Listened to "Rigoletto" way too many times? / SUN 10-11-26 / Depression formed by a volcano's collapse / Stress-induced discomfort / Young newts / Daniel ___ (children's TV character) / Boulderer's safety item / Secrets known only to E.N.T.s? / Needlessly adorns, in an idiom / Sleuth, slangily / Infamous Russian mystic / N.K. ___, "Broken Earth" trilogy author / "The Bear" matriarch played by Jamie Lee Curtis

Constructor: Michael Lieberman

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Heart Transplants" — wacky phrases where one word (or phrase) is "transplanted" into the "heart" (center) of the other word (or phrase):

Theme answers:

• KLINGON LINGO (23A: Some "Star Trek" slang?)
• EAR CANAL ARCANA (34A: Secrets known only to E.N.T.s?)
• OVERDID VERDI (43A: Listened to "Rigoletto" way too many times?)
• PAPER CUT APERÇU (64A: "A sharp edge recalls a splinter's bite" or "The forest's final revenge is whisper-thin," e.g.?)
• ELICIT FELICITY (75A: Spark joy?)
• HINDI SHINDIG (98A: Diwali or Holi?)
• LAST IN BLASTING (106A: Like the world's worst demolition company?)
• LOTSA FLOTSAM (120A: A whole bunch of ocean detritus?)

Word of the Day: Daniel TIGER (85A: Daniel ___ (children's TV character)) —

 

• Daniel Stripèd Tiger (performed by Fred Rogers) – Daniel Stripèd Tiger is the first puppet ever to appear on Children's Corner and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He is a shy tiger who lives in a non-functioning grandfather clock with no hands, as it is whatever time can change in The Land Of Make-Believe. Despite his shyness, Daniel exhibits wisdom and intelligence when he does speak. His favorite toy is a small dump truck and he wears a watch on one arm because he lives in the clock and always has to know what time it is. He was the ring bearer for Betty and James's wedding. He was named after Dorothy Daniel, who gave Fred his first puppet. Daniel was the puppet most frequently brought along by Rogers for live performances and Rogers stated that Daniel represented certain aspects of his personality. In July 2011, PBS announced that Daniel's son (also named Daniel) would be the star of his own show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. (wikipedia)

• • •

I kept wanting the shaded squares to do something. To spell something. To be meaningful in any way. But they were just the shell, the outer casing for the other word/phrase to be "transplanted" into. The effect is a bunch of random shaded letters and theme answers that are way, way, way too easy to uncover. Repetition is built into the theme, so any challenge that the theme clues might present is practically eliminated. I think some of the theme answers work OK—OVERDID VERDI is probably the nicest, the most compact, the most plausible, and LAST IN BLASTING the funniest—but mostly they're just there, doing this trasplanty thing in a a kind of ho-hum way. And about APERÇU ... look, no one likes this word. The only time you ever see it is in crosswords. I thought I knew what it meant, but that clue makes me unsure (64A: "A sharp edge recalls a splinter's bite" or "The forest's final revenge is whisper-thin," e.g.?). Are APERÇUs just ... sayings? Aphorisms? The ones in the clue read like bad fortune-cookie fortunes. I thought the term meant something like "pithy observation," and I guess that's what those are, but woof. Since when did whispers start being "thin?" Don't tell me, probably the 18th century. I'm used to things being "whisper quiet" and "paper thin." My point is, a theme answer where your wordplay is built around the word APERÇU, probably not gonna be a crowd-pleaser. Mostly, this puzzle just felt insubstantial. I had some very minor trouble in and around the NE, but otherwise, the themers made it very easy to move through the long stuff, and the short stuff put up next to no fight, so pfft—game over quickly, little impression left.

["With just three days more / I'd've just about learned the entire score / To AIDA (4)"]

The one real highlight for me was when I remembered the word "CALDERA" (38A: Depression formed by a volcano's collapse). It did not happen immediately. I was like "what's that word, I know I know it" and so I left and came back, then I had the "-ER-" and thought "I think it ends in 'A'" and that checked out and then I was like "ha, CALDERA, it's CALDERA!" And I was right. Hurray, brain! Slow, but still got it! On the other hand, my brain was less cooperative in the NE, particularly with the second themer, where I could see very quickly that the word "ARCANA" was gonna be involved, but I just couldn't parse the EAR CANAL part. I was like "EAR ... CANADA?" I think the fact that EAR CANAL was two words threw me. Also throwing me in that area was IN PEN, which I had as INKED (31A: Like most autographs). And since I have never seen a single episode of "The Bear," the "matriarch played by Jamie Lee Curtis" ended up looking like it was gonna be DONDA, and I thought "sure, why not? Weird name, but maybe that's why they're using such a niche reference." But the "K" in INKED eventually made everything buckle. I was staring down PET KASS- at 15D: Document used for a travel companion who might sit under a seat and after I entertained PET KASSETTE for about a half second, I realized INKED had to be wrong. PET PASSPORT, IN PEN, DONNA, done done done. Weird to actually get INK just a few answers down from there, at INK PAD (53A: Rubber stamp go-with). Weirder still to get a second PAD (see 15A: Boulderer's safety item). Doubling PAD feels bad, especially when one of the PADs is stand-alone. I understand tolerating some minor duping (like CHANCE IT / YES IT IS / 'TIS), but duping PAD is conspicuous. Makes the editing seem sloppy.

[25A: Infamous Russian mystic]

Bullets:

• 101D: Vietnamese sandwich (BANH MI) — this was how I distinguished LIS from LYS (128A: Fleur-de-___). But I still managed to spell "BANH" wrong (like the German road instead of the ... Vietnamese sandwich)

• 62A: Sleuth, slangily (TEC) — still not sure who's using this when? I see it all the time in crosswords, but not in crime fiction, which I teach regularly. Dick, shamus, gumshoe, P.I. ... all valid. TEC, blecch.
• 130A: Needlessly adorns, in an idiom (GILDS) — as in "___ the lily."
• 8D: Stress-induced discomfort (AGITA) — a Crossword Condition, like APNEA or ACNE or a STYE, except I've actually heard all those used outside crosswords (not true of AGITA).
• 90D: Home of the N.C.A.A.'s Flyers (DAYTON) — me, stubbornly: "Why Won't PHILLY work!?!?!" (by "stubbornly," I mean "stubbornly ignoring the 'N.C.A.A.' part of the clue)

• 92D: Train sound (WHISTLE) — had the "W-" and really wanted "WHOO-HOO" or "WOO-WHOO" or some other "sound" vaguely resembling whatever sound a train WHISTLE makes. Something like this:

• 114D: Young newts (EFTS) — EFTS crossing AREEL is a real crosswordese low point today, rivaled in its nadirnity only by ORO crossing ARCO crossing APERÇU. Oh, and that rotten PEI ÉTÉ REI center. The heart of the Tootsie Pop is supposed to be good, not evil!

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

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️: 

• Venmo (@MichaelDavidSharp)]

=============================

=============================
📘 My other blog 📘:

• Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)