Fortified wine from Spain / SUN 9-20-26 / Island containing Kiribati's capital / Move fast, as a cloud / Burnable bog stuff / Violinmaker of Cremona / Sitcom character from Melmac / Old-timey teacher / Main squeeze, in newer slang / Online forum qualifiers such as /j ("joking") and /s ("sarcastic")

Constructor: Tracy Gray

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME:"Rise to the Power" — numbers in familiar phrases are expressed exponentially—that is, there's a smaller number in the phrase itself, and then the appropriate EXPONENT (as its own answer) in the usual place for an exponent (i.e. up and to the right) (120A: Number written above and to the right of another number ... as seen five times in this puzzle?): 

Theme answers:

• SWEET TWO^FOUR  (Sweet Sixteen) (25A: With 23-Across, March Madness tournament round)
• WHOLE THREE^TWO YARDS (Whole nine yards) (37A: With 34-Across, full extent of something)
• "WHEN I'M FOUR^THREE" ("When I'm Sixty-Four") (64A: With 62-Across, Beatles classic with the lyric "Will you still need me / Will you still feed me")
• "THANKS A TEN^SIX" (Thanks a million) (78A: With 75-Across, "So very appreciated!")
• NINE^ZERO-ARMED BANDIT (One-armed bandit) (101A: With 97-Across, Vegas casino machine)

Word of the Day: MANZANILLA (77D: Fortified wine from Spain) —

Manzanilla is a fortified wine similar to fino sherry made in the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia (Spain), and is produced under the Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) of Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda DOP. In Spanish, a chamomile infusion is called "manzanilla"—this wine gets its name because the wine's aroma is said to be reminiscent of such an infusion.

Manzanilla is manufactured using the same methods as a fino sherry and results in a very pale, dry wine. It is often described as having a savoury and salty flavour, believed to develop from the chalky soil near the sea estuary of the Guadalquivir river. Sanlúcar de Barrameda's cool temperatures and high humidity contribute to a higher yield of flor yeast than in Jerez or El Puerto de Santa María. The thicker cap of flor better protects the wine from contact with the air, resulting in a fresher, more delicate flavour than a fino from Jerez. It is typically aged for three to five years in a solera, but some types may be aged longer. (wikipedia)

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[101A]

Some of you are not troubled by arbitrariness in themes, but I clearly am. Why these exponents? Why this order? Why NINE (and not literally any other number) to the zeroeth power to express "one"? The theme answers themselves start off with a kind of pattern: first one has TWO in it, the next THREE, the next FOUR ... and then TEN and NINE. For some reason. Is there a reason? I always worry I'm missing some key feature that's tying everything together, some unifying ... something. This puzzle could really use a unifying something. It's like ... there's this (structurally) interesting idea here, i.e. the writing out of the exponents above and to the right of their respective BASEs (124A: Number with a 120-Across, mathematically). But ... that's it. It's just that. The revealer is totally unnecessary, in that it's obvious what's going on if you just solve the puzzle, but even though EXPONENT didn't reveal anything I didn't already know, it's at least a little cute that EXPONENT is itself in an exponential position, relative to BASE. I'll give the puzzle some cleverness credit for that. But beyond that, the core idea just didn't get an interesting enough execution. There should've been some extra oomph here, something to make the actual numbers involved seem like part of a meaningful whole, or progression. Also, seeing TWO (and FOUR and THREE) in the puzzle twice was ... less than entertaining. Again, if you're going to subject us to that kind of repetition, there should be a big-picture payoff, and I just don't see it. I also don't really understand what the title of the puzzle is supposed to evoke, what kind of wordplay is going on there. You can rise to power, of course, but the "the" kind of screws up that meaning. You can rise to the occasion. You can fight the power, or speak truth to power ... but "Rise to the Power" just seems like a literal description of what a BASE does. Whatever wordplay is supposed to be there is lost on me.

