Slangy "mouth" / THU 9-3-26 / Many a "Bridgerton" lady / One might feature rivers and bluffs / Its motto is "Industry" / Luxuriates outdoors, in a way / Cause of a squeaky voice, maybe / Islamic "commander" / What choreologists study

Constructor: Zhou Zhang

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium to Medium

THEME: donut holes— I made up the "donut" part because "O"s are shaped like "donuts" but in this puzzle, on five occasions, they represent the word "hole"; these "holes" appear literally (in the grid, in the crossing answers) in the places you might find them irl: 

Theme answers:

• PIE [HOLE] / N[O]GGIN (2D: Slangy "mouth" found in a 20-Across) / 20A: Noodle)
• CUBBY [HOLE] / [HOLE] PUNCH / CLASSR[O]OM (11D: Place for storing belongings in a 32-Across / 33D: Tool found in a 32-Across / 32A: School unit)
• [HOLE] CARDS / P[O]KER GAME (50D: Pocket rockets, e.g., found in a 49-Across / 49A: One might feature rivers and bluffs)
• MAN[HOLE] / R[O]AD (61D: Underground entrance found in a 73-Across / 73A: It might be paved with good intentions)

Word of the Day: Polyhymnia (53D: Polyhymnia or Clio = MUSE) —

Polyhymnia (/pɒliˈhɪmniə/; Greek: Πολυύμνια, lit. 'the one of many hymns'), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. [...] Polyhymnia is depicted as serious, pensive and meditative, and often holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar. Polyhymnia is also sometimes credited as being the Muse of geometry and meditation. [...] As one of the Muses, Polyhymnia is the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Mnemosyne. She was also described as the mother of Triptolemus by Cheimarrhoos, son of Ares, and of the musician Orpheus by Oeagrus. (wikipedia)

• • •

I admire this theme, though I will say I found it a bit FUSSY to solve. Something about the theme density and all the cross-referencing, plus the preponderance of short answers, made the solve feel more like work than fun. For the first half of the solve, I didn't really grasp the meaning of all the cross-referencing (i.e. I didn't get that the "holes" were actually found in very specific and appropriate places. I thought it was just a "O" / "hole" rebus with no particular point, or with a point that would be made clear by a revealer. So I was just ignoring the cross-reference part of the "hole"-answer clues because ... I didn't seem to need it. I got PIE[HOLE], so I didn't feel the need to go looking to see where the PIE[HOLE] was "found." When I'm solving, I don't like to jump around in the grid if I don't have to, so cross-references are things I only follow if I absolutely have to for solving purposes. Sometimes they're actually helpful, but mostly they're a FUSSY nuisance, so if I can get the answer without having to hunt down a cross-reference, that's what I do, and then I just keep going. Once I saw that the "holes" were placed with purpose, I appreciated this theme a lot more. I also like (and I only just noticed this) that both the "O"s in CLASSROOM get turned into "holes." Still not over the idea of a CLASSROOM as a [School unit] ... though I guess, technically, that is what it is. You'd never call it that, but ... OK. Not my favorite clue, but again, love the double-"hole" thing.

I laughed (appropriately?) at HYENA CUB because it seemed so weirdly made-up and desperate. I mean, HYENA CUBs exist, but the idea that you would just go through your wordlist and add "CUB" to the ends of any animals that have CUBs seems absurd. The answer is somehow both original and ridiculous, which is good today, because the grid really needed some pepping up. The theme answers themselves are not very showy, and as I said, most of the rest of the grid is an assemblage of boring-ISH 3-4-5s. CAME DUE, PET NAME, DEBUNK and ENERGIZE all energize the grid a little. With the exception of some crosswordese here and there, the grid holds up pretty well, but never really shines. "AW HELL" is one of those annoying combo answers, [two-letter exclamation] + [mild oath or other expression of some kind], so even though it's kinda sassy and colloquial, I didn't love it. I had "AW HECK" since "HECK" seemed to go better with "AW" (AW GEE, AW SHUCKS, AW ... HELL? I guess). You could put "OH" in there and it's basically the same. This is like a longer version of the whole "OK" genre (e.g. "UH, OK," "UM, OK," "OH, OK" ... "ER, OK" someday, probably, etc.). Funny that HECK did eventually show up, though. Speaking of HECK, that SW corner was (outside the theme) the hardest part of the puzzle for me. The clues on UTAH (56A: Its motto is "Industry"), PATINA (49D: Surface of a well-used wok), HECK (57D: "Tarnation!"), END CUT (!?) (68A: Steak option), and NUM (extreme frowny face) (65D: ___ Lock (PC key)), all made me wonder if I didn't have an error down there somewhere. Oddly, I got the theme answer [HOLE] CARDS easy down there—the surrounding fill, not so much.

