___ Ketchum, "Pokémon" protagonist / MON 4-7-25 / Some broadcasts updating current events / Baseball score due to the defensive team's error / Instruments for John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins / Intel chip whose name sounds like an element on the periodic table / Treat with the right Stuf?

Constructor: Jeffrey Lease and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Hardish if you solve Downs-only (as I do on Mondays); probably normalish otherwise

THEME: TEN-TO-ONE ODDS (53A: Big payout potential ... or a hint to the words in the shaded squares (and the clue numbers on which they begin) — the words "TEN" and "ONE" are embedded in four longer answers (in shaded squares) and both "TEN" and "ONE" begin in squares with odd clue numbers in them)

Theme answers:

• "TENNIS, ANYONE?" (19A: Court summons?) [TEN starts at 19, ONE starts at 21]
• WELL-INTENTIONED (27A: Having a benevolent goal in mind) [29, 31]
• TENOR SAXOPHONES (45A: Instruments for John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins) [45, 49]
• TEN-TO-ONE ODDS [53, 55]

Word of the Day: ENOS (68A: First son of Seth, in Genesis) —

Enos or Enosh (Hebrew: אֱנוֹשׁ ʾĔnōš; "mortal man"; Arabic: أَنُوش/يَانِش, romanized: Yāniš/’Anūš; Greek: Ἐνώς Enṓs; Ge'ez: ሄኖስ Henos) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as the first son of Seth who figures in the Generations of Adam, and is also referred to within the genealogies of 1 Chronicles.

According to Christianity, he is part of the genealogy of Jesus as mentioned in Luke 3:38. Enos is also mentioned in Islam in the various collections of tales of the pre-Islamic prophets, which honor him in an identical manner. Furthermore, early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included his name in the genealogy of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, (Arabic: ’Anūsh أَنُوش or: Yānish يَانِش). [...] 

Genesis 4:26 says: "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the Lord". The traditional Jewish interpretation of this verse, though, implies that it marked the beginning of idolatry, i.e. that men start dubbing "Lord" things that were mere creatures. This is because the previous generations, notably Adam, had already "begun calling upon the name of the Lord", which forces one to interpret הוחל huchal not as "began" but as the homonym "profanated". In this light, Enosh suggests the notion of a humanity (Enoshut) thinking of itself as an absolute rather than in relation to God (Enosh vs. Adam). (wikipedia)

• • •

Seems like an elaborate theme for a Monday. An elaborate theme that doesn't quite work (only one of the themers ("TENNIS, ANYONE?") actually goes from TEN (at the start) to ONE (at the end)), and one whose core premise is hard to care about at all—half the damn clues in any puzzle are "odd" (obviously). Yes, you've got to get the numbers to line up right for the "TEN" and the "ONE" and I'm sure there's architectural challenge involved there, but why should anyone care? The fact that answers or parts of answers start in boxes with odd numbers in them ... that adds nothing to the solving experience. It's a "look-at-me!"-type thing that solvers are only going to see after they're done, and then what? Ooh and aah? Seems like a lot of work on the constructors' end for very little puzzle payoff on the solver's. The theme answers themselves are perfectly good stand-alone answers: solid, colorful. And for a grid with such obvious structural complexities, it's remarkable that the fill overall came out as nicely as it did. But conceptually, this didn't quite work for me. I appreciate the effort it must have taken to make the grid work, on a physical level, but that effort didn't really translate into solving enjoyment. I want a Monday to be simple, elegant, maybe funny, and I definitely want the revealer to stick the landing. Most of that didn't happen today.

And I really needed the revealer to stick the landing today, because I found the Downs-only experience somewhat challenging, slightly frustrating, and so I needed there to be a payoff. I was very grateful for those shaded squares, that's for sure. Once I saw there was a pattern (TEN in one set of shaded squares, ONE in the other), I could fill the shaded squares in the other answers in, and boy did I need that assist, particularly in the NW, where the only Down I was certain certain of was HYMNAL (4D: Church songbook). I guessed OWIE correctly, it turned out, but again, I wasn't certain certain. TRANSLATING was too long for me to be certain about it for a while (3D: Interpreter's job). But the real sticking point up there was the very first clue I saw: 1D: ___ liquor. I like to drink. I like to drink liquor. I drank some last night, in fact (this drink we just call a "Bourbon Rubino"—two parts bourbon, one part Amaro Rubino (floral, distinctive, delicious)). So when presented with [___ liquor], I'm thinking ... liquor. Actual liquor. HARD liquor, in fact. I haven't thought about MALT liquor in years. I remember the "Schlitz MALT Liquor Bull" really well, but it's been 40+ years since I've seen him. Anyway, I had no good guesses until HARD, which I still think is a good guess, but unfortunately not a right one. Being able to fill in the "TEN" up there in the NW really Really helped sort out my MALT liquor sitch. The shaded letters helped in other areas as well, but nowhere so much as there.

