Kinkajou cousin / THU 4-23-26 / Experience deep affirmation, in modern lingo / Media exec Sarandos / Lack of pulchritude / Follower of open or closed, sartorially / Owie kissers, perhaps

Constructor: Zhou Zhang and Kevin Curry

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: HAND-ME-DOWN (11D: Something that's kept in the family ... or a hint to making sense of three pairs of answers in this puzzle) — in three columns, "ME" is literally passed down from the upper answer to the lower answer, so the upper answer is missing a "ME" and the lower answer has an extra "ME" (both answers still look like plausible words or phrases)

Theme answers:

• CENT / BEEF LOMEIN ("cement" and "beef loin") (3D: *Material for a sidewalk / 28D: *Choice cut)
• "SO WHAT?" / COME UPON ("somewhat" and "coupon") (6D: *To a degree / 37D: *Supermarket shopper's clipping)
• HOLINESS / POMELO ("homeliness" and "polo") (9D: *Lack of pulchritude / 44D: *Sport that uses mallets)

Word of the Day: "Immaculate Reception" (42A: What the "Music City Miracle" and the "Immaculate Reception" took place in => NFL GAMES) —

The Immaculate Reception is one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It was a touchdown which occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game of the National Football League (NFL), between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972.

With his team trailing 7–6, on fourth down with 22 seconds left in the game, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass targeting Steelers running back John Fuqua. The ball may have bounced off the helmet of Raiders safety Jack Tatum, although many observers believe that Tatum never contacted the pass. Steelers fullback Franco Harris caught it just before it hit the ground and ran for a game-winning touchdown. The play has been a source of much controversy and speculation ever since, with many contending that the ball touched only Fuqua (and did not in any way touch Tatum) or that it hit the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have resulted in an incomplete pass by the rules of the time. Kevin Cook's The Last Headbangers cites the play as the beginning of a bitter rivalry between the Steelers and the Raiders that fueled a historically brutal Raiders team during the NFL's most controversially physical era.

NFL Films has chosen the Immaculate Reception as the greatest play of all time, as well as the most controversial. The play was also selected as the Greatest Play in NFL History in the NFL Network's 100 series. The play proved to be a turning point for the Steelers, reversing four decades of futility with their first playoff win ever; they went on to win four Super Bowls by the end of the 1970s. (wikipedia)

• • •

This was enjoyable. It took me through many stages of revelation—the first "oh!" came when I realized there were missing "ME"s up top. "Aha, a missing 'ME' puzzle. I wonder why they're missing?" Later, I couldn't figure out why adding "ME" to BEEF LOMEIN was getting me nowhere, when suddenly I realized, "Wait ... this answer has an added 'ME'—I wonder why the 'ME's are missing in the top half of the puzzle but added below?" And then finally (truly finally—with the last letters I put into the grid), I got the rationale with the perfectly descriptive revealer, HAND-ME-DOWN. I don't think I'd noticed to that point that the "ME" shenanigans was contained to just three columns—my brain was still processing things in terms of top half / bottom half. So the revealer did its job (made sense of the wackiness in a punny way) and got me that final (of 3) ahas in a real exclamation-point kind of way. Always nice when the puzzle sticks the landing. I have only one minor complaint about the theme execution—I don't like that there's a stray, unhanded-down "ME" there at the top of the grid, in MESS (13D: State of a playroom, often). All the other Down "ME"s in the grid (except the one in the revealer) get handed down, but that "ME" is just sitting up there, tenaciously, thumbing its nose at the theme. "Haha, ya missed me, turkeys! I'm clinging to the ceiling of this grid and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!" If you change PALE to HALO, you've still got a lovely grid and bye bye extra "ME"! I am well aware that the theme is supposed to apply *only* in the case of the three relevant columns (with asterisked clues), but I like an immaculate execution, where the theme stuff stays contained entirely in the theme stuff. No strays! But, as I say, this is a minor issue. By its own stated rules, the theme works quite well.

The fill is far less interesting, but I appreciated how (relatively) clean it was. Sure, there are a bunch of overcommon short answers, but hardly any of those are what I'd call truly grating. No ugly abbrevs. today, no hoary old names from crossword grids of yore. The short stuff stays relatively innocuous, which is what I like short stuff to do. And then you get a few longer answers in there that liven things up a bit. FEEL SEEN is great (29A: Experience deep affirmation, in modern lingo), and WINDOW SILL, PRIDE MONTH, BEST MAN, "IN OR OUT?," and "IF I MUST" are all really good. So if I gotta endure an EENIE here and an ATON there and a pair of crossing crosswordese brands in the NW corner (AVEENO, AVIA), so be it. It's fine. Small price to pay for an otherwise well-crafted puzzle. 

