Titular TV role for Sandra Oh / SAT 12-14-24 / Arabic for "greater" / Soft drink since 1905 / Post-run celebrations / Grp. whose first letter is now outdated / Doja Cat's given first name, for which her debut album is named / Fashion aesthetic with flower crowns and rustic dresses / Midwest city named in an attempt to attract German settlers / Lead character in "Stranger Things"? / A Swiftie might have a favorite one / Indoor-grown marijuana, in slang

Constructor: Owen Bergstein

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: United States v. Windsor (32A: Subject of United States v. Windsor (2013)) —

United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, a same-sex couple residing in New York, had their marriage recognized by the state of New York in 2008; Spyer died in 2009, leaving her entire estate to Windsor. Windsor sought to claim the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses, but was barred from doing so by Section 3 of DOMA. Seeking a refund, Windsor sued the federal government in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. [...] District Judge Barbara S. Jones ruled that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional, and her ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The Supreme Court granted certiorari in December 2012 and handed down its judgment on June 26, 2013. In the majority opinion, which was joined by four other justices, Justice Anthony Kennedy declared Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional "as a deprivation of the liberty of the person protected by the Fifth Amendment". He further wrote: "The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity." Four justices filed dissenting opinions, including Justice Antonin Scalia, who argued that the Court had "no power under the Constitution to invalidate this democratically adopted legislation". [...]

Two years later, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, ruling that marriage is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. (wikipedia)

• • •

This one was trying real, Real hard to be current, contemporary, now, "original," and sometimes it works, but LOL I'm supposed to know Doja Cat's real name?? Isn't it enough that I know Doja Cat at all? AMALA is never going to be good fill no matter how you clue it, no matter who it's attached to (7D: Doja Cat's given first name, for which her debut album is named). As with yesterday, I feel like all I'm doing these days is tapping the sign ("Not All Debuts Are Good") (actually, technically not a debut—though a modern debut, for sure; AMALA last appeared in the grid 60 years ago, clued as [Law court official, in India]). The pop culture runs very up-to-date, with (yet another) ERAs Tour reference, and a Killing EVE reference (22A: Titular TV role for Sandra Oh), and a BTS reference, and a Stranger Things reference (though that was a "letteral" clue, so knowledge about the show itself was not required). Two electric car references. Marijuana slang. And then COTTAGECORE, a real 2010s social media phenomenon (33A: Fashion aesthetic with flower crowns and rustic dresses). Anyway, sometimes you get a puzzle for the kids (for me, anyone under 40), and that's OK. Didn't thrill me, but it was very doable for a Saturday, even a little on the easy side. Most of the longer answers are lovely, or at least marquee-worthy, with only EZ PASS TAGS hitting my ears with a clank (I got EZ PASS fine, but when LANES didn't fit, I just shrugged and waited for crosses) (6D: They really take a toll nowadays). I know the TAGS are real things, but meh, not a great answer imho (esp. as clued, with the "really" doing absolutely nothing and "take a toll" being forced phrasing for what the tags actually do). I get that you find stray DRYER SHEETs in the laundry room sometimes, but "leftover" doesn't make much sense to me (51A: Laundry room leftover). That implies that you had too many, which ... why? Left behind? Maybe. But "leftover" I don't get. Anyway, there was a slightly desperate vibe to this one's bid for now-ness, and certain clues meant to be "trick" felt strained. But overall it felt pretty solid. Nothing too eye-rollingly bad. EXCUSEZ-MOI was a nice, fun, sassy opening long answer (13A: Cutesy expression borrowed from French), and there were lots of other things to love along the way.

The toughest thing for me today, besides that "L" in AMALA, was parsing some of the longer answers. In addition to the EZPASS--- problem, I had real trouble piecing together "IT'S SERIOUS" (at least from the first two letters), and NON-GMO CROP—not many (any?) answers start with NONG (48A: What might come up organically). When your answer starts NONG, that's when you start thinking "aw jeez, what do I have wrong here?" Even after I got NON-GMO, I wasn't immediately certain what word was supposed to follow. Parsing BISMARCK, ND was no picnic either, not least because I don't think of North Dakota as the "midwest" (24D: Midwest city named in an attempt to attract German settlers). If you're not touching a Great Lake, I have trouble taking your alleged "midwesternness" seriously. Parsing BISMARCKND was also tough because of the totally arbitrary state abbr. at the end. Awful business, that state abbr. affixation. Imagine seeing PIERRESD in your puzzle? Who wants that? FRESNOCA? smh. Come on.

