Biceps, boastfully / MON 3-9-26 / Zimbalist Jr. of "77 Sunset Strip" / They go to a higher court / Temporary guest from a canine shelter / Period for Fred, Wilma and Pebbles / Birthplace of the bossa nova, informally

Constructor: Christina Iverson and Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (solved Downs-only)

THEME: BEST ACTRESS (60A: Academy Award category ... or a hint to the starts of the answers to the starred clues) — first words of theme answers are also last names of women who won BEST ACTRESS Oscars:

Theme answers:

• (Sally) FIELD HOCKEY (16A: *Outdoor sport with sticks (1979, 1984))
• (Emma) STONE AGE (25A: *Period for Fred, Wilma and Pebbles (2016, 2023))
• (Jodie) FOSTER DOG (35A: *Temporary guest from a canine shelter (1988, 1991))
• (Halle) BERRY PIE (51A: *Popular fruit dessert (2001))

Word of the Day: EFREM Zimbalist, Jr. (55A: Zimbalist Jr. of "77 Sunset Strip") —

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor and theatre producer. Known for his "mellifluous voice and air of sophistication," he was known to television audiences for his starring roles on the crime drama series 77 Sunset Strip (1958–64) and The F.B.I. (1965–74), his recurring role as "Dandy Jim" Buckley on Maverick (1957–58), and as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Animated Universe. He also appeared in numerous films and on the Broadway stage. He was a Golden Globe Award winner (out of four total nominations) and a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

He was the son of classical musicians Efrem Zimbalist and Alma Gluck, and the father of actress Stephanie Zimbalist. In addition to his acting career, Zimbalist was also a decorated veteran of the Second World War, receiving both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. In 1994, Zimbalist received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television. (wikipedia)

• • •

Let me tell you about the nine-year EFREM Zimbalist drought of the late 20th century. It was the mid-80s. Ronald Reagan had just been re-elected and everyone figured that Zimbalist, who had campaigned for Goldwater 20 years earlier, would soar to even greater crossword prominence in Reagan's America. But as Reagan's second term wore on, EFREM found himself and his father, a famous violinist of the same name, snubbed from the grid, year after year. Some said the EFREM name was blackballed after it got out that Zimbalist Jr. had supported John Anderson in 1980. Some say it was because he made joking comments about "jellybeans" and "astrologers" when asked about Reagan for a 1985 Playboy interview. Some say his disappearance from the grid was a total coincidence. I say those people have no imagination. Anyway, the EFREM Zimabalist Jr. blackout continued under George H.W. Bush, lending more credence to the idea that the Great EFREM Erasure was indeed political payback. After Clinton was elected, EFREM's fortunes changed. Clinton, an avid solver himself, saw an opportunity to leave his mark on the crossword landscape, and one of the first things he did was restore EFREM to crossword prominence. Thus EFREM finally reappeared in 1993 after a nearly nine-year absence, and went on to appear nine (9) more times in the Clinton Era. After that, George W. Bush., as if attempting to outdo Clinton while simultaneously distancing himself from his father's legacy, supported the Zimbalist revival with even greater fervor: EFREM made a whopping twelve (12) appearances during W's presidency. Since then, and particularly following Zimbalist's death in 2014, EFREM enthusiasm has waned, though we've never seen anything close to the nine-year EFREM drought of the late '80s / early '90s. (Note: some of the above is verifiably true—the crossword stats, mostly; and the Goldwater part; the rest, who knows? Maybe)

I want to thank today's puzzle for ... well, reminding me that EFREM Zimbalist Jr. once existed (and that I couldn't pick him out of a line-up on a dare), as well as for reminding me that the Oscars are coming up (Sunday, Mar. 15). As for this theme, it's OK, I guess. A first-words theme. Feels like the kind of thing that's been done before, not terribly imaginative. But timely! I wish there were more to it. I wish the revealer were snappier instead of just literal and explanatory. I wish the fill were a little less ye olde (TET ARS URSA ... EFREM for god's sake). But all in all it's a totally acceptable Monday puzzle. The longer Downs aren't all that long, but they are solid, and even though its letters aren't terribly exciting, I really liked "SEE HERE!" I like quaint indignation. "I say! SEE HERE! That's not cricket!" I had a blarghy feeling about the fill after the NW corner (URSA AOL ESP already had me teetering, and then UNFED tipped me into mild gag territory). But things evened out. I don't really believe BERRY PIE is a thing. What Kind Of Berry!? No way I'm ordering some mystery "BERRY" PIE. That was the one answer that made me grimace when it came into view. But I love FOSTER DOG a ton, and UPSELLS is also pretty fab, so I come out on the thumbs-up side today.

