Food-centric broadcasts originating in South Korea / SUN 4-27-25 / Line in old Apple ads / Bear's counterpart on Wall Street, once / Purple yam in Philippine cuisine / One of three on the Mayflower / Tough customer for a wedding planner / Cannabis variety contrasted with indica / Longtime Japanese camera brand / Coming-of-age Pixar film of 2021

Constructor: Jacob Reed

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Numbers Game" — theme clues are written as numbers on a CALCULATOR read-out, and you have to read them UPSIDE-DOWN in order to make sense of them:

Theme answers:

"Big sleigh boss" = SANTA CLAUS

"Bilbo's O:" THE ONE RING

"Bee Gees boogie" = "STAYIN' ALIVE"

"Hillbillies' booze" = MOONSHINE

"Google log" = SEARCH HISTORY

"Bolshoi shoe" = BALLET SLIPPER

"High heels" = STILETTOS

"She is Ellis Bell" = EMILY BRONTË

Word of the Day: MUKBANGS (33A: Food-centric broadcasts originating in South Korea) —

A mukbang (UK: /ˈmʌkbæŋ/ MUK-bang, US: /ˈmʌkbɑːŋ/ MUK-bahng; Korean: 먹방; RR: meokbang; pronounced [mʌk̚p͈aŋ] ^ⓘ; lit. 'eating broadcast') is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a host consumes various quantities of food (generally from easily accessible and popular fast-food restaurant chains) while interacting with the audience or reviewing it. The genre became popular in South Korea in the early 2010s, and has become a global trend since the mid-2010s. Varieties of foods ranging from pizza to noodles are consumed in front of a camera. The purpose of mukbang is also sometimes educational, introducing viewers to regional specialties or gourmet spots.

A mukbang may be either prerecorded or streamed live through a webcast on multiple streaming platforms such as AfreecaTV, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch. In live sessions, the mukbang host chats with the audience while the audience types in real time in the live chat-room. Eating shows are expanding their influence on internet broadcasting platforms and serve as virtual communities and as venues for active communication among internet users.

Mukbangers from many different countries have gained considerable popularity on numerous social websites and have established the mukbang as a possible viable alternative career path with a potential to earn a high income for young South Koreans. By cooking and eating food on camera for a large audience, mukbangers generate income from advertising, sponsorships, endorsements, as well as viewers' support. However, there has been growing criticism of mukbang's promotion of unhealthy eating habits, particularly eating disorders, animal cruelty and food waste. (wikipedia)

• • •

Did this fool anyone? At all? For any amount of time? I took one look—one glance—at the first theme clue my eyes landed on, and instinctively, immediately read it UPSIDE-DOWN. 

Read that clue (20A) UPSIDE-DOWN and you get "Big sleigh boss"—not hard to decipher from there. Who else is that gonna be besides Santa? I should not be able to enter a theme answer on a Sunday with absolutely no help from crosses—with absolutely nothing else in the grid, even. Reading calculator read-outs upside-down like I'm a ten-year-old whose friend has just shown him that "58008" upside-down spells out "BOOBS" ... no, this didn't do much for me. The clues are occasionally clever, and creative, as they'd have to be, given that you have only nine letters to work with ("9” is the one numeral that does nothing, letterwise, when you turn it upside-down). I had to think a bit about "BILBO'S-O," so the clues weren't all transparent. But this was a one-trick puzzle, and once you discover the trick (which, again, for me, happened immediately), then there's not much surprise left. In short, it is impressive that anyone *could* do this, but I'm not so sure anyone *should* have. It's too easy, and not terribly fun to solve. 

The fill has some major issues as well. In general, it seemed clean enough, and some of the longer stuff was occasionally interesting ("SO NOT TRUE!," MEDIA FASTS), but there was some stuff that seemed odd or dated or both. "I'M A MAC"? How old is that slogan now? Looks like it was a thing from roughly '06 to '09. Absurd. Not just bygone, but barely there to begin with. It's not even that snappy—doesn't stick with you. It's something your wordlist convinces you is valid, but ... you gotta make these judgments yourself. Not everything in your wordlist is good. For example, ON A LEAD—not good. Especially not good as clued (24A: How detectives might act). You might follow a lead, but you act on a tip. Your dog might be ON A LEAD (i.e. a leash). But even that clue wouldn't make me like ON A LEAD as fill. 

