Casual gaming site? / THU 8-13-26 / "Gold" of the 21st century / Query for Claude, e.g. / Verbalized shivers / A.I. that has been trained with massive amounts of text, in brief / Cough drop brand whose name is yodeled in its commercials / Epitome of a hot place / Kind of bean used in Egyptian falafel

Constructor: Killian Olson

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

[35A: "Light" weapon]

THEME: SIZING UP (66A: Evaluating, as an opponent ... or a hint to "fitting"the answers to the italicized clues into the grid) —you must move certain letters "up a size" in order to fit them in the grid, e,g. change an S (small) to an M (medium), or a L (large) is to an XL (extra large); this results in new words that don't seem to match the clues:

Theme answers:

• LOBSTERS (from "Mobsters") (17A: Mafia members, e.g.) (M to L) 
• ESPOUSES (from "Ex-spouses") (26A: Alimony recipients, say) (XS to S)
• AXLES (from "Ales") (41A: Drinks at a pub) (L to XL)
• AQUARIUM (from "Aquarius") (53A: 11th of a noted 12) (S to M)

Word of the Day: LLM (34D: A.I. that has been trained with massive amounts of text, in brief) —

A large language model (LLM) is an AI model (typically a neural network) trained on a vast amount of text for natural language processing tasks, especially language generation. LLMs can typically generate, summarize, translate, and analyze text in many contexts, and are a foundational technology behind modern chatbots. Biased or inaccurate training data can make an LLM's output less reliable.

LLMs are typically based on transformer architecture. Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) are a type of LLM that is pre-trained to predict the next word. GPTs are then often fine-tuned to follow instructions and to behave as assistants.

Benchmark evaluations for LLMs attempt to measure model reasoning, factual accuracy, alignment, and safety. (wikipedia)

• • •

This one EKEs out three stars because the theme is genuinely interesting and clever, although ... I assume someone's just going to put this thing in reverse and do a DOWNSIZING puzzle now (that's a snappier revealer, I think—can't believe it hasn't been done, at least not in the NYT). Outside the theme, the puzzle is obnoxiously tech-obsessed, with a fondness for A.I. that made it completely repulsive to me. I want to see Claude and LLM in my puzzle about as much as I want to see anything related to Harry ****ing Potter. Maybe less so. It's a scourge on so many levels that I get exhausted just thinking about explaining why. "But it's the world we live in, get used to it." No. You get used it, you be the accommodationists. It's crap (the forward facing LLMs, for sure). Also, many of the clues today are truly awkward, as opposed to cleverly misdirective, which made the solving experience frequently unpleasant. [Casual gaming site?] for SOFA? What, is there a formal gaming site? Monaco? What are you, James Bond? I've never seen anyone "gaming" who wasn't beyond casual. Completely casual. Where are these tuxedo'd gamers you posit? How is your SOFA any more "casual" than, say, an arcade? Then there's the wording in 9D: Apple accessory announced alongside the removal of the iPhone's headphone jack (AIRPODS). I just keep looking at "announced alongside the removal" and my head hurts every time. "Announced alongside" ... is the removal also being announced? Yes? No? "Announced alongside" seems to imply that you're removing the headphone jack as you're announcing the AIRPODS. Maybe "in response to the removal" or "following the removal," but "alongside" implies a strange simultaneity of words (announcement) and action (removal) that's hard to visualize and just sounds ugly as written. Also, "boil" and "steam" or two different things. Also, snow is normal-wintry, not "especially wintry" (57A: Was especially wintry = SNOWED). Again, I liked the theme concept. I just didn't like much else. Structurally, the puzzle seems reasonably well made, but content and cluing were on the displeasing side, for sure.

