Charles Lamb collection first published in 1823 / THU 9-17-15 / One-named German singer / Novelist Santha Rama / Mexican rolled tortilla dish / City west of Provo Peak / Device-linking system for short

Constructor: Timothy Polin

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: say the letters, one then three — parts of theme answers are rendered by letters that you have to say out loud, as letters, to make the answer sound right. In each case, it's one letter followed by three letters. Thus:

Theme answers:

• Essays of Elia becomes SAAA (ess, As) OF ELIA (17A: Charles Lamb collection first published in 1823)
• Jesse Owens => JESSE ONNN (25A: Track star known as the Buckeye Bullet)
• Excise tax => XIII TAX (36A: Duty on gasoline or tobacco)
• The Emmys=> THE MEEE (39A: 39A: Annual gala usually held in September)
• 80s music => ATTT MUSIC (47A: Prince and Journey output) (terrible clue)
• Public Ivies=> PUBLIC IVVV (58A: Informal group that includes the Universities of California, Michigan and Virginia)

Word of the Day: FLAUTA (4D: Mexican rolled tortilla dish) —

A taquito (Spanish pronunciation: [taˈkito], lit. Spanish for "small taco"), rolled taco, or flauta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈflauta], lit. Spanish for "flute") is a Mexican food dish most often consisting of a small rolled-up tortilla and some type of filling, including beef, cheese or chicken. The filled tortilla is crisp-fried. The dish is often topped with condiments such as sour cream and guacamole. Corn tortillas are generally used to make taquitos; the dish is more commonly known as flautas when they are larger than their taquito counterparts, and can be made with either flour or corn tortillas although using corn is more traditional. In some areas, such as New Mexico, taquito refers not to the rolled-up tortilla dish, but rather a smaller version of the taco. (wikipedia)

• • •

Hey, so, yeah, not much time because I have to teach in the morning and I am wiped out from (stupidly, self-harmingly) spending the last three hours watching the GOP debate. I solved while watching the debate, so my judgment is not to be trusted. But I can at least discuss facts. This is a type of puzzle that comes up from time to time, where you say letters as letters, where words are represented in the grid as letters. I've seen it, though not quite like this. There is a theme density and a consistency of execution (always a 1+3 letter pattern, a nice symmetry to whether the 1+3 appears at beginning or end of theme answer) that I admire. Very hard getting off the ground because of NW corner. If you don't know what's going on (SAAA), then everything's SNAFU in there. Also FAJITA fits where FLAUTA is supposed to go (4D: Mexican rolled tortilla dish), and I canNot be the only one who got snagged on that particular branch. Otherwise, I don't know, it all works fine. AGETEN blows, but otherwise fill seems fair. Inoffensive. Decent. Hated the clue on ATTT MUSIC, because Prince and Journey made a lot of music not in that decade, and because they were never making "80s music," they were just making music. Clue should've been something about being the subject of radio stations aimed at Gen Xers. It's a genre of radio play, not an actual genre of music. Could've tied it to NENA, maybe, as she (unlike Prince, Journey) is known (if she's known) *exclusively* for music she made in the '80s. But even then, the radio format is probably the better / clearer way to go there.



Wish I could have a martini with a little LEMON PEEL after that debate (12D: Yellow garnish), but I need sleep (which is "peels" backward ... just FYI).

Good day,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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