Online publication of Vox Media / TUE 8-12-25 / Lorde who wrote "Sister Outsider" / 1990s-'00s sitcom starring Brandy / Tres o cuatro / What the Beyoncé title "6 Inch" refers to / Edible Christmas ornament / People living abroad for tax reasons / Like this: ESMCLDRBA

Constructor: Erik Agard

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: TOUCANS (63A: Birds phonetically suggested by a feature of 17-, 27- and 51-Across) — the letter string "CAN" appears two times in each theme answer ("two 'can's" = TOUCANS)

Theme answers:

• CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE (17A: Pales in comparison)
• CANDY CANE (27A: Edible Christmas ornament)
• MEXICAN-AMERICAN (51A: Chicana, for example)

Word of the Day: THE CUT (18D: Online publication of Vox Media) —

The Cut is an online publication that, as part of New York magazine, covers a wide range of topics, such as work, money, sex and relationships, fashion, mental health, pop culture, politics, and parenting, with a specific lens for women. // In 2015, The Cut published a New York Magazine cover feature by Noreen Malone that included interviews with 35 women who had accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. The cover image and photo portfolio by Amanda Demme included portraits of all the women seated and an empty chair to symbolize those unable to come forward.

In 2018, The Cut published an essay by Moira Donegan in which she revealed herself as the creator of the "Shitty Media Men" list that contained rumors and allegations of sexual misconduct by men in the magazine world. Later that year, Lindsay Peoples's essay "Everywhere and Nowhere," about the challenges of being a Black voice in the fashion industry, came out, sending a "ripple of waves through the industry."

An excerpt from E. Jean Carroll's book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal ran in 2019 on The Cut and on the cover of New York's print magazine, in which she first shared her story of being sexually assaulted by then-President Donald Trump.

In 2022, The Cut ran a special package that highlighted resources for accessing an abortion nationwide following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The Cut is known for a number of columns, including Madame Clairevoyant's weekly horoscopes; as-told-tos in "Sex Diaries"; and the "How I Get It Done" series, highlighting the routines of influential women. The Cut has published widely read personal essays including Emily Gould on the "Lure of Divorce," Grazie Sophia Christie on "The Case for Marrying an Older Man," and Charlotte Cowles's "The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger".

• • •

This is just a beautifully crafted puzzle. A beautifully crafted easy puzzle. I love it because it shows that easy puzzles don't have to be boring. The theme is simple but cute, and kinda funny. Just three themers! (plus a short revealer). Back in the day, three themers was pretty normal, but some time in this century, a theme-answers arms race seemed to start where the standard went to four and often well north of that. This was enabled by the rise of constructing software, which allowed puzzle makers to more easily fill grids with a dense set of fixed answers (themers are always fixed in place first when you're building a theme puzzle). But more is not necessarily better (as you may be aware), and there's something to be said for a theme that leaves a little air, a little breathing room so that the rest of the grid can shine a bit. And today's grid does just that. First, it's clean as hell. Polished, vibrant, lovely. Plus it opts for mirror symmetry over the more customary rotational symmetry (a feature occasioned by the theme—how else to arrange this set of answers symmetrically?), and this gives us a grid with very deep corners in the SW and SE. Deep pockets! And it's here where the grid really goes to the next level—two banks of 9-letter answers, each of them 3 wide—so (if I may show off my math skills...) that's six 9-letters answers, all of them good to great, giving this puzzle a level of non-thematic pizzazz rarely seen in themed puzzles. Six 9s?! That don't compromise grid quality at all? In addition to a full theme!? Nuts. Bonkers. It won't feel bonkers, because it just plays like an easy early-week puzzle. The craftsmanship on this one isn't showy. But if you make puzzles yourself, you know how impressive the work is here. 