Outside the inevitable theme confusion, the puzzle was pretty dang easy. They could've toughened this one up a bit, I wouldn't have minded. I'm looking over my grid and not seeing any places where I got particularly bogged down or even slightly delayed. All my problems came (predictably) very early, in that NW corner, where I wrote in NAIF instead of FAWN to start with (1D: Babe in the woods), and then tripped all over the missing-"ME" answers for a bit (two of them in that corner alone!). I had a little trouble remembering what a kinkajou was, so I briefly considered that its cousin might be a KOALA, and not a COATI. Now there's a crossword animal: COATI! I think of it as a South American raccoon. They're basically little fox-bear-cat-rats:

You can find them next to the OKAPI in the Crossword Zoo. Anyway, besides my brief flirtation with KOALA, I don't think I had any non-thematic missteps today. Basic basic, all around. Are there any interesting clues to talk about? Let's see ...

Bullets:

• 4D: Media exec Sarandos (TED) — no one wants to see a "media exec" in their puzzle, come on. Choose a better TED! (this one is co-CEO of Netflix)

• 17A: Spot for a catnap? (WINDOWSILL) — this "?" wasn't "?"-y enough. When you live with cats who nap in WINDOWSILLs every chance they get, well, this clue just doesn't have the misdirection force that it seems to want.

[OK he's not actually *in* the sill, but ... close]

• 36A: Follower of open or closed, sartorially (TOED) — I cannot honestly say that I like the answer TOED, but I do like this clue, a lot. It's elegant. I think I just enjoy the word "sartorially." This clue is well-dressed—classy—and I appreciate it.
• 41A: Queen's collaborator on the 1981 hit "Under Pressure" (BOWIE) — I would've said BOWIE's collaborator was Freddy Mercury, but of course it's his whole band. This music video was a staple of early MTV, which means I've watched it countless times. A great song.

• 9D: *Lack of pulchritude (HO[me]LINESS) — Came at this from underneath and despite knowing at that point that "ME"s were both disappearing from and squeezing into the answers for asterisked clues, I disregarded thematics entirely and wrote in UGLINESS with emphatic certainty. Lack of pulchritude is UGLINESS! It fit the clue so well! Perfectly, in fact! I love that "pulchritude" means beauty, since it is one of the ugliest words I've ever seen. It sounds like something you suffer from, not something you want. "What happened to Mary? I never see her any more." "Oh, she's sick. Doctors say it's pulchritude." "Oh no!" "Yeah, she never goes outside now, it's awful."
• 32D: Company that famously used the Beatles' "Revolution" in a 1987 TV commercial (NIKE) — at first I was like "Apple...?" but then I remembered. 1987 was the year I graduated high school / started college, and that commercial was, indeed, famous. First time a Beatles song was used in an advertisement. 

[God bless George Harrison and his doomed struggle against using Beatles songs to sell "brassieres and pork pies" LOL]

That's all for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Like some Scots / WED 4-22-26 / German river to the North Sea / Villain in the Bible's Christmas story / "Strega ___" (1975 children's book) / God served by the ravens Huginn and Muninn / Annual show with astronaut-shaped trophies, for short / Former N.B.A. champion Jeremy / Condition that might involve stimming, for short

Constructor: Hoang-Kim Vu

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: REDUCE / REUSE / RECYCLE (11D: With 31- and 43-Down, an environmentalist motto ... as suggested elsewhere in different ways in this puzzle) — some are "reduced" (with shorter synonyms found inside those answers in circled squares), some answers involve "reused" letters (with the second half (shaded squares) reusing the letters from the first half),  and one answer (CAN) is recycled (i.e. used four times) [apparently the CANs are actually the REUSEd bits and the shaded squares are RECYCLEd—this could’ve been clearer (more on this below)]

Theme answers:

• ENCOURAGED (17A: Spurred on) ("urged")
• DAUBS (36A: Applies, as facial cream) ("dabs")
• INSTRUCTOR (60A: One offering lessons) ("tutor")

• SHEESH (21A: "Good grief!")
• PULL-UP (28A: Exercise for the arms and back)
• REAPPEAR (31A: Emerge once more)
• TEAMMATE (44A: You might pass to one)

• CAN (35A: Ax)
• CAN (37A: Paint container)
• CAN (59D: John)
• CAN (42D: Is able to)

