Traffic go-ahead that should be followed four times in this puzzle / THU 5-6-21 / Certain Miller beers / Persistently demanded payment from / Nickname for tap-dancing legend Bill Robinson / French river in W.W. I fighting / Nail polish brand with Bubble Bath shade

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: RIGHT ON RED (63A: Traffic go-ahead that should be followed four times in this puzzle) — four "RED" rebus squares, at each of which the answer veers off to your "right":

Theme answers:

• ALTERED STATE (2D: Drunkenness or hypnosis)
• PUREBRED DOGS (9D: Poodles, but not schnoodles or doodles)
• CURED MEAT (31D: Pancetta or prosciutto)
• CHECKERED FLAG (18D: Something waved when a race is won)

Straight-Across answers inside the theme answers:

• RED STATE (23A: Kansas or Kentucky, politically)
• RED DOGS (29A: Certain Miller beers)
• RED MEAT (43A: Rhetoric for the political base, figuratively)
• RED FLAG (45A: Warning sign)

Word of the Day: NATE Bargatze (60A: Stand-up comedian Bargatze) —

Nathanael “Nate” Bargatze (born March 25, 1979) is an American comedian and actor from Old Hickory, Tennessee. He started at "The Boston" in New York City. He's known for his special on Comedy Central Presents, has appeared multiple times on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Bargatze was part of Jimmy Fallon’s "Clean Cut Comedy Tour" in 2013. He won New York’s Comedy Festival and the Boston Comedy Festival in the same year. He wrote for the Spike TV Video Game Awards, and has performed multiple times for Coalition forces in Iraq and Kuwait. He was mentioned in Rolling Stone by Marc Maron as a "comic who should be big" and in Esquire by Jim Gaffigan as one of the top up-and-coming comics. [...] 

His most recent standup special, "The Greatest Average American", was released on Netflix on March 18, 2021. It was filmed outdoors at Universal Studios Hollywood. (wikipedia)

• • •

I laughed so hard right here:

1A: "How to Be an Anti-___" (best-selling book of 2020)

It's like the grid just comes stumbling into the party like "Hey, I'm RACIST!" and the clue is over there desperately waving its hands like "No no no no, not RACIST, not RACIST, I swear, here, look, look at the clue! 'Anti-'! 'Anti-'! SEE! ... Please don't write us letters!" Using RACIST for your 1-Across ... that is some kind of choice, that is. Quite the opening gambit. Where do we go from there? Well, straight into the theme, actually, which I picked up about as quick as I've ever picked up a trick theme—a two-trick theme, I guess, since you've got the rebus square ("RED") and the turn. Had the first themer filled in and the concept largely locked down before I ever left the above-screengrabbed section of the grid:

So, aside from the fact that it's easy to get and plays out rather monotonously, there are a couple of noteworthy problems with the RIGHT ON RED theme. One is little-ish. The other ... less so. So the little-ish problem is that the clue on RIGHT ON RED isn't a thing. That is, there's no such "Traffic go-ahead." No signs say that, exactly, and you are certainly never "directed" to make a RIGHT ON RED. You sometimes see signs saying that such an action is permitted, of course. RIGHT ON RED is a thing one may do under certain circumstances, but it's not a "directive" in any meaningful sense of the word. And in the puzzle, you *must* go RIGHT ON RED. Again, the clue is the problem here. It could easily have been rewritten. Something along the lines of [Permitted action blah blah blah ... or required action four times in this grid], something like that. Phrase it how you will (e.g. "... or what you must do four times blah blah"), you get the idea. 

The bigger, much bigger problem with the RIGHT ON RED theme is that the answers actually go left. They go left. Yes they do. They go to *your* right, but the answers. Turn. Left. And hey, don't take my word for it—here's the New York Times Crossword Puzzle from January 21, 2021. Let's see what it has to say:

The gimmick here was that the answer was to turn either Left or Right depending on whether an "L" or "R" appeared in the circled square. You can see that Every Single One of the circled themers above disproves today's puzzle's idea of what direction "Right" is. Upper left is BOREDOM ... see how it turns right at the "R," but goes to our left!? See how CHARGED does the same in the SW. And then EVIL ONE turns left at the "L," but goes to our right!? Yes, that's how directions work. Our right is not the answer's right. Quite the opposite, in fact. Thank you for coming to my extremely remedial Ted Talk.