In addition to the six 9s, it's got five 7s (!), and even some of the shorter fill is original and interesting (THE CUT, BLIGHT, MOESHA). I just looked at the grid sitting here on my desk and said "man, this is just a good puzzle." Aspiring constructors should study this puzzle. It's not that there's no overfamiliar short stuff, it's that the repeaters (TSAR, UAE, DES, OLE) are doing work, holding together sections composed of much stronger stuff—they allow the shiny stuff to shine. Another thing that makes this puzzle remarkable is how much it foregrounds Black women. Again, there's nothing particularly showy with how Erik does this, but yeah, four Black women (more if you count the women in the clues —e.g. Beyoncé, Kerry Washington). And precisely no white men (unless maybe you want to count ARES (?) or the TSAR). Historically, the (in)visibility of people of color generally, and Black women specifically, has been an issue that many solvers have called attention to and that (fairly recently) some constructors have tried to address. This puzzle quietly gives Black women the kind of puzzle prominence that is absolutely routine for white people (men in particular). I say "quietly" because it does nothing to the overall solvability of this puzzle. MOESHA is a bit of a throwback (55A: 1990s-'00s sitcom starring Brandy), so if any proper noun gives trouble today (beyond THE CUT), it's probably that one, but the rest are right over the plate. AUDRE Lorde may not be as well known to solvers as ANITA HILL and HARRIET Tubman, but she's in the puzzle a lot (full name earlier this month), so if you don't know her, you should. Weird fact: LORDE first appeared in the NYTXW as the pop star of that name back in 2015. The first person to clue LORDE as the poet Audre LORDE was ... Melinda Gates!? (in a puzzle co-constructed with Joel Fagliano back in 2018). Bizarrely, AUDRE has appeared fewer times (2) than the full AUDRE LORDE (3). Sorry, I'm in the statistical weeds now. My point is, this puzzle centers Black women. That may not matter to you, but it's a deliberate move, and I think it's worth noticing. (11D: Lorde who wrote "Sister Outsider")

The only trouble I had with this one was THE CUT (I know of it, but the name didn't leap to mind) and ... I think that's it. I did write in CAIN before BRAN, which made me laugh (38D: Raisin ___). Nice when a mistake makes you laugh at yourself rather than gnash your teeth or say "d'oh!" or slam your head on the desk or whatever your reaction of choice to self-stupidity is. Again, this puzzle has very few lowlights, and the highlights are everywhere. I smiled at the clue on SCRAMBLED (30D: Like this: ESMCLDRBA), raised my eyebrows at the inventiveness of "ARE WE LIVE?" (31D: "Has our broadcast started?") and nodded appreciatively at the double-X of TAX EXILES (32D: People living abroad for financial reasons)—and that's just in the SW corner! That is one hell of a stack (still not sure what to call a "stack" that involves Downs rather than Acrosses). 


Bullets:

• 19D: Tres o cuatro (NUMERO) — me: "OK, so three and four is ... seven ... but ... that's SIETE! I don't ... wait, what does 'o' mean? ... oh ... right." "O" means "or," not "and," my bad.
• 40D: A dispiritingly large percentage of phone calls (SPAM) — I appreciate the commiserative tone of this clue. It's nice to have some acknowledgment of how badly polluted our lines of communication have become. We finally got rid of our landline because it was 90% garbage calls that we never answered. I don't get many SPAM calls on my cell, but email, texts ... it never ends.
• 50A: University in western Pennsylvania, familiarly (PITT) — in the near future, this answer will be clued as the (soon-to-be) Emmy-award-winning TV show, so keep your eye out for that.

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, REX Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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Lego piece in the shape of a person or animal / MON 8-11-25 / Small tower on a castle / Recipient of two Golden Globe Best Actress nominations for Netflix's "GLOW" / Independence Day banger / Apt anagram of NOTE / German cry of annoyance / Craftiest animal in the Garden of Eden / Channel with a call to order?

Constructor: Rebecca Goldstein

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (for a Monday, solved Downs-only)

THEME: CHEESE BOARD (64A: Cocktail party staple that may contain the ends of 17-, 25-, 38-, 42- and 55-Across) — just like the clue says: last words of all the themers might are all items you might find on a CHEESE BOARD: 

Theme answers:

• FIRECRACKER (17A: Independence Day banger)
• TRAFFIC JAM (25A: Rush hour snarl)
• MINIFIG (38A: Lego piece in the shape of a person or animal)
• "HI, HONEY" (42A: Warm greeting to a spouse or partner)
• ALISON BRIE (55A: Recipient of two Golden Globe Best Actress nominations for Netflix's "GLOW")

Word of the Day: ALISON BRIE (55A) —

Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress, writer, and producer.

