Biceps, boastfully / MON 3-9-26 / Zimbalist Jr. of "77 Sunset Strip" / They go to a higher court / Temporary guest from a canine shelter / Period for Fred, Wilma and Pebbles / Birthplace of the bossa nova, informally

Constructor: Christina Iverson and Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (solved Downs-only)

THEME: BEST ACTRESS (60A: Academy Award category ... or a hint to the starts of the answers to the starred clues) — first words of theme answers are also last names of women who won BEST ACTRESS Oscars:

Theme answers:

• (Sally) FIELD HOCKEY (16A: *Outdoor sport with sticks (1979, 1984))
• (Emma) STONE AGE (25A: *Period for Fred, Wilma and Pebbles (2016, 2023))
• (Jodie) FOSTER DOG (35A: *Temporary guest from a canine shelter (1988, 1991))
• (Halle) BERRY PIE (51A: *Popular fruit dessert (2001))

Word of the Day: EFREM Zimbalist, Jr. (55A: Zimbalist Jr. of "77 Sunset Strip") —

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (November 30, 1918 – May 2, 2014) was an American actor and theatre producer. Known for his "mellifluous voice and air of sophistication," he was known to television audiences for his starring roles on the crime drama series 77 Sunset Strip (1958–64) and The F.B.I. (1965–74), his recurring role as "Dandy Jim" Buckley on Maverick (1957–58), and as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Animated Universe. He also appeared in numerous films and on the Broadway stage. He was a Golden Globe Award winner (out of four total nominations) and a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

He was the son of classical musicians Efrem Zimbalist and Alma Gluck, and the father of actress Stephanie Zimbalist. In addition to his acting career, Zimbalist was also a decorated veteran of the Second World War, receiving both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. In 1994, Zimbalist received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television. (wikipedia)

• • •

Let me tell you about the nine-year EFREM Zimbalist drought of the late 20th century. It was the mid-80s. Ronald Reagan had just been re-elected and everyone figured that Zimbalist, who had campaigned for Goldwater 20 years earlier, would soar to even greater crossword prominence in Reagan's America. But as Reagan's second term wore on, EFREM found himself and his father, a famous violinist of the same name, snubbed from the grid, year after year. Some said the EFREM name was blackballed after it got out that Zimbalist Jr. had supported John Anderson in 1980. Some say it was because he made joking comments about "jellybeans" and "astrologers" when asked about Reagan for a 1985 Playboy interview. Some say his disappearance from the grid was a total coincidence. I say those people have no imagination. Anyway, the EFREM Zimabalist Jr. blackout continued under George H.W. Bush, lending more credence to the idea that the Great EFREM Erasure was indeed political payback. After Clinton was elected, EFREM's fortunes changed. Clinton, an avid solver himself, saw an opportunity to leave his mark on the crossword landscape, and one of the first things he did was restore EFREM to crossword prominence. Thus EFREM finally reappeared in 1993 after a nearly nine-year absence, and went on to appear nine (9) more times in the Clinton Era. After that, George W. Bush., as if attempting to outdo Clinton while simultaneously distancing himself from his father's legacy, supported the Zimbalist revival with even greater fervor: EFREM made a whopping twelve (12) appearances during W's presidency. Since then, and particularly following Zimbalist's death in 2014, EFREM enthusiasm has waned, though we've never seen anything close to the nine-year EFREM drought of the late '80s / early '90s. (Note: some of the above is verifiably true—the crossword stats, mostly; and the Goldwater part; the rest, who knows? Maybe)

