Kind of torch / TUES 4-27-21 / Queen of the gods, in Roman myth / Tehran native / Like rococo decoration

Hi, everyone! It’s Clare, back for the last Tuesday of April. I’m in my final week of law school — and, wow, it’s flown by! What are you supposed to do when your life has revolved around school for 20 of your 24 years, and then…? Now I have to be part of the real world? Graduation will be virtual, so I’ll miss out on a bit of that celebration, but I’ll get to be back with my family in California to wear my graduation robe and move my tassel from right to left — for the very last time! I’ve been trying to focus on finals, but I’ve been filling some time watching too many sports — though I won’t be watching the European Super League! RIP, Super League. You weren’t gone soon enough.

Anywho, on to the puzzle!

Constructor: Jeff McDermott

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: JULEP (36A: Libation made from the beginnings of 17-, 23-, 49- and 59-Across) — the start of the highlighted clues are ingredients in a julep

Theme answers:

• ICE ICE BABY (17A: 1990 #1 hit that begins “Yo V.I.P., let’s kick it” 
• BOURBON STREET (23A: Main drag through New Orleans’s French Quarter)
• MINT CONDITION (49A: Never-used state) 
• SUGAR DADDY (59A: Wealthy boyfriend, perhaps)

Word of the Day: ADANO (7D: John Hershey’s “A Bell for __”) —

A Bell for Adano is a 1944 novel by John Hersey, the winner of the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It tells the story of an Italian-American officer in Sicily during World War II who wins the respect and admiration of the people of the town of Adano by helping them find a replacement for the town bell that the Fascists had melted down for rifle barrels. (Wiki)

• • •

Overall, I quite enjoyed this puzzle! I thought that the theme was clean and fun and that the solve, in general, was very pleasant. The puzzle is particularly timely, as the Kentucky Derby is coming up soon — back to its original date of the first Saturday in May — and the mint julep is the official drink of the Derby. My grandparents absolutely loved the Derby — they were from Kentucky and hosted a party every year. I had an American Girl doll horse they often used as a centerpiece! One year at one of these parties, my sister somehow won the Derby betting pool, and my parents made her share the winnings with me. Perks of being the younger sibling! 

And, hey, I guess I won’t have to look up the recipe for a JULEP on Saturday now that I’ve solved this puzzle. My only gripe with the theme is that I think the drink is really a “mint julep” and not just a JULEP. For the most part, I liked each of the theme answers and the variety of them. Though, I think the clue for SUGAR DADDY (59A) doesn’t quite work, because SUGAR DADDY generally means more than just a rich boyfriend. Still, I liked the theme a lot! And now I feel ready for the Derby on Saturday. 

I liked a lot of the fill of the puzzle — especially OVERBOOK (3D) and RAINY DAY (38D). I thought the clue/answer for 63A was clever, with the answer being the letters missing in a word that means the same thing, which is not something I think I’ve seen in a daily crossword before. There also seemed to be some mini connected themes in the puzzle. There’s SEPIA (22A) and SHOTS (31A), which both relate to photos. There’s PSI (4D) and CHI (38D), both from the Greek alphabet. Then there are the connected CLIP (1D) and CLOP (1A) and HUCK (42D) and FINN (19A). These all tied the puzzle together nicely. 

I did have a few slight problems. First, I mixed up CLIP and CLOP, so I spent some time in that northwest corner wondering what an ingredient for a JULEP could possibly be that started with “oce.” Also, I put “scarf” instead of SNARF for 5A, which caused me trouble, because, sure, “cabob” looked weird, but I didn’t know the word for 6D: Bigwig was NABOB. I had that error when I finished and had to go back through the puzzle to find where I’d made my mistake, which took some time. My dad told me that Spiro Agnew once complained about the “nattering nabobs of negativism,” which is a rather memorable quote, so maybe I’ll remember the word NABOB in the future! My last issue came with 16A, where I immediately typed in “done” so that it would read “what’s done is done,” but instead it was “what’s FAIR is FAIR.” I still think my way works better; my sister said she did the same thing I did, but my dad said he immediately typed in FAIR. So I’ll be conducting an informal poll in the comments — what did other people first put here??

Bullets:

• 62A: Uber request as RIDE made me think about how I had to get one of these when I was on a bike ride the other day and got a flat tire about seven miles from home and, *oops!* didn’t have a patch kit with me. I had to get a big Uber and take my tires off and get my hands all greasy…. Lesson learned! 
• I’m pretty sure I know the SEPIA (22A) photo tint because that used to be a filter you could use on the Mac Photo Booth app, which I spent a lot of time on in my junior high years. 
• Heaven help me, but every time I think of 29A: Once IN A Lifetime, I cannot help but start singing the start of the absolute classic deserving of all the awards, “Everyday,” from “High School Musical 2.” 
• 
• CHUTES and Ladders (41A) was one of my favorite board games growing up. I remember that game and Candyland and Monopoly (whenever I could convince someone to take the seven hours the game requires to play with me) and Clue were some of my favorites. 
• I remember playing UNO (47A) with some friends for the first time and realizing that apparently everyone cheats and often makes up their own rules. Once I realized that, I had a great time. If anyone wants to get a big smile on their face, I recommend watching these two playing UNO!
  

And that's it — hope everyone stays safe and has a great month of May!

Signed, Clare Carroll, an almost law school graduate

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