Forlorn directionless type / MON 1-10-22 / Greener energy source / Neighbor of Ukraine once part of the U.S.S.R. / Perennial embarrassments for teens

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (2:54, which is probably more "Medium" but with Mondays it's really hard to tell gradations of difficulty, since they're all pretty easy)

THEME: That "ole" black magic ...  — every themer ends with a word that rhymes with "roll"; the last two letters of the rhyming words are different in each case (I think every possible combo is represented):

Theme answers:

• CEREAL BOWL (17A: Where to get one's Kix?)
• BILLY JOEL (25A: Singer/songwriter nicknamed "Piano Man")
• LOST SOUL (31A: Forlorn, directionless types)
• EXIT POLL (40A: Survey of Election Day voters)
• CLEAN COAL (... [sigh] ...) (47A: Greener energy source)
• PIGEON HOLE (56A: Categorize simplistically)

Word of the Day: "CLEAN COAL" (47A) —

Coal pollution mitigation, sometimes called clean coal, is a series of systems and technologies that seek to mitigate the health and environmental impact of coal; in particular air pollution from coal-fired power stations, and from coal burnt by heavy industry. [...] Environmentalists such as Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program, believes that the term "clean coal" is misleading: "There is no such thing as clean coal and there never will be. It's an oxymoron." The Sierra Club's Coal Campaign has launched a site refuting the clean coal statements and advertising of the coal industry. [...] The term Clean Coal in modern society often refers to the carbon capture and storage process. The term has been used by advertisers, lobbyists, and politicians such as Donald Trump. (wikipedia)

• • •

***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** . Happy Newish Year! 2022! I hope you are holding up during these cold, dark days. It's early January, which means it's time for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask regular readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. 

2021 was an important year for me, as my blog (this blog, the one you are reading right now) turned 15 years old! [noisemaker sounds!!!!]. That's a lot of years old. For a blog, anyway. 15 is also a pretty important crossword-related anniversary—maybe the only important crossword-related anniversary. The standard US crossword grid is 15x15, and now Rex Parker is also 15! Rex Parker, spanning the grid to give you the constant variety of crossword commentary: the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat (dum dum dum DUM!) The human drama of ... OK now I'm just channeling Jim McKay from the '70s-era introduction to "Wide World of Sports," but I do hope this blog has provided some insight, some entertainment, some commiseration, some solace, some sense of regularity during what are obviously pretty tumultuous and often lonely times. I hope it has enhanced your solving pleasure, giving you something to look forward to even (especially?) when the puzzle lets you down, and someone to celebrate with when the puzzle is wonderful. If it's also given you someone to shout at in disagreement, that's OK too.

A lot of labor goes into producing this blog every day (Every. Day.) and the hours are, let's say, less than ideal (I'm either solving and writing at night, after 10pm, or in the morning, before 6am). Most days, I really do love the writing, but it is work, and once a year (right now!) I acknowledge that fact. As I've said before, I have no interest in "monetizing" the blog beyond a simple, direct contribution request once a year. No ads, no gimmicks. Just here for you, every day, rain or shine, whether you like it or, perhaps, on occasion, not :) It's just me and my laptop and some free blogging software and, you know, a lot of rage, but hopefully there's illumination and levity along the way. I do genuinely love this gig, and whether you're an everyday reader or a Sunday-only reader or a flat-out hatereader, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know.

How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are two options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar):

Second, a mailing address (checks should be made out to "Rex Parker"):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

I'll throw my Venmo handle in here too, just in case that's your preferred way of moving money around; it's @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I. Love. Snail Mail. I love seeing your gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my awful handwriting. It's all so wonderful. Last year's thank-you postcards featured various portraits of my cat, Alfie, designed by artist Ella Egan, a.k.a. my daughter. They were such a hit that I asked Ella to design this year's thank-you postcard as well, this time featuring both my cats. And this is the result. Behold this year's thank-you card: "Alfie and Olive: Exploring the Grid":

We went back and forth on whether she should add more black squares to make the grid look more plausibly fillable (that's a Lot of white space), but in the end we decided not to crowd the jumping (or hanging?) Olive with more black squares, and instead just to leave the card as is, with the idea that the cats are exploring a grid that is ... under construction. Anyway, this card is personally meaningful to me, and also, I believe, objectively lovely. I can't wait to share it with snail-mailers (and oh, what the hell, if you are a PayPal / Venmo donor and you want one too, just say so in the message). Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD."  Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership and support. Now on to today's puzzle...

