Rap's Megan ___ Stallion / TUES 06-25-24 / Fingerprint or footprint, perhaps / Piece of jewelry consisting of a single line of diamonds / art of an African elephant shaped like Africa

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare for the last Tuesday of June! Hope everyone had a good month. I’ve been watching so much soccer with the Euros and Copa America, and then rooting on former teammates in the track events at the Olympic trials! My former teammates did very well but sadly didn’t qualify for the finals. (You did great, Dana!) Other events have been super impressive, like the women’s 5,000m race, and I’m so excited to watch the women’s 1,500m, too. As I’m writing this, I sadly had to watch Athing Mu get tripped and fall in the 800m run. But maybe she’ll be chosen for the 4X400m relay. She's incredible (and won gold in the last Olympics in both events at just 19 years old). ​​

Anywho, on to the puzzle...

Constructor: Seth Bisen-Hersh and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: TWENTY ONE (33A: Card game whose winning hands can be found hidden in 17-, 27-, 42- and 54-Across) — Each answer includes cards involved in getting “twenty one,” or blackjack

Theme answers:

• SUCKING FACE (17A: Sloppily making out, in slang) 
• TENNIS BRACELET (27A: Piece of jewelry consisting of a single line of diamonds) 
• QUEEN ANNE’S LACE (42A: Wildflower with a royal name) 
• RACER JACKET (54A: Sleek leather outerwear)

Word of the Day: ATTILA (13A: Invader of Gaul in 451) —

The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or r the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition, led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodoric I, against the Huns and their vassals, commanded by their king, Attila. It proved one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. Whether the battle was of strategic significance is disputed; historians generally agree that the siege of Aurelianum was the decisive moment in the campaign and stopped the Huns' attempt to advance any further into Roman territory or establish vassals in Roman Gaul. However, the Huns successfully looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. Attila died only two years later, in 453; after the Battle of Nedao in 454 AD, the coalition of the Huns and the incorporated Germanic vassals gradually disintegrated. (Wiki)

• • •

My first reaction was meh – but I also only saw one of the cards in each answer. I saw “king,” then “ace,” then “queen” and “jack.” Having the answers actually be “king-ace,” “ten-ace,” “queen-ace”, and "jack-ace is pretty impressive. And I liked the first three theme answers. SUCKING FACE is an odd but fun term. TENNIS BRACELET is legit. QUEEN ANNE’S LACE is lovely. RACER JACKET didn’t do a whole lot for me. 

Other aspects of the puzzle were still pretty meh, though. There was more misdirection than I’d expect from a Tuesday. Yes, ATILLA (13A) invaded Gaul, but his attack on Rome is a lot more famous – think Pope Leo the Great coming face to face with him on the outskirts of the city and getting Attila to turn back. ANDALE (44D) is a fine word, but I don’t think of saying that to Goya. Speedy Gonzalez, yes. Goya, no. 

There was a decent amount of Spanish in the puzzle — HASTA, ESAS, ANDALE and OLES. I’m happy I know a lot of Spanish. But I imagine ANDALE, in particular, might have slowed some others. 

The ZIKA virus (6D: Mosquito-borne virus in 2016 news) was unexpected for a Tuesday. I knew this one, but it did take me a while to place and get the spelling right. ENDUE (50A: Provide, as with an ability) is pretty fancy for a Tuesday. The Tuesday form is more “endow.” 

I liked how DESSERT (41D: You might leave room for it) crossed SWIRLS (48A: Vanilla/chocolate ice cream combos, e.g.). I used to get a SWIRLS dessert from Foster's Freeze and loved how that tasted. 

I liked some of the longer answers, too, such as QUEASY, ACL TEAR, GAME ON (though having RAT ON as another answer diminished this one a bit), NINJA, ANDALE, SIM CITY and GOUDA.) Answers like these and COLGATE and DESSERT were just more fun. 

I’m not as sure about PROOFED, RETURNS, TUNA CAN, RARE GEM, WEARIER, and WEEDER. I’m sure WEEDER (34D: Gardener's device) is a category of sorts when you go into Home Depot. But nobody asks for a weeder. It seems more like you’d ask for a hoe or a trowel or a rake or a shovel or something specific.

Misc.:

• PELE (15A: Athlete declared a national treasure by Brazil after the 1958 World Cup) reminds me of how much soccer I’ve been watching lately and how I’ve been rooting for Brazil! Sad that they tied Costa Rica. But maybe they can pull it all off. 
• Does GOUDA (19A: Mild Dutch cheese) make anyone else think of “She’s the Man”? “My favorite’s GOUDA”? Probably not...
• SIM CITY (25A: Pioneering computer game originally called Micropolis) is so fun and interesting to me. The cities are so odd, and the characters do seemingly whatever they want, and it’s all so weird and strange.
• I remember watching my friend playing softball when I was in junior high, and all I knew how to say was “good EYE, good EYE” (56D) 
• I’ve been on a reading kick lately. (I’m at 40 books so far this year!) “Little Women” from Louis May ALCOTT (10D: “Little Women" author) will always be superior.

And that’s all from me! Hope everyone has a great end of June. And go, USA! 

Signed, Clare Carroll, I may not outpace you at solving crosswords… but try me at the 5,000 meters

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