Brie earned recognition for playing Trudy Campbell in the drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), and had her breakthrough starring as Annie Edison in the sitcom Community (2009–2015). She then voiced Diane Nguyen in the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman (2014–2020) and portrayed Ruth Wilder in the comedy drama series GLOW (2017–2019), receiving nominations at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for the latter.

In addition to her television work, Brie has featured in films such as Scream 4 (2011), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), The Lego Movie film series (2014–2019), Get Hard (2015), Sleeping with Other People (2015), How to Be Single (2016), The Post (2017), The Little Hours (2017), Promising Young Woman (2020), and Happiest Season (2020). She also wrote, produced, and starred in the films Horse Girl (2020), Spin Me Round (2022), and Somebody I Used to Know (2023). (wikipedia)

• • •

Whoa, that was a rush! As a Downs-only solving experience, that was about as thrilling as it gets. Things kept seeming impossible (so many longish Downs), and then bam, I'd get a crucial Down and then crack some kind of pattern recognition code and boop boop boop, a section would fill itself in. In the NW, in the SE, in the middle-to-NE section, this sort of "uh oh, I'm sunk" followed by "wait! I got it!" cycle kept occurring. And that's not even counting the total leap of faith I had to take on MINIFIG (which I fig-(!)-ured was an actual miniature fruit until I looked at the clue post-solve). I put in GARB, then took out GARB because what long word ends in '-FIG?', then finally had to leave it because everything else looked good. I also had to navigate (!!) ERIE and its FISH without being able to look at the clue for ERIE and having a complete non-clue for FISH (26D: See 31-Across)—eventually, I figured, sure, ERIE's a lake, it's got FISH in it ... why not? And sure enough, why not! When I carefully clacked in the last few letters in REHEARSE (once I realized the clue was asking for a verb, not a noun) (11D: Practice for opening night), I felt like I was defusing a bomb, only I was hoping for an explosion, not a dud (I wanted the "Congratulations" message to pop up, is what I'm saying). Clack ... clack ... clack ... boom. Success. What a ride. I solve Downs-only to make things more challenging on Mondays, but I rarely get an experience this white-knuckly, this borderline disastrous, with this many AHAS. The theme itself is pretty straightforward, a pretty standard variety, but the originality of at least three of the theme answers (MINIFIG, "HI, HONEY," ALISON BRIE), and the semi-harrowing quality of the Downs-only solve made me a fan. If you crashed and burned on your Downs-only solve, believe me, I understand. If you don't solve Downs-only, well that's cool too. You are normal! I assume that, like me, you mostly enjoyed the puzzle, even if you probably found it easier and slightly less exciting.

The clues were often, let's say, less than straightforward. I could only imagine GONDOLAS being propelled by poles (1D: Vessels that may be propelled with poles). "FOR NOW" implies (to me) that things will or are likely to change in the future, which isn't reflected in the more certain phrasing of 3D: "Unless something changes...". I read 14D: "Shucks!" as an embarrassed kind of "Gee!" (like "aw, shucks"), so the dejected exclamation "DRAT!" took some crosses to pick up. FETID is a reasonably ordinary word, but it still didn't leap to mind at 27D: Stinking to high heaven (I weirdly considered REEKY (!?)). On the other hand, I was able to drop FREE WIFI and NETI POTS with zero help from crosses. Same with "DEAR JOHN" and ITALIANS, so it wasn't all struggle. I think that's what made it more interesting—the whoosh of success followed by the feeling of peril and doom ... followed by more of the same. I only made one outright error during the solve, though—wrote in IMARET (!?!) instead of TURRET at 54D: Small tower on a castle. I feel like that's a mistake only an inveterate solver (who is not quite thinking straight) could make. Really made a muck of my SE for a bit. But when you end up with things like YOAE and BRMT as your Acrosses, it's pretty clear you've gone wrong somewhere, and in the SE, it was clear which of the Downs was mostly like the bad egg. So goodbye IMARET, hello (much more ordinary) TURRET. And, eventually, hello successful solve. [addendum: I actually made two errors during the solve—the other one (besides IMARET) was guessing CHEESE PLATE before CHEESE BOARD]