Not much else to say about the puzzle. No idea what RED DOGS are or who NATE Bargatze is, but these things happen ("these things" being "my not knowing stuff"). They're fine answers. I forgot the MARNE, which is the precise opposite of what you're supposed to do ... oh, dang, I'm thinking of the MAINE:

And the ALAMO, of course. DUNNED is an old-fashioned word that a bunch of people won't know, but I've seen DUN enough in (old) crosswords, and probably (old) literature, that it feels like an everyday word to me (51D: Persistently demanded payment from). DUN is also a color, I think (yes, a "dull grayish-brown color," per google). I have this vague memory of a book from my childhood called The Dun Cow or something like that ... wow, yes, The Book of the Dun Cow. 

1978

Just seeing the cover gives me strong flashbacks. I think my mom read this to us, or tried to, when I was 8 or 9 years old. I remember nothing about it. And yet ... it's based on Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale" ... and I went on (20 years later) to write much of my dissertation on Chaucer. Coincidence!? Well, yes, surely. Still, interesting. To me, if no one else.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Outer layer of eyeball / MON 4-27-20 / Rolls's partner in auotdom / Brand with redundant slogan kills bugs dead / Muppet with falsetto / Talk show host who won season of celebrity apprentice / Spiritual leader often picture sitting cross-legged

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Easyish (timer didn't start, so I don't really know)

THEME: AHA MOMENT (64A: Sudden insight ... with a hint to 17-, 24-, 40- and 50-Across) — two-word phrases / names where first word starts A- and second starts HA-:

Theme answers:

• ANGEL HAIR (17A: Thin variety of pasta)
• ACE HARDWARE (24A: Competitor of Home Depot and Lowe's)
• ACCIDENTS HAPPEN (40A: "Don't worry, it's not your fault")
• ARSENIO HALL (50A: Talk show host who won a season of "Celebrity Apprentice")

Word of the Day: Sir Frederick Henry ROYCE (43A: Rolls's partner in autodom) —

Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE (27 March 1863 – 22 April 1933) was an English engineer famous for his designs of car and aeroplane engines with a reputation for reliability and longevity. With Charles Rolls (1877 – 1910) and Claude Johnson (1864 – 1926), he founded Rolls-Royce. 

Rolls-Royce initially focused on large 40-50 horsepower motor cars, the Silver Ghost and its successors. Royce produced his first aero engine shortly after the outbreak of the First World War and aircraft engines became Rolls-Royce's principal product.

Royce's health broke down in 1911 and he was persuaded to leave his factory in the Midlands at Derby and, taking a team of designers, move to the south of England spending winters in the south of France. He died at his home in Sussex in the spring of 1933. (wikipedia)

• • •

Started out kinda rough, with a cutesy-quaint clue for an alcoholic (WINO) and an evocation of lynching (NOOSE), but once I got out of that NW corner, I was surprised to find that things smoothed out and settled down, and by the end of the solve, damned if I didn't think this was a pretty solid Monday puzzle. It's got all the makings of a very dull grid—ultra-conventional shape means we are "treated" to (roughly) nine (roughly) 4x4 or 4x5 sections, which is never conducive to good fill, and usually invites a kind of crosswordese creep that is never pleasant. But, though the fill is typical and familiar throughout, it's never irksomely weak—like, never, not once—and the revealer, when it comes, provides a genuine, if gentle, AHA MOMENT. Nice little self-reflexive touch, with the AHA MOMENT coming with the answer AHA MOMENT. Are there a ton of potential A- + HA- answers? Is this theme too loose? I don't know, and since the answers that I *get* are solid, varied, and interesting, I don't much care. This Monday puzzle did its Monday job. It didn't dazzle, but it most certainly didn't flop. It Mondayed.


