N.W.A member known as Godfather of Gangsta Rap / WED 11-4-20 / Change from Gojira to Godzilla say / TV personality who once said in an ad The only thing bolder than Fuze Iced Tea is ME!"

Constructor: Jack Murtagh

Relative difficulty: Medium (4:17)

THEME: Norite, Dolerite (INDIE ROCK) (my weak fake example that I came up with at 4:30am) — which is to say, words in theme clues must be sounded out by their initial letters to the first word in the answer (N, D, => INDIE); the second word in the answer is the type of thing those clue words are (Norite, like Dolerite, is a type of ROCK). Theme answer result is a familiar phrase (INDIE ROCK): 

Theme answers:

• EASY MONEY (17A: Euro, Zloty) (clue words start with E & Z, i.e. "EASY," and both are types of MONEY)
• ICY BLUE (26A: Indigo, Cerulean)
• EMPTY NESTER (40A: Macaw, Tern)
• ANY TIME (54A: Noon, Eleven)
• ESPY AWARD (66A: Satellite, Pulitzer)

Word of the Day: EAZY-E (25D: N.W.A member known as "The Godfather of Gangsta Rap") —

Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records, pushing the boundaries of lyrical content. [...] During N.W.A's splintering, largely by disputes over money, Eazy-E became embroiled in bitter rivalries with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who had departed for solo careers in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Resuming his solo career, Eazy-E released two EPs. Yet he remained more significant behind the scenes, signing and nationally debuting the rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony from 1993 to 1994. // In 1995, Eazy-E was suddenly hospitalized and diagnosed with AIDS, and died due to its complications. He is often referred to as the godfather of gangsta rap. (wikipedia)

• • •

Hey. How are you? Doing OK? Great. I went to bed around 10pm and woke up before 4am. Not completely atypical, these days. Got a pretty monastic lifestyle going over here. Lots of quiet. Lots of routine. More than you need to know, I'm sure. So, this puzzle ... was good. I enjoyed it. The concept is so simple, if weirdly hard to explain succinctly, but it yields some pretty nifty results. I will say that once you grasp the theme, the themers become Very easy to get, but that's not so terrible. I was slow to start, so being fast to finish means things even out nicely in the end. I thought the grid was pretty flashy too, for a themed grid that wasn't trying exceedingly hard for flash. BASTILLE DAY and LIBRARY CARD are very nice, and when you can land an occasional snappy mid-length answer, like "WHO'S IN?," you're doing alright. I think EMPTY NESTER was my favorite of the bunch, and so I like that it's in the marquee (i.e. center) position. Fitting. My only issue today was that having EASY and EAZY in the same grid feels a little iffy. Also, the clue on ACCTS felt, well, defensible, but not really apt. "What do you offer?" "Accounts." "Ah ... I ... see." The answer is so broad as to be meaningless. But this is a trivial matter. My overall impression of the puzzle was: nice. "It's a BOP," as they say (about music ... but I'm gonna borrow it for puzzles today).

I really struggled to get DUB (1A: Change from "Gojira" to "Godzilla," say), and when I struggle to get the 1-Across clue, things often don't go well for me. It's a very good clue, but I thought the answer would have to do with writing, somehow, not sound. Needed "D" and "B" to see it. Also had DIE OUT before DIE OFF and no idea what the three letters after "I" would be at (13A: Jobs creation). Apple ambiguity like this is probably my very least form of routine short-answer ambiguity. Worse that ALOT vs. ATON vs. TONS, you ask? Let's call it a tie. Really wanted to put EURO MONEY in that first themer slot, but "Euro" is in the clue and then the "Y" from DYE made EURO impossible. Also struggled with ION / WIGS, and (somewhat less) with ACCTS / CHAINS. This is all to say that the first third of this puzzle felt toughish for a Wednesday. But then knowing the theme really opened things up quickly, and, well, there's very little green ink on the bottom half of my grid. No real trouble down there. 

At 69A: Singer, I had SEAR before CHAR (SEAR vs. CHAR probably takes the bronze in the Routine Short-Answer Ambiguity Olympics). I tried to write SPILL ... something before I wrote SPIT IT OUT (I really do have an aversion to "SPIT") (36D: "Tell me already!"). My favorite wrong answer today, and one of my favorite wrong answers of all time, came when I hastily read the clue at 48A: Subject of many articles in Allure and Seventeen (BEAUTY) and, with BEA-TY in place, I wrote in ... BEATTY. Now, when you see BEATTY, your brain may go to Warren, but mine went instantly to Ned. I really, really like the idea of Allure and Seventeen readers being obsessed with Ned Beatty ... I mean, why not? He's a fantastic answer. He was in "The Rockford Files" once, for pete's sake. That puts him in Hall-Of-Fame territory with the likes of Joseph Cotten and, uh, let's say, Linda Evans. Anyway, these things I believe: teenage girls love '70s-era Ned Beatty (if they have any taste at all), and this puzzle was enjoyable.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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