Defensive boxing strategy / THU 7-11-24 / Katniss's partner in "The Hunger Games" / They're made in the kitchen and not the gym, it's said / Staple of classical Greek architecture / Certain calligraphy mark / Norton's "Fight Club" co-star / Disney toon originally called Dippy Dawg

Constructor: Mat Sheldon

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: BUMP IN THE ROAD (33A: Minor setback ... or a hint to entering 16-, 24-, 44- and 52-Across) — two-letter "bumps" appear in four theme answers (where the answer goes up and over for the space for the space of two letters then drops back down); the "bumps" are marked as gray squares and appear directly above the letter string "ROAD" each time:

Theme answers:

• THE IRO(N L)ADY (16A: 2011 Margaret Thatcher biopic)
• RO(PE)-A-DOPE (24A: Defensive boxing strategy)
• PETRO(GR)AD (44A: Saint Petersburg, once)
• TRO(UB)ADOURS (52A: Musicians of the middle ages)

Word of the Day: ROPE-A-DOPE (24A) —

The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring and draws non-injuring offensive punches, letting the opponent tire themself out. This gives the former the opportunity then to execute devastating offensive punches to help them win. The rope-a-dope is most famously associated with Muhammad Ali in his October 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against world heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. [...] The maneuver is most commonly associated with the match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, known as "The Rumble in the Jungle". Foreman was considered by many observers to be the favorite to win the fight due to his superior punching power. Ali purposely angered Foreman during the match, provoking Foreman to attack and force him back on the ropes. Some observers at the time thought that Ali was being horribly beaten and worried that they might see him get killed in the ring. Writer George Plimpton described Ali's stance as like "a man leaning out his window trying to see something on his roof." Far from being brutalized, however, Ali was relatively protected from Foreman's blows. Norman Mailer described the advantage of Ali's rope-a-dope this way: "Standing on one's feet it is painful to absorb a heavy body punch even when blocked with one's arm. The torso, the legs, and the spine take the shock. Leaning on the ropes, however, Ali can pass it along; the rope will receive the strain." Ali's preparation for the fight, which involved toughening himself up by allowing his sparring partners to pummel him, contributed to observers' sense that Ali was outmatched. But Ali took advantage and won the match when Foreman became tired from the punches he was delivering. (wikipedia)

• • •

This is one of those puzzles that give you bad vibes right out of the gate. In this case, the bad vibes started with STENOG, which kind of made me wince, followed by INOIL and then ALOP, which had me pausing, sighing exhaustedly, "so it's gonna be one of these puzzles," doubling over a little, that sort of thing. When the fill is that bad that early and that intensely, in such a small space, Nothing Good Is Coming. I exaggerate—"IT WAS ME" is up there too, and that answer is good—but when you get "ugh" fill right up front, in numbers greater than one, that's a sign. And once again, the sign was not wrong. Thankfully, the fill never got that intensely rough again, but neither did it get above average very often (and there was still ONRED and the absurd plural ODIUMS to come). And as for the theme: it's a one-note variation on a trick I've seen before (answer goes up, over, down again). In this case, I sussed it out very early, with THE IRON LADY—a complete gimme, and easy to get even if you've never heard of the movie (that was Thatcher's well-known nickname). THE IRON LADY wouldn't fit, but the two gray squares above that answer were like "hey, maybe put two of the letters here," so I did, and that was that. Shortly thereafter, with just the "MP" in place, I got BUMP IN THE ROAD, then looked up and saw that the "NL" in THEIRONLADY was in fact a kind of "bump" directly above "ROAD." But surely not all the "bumps" were going to be right over "ROAD"—that would be giving too much of the game away ... and. yet:

As you can see, I had to do a little work to come up with TROUBADOURS, but the rest of those themers went right in, immediately, no problem. So the theme stuff is over fast. And then there's just the grid, and as I've said, the grid doesn't have much to offer. A few minutes diversion, a walk through OK answers, but more lows than highs. I thought maybe the "bumps" would, I don't know, spell something? Do ... anything? But they just sit there, as bumps proverbially do (though usually on logs). Ultimately there's just not enough to this theme to give it any real Thursday power. And the fill is merely passable, with too many substandard bits. And that's that.

The cluing is pretty flat today, and I didn't even have any interesting / fun / embarrassing mistakes. I did think "classic NYTXW timing!" when the debut of RISHI Sunak arrived just days after He Is No Longer Prime Minister. "Is he bygone yet? Just say when! Now? Perfect! Bring out RISHI!" (We still have yet to see SUNAK). Anyway, good riddance to that guy. Side note: while today was the debut of RISHI Sunak, it was not the debut of RISHI itself. RISHI has appeared five other times dating back to 1986 (three times under Maleska, twice under Shortz), each time clued as [Hindu sage] (though Maleska added "or poet" one time). Speaking of Prime Ministers, look for KEIR and (to a lesser extent, I assume) STARMER very soon ... or, if the NYTXW is on brand, far in the future, only after Keir Starmer has left office and is no longer relevant.

Man, the more I look at STENOG, the uglier it gets (3D: Court figure, for short). I've only ever seen it in crosswords. Somehow I can accept STENO, as I've actually heard the term used, mainly in the phrase "STENO pool," and the word itself doesn't sound terrible. But add that "G" and yikes, now it rhymes with "hog" and that is not great. I mean, just say it; you sound like a braying donkey, "sten-OG, sten-OG, sten-OG!" The answer is ever-so-slightly redeemed today by the fact that it crosses LEGAL (which creates a kind of thematic partnership), but if the choice is between partially redeemed STENOG and no STENOG at all, choose "B" every time. I have already mentally changed the answer to ST. ENOG. I don't know why that's better, but it is. I think ST. ENOG is who you pray to when you want all the bad answers to go away. When you want bad answers G, O, N, E ... call on E, N, O, G! Help me ST. ENOG, you're my only hope!

Bullets:

• 21A: Katniss's partner in "The Hunger Games" (PEETA) — how much longer am I going to be expected to retain "Hunger Games" lore? Too many universes to keep track of. I did remember PEETA, but it took some memory-jarring (i.e. some crosses). 
• 1D: Kind of projection (ASTRAL) — this was, bizarrely, the first answer I got. I don't even really know what it is, but if you Match Game me with "___ projection," I'm giving you ASTRAL every time.

• 1A: They're made in the kitchen and not the gym, it's said (ABS) — Bro. Bro. Brah. Bruh. Do you even lift? (srsly by whom is this "said" and why are they not embarrassed?) (I'm at the gym at least twice a week and thankfully no one has ever "said" this to or near me) (ugh, apparently the phrase is "popular" in the "fitness community") (the idea is that diet, not (primarily) exercise, is the key to defined / visible ABS). 
• 12D: Scratch (out) (EKE) — hey, it's the 100th EKE of the week! Everybody gets a prize! (sadly, that prize is another EKE, coming tomorrow). Actually, there have been only (only?) eight EKEs in the Fagliano Era (i.e. in the past four months) (that's six EKEs, one EKES, and one EKED). But eight EKEs ... still feels like I'm being pummeled with EKEs. 
• 36A: Bad thing to be caught on (TAPE) — not necessarily. Depends on what you're saying or doing. What are you saying or doing!?

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]