Sierra follower / FRI 12-29-23 / Foil to Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar" / Lock lips, to a Liverpudlian / Attire for many a Degas subject / Tacky item in a kindergarten classroom

Constructor: Robyn Weintraub

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Cuba libre (12D: Cuba libre ingredient => COKE) —

Rum and Coke, or the Cuba libre (/ˌkjuːbə ˈliːbreɪ/ KEW-bə LEE-bray, Spanish: [ˈkuβa ˈliβɾe]; literally "Free Cuba"), is a highball cocktail consisting of cola, rum, and in many recipes lime juice on ice. Traditionally, the cola ingredient is Coca-Cola ("Coke") and the alcohol is a light rum such as Bacardi; however, the drink may be made with various types of rums and cola brands, and lime juice may or may not be included.

The cocktail originated in the early 20th century in Cuba, after the country won independence in the Spanish–American War. It subsequently became popular across Cuba, the United States, and other countries. Its simple recipe and inexpensive, ubiquitous ingredients have made it one of the world's most-popular alcoholic drinks. Drink critics often consider the drink mediocre, but it has been noted for its historical significance. (wikipedia)

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Good morning and Happy Robyn Friday to all who celebrate! I actually struggled with this one more than I typically do with Robyn Weintraub puzzles, but since I rarely truly struggle, that doesn't mean very much on the ol' difficulty meter. Mainly I was getting a bit bogged down in some of the short stuff, but only for short bits of time. The long stuff still did what I expected it to do—impressed and whooshed. It's weird, though: I had a kind of deja vu, as I really thought I had seen Robyn use both SNOWBALLFIGHTS and OSCARTHEGROUCH before. Completely untrue, at least in the NYTXW, but now I'm wondering where I got that idea from. Maybe she's leaned into "Sesame Street" before. I do so many puzzles, there's no possible way I can remember where I saw such and such an answer (most of the time). Anyway, the sense of deja vu (errant though it was) did not keep me from enjoying either answer. [UPDATE: it’s not deja vu … or, rather, it literally is—I already saw (that is, listened to) Robyn construct this puzzle on a BBC podcast several months ago!] Judged by my incredibly high Robyn standards, this one had maybe a little less sizzle than I expected. There's only one really good colloquial expression ("NOT YOU TOO!?"), although I guess you could throw "IT'S A FACT!" in there too. "I DON'T MIND" is of course just fine, but it doesn't quite have the spice (despite literally sitting on TACO SAUCE). The long answers are strong and solid everywhere, and only the occasional short answer gave me any reason to feel anything close to SCORN. Stuff like ATIT LOCI in the NE and LAIC OTTO in the west (OTTO is notto so baddo (33D: Miranda who played Eowyn in "The Lord of the Rings"), but that was the only thing in the grid I'd absolutely never heard of, besides "forcola," which I assume is some kind of OARlock equivalent ... yes, although I guess it's called a "rowlock" not an "OARlock" ... oh, no, wait, look: those two words are the same ... SIGH(S), I feel better now). I don't know if this puzzle OOZES CHARM, or if I would even want that from a puzzle (rarely a fan of oozing), but this one has enough variety and pep to make for a perfectly charming Friday.

That said, FUR COATs are vile and if I never see another COEXIST bumper sticker it will be too soon. Not much on Bumper Sticker Liberalism, or bumper stickers in general. That's it for genuinely off-putting fill, though. As for the (minor) struggles, they came early on, and almost entirely on the west side of the grid (marking up your finished puzzle with green ink really gives you a strong visual idea of where you struggled the most). Really had trouble with TANGO, as ugh, the puzzle's reliance on the radio alphabet continues unabated. It's like the damn thing was invented so that crossword constructors could write tricky clues. If you want me to give you a [Sierra follower] in five letters, I'm going to give you LEONE or MADRE, and then I'm gonna cast about for some kind of phrase of brand name like, I dunno, Sierra MIST (not long enough). Complicating matters up there were STEW (13D: Mélange) and WAY (21A: Approach), neither of which were obvious to me from their clues. Curiously, wanted an equally edible SOUP for [Mélange] (after wanting OLIO a bit earlier) and wanted [Approach] to be a verb. Nearby, I had no idea how "Raspberry" was being used at 13D: Raspberry relative—I thought it was the thing you blow at someone contemptuously, so I wanted RAZZ (?!) ... and then I wanted a fruit of some kind. I don't think of either Raspberry or RUBY as a color (primarily), so that was tough. And the BUT cross was hard to pick up as well (22A: Signal for a change in direction?). But with easy-to-get long answers shooting every which way, these little trouble spots sorted themselves out fairly easily.

Other little glitches... Can never remember if it's OCTAVIAN or OCTAVIUS (36D: Foil to Mark Antony in "Julius Caesar"). Somebody asked the question about different spellings of the emperor's name on r/AskHistorians at reddit and my man wrote a whole-ass essay on Roman naming conventions, concluding with:

Octavius for his childhood, until the death of Caesar in 44 BCE.

Octavian for his period as a rising power during 44-31 BCE, after the death of Caesar and before the defeat of Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

Augustus from 31 BCE, when he "became Emperor", until his death.

Good to know! I'm just gonna assume it's all correct and one of you all will tell me if it's not. Good? Good. Moving on to more glitches. I thought [Lower] was a verb so I wrote in SADDEN ("to make ... low?") instead of SADDER. I just stared at [Match ___] and, well, after I realized it wasn't going to be GAME I got briefly depressed and my brain refused to entertain other possibilities. The crosses really had to carry the load to get me to WITS. Then there was my biggest mistake, which was really an answer I failed to write in fully. I remember *getting* "NOT YOU TOO!?" and writing it in, but apparently I did not write it all the way to the end, so I ended up with "NOT YOU TOU!?" because I initially thought that the garnish in your Cuba libre might be a CUKE (12D: Cuba libre ingredient). Cukes make wonderful garnishes for certain drinks (a Pimm's Cup, for instance), but not a Cuba libre, apparently—standard garnish there is a lime wedge. Well now I want a Pimm's Cup but it's ... [squints at computer clock] ... 5:03AM, so might hold off on that for twelve hours or so and start with coffee.

The Holiday Pet Pics continue now (please, no more submissions til next year!). 

More kitties under trees!

[Bentley! (thanks, Ross)]

[Spikey! (thanks, Carolyn)]

Puppies being majestic!

[Is that a border collie? Because if any dog's got the stamina to lead the damn deer all over the world in one night, it's a border collie ... whatever Malo is, he's clearly very good (thanks, Brett)]

[Tessa rules the senior center from her throne (thanks, Robert)]

And finally a couple of kittie siblings, Odette ...

... and her brother, Swann, seen here celebrating Christmas ... Swann's way 😎

[Thanks, Shirley]

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]