Mr. Incredible's actual surname / SUN 12-22-19 / Longtime NPR host Diane / Prefix for polygon with 140-degree interior angles / Satellite inhabited continuously since 2000 / Orbicularis eyelid-closing muscle / Group with 2012 chart-topping album Up All Night to fans / Food that Marge Simpson once served with whisper of MSG / Admiral Graf German WW II ship

Constructor: Laura Taylor Kinnel

Relative difficulty: Medium (10:28)

THEME: "Down For The Count" — a multi-level "T"-themed puzzle, where the number of "T"s in each themer is the answer that crosses each themer, starting at the dead center and dropping down, thus making a "T" of sorts each time. So the numbers down the middle of the grid (which progress from TWO through FIVE) both indicate the number of "T"s in the themer they cross and form the downstroke of a "T" shape—the whole concept is brought together by the revealer, TEETOTALERS (39A: Abstainers ... or the central column's answers vis-à-vis 20-, 39-, 74- and 101-Across)

Theme answers:

• MULTIPLICATIVE INVERSE / TWO
• TEETOTALERS / THREE
• BABIES 'R' US / JUST KIDDING
• THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY / FOUR
• "TUTTI FRUTTI" / FIVE

Word of the Day: ABSCISSA (11D: The 1 in (1,2), in math) —

In mathematics, the abscissa (/æbˈsɪs.ə/; plural abscissae or abscissæ or abscissas) and the ordinate are respectively the first and second coordinate of a point in a coordinate system. (wikipedia)

• • •

Very mixed feelings here. Like, all over the map. Started out feeling not very good at all, as the fill seemed decidedly subpar. Can't remember the last time I saw SPEE anywhere, yikes. I know it only because I used to do crosswords in the '90s, when megacrosswordese roamed the earth. Between that and ISS RES ISDONE etc. I did not have high hopes for how this thing was gonna go. And honestly, it didn't get too much better. Surprised to see old not-friends like SPEE and ATMAN and ILLE (!?!?).  GERALDS and SESAMES are both absurd plurals. MDL couldn't be a randomer Roman numeral if it tried. NONA x/w JAROMIR was harrowing. I just felt like I was wincing a lot. The theme was leaving me cold, too, so far as I could understand it. MULTIPLICATIVE INVERSE is far too technical a term for me to love. THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY has that gratuitous THE to pick up its fourth "T." I was able to write in TWO THREE FOUR and FIVE very early, without really realizing why they were right. I could just see that there was a sequence developing, and they all fit, and the crosses checked out. And then ... it seems a bit of stretch to ask me to see see the answers + number of "T"S as forming the shape of a "T" each time. Those are very very top-heavy "T"s, if that is indeed part of the theme. Only when I was done did I realize that the number crossing each themer corresponded to the number of "T"s in each themer (the "T" total, as it were). That is of course the primary point of the theme. The fact that the intersecting themer / number form a kind of "T" seems like a kind of secondary / bonus theme feature. Are all those "T"-shaped black-square formations supposed to be part of the theme. I'm seeing "T"s everywhere now. A conspiracy of "T"s. . .

So actually solving this brought more lows than highs, which is a problem. Figuring out the theme after-the-fact brought my appreciation back up some, and I want to point out one particularly ambitious aspect of the theme that you might not have noticed. I'm not sure it was strictly necessary, but: the constructor decided that, as part of this TEE-TOTALERS theme, the "T"s that are totaled (i.e. the "T"s in the themers) would be The Only "T"s In The Whole Grid. There are no "T"s in non-theme answers. None. Zero. That's actually very elegant touch, but it also adds a huge level of difficulty. After all, "T" is a very common letter. Hard enough to construct a smooth grid when you get to use all the letters of the alphabet; take away a common letter like "T" and you are in trouble (and that starts with "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for, uh, POSY!). And when I saw the "T"-lessness of the grid (outside the themers), I suddenly had much more sympathy for the bumpy fill. At least there's a reason. At least she was trying to do something big, trying to add tightness and crispness and artistry to this theme that *already* had at least two layers to it. Weak fill is weak fill, and it's hard for me to get past, but this puzzle is trying to keep a Lot of balls in the air at once, and I have to admire the ambition. Ambitious imperfection is so so so much more appealing than mere adequacy, to say nothing of the kind of laziness we see much more often than we should. So even though I didn't exactly like solving this one, I think it's a very promising debut indeed.


As promised, here are some last-minute puzzle subscription gift ideas:

• American Values Club Crossword: the premier independent crossword puzzle. Imaginative, contemporary puzzles from an extremely talented and diverse group of constructors. You should already be a subscriber. Go ahead and make someone else a subscriber too.
• Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest: Matt's contest is by now an institution with a sizeable solving fanbase. Every Friday he releases a metacrossword. You have the weekend to figure out the meta answer. Puzzles cycle through difficulty levels week to week, from pretty easy to Ouch OMG Help! When you get the answer, you enter it on his website, and you can see if you're right and see how many others got it. There are prizes for randomly selected successful solvers. Matt's a great constructor and his contest is justly famous. For the serious solver who wants to spice things up, this subscription is just the thing.
• Crossword Nation: Liz Gorski used to be a frequent and beloved contributor to the NYTXW, but she has taken her talents elsewhere, as they say, and one of those places is her own weekly easy themed crossword puzzle. This would make a great gift for someone who enjoys solving but still struggles with late-week puzzles—or for anyone who likes cute current delicious puzzles.
• Queer Qrosswords 2: 2 Queer 2 Qurious: Nate Cardin was so successful with his first go at a collection of crosswords to benefit LGBTQIA+ charities that he decided to do another one! It's easy: donate to one of a number of charities, show your receipts, get your puzzles (from some of the best constructors in the business). Do it! Give it as a gift! Go on!
• Women of Letters: Patti Varol put together this collection of crosswords by women constructors, to benefit "women-centric charities." As with Queer Qrosswords, you donate to a charity, show your receipts, get your puzzles. Great causes, great puzzles. Go for it.
• Outside the Box puzzles (by Joon Pahk): I don't normally go too far into the world of non-crosswords, but the Variety puzzles and Rows Garden puzzles (so fun! see the sample here if you're not familiar with this type of puzzle!) available here are crossword-adjacent enough for me. If you want to diversify your (or someone else's!) puzzling fare, subscribe to Year 5 of Outside Box. Now. Go on!
• Fireball Newsflash Crosswords 2020: man I love these things. Biweekly crosswords that Peter builds with answers straight out of recent headlines. If something's in the news, chances are you'll see it here first (crossword-wise). These puzzles are hypercurrent and force me to have to deal on a regular basis with names I don't know—a very important solving skill to have. The Kickstarter for next season (2020) ends at 10pm EST *tonight*, so get over there and subscribe, or buy someone a subscription, and add a newsy dimension to your (or someone else's) solving experience. 
• Puzzlesnacks by Eric Berlin: Hey, look, puzzles for beginning and intermediate solvers, particularly *kids*. I'll let Eric describe: "With Puzzlesnacks, I specialize in taking variety crossword types generally seen as pretty darn challenging, and making them more accessible to beginning and intermediate solvers. I post a puzzle to the Web site (http://www.puzzlesnacks.com) every Friday -- I want kids to be able to access the puzzle for free. But adults are encouraged to subscribe, for $3 / month. Subscribers get the puzzle sent directly to them by e-mail, and they get a couple dozen bonus puzzles each year as well."

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]