Longest key on a keyboard / TUES 8-5-25 / First modular space station / Singer India.___ / Messy class for kindergartners

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare back this time for the first Tuesday in August! Not much to report given the shorter-than-usual turnaround. But we of course had some important sports this weekend, with the Washington Spirit soccer team winning on a last-minute goal from Trinity Rodman, returning after months out with a back injury. We’re less than two weeks away from the start of the Premier League. (As you may recall, my Liverpudlians won the title last year. I might have mentioned that once or twice.) And tennis is gearing up, with the US Open starting in less than three weeks! In other news, I don’t have a client interview tomorrow at 7 AM, so that’s a nice change of pace! 

Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructors: Gary Larson and Amy Ensz

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Punny answers where the article “a” can be read as separate from the rest of the next word to literally answer the clue, or the “a” can be read with the rest of the word

Theme answers:

• A/CUTE ANGLE (17A: Adorable perspective on things?) 
• A/SCENT OF MAN (28A: Axe or Old Spice?) 
• A/HEAD OF TIME (46A: Major newsmagazine's C.E.O.?) 
• A/CORN SHELL (61A: Taco tortilla option?)

Word of the Day: PAIGE (34A: Satchel in Cooperstown)  —

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. At age 42 in 1948, Paige made his MLB debut for the Cleveland Indians; to this day, this makes him the oldest debutant in National League or American League history. Paige was 59 years old when he played his last major league game, which is also a record that stands to this day. Paige was the first black pitcher to play in the American League and was the seventh black player to play in Major League Baseball. Also in 1948, Paige became the first player who had played in the Negro leagues to pitch in the World Series; the Indians won the Series that year. (Wiki)

• • •

Overall a pretty good theme, with some above-average, clever fill. I wouldn’t say the theme was anything to write home about, and I sort of missed having a revealer (not that it’s a requirement), but the answers were clever wordplay. The only one I didn’t like was A CORN SHELL / ACORN SHELL (61A) because I really don’t think that ACORN SHELL is in the lexicon. I’ve never talked about an ACORN SHELL in my life. Have you? My favorite was A CUTE ANGLE / ACUTE ANGLE (17A). 

The fill was quite clean and full of uncommon words, especially on a Tuesday. I really enjoyed seeing IMPETUS (23A: Driving force), STASIS (1D: Equilibrium), USURPS (3D: Seizes, as control, ARDENT (49D: Gung-ho), and TACOMA (2D: City that shares an international airport with Seattle). Then SAVES FACE (10D: Maintains one's dignity) and STEAM ROOM (33D: Spot to sit and sweat) weren’t bad long downs. I enjoyed having both TAHOE (54D: Chevy model whose name references a body of water) and RIO (62D: Kia model whose name references a body of water) in the puzzle. Having those close to OCEANS (47D: About 71% of the earth's surface) was clever. 

A few answers made this a slightly harder than usual Tuesday for me. I got stuck on SYNOD (5A: Church assembly) for some reason. I didn’t know ARLO (16A: Janis's spouse in the funny pages). I wasn’t previously familiar with PAIGE (34A), which I’ve now rectified with the Googling I’ve done and learning about what an amazing pitcher and player and person he was. I blanked on MICA (52A: Flaky rock), and TEA TREE (53A: Member of the myrtle family that's the source of an essential oil) was a little old-fashioned for me. 

I didn’t like how the top of the puzzle had STUB (1A: Leftover part of a ticket) and then STUD (10A: Support to which drywall is attached). I also have a big bone to pick with SMEAR (38A: Mascara mishap) because a mascara mishap is most definitely a smudge and not a smear. I even typed out “smudge” because I was so certain, before realizing it wouldn’t fit. I Googled to confirm, and if you search “mascara smear,” results about a smudge are all that come up. 

SPACE BAR (21A: Longest key on a keyboard) was cute. I was staring at my keyboard trying to think if it could be “caps lock” or “command,” wondering what would fit. But it was quite literally the longest key instead. That clue was a long way to go for COOP / CO-OP (22D: Certain apartment (with a hyphen) or farm housing (without one)), but I liked it.