But the biggest problem with the puzzle is probably the MUKBANGS / IGA cross, which I guar-an-tee you is going to baffle a non-zero number of solvers today. It's not that either of these words lacks crossworthiness. MUKBANGS in particular has a lot going for it—original, modern, full of crooked letters. And IGA Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles, including four French Opens. But crossing two non-English names of non-universal fame at a completely uninferrable letter is always, always a bad idea, because you should never, as a constructor (or editor), allow for crosses that you *know* will be Naticks for a good number of people. You gotta do better handling your crosses. [Semi-illustrative: I knew IGA but not MUKBANGS (though maybe I'd heard of it before); my daughter (24), on the other hand, knew MUKBANGS but not IGA ... or "STAYIN' ALIVE," apparently! I know this because I just found her nearly completed puzzle downstairs, where MUKBANGS is filled in just fine, but a huge swath of "STAYIN' ALIVE," including the "A" in IGA, is missing—the only part of her puzzle that isn't completed. I'm not surprised at all that she doesn't know IGA Swiatek, but "STAYIN' ALIVE"? How could I have failed to provide her a proper Bee Gees education!?].

 More:

• 49A: One of three on the Mayflower (MASTS) — me, seeing "three" and thinking of early colonial voyages: "Let's see, NINA, PINTA ... wait a minute."
• 52D: Rapper Kid ___ (CUDI) — a very tough one if you know very little about rap (I know this describes a lot of you). You can't infer anything there. Just four random letters. Huge career, a couple of Grammys, but fame-wise (and certainly crosswordwise), he's no DRE, he's no NAS, he's no ICE-T. Holy cow, this is the NYTXW debut of CUDI!? I've seen him in crosswords before—this is why I solve a variety of puzzles, many of them more contemporary-minded, with younger, more adventurous constructors (though I knew of Kid CUDI before I ever saw him in a grid). With CUDI, though, unlike with IGA, the crosses all seem very fair. For the record, KIDCUDI (7) (full name) has still never been used in the NYTXW. Also for the record, Kid Cudi has appeared—three times—in NYTXW clues: for RAPPER ([Kid Cudi or Lil Baby, e.g.]), KID ([Rapper ___ Cudi or DJ ___ Loco]), and, "NITE" ([Kid Cudi's "Day 'n' ___"])

• 62A: Root word? (OLE) — i.e. the "word" you might use if you were "root"ing for someone (at a soccer match, or bullfight, I guess)
• 96A: ___ Moriarty, novelist who wrote "Big Little Lies" (LIANE) — didn't love one of the crosses here, either, specifically the "L"; real easy to imagine someone who has maybe heard of Big Little Lies but does not know the author's name ... [raises hand] ... and also is not that familiar with contemporary animated movies (LUCA). Any DIANE / DUCAs out there!? 
• 111A: Some large structures for pet owners (CAT CONDOS) — cat interlude!

[we call the four-tiered structure Alfie's sleeping in a CAT CONDO—not sure the one-tier circular structure Ida's in qualifies as a full "condo." More of a cat pied-à-terre]

• 10D: Italian diminutive suffix (-INO) — oy, wanted either -INI or -INA here, since THE ONE RING, as a phrase, doesn't really mean much to me. (I've seen the damned LOTR movies, I know about the ring, I just didn't remember the specific phrase THE ONE RING).
• 12D: Bear's counterpart on Wall Street, once (STEARNS):  — gather round, kids, and I'll tell you about the *last* time the stock market crashed ... it was way back in aught-eight ... 
• 14D: Tough customer for a wedding planner (BRIDEZILLA) — I know it's the name of a reality show and everything but I'm still not in love with this term, esp. when it's being passed off as an ordinary thing one might call a woman. Plays into stupid gender stereotypes. And there's no male equivalent. No GOLFZILLA, no Count Pick-up TRUCKULA, no Abominable Sports Fan ... the only emotion most dudes allow themselves to express publicly is anger, and yet it's the bride who's a -zilla? Sure.