Word of the Day: LOUCHE (26A: Rakish) —

: not reputable or decent // Louche ultimately comes from the Latin word luscus, meaning "blind in one eye" or "having poor sight." This Latin term gave rise to the French louche, meaning "squinting" or "cross-eyed." The French gave their term a figurative sense as well, taking that squinty look to mean "shady" or "devious." English speakers didn't see the need for the sight-impaired uses when they borrowed the term in the 19th century, but they kept the figurative one. The word is still quite visible today and is used to describe both people and things of questionable repute. (merriam-webster.com)

• • •

An easy, dull puzzle with repeated CANs. That's the upshot. I went back and looked at the shaded squares, and the circled squares, and saw all the architectural business that was going on, but none of that was important to the solve. All the REDUCE and RECYCLE stuff would be invisible were it not for the shaded and circled squares, so all it gets from me is a post-solve "huh" [shrug]. The Actual Solve (which is the thing that so many Architectural Marvels™ seem to disregard) involved filling in a weak and lackluster grid with no distinguishing characteristics. Imagine a boring and easy themeless puzzle with a boatload of crosswordese and two extra CANs—that's what this felt like. We get to go to Initialism Hell over and over with ADHD RSVP VSOP UPC NSC EDU VMAS. We get a bevy of overfamiliar crossword names in AGEE ELISHA ARMANI UTA ELBE ET AL (I'd add GARR to this list, but all appearances of GARR are good, Teri GARR forever!). We get your usual assortment of crossword gunk in BANC HELI IMAC INNO (!) ENOS NONA, your usual assortment of crossword exclamations in SHEESH YEOW UGH. None of the theme answers are interesting answers per se. TEAMMATE? REAPPEAR? Not exactly blowing the doors off the place. No, this is a puzzle to be admired after the fact. The problem is: I like the fact. The fact itself. I don't want to wait til after the fact. Give me better fact!

Worse, the theme itself, for all its elaborateness, is still a little murky. I'm still not 100% sure which is the REUSE part and which the RECYCLE. I figure the repeated CANs have to be the RECYCLE part, since you RECYCLE cans (beer, soda, etc.). But CAN is definitely reused ... three times. With the shaded squares, you could also make an argument either way. The letters in the first half are definitely reused in the second half, but they are also recycled (i.e. transformed into something different—in this case by reordering/reversal). Also, the symmetry of the puzzle is oddly ... off. You get symmetry for the circled-square answers, but with the shaded-square answers, two of them are symmetrical, but the other two just ... aren't. And then with CAN ... you have this perfect symmetrical pattern going, why not finish it off? Instead we get CAN ... CAN ... CAN ... PHO!?  That fourth CAN is in the dumbest place (42D). There's no joy in the solve and an awkwardness in the execution. 

The puzzle was easy except for a couple of moments. I know that some mattresses sit on SLATS, but I did not know that BEDSLATS was a term, so when I got BED and had no idea what was supposed to follow (9D: Supporters of a king or queen?). FRAMES, SHEETS, LINEN? That answer was the only way out of the N/NW section, so I had to interrupt my flow and go start again in the NE. I weirdly had trouble coming up with both Scots clues today (47A and 34A: Like some Scots). I say "weirdly" because I've been to Scotland many times, studied abroad in Scotland in college, written about Scottish literature in grad school, etc.). Those repeated ("reused") clues added another bit of confusion today—were they part of the theme? The answer is no, I think, as repeated clues (unlike repeated answers) are a conventional feature of crosswords. And yet in a puzzle with a REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE revealer, the reused clues seemed thematic. Again, a carefully made puzzle would've avoided the repeated-clue gimmick and avoided the confusion.

[Some Scots]

Bullets:

• 1A: "All the world," per Shakespeare's Jaques (STAGE) — first, all the world's a stage. Feels weird to be asked to remember the line, and then be required to leave a word out of the line. Second, I've totally forgotten who Jaques is. Who is this "c"-less Jaques!? Oh, right, As You Like It. Never was a huge fan of the Shakespeare comedies. They all bleed together in my head. Mistaken identity, Forest of Arden, bawdy hijinks, what not. This particular Shakespeare line is obviously famous. So famous that you end up finding references to it in the unlikeliest of places ...

• 8D: James who wrote "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (AGEE) — he was just a crossword name to me for the longest time, but I started reading some of his film criticism and it's stunning—smart, engaging, energetic, original. I got the first half of this Library of America set at a used bookstore in Rochester, and I keep it by the comfy chair downstairs and dip into it from time to time.

