SNL sketch that kicks off the show / WED 3-22-23 / Classic kids' game that tests motor skills / Singer Aguilar with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame / Live tweeters of a sort / Attention-hoarding say / Important number for middle-distance runner

Constructor: Madeline Kaplan

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Double bill — familiar two-word phrases clued as if they were kinds of movies:

Theme answers:

• PROFILE PICTURE (20A: "Malcolm X” or "Milk"?) (two "pictures" that are "profiles" of a famous person)
• WATER FEATURE (25A: "Titanic" or "Jaws"?) (two "features" that take place on/in "water")
• WALKIE-TALKIE (41A: "Wild" or "The Road"?) (two non-silent (!) movies in which people "walk" a lot)
• FLICK OF A SWITCH (47A: "Freaky Friday" or "The Parent Trap"?) (two "flicks" in which characters "switch" identities)

Word of the Day: PEPE Aguilar (14A: Singer Aguilar with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) —

José Antonio Aguilar Jiménez (born August 7, 1968), better known as Pepe Aguilar, is an American singer.

From a young age, Aguilar accompanied his parents, Mexican singer-actors Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre on tour. He played his first concert at the age of three, joining his father onstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He now does the same with his own children, Leonardo Aguilar and Ángela Aguilar, who have also continued in the steps of their father and grandparents.

Aguilar has sold over 12 million albums worldwide. His work has earned him four Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, nineteen Lo Nuestro Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (wikipedia)

• • •

If this doesn't end up being my favorite puzzle of the week ... well, wow, it's going to be a good week. This is a terrific theme, with the synonyms for "movie" perfectly repurposed and the theme answers increasingly inventive as the theme builds (from top to bottom). I thought the theme was merely "nice" up top, but once it hit WALKIE-TALKIE, I was like "oh, we're gonna go nuts now, are we? Cool." It's hilarious that anyone would ever refer to "Wild" or "The Road" as TALKIEs, a term used primarily in the '20s and '30s to distinguish sound films from silents, but there's really no arguing with the fact that those movies do, in fact, qualify as TALKIEs. The fact that this clue has also coined a new term, for movies about people walking (the "WALKIE"), that is the ~mwah~ chef's kiss that makes this answer extra special. Then there's the incredibly clever last answer, which manages to put FLICK into a phrase that not only works, but works perfectly. You don't have to squint at it or lawyer it or otherwise strain credulity. "Freaky Friday" and "The Parent Trap" are both undeniably FLICKs about (identity) SWITCHes. I don't care *at all* that the word meaning "movie" appears in the first position here while all the others have it appearing last—final themers of sufficient cleverness and exclamation-point power are allowed such small inconsistencies. I had "FLICK OF" in place and couldn't imagine how that one was going to end. "FLICK OF A WRIST? Those movies aren't about wrists! FLICK OF A BUTTON? Those movies aren't about buttons!" And then, after getting a few crosses, in went "A SWITCH" and my jaw dropped a little. Oh, wow, yes, that is what those movies are. Well done.

I only went "ick" a couple of times during this solve, first at ZIP TIE, which are restraints used by cops and/or white-right terrorists who invade capitol buildings in winter. I mean, they're also just fasteners that are used for tons of other industrial purposes. I'm just telling you the image that the term evokes for me (I've only ever heard the term in human restraint contexts). It's a fine word, even a good one, crossword-wise, but sometimes words just hit you wrong, and that one did today. I also went "ick" at the clue for POSE, which feels awfully forced (34D: Something you might have to sit still for). It's the "thing"-ness that feels awkward. I don't sit still for a POSE. I ... POSE. The POSE *is* the sitting still. The clue wants to be clever but it gets that cleverness by way of awkwardness, which is never a good idea. You want your cleverness to *land*—perfect and undeniable. Anyway, very minor issue, and the very last answer of the day. The rest of the grid is overwhelmingly clean (and well clued), and there's even some noteworthy longer fill to spice things up. The bottom of the grid is particularly suggestive, with TAWDRY and CORKSCREW dancing around BALI, trying not to get involved in a torrid affair ("WE CAN'T!"). MILE TIME also strikes me as an original, if not particularly sexy, answer.

No real trouble spots. I had no idea who PEPE Aguilar was, but the crosses took care of that, as all good crosses do. I looked at 35A: Instrument prominently heard in both Seal's "Kiss From a Rose" and Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" (OBOE), saw that I had -OE in place, and wrote in ALOE ... which is some kind of weird crossword reflex I didn't know I had. I mean, I knew I was looking for an instrument, and my fingers just went "blah blah blah that clue's too long, it's four letters, ends in -OE, it's ALOE, let's move on." Bizarre. I also wrote in KNOBS at first for 39A: Bozos (BOOBS). Then I changed it because I wanted RELY at 39D: Count (on) (BANK). So that was a weird wrong/wrong patch, but a brief one. I had no idea that FIVES lasted only roughly (and aptly) five years (45D: Bills with an estimated life span of 5.5 years (appropriately)). I wonder if that number will change dramatically as people use cash less and less. I like using cash when I can, and I like that the puzzle is really committed to hard currency today, with its FIVES and its COINS. Not sure anything really needs explaining today. The COLD OPEN is a regular feature of "SNL" and has been for a while—it's the skit that opens ...well, cold, before the opening credits, without any lead-in music or fanfare of any sort. Just ... right in. My morning blogging is the COLD OPEN of my day. Out of bed and right to it. Time now for the hot open (coffee, kitties, Wordle/Quordle, "Wake 'N' Bake" w/ Clay Pigeon on WFMU). Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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