Field of unknowns / SAT 10-4-25 / Vulcans, for one / Vittorio who directed "Bicycle Thieves" / Home of Banff National Park / Result of sleeping in , say / ___ Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker / They may stop the presses

Constructor: Ryan McCarty

Relative difficulty: Easy / Medium



THEME: None

Word of the Day: FARRO (37D: Grain with a nutty flavor) —

Farro (/ˈfæroʊ/ ^ⓘ) is a grain of any of three species of hulled wheat, namely einkorn, emmer, or spelt, sold dried and cooked in water until soft. It is used as a side dish and added to salads, soups and stews.

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Hey friends! It's Rafa here subbing for Rex. I hope you all enjoyed my Friday puzzle yesterday, but today I'm here to talk about the Saturday puzzle!

This kind of wide-open middle is pretty much Ryan McCarty's trademark. I find that these kinds of grid have a very specific solve flow. They always start slow for me. There aren't too many toeholds, particularly in the middle, since there is no short fill with familiar cluing to help anchor the solve. But, eventually, one of the long entries falls into place, then another, and it all comes together *so fast* and it's *so satisfying* ... since the middle is super interconnected, each answer gives lots of new letters in other answers in an insanely gratifying crossword snowball effect.

This is Banff National Park in ALBERTA

The price to pay, however, is that the NW and SE corners are pretty disconnected from the rest of the grid. I guess there's no crossword free lunch. They are meaty enough that they feel like a satisfying puzzle in themselves, but it can be frustrating to feel stuck getting into one of those corners after already having made the initial breakthrough in the center of the grid.

This is PATAGONIA (the place in South America, not the brand)

OK, let's talk about this specific puzzle. I really enjoyed it! Ryan really always brings his absolute A game. Nobody else is making this kind of puzzle like he is. Just look at the 7(!!!!)-stack in the middle: PATAGONIA, ALIEN RACE, GLADSTONE, BABY STEPS, RIDESHARE, GAG ORDERS, FIRST TEST. And all that crossing BIG SCENE, PLAYS DEAD, HE SAID SHE SAID, LATE START, CAR LOANS. It's just amazing. I'll nitpick by saying I'm not really sure if FIRST TEST is really a thing. Sure, those two words can absolutely go together, but it feels a little Green Painty. I'd also never heard of C STORES, but that's probably on me. Is that expression familiar to you? But I really cannot emphasize enough how impressive it is to have all these juicy long answers in the center with no gluey bits of short fill.

This is an ELAND

Maybe another nit is it didn't feel like there were too many satisfying tricky wordplay clues. With a grid like this, though, I tend to find that satisfaction comes more from chipping away at the giant gaping center than from the cluing. And too many oblique wordplay clues can make it too daunting to get any sort of foothold. Anyways .... tradeoffs, as always!

Alright, I hope you all are well! Somehow it's October already. (The older I get the more I find myself saying "wow time goes by so fast now!" and I don't think it's ever going to stop. Oh well!)

Bullets:

• 2D LORELEI [Legendary rock singer?] — I loved this clue, actually! Lorelei is a siren (of the kind that stands of a rock and lures sailors to their death by singing hypnotically)
• 31D RAREBIT ["Welsh" dish with melted cheese] — This was new to me but I looked it up and it looks kind of amazing. Melted cheese? Yeah, sign me up.
• 16A MRS MAISEL ["Marvelous" TV character played by Rachel Brosnahan] — This show has been on my to-watch list for ages! Is it worth getting into now? Is it not cool anymore? Let me know please!
• 12D YREKA [California town thought (incorrectly) to be named from a backward "bakery" sign] — Loved the Northern California representation! (The most accepted origin from the name is from the Shasta language)

Signed, Rafa

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