Hang with the boys, slangily / TUE 1-21-25 / Playground pathogen / Body personified by the Greek Titan Selene / Sit non-ergonomically / Marine photographer's aid

Constructor: Dan Caprera

Relative difficulty: Medium, maybe a little north of Medium

THEME: SCAVENGER HUNT (37A: Popular camp activity ... or, literally, what the circles are creating four times in this puzzle) — the circled squares in each theme answer spell out a type of "scavenger"

Theme answers:

• CORNER DRUGSTORE (17A: Convenient source of tinctures and tonics)
• LUIS FONSI (29A: Singer of "Despacito," which has more than eight billion views on YouTube)
• CARD TABLE (49A: Item with hinged legs)
• "OH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA..." (61A: "That's not even the half of it...")

Word of the Day: Selene (66A: Body personified by the Greek Titan Selene = MOON) —

In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (/sɪˈliːniː/; Ancient Greek: Σελήνη pronounced [selɛ̌ːnɛː] seh-LEH-neh, meaning "Moon") is the goddess and personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as moon and lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself.

Her equivalent in Roman religion and mythology is the goddess Luna. (wikipedia)

• • •

Non-consecutive circled squares, spelling things. There are probably less appealing theme types, but not many. There are a few problems here. First, the revealer is SCAVENGER HUNT, but ... there's no "HUNT." I don't have to "hunt" for anything. The circled squares tell me where the scavenger is. It's the opposite of a hunt. It's a found. "Found it, it's right here, in these circled squares." Second, only two of these "scavengers" really scream "scavenger!" CONDOR and HYENA, sure. CRAB, I guess. I mean, yes, OK, but that's not my first crab thought, or even my third or twelfth (please don't demand to see eleven other crab thoughts). The least "scavenger" of these, though, in my mind, is the LION. I've watched "Wild Kingdom," I know that LIONs hunt. And then the HYENAs come along and try to get a piece. The fact that LIONs *will* scavenge doesn't really put them in the same category as animals like the HYENA and CONDOR who are primarily scavengers. So, it's called SCAVENGER HUNT, but only half the animals seem like full-fledged scavengers ... and there's no hunt. Non-consecutive circled squares always seem like a low thematic bar. The letters "L" "I" "O" "N" must appear (in order) in tons of answers. LUIS FONSI? Sure. Also LITTLE ONES and FLIP PHONE and VIDALIA ONION and so on ad infinitum. Does not feel special at all to have found "L" "I" "O" "N" in any answer. The only themer here that feels like "ooh, nice find," is "OH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA." The "OH" feels a little tacked on, but it gets you the "H," and thus gets you a five-word answer, with one "HYENA" letter in each word. There's something special about that. There's nothing special about any of the rest of it.

The real nadir of this puzzle, and maybe all puzzles, is BRODOWN (36D: Hang with the boys, slangily). Just garbage. The bro- (bruh brah bruv) -ification of the puzzle is slightly out of hand, as are all these goofy slang terms that (some?) guys seem to need to describe merely hanging out together. I had to endure BRODATES just last Monday, and now you're trying to tell me there are actual human beings who use the term "BRODOWN." Make it stop. It's idiotic. Not All Debuts Are Good—once again I am tapping the sign. Sadly, BRODOWN is by far the most "interesting" (i.e. attention-getting) thing in the grid, outside the themers. What else is there? Two (2?!) Spice Girls clues? ADZ OVA MAO NCO CERA RVER ENE EWE ASP and other sundry bits of crosswordese?  A single COOTIE? (11D: Playground pathogen). Hard to find stuff to like today. OMELETTEs. I like OMELETTEs. Wish there were a lot more going on this grid than there is.

I had more than a few hiccups today. EAT UP and SCARF before SNARF at 1A: Gobble. Failure to know my MELs at 15A: Name of Sporty Spice in the Spice Girls (MEL C) as well as failure to remember the Spice Girls song "2 BECOME 1" (46D: "2 ___ 1" (Spice Girls song)). ANYWAY before ANYHOO. SONAR before SCUBA (33D: Marine photographer's aid). Obviously no idea about the post-BRO part of BRODOWN (which I have been reading as a noun this whole time (like a "hoedown") but is actually a verb phrase, which is somehow worse). Add to that the fact that while I know "Despacito," I could not remember who sang it. He's been in the grid before, but just twice—once in LUIS form and once as FONSI. If LUIS FONSI had been in the clue and the answer had been "Despacito," I'd've been in great shape. But that's not what happened.

Bullets:

• 55A: Word after phone or, modernly, Zoom (SEX) — Zoom became so depressing as a facsimile of human interaction during peak COVID that I can't imagine wanting to use it for that purpose, but no judgment. If "webinar" is your kink, that's none of my business.
• 66A: Body personified by the Greek Titan Selene (MOON) — "Body" really threw me. Wanted something like "ocean." Definitely some body of water.
• 19D: Sit non-ergonomically (SLOUCH) — this clue feels like an accusation (I have to remind myself roughly 500 times per write-up to sit *up*).

Have a non-SLOUCHy day. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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