Only one thing in the grid I really didn't know today, and it made me make a face. I may still be making the face. The answer in question is TONE TAGS (4D: Online forum qualifiers such as /j ("joking") and /s ("sarcastic")). I did not know those had a name, and also ... I assumed the forward slash functioned the same way it does in HTML, where it basically closes or ends whatever function had been going on. Like, you bold text with <b> the text you want bolded </b>. The "</b>" is a closing tag. I've frequently seen "/sarcasm" in posts. I assumed the "/" functioned like "end." (so "/sarcasm" would be "end sarcasm"). I have never seen these hyper-abbreviated "/s" or "/j" examples, but then again, I am in "online forums" (fora) virtually never. I had TONE TA- and honestly thought the answer was TONE TALK. In a grid that is otherwise laden with pretty old names and fill, TONE TAGS stands out as a real anomaly. Something software would suggest. I don't dispute that TONE TAGS are real things. I just contend that the phrase is ugly, and today, wildly outlierish in its contemporariness. 

What old names, you ask? LAGASSE, ASSANTE, LAHTI, AMATI. Also, that particular LOLA (116D: Singer/dancer/actress Falana). You've also got musty stuff like MARM and SCUD as well as olde-timey oddities (AERONAUT) and geographical obscurities (TARAWA). Then there's ASPERSES, which is a real word, but not one that you would ever use. See also UNAWED, the real wordness of which I'm actually less sure of (really looks like a typo for "unwed"). I would love IT'S FOR THE BIRDS if that "IT'S" would just go away (awkward). Also, the clue on it is not quite right (15D: "Don't pay any mind to this"). "For the birds" suggests something far more negative than "ignore this" implies. If it's "for the birds," it's worthless. It's usually a blanket statement about some kind of behavior or activity. "Don't pay any mind to this" just doesn't have any of the slangy derisive energy of "for the birds." I did like TOP-FLIGHT and PLENTY MORE and TAKE A RAIN CHECK, all very colorful and colloquial.

Bullets:

• 14D: Island containing Kiribati's capital (TARAWA) — looks like this is an atoll that is (was?) famous because of a WWII battle (the Battle of TARAWA, surprisingly enough). It sounds ... gruesome.
• 45A: Defensive player who keeps an eye on the QB, in football lingo (SPY) — I had the "S" and tried to make SAF (safety?) happen.
• 131A: Move fast, as a cloud (SCUD) — I wrote in SCUT, another ugly word that means something totally different (either "the short, erect tail (as of a hare)" (merriam-webster.com) or "routine or tedious work" (thefreedictionary.com). Hard to imagine describing anything as "scudding" and being taken seriously. Then again, I guess the “Move fast” definition beats the only other definition of SCUD that I know (the missile definition, which anyone who was alive for the first Gulf War knows all too well).
• 17D: Feminine pronoun in Florence (ESSA) — Italian pronouns: not my specialty, apparently. I wanted ELLA here (that's a Spanish feminine pronoun, I believe). ELLA is also my daughter's name, but that's neither here nor there.
• 36D: With nary a chance (NO HOW) — making another quaintness-induced grimacey face. I should say that "nary" sounds quaint / twee, whereas NO HOW just sounds like standard slang. People who say "nary a" probably also say "methinks." There's a put-on-ness about it that sets my teeth on edge.
• 85D: Old-timey teacher (MARM) — MARMs probably say "nary a [whatever]"
• 82D: Main squeeze, in newer slang (BAE) — "newer"??? Well, that's a new(er) one. It's vague enough that it could mean virtually anything. Newer than what (besides "main squeeze," that is)?

• 109D: Kind of insurance for bridges (DENTAL) — this one fooled me for a while. I have had root canals and crowns, but I have yet to have a bridge installed in my mouth. Things to look forward to...

