Antarctic penguin / FRI 12-13-24 / Chargeable conveyances / Tech entrepreneur Altman / What Han Solo never wants to be told / Title princess in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera / 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan hit with a melancholy title / Sexually charged title track from a hit 1973 album / Question that one is tricked into asking, in a classic gag / Soeur de la mère

Constructor: Ryan Patrick Smith

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: CAVA (51D: Drink similar to Champagne) —

Cava (Catalan: [ˈkaβə], pl. caves; Spanish: [ˈkaβa], pl. cavas) is a sparkling wine of denominación de origen (DO) status from Spain. It may be white (blanco) or rosé (rosado). The Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel·lo are the most popular and traditional grape varieties for producing cava. Chardonnay and Malvasia are also permitted. Authorized red grapes are Garnacha tinta, Monastrell, Trepat, and Pinot Noir. Only wines produced in the traditional method may be labelled "cava"; those produced by other processes may only be called "sparkling wines" (vinos espumosos). About 95% of all cava is produced in the Penedès area in Catalonia, Spain, with the village of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia being home to many of the largest Catalan production houses. [...] Marketing cava as "Spanish champagne" is no longer permitted under European Union law, since Champagne has a protected geographical status (PGS). Colloquially it is still called champán or champaña in Spanish or champú in Argentinian Spanish xampany in Catalan. Today it is defined by law as a "quality sparkling wine produced in a designated region" (Vino Espumoso de Calidad Producido en una Región Determinada, VECPRD). // The word champán in Spanish is not to be confused with achampañado, a colloquial term for the non-traditional sparkling wines. These achampañados wines are generally cheaper, are served by the bottle at bars or restaurants specializing in them and hence these establishments are called by the same name, i.e. achampañado. This is not cava, but it is a somewhat popular drink as well.

• • •

[GOFER]

One great corner, one awful corner, some good music, and ... the rest, which was fine, if unremarkable. I think the highlight for me was "ALONE AGAIN" (5D: 1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan hit with a melancholy title)  leading into "LET'S GET IT ON" (28A: Sexually charged title track from a hit 1973 album)—quite a 1-2 punch. If you've ever heard "ALONE AGAIN," you can see how you might need to chase it with "LET'S GET IT ON," just to get yourself up off the floor again. In fact, it might be too jarring, that segue—hard to get excited about getting it on when you're buried under an avalanche of grief. Seriously, "ALONE AGAIN" goes so hard at the end ... you think, "wow, this guy has lost a lot," and then in the last few lines he's like "oh also this happened" and you really just wanna call him and see if he's OK. That funky, sexy opening guitar lick on "LET'S GET IT ON" might be a little off-vibe following a song whose last verse literally ends with "I cried and cried all day." I can imagine trying to play "LET'S GET IT ON" for the "ALONE AGAIN" guy and having him look at you like, "Really?" What, TOO SOON? Anyway, great songs, both of them, just maybe not one after the other. In fact, might be worse the other way around. Would not put "ALONE AGAIN" on my sex playlist, if I had such a thing, which, officially, I absolutely do not.

The good corner today is very good. I'm talking of course about the NE corner—the one with the guy who OVERDID IT on the BAKED ZITI (oof, been there, though substitute (most recently) Thanksgiving dinner (and dessert) for the ziti). Beautiful to cross that answer pair with UNZIP, since that is definitely what you want to do to your pants (a little) after you overindulge at the dinner table. That corner also has a lovely GIFT BOX and my cat's name (IDA) (33A: Title princess in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera), so despite making three (3!) errors on my way into that corner—BUNK for BURY (22A: Lodge), IVORY for INLAY (9D: Nacre on a nice guitar, say), and MEANING for MEANDER (20A: Drift)—I still enjoyed myself more in that corner than anywhere else. 