• 20A: Condition that may involve stimming, for short (ADHD) — "stimming"  = self-stimulation through any number of repeated movements or sounds. Remember fidget-spinners? Do those still exist? Those are stimming tools.

• 10D: Dish traditionally flavored with Saigon cinnamon (PHO) — good clue. I learned something about PHO that I did not know, but not knowing the PHO factoid ("phoctoid!") did not prevent me from getting the answer (three letters, "dish," "Saigon," inferable)

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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1972 hit for Tanya Tucker / TUE 4-21-26 / Wild West way of settling disputes / Cool, in '90s slang / Literary friend of Finn / Starbucks alternatives from the Golden Arches / Dual degrees for physicians / Haitian currency unit / "___ dat" (slangy agreement)

Constructor: Victoria Fernandez Grande

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: FLYING START (57A: Early advantage ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across) — familiar phrases where the first word (or "start") is also the name of an airline:

Theme answers:

• SPIRIT GUIDE (17A: Mentor from the beyond)
• UNITED WAY (25A: Major charity whose recipients include the Red Cross and Salvation Army)
• FRONTIER JUSTICE (36A: Wild West way of settling disputes)
• "DELTA DAWN" (49A: 1972 country hit for Tanya Tucker)

Word of the Day: GOURDE (18D: Haitian currency unit) —

The gourde (French: [ɡuʁd]) or goud (Haitian Creole: [ɡud]) is the currency of Haiti. Its ISO 4217 code is HTG and it is divided into 100 centimes (French) or santim (Creole).

The word "gourde" is a French cognate for the Spanish term "gordo", from the "pesos gordos" (also known in English as "hard" pieces of eight, and in French as "piastres fortes espagnoles") in which colonial-era contracts within the Spanish sphere of influence were often denominated. (wikipedia)

• • •

A standard "first-words" theme-type, solidly executed. Strangely, the one place that I struggled (slightly) in this puzzle was with the FLYING part of FLYING START (57A: Early advantage...)—I had the START and the only word I could think of to precede it was RUNNING. Since that wouldn't fit, my brain was left going "blank-ING START, blank-ING START ... I know there's another phrase here, what is it?" If I'd just looked at the "beginnings" of all the theme answers, like the clue told me to, I probably could've figured it out quickly, but instead I just threw crosses at it until I got it. It was probably the "Y" from SAWYER that gave it to me. Anyway, the themers do indeed "start" with companies that specialize in "flying" so ... nothing very tricky going on here. Very straightforward wordplay. This is the kind of phrase that's tailor-made to be a revealer—any phrase with "start" or "end" or an equivalent synonym of either is a potential theme provocation. Like ... you could do COLD OPEN, and have the theme be phrases where the first word is something cold. If you've been solving crosswords for any length of time, you've seen scores of variations on this theme type, which is never going to wow you, but which can be enjoyable if the theme phrases are colorful enough, and today's are pretty good. Well, the last two are, anyway. FRONTIER JUSTICE does evoke certain grim images (lynchings come to mind), but it's a great phrase, and "DELTA DAWN" ... I mean, who doesn't like "DELTA DAWN?" Put it in every puzzle, I'll never be unhappy to see it. (I grew up with the Helen Reddy version, so that's the version you're getting)

The fill on this one was a little above average for a Tuesday, I thought. I could've done without two foreign currencies (few things reek of crosswordese like foreign currencies), and I'm not sure crossing FLYING with FLY was the best idea, but otherwise I didn't wrinkle my face at the grid much at all, and generally enjoyed making my way through the grid (often a chore in early-week themed puzzles, where the fill often feels like an afterthought). The fact that the grid was fun to move through is particularly impressive given that there are only a small handful of answers more than six letters long: just two 8s and two 7s. Normally, the longer answers are the thing giving the grid life, but today's puzzle relies on an army of 6s to get the job done. The effects are particularly nice in the SW corner. I don't love the idea of plural MCCAFES (I've only ever seen one, that I remember, and that was in NZ), but otherwise, in addition to the always lovely "DELTA DAWN," we get SEX and CLIMAX (!) as well as the musical stylings of CELINE Dion and the consonantal onslaught that is MD/PHDS. Did CELINE ever cover "DELTA DAWN"? Not that I can find. She does sing something called "New Dawn," but it's a pretty boring gospel song, so here's the VH1 Pop-Up Video version of that song from Titanic instead, enjoy:

Bullets:

• 56A: "But Daddy I Love ___" (Taylor Swift song) ("HIM") — I never saw this clue, so I can't really complain, but I'm gonna complain anyway—no need to shoehorn Taylor Swift into yet another puzzle, esp. for a completely ordinary word like "HIM." And, I mean, if you really want to do a musical fill-in-the-blank clue with a song containing "HIM," there are sooooooooo many to choose from. Branch out! 

