Charming first encounter in a rom-com / MON 10-14-24 / Entertainment news show since 1996 / Give 50% effort on, slangily / Winner of an annual Southern pageant / Default camera mode / Condiment often faked with green dye in sushi restaurants / Parents known for bad puns

Constructor: Dana Edwards

Relative difficulty: Very easy (solved Downs-only)

THEME: QUADRUPLE DOUBLE (54A: Statistical feat achieved four times in N.B.A. history ... or what the answers to the starred clues contain, letter-wise) — three theme answers contain four (4) double-letters each:

Theme answers:

• ACCESS HOLLYWOOD (17A: *Entertainment news show since 1996)
• MISS MISSISSIPPI (24A: *Winner of an annual Southern pageant)
• "WELL, WHOOP-DEE-DOO!" (41A: *"Yeah, so what? Big deal.")

Word of the Day: QUADRUPLE DOUBLE (54A) —

 

When a player reaches double figures in four of the five statistical categories — points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks — he or she has achieved a quadruple-double. 

For example, if a player has 10 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks, this would be a quadruple-double.

The NBA’s official definition for triple-doubles notes that “reaching double figures in steals or blocks is extremely rare,” which explains why there have only been four quadruple-doubles throughout NBA history.

It’s worth mentioning that no NBA player has ever recorded 10 blocks and 10 steals in the same game. Hakeem Olajuwon came the closest against the Seattle SuperSonics on March 10, 1987, finishing with 38 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks, and 7 steals. He’s the only player in NBA history to record at least 7 blocks and 7 steals in the same game. (sleeper.com)

• • •

Is that how you spell WHOOP-DEE-DOO? I wrote it in without too much trouble, but then stared at it like "that doesn't look quite right?" I mean, who knows how you "spell" these things that people were only ever meant to say, but still, I thought possibly the "DEE" part was supposed to be shorter, like a "DI" or a "DE." And in fact ("fact" being the good people at merriam-webster dot com), the top-of-the-dictionary-entry spelling is WHOOP-DE-DO—no double-E and no double-O (in the last syllable). Even the "variant" that's listed only doubles the "O"; the "E" remains single. Single-E Single-O (in "DO") appears to be the standard across the board, dictionary-wise, though wiktionary opts for "DOO" in the last syllable. It's not like you can't find the "DEE" spelling in use all over the place ... well, in several places, anyway. There's a "kid-friendly variety show" with that name, and that spelling. Several memes spell it that way. Seems like people are just going their own way and spelling it how they want, and some of them want DEE. My main point in all this is that one of these answers (ACCESS HOLLYWOOD) felt surprising and interesting (mainly because the quadruple-double aspect sneaks up on you—the double letters aren't as ostentatious because only one of them is a vowel), while the other two felt contrived, and the "misspelled" exclamation is part of what screams "contrivance." MISS MISSISSIPPI also feels like a stretch. I'm sure she exists, every year, in whatever pageant she's in, but she's an oddly singular entity, one among fifty such oddly singular entities, where ACCESS HOLLYWOOD is just a mainstream show, and even WHOOP-DE(E)-DO(O) is just a regular old expression that anyone might say. The revealer itself is a bit out of the ordinary as well—by its own admission, an exceedingly rare thing. I don't mind it, but I wish it had yielded more interesting results than these. I confess that, spelling aside, I kinda like "WELL, WHOOP-DEE-DOO!" I like its jaded, deflating, not-having-any-of-your-fake-enthusiasm energy. And yet my first feeling upon seeing it in the grid was, "um, I think you have it confused with 'Zip-a-DEE-DOO-Dah?'" 