Not a lot to say about the finer points of the grid. Four long Downs provide color (and help offset the ordinariness of the bulk of the fill). Every one of those Four adds interest to the grid. It's a vivid and varied set. I'm seeing trapeze artists dressed as Odysseus and Achilles throwing open their arms to catch one another during a circus act ... and the circus is in ANCHORAGE, I guess. I always have trouble with ISIAH, or, I at least have to think about it, since the more common spelling (I think) is ISAIAH ... which honestly looks wrong if you stare at it too long. That -AIA- vowel string is like "you can't be serious." But no, that *is* how you spell it most of the time. Interestingly, when I try to google "Isaiah," the predictive text feature believes I'm looking for ISIAH Thomas, so people must misspell his name constantly. I hesitated at LEAR thinking it might be LEER (?!) (18D: Big name in jets). I thought maybe DESI before getting LUCY (29D: Ethel's neighbor/pal, on 1950s TV), which, now that I read the whole clue, and now that I think about the fact that DESI was the actor, not the character, is absurd. Though I was very fast with this one, I had to steer around ANN'S (39D: St. ___ (common church name)) (clue too vague for me) and SHINE (52D: What stars and bootblacks both do) (clue too thinky for me). Everything else fell in easily. Really wish the ARSENIO HALL clue (50A: Talk show host who won a season of "Celebrity Apprentice") had done him and everyone else the favor of remembering his historic run as a late-night talk show host instead of remembering him as having once been on the reality show of the world's vilest and stupidest person (it's really the whitest clue I can imagine), but otherwise, as I say, this one held up well.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Swahili for freedom / MON 3-23-20 / Flat-bottomed boat / Cuisine featuring drunken noodles / Founder of McDonald's empire

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Easy (2:40)

THEME: A HOUSE DIVIDED (53A: It "cannot stand" per 1-Down ... or a hint to 20-, 25- and 47-Across) — the letters in "HOUSE" are "divided" i.e. split apart in each themer, with HO- at the front and -USE at the back:

Theme answers:

• HOPELESS CAUSE (20A: What a last true believer might believe in)
• "HOLD THE APPLAUSE" (25A: "Don't clap yet")
• "HOW COULD I REFUSE?" (47A: "There was no choice but for me to say yes!")

Word of the Day: Bob GRIESE (6D: Dolphins Hall-of-Fame QB Bob) —

Robert Allen Griese (pronounced /ˈɡriːsi/ GREE-see; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Griese led the Dolphins to three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII (a feat since matched by Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills with four consecutive super bowls, and Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowls LI, LII, and LIII). Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. He later worked as a television commentator, calling NFL games for NBC Sports and college football for ESPN and ABC Sports. Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue to win the Super Bowl (along with Len Dawson and Drew Brees). (wikipedia)

• • •

I was just saying I don't need bland mediocrity, but here we are again. Again! Less disappointing today, because I have learned not to expect terribly much from this constructor. To be clear, this is very passable fare. I'd expect to see it in a lesser daily, not the NYT, but it certainly "works" on whatever level it's trying to "work" on. Or ... does it? If A HOUSE DIVIDED cannot stand, then ... are these answers even real? Because it looks like the divided house is standing just fine. All three answers, just ... standing there. So the whole premise kind of undermines itself. And Mr. Lincoln. By the way, pretty dicey move, pretending like the 3-letter crosswordese you've crammed into one of the corners of your grid (i.e. ABE) is actually a "theme" answer. That "author of the quote" reference is a component the puzzle didn't actually need, but now that it's here, it just seems sad; like the puzzle knows it's not good enough and is trying to throw in "bonus" stuff to compensate.


On Sunday night, I invited crossword Twitter to send me any comments they had on the Monday puzzle. I promised I'd post them, no matter who wrong they were. I am a man of my word

pic.twitter.com/vC6Nm9skxl

— Martha (@marthakimes) March 22, 2020

there are probably many catastrophes on ETSY

SCAM / SHAM dilemma

he's kidding, please no mail

And re: TEHEE...

Stay at least six feet away from other humans! See you tomorrow!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Eponymous Belgian town / THU 1-2-20 / Cash flow tracker for shortFamously nonunionized worker / Many John Wayne films informally / Former mideast alliance for short

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Easyish (4:48)

THEME: THE DARK SIDE (60A: Where Darth Vader gets his strength ... or what eight answers in this puzzle share) — black square before and after answers on the same row represents the word "DARK" (at the end and beginning of each answer, respectively):

Theme answers:

• AFRAID OF THE (DARK) (17A: Nyctophobic) / (DARK) MAN (19A: 1990 Sam Raimi superhero film)
• "WAIT UNTIL (DARK) (23A: 1967 thriller for which Audrey Hepburn received an Oscar nomination) / (DARK) HORSE (26A: Surprise winner)
• BE IN THE (DARK) (36A: Not know something others know) / (DARK) 'N' STORMY (38A: Cocktail made with ginger beer)
• AFTER (DARK) (51A: Post-sunset) / (DARK) CHOCOLATE (53A: Sweet that lacks milk)