Helped to know who ALISON BRIE is, for sure. Much better that I never saw the clue for her, because I have never seen a single episode of GLOW and don't know anyone who has. I'm sure it's great, but few shows are less on my radar than that one. I have, however, seen ALISON BRIE in many other things: Mad Men, Bojack Horseman, and (most notably) Community, which is definitely where I first saw her (which means I must've started watching Mad Men late, because Mad Men predates Community by two years) (or else I just didn't notice her in Mad Men—her role there (as Pete's wife, Trudy) is much smaller than it is on Community). I was lucky to be able to slap down her full name as soon as I saw that the first part of that answer was likely gonna be ALISON. I imagine there will be many solvers who don't know her name, and who also have never heard of a MINIFIG, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if this puzzle played a little harder than usual for a Monday (if not all *that* hard in the end).


Bullet points:

• 20A: Apt anagram of NOTE (TONE) — think music (took a few seconds for the "apt"ness to kick in for me)
• 50A: ___ Way, block in Lower Manhattan where a popular cookie originated (OREO) — of all the ways to clue OREO, this ... is one of them. I actually don't mind it. Go nuts, as far as I'm concerned. We've seen OREO so many times that every new instance should be *required* to show us something new in the cluing.
• 72A: This is not working! (REST) — "!" signifies a very literal clue. Note the lack of quotation marks around the clue phrase, which means we're looking not for an equivalent of the phrase itself, but for an equivalent of "This." Not working = REST.
• 37A: Channel with a call to order? (HSN) — Home Shopping Network. The pun here feels a little clunky. Why would any channel, or anything that is not a meeting, have a "call to order"? The misdirect is awkward (obviously you "call" HSN to "order" things ... I'm just saying the surface-level meaning of the clue doesn't sound great to my ears)
• 23D: German cry of annoyance ("ACH!") — German "ACH!" (as in BACH), Scottish "OCH!"  (as in LOCH). OCH! There hasn't been an OCH! in the puzzle since 2015! That's quite an OCH dr-OCH-t! (hey, look, the "drought" pun works in Middle English, so ... there)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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Showy daisies / SUN 8-10-25 / First letter of "menorah," in Hebrew / Helpful site for a D.I.Y.'er / Smash to smithereens / Place with moving exhibits / Shakespearean potion ingredient / Basis for a write-off perhaps / Many a hangout in Boystown, Chicago / Bit of blue on a map of Scotland / Radiohead's first #1 album (2000)

Constructor: Adam Wagner and Chandi Deitmer

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: "Passing Glances" — an "EYE" rebus where one "EYE" square appears in each themer; every theme clue starts with an ellipsis, and the idea is that each one is supposed to start with the phrase "I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE" (63A: Children's game phrase that should start the italicized clues ... or a hint to eight squares in this puzzle) (so the clue describes the spied thing, and each spied thing contains an "EYE" rebus square, or a LITTLE "EYE"):

Theme answers:

• CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN (21A: ... something big and rocky with a Space Force base in it)
• 3D: Showy daisies (OXEYES)
• DONKEY EARS (29A: ... something pointy grown by Pinocchio)
• 13D: Iowan, by another name (HAWKEYE)
• ERLENMEYER FLASK (39A: ... something conical in a chemistry lab)
• 26D: Fast-food chain founded in New Orleans (POPEYE'S)
• JAPANESE YEN (46A: ... something round and metallic with kanji written on it)
• 48D: Hole for a shoelace (EYELET)
• SMILEY EMOJI (84A: ... something yellow and happy in a text message)
• 86D: Shakespearean potion ingredient (EYE OF NEWT)
• BREYER'S ICE CREAM (87A: ... something soft and melty in a black tub)
• 64D: Sleep, informally (SHUTEYE)
• HONEYEATER (96A: ... something feathery sipping on nectar)
• 99D: Scrutinize (EYEBALL)
• DOUBLE-YELLOW LINE (111A: ... something long and painted on a highway)
• 102D: "Ridiculous!" ("MY EYE!")