Dental bridges replace missing teeth. They can restore chewing function, enhance your appearance and improve your oral health. A dental bridge consists of crowns (that fit over your natural teeth on either side of the space) and artificial teeth (that “bridge the gap” in your smile). (The Cleveland Clinic)

That's all for today. Before I go, I just want to say a few words about the WFMU "Words Are For Crossing" crossword meet-up / fundraiser I got to be a part of this past Thursday. I've been listening to WFMU for about four years now—I discovered it by accident after Ronnie Spector died and a friend posted a link to a tribute show hosted by DJ Sheila B, and I got addicted to her show ("Sophisticated Boom Boom"), and then from there discovered other shows, including "The Evan 'Funk' Davies Show." Unbeknownst to me, while I was listening to Evan's show every week, Evan (a regular NYTXW solver) was reading my blog every day. Since WFMU hosts community / fund-raising events regularly in its space downstairs, Evan got it into his head to do a crossword meet-up. He knew me, and he knew longtime NYTXW constructor Gary Cee from when they worked at the NYU radio station in college, and so he pitched this meet-up idea where people would come and solve custom-made WFMU-related puzzles and just ... hang out. Solve the puzzles, talk about the puzzles, eat Oreos, listen to ENO ONO etc. Something smallish and very chill. It sounded fun, and I wanted to meet Evan and visit WFMU anyway, so I was in.

I think we were all unsure how it was going to turn out, who would come, etc. So when we ended up with a pretty full room full of enthusiastic solvers, I was thrilled. Overwhelmed, really. I've been to plenty of tournaments, but I don't think I've ever been at an event like this, where the vibe was relaxed and non-competitive and people were just having a good time doing the nerdy thing they like to do with other nerds. After each puzzle, whichever of us made it got to talk about it and take questions about it. People gave me a hard time about KEENED (solver: "How would you use 'KEENED' in a sentence?" Me: "uh ... 'I regret putting KEENED in my crossword puzzle'?") (it's a perfectly good word—just ask any banshee). 

But the real treat of the night was talking to other solvers. Veteran constructor (and language columnist) Ben Zimmer was there, so we got to catch up a little. I also got to meet Adam Vincent, who's had over half a dozen puzzles in the NYT since 2020. Adam, like every other person who introduced themselves to me that night, was warm and kind and said nice things about the blog. I just want to say to everyone who attended how grateful I am that you took the time to come to a random crossword thingie on a Thursday night in Jersey City. I'm grateful that you supported the station, of course, but also that you were all so nice to me. This was an idea that Evan just ... invented ... and it actually came off really nicely. Thanks for being part of that. I highly recommend the crossword meet-up as a format for doing something semi-organized with fellow solvers and constructors in your municipal area. Make a few locally-themed puzzles, get a few dozen local solvers to come out and solve them, maybe pass the hat for a local charity. No tournament stress, just good companionship and word-nerdiness. Do it, you'll enjoy it. 

So thank you David and Eve, and Jordan, and John, and George, and Warren, and regular blog commenter Hugh (who won one of the raffle drawings and got himself one of the WFMU shirts with the cool dog + cow logo). Thanks also to Rebekah and Beth for letting me sit at their table and eat their snacks—sorry your friend Allie couldn't be there; maybe next time. Above all, thanks to Evan, whose idea it was, and who ran the night so smoothly. I wouldn't normally go on at such length about a relatively small event, but the night really embodied everything I love about crosswords, and reminded me why I do what I do every day (20 years this Friday...). I hope I get to be a part of something like this again some day. It was a blast.

[Beth, me, Rebekah; not pictured, but there in spirit: Allie]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. speaking of crossword community (which I was), it's once again time for the Boswords Fall Themeless League. Here's the pitch from Boswords founder John Lieb:

Registration for the Boswords 2026 Fall Themeless League is open! This 10-week event starts with a Preseason puzzle on Monday, September 28 and features weekly themeless puzzles -- clued at three levels of difficulty -- from an all-star roster of constructors and are edited by Brad Wilber. To register, to solve a practice puzzle, to view the constructor line-up, and to learn more, go to www.boswords.org.   

Like most people I've met in the world of crosswords, John is a very nice guy, and he runs a very well-loved tournament, so if you're a regular solver who's tournament-curious, give it a shot. This year's Fall constructor roster is *stacked*! Erik Agard, Ryan McCarty, Zhou Zhang, Rebecca Goldstein, Patti Varol, Rachel Fabi ... and many more. Honestly, top-tier. I can't wait to do these puzzles.

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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