Frothy drink often served with boba / MON 5-25-26 / 1980s hit with the lyric "Me mind on fire, me soul on fire" / Dried poblanos used in mole sauce / California national park known for its dryness / Variety of chili that can reach a Scoville score of 1+ million / Locale for a plastic flamingo / Fruit that makes your lips pucker / Piece of armadillo armor

Constructor: Anthony Grubb

Relative difficulty: Very easy (solved Downs-only)

THEME: "HOT, HOT, HOT" (65A: 1980s hit with the lyric "Me mind on fire, me soul on fire" ... or how one might describe 17-, 30- and 48-Across) — three theme answers are things that could be described as "hot":

Theme answers:

• LOVE SCENE (17A: Steamy segment in a movie)
• GHOST PEPPER (30A: Variety of chili that can reach a Scoville score of 1+ million)
• DEATH VALLEY (48A: California national park known for its dryness)

Word of the Day: "HOT, HOT, HOT" (65A) —

"Hot Hot Hot" is a song written and first recorded by Montserratian musician Arrow, featured on his 1982 studio album Hot Hot Hot. The song was a commercially successful dance floor single, with cover versions subsequently released by artists in several countries, including in 1987 by American singer Buster Poindexter.

The song was Arrow's first chart hit, peaking at No. 59 on the UK Singles Chart. A remix of the song, dubbed as the "World Carnival Mix '94" was later released in 1994 and peaked higher than the original, at number 38 on the UK Singles Chart.

The song was used as the theme song of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. // The song was covered in 1987 by American singer David Johansen, as his lounge singer persona Buster Poindexter, and released as the first single from his album Buster Poindexter. It garnered extensive airplay through radio, MTV, and other television appearances.

A music video was produced for Johansen's version of the song, in which he appears both as Buster Poindexter and as himself. The video begins with Johansen mentioning his role as the frontman for the 1970s proto-punk band New York Dolls, showing the band's albums and tossing them aside while talking about the "really outrageous clothes" he wore and how he came to be interested in a "refined and dignified kind of a situation", which leads into the song.

In an interview on National Public Radio, Johansen called the tune "the bane of my life", owing to its pervasive popularity as a karaoke and wedding song. [...] 

The song was used in the movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua. (wikipedia)

• • •

If you came here hoping to hear "HOT, HOT, HOT," sorry, I cannot oblige, as I do not want to subject my ears or brain to it any more than this puzzle already has. I did (slightly) enjoy learning about the song's history, though (see "Word of the Day," above). I had no idea there was a version that preceded Buster Poindexter's version. That's probably because that original version (by Arrow) (?) charted only in the UK (and only got as high as 59 the first time around—it got to 38 when it recharted in the mid-90s). It was apparently the theme song of the FIFA World Cup in 1986, so it must've gotten a lot of international attention, but the only version I know is the Buster Poindexter version (1987), which I (slightly) confuse with "Hot in the City Tonight," a song I remember as being by Buster Poindexter, but which is actually performed by Billy Idol. You can hear that song in that great scene in Big (1988) when Tom Hanks is riding home from a company party in a limo with Elizabeth Perkins and he stands up and pops his head out of the sun roof as they're driving down the streets of NYC. I can't find the scene, which is annoying me. In lieu of that scene, here's Hanks (playing a 13yo who now inhabits an adult's body) trying beluga caviar for the first time:

But back to the puzzle: despite the fact that I do not care for the song in question (which you can hear here in its original version, and here as the Poindexter cover), I thought the theme was perfectly adequate for a Monday. Simple, straightforward, slightly playful. All three of the themers are "hot" in different ways. There's very little else of interest in the puzzle, but despite being somewhat on the dull side, the fill is perfectly serviceable. Very little in the way of dreck. So ... there you go. Clean, basic, fine. 