Word of the Day: AIR SINAI (3D: Tel Aviv-to-Cairo carrier) —

Air Sinai (Arabic: سيناء للطيران‎ Sīna' lil-Ṭayyarān) is an airline based in Cairo, Egypt. It operates as a 'paper-airline' for parent company EgyptAir under a wet lease-like agreement to serve flights exclusively between Egypt and Israel. // The airline was established in 1982 to fly scheduled services between Egypt and Israel (on routes previously flown by Nefertiti Aviation), which for political reasons could not be handled by parent company EgyptAir. [...] Air Sinai ceased airline operations in its own right in 2002 and operates as a 'paper airline' for its parent company, EgyptAir, using their aircraft without any markings identifying either carrier, although some have been spotted in Tel Aviv in full EgyptAir branding. Flights are not listed in EgyptAir schedules and do not appear on their website or route maps either. As of 2014 Air Sinai flights are displayed on arrival and departure boards at Cairo Airport using the IATA code 4D. (wikipedia)

• • •

Well this is dreary. I've seen the black-square-equals-BLACK before, for sure, and I'd be surprised if I hadn't seen -DARK as well, but the over-familiarity of the concept isn't even the main problem. You can take something that's technically been done before and still make it fresh and fun, give it a twist, throw a cool revealer in there, etc. But this one just clonks. Kuh-thud. The revealer is a complete miss because the phrase, however colorful, misses when it comes to describing the relationship between the two answers that share the DARK square. The THE just feels wrong and off. The answers share *A* dark side, of sorts, but not THE. The annoyingness of THE is compounded by the fact that THE is part of not one but two of the themers themselves: AFRAID OF *THE* DARK, BE IN *THE* DARK—which leads to yet another problem, which is all the first themers (i.e. the ones that *end* with DARK) are the same kind of DARK. It's just ... a time-of-day DARK. The kind that comes when the sun goes down. Over and over and over. BE IN THE DARK is metaphorical, I guess, but Audrey Hepburn waits until after dark so Alan Arkin (so good!) will be literally in the dark, giving her an advantage, since she is blind and is thus not afraid of the dark. It's relentlessly the same, this dark, and the fact that "the dark" appears twice just reinforces this fact. The second-half themers (the ones *beginning* with DARK) at least get to be more metaphorical, relate to color, etc. Lots of different aspects of DARK. My point is I got this theme early and there were no surprises waiting, no twists, no unexpected moments, no laughter, just a mirthless march to the end, where not even "Star Wars" could save this thing. At least it was easy.


This felt very easy, but looking back over the grid, I see I got at least a little hung up all over the place. That whole SCONES (5A: Offerings at many coffeehouses) / EFFECT (15A: Result) / CFO (6D: Cash flow tracker, for short) / OFF-SITE (7D: Like much freelance work) area really made me work. And then, even though "WAIT UNTIL DARK" was a gimme, and let me know there was something missing, it took me a bit to figure it out. I first thought the rebus had something to do with the "U" (like maybe UNTIL occupied a single box, somehow), and then, even when I knew it was a black-square-equals-DARK theme, I kept forgetting which answers were themers, and so wondering, for example, what kind of [Surprise winner] could be five letters and start with "H"!?! Then I'd get the answer, go "D'oh!," and keep moving. Had trouble with ATV (32D: Transport to remote areas, briefly), and with MUSK (29D: Perfume ingredient), and with CURBS (54D: Checks), and had no idea that DARK 'N' STORMY was canonically a two-apostrophe 'N' answer as opposed to an ampersand answer or a simple "AND" answer. Didn't take me too long to suss it out, since I knew for sure the name of the drink, but still, seconds are seconds and they add up. But as I say, the rest of this was very easy, so I still came out fast. Bludgeoningly dull theme, boring fill—a definite down-turn from yesterday. Still rootin' for you, 2020!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Erik Agard was recently made editor of the USA Today crossword and suddenly that puzzle is ... good. Very good. They're all pretty easy (M/T level), but they routinely put the NYT to shame with their clarity and currency and broad (and inclusive) frame of reference. Also, so far well over half the constructors have been women. If he can keep it at even 33% he will be (and I cannot say this strongly enough) *crushing* the NYTXW in this department. Not sure how *all of a sudden* there are ample female constructors, and their puzzles are really good? It's almost like the editor's vision and leadership ... matters? Anyway, you can find it on the USA Today site, or get the app and solve it on whatever device you use (or just print it out from the app and solve it on your clipboard in a comfy chair with your morning coffee, which is what I do)