Misc.:

• Here’s a quote from a Q + A with Willie Mays about Satchel PAIGE (wildly high praise from probably the best player in baseball history) —
• Oh, yeah. We were in Memphis, Tennessee. It was like a playoff game. It might have been ’48. Satchel had a very, very good fastball. But he threw me a little breaking ball, just to see what I could do, and I hit it off the top of the fence. And I got a double. When I got to second, Satchel told the third baseman, "Let me know when that little boy comes back up." Three innings later, I go to kneel down in the on-deck circle, and I hear the third baseman say, "There he is." Satch looked at the third baseman, and then he looked at me. I walk halfway to home plate and he says, "Little boy." I say, "Yes, sir?" because Satch was much older than I am, so I was trying to show respect. He walked halfway to home plate and said, "Little boy, I’m not going to trick you. I’m going to throw you three fastballs and you’re going to go sit down." And I’m saying in my mind, "I don’t think so." If he threw me three of the same pitch, I’m going to hit it somewhere. He threw me two fastballs and I just swung...I swung right through it. And the third ball he threw, and I tell people this all the time, he threw the ball and then he started walking. And he says, "Go sit down." This is while the ball was in the air. He was just a magnificent pitcher.
• My sister and I actually met Willie Mays because he gave out baseballs for Halloween in our neighborhood when we were kids. My dad really wanted to meet him, too, but we sprinted ahead because we were so excited. My dad just got to wave to Mays from partway up the driveway. Sorry, Dad! 
• I always love to see TAHOE (aka the prettiest place on Earth) in the puzzle. Especially seeing the weather forecasts recently in TAHOE (54D) versus D.C., I kind of want to move back. 
• I know ULNA (12D: Arm bone on the pinkie finger side) is common crosswordese. But I’ll never forget the name and placement of this bone, along with many others, solely because I went through a phase in high school where I downloaded apps to quiz myself on anatomy because I had been influenced by watching “Grey’s Anatomy” and wanted to be a doctor. That lasted until I took AP Bio my junior year and hated it, then did an internship at a hospital and… fainted my first time in an operating room. Glad I switched to law instead! 
• I’m not sure I’ve had TETLEY (51D: Brand for a cuppa) tea before, even as a tea drinker. I’m more familiar with Bigelow or Lipton or Twinings if I want to get fancy. But I seem to be able to order TETLEY (51D) online, so I may have to try it and will report back! 
• Speaking of sports… The US Track and Field Championships wrapped up last weekend with some incredible performances, including a 16-year-old who finished second in the 800m, setting a U-18 (and also collegiate) world record. There was drama with Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, who pushed Lyles after losing to him in the 200m (there’s some behind-the-scenes drama there). Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone narrowly missed out on the American 400m record (her main event is the hurdles, where she already holds the world record). She’ll compete in the 400m at worlds and go for the American record again. Gabby Thomas, who won gold in the 200m at the Paris Olympics, made the team by finishing third, one-thousandth of a second ahead of fourth and two-thousandths of a second ahead of fifth. We like Gabby even though she went to a school whose name starts with H. We’re now just about six weeks away from the world championships.

And that's all from me, folks! Have a great August.

Signed, Clare Carroll, who when she needs a Lyft feels A LONG FOR THE RIDE

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Body of water north of Siberia / TUE 7-9-24 / Sting operation at a senior center? / Competitor of LIV Golf / Busy "season" for limo drivers / Doomed from the start, for short

Constructor: Gary Larson and Amy Ensz

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (two toughish answers, else Easy)

THEME: "Hitter miss" — "___ OR ___" phrases are reimagined as (wacky!) (wacky?) "___ER ___" phrases:

Theme answers:

• BOOMER BUST (17A: Sting operation at a senior center?)
• FIGHTER FLIGHT (26A: Mission for an F-16?)
• FORMER FASHION (45A: Powdered wigs, petticoats, etc.?)
• PASSER FAIL (61A: Quarterback's interception?)

Word of the Day: KARA SEA (43D: Body of water north of Siberia) —

The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all extensions of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. [...]

The Kara Sea is roughly 1,450 km (900 mi) long and 970 km (600 mi) wide with an area of around 880,000 km² (339,770 sq mi) and a mean depth of 110 metres (360 ft).

Its main ports are Novy Port and Dikson and it is important as a fishing ground although the sea is ice-bound for all but two months of the year. The Kara Sea contains the East-Prinovozemelsky field (an extension of the West Siberian Oil Basin), containing significant undeveloped petroleum and natural gas. In 2014, US government sanctions resulted in Exxon having until 26 September to discontinue its operations in the Kara Sea. (wikipedia)

• • •

No, not *that* Gary Larson. (Just wanted to get that out of the way)

More bust than boom today, I think. The concept just doesn't have enough juice. Simple concepts *can* yield snappy results, but these are all pretty limp. BOOMER BUST is probably the best, since the imagined context is mildly amusing and more than sufficiently Wacky, but the rest of these just kinda lie there. "OR" to "ER," as a concept, just doesn't have that many interesting places to go. And there aren't enough *good* "___ OR ___" phrases to choose from. Some of the ones we get today feel slightly fudged. "Boom or bust" is real enough, but "Boom *and* bust" is possibly more common (describing economic cycles). Merriam-webster dot com has "Boom-and-bust" but not "Boom-or-bust," and the first def. at the top of a google search for "Boom-or-bust" gives you the definition for "Boom-*and*-bust," and lists "Boom-or-bust" as a variant. Further, "form or fashion" doesn't really stand on its own very well. "In some form or fashion" is the full phrase. As for "Pass or fail," I've been on university campuses ... well, too long ... and while that phrasing is absolutely recognizable and acceptable, the common expression is "Pass/fail," like it's one word. "I'm taking it pass/fail." So the themer set as a whole is acceptable, but only just, and, well, it's hard to get excited about "acceptable."

