite its name, its primary call is more of a whinny)

CHOW LINES (34A: Queues for food)

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? (51A: Limbo chant)

Theme synopsis: The word HOWL is found connecting two words in each theme answer. In the CROSSWORD grid, the HOWLS are MOVING from upper right to lower left.

Things I learned:

• SPIT (26A: Lechon roaster's rod) Lechón is a pork dish that originated in Spain and Portugal. Lechón is a baby pig (a suckling pig) roasted on a SPIT. (Side note: Sometimes autocorrect can lead me down interesting paths. In this case, my computer autocorrected "lechon" to "lichen," leaving me perplexedly wondering how one gets lichen on a SPIT.)
• ANIME (39A: Show such as "Beastars") Beastars is the ANIME adaptation of the Japanese manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. The series features civilized, anthropomorphic animals living in a modern world and navigating a tension between herbivores and carnivores. In the series, the title of Beastar is used to refer to an individual of great talent, service, or notoriety.
• EGGS (58A: Balut, essentially) Balut are fertilized EGGS (often duck EGGS), incubated for 14-21 days, and then steamed and served to be eaten directly out of the shell. Balut are sold as street food in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• SHE'S (29D: "___ All I Wanna Be" (Tate McRae hit)) In 2016, when Tate McRae was 13 years old, she was the first Canadian finalist on the (American) TV reality show, So You Think You Can Dance. In 2019, one of Tate McRae's original songs - "One Day" - went viral on YouTube and TikTok. "SHE'S All I Wanna Be" (stylized as "she's all i wanna be") is a single from her debut studio album, I Used to Think I Could Fly (2022). 

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• LAP (1A: Drink like a cat) and ADOPT (33A: "___, Don't Shop" (animal rescue slogan)) Willow will drink water from a bowl, but she prefers to LAP water straight from the faucet. (It's a good
  
  thing she's not spoiled or anything...) It's been over 11 years since we ADOPTed Willow from an animal shelter, and she has us well-trained. 
• WELSH (4A: Like corgis, by origin) WELSH corgis are small dogs originally bred to herd cattle, sheep, and horses. Their name is derived from the WELSH words meaning "dwarf" and "dog." 
• MARE (12A: Mayor ___ ("My Little Pony" politician)) In the animated TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Mayor MARE is the mayor of Ponyville.
• SCREECH OWL (16A: Despite its name, its primary call is more of a whinny) In addition to it's whinny-like SCREECH, a SCREECH OWL also makes a trill, called a "bounce song." You can hear both sounds for yourself at this Cornell Lab site.
• HORNY (20A: ___ on main) I've heard the expression "HORNY on main," and I (sorta) know what it means, but if you'd asked me to explain it without looking it up, I'm sure I would have stumbled. Fortunately, I can look things up when I'm writing this blog! HORNY on main is an expression used to refer to posting or interacting with sexual posts using your main social media accounts (rather than secondary accounts used for that purpose). Here's a link taking a look at HORNY on main memes.
• NEST (60A: Mourning dove's flimsy construction) and TWIG (48D: Part of a 60-Across) Here's a value-added clue, as it would also work as [Mourning dove's construction]. Mourning doves do, in fact, build flimsy NESTs. The NEST is rapidly constructed by the male and female working together, and consists of TWIGs, grass, weeds, and pine needles loosely woven together. 
• LANA CONDOR (1D: Star of the "To All the Boys" series) The 2018 movie, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, is based on Jenny Han's 2014 book of the same name. When Han was a teenager, she wrote (undelivered) letters to boys she had a crush on. This habit was the inspiration for a book about a teenager, Lara Jean Covey, who wrote such letters. Unbeknownst to Lara, her sister mails the letters. In the film adaptation, LANA CONDOR plays the role of Lara Jean Covey.
• LARPS (6D: Battles with foam weapons) I recently wrote about LARPS, live action role-playing games.
• SHORT KING (14D: Affectionate term for a 5'4" guy) This makes me smile.
• ANITA (31D: "Sweet Love" singer Baker) "Sweet Love" is a 1986 song by ANITA Baker. The song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
• ADULTS (41D: People over 18) and MINOR (47D: Person under 18) This crossword is suitable for people of all ages.

Geography review:

• EURO (56A: Currency in Rome and Paris) Rome is the capital of Italy. Paris is the capital of France. Italy and France are two of the European Union countries that use the EURO as their currency.

HOWL'S MOVING Castle is a 2004 animated Studio Ghibli movie loosely based on the 1986 book of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. The movie was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Today instead of a movie adaptation, we have a delightful CROSSWORD adaptation. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO is my favorite of the theme answers. It's such a classic limbo chant, that I was able to plonk it in without any letters from crossing answers. I enjoyed all the animal content in today's puzzle. I also liked ARE YOU DONE, DEEP WEB, MADE PEACE, and WISHING. It's been a bit since we've seen Paolo Pasco's byline on a USA Today puzzle, and I was delighted to see his name when I opened the puzzle this morning. Thank you, Paolo, for this puzzle that was an excellent way to start my Monday.