[" A Novel By Ellis Bell"]

• 21D: Cannabis variety contrasted with indica (SATIVA) — INDICA & SATIVA are here to stay, so may as well learn them if you don't know them already. Not that I know anything about this stuff, but ... SATIVA will tend to light you up, whereas INDICA will tend to chill you out. 
• 39D: Show that, uh, didn't win 43 of its 54 Emmy nominations (LOST) — OK, I love this clue. It's legitimately funny, watching the clue try not to use the word "LOST" in the clue for LOST. Well, funny to me, anyway.
• 110D: Purple yam in Philippine cuisine (UBE) — a super-rare word in the crossword until Philippine cuisine went more mainstream here in the U.S. This is its third appearance in the last two years, after having been off-grid since 1990 (when it was clued as [Yamaguchi city])

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S.  Have you seen Sinners? You should see Sinners. On the big screen. With a crowd. As your leader, I command you. How does this relate to crosswords? Well, someday director Ryan COOGLER is gonna appear in the grid, perhaps after he wins the Best Director Oscar for Sinners, and you're gonna wanna be prepared.

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]

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"That's so relatable," in modern slang / SAT 4-26-25 / Convincing A.I.-created video / "Gossip Girl" fashion descriptor / Short product overview, in business lingo / Something picked in a fortunetelling game / Emily ___, winner of the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel / Traditional treat in Japanese New Year celebrations / ___ Dunn (brand of ceramic art and other housewares) / Words on a statue honoring Washington / Tantric meditation practiced while in a sleeping state / Literally, "good word"

Constructor: Sarah Sinclair and Rafael Musa

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Emily TESH (20A: Emily ___, winner of the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel) —

Emily Tesh is a science fiction and fantasy author. She won the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel for her first novel, Some Desperate Glory. She won the World Fantasy Award in the novella category in 2020, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2021. [...] Some Desperate Glory is a science fiction novel by Emily Tesh, with political themes and "thrilling action," according to reviewers. It was published in spring 2023 by Tordotcom. [...] According to Lisa Tuttle, writing for The Guardian: "The well-told story combines thrilling action with more thoughtful content, touching on such hot topics as AI, fascism and gender politics, and looks like another award winner." //  A starred review in Publishers Weekly concluded: "The political theme of breaking away from fascist ideology pairs beautifully with smart sci-fi worldbuilding ... and queer coming of age." // In the Washington Post, Charlie Jane Anders wrote, "the story blends thrilling action with a mind-bending course in cosmic metaphysics, which keep shifting your sense of what this book is about." (wikipedia)

• • •

Sorry, short write-up today as somehow a work emergency (!?) has fallen in my lap overnight (on the weekend!? I teach English ffs, this shouldn't be happening!), and I need to attend to it immediately. I'm really glad this puzzle played relatively easy for me, because after getting the infuriating work email first thing upon waking, I was in No MOOD for excessive struggle, despite the fact that it's Saturday and "struggle" should generally be part of the brief. I could tell early on that the puzzle was going to skew young(er)—I mean, I could've guessed it from the constructors (two lovely people whose combined ages don't even reach my own, I don't think), but then stuff like 27A: "That's so relatable," in modern slang ("MOOD") and 42A: "Gossip Girl" fashion descriptor confirmed it. Though I will say, looking the puzzle over now, it's actually pretty light on generationally specific stuff, and light in general on the kinds of proper nouns that tend to feel generationally exclusionary. The clues on ADAM, WOOLF, ERROL, for instance, could've come from the year 2000 or 1975 or even earlier as easily as the year 2025. This is to say that the puzzle had a youthful swagger but a broad-minded outlook. There's lots of stuff to like here—or hate, if that's your vibe today, I suppose. Me, I mostly like it. I am (now) a not-so-SECRET ADMIRER (though you're never gonna convince me that DREAM YOGA is real, no matter how much supporting material you throw at me) (15A: Tantric meditation practiced while in a sleeping state).