• 29D: Left-wing protest group (ANTIFA) — feels fresh, but it's not new—this is actually the fifth appearance of ANTIFA (which debuted in 2018). This answer always makes the fascists mad, so I like it.
• 10D: Female form of the animal that outnumbers humans in Iceland (EWE) — this feels forced. As a clue for SHEEP, I'd love the Iceland trivia, but as a clue for EWE, it's ungainly ... the whole "Female form of the" part makes it wordy and awkward. 
• 46D: Literary friend of Finn (SAWYER) — This clue makes it sound like Tom was bookish. Remember how Tom got out of painting that fence so he could go off and read Dostoevsky? Classic.
• 57D: Cool, in '90s slang (FLY) — I was there (the '90s, that is), and I still hesitated here, even with the "F"—my brain went "... FAT ... wait, isn't it PHAT?" The "FLY Girls" were dancers on the popular early-'90s sketch show In Living Color. J-Lo was a FLY Girl. The word came out of hip-hop culture and was everywhere for a while. If I could bring back any '90s slang, I'd bring back FLY. Beats PHAT by a country mile.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Filtered food for whales / MON 4-20-26 / Move in a hurry, old-style / "I need to use the bathroom" / Sweetie, to Brits / Bathroom, informally / What coins are exchanged for at an arcade / "Sauer" hot dog topping

Constructor: Freddie Cheng

Relative difficulty: Easy (even though I failed my Downs-only solve)

THEME: NATURE CALLS (53A: "I need to use the bathroom" ... or what the shaded squares spell?) — animal calls are "hidden" in shaded squares inside longer answers:

Theme answers:

• TWO OF HEARTS (16A: Low red card in a deck) (dog!)
• CHOO-CHOO TRAINS (21A: Locomotives, to kids) (owl!)
• "THIS SUCKS" (28: "The worst!") (snake!)
• METRO AREA (38A: City and its surroundings) (lion!)
• "NO TROUBLE AT ALL" (43A: "Don't mention it — it was easy") (sheep! wait, goat?)

Word of the Day: KRILL (32D: Filtered food for whales) —

Krill (Euphausiids) (sg.: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian word krill, meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish.

Krill are considered an important trophic level connection near the bottom of the food chain. They feed on phytoplankton and, to a lesser extent, zooplankton, and are also the main source of food for many larger animals. In the Southern Ocean, one species, the Antarctic krill, makes up an estimated biomass of around 379 million tonnes (418 million tons), making it among the species with the largest total biomass. Over half of this biomass is eaten by whales, seals, penguins, seabirds, squid, and fish each year. Most krill species display large daily vertical migrations, providing food for predators near the surface at night and in deeper waters during the day.

Krill are fished commercially in the Southern Ocean and in the waters around Japan. The total global harvest amounts to 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes (170,000 to 220,000 tons) annually, mostly from the Scotia Sea. Most krill catch is used for aquaculture and aquarium feeds, as bait in sport fishing, or in the pharmaceutical industry. Krill are also used for human consumption in several countries. They are known as okiami (オキアミ) in Japan and as camarones in Spain and the Philippines. In the Philippines, they are also called alamang and are used to make a salty paste called bagoong.

Krill are also the main food for baleen whales, including the blue whale. (wikipedia)

• • •

LOL I think Morse Code heard me when I insulted it last week because today it got its revenge. I have no idea what dots and dashes and dits and dahs are supposed to be because I am not a 19th-century telegraphy expert or whatever kind of nerd and/or military person uses Morse Code, so [...---... in Morse] meant nothing to me. I thought it was a single letter at first and so wrote in ESS. Then, when that wouldn't work (no such thing as PTAE!), I changed the "E" to "S," giving me "SSS." Three dashes, three of the same letter ... made sense to me. (I was reading the "..."s as ellipses!) Why you'd want to hiss like a snake using Morse Code, I don't know, but who knows what kind of role-playing hijinks and shenanigans Morse Coders (?) will get up to? Not me, that's for sure. So, ESS to SSS and that was that. PTAE made me see my first error, but there was no way for me to see my next error, since PROMS looked like (and is) a perfectly good word. So I failed the Downs-only solve, felled by PROMS / SSS. Ah well. It was bound to happen some time. 

