Rolling source of entertainment / FRI 1-10-25 / Counterpart to Britain's MI6 / Making weaker, in gamer jargon / Nile superlative / Text with 114 suwar, in a classic spelling / Natural rug fibers / Grand Marnier ingredient avec un cognac / Hypothetical starting point? / poet (description of Robert Burns) / Court seat

Constructor: Robert Logan

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium to Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: SISALS (16D: Natural rug fibers) —

Sisal (/ˈsaɪsəl/, Spanish: [siˈsal]; Agave sisalana) is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The sisal fibre is traditionally used for rope and twine, and has many other uses, including paper, cloth, footwear, hats, bags, carpets, geotextiles, and dartboards. It is also used as fibre reinforcements for composite fibreglass, rubber, and concrete products. It can also be fermented and distilled to make mezcal.

Sisal has an uncertain native origin, but is thought to have originated in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Sisal plants have a lifespan of 7–10 years, producing 200–250 usable leaves containing fibers used in various applications. Sisal is a tropical and subtropical plant, thriving in temperatures above 25 °C (77 °F) and sunshine.

• • •

***ATTENTION: READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** : It's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. Writing this blog is a joy, but it is also a job—an everyday, up-by-4am job. My morning schedule is regular as hell. So regular that my cats know my routine and will start walking all over me if I even *stir* after 3am. You ever lie there in the early morning, dying to simply roll over or stretch, but knowing that the second you do, the second you so much as budge, the cats will take it as a signal that you're through with sleep and ready to serve them? So you just lie perfectly still, trying to get every ounce of bedrest you can before the cats ruin it all? That's me, every morning. I guess you could say they "help" get me up on time to write, but come on, I have an alarm for that. The cats are adorable, but frankly they're no help at all. After I feed them, I go upstairs to write, and what do they do? They go straight back to sleep. Here I'll show you. This was two days ago, when I came downstairs after writing:

And this was yesterday, same time:

Those pictures are from two different days, I swear. And I'm guessing when I go downstairs this morning, I'll find much the same thing. They are beautiful creatures, but they cannot solve or type or bring me warm beverages. When it comes to blogging, I'm on my own. And look, I'm not asking for pity. The truth is, I love my life (and my cats), but the truth *also* is that writing this blog involves a lot of work. I get up and I solve and I write, hoping each day to give you all some idea of what that experience was like for me, as well as some insight into the puzzle's finer (or less fine) qualities—the intricacies of its design, the trickiness of its clues, etc. The real value of the blog, though, is that it offers a sort of commiseration. While I like to think my writing is (at its best) entertaining, I know that sometimes all people need is someone who shares their joy or feels their pain. If you hate a clue, or get stuck and struggle, or otherwise want to throw the puzzle across the room, you know I'm here for you, and that even if my experience is not identical to yours, I Understand! I understand that even though "it's just a puzzle," it's also a friend and a constant companion and a ritual and sometimes a Betrayer! I don't give you objective commentary—I give you my sincere (if occasionally hyperbolic) feelings about the puzzle, what it felt like to solve it. I can dress those feelings up in analytical clothes, sure, but still, ultimately, I'm just one human being out here feeling my puzzle feelings. And hopefully that makes you feel something too—ideally, something good, but hey I'm not picky. Whatever keeps you coming back! Hate-readers are readers too!

Whatever kind of reader you are, you're a reader, and I would appreciate your support. This blog has covered the NYTXW every day, without fail, for over eighteen (18!?) years, and except for two days a month (when my regular stand-ins Mali and Clare write for me), and an occasional vacation or sick day (when I hire substitutes to write for me), it's me who's doing the writing. Over the years, I have received all kinds of advice about "monetizing" the blog, invitations to turn it into a subscription-type deal à la Substack or Patreon. And maybe I'd make more money that way, I don't know, but that sort of thing has never felt right for me. And honestly, does anyone really need yet another subscription to manage? As I've said in years past, I like being out here on Main, on this super old-school blogging platform, just giving it away for free and relying on conscientious addicts like yourselves to pay me what you think the blog's worth. It's just nicer that way. 