Back to the theme—it was tricky for many reasons. The answers are "wrong" for their clues, so you have to figure out why, great, this happens not infrequently on Thursdays. But today, even after I saw the "gimmick" (LOBSTERS is obv. a one-letter change of MOBSTERS), I did not see it at all. This is because that letter change in LOBSTERS/MOBSTERS involves consecutive letters, so I figured we were just dropping the letter down one place in the alphabet. That is, I didn't see Medium changed to Large, I saw the letter "M" dropped back one space in the alphabet to the letter "L." Things didn't exactly get clearer with the other themers. I got AXLES and wondered why we were now adding a letter instead of changing a letter. The puzzle now seemed to have two different conceits. What the hell? And ESPOUSES also looked like an add-a-letter situation, since I thought the base answer was just "spouses" (26A: Alimony recipients, say). Even after I got SIZING UP and figured out why most of the changes were happening, I was stuck on ESPOUSES. I still thought we were changing "spouses," so "S" appeared to have been changed to "ES," and I was like "ES!?!?! That is not how you write "extra small" ... also ... wait, Small to Extra Small would be sizing down, not sizing up ..." Finally dawned on me that the base answer was EX-SPOUSES, not just "spouses." Let's just say XS is not a size I think about often, and definitely not in the standard size range (SML + XL). So even though the themers were easy enough to get, completely grasping the theme took some time.

Bullets:

• 8A: One who's definitely not being invited to the party (PARIAH) — another example of cluing being "????" Like, I wanted there to be wordplay, like maybe "party" was being used in a political way, something like that. But instead it's just ... literal. Yeah, I guess you would not invite a social outcast to your party. "Hey, you know who we're definitely not inviting to this party? Hitler." The answer seems too extreme or contextually wrong for the clue. Looked at another way, there's something sort of snotty and snobby and mean-girls (or boys) exclusionary about the way this clue is phrased. Clue could be shorter and clearer and better.
• 25D: "Gold" of the 21st century (DATA) — ugh, shut up. The big tech boosterism here is barfsome.
• 49A: Collect over and over, as resources in a video game (FARM) — we get it, you're on the computer a lot, yeesh. Give it a rest.

• 55D: Allow to post on a forum again, e.g. (UNBAN) — they finally UNBANned me from QUORA after I agreed to stop answering user questions with Yeti conspiracy theories (54D: Website that describes itself as "a place to share knowledge and better understand the world").
• 8D: Query for Claude, e.g. (PROMPT) — in the future, there will be no writers. Just PROMPTers. (In case you've been living under a rock, the "Claude" here is one of the better known LLMs (or "series of LLMs," per wikipedia).
• 44A: ___ Ingebrigtsen, track gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics (JAKOB) — come on, if you're gonna throw some obscure Olympian name at me, at least tell me what he got his medals for. "Track" doesn't cut it (he won the 1500 meters in 2020 and the 5000 meters in 2024)
• 39A: Verbalized shivers (BRRS) — has never and will never be a thing. The stupidest plural I've ever seen in my life. And it turns out this is, in fact, the first time I'm seeing it in my life: its last appearance in the NYTXW was 1967. They were much more desperate for fill back then. Something about the Cold War ... rationing ... I forget, but clearly times were bad.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================
✏️Upcoming Crossword Tournaments✏️:

• Midwest Crossword Tournament (Chicago, IL, Sat., Oct. 3, 2026)

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)

Read more...

Where Docs and Sheets are stored / WED 8-12-26 / Throw, for instance / Jordan joined it in 1984, for short / 2024 film that won Best Picture / Nickname for MLB's Angels / Greek letter representing elasticity in economics / "Battles" of those busting moves / Mentions by user name on social media

Constructor: Adrianne Baik

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: INTERNET TRAFFIC (38A: Web volume measured in hits ... or a hint to 17-, 23-, 49- and 61-Across) — internet-related terms that contain (street) traffic-related terms:

Theme answers:

• GOOGLE DRIVE (17A: Where Docs and Sheets are stored)
• NETWORK SPEEDS (23A: Measurements of Wi-Fi performance)
• COMPUTER CRASH (49A: Major consequence of a virus, perhaps)
• SERVER DELAY (61A: Cause of some slow data transfers)

Word of the Day: ANORA (42A: 2024 film that won Best Picture) —

Anora is a 2024 American romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Sean Baker. It stars Mikey Madison as Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, a lap dancer from New York who marries the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch played by Mark Eydelshteyn. The supporting cast includes Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Darya Ekamasova, and Aleksei Serebryakov.

Anora premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2024, where it received critical acclaim and won the Palme d'Or. It was released theatrically on October 18, 2024, by Neon, with Focus Features releasing in other territories. It grossed $59.3 million worldwide against a $6 million budget, making it Baker's highest-grossing film.