As for the theme ... toilet euphemisms are extremely not my thing, so the revealer didn't give me the giggle or chuckle or whatever that it likely gave many of you. I was more "EWW" or "THIS SUCKS" than haha there, that's for sure. And NATURE CALLS crossing LAV? Show that one to your 8yo, they'll probably laugh (once you explain what LAV means). I appreciate that the puzzle at least tried to make the revealer clever. And you do get a lot of theme for your money today. But I've never been that impressed with thematic portion size, as a puzzle value—the theme either pleases me or it doesn't, so More doesn't necessarily mean Better. I like the idea of all the animal sounds, but the execution here was a bit lackluster. The themers themselves are fine, with "NO TROUBLE AT ALL" and "THIS SUCKS!" being particularly vivid. But the rest of the grid is mostly short stuff and grimly dull. And also: style points deductions for not having the "hidden" word touch all the elements in the base phrase (i.e. the "HEARTS" in TWO OF HEARTS and the "NO" and "ALL" in "NO TROUBLE AT ALL" don't touch an animal call at all—I guess this is true of the first CHOO as well, but I'm being generous and counting CHOO-CHOO as one word). The perfect embedded- (or hidden-) word theme is one where the embedded element touches all the words in the base phrase. But sometimes you sacrifice perfection for just Making It Work. I get it.

TORO was on my mind because I had a whole TORO bullet point yesterday. I would've gotten TORO anyway, but the coincidence of having it appear again the day after I discussed it gave me a little jolt of "hey! there it is again!" Yesterday we got the fatty tuna type of TORO. Today, we get a decidedly more Monday TORO. There were no really tough parts of the Downs-only solve for me today (beyond the Morse Code disaster). I did not (at all) like PLAYS as the answer for 12D: What coins are exchanged for at an arcade. Coins buy PLAYS, if that's what you want to call them, but "exchanged?" That's an awkward, unnatural way to put it. I really wanted some equivalent of TOKENS here. I had no idea what the last word of ["Sometimes you just gotta ___"] was gonna be. DANCE? PAUSE? SAY 'F*** IT'? Needed a bunch of crosses to get "LAUGH," but they weren't hard to come by. I also screwed up and wrote in SEGA instead of SONY (33D: PlayStation maker) and KRULL instead of KRILL (32D: Filtered food for whales). Why? I blame being an adolescent boy when this movie came out:

I think that'll do for today. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Evil counterpart in an 1886 novella / SUN 4-19-26 / Winged beings of folklore / Heavy metal instrument in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" / Dooley Wilson's role in "Casablanca" / Slang term for a recording studio / Extract said to promote relaxation / Fatty tuna, at a sushi bar / Old name for Tokyo / Half of a candy duo / Eponymous hypnotist / Elaborate invitation from a senior, maybe

Constructor: Michael Lieberman

Relative difficulty: Medium

[I missed a a double Star Wars day on Friday!]

***Important Message from the NYT for PRINT SOLVERS***: 

Editor’s note: If you plan to solve the Sunday Crossword in this week’s New York Times Magazine, you will find that the answers will not fit. After the issue had already been printed, we discovered that there was an error with the solvable grid of the Sunday Crossword. A corrected version of the puzzle can be found on Page 25 of Sunday’s daily New York Times. We sincerely apologize for the confusion. The grids available to print online are correct.

THEME: "Nuclear Fusion" — six Down answers are two-word answers where each word is four letters and both words share a core (i.e. they have the same two center letters, hence "nuclear fusion"); these six answers are represented in the grid as one four-letter answer, with the first and last square of each answer (the non-core part) containing two letters. Thus, DEAD HEAT, for example, becomes [D/H] EA [D/T] (the "dead" and the "heat" parts are both present simultaneously but are to be taken sequentially). In the crosses, the doubled-letters are read as sequential letters (e.g., in the DEAD HEAT example, the crosses for the first and last letters are ISLAN[D/H]OPPED and PLAYE[D/T]O WIN:

Theme answers:

[D/H] EA [D/T] ("dead heat") (24D: Race that's too close to call)

• ISLAN[D H]OPPED (23A: Traveled from Syros to Naxos to Mykonos, say)
• PLAYE[D T]O WIN (36A: Wasn't messing around, say)

[L/G] AS [T/P] ("last gasp") (26D: Desperate final effort)

• I FEE[L G]REAT (25A: "That was rejuvenating!")
• SECRE[T P]LOTS (39A: Cabal's schemes)

[Y/C] AR [D/E] ("yardcare") (50D: Mowing, mulching, raking, etc.)