Oh, and I finished with an error. Stupid error, really, one I caught relatively quickly when I went back over the puzzle: I had written in HEIRESS for PEERESS (8D: Many a "Bridgerton" lady) and apparently didn't check the crosses thoroughly. No, wait: I remember looking at INABLE and thinking "that is not how you spell that ... oh, well, maybe it's some variation ... like ENSURE/INSURE ..." This means that I didn't check on HITCH, which makes no sense as the answer for 8A: Sales spiel (PITCH). Always check your crosses (he said, primarily to himself)! Surely some of those Bridgerton ladies are HEIRESSes, right? I tried to watch that show once and it didn't take. See also SEINFELD (jk, I've seen some Seinfeld, but like poker, it just wasn't ever really my thing) (though JLD is an idol to me for her post-Seinfeld work, specifically Veep). 

Bullets:

• 13A: She can speak more than 20 languages (SIRI) — stop personifying these stupid machines. They got you all used to thinking of bots as people with SIRI, but she was just laying the groundwork for the A.I. invasion. Put "She" in quotes. Not a human, not a she. I have owned an iPhone for something like 14 years but I have never once talked to that *****. I know my phone's spying on me regardless, but I'm not going to help it. 
• 59A: Luxuriates outdoors, in a way (GLAMPS) — glamorous camping = glamping. Camping for people who hate camping but vaguely like fresh air I guess. I've never done it.
• 73A: It might be paved with good intentions (ROAD) — minor complaint, but I don't like this clue here first because it's the "ROAD to hell" that's paved with good intentions, and second because this is a theme answer, which means the "O" in ROAD is a MAN[hole], and there are no MAN[hole]s on this explicitly metaphorical ROAD.

• 12D: Cause of a squeaky voice, maybe (HELIUM) — loved this one. Reminded me of being like 12 and blowing up balloons with my sister and stepsister for some party my parents were having, We were definitely sucked down some HELIUM and made our voices squeak, but I think my stepsister passed out at one point, so I really can't recommend this practice, despite the fun memories.
• 47D: 2, 4, 6 and 8, e.g. (AGES) — uh ... sure. I mean, you can't argue with that. People are those AGES. 
• 72A: Letters found near some bars (LTE) — the bars on your cellphone telling you how strong your signal is. 

I watched some US Open tennis last night just for fun. I used to play and be a fan, but that all fell away sometime around the turn of the century. Thinking of starting to follow tennis again and figured the US Open would be a good place to start. I quickly learned two things of crossword interest. First, the two-time defending US Open champion and #1 women's player in the world (for nearly two years straight now) is named ARYNA Sabalenka. I can see why SABALENKA hasn't appeared in a crossword yet, but ARYNA!?!? I do believe that Sabalenka is successful enough at this point for her first name to finally make a grid appearance. Stunned it hasn't yet. Also, there is apparently a young Filipino tennis phenom named Alexandra EALA who is *tremendously* popular despite not having won any major tournaments yet: "On August 24, 2026, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18, the highest ever for a Filipino and Southeast Asian in WTA Tour history. She is the first Filipino to break into the top 20, defeat top-10 opponents, reach the fourth round of a major, reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event, and win a WTA Tour title, clinching her breakthrough at the 2026 Washington Open" (wikipedia). She is a national hero in her native country, and apparently beloved by tennis fans worldwide. If her name ever gets loose in the grid, which seems likely, esp. if she ever wins a major, then look out. The age of EALA will be upon us.

