Courier and Century Gothic, for two / TUES 9-28-26 / Greek goddess of the earth / Where some monster home runs land / Muslim holiday, informally

Hello, everyone, it’s Clare for the last Tuesday of September! Hope you’ve all had a wonderful month. I’ve been loving the turn toward fall weather for the most part, except for the day I went to All Things Go (a music festival) in the DMV this past weekend, and it… rained most of the day, and I was exceptionally cold. But my love for MUNA (and the other singers, of course) trumps all! I also got a ton of sports-watching in this weekend with the WNBA playoffs starting and football and golf and F1 (which I’ve become mildly obsessed with). The big news is that my sister now has a puppy, too! She’s absolutely, incredibly, completely adorable (if slightly evil at times because she’s a pup who just wants to nibble). Her name is Gunner (of Arsenal Gunners fame), and I’m obsessed. Keep reading to see as many pictures as I can reasonably add:)

Anywho, on to the puzzle...

Constructor: Hanh Huynh

Relative difficulty: On the harder side of medium

THEME: JOIN HANDS (58A: Wedding officiant's directive ... or what both halves of 17-, 25-, 35- and 50-Across do?) — Each half of the theme answers can be combined with “hand” to form a common expression

Theme answers:

• UPPER DECK (17A: Where some monster home runs land) 
• HOT MINUTE (25A: Pretty long time, in an idiom) 
• SECOND HELPING (35A: Another plateful from the buffet, say) 
• LEFT FIELD (50A: Position of Rickey Henderson in M.L.B.)

Word of the Day: KAREN (55A: Indie rock singer ___ O) —

Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978), known professionally as Karen O, is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her dynamic performances and distinctive vocals, she was a key figure in the 2000s garage rock and post-punk revivals, and in the New York music scene. She is also regarded as a style icon. Karen O is the lead vocalist of the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who have released five albums and hit singles like "Maps", "Gold Lion", and "Heads Will Roll"... Her accolades include nominations for eight Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, two Critics' Choice Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. Rolling Stone named her one of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" in 2023. (Wiki)

• • •

That felt like a decent, if slightly boring, Tuesday theme. I get how each of the theme answers could form expressions such as “upper hand,” “deck hand,” “hot hand,” etc. We’ve just seen this type of theme a thousand and one times before, so it’s lost its novelty for me. I’d say my favorite answer was HOT MINUTE (25A), and SECOND HELPING (35A) was a nice long answer. 

I liked ELTON (9A: British John) crossing LOO (10D: British john) and KAREN (55A) of rock music fame crossing GREEN DAY (39D: Band with the 6x platinum album "American Idiot") of pop/punk fame. There seemed to be slightly more “?” clues than average. My favorite clue/answer in this puzzle was definitely CAB (24D: What can travel a fare distance?). 

But for all of the fun clues, things such as SMALLER (22D: Like subcompacts vis-à-vis compacts) and NEATENED (38D: Made nice?) felt bland. And SEEDED (4D: Numbered in a tournament bracket), especially in a puzzle with NEEDED (13D: Had to have), seemed like too much of a push for easy letters. EXEC (41A: Board appointee, for short) crossing EXED (37D: Crossed (out)) also felt too similar.  

ONSITE (12D: Like not-work-from-home days) doesn’t feel like quite the way to describe work that’s not from home. HARD (25D) is a boring way to clue brain-busting. With GAEA (49A: Greek goddess of the earth), I’ve heard (and spelled) it both ways.

Psych Shawn GIFfrom Psych GIFs

The spelling didn’t slow me down too much, but I put in “Gaia” at first. I also think ON THE DL (26D: Just between us) could’ve been clued more obviously to show that it was slang. Also, seeing DEEJAY (48D: Spinner of tunes) written out like that is also just weird. 

On the other hand, I liked OLD DOG (44D: Subject of a saying about new tricks), and my dog RED (18D) was also in the puzzle! That’s obviously what the constructor intended, even if he clued it as "visibly embarrassed.” I also enjoyed OPPOSITE (3D: Like black and white), and I liked seeing SANAA (29A: Capital of Yemen), which I haven’t seen in a puzzle in a bit. I wasn’t expecting to see GYRATE (49D: Move like Shakira in her "Hips Don't Lie" video) in the puzzle, but it certainly describes how Shakira moves her hips! ENNUI (9D: Ho-hum feeling) is simply a wonderful word.

Misc.:

• I was actually *this* close to seeing KAREN O (55D) live! I went to the inaugural Daisy Chain Festival (put on and headlined by Olivia Rodrigo) in Irvine, California, a few weeks ago, and it was absolutely wonderful (albeit way too hot — see: 95 degrees). The festival was led by women, and Olivia brought out a few different special guests. I saw Sarah McLachlan sing “Angel,” dedicated to Dolly Parton, and sang along with Stevie Nicks to “Landslide.” KAREN O was supposed to join (presumably to sing “Heads Will Roll” by her band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) but couldn't make it at the last minute. So I had to “settle” for seeing Alanis Morissette sing “Ironic,” instead. 
• I simply think we don’t need to have DRE (53A: Dad on "Black-ish") in puzzles referring to the character played by Anthony Anderson, who has a whole section in Wikipedia about his “Rape and sexual assault allegations.” 
• The puzzle was clairvoyant, with GAS (43D: Pit stop refill), given my newfound love for F1 and all things Oscar Piastri. I still know very few technical terms and miss loads of nuances, and the races can be very boring, but it’s still rather fun. And did I mention how adorable and talented and incredible Oscar Piastri is? 
• Also! The wonderful (albeit slightly evil at times, said in a loving way) Max Verstappen also recently took on 100 racers in a Red Bull karting spectacle. He started from the back, and he passed them all within 35 minutes (he passed two-thirds of them in the first 30 seconds; it was hilarious). It was also wildly entertaining with the live radios. Here’s a link to highlights for all.
• I stared at NOONE (16A: Who "wants to be defeated" in "Beat It") for the longest time before realizing it was actually two words NO ONE.
• I miss the good old days in middle school where you could give someone a candy heart that says "I LUV U" (33A: (candy heart message) to tell them you had a crush on them.
• I actually haven’t been reading that much lately, but I have a TV recommendation for absolutely everyone: You must watch “Widow’s Bay” (if you haven’t already). It recently swept at the Emmys, and it’s absolutely brilliant. I made a cocktail from the show for an Emmys watch party, and then the actor who won for best supporting actress shouted out the cocktail in her speech. I felt seen.

Alright, if you’re still with me, here’s my sister’s amazing puppy, Gunner:

And that's all from me! Have a great (and hopefully not too cold) October.

Signed, Clare Carroll, who's always RED-HAND(ed)

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