I also had a ton of trouble with CAST PARTIES, not because I didn't understand the clue (30A: Post-run celebrations)—I had the CAST part and so was thinking of "run" as in "run of the show" quite early—but because I had ERE instead of PRE at 31D: Before. This is another example of the cluing trying too hard. This one is actually cheap. PRE is a prefix meaning before, not a standalone word meaning "before," and since clue and answer are supposed to *match* (see, for instance, all 387 PRE clues before this one), PRE never occurred to me. And PRE obviously shares two letters with ERE (a crossword staple), so ... well, boo. That clue knew what it was doing, but broke the "prefix-indication" rules to do it. Saturday is for toughness, but not violating your pact with the solver that your clues will follow certain well-established rules. Boo, I say.

I had a weird trip through this grid, solving the NW easily enough but then (because of the EZ PASS thing) not being able to plunge down into the center with any ease. EZ PASS to DIS to DAYTONA was promising, but then ... pfft. Stuck. Except ... the single "Y" from DAYTONA made me think "huh, is United States v. Windsor something GAY? Like GAY MARRIAGE? But Obergefell is GAY MARRIAGE ... well, just try the GAY part and see." And GAY got me GOSSIPER (!) and boom, down I go and down goes the SW corner, lickety-split.

From here, I felt like I had a good grip on the grid. Trouble still awaited me, but the tide had definitely turned to my advantage. All thanks to GAY! GAY => liberation (from stuckness).

More things:

• 20A: Like the biggest stars (A-LIST) — crossing AMALA, this one was weirdly hard. I was thinking of how stars (in the sky) are classified by letters (O B A F G K M) and actually entertained A-TIER here for a bit.
• 24A: Grp. whose first letter is now outdated (BSA) — Boy Scouts of America: admitting girls since 2017.
• 43A: Arabic for "greater" (AKBAR) — no hope at this one until the "K" from BISMARCK slid in there. The only AKBAR I really know is Jeff's partner in Matt Groening's "Life In Hell" strip.

["failed attempts to draw Charlie Brown," LOL]

• 1D: A little bit of everything? (SESAME) — a SESAME seed is a "little bit" of an "everything" bagel.

• 3D: Soft drink since 1905 (RC COLA) — this was almost a reflex answer. OREOs have been around since 1912, just for future reference. Crosswords really teach you things (about early 20c snack brands).
• 47D: Lead character in "Stranger Things"? (ESS) — as I said earlier, a "letteral" clue (i.e. points to a letter in the clue itself—here, the "S" in "Stranger"; see also 42A: Something taken from waiters to get waters? (AN "I").

That's all. Now, more Holiday Pet Pics (this feature is bizarrely popular—my Inbox!)

This is Oxy. I'm just gonna assume her owners went to Occidental. Anyway, here's Oxy looking both patriotic and Christmasy.

[Thanks, "D"]

Here's Bella. Sleeping. I'm told she's "dreaming of Christmas." I guess that's supposed to make the photo a "Holiday" photo. You people are stretching the meaning of "Holiday"! But I can't turn away Bella. Or any dog. Honestly, if you sent me a random picture of a squirrel, I'd be like "Christmas buddy!" and put it on the blog.

[Thanks, Martha]

This is Edward, because if ever a dog gave "Edward," it's this sweet proper gruff-faced baby. He's a CAIRN Terrier mix (a proper crossword breed). I want to scritch him and give him treats. I want him for my very own. I have dognapping tendencies (i.e. I enjoy napping with dogs)

[Thanks, Jonathan]

Look at this floppy tube of dog meat named Peanut! This ... this is how you do Christmas.

[Thanks, John & Jennifer]

Lastly today we have Penny, who, I'm told, is "actually having a good time." Weird claim to make, David. Suspicious, even. Why would you say that, David? Don't blink at all if you're OK, Penny! .... phew, she's fine. Merry Christmas, Penny (my cat has that bed—small creatures Love that bed)

[Thanks, David]

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]