October 2, 2023

Title: 10 AND 2

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

Theme Answers:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (19A: Capitol Hill's home)

STRAIGHTEN UP (37A: Stop slouching)

CLASSIFIED AD (54A: Newspaper piece offering a job, house, car, etc.)

Theme synopsis: In each theme answer, the first part has 10 letters, and the second part has 2 letters.

Things I learned:

• EMO (44A: Taking Back Sunday genre) Taking Back Sunday is an EMO and alternative rock band that has been active since 1999. They released a single titled, "The One," in June of this year, and another titled, "Amphetamine Smiles," last month. Their next studio album, 152, is scheduled to be released the end of this month.
• DRE (34D: Musician Moon who co-wrote Beyonce"s "Drunk in Love") DRE Moon won a Grammy Award for co-writing and co-producing Beyoncé's song, "Drunk in Love."

Random thoughts and interesting things:

• HMU (33A: "contact me pls!") HMU = hit me up
• TITANIUM (35A: Lightweight metal) TITANIUM is a chemical element with an atomic number of 22. TITANIUM is known for its low density and high strength. It has the highest strength-to-density ratio of any metallic element, and is also resistant to corrosion. TITANIUM was named after the Titans of Greek mythology.
• ANT (41A: Insect that can carry up to 50 times its own weight) ANTs are known for their strength. If I were as strong as an ANT, I could carry something that weighed five tons, such as an ambulance. Thinking about this helps put the strength of an ANT in perspective.
• LLAMA (52A: Red pajama-wearing animal of children's lit) The LLAMA the clue refers to is the title character of the children's book, LLAMA LLAMA, Red Pajama, written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney. The book is one of a series of LLAMA LLAMA books by Anna Dewdney. The books have also been adapted into an animated TV series.
• FEND (61A: ___ for oneself) I have previously written about the "FEND for oneself" Sunday evening tradition at our house.
• TIDE (64A: Alabama Crimson ___) The sports teams at the University of Alabama are known as the Alabama Crimson TIDE. The teams use the rallying cry, "Roll TIDE."
• DESSEN (3D: "Along for the Ride" author Sarah) In 2017, Sarah DESSEN received the Margaret Edwards Award, an award  presented by the American Library Association to recognize an author for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." Sarah DESSEN's novels include Along for the Ride, The Truth about Forever, and The Rest of the Story.
• HER (12D: "Alma and How She Got ___ Name")  Alma and How She Got HER Name is a picture book by Juana Martinez-Neal. In the book, a young girl thinks she has too many names, until her father tells her the story about each of her names. In case you're wondering, Alma's full name is Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela. We have previously seen the title of this book used to clue the words "GOT" and "NAME."
• EMU (26D: Bird similar to a cassowary) A cassowary is a bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, East Nusa Tenggara, the Maluku Islands, and northeastern Australia. Like EMUs, cassowaries are flightless birds.
• AMANDA (46D: "Call Us What We Carry" author Gorman) In 2017, AMANDA Gorman was the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. Call Us What We Carry is a collection of AMANDA GORMAN's poetry, published in 2021. AMANDA Gorman has a new book that was released several days ago. Something, Someday is a picture book illustrated by Christian Robinson, written to encourage "young activists and changemakers."
• SCI-FI (49D: "The Martian" genre) The Martian is a 2015 SCI-FI movie based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Andy Weir. The movie centers on NASA's attempts to bring home an astronaut stranded on Mars.

Geography review:

• EURO (17A: Currency of Spain) Spain is one of the European Union states that uses the EURO as its currency.
• WASHINGTON, D.C. (19A: Capitol Hill's home) Capitol Hill is a historic neighborhood in WASHINGTON, D.C., located around the U.S. Capitol. The term "Capitol Hill" is also used to refer to the U.S. Congress.
• YEN (28A: Currency of Japan) The currency of Japan is the Japanese YEN.
• STAR (67A: Shape on Cameroon's flag) Cameroon is a country in west-central Africa. Its capital is Yaoundé. Cameroon's flag is composed of three vertical stripes, one each of green, red, and yellow. A yellow STAR is in the center of the flag, on the red stripe.
• ALOHA (4D: Greeting in Kauai) Kauai is the fourth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Kauai is nicknamed the Garden Island.

If you are of a certain age, you might recognize "10 AND 2" as the recommended position of your hands on the steering wheel while driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration no longer recommends 10 AND 2, and now recommends 9 and 3 as the safest hand position. At any rate, 10 AND 2 today refers to the number of letters in each part of the theme answers. A fun theme approach.

Buzz and Digit

Speaking of cats - oh, we weren't speaking of cats? Well, we are now! Yesterday Matthew sent me a photo of two four-week-old kittens he's currently fostering. Their names are Buzz and Digit. Aren't they adorable?! Welcome to the Cats of Sally's Take, Buzz and Digit! Thank you, Matthew, for this puzzle (and this photo) that was a great way to start my Monday.