Phallic object worshiped as a symbol of Shiva / SAT 6-3-23 / Enthusiastic approval in a text / Byzantine emperor known as "Rhinotmetos" ("the slit-nosed") / Part of the Tuscan Archipelago / One of the so-called eight limbs of yoga / City in northeast France home of the country's oldest church

Constructor: John Westwig

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: SOMETHING / NOTHING / ANYTHING — [shrug] it's ... something, alright

Word of the Day: LINGAM (28D: Phallic object worshiped as a symbol of Shiva) —

A lingam (Sanskrit: लिङ्ग IAST: liṅga, lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary murti or devotional image in Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, also found in smaller shrines, or as self-manifested natural objects. It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform, the yoni – its feminine counterpart,consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection. Together, they symbolize the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos, the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence. (wikipedia)

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Well, the best part of this is certainly the middle, and I thought that *before* I ever noticed the SOMETHING ANYTHING NOTHING ... thing. It just felt smooth, so I liked it. The one thing I noticed about that section that seemed like a bit of a cheat (i.e. a gimmick to make the Down crosses easier to manage) was the -ING stack. "Really going all in on those -INGs there, yeesh." It was only after I'd completely finished the puzzle that I noticed there was a method to the madness. The discovery was far more a disappointed "oh" than an elated "aha." Do a theme or don't do a theme! This in-between stuff is meh. But as I say, I'm not too mad, because that stack *was* the best thing in the puzzle, so ... whatever works, I guess. The NW and SE corner were fine but not terribly remarkable (SE somewhat better than NW), and the other corners just didn't work well for me, despite having those showy long answers. In fact, it's the showy long answers that fell flat. NEO NOIR FILM feels awful in my mouth. I wanted that answer to stop at NEO-NOIR, which is commonly used as a noun on its own (a substantive, or nominalized, adjective, i.e. an adjective that stands alone as a noun). NEO-NOIR FILM just feels redundant. It's not that the phrase doesn't make sense, it's just ... I'd say NEO-NOIR (alone) or NEO-NOIR MOVIE before I'd say NEO-NOIR FILM. You'd only call "The Usual Suspects" a NEO-NOIR FILM if you didn't know it was a film in the first place. Otherwise, it's a NEO-NOIR. It's the redundancy that's irking me, but I just taught a whole class on Noir (1940-80), so my ear may be way too finely tuned, I'll admit. But ARMY TRAINEE doesn't improve the section. It's fine, but it screams "my wordlist told me to do this." Plus, I already had to linger on a military answer by that point (NCO), and I'd had enough. 

As for JUSTINIAN II, LOL wow that is a deep cut (12D: Byzantine emperor known as "Rhinotmetos" ("the slit-nosed")). I didn't love it, but I was super proud of myself for remembering that that was a name and writing it in with just the -ANII in place. I felt like I was taking a wild leap there, but I immediately crossed the "J" with SAJAK and knew my guess was right. ASSUMED NAME is fine, OK. I think the real disappointment of the grid was the marquee Down answer: PUZZLING PROBLEM (8D: Stumper). Again, like NEO-NOIR FILM, something about it felt redundant and off. I had PUZZL- and was not sure where it was going. Then PUZZLING ... and still no idea. When I finally got PROBLEM, the feeling was, Again, more "oh" than "aha." Anticlimactic. A letdown. If it weren't PUZZLING, would it even be a PROBLEM? Aren't non-puzzling problems ... not problems at all? I just don't like it. I also don't believe H-WORD (35D: "Hell," euphemistically). You need to be hyperspecific about what kind of demonstratively prudish culture you're dealing with here, because the very fact that the puzzle could put "Hell" in the clue tells you that almost no one thinks "Hell" needs to be bowdlerized. I imagine cluing FWORD in such a straightforward way. You can't. H-WORD, smaitch-word. I got it easily enough, but boo. 

Easy puzzle overall, with nearly all of my struggle coming with NCO / DAX (in the NW) and LINGAM (a thing I kinda sorta knew, but couldn't spell, especially that second vowel—I wanted "U" I think). If you put a specific mil. rank in your clue I expect a specific rank as the answer, but NCO ... both corporals and sergeants are NCOs. I always thought of NCO as a category. [One below a lieut.] may be on some level accurate, but bah. With the "C" in place from EXCALIBUR, NCO was the only thing I could think of, but I was sure it was wrong. Not specific enough. But then it was right. Oh well. As for DAX Shepard, I wanted him to be SAM, and when he wasn't ... well, let's just say I was lucky "X" was the only thing that worked in DEO-IDIZE, because I kind of thought DAX was DAZ. Turns out there are no DAZzes of note, except DAZ Cameron, a former Detroit Tiger outfielder you've probably never heard of. I thought DAZ was the name of a star NFL quarterback, but turns out I was thinking of DAK Prescott (Cowboys), whose name you weirdly never see, given how good he is—a two-time Pro Bowler, and *currently* famous. Despite not caring about football any more, I think I'd rather see DAK clued as [2x N.F.L. Pro Bowl-er Prescott] than as an abbr. for DAKota, which is what the NYTXW has been relying on for its DAK clues all these years. (Thinking about this is way more fun than thinking about DAX Shepard, whom I don't really know. No wait, isn't he ... Kristen Bell's husband? Is that right? Yes. Phew. My memory still has some battery power left).

I see what the puzzle was trying to do here with the whole "mini-theme" thing, and it's not Not cute, but ... it may in fact be too cute, for me, for a Saturday, when all I want is grueling beauty, themes be damned. I think my favorite answer of the day was actually a little six-letter critter: "OMG YES!"  (25D: Enthusiastic approval in a text). It's current and (to my ear and experience) pitch perfect. I would, in fact, text that. Wish "OMG YES!" was how I felt about the puzzle as a whole, but you get what you get. This wasn't bad, by any means. See you tomorrow (unless you scorn Sundays, in which case see you whenever).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. 33D: Middle of to-day is THIS because that’s where THIS goes in the phrase “to THIS day…”

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