Messing around on set? / MON 2-17-25 / Ingredient in tempera or tempura / Fluffy Chinese bread roll / Fast-food chain that serves Louisiana chicken / Rhetorical device used to tug at your heartstrings / masala (spicy Indian chickpea dish) / Memento-filled craft project / 1981 hit by Queen and David Bowie

Constructor: Kate Hawkins and Erica Hsiung Wojcik

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (for a Monday—solved Downs-only)

THEME: "YEAH, RIGHT" (60A: "Uh-huh, I bet" ... or a literal description of what 17-, 24-, 36-and 50-Across all have) — words meaning "yeah" all appear (in circled squares) on the "right" side (i.e., at the end) of four theme answers:

Theme answers:

• SCRAPBOOK (17A: Memento-filled craft project)
• POPEYE'S (24A: Fast-food chain that serves Louisiana chicken)
• "UNDER PRESSURE" (36A: 1981 hit by Queen and David Bowie)
  
• "GIDDY-UP!" (50A: Child's urging to a horse)

Word of the Day: CHANA masala (16A: ___ masala (spicy Indian chickpea dish)) —

Chana masala (also chole masala, or chole) is a chickpea curry originating in the Indian subcontinent. It is a staple dish in North Indian cuisine. It is often eaten with a deep-fried bread called bhatura. // Along with chickpeas, the ingredients of chana masala typically include onion, chopped tomatoes, ghee, cumin, turmeric, coriander powder, garlic, chillies, ginger, amchoor or lemon juice, and garam masala. // To prepare chana masala, raw chickpeas are soaked overnight in water. They are then drained, rinsed, and cooked with onions, tomatoes, and spices.

• • •

On the easier side, as Downs-only Monday solves go. The NW corner went down without much of a struggle—in fact, without any struggle. I didn't get POUNCE at first glance, but everything else went right in, and POUNCE ended up going in easily once I got some of its crosses. From there I just sort of spilled down the west side of the grid, with only a few moments of hesitation or uncertainty—specifically, at EGG (40D: Ingredient in tempera or tempura) and DANCE (51D: Swing at a ball?). Do people do "Swing" dancing at "balls"? I did not know that. Maybe "swing" is just a figurative term for dancing, and not the specific kind of dancing called "swing dancing." I was definitely imagining a swing hanging from the ceiling over the dance floor for some reason, though I had no idea what you would call such a thing (likely because it's not a thing that actually exists). Eventually got DANCE from the crosses I was able to infer, though I had to remind myself that IDINA was a real thing (person), because at first glance I was like "well that's wrong." From there, I just hopped over to the SE corner and here's where things got good. That is, I ran a bunch of Downs through the first part of the revealer (YEAH), realized the full answer was "YEAH, RIGHT," and literally, out loud, without breaking stride, said "ha, that's good" out loud. If a revealer can make me do that, it's a winner. A very imaginative, highly original, ++Monday theme. 

Finished things up in the NE, where the last answer I got was also the hardest—namely, SHALE (9D: Layered rock). I had the "S" and "E" and nothing else, and I just couldn't think of the word. I started to doubt ACCEPT (8D: Opposite of refuse). Then, when I thought of SHALE, I didn't write it in because, like IDINA before it, CHALA just looked wrong. It screamed "nope, mistake, back up!" But then, also like IDINA, it turned out to be something I had in fact heard of before. Without the adjacent "masala," I just didn't recognize it. So SHALE went in and that was that.

There's a lot to like here, in addition to the revealer, despite the fact that there's also a lot of overly common short stuff (LIU GLO UGLI UAE TAI TSA REBA ORES etc.). There's just nothing really bad or cringe about any of that short stuff, and it wasn't relentless, so I didn't notice it as much as I noticed the theme answers and some of the other more colorful fill. Loved THE WORKS, for instance. And ARCHIE (as clued). NOODLING and RESOLUTE and CANDY BAR aren't exactly sparkling, but like much of the rest of the grid, they're absolutely solid and serviceable. The theme works, the revealer pops, the fill is sturdy ... the puzzle's got everything I expect (but don't always get) in a Monday puzzle. I would rather never see SNOT or SNOTS in any grid ever again, but that's just a matter of personal taste. And it's just one answer. Any complaints I have today are pretty insignificant. I just love this weird and clever theme too much to gripe (at length).

Bullets:

• 48D: Rhetorical device used to tug at your heartstrings (PATHOS) — I never thought of it as a "rhetorical device" but I guess, sure, it is. "Rhetorical device" threw me for a bit, as I was looking for something ... I dunno, more technical. But I don't even know what I mean by that. Auxesis. Asyndeton. Something like that (note: I don't really know what those are, I just looked them up, but that is what I meant by "technical"—something only a real rhetoric nerd is gonna know ... unlike PATHOS, which is a pretty ordinary word).
• 31A: Fluffy Chinese bread roll (BAO) — mmmm, this and the CHANA masala are making me hungry, despite my being still quite full from dinner (it's 8:22pm on Sunday night as I write this). I just looked at the menu for my local (fave) Chinese restaurant, and they don't seem to have BAO at all. Going on a BAO quest this week. Will report back.
• 4D: Messing around on set? (DEBRA) — DEBRA Messing is an actress, most famous for the TV show Will & Grace. Big fan of this clue. Nice Monday-level misdirect.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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