P.P.S. speaking of women constructors, Stella Zawistowski just started her own independent crossword site, "Tough As Nails," where she will be offering Very Hard themelesses (she's a top speed-solver and she likes her puzzles tough). I solved the first one and it was very hard, but very delightful as well. Satisfying. Her work will be a welcome addition to the Puzzleverse.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Seeress of ancient Greece / TUE 12-3-19 / Civil rights leader Williams who was associate of Martin Luther King Jr / Liturgical vestment / Ermine by another name

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Medium (3:43)

THEME: VOICE / ACTOR (62A: With 64-Across, performer who is like the words sounded out at the starts of the answers to the four starred clues) — "heard but not seen":

Theme answers:

• HERD INSTINCT (20A: *Inclination to follow the majority)
• BUTT-DIALS (32A: *Phones inadvertently)
• KNOT-TYING (43A: *Boy Scout handbook topic)
• SCENE STEALER (55A: *One upstaging a star, say)

Word of the Day: HOSEA Williams (14A: Civil rights leader Williams, who was an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr.) —

Hosea Lorenzo Williams (January 5, 1926 – November 16, 2000), was an American civil rightsleader, activist, ordained minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, and politician. He may be best known as a trusted member of fellow famed civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King, Jr.'s inner circle. Under the banner of their flagship organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King depended on Williams to organize and stir masses of people into nonviolent direct action in myriad protest campaigns they waged against racial, political, economic, and social injustice. King alternately referred to Williams, his chief field lieutenant, as his "bull in a china closet" and his "Castro". Vowing to continue King's work for the poor, Williams is well known in his own right as the founding president of one of the largest social services organizations in North America, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless. His famous motto was "Unbought and Unbossed." (wikipedia)

• • •

This is some cornball stuff. The theme answers themselves are mostly fine on their own, but this kind of awful pun just does nothing for me. It's not even truly, godawfully awful. It's just a bunch of homophones. The most annoying thing is probably the clue on the revealer, which a. tells you nothing about the answer itself, and b. is worded terribly. The performer is not "like the words," they're like the *phrase* made by the words. Plus, stylistically, the revealer is just a pedantic garble of phrases: "... like the ... at the ... of the ... to the ..." Stick the landing on the revealer (and revealer clue) or absolutely do not attempt a "sound out the pun"-type theme. ARF! To make matters slightly worse, there's some truly bad fill in here. Like, retro bad. Mothball bad. ASOU!? (37A: Not worth ___ (valueless) Wow. We're really still doing that one? I feel like it's only there to make you forget about the ordinary tired crosswordese like ONEL, ALB, SRO, and ABES, which is still not a thing, no matter how much the NYTXW tries to push it. "Hey, you got any ABES on you?" asks no one. Fives are "fins" or "fivers." When it comes to bills with political nicknames, it's Benjamins and ... that's it. Collectively, you can call money "Dead Presidents" (even if that does feel a little '90s rappish, i.e. dated). But ABES, no. And crossing ABS!? No no.


The puzzle was reasonably easy but dang if I didn't get wickedly slowed down by SLASHMARK (6D: Punctuation that may mean "or"). Just no idea. I think the main reason is I would just call it a SLASH ... so weirdly even with SLASHM-R-, my brain wouldn't process it. SLASHMORE!? Also, I'm pretty sure I put in HERD INSTINCT immediately after getting the HERD part from crosses, but for Some reason I second-guessed it and removed it. Not sure what precipitated that, but stupid move, for sure. Otherwise, there were only a few other bumps along the way. Didn't know HOSEA. Thought 47A: Soak one's bib (DROOL) was some kind of idiom for drinking. Never considered that "one's" would be from the ... baby's perspective!? Very cool clue on BRIDE (61A: One of two on some wedding cakes)—so cool that I didn't read it as referring to same-sex marriage. I had trouble processing the clue, and then figured that "One of two" meant "one of the two figures, which are, of course, the bride and groom." But I'm pretty sure this one's gay, which is cool. Hooray for KNOT-TYING with whoever you love!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

"EAT ME, LESTER" is a great row. "AWAKE, KEN GOOSE!" is a close second.