Other Downs-only struggles followed. Couldn't get to "C'MON!" from 7D: "Time's a-wastin'!"—the clue phrase is cutesy/archaic, which the answer phrase really isn't. I wanted something like "STAT!" or "ASAP!" even though the equivalency there was bad too. I stopped knowing EMINEM songs around 2002 (when 8 Mile came out), so the Monday-level song for me would've been "The Real Slim Shady" or "Stan" or "Lose Yourself" or something like that. "Rap God" was from 2013—new enough that I missed it, old enough that if I did know it at some point, I forgot it. I did guess EMINEM here, but only because it's a rapper in six letters, who else is it likely to be (on a Monday)? 

The PENTIUM clue confused me because it made me think of actual elements, not the element-like ending -IUM (15D: Intel chip whose name sounds like an element on the periodic table). I was like "is there a Pentel URANIUM ... something?" I had to guess at the "Pokémon protagonist" (11D: ___ Ketchum, "Pokémon" protagonist). Card games have protagonists? I am never going to understand Pokémon. It's a kid's game and I was an adult before it ever came out and my own kid never went near it, so nope. No hope. Oh, sorry, I'm being told that ASH is from the Pokémon anime, not the card game per se ... sigh, OK.

The anime originally focused on Ash Ketchum and his travels across the Pokémon world with his partner, Pikachu. They were retired as protagonists after the 25th season, and Pokémon Horizons introduced two new protagonists, Liko and Roy. (wikipedia)

So ... really, technically, an erstwhile protagonist, it seems. I eventually guessed ASH, but that "A" was absolutely a guess—inferred by analogy with the "protagonist" of the Evil Dead movies. OSH seemed like a reasonable guess, especially since ASH is a regular word, why in the world would you clue ASH like this on a Monday??? You've got, let's see, fire residue, wood, ___ Wednesday—so many options, what are we doing here? Also, what are we doing with the clue on NPR NEWS!?!?! (43D: Some broadcasts updating current events). I could barely understand that clue. "Updating" was not clear (all news ... updates ... that's what it does ... and "current events" would already seem to cover the "NEWS" part of your answer???). And "broadcasts," plural? NPR NEWS is a broadcast. Singular. It's a thing "This is NPR NEWS, I'm Lakshmi Singh." Yes, NPR NEWS comes on at the top of the hour and features "updates" (i.e. news!!), but I wouldn't call it "some broadcasts." It's a broadcast. NPR NEWS is a current events broadcast. To sum up: clue, plural; NPR NEWS, not plural, boooo! Truly clunky clue writing.

Bullets:

• 20D: "___ were you..." ("IF I") — IFI is ... not the greatest fill. IFI sounds like a Pokémon character to me. Maybe IFI, OPI, and COO are, like, ASH's friends or something, I don't know...
• 54D: Org. concerned with protecting workers (OSHA) — all these government oversight agency clues feel fraudulent in 2025. I feel like you need to add the word "putatively" or "nominally" ... or else "once" (as in "this agency once protected workers / the environment / whatever ... I remember those days ... good times...")
• 24D: Baseball score due to the defensive team's error (UNEARNED RUN) — this is a lovely debut answer. Also lovely—this Tigers highlight from yesterday (these runs are all earned, I'm afraid...):

That's all for today. Thanks to Eli for filling in for me this weekend while I was away doing this:

That's right: We ... are the champions. Pairs Division champions. More on this tomorrow, after I've had more rest, and more time to process everything from my truly wonderful weekend at the 2025 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (full results here). If you were there too, and you have pictures to share, please send them along (rexparker at icloud dot com). OK, I'm going back to bed now. See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. congrats to Paolo Pasco, who won the Individuals Championship ... which is also, I hear, prestigious:

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What might be out for a spell? / WED 10-9-24 / Soldier for hire, in brief / Dwarf planet with the largest mass / "I'm on vacation" email inits. / Counterpart of flow / Common clown name / Coat, as with flour / Big name in tourism guides / Jackson 5 song that begins "You went to school to learn, girl"

Constructor: Jeffrey Lease

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: LIGHTNING BOLT (37A: What's formed by connecting this puzzle's circled letters from A to F and then back to A) — four things that feature a LIGHTNING BOLT ... and then you draw a picture of a LIGHTNING BOLT, if you want (in the app, there's a little animation of the bolt being formed and flashing)

Theme answers:

• CAMERA FLASH (18A: Photography option commonly represented by a 37-Across)
• CHARGERS (23A: N.F.L. team whose helmet features a 37-Across)
• GATORADE (50A: Drink with a 37-Across in its logo)
• HARRY POTTER (56A: Character with a 37-Across on his forehead)

Word of the Day: "'TIS the Voice of the Lobster" (12D: "___ the Voice of the Lobster" (Lewis Carroll poem)) —

"'Tis the Voice of the Lobster" is a poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in Chapter 10 of his 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It is recited by Alice to the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon. // "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster" is a parody of "The Sluggard", a moralistic poem by Isaac Watts which was well known in Carroll's day. "The Sluggard" depicts the unsavory lifestyle of a slothful individual as a negative example. Carroll's lobster's corresponding vice is that he is weak and cannot back up his boasts, and is consequently easy prey. This fits the pattern of the predatory parody poems in the two Alice books. [...] As published in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1867):

[After the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle have sung and danced to the Lobster Quadrille, Alice mentions the poems she has attempted to recite, and the Gryphon tells Alice to stand and recite "'Tis the voice of the sluggard", which she reluctantly does] "but her head was so full of the Lobster Quadrille, that she hardly knew what she was saying ..."

'Tis the voice of the lobster; I heard him declare,
"You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.

[The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle interrupt with a brief exchange about what this unfamiliar version of the poem means, and then insist that Alice continue:]

I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
How the owl and the oyster were sharing a pie—

[Alice's recitation is cut short by the Mock Turtle, who finds the poem "the most confusing thing I ever heard".]

• • •

Usually the themes get more interesting and complex as the week goes on, but today, after two puzzles with very clever concepts and revealers on Monday and Tuesday, we get this, which is blandly straightforward. The illustration / animation / connect-the-dots is, I guess, supposed to be some kind of bonus or value-added, but there's nothing particularly eye-popping or elegant about it, and from a solving standpoint, it does nothing. It's a cheap piece of glitz slapped on at the end to make you think something special has happened, when really all that has happened is that you've written in four things that feature LIGHTNING BOLTs, which the puzzle spells out for you, with a revealer that's merely descriptive. No wordplay, no trickery, nothing to figure out. And yes, those four theme answers do indeed feature LIGHTNING BOLTs, can't argue with that ... although I can argue with the phrase CAMERA FLASH, which felt painfully redundant. I had the FLASH part and thought "... but that's it ... the bolt represents the flash ... what is this extra stuff in front of flash?" After a couple of crosses got me the so-obvious-it's-difficult CAMERA, I thought "your clue says 'photography,' of course it's a CAMERA, yeesh." And since that was the last themer I got, that was how I ended the puzzle—at its weakest point, thematically. When I first worked out "flash," I thought the answer was going to have something to do with the DC superhero THE FLASH, whose symbol is also a LIGHTNING BOLT, I'm pretty sure (yes—see picture). Speaking of "flash," that's about how long it took me to figure out the theme:

Got CHARGERS easily and since I know very well what the CHARGERS helmet looks like, the puzzle essentially handed me the revealer right there. This left me with a "that's it?" feeling right there. The suspense, gone. All that's left is just the deflating prospect of finding other LIGHTNING BOLT things, and, of course, drawing on my puzzle like some kind of child. BRAH! Come on, BRAH! I did not hate this puzzle, but (despite the slapped-on decorative element) it felt awfully plain compared to the puzzles that preceded it this week. 