And as a Downs-only solve, it was quite easy. I assume it was equally easy if you bothered with the Acrosses. As usual, I had trouble with the "word that can precede/follow" clue (6D: Lead-in to maker or breaker). When TIE wouldn't work (although there are most certainly TIE makers in the world), I was out of luck and just waited until I could infer crosses in order to get ICE. It took me a few seconds to remember that boba tea was MILK TEA (9D: Frothy drink often served with boba). I wrote in -O-A at 42D: Coke or Pepsi because I wasn't sure if it was gonna be COLA or SODA (I figured the former, but didn't wanna lock myself in without being sure). I needed a few inferred crosses (mainly the second "A" from DEATH VALLEY) to get ANCHOS (double pepper action today) (49D: Dried poblanos used in mole sauce). But the only real "whoops" of the day came when, off just the "H," I wrote in "I HEAR YOU" for 24D: "Yeah, yeah" ("WHATEVER"). Luckily, the letters from "I HEAR YOU" quickly ended up being pretty obviously bad, so I tore it out and rebuilt it as "WHATEVER" (aided considerably by the "V" from DEATH VALLEY). Otherwise, it was look at clue, write in answer, over and over and over. No resistance whatsoever. 

Bullets:

• 17A: Steamy segment in a movie (LOVE SCENE) — It's weird that we still call these "love scenes" when what we mean is "sex scenes," which is maybe a more common term now.  I'm watching a terrible movie right now called Sliver (1993) for my Movie Club and there are several sex scenes but calling them LOVE SCENEs seems ... really wrong. It's Sharon Stone and the one Baldwin you can kinda remember but can't name. No, not Alec. And no, not Stephen. The other one. Anyway, it's one of the more putrid sex scenes I've ever seen. I hope his character dies before they have the chance to go at it again. (I stopped the movie halfway to come upstairs and write the blog, so I don't know—I'm actually hoping every man in this movie dies a horrible death, as there is not a decent or ever tolerable one among them) 
• 38A: Volcanic spew (ASH) — in Sliver, the Baldwin in Question (OK, it's William) has a dumb crystal volcano sculpture in his apartment and at one point utters the very plausible and definitely seductive line, "I love volcanos. Someday I want to fly into one." (you can see the sculpture in the background at the very beginning of the aforementioned sex scene, which I definitely do not recommend that you watch in full). Apparently the original ending of Sliver actually featured Stone and Baldwin doing just that—flying into a volcano. But apparently they decided to go with a more pedestrian ending (I'm half-heartedly avoiding spoilers at the moment), one where Baldwin does not experience a lava-based death, which is too bad. He deserves it. Did I mention that Academy Award-winning actor Martin Landau is also in this movie? The '90s were wild. All this volcano talk has me thinking of another Tom Hanks movie: Joe Vs. The Volcano (1990). I know that movie was maligned, but it has got to be better than Sliver. 

• 35D: Singer Newman with the hit "You've Got a Friend in Me" (RANDY) — this is a song from Toy Story ... hey, another Tom Hanks movie, and this one's actually in the puzzle! (well, sorta). Anyway, Tom Hanks good, this puzzle fine, Sliver unbearable. 

That's all for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Relative of an alpaca / SUN 5-24-26 / Online reference with many faces / Insider, in spy lingo / Using Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, etc / Foot, cutesily / Filthy, in slang / Stance that resembles a ballerina on one leg / Supervillain in "Fantastic Four" comics / Accessory used in some stretches

Constructor: David Steinberg

Relative difficulty: Easy

[103A: Princess Leia or Hester Prynne (HEROINE)]

THEME: "Next, Please!" — familiar phrases where one letter has been "raised" to the "Next" letter in the alphabet, creating wacky phrases, which are clued wackily ("?"-style); the "raised" letters are all circled and spell out "PLUS ONE"

Theme answers:

• CONTROLLED CHAPS (22A: Stoical British guys?)
• "THAT'S SO NOT OLAY!" (37A: "The skin cream you're using must be Neutrogena or CeraVe!"?)
• MISSED A BEAU (51A: Pined for an ex-boyfriend?)
• "GIVE ME ONE SEASON!" (64A: Exasperated television producer's plea?)
• CONTACT LEOS (80A: Reach out to people born between July 23 and August 22?)
• FIRST-CLASS NAIL (94A: Good name for a salon specializing in mani-pedis?)
• DISSONANT CHORES (111A: Loading the dishes and unloading the dishes, e.g.?)