How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are three options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar on the homepage):

Second, a mailing address (checks can be made out to "Michael Sharp" or "Rex Parker"):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All Venmo contributions will get a little heart emoji, at a minimum :) All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I. Love. Snail Mail. I love seeing your gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my awful handwriting. It's all so wonderful. My daughter (Ella Egan) has once again designed my annual thank-you card, and once again the card features (wait for it) cats! 

Ida & Alfie, my little yin/yang sleepers! (They're slowly becoming friends, but don't tell them that—it makes them mad and they will deny it). Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD." Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership. Please know that your support means a lot to me and my family. Now on to today's puzzle... 

• • •

A mostly smooth effort, with a couple of hard bumps along the way. Toughest part was just getting started, as is (fairly) typical with late-week puzzles. I found 1A: Ducked (out) oddly tough. Wanted the last two letters to be -ED but then also wanted CIA at 4D: Counterpart to Britain's MI6 and so committed to neither. Wondered if it was not CIA but OSS (a precursor to the CIA). Bah. Had to move on, and I moved on right into SAUCY for 1D: Salacious (SPICY). So close! 60% close! The "Y" was correct, but all that "Y" did was tempt me into thinking that 22A: "No doubt in my mind" started "YOU..." ("YOU'RE RIGHT"??). I feel almost guilty that my first real anchor in the puzzle was SISALS because it's such a weak crosswordy answer and the only reason I even know what it means is because I've seen it in crosswords so often (16D: Natural rug fibers). Maybe I knew "sisal" outside of crosswords, I dunno ... over decades, with certain words you see a lot in grids, it's hard to remember exactly how you learned the word. Did crosswords teach me ORCA? No. OREO? No. ESAU? ... honestly, maybe (not a big bible reader as a kid). Anyway, back to the SISALS—from there, it was STROLL and LULL and then, because I had guessed CNN correctly at 18A: "This is ___", I could see that 3D: Opens, as a onesie was UNSNAPS (probably didn't need any crosses there, but they helped). The NW filled itself in from there. SPICY not SAUCY; SNUCK out; the very tough NOONE'S (2D: Unclaimed). Also, my first long answer: "YEAH, I'M SURE," which was also my first real grimace. I dunno. Just doesn't seem like a coherent standalone phrase. Or maybe the clue didn't nail the tone. Not sure. Just know I didn't like it. I did, however, like the next long answer I got: 

Now that is a tight standalone expression, even in the past tense. I also liked SPITBALL (as clued) and a bunch of other colloquial terms and expressions I'd encounter along the way: KINDA SORTA, "WHO KNEW?," "LET'S SAY ..." I also liked "HIT ME UP," but for some reason that feels very different, tonally, from the clue expression: 23D: "Feel free to reach out". The latter is some bland, anodyne, pseudo-comforting offer of assistance that the speaker probably doesn't really mean, whereas the latter is an ultracasual offhand expression you'd say when leaving your friends, or perhaps someone you just met who you hope will end up being a HOT DATE. The two expressions feel like they're from completely different contexts. One banal and anodyne and kinda formal, the other superchill and highly informal. My ear just didn't like this clue. Though admittedly the best equivalencies for "HIT ME UP" have "me" in them (["Text me!"]) and so are unusable in this context. 

Double-eyerolled in the SE, as I hit one long answer I'd already seen recently (BENDY STRAW) and then a variation on a second answer I'd already seen very recently (Jan. 5!) (NERFING) (34D: Making weaker, in gamer jargon). Both answers are trying to be whimsical and/or current, but the effect of that is blunted when I Just Saw These Answers. No more "nerfing" for at least three months, come on. And BENDY STRAW, you're banned for like a year. Too long and ostentatious an answer to be appearing more than once every few years. It only just debuted in December and now we're repeating it already? Nah. No. Desist. Also desist with this L'ORANGE garbage—a perfect example of a Debut Nobody Wanted (DNW). The inclusion of the article ("L'") is just awkward, and necessitates awkward cluing (the addition of the article "un" in "un cognac," the clunkily hybrid English/French phrasing). The only acceptable clue for L'ORANGE is [Duck à ___]. That's a thing. A thing I've heard of. A thing I've eaten (and enjoyed). This clue is ungainly, and the answer wasn't good to begin with, so let's ban L'ORANGE forever. All in favor? Motion carries. Case dismissed. Yahtzee!

