Heroine of Bizet's Pearl Fishers / SUN 3-8-20 / Longtime anthropomorphic aardvark on PBS / 1940s vice president who went on to become president / South American cowboys / Moved like Jagr / Fictional exemplar of Christmas spirit

Constructor: Laura Taylor Kinnel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (9:48)

THEME: "What's Shaking?" — a salt rebus, where five squares represent the word "SALT" in the Across and the letter string "NACL" (the chemical formula for salt) in the Down

Theme answers:

• RUB SALT IN THE WOUND / RA (N A CL) OSE SECOND
• WITH A GRAIN OF SALT / PIN(NACL)E
• SALT WATER TAFFY / PUTS O(N A CL)INIC (my fav "NACL" answer)
• SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH / I(N A CL)UMP (my least fav "NACL" answer)
• THE SALT OF THE EARTH / MA(NACL)ES

Word of the Day: LLANEROS (15D: South American cowboys) —

A llanero (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝaˈneɾo], plainsman) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying western-central Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The Llanero were originally part Spanish and Indian and have a strong culture including a distinctive form of music.

During the Latin American wars of independence, Llaneros served in both armies and provided the bulk of the cavalry during the war. In 1819, an army of Llaneros, led by Simón Bolívar and José Antonio Páez, defeated the Spanish with a surprise attack when they crossed over the Orinocoplains and the Andes mountains. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is a one-note puzzle, but it's a pretty good note, and the grid is very well built. You've got a stray OHTO or DEUT here and there, but for the most part, the solving experience was cringe-free. As rebuses go, this one was very easy to uncover, as the missing "SALT" shouts at you pretty early on (at least it did to me), and after that the "NACL" bit is not tough to suss out. The rest of the solving experience is just ... finding those squares, which, again, because they are all inside long theme answers that contain the word "SALT," are very easy to see. And there are only five theme squares in the end, so there's not really a hell of a lot going on, themewise, but it's enough. The "SALT" answers were ho-hum, but the "NACL" ones were occasionally very inventive. This was certainly smoother and more enjoyable than your average Sunday NYTXW puzzle (low bar, yes, but baby steps, as they say).


Despite having to slow down to enter the theme squares properly, and repeatedly entering wrong answers or otherwise feeling stuck, I finished this in very good time. I was legitimately surprised to see that I came in under 10. Even easy rebuses tend to hold me up a little bit as I fuss not only with locating the involved squares, but with entering them correctly. So perhaps this puzzle is actually closer to Easy than Easy-Medium, but the distinction doesn't really matter. Started out poorly, wanting BRAGS for CROWS (1A: Boasts), and then wanting DAN for OBI (3D: Martial artist's belt). I still want DAN for OBI, frankly. I kept wanting the [Repeated part of a pop song] to be CODA (I had the "O") but codas aren't repetitions and anyway they belong to classical music, not pop.

My biggest struggle in the NW was also my biggest beef. Orlando CABRERA!? Orlando!? Sigh. OK, yes, he had a nice career, and I mean no disrespect, but if you're going to put a baseball CABRERA in your grid, Orlando ain't it. Miguel CABRERA ... I mean, where do I begin? One of the two or three greatest right-handed hitters of this century. Two-time AL MVP. Four-time batting champion. 11-time All-Star. Probably gonna go over 500 career homers this year. First player since 1967 to win the dang Triple Crown (batting title, HR leader, RBI leader) (2012). But, but ... Orlando CABRERA!? Orlando? Please. Please. Some respect for greatness is in order. Yes, yes, I am a Tigers fan, and Miggy (i.e. Miguel CABRERA) is a Tiger, and OK yes I do own a Miguel CABRERA jersey, so, fine, bias, whatever. But still, objectively, the only puzzle-worthy CABRERA is Miguel CABRERA. Miguel CABRERA scoffs at your two Gold Gloves. (I'm sorry, Orlando; again, the comparison is unfair; you were a good player)

FIVE THINGS:

