The "long" version of it is 12% heavier / SAT 8-10-2024 / Brand of brightly colored hair dye with a rhyming name / First civilization to cultivate potatoes / Animal whose pattern allows it to camouflage into grassland / Gambling venues with a portmanteau name

Constructor: Spencer Leach

Relative difficulty: easy-ish; most of the struggle was getting logged into all the various accounts and then realizing all my settings were off; seriously, how TF does anybody solve crosswords with all the annoying "halfway done!" popups, they're so awful and annoying

Word of the Day: TON (The "long" version of it is 12% heavier) —

The long ton, also known as the imperial ton or displacement ton, is a measurement unit equal to 2,240 pounds (1,016.0 kg). It is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois system of weights or Imperial system of measurements. It was standardized in the 13th century. It is used in the United States for bulk commodities.

It is not to be confused with the short ton, a unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (907.2 kg) used in the United States, and Canada before metrication, also referred to simply as a "ton".

A long ton is defined as exactly 2,240 pounds. The long ton arises from the traditional British measurement system: A long ton is 20 long hundredweight (cwt), each of which is 8 stone (1 stone = 14 pounds). Thus, a long ton is 20 × 8 × 14 lb = 2,240 lb. [wikipedia; gotta love the inherent randomness of imperial units]

• • •

Christopher Adams here, back at the keyboard after a very long day at the Iowa State Fair, and then a long experience trying to get into the puzzle (and this blog) because I'm staying in a hotel overnight, which means I'm not on the usual computer, which meant having to remember a lot of passwords that I haven't used in years because my computer remembers them, and then realizing all my solving settings were off, so navigating this puzzle was like a deer on a frozen pond; anyway, even if I don't remember passwords, I remember answers, especially when the clues are way too easy for a Saturday (all things considered, about a 3:30 solve w/o navigation issues). 

Not really what I was wanting from a Saturday if I wanted something difficult; lots of the clues that wanted to be difficult or misdirect simply didn't do either of those things. You give me a question mark on [Regular joes?], you might as well put up the bat signal and say "it's a coffee pun". You put in a brand most solvers won't know (MANIC PANIC) and then immediately nerf the difficulty by saying it's rhyming, which gives solvers letters for free. Etc etc. And quite a few of the clues (SRO, BIG TOP, RAMS, LIRA, BAO, many others) were just straight definitions (or oft-used clues) that I'd expect to see early in the week. I guess you could say that I was ONTO [23A: Not fooled by] this puzzle.

And there's not much in the way of fill for me to like here; others will like MANIC PANIC, PICKLEBALL, TIKTOK DANCE, etc. more than I do, but these are just things that range from meaningless to me to things I actively abhor (again, YMMV). YOU PROBLEM was nice, but more the exception to the rule; ditto for TWISTER MAT and GEOCENTRIST (more for the clues, which again, exception to the rule).

Olio:

• PICKLEBALL [Sport that has generated noise complaints across the country in recent years] — I look forward to this trend dying as soon as possible, as I am not a pickleball person. Also, there's pickle beer at the State Fair; I will not try that, as I am not a pickle beer person.
• MATRYOSHKA [She's so full of herself!] — I didn't like this clue, since my understanding is that (traditionally) the dolls are not all the same, but represent different people, and so the outermost doll may be full of other people, but not herself. At least it was an attempt to be cute and tricksy that wasn't immediately obvious, though; took a few crossings here.
• CLUB FED [Relatively nice prison, humorously] — A cutesy, jokey entry about a prison is still an entry about a prison; can't say I've heard this term before, but didn't care to see it here and don't care to see it again. 
• YOU PROBLEM [Another's issue, in modern lingo] — Gotta love the NYT trying to meet the constructor's vibes, but instead giving off "how do you do fellow kids" vibes by adding the (completely unnecessary) tag "in modern lingo".
• MOSEY [Walk leisurely] — There will be lots of moseying on day two of the State Fair, in addition to more foot long corn dogs, lemonade, deep fried food, beers, etc.

Yours truly, Christopher Adams, Court Jester of CrossWorld

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