Word of the Day: HONEYEATER (96A) —

The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Guinea, and found also in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea. Bali, on the other side of the Wallace Line, has a single species.

In total, there are 186 species in 55 genera, roughly half of them native to Australia, many of the remainder occupying New Guinea. With their closest relatives, the Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens), Pardalotidae (pardalotes), and Acanthizidae (thornbills, Australian warblers, scrubwrens, etc.), they comprise the superfamily Meliphagoidea and originated early in the evolutionary history of the oscine passerine radiation. Although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world (such as the sunbirds and flowerpeckers), they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution. (wikipedia) 

[TUI (3) — not seen in the NYTXW since 2004 😞] 

The tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) is a medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze coloured with a distinctive white throat tuft (poi). It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only species in the genus Prosthemadera. It is one of the largest species in the diverse Australasian honeyeater family Meliphagidae, and one of two living species of that family found in New Zealand, the other being the New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura). The tūī has a wide distribution in the archipelago, ranging from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands, as well as the main islands. (wikipedia) (my emph.)

• • •

I liked the revealer. I liked that everything being "spied" had a "little 'EYE'" inside it, and I liked that the revealer also made sense of the strange ellipsis-starting clues. Once you know that the clues themselves are written in the style of someone actually playing the game "I Spy," they make a lot more sense. So conceptually, yes, sure, hurray, good job. The execution felt kinda wobbly to me, mostly because "EYE" isn't a particular common letter string to find embedded in a word or phrase, and so (unsurprisingly) some of these answers feel odd or forced or strange. CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN? Is that a place? I assume it is because you're telling me it is, but if CHEYENNE isn't followed by WYOMING (or AUTUMN, actually), then I don't know what it's doing. A Space Force base???? Well, points off for reminding me that Space Force actually exists and is not an ill-conceived and ultimately discarded idea from a scifi show that never made it out of its first season. 

Are there other YENs besides the JAPANESE YEN? I see that the currency is formally called that, but it still felt redundant. I have never heard of an ERLENMEYER FLASK (I'm just assuming that ERLENMEYER is one name, I don't know), but that's on me, I'm sure. Just ... out of my wheelhouse, completely. SMILEY EMOJI ... do I call it that? Happy face emoji ... smiley face emoji ... smile emoji ... I think these are more likely to come out of my mouth. I can't really dispute its real thingness, but over and over again, the answers were either "???" or just slightly off, to my ear. The one that landed best for me was HONEYEATER, first because, well, yay, birds! And second, the HONEYEATER "EYE" is doing what I wish every EYE did in a puzzle like this, i.e. break across two words (or word parts) with no additional words left hanging. DONKEY EARS and SMILEY EMOJI do this successfully as well. It always makes me a little sad when words like (today) MOUNTAIN, FLASK, ICE CREAM, and LINE are there but uninvolved in the actual wordplay. "EYE" just doesn't touch those words or have anything to do with them. It's the most elegant expression of the theme, to have every element in every theme answer "EYE"-involved. But thumbs-up for the concept, for sure, and for a generally well-filled grid overall.

Sadly, the theme was very (very very) easy to uncover. Here's how long it took me to uncover:

I know my five-letter crossword flowers, I do. See also OXLIPS (where's my LIP rebus!?—PURSED LIPS? Hmm, not sure PURSED conveys shrunkenness well enough. "MY LIPS ARE SEALED" (inside eight tiny boxes in this grid)?? ... I'm gonna have to work on this). [Showy daisies], starts with "O," that's OXEYES ... but it wouldn't fit ... so I made it fit! Then looked at the puzzle title ("Passing Glances") and knew I did the right thing. The hardest parts of this puzzle were the themers I didn't know, namely the MOUNTAIN part of CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN and basically the whole of ERLENMEYER FLASK (which ... it is one name, right? ERLENMEYER. Not ERLEN MEYER, like OSCAR MAYER ... [looking it up] ... yes! Named after EMIL (4) Erlenmeyer). But as for the theme, once you find the first "EYE," it's basically unvaried thereafter. Seven more "EYE"s, and you know they're coming, which gives you a leg up on all subsequent themers. Clues were toughish in places, but overall this was pretty average in terms of difficulty, maybe a bit on the easy side. Jet lag is still playing tricks on my mind and body, though, so I may just be tired. 