• 36D: Climate change, notably (THREAT) — had "TH" and thought for sure it was going to be THEORY, and I was prepared to be So Mad ... but then it was THREAT, which is accurate. Madness averted (for now)
• 61D: Fabric with sheen (LAMÉ) — this whole section, this seemingly easy little section in the east, was a real pest. Found RAVE IMAX and SEXT all less-than-easy, but the big problem was this stupid fabric. An "É" is a different letter from an "E," so getting this was a groaner. I would avoid the answer LAME entirely if it were at all in my power. There is no good cluing outcome there. 
• 118A: Moved like Jagr? (DEKED) — this is a valiant attempt at a visual pun (his name is pronounced "YOG-ger"); Jaromir Jagr is a star ice hockey player, and to "deke" is to fake someone out on the ice. Oh, and the clue is a play on the title of this tenacious earworm (do not play; you have been warned):

• 10D: Sch. with 50+ alums who went on to become astronauts (USNA) — got the "U" and went straight to UCLA. Reflex.
• 92D: Senator Joni and Dadaist Max (ERNSTS) — Hear me out: What if Joni Ernst is dada? I mean, she's not exactly plausible as a sincere human being. Maybe she is Max Ernst's final, terrible piece of work. Anyway, I would totally watch a sitcom called "The Importance of Being Ernst" if it were about a senator who talked to paintings and spent her public life executing the cruel and inscrutable will of undead Max Ernst. You'd watch too. How could you not?

A few side notes:

First, I don't know if the NYTXW formally gave her credit, but this whole "Woman's Week" event (meant to honor Women's History Month) was the brainchild of constructor and crossword culturista  Rebecca Falcon, who contacted all the major daily crossword editors some time ago and asked them if they were willing to do some kind of showcase of women constructors this month (March, Women's History Month). David Steinberg at Universal Crosswords was the one editor who went all in with a full month's worth of puzzles by women, but credit to Rebecca for getting a week out of the NYTXW. Even the WSJ, with its abysmal record of publishing women constructors, got in on the game—there was a very nice meta crossword on Friday by Joanne Sullivan (I can't remember *ever* seeing a woman's name on the byline of their Friday meta). Rebecca told me that there will be women guest-editing at American Values Crossword Club, that Evan Birnholz will have a woman standing in for him tomorrow for the WaPo Sunday puzzle, and there's an all-women-constructors puzzle pack in the NYTXW app this month too, so look for all those things. Kudos to Rebecca for putting the spotlight on women constructors and for highlighting the fact that allllll the editors of major xword dailies are (still, somehow) men.

Second, an important change at Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest (*the* weekly metacrossword for metacrossword enthusiasts)—he has switched the site over to a Patreon account. But, as part of this transition, March is *free*. Here are the specs from Matt himself

• ***Page link is: https://www.patreon.com/mgwcc
• ***First free puzzle is this Friday and the last will be on Friday, March 27th.
• ***Payments are turned off so no one will be charged when they sign up. 
• ***Cost is $3/month if people choose to keep playing after the free month. If they don't want to, they can cancel anytime up to March 31st and never be charged a dime. They can also get four (additional) free easy contest crosswords right when they sign up by sending me an e-mail with FOUR EASY CONTEST CROSSWORDS in the subject line (those instructions are also at my Patreon page).

Matt has a large and loyal following. If you haven't done meta crosswords before, I highly recommend checking out the free puzzles Matt's offering this month, just to get a taste. 

Thirdly, and lastly, I lost my beautiful chocolate lab Gabby on Friday. Last year at this time I had two dogs, two longtime daily companions, two ridiculous weird creatures with totally different personalities whom I'd carry on full conversations with every day of my life. Then Dutchess died last spring. And now Gabby is gone. I don't even know what to say. We are bereft. Here are some pictures of Gabby with her littermate, her brother, her favorite dog of all time: Baxter. 

gabby baxter

baxter gabby

baxter gabby

baxter gabby

And here's the best picture I've ever been in, ever. 

Blue sky, baseball cap (Tigers!), Binghamton sign, and my big dumb dog with her big dumb tongue. 

I was never worthy of her impossible sweetness.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. hey, Daylight Saving Time started! Fix your non-self-adjusting clocks!

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]