Overall the puzzle played very easy, but there were two answers that slowed me down considerably (on Tuesday, any amount of slowing down beyond 5 seconds or so = "considerably"). The first, and most annoying, was PROLIFIC (40D: Like Stephen King and Isaac Asimov). I say "annoying," but that's just my speed-solver frustration talking. The clue is fine. It's just far more enigmatic than every other clue in the grid, and that answer appears at a very crucial point in the grid: the (extremely narrow) passageway from east to southeast, so while I expected to get the first letter or two and go plunging right down into the southeast, I ... did not. For all I know, Stephen King and Isaac Asimov went to the same university, or are both Pisces, or left-handed, or ... PR-, PR- ... PROFITABLE? PRINTERS? PRUDENT? For whatever reason, PROLIFIC just wouldn't come. And I'm not sure I knew that about Asimov. King, yes, for sure, I was talking about his prolificness with my wife this past weekend as we wandered some bookstore or other. I don't know Asimov's work nearly as well, and certainly don't see his stuff on bookstore shelves in anything like the numbers that I see King's books. Again, not questioning the clue, the clue is fine. Just didn't click for me. 

The bigger non-click today, however, was KARA SEA (!?!?!?). Thank god all the crosses in KARA are fair because the very existence of this sea is News To Me. As near-polar seas go, I know the Antarctic ROSS SEA (a crossword "favorite" of old), but if I've ever seen KARA SEA in crosswords before, I've plum forgotten about it. Looks like its last appearance in the NYTXW was 25 years ago (May 6, 1999). And that was a Thursday. Doubt I saw KARA SEA then, as I was probably preoccupied that week with my job interview (for the English Dept. job I still have). Not sure why they flew me back for an interview so late in the annual interview process ... (actually I do know—they wanted someone else, but that person had put her foot in her mouth somehow, or otherwise made a "bad" impression, and so I got the call) (that other person was almost certainly the better candidate; she probably "offended" someone without knowing how or why; stepped on a toe, name-dropped an unfavorable name, who knows?; faculty can be, let's say, touchy. And capricious. And cruel.). Anyway, KARA SEA, yikes, infinitely more obscure than anything else in the grid. But easily gettable from crosses, so I learn something new without shedding too much blood, hurrah.

Notes:

• 14A: Thrice-repeated words in one of Gertrude Stein's truisms ("A ROSE") — when I search [Gertrude Stein's truisms] the first hit I get is for a crossword answer site. Referring to this crossword specifically. I had no idea Stein was famous for a set of "truisms," though I do know the phrase "A ROSE is A ROSE is A ROSE..."* (how many "A ROSE"s do we ultimately get? With Stein, it seems like the answer might possibly be "infinite"). We had to read Stein's Tender Buttons in my senior seminar at college. It was a good lesson—some writing doesn't *want* to be "interpreted." From wikipedia:

Tender Buttons has provoked divided critical responses since its publication. It is renowned for its Modernist approach to portraying the everyday object and has been lauded as a "masterpiece of verbal Cubism". Its first poem, "A Carafe, That Is a Blind Glass", is arguably its most famous, and is often cited as one of the quintessential works of Cubist literature. The book has also been, however, criticized as "a modernist triumph, a spectacular failure, a collection of confusing gibberish, and an intentional hoax".

• 35A: What the first call to a receptionist might come in on (LINE ONE) — there's something quaint about this that I love. Receptionist / telephone line humor was a staple of old comedies, and by "old" I mean "from the time before email." I know telephones still exist, but for some reason LINE ONE gives off beautiful last-century vibes.

• 19A: English playwright Coward (NOEL) — NO "EL" being a delightfully ironic answer for a puzzle that has ELF and ELK and ELL.
• 56A: SEP and Roth, for two (IRAS) — "SEP" = Simplified Employee Pension. LOL I thought it stood for "Self-Employed Person" (because that's who they're for).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

*the actual phrase is "Rose is A ROSE is A ROSE is A ROSE” and it's from the poem "Sacred Emily," from Stein's 1922 collection Geography and Plays. Whereas "A ROSE by any other name would smell as sweet," is, of course, from Danielle Steel's Daddy (1989).

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