Like a biased presentation / MON 1-26-26 / Music genre influenced by the Smiths and the Cure / Journalist Curry / Kind of port in A/V / Censored, as an audiotape / Takes exception / T.S. Eliot or W.H. Auden

Constructor: Erica Hsiung Wojcik

Relative difficulty: Easy



THEME: THREEPEATS — Each of the three theme answers starts with the last name of a famous PETE -- ROSE, BEST, DAVIDSON.

Word of the Day: MALIBU (12D: Beach city west of Los Angeles) —

Malibu (/ˈmælɪbuː/ ^ⓘ MAL-ih-boo; Chumash: Humaliwo; Spanish: Malibú) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California,^[11] about 30 miles (48 km) west of Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching 21 miles (34 km) along the Pacific coast, and for its longtime status as the home of numerous Hollywood celebrities and executives with a high proportion of its residents in the entertainment industry.^[12] The Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) traverses the city, following along the South Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,654. The 2025 Palisades Fire devastated Malibu, with almost all of the beachfront homes near its center destroyed.^[13]

• • •

Theme answers:

• ROSE GARDEN (17A: Classic flowering locale adjacent to the White House [baseball star])
• BEST COMEDY ALBUM (29A: Grammy Award that's good for laughs? [1960s rock musician])
• DAVIDSON COLLEGE (46A: North Carolina educational institution [former "S.N.L." cast member])
• THREEPEATS (60A: Athletic trifectas ... or a phonetic hint to the starts of 17-, 29- and 46-Across)

Hello, friends! It's Rafa guest blogging since I do not have to deal with any winter storm disruptions here in the Bay Area. (It was 70 degrees yesterday!) I hope you are all staying warm and safe and cozy. I have never experienced a winter storm so I don't really know what else to wish for you! Is it fun to go outside after and frolic around in the giant piles of snow? If so, I hope you get to do that!

This is Pete Rose

This was an ultra breezy Monday. I got the first 14 across answers immediately without any crosses and I love that feeling of just flying through a Monday and seeing the down answers fall into place without even having to look at their clues. TBH, I didn't even know comedy albums were a thing, so it makes sense that it was that answer that made me pause for the first time.

This is Pete Best

The fill was super smooth, as it should be on a Monday. My litmus test for a good Monday is whether I would feel good about recommending it to a non-solving friend as their first crossword to ever attempt, and I happily would with this one. There's nothing really to nitpick with the fill. Maybe SBARRO's corporate department is in cahoots with the NYT though, since it showed up in the puzzle two days in a row. Sunday also had a different PETE (SEEGER, at 17-Down), maybe as an easter egg.

This is Pete Davidson

Speaking of Petes, that was this puzzle's theme. Three different Petes in the first words of the long across answers. I have to confess that I had only heard of Pete Davidson before solving this puzzle. (I don't baseball, and '60s music is very far from my forte.) Thankfully, that didn't affect the solve at all. I assume these other Petes are famous and widely-known, since they both have very beefy Wikipedia pages (my far-from-reliable metric for notoriety).

That's it from me! Enjoyed this a lot overall. Maybe a pair of longer fun bonus down entries would have elevated the grid even more, but on a Monday I'll always, always, always choose smooth over flashy. Until next time!

P.S.: I just booked my ACPT flights a few days ago. Don't hesitate to say hi if you spot me!

Bullets:

• CARESS (49D: Stroke lovingly) — I am typing this as I CARESS my cat.
• CHERUB (11D: Winged feature in Raphael's "Sistine Madonna") — It it tragic that Raphael misspelled with name with a "ph" instead of using the clearly correct "f" spelling!
• SCREAM (6D: "Aiiiiieeeee!," e.g.) — I tried to figure out what this scream would sound like and failed.
• SNOWSHOE (36D: Oversize article of clothing) — I just learned that "snowshoes" is one word! Also I hope you have them handy if that's what you need to leave your house after the storm.

Signed, Rafa

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