Word of the Day: GUANACO (47D: Relative of an alpaca) —

The guanaco (/ɡwɑːˈnɑːkoʊ/ gwah-NAH-koh; Lama guanicoe) is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the domesticated llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. // The guanaco gets its name from the Quechua word wanaku. Young guanacos are called chulengos or "guanaquitos". // Guanacos stand between 1.0 and 1.3 m (3 ft 3 in and 4 ft 3 in) at the shoulder, body length of 2.1 to 2.2 m (6 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in), and weigh 90 to 140 kg (200 to 310 lb). Their color varies very little (unlike the domestic llama), ranging from a light brown to dark cinnamon and shading to white underneath. Guanacos have grey faces and small, straight ears. The lifespan of a guanaco can be as long as 28 years. (wikipedia)

• • •

I liked this one just fine, but somehow, conceptually, it felt a little flat, or unambitious. I'm not sure the core idea quite coheres. I mean, the spelled-out phrase ("PLUS ONE") says wedding or other fancy affair, while the title ("Next, Please!") says deli counter. They both contain the ideas of progression, but in different and unrelated ways. This isn't a fault, exactly, but it does mean that the puzzle lacks ... I dunno, something. Something that makes me think, "nailed it!" I was grateful for the lack of a revealer. This one didn't need one. I was kinda mad, part way through, that the puzzle had highlighted the affected ("raised") squares. Seemed like a remedial move, an unnecessary assist. But then when I was finished, I noticed that those letters spelled out a phrase and thought, "OK, yeah, you probably do need to highlight those letters in order for people to notice the whole spelling gimmick." One good thing about the theme today is that the wackiness actually works a few times, which is to say I actually laughed. Somehow the idea of someone shouting "THAT'S SO NOT OLAY!," like they're trying to avert a lotion emergency, is funny to me. I guess the other ones aren't that funny, but they're all interestingly wacky, except maybe DISSONANT CHORES, the clue for which I don't really understand. How are loading and unloading the dishwasher "dissonant" chores, any more than loading and unloading the washing machine, or setting and clearing the table? They are opposites, in a way, but "dissonant"? I feel like I'm missing something. It would not be the first time. [People are telling me that loading and unloading the dishwasher makes a “dissonant” sound because of all the dishes clanging together—I must be a more careful loader/unloader than most of y’all because this never occurred to me]

Not much challenge to be had today, outside of trying to piece those themers together. Wacky theme answers like these can be hard to come up with, even when the base phrases are very familiar. I needed several to many crosses in order to get all of them, but those crosses were pretty easy to come by. There are only two answers in the puzzle (I think) that were not known to me at all: the hockey guy (MCDAVID) and the alpaca relative (GUANACO). Oh, and MOLEMAN (65D: Supervillain in "Fantastic Four" comics). I know a Hans MOLEMAN, but that is the only MOLEMAN I know.

I have a little 😃 written next to EMOJIPEDIA because it's apt: it's an emoji, and that answer made me smile (69D: Online reference with many faces). By contrast, I have a 🙁 written next to RESORT AREA, as I don't like that phrase (74D: Touristy destination). The AREA part just feels so vague. I had RESORT TOWN written in there for a bit. This meant that my 122A: Tibetan oxen (YAKS) were, first, ANOA (if you know you know, and if you solved crosswords in the very olden days, you know), and, second, GNUS (which are neither Tibetan nor oxen). The longer Downs add some much-needed spice to today's solve. My favorite is ON THE APPS, an extremely in-the-language phrase that I can't recall seeing in the grid before (sure enough, this is its first NYTXW appearance) (4D: Using Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, etc.). "IT'S ALL OVER" (15D: "We're toast!") also has a nice colloquial energy and pairs well (in its gloominess) with GONERS (64D: They're toast) (Ha, I didn't notice until just now that their clues echo one another like that). You've also got LIP READERS, "I HATED IT," and LIFE STORY, all solid. 

