Iconic phrase in old Dick and Jane stories / FRI 9-9-22 / Spanish monarch beginning in 2014 / Out of nothing in creation myths / Ironic-sounding plot device in Total Recall / The sacred disease to ancient Greeks

Constructor: Brandon Koppy

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium, maybe

THEME: TETRIS (59D: Best-selling video game celebrated in this grid) — the black-square chunks are shaped like the falling blocks in TETRIS; that vertical four-block chunk is (I guess) supposed to be falling directly into the four-block space occupied by the -TRIS in TETRIS. There are a bunch of punny themers here and there:

Theme answers:

• BLOCKBUSTER (7D: Hugely successful film ... or an apt description of a 59-Down player) (because "blocks" are "busted" when you complete rows in TETRIS)
• DISAPPEARING ACT (11D: Trick of being suddenly nowhere to be found ... or an apt description of victory for a 59-Down) (because blocks "disappear" when you complete rows in TETRIS)
• DROP ME A LINE (22D: "Don't be a stranger" ... or an apt request from a 59-Down player?) (because some of the "dropping" blocks are shaped like lines? No, I think the idea is that a "line" of blocks gets "dropped" from the screen when you complete a row in TETRIS)

Word of the Day: TETRIS (59D) —

Tetris (Russian: Тетрис) is a multimedia franchise originating from a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. Video games with Tetris' core mechanics have been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appropriation of the rights in the late 1980s. After a significant period of publication by Nintendo, the rights reverted to Pajitnov in 1996, who co-founded the Tetris Company with Henk Rogers to manage licensing. The franchise has since expanded into film, television, books, and music singles.

In Tetris, players complete lines by moving differently shaped pieces (tetrominoes), which descend onto the playing field. The completed lines disappear and grant the player points, and the player can proceed to fill the vacated spaces. The game ends when the uncleared lines reach the top of the playing field. The longer the player can delay this outcome, the higher their score will be. In multiplayer games, players must last longer than their opponents; in certain versions, players can inflict penalties on opponents by completing a significant number of lines. Some versions add variations on the rules, such as three-dimensional displays or a system for reserving pieces.

Built on simple rules and requiring intelligence and skill, Tetris established itself as one of the great early video games. By December 2011, it had sold 202 million copies – approximately 70 million physical units and 132 million paid mobile game downloads – making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. The Game Boy version is one of the best-selling games of all time, with more than 35 million copies sold. Tetris is available on over 65 platforms, setting a Guinness world record for the most ported video game. Tetris is rooted within popular culture and its popularity extends beyond the sphere of video games; imagery from the game has influenced architecture, music and cosplay. The game has also been the subject of various research studies that have analyzed its theoretical complexity and have shown its effect on the human brain following a session, in particular the Tetris effect.

• • •

[DIG DUG]

Oh this is bound to be a crowd-pleaser with a certain crowd. Really wish I were part of that crowd. I can recognize the creativity in this one, for sure, but I never played TETRIS so it doesn't hit me on that level, and even though I'm very familiar with the basic concept of the game, the visuals felt a bit off, particularly that four-square hole. I see now that the four-square black chunk is "dropping" from above, so it's like you've got it lined up for successful "busting" of all the "blocks" on the bottom four rows, but see, I'm filling a grid—I'm putting things into the white squares, so that area doesn't strike me as (ultimately) empty space. I mean, it's empty, but *I* fill it, so it's hard to imagine the black-square chunks as falling through space when the grid is completed. I assumed the hole at the bottom of the grid was something that *I* fill (and I do), but it really kept me from imagining it as an empty space into which *something else* is falling. Further, visually, black & white absolutely doesn't work for TETRIS. Just look at the screen picture above (under "Word of the Day"). Those blocks are co-lor-ful! And the *background* is black. So what kind of "player" was being referred to in the theme clues, and even the very idea that this was a video game at all, was not clear to me. I thought "player" was referring to an "actor" at first (largely because of the "film" clue on the first themer and the word ACT in the second). Once I looked at the revealer and saw it was a video game that I was supposed to be seeing, my honest-to-god first thought, the game I actually wrote in the six-letter space, was DIG DUG. I mean ... I got a hole there at the bottom of the grid, and little dug-out antfarm-like pathways ... it made sense to me. But back to TETRIS—I don't see how the -TRIS part of TETRIS is fairly "crossed." I mean, "everyone" knows TETRIS, I guess, so if you get the "TE-" you should be good, but ... since the visuals are not exactly spot-on, and since probably *not* "everybody" knows TETRIS, it really seems like there should've been another way to get the -TRIS. But you get a visually interesting grid, complete with purposefully asymmetrical grid and some nice longer answers, so there's pleasure to be had here. I just ... miss my themeless Friday. It's the best day of the week and they keep f***ing with it for no good reason. Run this on Thursday! It's a valiant attempt at rendering the video game in xword-grid form. Didn't work for me, but I do hope many of you enjoyed it. I admire the ambition, for sure.

No idea about FELIPE—that was probably the hardest part of the grid for me. That and TUA (no longer paying attention to American football at all). They're both fine names and didn't cause any real trouble. Oh, ROGUE STATES (good answer) was also hard because they decided to put this vague "?" clue on it (23D: Bad lands?). Evoking South Dakota (where "The Badlands" are) to clue ROGUE STATES ... interesting. Apt? You decide. [Picture of health?] is a strange "?" clue because it implies you're not sure, not sure if it's good news or bad, and anyway it's too vague, in that there's no reason this exact clue couldn't be used for XRAY or MRI or really any imaging of the body. Not SONOGRAM-specific enough, this clue. Enjoyed the clue on SNOG (47A: French, perhaps, in England). Thought the puzzle was trying a little too hard to force the gaming issue with clues on RIG (42A: Computer custom-built for playing games, in slang) and LAP (35D: Unit in Mario Kart games). Your entire theme is a video game. It's possible to just ... let it be. Maybe move the cluing around to *different* places rather than just getting more insular. Just a thought. 

I had HAUL for HEAP (20D: Load). Not exactly sure why, but that's where the "H" led my brain. No other mistakes to speak of. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

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