Teng, singer dubbed "Asia's eternal queen of pop" / SAT 3-5-22 / Fictional device in which to convey secret information / Calvin and Hobbes character described as a six-year-old who shaves / Expression ending with a rising voice / Traditional filling for momo

Constructor: Nam Jin Yoon

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: momo (30D: Traditional filling for momo (Nepalese dumplings) (YAK)) —

Momo (Nepali: म:म:,Tibetan: མོག་མོག་, Wylie: mog mog, Ladakhi: མོག་མོག, Hindi: मोमो) is a type of dumpling primarily popular in and native to Nepal, Tibet and parts of India.  Momo can be found in the cuisines of Tibet, Nepal and India. It is similar to baozi, jiaozi and mantou in Chinese cuisine, buuz in Mongolian cuisine, gyoza in Japanese cuisine, mandu in Korean cuisine and manti in Afghan cuisines. (wikipedia)

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Is this my favorite constructor? I wouldn't really be comfortable picking just one. There are so many talented constructors working right now (particularly at the New Yorker and the American Values Club Crossword, as well many independent outlets), that it would be hard to say definitively, yes, this one constructor is my favorite. But as far as people who have bylines that appear at least semi-regularly in the NYTXW, I would, tentatively, say yes, Nam Jin Yoon is my favorite, despite the fact that he's been constructing for only a few years. Maybe *because* of that fact. There's a freshness, a life in his puzzles that genuinely crackles, and somehow he's able to marry that energy to a very careful and thoughtful craftsmanship. They feel like the work of a young visionary and an old veteran, simultaneously. They are youthful without that extreme "look at me being youthful!" try-hardness that comes from over-reliance on generation-specific proper nouns—though he's not afraid to throw new (to-the-grid) proper nouns at you, that's for sure. It's just that it seems like he wants you to get them, wants you to learn the names, and the foods, wants you to appreciate them. This feeling of "welcome" comes from balance, from moving the cultural and generational focus of your puzzles allllll over the map, as well as from making sure that relative obscurities and less famous names don't pile up in the same section. Again, that's craft. There's a sense of play and humor in the grids that is unmistakable and irresistible. I think anyone aspiring to make themeless puzzles should study the work of Nam Jin Yoon (even though there's not a ton of it to study yet!). I wish he would turn his hand to themed puzzles and see what he can do with them. Because he has the potential to be one of the greats. Like, Patrick Berry- / Liz Gorski- / Merl Reagle-great. Next time you wonder "Gee, Rex, don't you like *any* puzzles?," first, stop, I like a lot of puzzles, and second, just search "Nam Jin Yoon" on my blog. Hasn't missed yet.

[11D: ___ Teng, singer dubbed "Asia's eternal queen of pop"]

Despite nailing MOSS MOI ONES STOIC and SODOI right out of the gate, and despite knowing that 3D: Halter? was going to mean "one who halts," I could not come up with SENTRY, in part because I wanted DITTO (?) at 20A: "Uh-huh" ("RIGHT"). Without SENTRY or RIGHT or FLIGHT things just kind of broke down. Luckily I didn't have to look far to find a new starting point. HOYA was a total gimme. And then, off the "Y," I got TYRANNY (21D: Rule to take exception to). And that was all I needed to get well and truly moving—catapulted into the grid by HOYA TYRANNY! After that, I worked my way to the bottom of the grid, like so:

After that, the solve went into another gear, and a real Friday energy took over. Kinetic energy. Exhilaration. Zing zoom. Because at this point I had not yet tapped into the longer answers. But once I did: whoosh. The grid structure—a gorgeous mirror symmetry on the diagonal—allows the answers to flow really nicely one into the next. No dank corners, no dead ends. I enjoyed spinning and swirling around the unusually shaped grid. And while I enjoyed this puzzle from start to finish, and there are many highlights, nothing beat this absolutely apex solving moment:

I don't know if that clue is Will's or Nam Jin's or what, but it is really something to see a "?" clue elevate an already great answer like that. Just the perfect misdirection. Ridiculously clever. And immediately after this: CONE OF SILENCE! And then a final fall to the finish via the cascading CRÈME DE LA CRÈME and FORGET ABOUT IT! This puzzle knows it's the CRÈME DE LA CRÈME and no, you should not FORGET ABOUT IT. You should remember.

Some stuff:

• 30D: Traditional filling for momo (Nepalese dumplings) (YAK) — had the "YA-" and so filled my dumplings with YAM. This made NIKOLA the hardest answer to get in the puzzle By Far (39A: Tesla, for one). "NIM- ... NIMBLE? Was Tesla NIMBLE?"
• 7D: Chancellor Scholz of Germany (OLAF) — I have committed this OLAF fact to memory half a dozen times now, just since Scholz took power last year, and not a one of those half a dozen times has stuck. Really hard for my brain to get a name I'm convinced is Norwegian to stick to a German chancellor. I'll keep trying.
• 37D: Reversible patterned fabrics (DAMASKS) — a word I know exclusively from Shakespeare (and crosswords of course). "I have seen them damasked white and red..." It's from "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun," that sonnet. Hang on ... whoops, misremembered the quote. It's "I have seen roses damask'd, red and white." Here's the whole thing (Sonnet 130):

• 8D: Easily bought (VENAL) — I get this confused with VENIAL. This happened just the other day when I was trying to sort the distinction between Cardinal Sin and VENIAL Sin. I always want the sin to be VENAL, because if you're susceptible to bribery, well, that seems pretty sinful. But VENIAL stems from venia (L. "forgiveness"), while VENAL stems from venum (L. "thing for sale"). Oh, look, Merriam-Webster has a little essay all about this particular confusion:

• 46A: Like a dewlap (SAGGY) — a final salute to this puzzle for hiding little bits of joy in unexpected places; in this case, for working "dewlap" into the clue for SAGGY and then crossing it with IGUANA—a famously and extravagantly dewlapped creature (42D: Animal that climbs cactuses to eat their flowers). Bravo.

See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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