Apt surname for close-up magician / WED 3-11-20 / Gender neutral neologism added to Merriam-Webster in 2018 / Plant that yields potent laxative / Portmanteau coinage for queer-identified e-sports player say

Constructor: Erik Agard

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (4:50) (oversized 16x15)

THEME: [Hot food?] — slang for "hot" people that also contains the name of a "food" item:

Theme answers:

• CUTIE PIE (3D)
• EYE CANDY (22A)
• BEEFCAKE (12D)
• STUD MUFFIN (40A)

Word of the Day: LATINX (46D: Gender-neutral neologism added to Merriam-Webster in 2018) —

Latinx is a gender-neutral neologism (emph. mine), sometimes used instead of Latino or Latina to refer to people of Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States. The ⟨-x⟩ suffix replaces the standard ⟨-o/-a⟩ ending of nouns and adjectives that are typical of grammatical gender in Spanish. Its plural is Latinxs. // The term was first seen around 2004, predominantly online, among  intersectional advocacy groups combining the identity politics of race, class, and gender. It slowly gained in usage, and around 2014 in US universities its usage became widespread. Words used for similar purposes include Chicanx, Latin@ and Latine. [...] While Latinx has been called "a recognition of the exclusionary nature of our institutions, of the deficiencies in existent linguistic structures, and of language as an agent of social change," the term has also been the subject of controversy. Supporters say it engenders greater acceptance among non-binary gender Latinos.  Linguistic imperialism has been used both as a basis of criticism, and of support. The term has been criticized by some lexicographers and rejected from some dictionaries on grammatical grounds, and accepted by others. Some have argued that the term supports patriarchal bias, is antifeminist, based on political correctness, or criticized it because it is difficult to pronounce. (wikipedia)

• • •

The theme is cute and clever, but it's very light, and I'm not the biggest fan of this grid shape. There are only four themers (!) and three of them are just eight letters long, *and* there is absolutely no theme material in the bottom six rows of the grid. So the bottom 1/3+ of the grid just ... hangs out. Doing nothing. Three sections, just whistling and whittling and passing the time away. Weird. I'm also not a fan of extreme segmentation, such as you see in the SW and SE corners here, both of which are connected to the rest of the grid by the smallest possible passageways. But the unusual shape is at least, well, unusual, which has its own intrinsic value, and what little theme material there is is quite spicy, so I'd have to say my overall experience was positive.


I had a whole bunch of trouble solving the NW despite getting PECAN over ARUBA over LET UP fairly easily. MAI just stopped me cold (21A: Singer Ella with the 2018 Grammy-winning R&B hit "Boo'd Up"). Behold the momentum-blocking power of the unknown proper name! I just couldn't see any of the longer Downs up there despite having their first three letters. PAL- would not lead me to PALMER (1D: Apt surname for a close-up magician?), ERE- would not lead me to E-READER (2D: Literary convenience), and CUT- would not lead me to CUTIE PIE. No way. If I'd had MAI, then PALMER and E-READER would've immediately become clear. But no. I went elsewhere to get a real foothold in the grid, and then came back and built that corner up from below. I also had trouble with the clue on HEAT (96A: Stick in the oven). I don't think sticking something in the oven is the same as heating it. In fact, I know it's not the same thing as heating it. I can't picture ELECTRO at all. And though I love the phrase HATES ON, I couldn't come up with it very easily today. I liked LATINX, though I wish its clue were a. not so blatantly and lazily copied from the opening line of the term's wikipedia page, and b. more specific—[Gender-neutral neologism...] provides zero context. That is, there's nothing "Latin" about that clue. It's vague *and* dull. GAYMER, I loved (51D: Portmanteau coinage for a queer-identified e-sports player, say); I haven't heard the term much, but it was easily inferrable. BOUGIE, I'm less fond of (45D: Concerned with wealth, possessions and respectability, in modern lingo). It's a judgey term of derision, though I guess it's common and harmless enough (it's a slangy version of "bourgeois," I think). Also, Migos spells it BOUJEE so I think it should be spelled BOUJEE.

[warning: various swears and profanities and such]

The answer to today's bizarre geography quiz is: Carson City, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, and Jefferson City, the last of which, I swear, I'm hearing about for the first time right now. Jefferson City? Really? That name feels fake. Imaginary. I can't accept that it's a real place. Missouri should seriously reconsider. Try Kansas City. That's an actual place. I've actually been there. Jefferson City, though ... wow. That is the 50th most plausible US state capital, which is something, considering Frankfurt, KY exists (49th).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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