[ARYNA (5) Sabalenka]

[Alexandra EALA (4)]

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. someone pointed out in the Comments that the theme “O”s are the only “O”s on the whole grid, which is an elegant touch from a thematic standpoint, although it’s probably the reason the fill is a bit tepid overall. Hard to fill a grid well when you deprive yourself of a common vowel.

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Maine city near the mouth of the Kennebec River / WED 9-2-26 / Multiple-choice selection on a midterm, say: Abbr. / Meh … or medium-temp

Constructor: Mac Motz

Relative difficulty: Easy (9:53)

THEME: M AND MS — Each clue starts with an M and has a second M-word in it

Theme answers:

• [Multicolored implements in many art drawers] for MAGIC MARKERS
• [Marauder's Map encryption phrase in "Harry Potter"] for MISCHIEF MANAGED
• [M.L.B. M.V.P. nicknamed the "Commerce Comet"] for MICKEY MANTLE
• [Maniacs, maybe] for MAD MEN

Word of the Day: EFT (Movement of money digitally from bank to bank, in brief) —

Electronic funds transfer is the transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems.

• • •

Hi pals! It's Malaika here for a Malaika MWednesday! The weather in NYC has been atrocious today, like being inside of a swamp. Blech. I hope wherever you are reading this from, things are clearer, sunnier, and brighter! 

just swamp things iykyk

Y'all... I opened this puzzle and I sighed. Deeply. I am sure Mac Motz is a lovely person, and I hope he continues to make puzzles, and I get that his name matches this theme. I really get it!! I, in fact, did a similar thing when I first started making puzzles!! Samesies!!!!! This is not a blog post hating on Mac Motz, it is a blog post hating on the NYT editors, because they should have clocked that this is not a theme worthy of being published by an outlet with like a 3% acceptance rate.

First of all, we already did this. Not only have we already done this, but we already did this on a Malaika MWednesday and I already wrote a write-up about how much I hate this type of theme!!!!! Here it is.

I simply do not understand why you would challenge yourself to make the clues less fun, more monotonous (M&M lol), and clunkier. Why?? Why????? I do not want to be stumbling over confusing phrasing, I want to be delighted by wordplay! [Made eyes at in the manner of a satyr] ???????? wtf is this!!!! In a way, the constructor is the one who gets the puzzle... They get to play a game of Scattergories with entries that they themselves picked. We get to glance at the page for one second, say "Oh boy there are a lot of Ms" and then read clues like [Milliners manufacture them]. 

As I said in my previous Deja Vu Malaika MWednesday write-up, the solver is left with a themeless puzzle that has bad clues. And the stats on this one are rough. There are only five entries in the whole grid that are longer than six letters. (Yesterday's puzzle had fourteen, for comparison.) Three are the theme entries and the other two are.... RICOCHET and ILLINOIS. There are also twenty-five three-letter entries, which is pretty frowned upon. (There are only so many three-letter entries in the world, so we see the same ones over and over in puzzles and they can be hard to clue in an interesting way. In a puzzle where the theme is already "tortured clues," a ton of three-letter words is yet another obstacle.)

This is maybe the meanest I've ever been on this blog. I'm sorry :( Mac, I am ready to solve your next puzzle, whenever and wherever it is!!

Bullets:

• [Making out openly or a mobile device, in brief] for PDA — I don't think I've seen the NYT do this before where they literally just give two different definitions for the entry
• [Multiple-choice selection on a midterm, say: Abbr.] for ANS — The puzzle wants you to think that ANS is an agreed upon abbreviation for the term "answer"
• [Mild-mannered characteristic?] for HYPHEN — This was a good clue!
• [Maximum measure of attractiveness, say] for A TEN — Parse this like "she's a ten out of ten"

xoxo Malaika

P.S. I had a little themed puzzle on Puzzmo last week, if you'd like to solve!

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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