Anora received numerous accolades and was named one of the top ten films of 2024 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. It received six nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, winning five for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Madison), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It is one of only four films to win both the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Picture. (wikipedia)

• • •

Didn't notice the theme until I was nearly completely done. I just thought it was a bunch of dreary computer-related terms. Couldn't see how they fit together. I wish I could say the "aha" moments saved it, but it just wasn't big enough. Connecting car traffic to computer traffic is vaguely interesting, but it's been a central metaphor of the internet forever—remember the "Information Superhighway"?—so it's not like there's a real Revelation here, and several of these terms feel a little wonky. "SITE TRAFFIC" is the "traffic" term I hear the most—it outgoogles "INTERNET TRAFFIC" by twenty-fold. Similarly, SERVER CRASH seems like a more common term than SERVER DELAY (again google agrees). "Delay" is the weakest link of the day by far. It just doesn't evoke either world (digital, automotive) very strongly. And then NETWORK SPEEDS seems strange in the plural, when none of the other theme answers are in the plural. Plus, again, the term I think of is "INTERNET SPEED(S)," not "NETWORK SPEED(S)" (and again, google agrees). So the terms just don't land as perfectly as they ought to. But maybe, the whole topic is kind of dreary. No one likes traffic or crashes or delays. I appreciate the parallel here, but it's just not playful or surprising enough. 

The fill isn't helping matters much. Lots of ultra-common 3-4-5s, with very little in the way of bounce or pop. DANCE-OFFS (11D: "Battles" of those busting moves) and STORMS OUT (31D: Leaves in a huff) give the grid some life, but otherwise, it's just loaded with abbrevs. (LOTR CIA SCI TIK ICU TSPS ARO NBA PARA DMS) and foreign words (OTRA, ÉTÉ, HAI) and a lot of nondescript crosswordese (ALEC, OWLET, LAMA, etc.). We do get a nice cameo from WESLEY Snipes, and the first ever appearance of ANORA, a film title that, given its size and letter combinations, seems like it should've appeared a long time ago (months ago, anyway). A five-letter movie with an alternating V-C-V-C-V pattern sweeps the Oscars—that seems like it would create conditions for a new crossword staple. ANORA is a movie with "Future Crosswordese" written all over it. But for now—it's new. A debut! Let's enjoy the novelty while it lasts. 

I don't see any real difficulty in this grid. HARROW was weird, in that you mostly encounter that word in the adjectival form ("harrowing") (15A: Torment). You very rarely hear about how a monster or serial killer or yeti or whatever "harrowed" the inhabitants of an old house or the kids at sleepaway camp or whatever. I know HARROW as a part of a plow. Actually, no, the plow is a different agricultural instrument. The HARROW is dragged over plowed land to break up and smooth the soil surface.

Bullets:

• 29A: Identity prefix (CIS) — this is a pretty bare-bones, nondescript clue. "Identity" doesn't tell you much. Doesn't make much difference to puzzle difficulty—I don't even remember seeing this clue while solving—but it's strange to follow up an ORNATE clue for ARO (28A: Feeling little to no amorous attraction, in L.G.B.T.Q.+ lingo) with this oddly plain one. 
• 45A: Throw, for instance (RUG) — one of the few times today where the puzzle seemed to try to get a little tricky, playing on the ambiguity of "Throw" (here, a noun, not a verb). I think of standalone "throw" as being more of a woman's garment, a light wrap or scarf, or else a light cover for a bedspread. I know the term "Throw RUG," of course, but this clue seems to imply that "Throw" on its own can mean RUG. Not sure about that.
• 60A: "Sorry, it's ___ from me" ("A 'NO'") — this is one way to get around the Spanish anus problem. The other is by cluing it as a Wheel of Fortune purchase: "I'd like to buy a vowel ... may I have AN 'O,' please?"
• 3D: Bad thing to pull while running (GROIN) — ouch. This answer took me longer than most of the answers in this puzzle because I was looking for a muscle like hamstring (HAMMY?), or else I thought "pull" was maybe being used in some metaphorical / tricky way, the way you "pull" a stunt ... but no. It's GROIN, everyone's favorite-sounding body part. The "moist" of anatomical terms. No one says GROIN or even thinks about the GROIN unless something has gone horribly wrong. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================
✏️Upcoming Crossword Tournaments✏️:

• Midwest Crossword Tournament (Chicago, IL, Sat., Oct. 3, 2026)

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)

Read more...