So weird to find out today that so many of the Best Actress Oscar winners who fit this theme (i.e. whose last names are also ordinary words) are also multiple Best Actress Oscar winners. I'd forgotten that Sally Field won two. I can name every movie referred to in today's theme clues except the one Field won for in 1984—I remember the infamous speech ("You like me, you really like me..."), but I'll be damned if I can remember what she won for. Was it Places in the Heart!? [checks with the internet]. It was! Ha! Thank you, brain! Good ol' brain, still working. For now. For the record, the movies referred to today are:

• Sally Field: Norma RAE (of crossword fame!!) (1979); Places in the Heart (1984)
• Emma Stone: La La Land (2016); Poor Things (2023)
• Jodie Foster: The Accused (1988); The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Halle Berry: Monster’s Ball (2001)

Stone is nominated again this year for Bugonia, though I think it's something of a foregone conclusion that Jessie Buckley is going to win for Hamnet (a movie I have no interest in seeing ... I can't really explain it ... I like Shakespeare ... I love Paul Mescal ... Jessie Buckley is fantastic ... I think I'm just allergic to Oscar Bait). I just saw Halle Berry in Crime 101, which made me wonder why she isn't in more things. Or maybe she's been in a ton of things and I just missed them all. She is charming in Crime 101 as an insurance agent specializing in "high-wealth" customers who finds herself devalued by her bosses because she's "old" and (therefore?) (allegedly?) losing her ability to hook clients with sex appeal. This is the least plausible part of the movie, as Halle Berry looks stunning at all times. Hard to look at anyone else when she's on screen. But whatever, she plays the part really convincingly and endearingly, and she has an odd and compelling chemistry with Mark Ruffalo (a cop who figures out that Berry has gotten involved in some criminal shenanigans).

Bullets:

• 64A: Vietnamese holiday with a palindromic name (TET) — did we really need the "with a palindromic name" part? TET is one of the most common crossword words there is. Even if you're a total crossword novice and have never heard of TET, those crosses are all easy. No need to do so much handholding, NYT! I know it's Monday, but yeesh.
• 10D: They go to a higher court (APPEALS) — pretty straightforward, but from a Downs-only perspective, this was not so easy for me. The hardest answer of the puzzle, maybe. It just felt like there was some kind of mild trickery going on. Like, maybe the court was a basketball court or a  tennis court, or a food court. Maybe "court" was being used to mean something like a "story" in a building and the answer was something like "escalators" or "elevators" or "stairways." Thankfully, none of these fit, and eventually I was able to infer some of the crosses and get to APPEALS.
• 11D: Round up, as cattle (WRANGLE) — again, easy enough, but with no letters in place I couldn't think of this word at first. The only thing that came to mind was RUSTLE, which wouldn't fit.

• 38D: Biceps, boastfully (GUNS) — this was great. Much more fun to think of arms than to think of ... arms.
• 54D: Group assisting a sheriff (POSSE) — this was grim. Made me think of lynching. I'll take a hip-hop POSSE over a sheriff's POSSE any day.

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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First (and last) queen of Hawaii / SUN 3-8-26 / Certain supervisor on a film set / So-called "rooster sauce" / Inventor and actress Lamarr / Indigenous people of the Great Lakes / Anna Howard ___ leader in the suffrage movement / Predinner beverage / Baseball announcer's update / Spanish letter / Sci-fi franchise that takes place in "the Grid" / Some budget-friendly grocery stores / Role for Geena Davis in "A League of Their Own" / March 8 observance connecting billions of people around the world / Structure in a shipping container

Constructor: Kelly Richardson

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "Join Together" — a puzzle celebrating INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (71A: March 8 observance connecting billions of people around the world ... including the 22 people whose names cross this answer); so ... every answer crossing the revealer is a woman's name

Theme answers:

• ISSA Rae
• NINA Simone
• EMMA WATSON
• SADE
• Rita ORA
• Anaïs NIN
• LILIUOKALANI
• HARRIET Tubman
• Tara REID
• NORMA Talmadge
• Lupita NYONG'O
• MALALA Yousafzai
• Sally FIELD
• GWEN Stefani
• Sandra Day O'CONNOR
• TONI MORRISON
• ICE Spice
• INA Garten
• Anna Howard SHAW
• FRIDA KAHLO
• TINA Turner
• HEDY Lamarr

Word of the Day: ODAWA (35D: Indigenous people of the Great Lakes) —

[Odawa group areas]

The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa /oʊˈdɑːwə/) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long preceded the creation of the current border between the two countries in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Their peoples are federally recognized as Native American tribes in the United States and have numerous recognized First Nations bands in Canada. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe and Potawatomi peoples.