If you, like me, have never heard of ERLENMEYER FLASK, then I sure hope you understood the clue on ENS (39D: Several characters in nonfiction?). Otherwise, that first "E" in ERLENMEYER might've been a mystery (or you ended up with a mistake). There are "several" ENS (i.e. the letter "n") in the word "nonfiction," which is what that clue for ENS is getting at. "Letteral" clues like that (where the clue is pointing to a letter inside of itself rather than pointing to an answer in conventional fashion) often trip people up, so if that happened to you, you weren't alone, I guarantee it. Also, if you, like me, didn't know MEM (?) (6D: First letter of "menorah," in Hebrew) ... well, I'm less afraid there, as all the crosses seem solid—even if you didn't know MOUNTAIN, I think you can guess from the clue language ("big and rocky") that the answer was probably not gonna be the CHEYENNE FOUNTAIN (I might buy MEF as a Hebrew letter, but CHEYENNE FOUNTAIN—unlikely).

And the rest!:

• 1A: Helpful site for a D.I.Y.'er (EHOW) — still haven't visited this site, ever. Only ever seen it in xwords. "Getting rid of the human editors who formerly identified and approved content to be produced increased profits for the company by a factor of 20–25 times" (wikipedia). So ... probably not going to be visiting it any time soon, then.
• 72A: Alfred E. ___, mascot of Mad magazine (NEUMAN) — still misspelling this name, despite knowing the mascot in question since I was like 6. NEWMAN v. NEUMAN ... I had a girlfriend in college with the last name NEUMAN, you'd think I could manage the distinction, but no. I think my brain's logic must be something like, "well, I obviously liked my girlfriend, and I don't really fancy this Alfred E. guy, so his name must be the other spelling." And yet no.
• 87A: ... something soft and melty in a black tub (BREYER'S ICE CREAM) — forgot to ask: why is the ice cream "soft and melty"??? Is it because we're playing "I Spy" in the back of a hot car after a trip to the supermarket? Because otherwise I don't get it. "Cold and creamy" would make sense. "Soft and melty" is a product failure.
• 12D: Wedge placed next to a wheel to prevent it from moving (CHOCK) — had no idea this had a name. I wanted SHIM (not long enough).
• 31D: ___ idéal (BEAU) — realizing just now that I know the phrase but not (really) what it means: "A mental conception or image of any object, moral or physical, in its perfect typical form, free from all the deformities, defects, and blemishes accompanying its actual existence; a model of excellence in the mind or fancy; ideal excellence" (wordnik). Just sounds like an "ideal" to me, but OK.
• 45D: Newswoman Phillips (KYRA) — no idea, but then I watch TV news exactly zero minutes per year, so ... not surprising.
• 61D: Smash to smithereens (ATOMIZE) — wanted this (the letters fit) but this word doesn't make me think of smashing. It makes me think of ... misting? Doesn't an ATOMIZEr spray mist? Or perfume or whatever? Yes, it "converts a substance [...] to a fine spray" (wordnik). But I guess if you smash something into tiny particles, that is also a form of atomizing.

• 76D: Can you believe it? (-ISM) — I cannot. As in, I cannot believe this non-word continues to get foisted on me year after year. Any belief system is, technically, an -ISM. And if you didn't know, well now you know.
• 90A: Place with moving exhibits (ZOO) — because the animals ... move around? In their cages? Huh. That must be it. Still, weird phrasing.
• 23A: "So weird..." ("HOW ODD...") — don't love the "HOW" dupe (see 1A: EHOW). Also don't love the "YELLOW" dupe (in the clue for SMILEY EMOJI ("something yellow...") as well as in the answer DOUBLE YELLOW LINE)
• 86D: Shakespearean potion ingredient (EYE OF NEWT) — best answer in the grid, I think. Best of the "EYE" crosses, for sure.