["If anyone / Should ever write / My LIFE STORY..."]

I've taken a lot of yoga classes over the years but I can't recall ever using a YOGA BALL (?). I've definitely seen exercise balls at the gym, largish inflated things that you can do various poses on (I've done forearm planks with them, for instance—really gotta use your core to stay stable), but I don't associate those balls with yoga, so maybe there's an entirely different kind of ball that I just ... missed. And I wish DANCER POSE meant anything to me, because it sounds kind of made-up (3D: Stance that resembles a ballerina on one leg). When you have to have both a word for "dancer" ("ballerina") and a word for "pose" ("Stance") in your DANCER POSE clue just to get people to imagine it, that suggests its thingness isn't terribly strong. But again, maybe it's been in front of my face forever and I just missed it. I don't think I've ever seen and I know I've never used the phrase PIN PAD(S) before either (92D: Parts of card-swiping machines). Is that the same thing as the keypad that you enter your PIN number on? Seems so. As for LOST CAT (56D: Feline that a neighbor may find) ... I love cats. I don't so much like the idea of a lost cat, but I do like that the clue tells you that the neighbor found it, so I don't have to think about the poor cat lost out there, somewhere in fictional land, in fictional peril, all alone. Still, LOST CAT feels a little bit like GREEN PAINT (arbitrary adj./noun pairing). You could lose anything—doesn't mean it warrants its own standalone LOST- phrase. LOST SOCK? LOST KEYS? These are very real things, but I'm on the fence about their crossworthiness. 

[41D: N.H.L. star Connor ___]

Bullets:

• 112D: "Mean Girls" character Janis ___ (IAN) — if you're of a certain age, then you know who this character was named after:

• 44A: Baseball legend who dated J. Lo (A-ROD) — she's had lots of high-profile partners over the years. I like how the clue used her shortened name to cue his shortened name.
• 47A: Filthy, in slang (GRODY) — I haven't heard this since ... I wanna say 1984. But the clue doesn't say "old slang," so ... did it make a comeback?
• 17A: Foot, cutesily (TOOTSY) — if you're suffering from GRODY TOOTSY, ask your doctor about ZEQLYBIA ([extremely fast voiceover voice] "notarealmedicine")
• 121A: Like the strawberry champagne in Bruno Mars's "That's What I Like" (ON ICE) — I do not know this song but I like that I can infer the answer anyway. The clue spices up an otherwise blah answer.

• 9D: One of two found on résumés? (ACCENT) — did this trick anyone? Honestly, the way it's worded, it doesn't need that "?" at all. There are in fact two ACCENTs on the word "résumés." 
• 76D: Insider, in spy lingo (ASSET) — tough one for me. Somehow "Insider" just didn't get me there. I wanted MOLE but it wouldn't fit (and was already taken by MOLEMAN!), and then ... nothing. Needed help from crosses.
• 79D: So-called "Land of a Million Elephants" (LAOS) — a million? Were there ever a million, even in idealized, pre-human depredation times? No, it's just a hyperbolic way of saying there were a lot. Kind of like the "Land of 1000 Dances"—Wilson Pickett only names like half a dozen. You have to kind of feel the rest.

[The Pony, the Mashed Potato, the Alligator (wtf!?), the Watusi ... late in the song he names the Jerk. So that's five. He claims to be "Twistin' with Lucy," but that's in the context of "doin' the Watusi," so I don't think we can count the Twist as a separate dance. Judges say: five dances. 995 still unaccounted for]

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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