For someone who has (fairly recently) watched every Friends episode, I had an oddly awkward start today at 1D: Friend on "Friends" (MONICA) when I (mentally) wrote in PHOEBE and then tried (briefly) to convince myself that maybe RuPaul's Drag Race aired on ... PBS? (1A: "RuPaul's Drag Race" airer (MTV)). Seemed ... unlikely. I mean, maybe someday that is where it will air, but not in these times. Probably. I also tried to make the "I'm on vacation" message be BRB, which is now making me laugh—"Be right back! In just two weeks! Please hold!" But no, it's OOO ("Out of Office"), which you'd use in business settings, in texts or in business communication apps like Slack. But these opening hiccups were just that—slight delays, not real obstacles, and there's not one other part of this grid where I struggled even a little. The puzzles have been almost absurdly easy this week. 

Notes:

• 8D: Soldier for hire, in brief (MERC) — never saw this clue (the puzzle was so easy that some of the answers just filled themselves in from crosses), but I have a question. A pronunciation question. If MERC is short for "mercenary," which has a soft "c," then do you pronounce MERC with a soft "c" as well, so that it ends up sounding like "murse," or do you go with the hard, manly hard-"c" sound, so that it sounds like ... Merck? As in "The Merck Manual"? Or is this word only for writing, and you're not supposed to actually pronounce it? It just seems awkward any way you slice it. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center is known as "The MERC," and there, the pronunciation is unambiguous (because of that hard "c" in "Mercantile"). Same with MERC as an abbreviation of the bygone car brand, "Mercury." I just can't imagine calling some (theoretically) tough dude a "murse." And yet "merk" also seems wrong ... [fiddles with internet] ... OK, well, Merriam-webster dot com is telling me it's "merk." Rhymes with "Herc." Or "jerk." Not a fan of this "c" sound switch, but I (obviously) don't make the rules.

• 63A: Drink aptly found within "social event" (ALE) — condescendingly easy, especially for a Wednesday. Adds to the "child's placemat" quality of this connect-the-dots puzzle. Also, I don't know that ALE is more "apt" to be consumed at a "social event" than any other beverage. Tea coffee wine cocktails. Maybe your breakfast beverages, your milks and your juices, are not particularly social, but most of the rest of the beverage category goes that direction. I don't think of ALE as iconically "social."
• 30D: What might be out for a spell? (WAND) — hands down, far and away the best clue in the puzzle. A real bright light in an otherwise (ironically) unflashy puzzle. 
• 51D: Was part of a series (ACTED) — I said I had no trouble after the small trouble in the NW, but I did have some more small trouble here. "Series" was sufficiently ambiguous that I needed several crosses to realize it was a television series.
• 39D: Common clown name (BOBO) — I just don't believe that there are "common" clown names. If you are a named clown, then your name should be unique. I mean, how many clowns can you even name? Bozo, Krusty ... Ronald McDonald? Pagliacci? How many BOBOs are there, exactly? And how many would you need in order for the name to be clown-common? Two? 

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Sarcastic non-apology / MON 7-29-24 / Solar energy collector / Perennial optimist's motto

Constructor: Jeffrey Lease

Relative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)

THEME: first things first (and last) — three-word phrases where the first and last words are identical:

Theme answers:

• "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" (16A: Cry from someone who has finally had it)
• "SORRY NOT SORRY" (26A: Sarcastic non-apology)
• "NEVER SAY NEVER" (48A: Perennial optimist's motto)
• LITTLE BY LITTLE (63A: Way to make incremental progress) (not STEP BY STEP? BIT BY BIT? DROP BY DROP?)

Word of the Day: SARAH Silverman (38A: Comic Silverman) —

Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live during its 19th season between 1993 and 1994. She then starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program, which ran from 2007 to 2010 on Comedy Central. For her work on the program, Silverman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

She has also acted in television projects such as Mr. Show and V.I.P. and starred in films, including Who's the Caboose? (1997), School of Rock (2003), Take This Waltz (2011), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), and Battle of the Sexes (2017). She also voiced Vanellope von Schweetz in Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). For her lead role in I Smile Back (2015) she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She released an autobiography The Bedwetter in 2010 which she adapted into an off-Broadway musical in 2022.