That's all for me today. Belated thanks to all the writers who filled in for me while I was away in Santa Barbara, which is basically a perfect place. Sunny and 70s every day, extensive running and bicycle lanes along the oceanfront, at least two really fine cocktail bars ... oh &^$%!!!!!! I was supposed to get in touch with one of you (my gentle readers) about getting a cocktail, and I said I would, and then I got swept up in family stuff and didn't. Dammit! I'm sure the person in question would've been lovely, and ... well, a free drink is a free drink. Ugh. OK, off to write an apology email, I guess. Annnnyway, Santa Barbara has it all. Including, sadly, fires, as well as a cost of living that is likely a bit beyond me. But I will be back, for sure. Here are some photos:

[me stalking the elusive Great Blue Heron (note: not actually elusive)]

[snowy egrets, having a heated discussion]

[these cacti were actually at the Huntington Museum, near Pasadena]

[the view from my balcony]

[it just looks like this ... every night ...]

[base of the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, the "largest ficus macrophylla in the U.S."] 

[every plant looks like it's out of a scifi movie]

[absorbing the local culture]

[my stepbrother rented a giant van to drive the whole family around in, then invented a fake company and had tshirts, hats, and other merch made, including this magnet to put on the side of the van. 100% commitment to the bit!]

[my Old Fashioned at The Good Lion]

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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Purple-hatted Nintendo character / SAT 8-9-25 / Little Italian toasts / Villainous group of science fiction / Series of mental blocks? / "The Ultimate Trivia Destination," per its website / People whose flag depicts the Lion of Judah / Actress Lombard of classic Hollywood

Constructor: Aidan Deshong and Akshay Seetharam

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: WALUIGI (13A: Purple-hatted Nintendo character) —

Waluigi [...] is a character in the Mario franchise. He plays the role of Luigi's arch-rival and accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main Mario series, often for the sake of causing mischief. He was created by Camelot employee Fumihide Aoki and was voiced from 2000 to 2022 by Charles Martinet, who described Waluigi as someone with a lot of self-pity. Waluigi's design is characterised by his tall stature, thin and lanky frame, and his purple and black outfit with a purple hat, which displays an inverted yellow "L".

He was designed as Wario's tennis partner and sidekick, debuting in the 2000 Nintendo 64 game Mario Tennis. He has featured in over 50 video games, appearing in at least one game every year since his debut until 2022. He is a playable character in Mario sports games, most Mario Party games, and also in the Mario Kart series. He has also made cameo appearances in other video games, such as the Super Smash Bros. series.

Since his debut, Waluigi has received a polarised reception from the media, often being accused of having few defining characteristics and minimal backstory. He has attained a cult following, especially helped through his use as an Internet meme. Although he has never appeared in his own video game or any mainline Mario game, critics have described him as one of Nintendo's mascots and a cult hero.

• • •

I remain jetlagged from my CA vacation, which means I'm wide awake at 10pm when the puzzle comes out, so ... may as well do the puzzle! Look at me, solving at night, just like I did before I officially became an old man—eating my dinner at 6pm (which allegedly Gen Z is also doing?), heading to bed by 9pm (which I'm fairly certain Gen Z is not doing), and then waking at 4am (which no one but me and professional bakers are doing) so I can solve and write. Weird to be up late writing. My cats are confused. I actually had to bounce Ida from my desk chair (which is apparently where she sleeps at night). I think most of my readers still solve on the morning of, but the hard-core puzzlers and night owls (as well as west-coasters) often jump on the puzzle right when it comes out (10PM Eastern). I solve better (i.e. faster) at night, but I write more easily in the morning ... which maybe is beginning to show. Annnnyway, the puzzle! Bit of a shrug, really. The marquee stuff just doesn't sing, and there's not that much original stuff to begin with. "JUST BECAUSE" and EASTER CANDY are both original, and they're good answers, but not good enough to build a whole damn puzzle around, and the rest of it has been done before and/or leans toward ho-hum. IPHONECASES and SANDCASTLES are technically debuts, but only as plurals, and slapping an "S" on the end of something doesn't really deserve originality credit. I think the one thing that is apt to delight some segment of the solving population is WALUIGI, who makes his debut today. I don't give a damn about the characters of the Marioverse, but some people really love them, so ... there he is! I guess he gets memed a lot? If that's your idea of entertaining, awesome. I'm more a CAROLE Lombard guy, myself. 