The only thing I didn't particularly care for today was ONE-PAGER, but then "business lingo" always rubs me the wrong way (probably because I absolutely do not speak it ... and find much of it silly-sounding) (13D: Short product overview, in business lingo). ONE-PAGER sounds pretty ordinary, though. I've assigned ONE-PAGERs (i.e. one-page papers) to students before, so while this "business lingo" version is unfamiliar to me, the phrase itself doesn't sound ridiculous to my ears (always nice). I also didn't care for the clue on TESH—I love that there's a new TESH in town (move over, John), but it seemed weird to clue her as having won the Hugo for Best Novel and then not saying what that novel is!? It's her first novel! If it was good enough to win the damn thing, then go ahead and name it! It wouldn't have helped me (I wouldn't have known her name either way), but the clue would've seemed like it was at least doing something useful. If you're gonna introduce a new name, a name that wouldn't be crossworthy except for a single book, Name The Book. Let people know. (Bizarrely, TESH's Some Desperate Glory is actually in my house right now—I bought a handful of highly recommended new fantasy/scifi books last summer in a fit of aspirational consumption, and then promptly failed to read most of them ... maybe now ... maybe now (he said to all the unread books on his shelves ...)).

OK, short write-up, I said!! I met both Sarah and Rafa at the ACPT earlier this month, so it seemed fitting (to me) that the first entry in the puzzle was EGG-HEADED (it was nice to be in an environment so thoroughly EGG-HEADED that the term ceases to have any meaning). My daughter is home now (and for a few more days), and so the "Night owl" / LATE RISER clue made me smile (our sleep schedules are almost completely upside-down). I liked the alliterative "H"-fest in the middle of this grid, which also seemed like a vaguely thematic grouping. If you throw a successful HAIL MARY on your HOME TURF, you might wanna enjoy a HOT PAD after the game. The only trouble for me today was pinning down that "H" at TESH / HAIL MARY (thought she might be a TESS and couldn't parse HAIL MARY, esp. with that elliptical clue (21D: Hard pass?)). I thought "hard" might be literally hard, like rock hard, so even with the "H" I was thinking HAIL as in hard rain, not HAIL as in HAIL MARY. I couldn't make sense of "fashion descriptor" in 42A: "Gossip Girl" fashion descriptor (PREPPY). "Descriptor" was the stumbling block. Who is doing the describing? When? Where? It seems like the clue just means "how one might appropriately describe the fashion on Gossip Girl," OK. Also weirdly struggled with 43D: Something picked in a fortunetelling game (PETAL). "What the hell is a fortunetelling game?" I couldn't think of any. Magic 8 Ball? Is that a "game"? But no, the "game" in question appears to be some version of "(s)he loves me, (s)he loves me not ..."

What else?:

• 17A: "Would you like a bite?" ("WANT TO TRY?") — absolutely fine, and yet when the answer is colloquial like this, I expect it to be properly slangy, which means I tried to make "WANNA" answers happen for a bit.
• 27D: Traditional treat in Japanese New Year celebrations (MOCHI) — I did not know this about MOCHI. I feel like MOCHI had a moment (in the U.S.) several years ago and then faded, but maybe they're still going strong and I've just tuned them out. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm thinking of MOCHI ice cream, not MOCHI per se. 
• 6D: Actress and comedian Edebiri (AYO) — never heard of her ... 
• 26A: ___ Dunn (brand of ceramic art and other housewares) (RAE) — never heard of it (seriously, this time)
• 23A: Countdown occasion, for short (NYE) — New Year's Eve
• 31D: Words on a statue honoring Washington (BEST ACTOR) — loved this clue. Took me a few beats to realize the "Washington" in question was Denzel (Best Supporting Actor for Glory, BEST ACTOR for Training Day). Washington is currently playing Othello on Broadway (to great acclaim and massive box office success—although ticket prices are apparently, uh, very high).

• 22A: "The young man who has not ___ is a savage": George Santayana ("WEPT") — I had the "W" and "T" and wrote in ... WANT. I thought it was a commentary on the savagery of the rich.

So much for a short write-up. Some day ...

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]

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