As a Downs-only solve, this one was remarkably easy. If you can't imagine how Downs-only can be done, just look at this one. First three Downs, NCAA ARCS PECK, all gimmes. SWEARS IN is maybe a little harder (4D: Formally admits to office), but I just pictured the "formality" of it all and the phrase came right to mind. Anyway. WASABI ASHY LAO SNL, again, all gimmes. At that point, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD is obvious, as are the "H" in WALSH and the "A" in ASANA, and with HAL- at the beginning of 9D: Give 50% effort on, slangily, can HALF-ASS be far ... behind? It's very easy to go on like this today, getting short gimmes and then inferring Acrosses. There were precisely two (2) Downs in the entire puzzle that gave me more than a moment's hesitation. The first was 10D: Formal confession ("IT WAS I")—I was looking for a word that meant "formal confession," not an actual example of a "formal confession"—and the second was, strangely, 48D: Default camera mode (AUTO)—and I had the "AU-!" I just have no conception of AUTO as a "setting." AUTO what? Focus? I was like "AURA? ... Do they have an AURA setting on cameras now?" But the "RA" from AURA wouldn't work. E-RE wanted to be only ÊTRE or ÉIRE, and "I" made no sense (no camera setting or any other thing starts "AUI-"), so "T" was the only option, and once you've got AUT-, "O" is really your only option there. That "O" wants to be an "E" (since I've seen and said DEER a million times more than I've seen on said DOER, a word that seems to exist primarily in crossword grids), but again, AUTO obviously beats AUTE. Assuming you know what a MEET-CUTE is (and I do) there's nothing else among the Downs to cause any trouble today.

[3D: Small smooch]

If DOER seems to exist primarily to show up in crossword grids, I could say that goes double or triple or even quadruple for CAT CAFE (50A: Establishment with kittens and cappuccinos), a phenomenon I'm aware of solely because of human interest stories about Japan and repeated CAT CAFE appearances in the NYTXW. According to wikipedia:

The world's first cat café, "Cat Flower Garden" (貓花園), opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998 and eventually became a global tourist destination. The concept spread to Japan, where the first one named "Neko no Jikan" (lit. "Cat's Time") was opened in Osaka in 2004. Due to Japan's land size and population, many residents live in small apartments or condominiums which do not allow pets, making cat cafés a very popular destination for young workers looking for the companionship and comfort offered. Tokyo's first cat café, named "Neko no Mise" (Cat's Store), opened in 2005. After this, the popularity of cat cafés boomed in Japan. From 2005 to 2010, 79 cat cafés opened across the country.

I didn't think they'd caught on in the States so much—I've never seen one—but it looks like I need to get out more because Google tells me there are at least three within a reasonably short drive from me, in Syracuse, Ithaca, and someplace called Plains, PA. I know bodegas have cats, and I love it when bookstores have cats, so I assume I would enjoy a CAT CAFE. Then again, I actually have cats, so I don't need to go out to have cats with my coffee (🎵"cats with my coffee and..."🎵)

Bullets:

• 5A: Guitarist Joe of the Eagles (WALSH) — the puzzle really needs to get a new WALSH. That's twice in eight days for Joe WALSH (who appeared as his full name back on Sun., Oct. 6). What's wrong with M. Emmet WALSH? One of the greatest character actors of all time—absolutely deserving of occupying the WALSH chair once in a while. Watch Blood Simple, you'll see. Forget your Eagles guitarists and your Super Bowl-winning football coaches and your America's Most Wanted hosts ... It's M. Emmet! Best WALSH, hands-down. RIP, Mr. WALSH (d. Mar. 19, 2024):

• 40A: Princess in the Mario games (PEACH) — damn games have been around for decades and I still don't know the characters beyond Mario, Luigi, and maybe Wario (?). I see "princess" and "(video) game," I think ZELDA. Grateful that I wasn't even looking at Across clues today.
• 13D: Parents known for bad puns (DADS) — weird phrasing on this clue. At first, I was looking for a couple, like the RAYS or the LEES or whatever, some couple with a three-letter last name. I was like "Who are these famous parents known for their bad puns?" 
• 10A: Summertime specification at Starbucks (ICED) — first of all, I have learned that ICED coffee people drink it all year round. People coming into the cafe (maybe even the CAT CAFE), middle of winter, ordering ICED drinks. I'm not even surprised by it any more. I get asked, in January, "you want that hot?" I wanna just point to the ice and snow outside and say "what do you think?" but instead I just accept this stupid world where "hot" is not the default and say "yes, thanks." Second, this  puzzle is really going for it with the clue alliteration today. [Summertime specification at Starbucks], [... kittens and cappuccinos] [Barbecue bite with a bone] ... but it's really the "S"s that are out in force today: [Superlative suffix], [Sport with skulls], [Small smooch], [Stifle, as a sound], [Sloshed, in slang]. Guess you gotta do something to amuse yourself on these easy days.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. Happy birthday, sweetheart* :)

*if it's your birthday, just go ahead and assume I'm talking to you 

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