Both the "W" in WALUIGI / "AW, C'MON!" and the "B" in BEHAR / BETTE seem like potential sticking points, though "AH, C'MON" seems unlikely and Joy BEHAR is pretty dang famous, even if Balzac's Cousin BETTE isn't, particularly. JAMAIS VU gave me some trouble, initially. It also gave me a case of déjà vu, and sure enough, I've seen it in the puzzle before. It literally means "never seen," and I don't really understand the phenomenon at all. Sounds like a dementia symptom, honestly (31D: Phenomenon of experiencing something as strangely new even though one has experienced it before), though I guess the hallmark of JAMAIS VU is that the person feeling it knows that they've experienced whatever they're experiencing before. It just feels eerily, unaccountably new. In the end, WALUIGI was the only answer that held me up for any length of time. Cousin BETTE, Carole LOMBARD, Herman HESSE and Joy BEHAR are all old friends. I'll always be grateful to Joy BEHAR for being the only reason my name has ever graced the pages of US Weekly (see no. 4 on this list of "25 Things You Didn't Know About Me"). Today is her 17th NYTXW appearance. One more and she can vote (for what, I don't know).

[Florence Pugh sneaks a very dubious "Martini" demo into this CROSTINI demo]

What else?:

• 25A: Windjammer, e.g. (SHIP) — I had SAIL. Then I had SHOE. 
• 32A: Rabbit food? (EASTER CANDY) — the EASTER Rabbit (aka "Bunny") brings CANDY (which is, technically, "food") to good children, just like in the bible.
• 33D: Series of mental blocks? (TETRIS) — how are the blocks "mental?" I got this answer very easily, but ... I guess the idea is that you have to use your "mental" powers to arrange the blocks strategically.
• 49A: "The Ultimate Trivia Destination," per its website (SPORCLE) — are SPORCLE quizzes still a big deal? Seems like they had a moment and then I stopped hearing about them. Big overlap between crossword and trivia enthusiasts. I am not part of that overlap. I'll do a SPORCLE quiz if it's put in front of me, but I'm not "enthusiastic" about it. I just identified 20/20 "Popular People in 1987," though it did involve an absolute guess in putting the names with the faces of the last two. Never heard of Nelson Piquet or Ruud Gullit. Ruud!? RUUD?! Where has that name been all my life? If he were truly famous, you'd think he'd've made an appearance or two in the NYTXW by now.

[OK so he's widely considered one of the greatest football players of all time. Pardon my ignorance. You can put him in the puzzle now. I'm ready]

• 5D: Villainous group of science fiction (SITH) — first thought: BORG ("Resistance is futile"). Second thought: AXIS (that's a "villainous group" of non-fiction). KAOS? That's spy fiction. Eventually SITH just sort of filled itself in.
• 11D: #1 on BBC's list of greatest 21st-century TV series (THE WIRE) — the "BBC" part really threw me. Is it the Baltimore Broadcasting Corporation now?
• 42D: American in Paris? (YANK) — since it's an English word, I think of it being more of an American in London or American in Sydney situation. But then those aren't movie titles, are they? No funny misdirection there. 

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================
✏️ Upcoming Crossword Tournaments ✏️

• Lollapuzzoola 18 (NYC) (Sat., Aug. 9, 2025) (TODAY!)
• Midwest Crossword Tournament (Chicago) (Sat., Oct. 4, 2025)

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)

Read more...