Her comedy roles address social taboos and controversial topics, including racism, sexism, homophobia, politics, and religion, sometimes having her comic character endorse them in a satirical or deadpan fashion. During the 2016 United States presidential election, she became increasingly politically active; she initially campaigned for Bernie Sanders but later spoke in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She hosted the Hulu late-night talk show I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman from 2017 until late 2018. (wikipedia)

• • •

For the second day in a row, the puzzle is truly giving me nothing. Scratch that—at least yesterday I got a pretty picture of Olympic rings and a theme concept that was intricate and impressive (if simple and one-note). Today ... ___ [some word] ___. That's it. There is nothing else. I mean, there is really nothing else. No interesting fill outside the four themers, which aren't that exciting themselves. The longest non-theme answer is six letters long, and none of those are interesting in the slightest. A non-EVENT, this puzzle. AYESIR ABEL OMANIS ENOS NCIS OOHS ASHE EELS NYSE USERID MELEE and on and on with the same tired fill you've been seeing since you started solving (however old you are). All that (!) and the puzzle manages not only to dupe "UP," but to cross those dupes (BANG-UP, UPENDS). Oh, and then there's duped "NY" abbrevs. (NYSE, NYC). Just a depressing offering, all around. The theme concept isn't restrictive enough to be interesting in the first place. FIRST THINGS FIRST. HEART TO HEART. BLONDE ON BLONDE. GAME RECOGNIZE GAME (look it up). I'm not even trying and yet I can rattle off alternative themers no problem. For days. What are we doing here? 

At first I thought "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" was going to be EIGHT IS ENOUGH, which would've been an astonishing coincidence, as last night's Love Boat (the first part of a season 4 two-parter—what is it with this season and two-parters?) featured not one but two members of the case of EIGHT IS ENOUGH: Dick Van Patten (the EIE patriarch) as some friend of Captain Stubing's who tries to entice the Captain away from his captainship with a lucrative job offer at Van Patten's mysterious and frankly ominously-named company, CDI (Captains Do It? Cake Decorating Industries? Cruel Death, Incorporated?); and Lani O'Grady (the eldest EIE sister, Mary) as an insanely jealous fiancée of some generic guy who thinks Julie is trying to steal her man. You never see LANI O'Grady in crosswords*. It's always LANI Guinier or ... I think that's it, actually. Anyway, the answer was "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH," not EIGHT IS ENOUGH, sadly. "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" does, however, evoke the whole early '80s EIE / Love Boat era, in its (musical) way...

As for the Downs-only solve: no problem. I guess I needed a bit to get COOLER (3D: Where beers can be found at a tailgate party) and [GASP!] (7D: [Oh, no!]), and I thought maybe the OOHS were AAHS for a half second (12D: Audibly reacts to fireworks). I had OSAGE before OZARK (18D: Missouri's ___ Mountains), that was my one actual flub. But that was easily fixable when I was left with SEUS at 21-Across (SEUS not being a thing I've ever heard of—not without another "S" on the end, anyway). So out with the "S" and then obviously in with the "Z" for ZEUS. No other issues. None. Not anywhere. I want to call the puzzle "vanilla" but I like vanilla too much to do that. This is more ... unflavored. Unflavored what, you ask? Good Question.

Hoping for something more substantial next time (July really has been kind of a dumping ground). See you then.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

*spoke too soon. LANI was clued as LANI O'Grady (and not Guinier), exactly once, back in late '95 ([O'Grady of "Eight Is Enough"]); before that (in the Pre-Shortz Era), all LANIs were clued as [Wool: Prefix] or [Wool: Comb. form], and then once, in 1957, as [Famous diva.] (!?!?!). One weird thing I noticed is that Mel Taub (!?) appears to have been editor of the NYTXW for a hot second somewhere in the (very small, I imagine) gap between Maleska and Shortz. I had no idea. I just know he's listed as the ed. for the Sep. 12, 1993 puzzle (where LANI is clued [Wool: Comb. form]). Looks like Taub was interim editor from Sep. '93 until the first puzzle of the Shortz Era, two months later (Nov. 21, 1993—a rainbow-themed Sunday puzzle by a young Peter Gordon ("Spectral Analysis")):

[image: xwordinfo]

INDIGO GIRLS were in the very first NYTXW puzzle Shortz edited ... and then they appeared in the documentary about him 13 years later. Adorable.