I want to thank today's puzzle for ... well, reminding me that EFREM Zimbalist Jr. once existed (and that I couldn't pick him out of a line-up on a dare), as well as for reminding me that the Oscars are coming up (Sunday, Mar. 15). As for this theme, it's OK, I guess. A first-words theme. Feels like the kind of thing that's been done before, not terribly imaginative. But timely! I wish there were more to it. I wish the revealer were snappier instead of just literal and explanatory. I wish the fill were a little less ye olde (TET ARS URSA ... EFREM for god's sake). But all in all it's a totally acceptable Monday puzzle. The longer Downs aren't all that long, but they are solid, and even though its letters aren't terribly exciting, I really liked "SEE HERE!" I like quaint indignation. "I say! SEE HERE! That's not cricket!" I had a blarghy feeling about the fill after the NW corner (URSA AOL ESP already had me teetering, and then UNFED tipped me into mild gag territory). But things evened out. I don't really believe BERRY PIE is a thing. What Kind Of Berry!? No way I'm ordering some mystery "BERRY" PIE. That was the one answer that made me grimace when it came into view. But I love FOSTER DOG a ton, and UPSELLS is also pretty fab, so I come out on the thumbs-up side today.

So weird to find out today that so many of the Best Actress Oscar winners who fit this theme (i.e. whose last names are also ordinary words) are also multiple Best Actress Oscar winners. I'd forgotten that Sally Field won two. I can name every movie referred to in today's theme clues except the one Field won for in 1984—I remember the infamous speech ("You like me, you really like me..."), but I'll be damned if I can remember what she won for. Was it Places in the Heart!? [checks with the internet]. It was! Ha! Thank you, brain! Good ol' brain, still working. For now. For the record, the movies referred to today are:

• Sally Field: Norma RAE (of crossword fame!!) (1979); Places in the Heart (1984)
• Emma Stone: La La Land (2016); Poor Things (2023)
• Jodie Foster: The Accused (1988); The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Halle Berry: Monster’s Ball (2001)

Stone is nominated again this year for Bugonia, though I think it's something of a foregone conclusion that Jessie Buckley is going to win for Hamnet (a movie I have no interest in seeing ... I can't really explain it ... I like Shakespeare ... I love Paul Mescal ... Jessie Buckley is fantastic ... I think I'm just allergic to Oscar Bait). I just saw Halle Berry in Crime 101, which made me wonder why she isn't in more things. Or maybe she's been in a ton of things and I just missed them all. She is charming in Crime 101 as an insurance agent specializing in "high-wealth" customers who finds herself devalued by her bosses because she's "old" and (therefore?) (allegedly?) losing her ability to hook clients with sex appeal. This is the least plausible part of the movie, as Halle Berry looks stunning at all times. Hard to look at anyone else when she's on screen. But whatever, she plays the part really convincingly and endearingly, and she has an odd and compelling chemistry with Mark Ruffalo (a cop who figures out that Berry has gotten involved in some criminal shenanigans).

Bullets:

• 64A: Vietnamese holiday with a palindromic name (TET) — did we really need the "with a palindromic name" part? TET is one of the most common crossword words there is. Even if you're a total crossword novice and have never heard of TET, those crosses are all easy. No need to do so much handholding, NYT! I know it's Monday, but yeesh.
• 10D: They go to a higher court (APPEALS) — pretty straightforward, but from a Downs-only perspective, this was not so easy for me. The hardest answer of the puzzle, maybe. It just felt like there was some kind of mild trickery going on. Like, maybe the court was a basketball court or a  tennis court, or a food court. Maybe "court" was being used to mean something like a "story" in a building and the answer was something like "escalators" or "elevators" or "stairways." Thankfully, none of these fit, and eventually I was able to infer some of the crosses and get to APPEALS.
• 11D: Round up, as cattle (WRANGLE) — again, easy enough, but with no letters in place I couldn't think of this word at first. The only thing that came to mind was RUSTLE, which wouldn't fit.

• 38D: Biceps, boastfully (GUNS) — this was great. Much more fun to think of arms than to think of ... arms.
• 54D: Group assisting a sheriff (POSSE) — this was grim. Made me think of lynching. I'll take a hip-hop POSSE over a sheriff's POSSE any day.

That's all. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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