What sfouf is, in Lebanese cuisine / SAT 11-29-25 / Axolotl lookalikes / Nickelodeon series whose episode titles all start with the same letter as the show itself / One of 32 in the country of Kiribati / Musical production that might include grunts, groans, thwops, snorts and barks / The number 4 and the gift of a clock, in Chinese culture / Biblical figure said to have fathered Kenan at age 90

Constructor: Adrian Johnson

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: Goblin sharks (23D: Prominent features of goblin sharks = NOSES) —

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned animal has a distinctive profile with an elongated, flat snout, and highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth. It typically reaches a length of 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) when fully grown, although it can grow significantly larger—such as one specimen captured in 2000, which was believed to measure around 6 meters (20 feet). Goblin sharks are benthopelagic creatures that inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts throughout the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft), with adults found deeper than juveniles. Some researchers believed that these sharks could also dive to depths of up to 1,300 m (4,270 ft), for short periods; footage captured in 2024 suggests that their range could be deeper than previously thought, with a confirmed sighting of an adult swimming at 2,000 m (6,560 ft).

[how is this a shark? this looks like a hand puppet prop from some Alien knockoff]

Various anatomical features of the goblin shark, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in nature. This species hunts for teleost fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans near the sea floor and in the middle of the water column. Its long snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. Small numbers of goblin sharks are unintentionally caught by deepwater fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern, despite its rarity, citing its wide distribution and low incidence of capture. (wikipedia)

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It's so much easier to appreciate a puzzle's finer points when I'm not drowning in gunk. The SW corner gets a little namey there, which might cause some consternation, but otherwise this thing felt smooth as hell and polished within an inch of its life. The eastern half of this grid in particular felt beautifully built, from the TIME MACHINE at the bottom to the BAD OMENS at the top—no cringe, and only a tiny handful of answers I'd even blink at for a second—ESTEE, IDES, ROCHE, none of it apt to make me holler. When your less-than-ideal entries are a. rare and b. holding together good-to-great marquee fill, well then you're doing your job as a constructor. My experience with this puzzle fell into two distinct part—the properly hard part, where I had to work for every inch of progress (NW, SW), where the grid seemed clean and solid, but not particularly inspired; and then the much easier but also much more colorful second half (SE, NE), where the fill really started to pop. I'd put the transition moment right about ... here:

WHALE SONG and SPIDEY SENSE were like "let's go!" and off I went. Big noise ("WHAT A RACKET!"), big adventure (TIME MACHINE! Take it back (in time)!). I vaulted up from there via FAIR GAME and FADERS to the final quadrant, where I hit a little snag—briefly forgot DOLMA (24A: Dish of stuffed grape leaves) and considered DOSHA (a concept from ayurveda), and then also thought the [Know-it-all who might have a ball?] (SEER) was a SAGE, which put the "G" in exactly the right place to make 13D: The number 4 and the gift of a clock, in Chinese culture look like BAD SIGNS (as opposed to the correct BAD OMENS). But luckily I knew enough to pull DOSHA and hold off on SAGE. I must've then remembered DOLMA and then all the long Downs up there fell into place, 1, 2, 3, and that was that. Didn't even see the short Acrosses up there.

All the real difficulty today came early. Looked like I was going to start with a whoosh buuuuuuut despite the fact that I had TRAVEL and RETINA and APOLOG(Y?) all lined up, the following words weren't entirely clear to me. I must've committed to GUIDE, which seemed most likely to work in that space, and then, miracle of miracles, I was able to get a gosh darn Nickelodeon show answer on my first guess (9D: Nickelodeon series whose episode titles all start with the same letter as the show itself). "What shows star with "I"!?!? Well, there was iCARLY, but that can't ... wait, ha ha ha yes it can!" My daughter must've been the right age for her (and thus me?) to know about this show, though I don't think she watched the show herself. Stunned at my good fortune, I went forth ... and immediately fell in a mistake pit. 

Off the "Y" from iCARLY I wrote in PUNNY for 25A: Groan-worthy, say, as a joke, because of course I did, puns are groaners, so groan-worthy jokes are PUNNY, gah and bah! I mean, CORNY is not wrong, but still, bah. And working my way out of PUNNY was no cakewalk because I absolutely could not see CAKE (25D: What sfouf is, in Lebanese cuisine). I had that answer starting with a "P" from PUNNY, and yes I wrote in PITA of course I wrote in PITA. Four letters, Lebanese, starts with "P," cuisine-related, you're damned right I wrote in PITA. I think the only thing that busted me out of that horrible knot of mistakes was the goblin shark, who kept persistently nudging me with his nose, like "come on, you know it's NOSES, write in NOSES and see what happens!" I should add that I wasn''t sure GLYCERIN wasn't something like GLYCEROL (which, it turns out, is also a thing), so I was holding back that "-IN" ... oh, and I had NEIL as NEAL (23A: Drummer Peart). Annnnnyway, PUNNY out, NOSES and GLYCERIN in, then STASIS and TONGUE (eventually corrected to TONSIL) (28D: Neighbor of the uvula), and I finally got through. Still took me forever to see CAKE, though. Went through CALF and CAFE before ever hitting on CAKE.

Bullets:

• 20A: Preferred piece of commercial real estate (CORNER LOT) — my initial reaction was "who'd want to live on a CORNER LOT? Too much exposure, too much traffic" but then I belatedly noticed the word "commercial" in the clue and the answer suddenly made a lot more sense.
• 37A: 1988 Best Country Song Grammy winner for "Hold Me" (OSLIN) — as in K.T. OSLIN, '80s country's gift to crosswords. Her name's particular five-letter combination has proven ... durable.

• 44A: Musical production that might include grunts, groans, thwops, snorts and barks (WHALESONG) — a fantastic clue. I had WHALE in place and had the briefest moment of "what kind of 'musical production' starts WH-" and then I got it. Not a human musical production at all. Side note: THWOPs in the puzzle when!? If it's a real word / sound, why has it never been in the grid (in singular or plural form)? I am ready for a puzzle that groans snorts and THWOPs (although don't go too far down the THWOP rabbit hole or you'll end up at "pornographic manga" and no I'm not kidding)
• 43D: The "E" of the New York Stock Exchange's "EL" (ESTEE) — the "L" is for "Lobster." Yes, she's best known for cosmetics, but people always forget about her lobstering empire. 
• 3D: One of 32 in the country of Kiribati (ATOLL) — because ISLE wouldn't fit.
• 8D: About half of all these are made in Philadelphia, for short (U.S. COINS) — the one answer today that made me wonder "is that a real phrase?" But it is. Or various numismatic websites seem to think so anyway.
• 21D: Play list? (ROSTER) — the "list" of those who will "play" in the game.
• 27D: High-level intelligence assets? (SPY PLANES) — "High-level" because, well, they're planes. Me, a genius: "Aha, 'high-level'! I get it! It must be ... SKY PLANES!" (yes, I actually did this, no, I will not be taking any questions)
• 38D: Axolotl lookalikes (NEWTS) — I love when the clue writer thinks about how the clue sounds. Say this clue fast three times and try not to be delighted.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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