After migrating from the East Coast in ancient times, they settled on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, and the Bruce Peninsula in the present-day province of Ontario, Canada. They considered this their original homeland. After the 17th century, they also settled along the Ottawa River, and in what became the present-day states of Michigan and Wisconsin. They also occupied other areas of the Midwest south of the Great Lakes in what became the United States. In the 21st century, there are a total of approximately 15,000 Odawa living in Ontario, Canada, and in Michigan and Oklahoma (former Indian Territory, United States). (wikipedia)

• • •

There's an admirable ambition here (can't say I've ever seen twenty-two abutting names in a grid before), and it's always nice when the commemorative puzzle comes out on the actual day that it's commemorating. I just really, really wish it were ... better. That it had any kind of real concept (beyond a slew of truly random names). That the fill were generally strong. I wish I wish I wish. But I didn't enjoy this at all and to pretend otherwise ... I can't. The theme is ... a lot of women's names (?). That's it, that's all. That is the theme. Worse—honestly, much worse; puzzle-killing, tbh—is the fact that not only are there twenty-two (22!) women's names crossing the revealer (more names than any sane person would care to see on any day), but then there are ... more women's names (??). Non-thematically. Just ... scattered here and there. Like ... the theme already seemed weak because all it is is a list of (except for gender) unrelated names, the least you could do is have that set be tight, sealed, closed-off, exclusive, i.e. have no other women's names in the grid. But then ... there's THERESA May wandering around for some reason ... and DOTTIE ... and NORA Ephron. Just thrown in there, making a mockery of the already thin concept. If you're gonna rest your whole theme on 22 Women's Names (!) then there should be no other women's names except those 22. If the puzzle had kept it to just those 22 names, I still wouldn't have thought much of the concept, but I would've respected the attention to detail, at least. As is ... it just seems inelegant. Conceptually inelegant. I deeply respected the puzzle's "No Men" policy, but there again, the puzzle didn't quite go the distance. ELMO's pronouns are he/him, and MR. ROBOTO is obviously a mister (as is Monet, although I guess in the plural (MONETS) you're talking about the paintings, not the dude himself). The puzzle doesn't seem fully committed to the bit, is what I'm saying, and it's disappointing.

I am glad that there was a rationale for all the names, because as I moved down the west side of the puzzle, I was like "yikes, that is a Lot of crosswordy names" (SADE ORA NIN ISSA). I did enjoy (or at least appreciate) learning some new names today, at least one of which (LILIUOKALANI) nearly took my head off. When I say I needed every single cross, I mean Every Single Cross. That "U," yipes, it still looks so wrong. But I figured the Taylor Swift song was probably not "OAR Song" (48A: "___ Song" (Taylor Swift hit)), so "U" it was. I'd also never heard of Anna Howard SHAW, and I only barely know who NORMA Talmadge is (that is, I think I've heard the name, but I couldn't tell you a thing about her). Everyone else I know, including ICE Spice, who I know is gonna be new to lots of you. I really needed her today, because I honestly wasn't sure if it was INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY or INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY. The one other proper noun I had absolutely no clue about was also the very last answer I completed: ODAWA. That "D" was my last letter. Number of ODAWA appearances in NYTXW history: before today, zero. Now, one. If you give me O-AWA, I will immediately tell you the answer has to be OZAWA. Seiji OZAWA, the conductor. No other letter makes sense. Or so I thought. I did not connect ODAWA to "Ottawa" (obviously), but that makes sense (see "Word of the Day," above). Lots of checking and rechecking crosses today.

Fillwise, the puzzle really lost me in the SW with ONE TO GO (?) (121A: "Nearly done!") and MEN ON (as clued) (111D: Baseball announcer's update) and "G'DAY, MATES" (the MATES part not being clued at all) (83D: Aussie greeting). With ATO and ANDSO and RERIGS down there as well, that corner is a real mess. Elsewhere there's extremely awkward stuff like SAY TO (?) and HALF TWO (arbitrary British times of day, huzzah!) and IDENT (oof) and PRIE (at least four (4!) Fr. answers today, five if you count NOIR) and multiple (multiple?) ALDIS. Then there was the lesser ugliness of stuff like AANDM (A & M) and CD-R and ANI (AN "I") and NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). I was struggling to find things to admire. I know I said I didn't like the theme concept, but the theme did yield some of the more interesting answers of the day, like TONI MORRISON and FRIDA KAHLO. I really wanted to be able to say "I LIKE IT" to this one, but no such luck. 

Bullets:

• 13D: Show gratitude for service (LEAVE A TIP) — whenever I EAT A SANDWICH at a restaurant, I make sure to LEAVE A TIP.
• 113D: Spanish letter (CARTA) — brutal for me. Wanted a letter of the alphabet. But the "letter" here is a simple missive. Correspondence. That kind of letter. CARTA can also mean "card" or "menu" (which is what I would've guessed as its meaning, since CARTE means "menu" in French (as well as "map" and "card").
• 115D: Floor show? (C-SPAN) — the "floor" in question is the floor of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, where official (and televised) business takes place.
• 38D: Sci-fi franchise that takes place in "the Grid" (TRON) — I have never seen a TRON. Not the original (1982), not TRON: Legacy (2010), not the animated TV show TRON: Uprising (2012-13). I was considering seeing TRON: Ares last fall, mainly because I saw that it featured Greta Lee (whom I love) as an action star, and that seemed interesting. But then the reviews were terrible and there were other movies playing and so I didn't see it after all. Kind of cute to give TRON a "Grid" clue. TRON is a crossword staple (111 grid appearances so far), but somehow no one has ever written a "Grid"-related clue before today (not in the NYTXW, anyway).

[72D: Singer and civil rights activist Simone]

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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