Bullet points:

• 15A: GarageBand and iMovie, e.g. (IOSAPPS) — it's a fine answer, but it looks so ugly in the grid, and it's so blandly corporate ... I dunno. I sighed dispiritedly as I filled it in.
• 21A: It might change your perspective (LSD) — Look, I've never taken LSD before, so I'm hardly an expert, but ... "might"? Does it often just not work?
• 29A: M.L.B. team that was the first to trade a player for himself (Harry Chiti in 1962) (METS) — how is this possible? Basically you trade a dude for a "player to be named later," and then the traded dude eventually becomes that named player. I'll let wikipedia explain:

On April 25, 1962—before he played a game for the Indians—Chiti was acquired by the expansion New York Mets for a player to be named later. However, he was sent back to the Indians on June 15, 1962, after 15 games and a .195 batting average. Chiti was the "player to be named later"; he became the first MLB player to be traded for himself. Three other players have been traded for themselves: Dickie Noles, Brad Gulden, and John McDonald.

• 51A: Growing pain? (ANGST) — because when you are ... growing? (i.e. an adolescent?) ... you (might?) experience the "pain" of ANGST? This is like the ouroboros of clues, in that ... it's a "?,"  wordplay-type clue, but ... isn't this exactly what the term "growing pains" refers to. Like ... you've played on the term "growing pains" but your wordplay led you right back to a version of what the clue means on the surface: pains you experience as a result of growing (up). Unless literal growing pains are the physical pains you (allegedly) experience when you grow very quickly, around puberty, and I'm thinking of the term metaphorically because my brain has been poisoned by an '80s sitcom (wouldn't be the first time)

• 10D: Hypothetical starting point? ("LET'S SAY...") — now that's a good clue. A properly tough late-week clue, one that yielded an "Aha, good one" and not a "[shrug], I guess."
• 33D: Court seat (BANC) — it's French for "bench." Hey, that rhymes. Apparently BANC is the term for the judge's seat. Even in America. You used to see it in the puzzle a lot in the olden days (up to 6x year), but the Shortz Era brought BANC incidents down to a mere one or two a year, on average. So now, when it appears, it's less likely to be familiar to people.
• 31D: ___ poet (description of Robert Burns) (PEASANT) — really wanted something exceedingly Scottish here ("BONNIE?"), but even though I've never heard him described this way, it wasn't hard to get.
• 47D: Start to work?: Abbr. (MON.) — Because Monday is the "start" of the "work" week, typically.

This week I'm highlighting the best puzzles of 2024 by focusing on one day at a time. I kept a spreadsheet of every puzzle I solved last year, complete with ratings from 0-100 (with 50 being my idea of an "average" NYTXW) (They really did average out to around 50, with Saturday being my fav day (avg 57.7), and Sunday (obviously) being my least fav (avg 42.9). 

Here are my Top Three Friday Puzzles of 2024. (I'm not ranking them; it's nicer that way)

• Alice Liang and Christina Iverson (Friday, 6/7/24) — SOAPBOX PREACHER, "... IN A GOOD WAY," SATANISM, "OH HELL NO!" "I DID INDEED!"
• Henry Josephson (Friday, 12/20/24) — MARIJUANA LEAVES, ANSWERED TO NO ONE, "I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU," REMAIN ANONYMOUS
• Jackson Matz (Friday, 3/8/24) – "CARE TO ELABORATE?," "I COULD EAT A HORSE," SELF-DRIVING CARS, WHOOPEE CUSHION

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]