[B/L] OA [T/D] ("boat load") (64D: Ton of cargo)

• HAPP[Y C]AMPERS (49A: They've got no complaints)
• CIN[DE]R[BL]OCK (63A: Masonry unit)
• CONCER[T D]ATES (83A: Listings on a band T-shirt)

[S/H] EL [F/P] ("self-help") (92D: Where "The Four Agreements" and "The Five Love Languages" may be shelved)

• TEXA[S H]OLD 'EM (90A: Popular poker variant)
• OUT O[F P]LACE (107A: How a misfit might feel)

[H/W] AR [D/E] ("hardware") (94D: Most merchandise at Ace and True Value)

• BIRT[H W]EIGHT (93A: Baby book datum)
• UNREA[D E]MAILS (109A: Inbox zero targets)

Word of the Day: HELEN Frankenthaler (46A: Abstract Expressionist Frankenthaler) —

[Mauve District, 1966]

Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s until 2011), she spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work. Frankenthaler began exhibiting her large-scale abstract expressionist paintings in contemporary museums and galleries in the early 1950s. She was included in the 1964 Post-Painterly Abstraction exhibition curated by Clement Greenberg that introduced a newer generation of abstract painting that came to be known as color field. Born in Manhattan, she was influenced by Greenberg, Hans Hofmann, and Jackson Pollock's paintings. Her work has been the subject of several retrospective exhibitions, including a 1989 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and been exhibited worldwide since the 1950s. In 2001, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Frankenthaler had a home and studio in Darien, Connecticut. (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow. Exhausting just to explain and type out that theme. Like many architectural marvels whose distinguishing characteristics are solely architectural, this one left me a little cold. It does its thing, repeatedly, and ... that's that. There's no wordplay or cleverness beyond the puzzle title. I kept waiting for a revealer that never came. Eventually I realized that the title itself was the revealer. Was it easy for you to grasp the meaning of the title, even after you understood what was physically going on in the grid? I think it's pretty self-evident, but can see even a regular solver being pretty lost. But I don't know, maybe the meaning of "Nuclear Fusion" was transparent to everyone—once you figured out the theme, of course. Before that? Woof, good luck. Chaos! And even if you went looking for a revealer clue to help you out, as I've already said, there was none to be found. So you really had to hack at this thing to get it to reveal its mysteries. I did, anyway. I was well into the grid before I understood what was happening. From where I was sitting, at first it looking like the "H" was missing from "ISLAN[D-H]OPPED" and the "HEAT' was missing from "DEAD HEAT." The next themer that I "got" was all the way down the west side at TEXA[S H]OLD 'EM, where, once again, it looked like an "H" was missing in the Across (TEXAS OLD 'EM!) and the four-letter "H" word (in this case, the HELP from SELF HELP) was missing from the Down. So I thought it was an "H"-related theme ... and with the title being "Nuclear Fusion," I thought maybe the "H" was supposed to be Hydrogen. Seriously, I thought that. It seemed ... logical, at the time. Logical-ish. Not sure when or how I finally realized what the entire gimmick was (shared core in the Downs, double-letters for the crosses of the first and last squares of those Downs). I just know it was a slog getting there. Once I got there, the puzzle got easier. I wish it had been more interesting. The puzzle is impressive, in its way, but in the end its impressiveness is purely structural, which left me a little cold.

[45A: Dooley Wilson's role in "Casablanca"]

[Sam plays it, and plays it again, but no one ever says "Play it again, Sam"]

The puzzle played about as hard as a Sunday should play, I think. The theme might've been a little harder than usual to suss out, but the rest was very doable, while not being ridiculously easy. There were lots of non-theme answers that gave me at least a little bit of trouble. "HOLY ___"! So many options. Moley, Moses, Toledo, Cow, Smokes, etc. Couldn't think of the one that fit until I got a few crosses (3D: "Mamma mia!"). Both "SO MAD" and "SO EXCITED" took some doing. I don't really get why the "SO MAD" clue is in brackets (34A: ["Unbe-frickin-lievable!"]). Without the brackets ... it makes sense. Or is "SO MAD" a state of being as opposed to an actual exclamation? Seems awkward, but OK. CBD OIL took some effort, for sure, as I wanted a word, but then got an initialism, but then got both an initialism and a word! Twofer! (63D: Extract said to promote relaxation). The LAB / BANG bit stumped me for a bit, too. I guess I've heard a studio called a "LAB" (108D: Slang term for a recording studio), but if I've heard a "!" called a BANG, I don't remember it. I can infer it from the portmanteau "interrobang," which is a fusion of a question mark and exclamation point: 

