Shopgirl in a Paris boutique / SUN 5-11-25 / Young salmon / Twice-distilled Turkish beverage / Reality TV star Hadid / 1999 Maeve Binchy novel / 1957 Isaac Asimov novel, with "The" / Beers from Bremen, informally / Something sown, per an idiom / Greek goddess depicted holding torches and snakes / Candy brand with a crown in its logo / Cornmeal dish at a trattoria / Embody something proudly / Spinal cord membranes / Setting for Jacques-Louis David's painting "The Death of Marat"

Constructor: Brendan Emmett Quigley

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Power Grid" — no theme, as far as I can tell

Word of the Day: MIDINETTE (38D: Shopgirl in a Paris boutique) —

noun

plural midinettes

1. a young Parisian saleswoman or seamstress. // 1905–10; < French, blend of midi noon and dînette light meal ( dinner, -ette ); hence, one who has time for only a light meal at noon, with play on -ette as a feminine personal suffix, as in grisette grisette (dictionary.com)

• • •

[92D: Setting for Jacques-Louis
David's painting "The Death of Marat"]

I never have much to say about themeless Sundays, other than I don't particularly care for them. I don't love or hate them. They're just there. Big grid, lots of words. Shrug. The canvas is too big for a themeless to have much of a personality. Too big to seem like much of an accomplishment. Forgettable, mostly. There's lots of original stuff here—some of it so original that I've never heard of it. Total mysteries to me included MIDINETTE, RAKI (22D: Twice-distilled Turkish beverage), SMOLT (86A: Young salmon), some "Reality TV star" (?) named YOLANDA (looks like Real Housewives of BH, not sure why you don't just say that) (70D: Reality TV star Hadid), something called the (non-India) ARIE Theater (84D: ___ Crown Theater (downtown Chicago landmark)), and not one but two novels: NAKED SUN (??) (28A: 1957 Isaac Asimov novel, with "The") and TARA ROAD (????) (83A: 1999 Maeve Binchy novel). The latter rings a very faint bell, but only because I once edited an encyclopedia of popular fiction that Maeve Binchy was in, and I could not name a single novel she wrote (barely knew who she was), so I imagine I did a smattering of research and TARA ROAD probably came up as one of her more popular titles (it's listed as one of the "notable works" on her wikipedia page). As for NAKED SUN, I'm quite sure today is the first I'm hearing of it. Not the first I'm hearing of Asimov, obviously, but that novel, nope. Looks like it's the second in his "Robot series." Bizarre coincidence that those two novel titles are in symmetrical positions. At least I think it's a coincidence. If there's any literary similarity or resonance there, well, obviously I'm the last person who could tell you. So I had no real wavelength vibe with this one. Except for NED BEATTY. I love NED BEATTY. Best thing in the puzzle. From Superman to Nashville to Network, that guy didn't miss. Mikey & Nicky! Hopscotch! He really knew how to pick 'em. A+ for NED BEATTY. No real strong opinions about the rest of it.

I guess the central phrase, "SOMEONE IS GETTING FIRED," is supposed to be funny or evoke ... something, but it doesn't mean a lot to me. I guess I can hear someone saying it. There are a bunch of other longer answers in the grid, but a Sunday-sized grid has a way of making answers that seem long in a regular-sized grid seem not that long, and so the standout fill doesn't, ya know, stand out that much. Most of it seems solid enough, just not that thrilling. MIDINETTE has the virtue of originality. But then that's offset by the rank ugliness of PIA MATERS, plural. Something odd about that answer in the plural. Seems like it should be something else. Pias mater? Pias matres? Do people even speak of pia mater in the plural? Ever? Another question: who has ever said "Head cheese" to mean MISTER BIG? Head honcho, yes. Big cheese, sure. Head cheese? I know it's supposed to make you think of the jellied meatloaf stuff I've never actually tried, but on a purely idiomatic level, "head cheese?" Who says that?

Looks like my wife wiped out on the TARA ROAD / ARIE crossing. I doubt she'll be the only one. If TARA ROAD / ARIE is a Natick, that would be fitting, since it was a Brendan Emmett Quigley puzzle that led me to coin the term "Natick" ... 17 years ago!

OK, what else?

Additional notes:

• 43A: Beers from Bremen, informally (ST. PAULIS) — this is St. Pauli Girl, right? I haven't had one or thought of one in years. As with PIA MATERS, not sure I've ever seen it in the plural, informally or otherwise. 

• 33A: Package drop-off sites: Abbr. (POS) — that's "post offices." Another plural I've never seen. I have seen "POS" before ... just ... not with this meaning.
• 50A: Fish that passes the 'Mirror test' of self-recognition (MANTA RAY) — You'd think there'd be other fish that could do this too, but cursory searching reveals that so far it's just the MANTA RAY and something called the "Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse."

• 54A: "I've Been Everywhere" singer in the Country Music Hall of Fame (HANK SNOW) — well I know the song. The dude's name, not so well. I've definitely heard it, but needed nearly all the crosses to get it. Snow may have been everywhere, but I haven't. For instance, I've never been to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

• 95A: Joy on TV (BEHAR) — she's a crossword solver. At one point in her life, she read this blog. Just in case she's still reading: Hi, Joy.
• 2D: Home of the Italian soccer club Juventus (TORINO) — two soccer clues today, I knew neither. I guess MARTA rings a faint bell (the only kinds of bells that seem to be ringing today) (82D: One-named Brazilian soccer star who is a six-time FIFA World Player of the Year), but as with so many other names, I relied heavily on crosses.
• 14D: Greek goddess depicted holding torches and snakes (HECATE) — apparently she is associated with crossroads, which makes her a fitting grid goddess.
• 64D: Actor Pascal of "Gladiator II" (PEDRO) — Me: "Ooh, I know him!" Also me: [writes in PABLO]

• 71D: Something sown, per an idiom (WILD OAT) — no one sows just one WILD OAT. I collect old paperbacks and I distinctly remember one by MacKinlay Kantor called One WILD OAT. I remember it because I remember thinking: "that's silly, no one sows just one WILD OAT." My friend Kathy and I would periodically make fun of the book by singing "One WILD OAT" to the tune of Phil Collins's "One More Night." So now the singular phrase WILD OAT really has no hope with me. Also, I have Phil Collins in my head.

[I wrote about this book here]

• 86D: Candy brand with a crown in its logo (SKOR) — SKOR is really overrepresented as a candy bar. Do people even eat these? Can't believe I have to get OREO-deep in brand lore now—the SKOR logo? I have no idea. Let's see ... oh yeah, there it is, right in the "O"—you really gotta want to see it:

That's all, see you next time. Happy Mother's Day to all who celebrate. Oh, and specifically, Happy Mother's Day to loyal reader Pat Maldi, who has recently started doing the puzzle with her daughter. You know a family has a crossword problem passion when they Put My Blog Up On The Big Screen To Discuss It Together (???!):

Anyway, these days Pat and her daughter do the crossword regularly over Zoom, and somehow I found out about it. Anyway, I hope you have a great Mother's Day, Pat. Say hi to Natasha for me ;)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. hey, today's constructor, Brendan Emmett Quigley (a veteran, a pro, a gamesmith of renown), has a new free daily word game that runs at the Boston Globe, called Align. Here's BEQ to explain: "Elevator pitch is that it's like a clueless Mini, but presented as a jigsaw. Certain letters are locked, you use those to put it back together. It's called Align, and you can do it here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/games/align/ ." So go on, give it a try!

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]