[39D: Singer with the 2009 double-platinum album "Rated R"]

The evil twin of the ZITI corner was, well, less enjoyable, as evil things often are. Much clunkier, and filled with much more unpleasant things. As a frequent pedestrian, I hate E-SCOOTERS (29D: Chargeable conveyances). If you're not on the sidewalk, god bless you, but otherwise ... my experience is that people who use these are not the *most* conscientious of other people. My wife and I often narrate the Ways We Almost Died On Our Walks Today to each other, and the number one menace is cars, obvs, but after that it's anything with wheels on the sidewalk (besides mobility devices, which are more than welcome). You wanna enjoy your E-SCOOTERS, cool, but keep them the **** away from me. I am, as they say, walkin' here. Also unenjoyable: MS TEAMS, ugh, who looks at that and thinks "can't wait to debut this fresh new answer"? (it is, in fact, a debut, of course it's a debut—again, I tap the "Not All Debuts Are Good" sign!) (57A: Slack alternative, in brief). Also, as with that "billionaire philanthropist" clue on ELI the other day, I do not get why you'd *choose* to go with "tech entrepreneur" for your nice three-letter name when there are so many (so many) other options (53D: Tech entrepreneur Altman). The OpenAI / ChatGPT guy? Really? Pfft. SAM Altman on an E-SCOOTER looking at MS TEAMS on his phone—I'll take BAKED ZITI indigestion over that any day.

The fill gets a little rough in the connective tissue. AAACARD TANTE PONE OPELS. ESA COTAN ADELIE. Basically from the center radiating out to the SW, the grid gets unpleasant in multiple ways. The other, smaller corners (NW, SE) are fine, though wtf is an ORLOK? Sounds like a minor Tolkien creature, but apparently it's the count who is Nosferatu? The only count I know in that general arena of monsterness is Dracula. Gotta be a debut, right? [...Checks database...]. Sigh, yup. Allow me to retap the sign (see MS TEAMS discussion, above).

Some more points:

• 1A: Put a lid on it! (HAT RACK) — back-to-back days with a "!" clue at 1-Across, how odd. Here, "lid" is slang for "hat"—that made this clue very hard. If you got HAT RACK with no crosses, my extreme congratulations.
• 23A: What Han Solo never wants to be told (ODDS) — probably "*the* ODDS" in the quote, right? It's been a while, I forget. Let me look it up—ah, here it is. Kind of a deep cut, but since I saw this movie seven times in the summer of 1977 ... I'll allow it. For old time's sake.

• 37A: Contribute to a company, say (ACT) — a theater company. I had trouble with this because I misspelled LEACH in the cross, and so had it starting with an "E" ... :(
• 3D: Garden-variety poker? (THORN) — great clue. I was looking for some kind of garden implement or tool, like a hoe but ... pokier.
• 31D: Soeur de la mère (TANTE) — French for "aunt." This clue makes me laugh because when I say it in my head, it sounds like "sister of the sea" (soeur de la mer), which makes me think of a nun riding the waves, possibly on a dolphin. Or an ORCA (32D: What's black and white and wet all over?)
• 27D: Question that one is tricked into asking, in a classic gag ("UNDER WHERE?") — [taps the "Not All Debuts Are Good" sign for the third time]

On to Holiday Pet Pics now!

Snowy and Range are ... well, a pair, as their names imply. Because when you see pitch black cats, you think "snow," obviously. These two belong to constructor Adrian Johnson, and though there's nothing particularly "holiday" about this photo, there is a gourd of some sort there toward the bottom, so ... gourd = Thanksgiving = "holiday"-adjacent, close enough 

[Thanks, Adrian]

Next up we have a couple of handsome boys. First, Jessy the Jack Russell mix, who enjoys sleeping by the tree and being good

[Thanks, Kent]

And then Macron ... yes, Macron. I mean, he *is* incredibly telegenic, you have to admit. According to his owner, Jon, Jon's wife named him Macron because he "-is smart -is handsome -loves older women."

[Thanks, Jon]

Then there's sweet Benji, shown here demonstrating all the damn Christmas cheer a 19yo cat can muster. She is her owner's daily puzzle (and blog-reading) companion. Maybe you have a Benji of your own. You should be so lucky.

[Thanks, Andrea]

OK, that's it. I'll let Cinnamon here take us out. See you next time!

[Thanks, Janine]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]