But I've only ever referred to an exclamation point as an "exclamation point." Somehow I thought a PALISADE was a walkway and not a 54A: Defensive fortification, so that one took a little effort. My cabal had SECRET PLANS before they had SECRET PLOTS. And I think I had a CREAM EGG before I had a CREME EGG (84D: Cadbury confection). I did manage to remember who Renée RAPP was today (she was "Word of the Day" fairly recently), so that's nice. Nice for my brain, that it's not leaking All the new information it takes in. The one thing I truly don't understand in this puzzle is the clue on 1-Down. [Locks up?] = HAIR??? Obviously "locks" = "HAIR," but what the hell is this "up" business? I had UPDO in there at first, but the doubling up of "UP" made me think "well that ain't right." If "Locks" = HAIR (and it does), then I don't know what "up" is doing here. Seems entirely extraneous. I see that the clue wants to do a cheeky prison-related misdirect, but ... is the idea that you HAIR is "up" on your head!?!?!? If that's it, wow is that bad. People have HAIR on their damned feet. Come on, now ... It's true no one has "Locks" of HAIR on their feet, because locks appear only on the head ... which is why, as I say, you do not need the "up"—where else are locks going to be but "up" on your head?! These "?" clues have to land!

Bullets:

• 20A: ___ pasta (rhyming fusion dish) (RASTA) — easy, and it's got "fusion" in there (nice callback to the theme), but I wish the clue had given me any indication of what this dish actually consists of. I would've guessed something to do with jerk chicken, and apparently that is mostly correct. 
• 59A: Fatty tuna, at a sushi bar (TORO) — remembered this one today! (with a little nudge from the "T"). With two types of TORO already occupying my brain (the Spanish "bull," the snowblower brand), I figured I was doomed never to make a third meaning stick, but apparently, sticking hath occurred. More good news for my aging brain.

• 115A: Heavy metal instrument in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" (ANVIL) — cute pun on "heavy metal" (briefly tried to imagine someone playing Verdi on an electric guitar). That SW corner seems potentially treacherous, with not only this slightly odd clue on ANVIL, but an ANI / NIETO crossing that might catch non-Spanish-speaking non-jewelry fans flat-footed (111D: Alex and ___ (jewelry company) / 119A: Grandchild of un abuelo)
• 3D: "Mamma mia!" ("HOLY CANNOLI!") — speaking of Mamma Mia! ([cracks knuckles], watch this segue...), I had guest writers for the Friday and Saturday blog posts this week (thanks, Eli and Rafa!) because earlier this weekend I was in NYC seeing the new Broadway production of Death of a Salesman at the Winter Garden Theatre. I read in the playbill that the Winter Garden was where Cats ran for a mind-boggling 18 years (1982-2000), and that Cats was then immediately followed by ... Mamma Mia!, which also ran for an absurdly long time (2001-2013). So basically, for over three decades at the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, the Winter Garden was home to just two shows: Cats and Mamma Mia! The Winter Garden is a lovely theater, and this production of Death of a Salesman (starring Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Christopher Abbott and Ben Ahlers) was truly moving. Turns out crossword constructor Rebecca Goldstein was there on the same night! (I ran into her in line). I got to go backstage after the show—Laurie Metcalf is a crossword enthusiast and was gracious enough to invite me. Penelope and I got to see the stage up close and talk to Laurie for a bit. Needless to say, the whole evening was a genuine thrill. 

[Making claw-like gestures in the air, totally normal]

• 75D: Crown and ___ (alliterative bar order) (COKE) — Crown (Royal) is a Canadian whisky. COKE is ... well, presumably you know. I've never heard of Crown & COKE, only Jack & COKE, but the COKE part was easy to get. Apparently COKE & Fernet BRANCA is a really popular cocktail in Argentina (93D: Fernet- ___ (Italian digestif brand)). 
• 33D: Evil counterpart in an 1886 novella (HYDE) — counterpart to whom, you might ask? Well I'm not telling. OK, it's Siegfried (just kidding—Siegfried's evil counterpart was ROY) 

That's all for today. I'll see you next time. And thanks to Eli and Rafa for doing such a bang-up job with the Friday and Saturday write-ups, respectively!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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