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You in billet doux / WED 11-13-19 / Order since 1868 / Symbolic flower of Flanders / One of three in Buick logo / Role for John Huston in 1966's The Bible / 2015 Verizon acquisition

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: no idea. super slow for me, but that was def. because of early-morning fog brain ... so: Medium!?

THEME: BALLOON DARTS (56A: Carnival projectiles that might be directed at parts of this puzzle?) — a "POP" rebus, where "POP" appears inside five circled squares:

Theme answers:

• POPULAR / APOPLEXY
• HIPPOPOTAMUSES / RED POPPY
• "IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?" / TOOTSIE POP
• SOAP OPERA / POP BANDS
• IGGY POP / SNAP OPEN 

Word of the Day: PES (23A: Foot, in medical dictionaries) —

n. pl. pe·des (pĕd′ās′)

A foot or footlike part, especially the foot of a four-footed vertebrate. (the free dictionary)

• • •

I can't try to speed-solve first thing in the morning. I have to accept that it just doesn't work anymore (if it ever did). I could not see the "POP"s even when I knew they were there, even when I'd ferreted out the theme, so "IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?" (38A: "Obviously! (Duh!)") and SOAP OPERA were just unparsable to me for way too long. I've never heard anyone under 60 say "IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?" Maybe 70. Maybe I've never actually heard anyone say it IRL, and have only seen it on (old) TV and in (old) movies. Venn diagram of people who say "Obviously! (Duh!)" (how do you *say* a parenthetical???) and people who cutesily ask "IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?" is just two circles side by side. I had the last letters in place and thought answer was gonna be something something ALCOHOLIC (?). Found APOPLEXY hard to see too—whole NE corner briefly threatened Never to come into view (no idea on ADOBE, no idea on BAG, no idea on LEDGE, which, to me, is just an innocuous place where birds "perch" non-"perilous"ly all the time. Every day, in fact). Spelling on SPEX is super-suspext. I had SPEC in there at first. Anyway, it was all a disaster, as over and over I just stared at grid wondering what was wrong.


Misread clue on STAYS IN as [Eschews the right life] and thought it was trying to be some politics pun. Total blank on 29D: One eating before a king (TASTER) even when most of the letters are in place. It's so dumb ... like, what year is it? I need context for this to make any sense? Again, this is from the (old) movies. Anyway, my foggy brain isn't the puzzle's problem, but the stale answers and the aggressively bygone cultural center of gravity and crosswordese like PES (oof) VENI OVO NAE SST etc. that *is* the puzzle's fault. Also, I just don't think BALLOON DARTS is a thing. The theme concept, with the balloons POPping and all, is not bad, but the revealer was a major let-down. Also a let-down to have some of the POPs hidden inside other words or phrases, and then some of them ... just be the word POP (BANDS, IGGY, TOOTSIE). But "POP" is probably not the easiest word to bury over and over and over, so the unhidden POPs were much less of a concern for me than the PFFT of the revealer. Oh, and the "POP" in POP BANDS *means* POPULAR, so ... why is POPULAR here? You can't have a word and its own abbr. in the same grid. Change POPULAR to POPLARS or POP TART, redo the NE corner. It would take a few minutes, tops. Come on, editor. Edit!!

made this verion of a NE corner in under a minute—there are surely even better options

[Björk band of the '80s-'90s]

Honestly, what is going on with the clue on ROOT?!?!? It's like someone just pounded the keyboard. I keep reading it, and it doesn't get better. That is an insanely complicated and confusing way to come at a very general word like ROOT. It would be a great clue for WHISKEY if you just cut that end bit off there. I kept wanting it to be a whiskey-related answer. But no, it's just ... ROOT. Awful. 1966's "The Bible"???? GOD? At least I know who John Huston is, but yeeeeesh, this is a clue for TRICIA Nixon, not me. Is "The Bible" even a famous movie? Why would you go all the way ... there ... for something simple like GOD. Puzzle feels hostile to anyone born after 1960. IGGY POP is a young-skewing answer, and he's like 94 (jk he's actually undead). ADMEN is appropriate, though, as there's no women here except TRICIA (and DORA). By the way, while I'm down DORA's way, look how easy it is to get rid of "TORA!"—cruddy OLD 1/3-of-an-OLD-movie "TORA!" I did this in roughly negative three seconds:

Original

TORA-free, properly edited version

I mean, in losing DORA you lose half the female presence in your puzzle, but it's clear you never cared about that to begin with, so [shrug]. Bye bye (bye), TORA! Anyway, overall, decent theme idea somewhat squandered by iffy revealer and creaky fill.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Happy birthday, mom

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Venerable monk of Middle Ages / MON 7-15-19 / Magical powder in Peter Pan / Style of collarless shirt / Aquarium accessory

Constructor: Ed Sessa

Relative difficulty: Easy (2:45)

THEME: SHORT CUTS (61A: Timesavers ... or the starts of 17-, 26-, 36- and 51-Across?) — first words are short haircuts, each of which can precede the word "cut" (even BOB, apparently...)

Theme answers:

• BUZZ WORDS (17A: Trendy terms)
• BOB SAGET (26A: First host of "America's Funniest Home Videos")
• PIXIE DUST (36A: Magical powder in "Peter Pan")
• CREW NECK (51A: Style of collarless shirt)

Word of the Day: India.ARIE (14A: Singer India.___) —

India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India.Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over 3.3 million records in the US and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album. [...] Arie released her debut album Acoustic Soul on March 27, 2001. The album was met with positive reviews and commercial success. "Acoustic Soul" debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA), selling 2,180,000 copies in the U.S. and 3,000,000 copies worldwide. The album was also certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry and platinum by Music Canada. The album was promoted with the release of the lead single "Video". "Video" attained commercial success peaking at forty seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and becoming her highest charting song in the region to date. The album's second single "Brown Skin" failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but it became her highest charting single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 29. (wikipedia)

• • •

I finished this very quickly, then went back and looked at what was going on: crew CUT, pixie CUT, bob ... CUT??? That's where I balked a bit. You wear your hair in a bob (well, probably not *you* you, but one, one does ... at least one of you ... does). I'm used to the hairstyle being called simply a "bob," not a "bob cut"—unlike all the other words in this theme set, which actually *require* the word "cut" in order to be recognized as haircuts at all. I guess you could say "I got a BUZZ," which ... I'm not sure how different that is from a CREW (cut), but anyway, "bob" feels like the odd man out today. I will say, though, that I googled it (!) and "bob cut" googles just fine, so even though I think it feels off, it's clearly not Wildly off, if it's off at all. The other things that felt off were the bits affixed to the beginnings of BEDE and MAGI. I have a Ph.D. in English literature—medieval English literature, to be specific—and while I heard BEDE referred to frequently as "the Venerable Bede," I never Ever heard "the Venerable ST. BEDE." I mean, he is ST. BEDE, but using "Venerable" there is deceptive. Moreover, absolutely nothing about the clue suggests there will be an abbr. in the answer, which is pretty messed up, esp. on a Monday. As for *THE* MAGI ... the THE feels pretty showy, and also midly off. Like, they're the MAGI. If you wanna get all formal, they're "the three MAGI" or "three wise men." Maybe if you're doing the O. Henry story "The Gift of THE MAGI," you can sneak THE in there, but then it's a partial, and yuck. The definite article feels wobbly to me (whereas in, say, THE MOB, or THE FED, it doesn't).


But overall I thought the theme held up pretty well, and the grid was certainly adequate. It's chock-a-block with names from the Crosswordese Pantheon—everyone from India.ARIE to OPIE is there, including both parts of ANG LEE's name. But with only a stray FUM or ABU mucking things up, I didn't really mind the ELSA ELIE REA onslaught. I got slowed down by 4D: Some Moroccan headwear, as I had FEZ and then wanted ... FEZHAT (!?). Also got thrown by the clue on LIZARDS (3D: Chameleons, e.g.), as I was thinking more ... metaphorically, I guess. Went looking for things / people that change appearance, blend in, etc. I never know which [Atlanta-based channel] the puzzle is going to want. I think today I went with TNT? TNN? I forget. Not TBS, at any rate. And I always have trouble between "A" and "L" at the end of YENT_ (21A: Busybody, from the Yiddish). I really should only go with YENTL when the clue specifically refers to the play or movie. Maybe I learned something today. Probably not, but ... maybe.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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