• • •

Amanda Carrington, Princess of Moldavia

Flew through this very clean Monday puzzle. I haven't been timing myself lately, and I assumed that I had lost a step, or many steps, speed-wise, as a result, but I clocked 2:54 on this one, which is roughly the Monday average that I had back when I was speed-solving and timing myself on a regular basis. There were a couple hesitations here and there, but for the most part there were no trouble spots. I misspelled ELI Lilly (as ELY) and absolutely blanked on MOLDOVA (38D: Neighbor of Ukraine once part of the U.S.S.R.), which still feels to me like a European country that some soap opera just made up (hmmm, turns out Moldavia featured very prominently in the '80s nighttime soap opera "Dynasty," which may be why MOLDOVA is striking me as fictional; but like MOLDOVA, Moldavia is also real: it's a former principality that's now part of Romania; we now return you to our regularly scheduled programming...). As far as the theme is concerned, I didn't really get why rhyming "oll" words made for an interesting grouping, but after I looked at the answer set a bit, I noticed that despite rhyming they are all spelled differently. That doesn't really alter, or add to, solving enjoyment; it's not the biggest "aha" in the world. But it does turn the ends of the theme answers from a fairly loose and arbitrary set of words into a much tighter and more coherent grouping. There's a rationale beyond mere rhyming. So OK. That's fine. It's a breezy Monday puzzle, and the grid is without gunk, so I can live with this somewhat tepid theme.

What I can't really live with, and what people began squawking about right away, as soon as the puzzle was released, is CLEAN COAL, which is a myth, a disingenuous and dishonest term invented by fossil fuel industry lobbyists. The burning of fossil fuels is by far the biggest driver of climate change. There is no such thing as CLEAN COAL. Booooo and hiss. What's truly horrible about the puzzle doing PR for the fossil fuel industry is that (according to the published Constructor Notes) a. the constructor knew that the term was iffy, truth-wise, and, worse, b. the editors changed her original clue from [Dubious term for a greener energy source] to today's much more coal-friendly [Greener energy source]. 

copied from Twitter, originally from "Wordplay"

CLEAN COAL is a dubious term. They should've stuck with "dubious term" if they were gonna use the answer at all. What's hilarious about their attempt to depoliticize the answer is that it only served to ultra-politicize the answer, and infuriate their actual solving base in the bargain. How was that a good idea? Anyway, if it's not working to end fossil fuel consumption entirely, then it's not "clean," the end.

RAMBLING

Some more things:

• 4D: Like most desserts (SWEET) — I mention this only because SWEET sits alongside ASS, and both of them cross PANTS, so I keep saying "SWEET-ASS PANTS!" to myself, in my head, like I'm complimenting someone's pants ... in my head ... just me?
• 14A: Emerged, as an issue (AROSE) — this makes me laugh because it's usually my first guess in Wordle, which I've somehow become addicted to (nice to have a new addiction that only takes a minute or so each day). I guess either AROSE or ARISE is supposed to be the "best" first guess, given stats on letter frequency and combinations in five-letter words (source: people much nerdier than me). I get bored opening with the same word all the time though, so I mix it up, just for fun. Guess I'll never go pro at Wordle, oh well. Cute game.
• 49D: George or Louis, to William and Kate (SON) — I try so hard not to know things about the Royal Family, please, won't you try along with me? Please?
• 31A: Forlorn, directionless type (LOST SOUL) — Hey! Hey! Hey ... I am not "lost." I'm right here, thank you very much.
• 3D: Perennial embarrassment for teens (PARENTS) — Hey! Hey! Hey ... I was a cool dad, though, right? Right!? Sigh ... 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

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