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Cousin of Euchre / SUN 10-1-23 / Longtime N.B.A. executive ___ Ujiri / Land united by Theseus / Idiot in Britspeak / Semiautobiographical film set in rural Montana (1992) / Animated dinosaur film that spawned 13 sequels (1988) / Blockbuster sequel with an iconic plot twist (1980)

Constructor: Jeffrey Lease

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (Easy, but skewing Medium if you were unfamiliar with the movie titles)

THEME: "Film Adaptations" — movie titles "adapted" such that they are represented *literally* in the grid. Thus:

Theme answers:

• 
  ONE FLEW / THE CUCKOO'S NEST => "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (18A: With 23-Across, second film to win all five major Academy Awards (1975)) (ONE FLEW appears directly "over" THE CUCKOO'S NEST)
• THE EMPIRE SEKIRTS => "The Empire Strikes Back" (41A: Blockbuster sequel with an iconic plot twist (1980)) ("strikes" is written "back"wards)
• THE LAND TIME => "The Land Before Time" (50A: Animated dinosaur film that spawned 13 sequels) ("The Land" appears immediately "before" "Time")
• TRANSLOSTLATION => "Lost in Translation" (67A: Romantic dramedy directed by Sofia Coppola (2003) ("Lost" appears "in"side "Translation")
• READING BURN => "Burn After Reading" (89A: Coen brothers farce involving the C.I.A. (2008) ("Burn" appears "after" "Reading")
• JEOPARDY JEOPARDY => "Double Jeopardy" (97A: Crime thriller that takes some liberties with its namesake legal concept (1999)) ("Jeopardy" is "doubled")
• CROUCHING TIGER => "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (114A: With an unseen portion of 128-Across, Oscar winning martial arts film (2000)) ("Dragon" is "hidden" in 128-Across: [DRAG ON]E'S FEET (128A: Deliberately procrastinate))
• A RIVER RUNS => "A River Runs Through It" (16D: Semiautobiographical film set in rural Montana (1992)) ("River" literally runs through "IT" (i.e. the letters "I" and "T," which appear circled in the grid)
• [SHOP] OF HORRORS => "Little Shop of Horrors" (74D: Dark comedy about a carnivorous plant (1960, 1986)) ("Shop" is made "little" by being forced into a single square) (crossing BI[SHOP] (72A: Certain chess piece)

Word of the Day: Hypergamy (106A: Practiced hypergamy = MARRIED UP) —

Hypergamy (colloquially referred to as "dating up" or "marrying up") is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person dating or marrying a spouse of higher caste, social status or sexual capital than themselves.

The antonym "hypogamy" refers to the inverse: marrying a person of lower social class or status (colloquially "marrying down"). Both terms were invented in the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century while translating classical Hindu law books, which used the Sanskrit terms anuloma and pratiloma, respectively, for the two concepts.

The term hypergyny is used to describe the overall practice of women marrying up, since the men would be marrying down. (wikipedia)

• • •

I'm finding this hard to dislike. The theme is kinda charming, despite a few weak spots, and despite seeming like you could do three or more full Sunday-sized puzzles with the same theme. Just off the top of my head: "Moon Over Miami," "Bullets Over Broadway," "Double Indemnity," "Three Men and a Baby" (MEN MEN MEN A BABY?), "Gone Girl" (so ... just empty squares I guess), "Back to the Future" (ERUTUF EHT OT), "To Live and Die in L.A." (L TO LIVE AND DIE A), etc. etc. ad infinitum ad astra forever and ever. The set used here is mostly solid—very familiar movies, except for "Double Jeopardy," which ... what is that? Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd? I have no recollection of this movie's ever existing. And it made how much!? $177 million!!! Wow, that has to be the least consequential, smallest cultural-footprint movie ever to make that kind of profit (on a $40M budget!). Has anyone mentioned that movie since 1999? In any context? At all? Well, it was obviously a "hit," so ... OK! Doesn't seem nearly as substantial and iconic as the others, though. But the others were all readily familiar to me, so the set seems well chosen. The "adaptations" are of varying degrees of quality. ONE FLEW over THE CUCKOO'S NEST is kind of a boring, and THE LAND TIME is an absolute dud. I mean, yes, words come before other words as a matter of course, doesn't mean it makes for good visual wordplay. See also, to a less disappointing extent, READING BURN, which at least has the mild strangeness of its words appearing in the wrong order. So, yeah, some of these don't really do much. But then there's the THE EMPIRE SEKIRTS, that's cute, and the little "shop" in [SHOP] OF HORRORS, and (best of all) the absolute nuttiness of the hidden "dragon" part of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." That answer was just like "*&$% it! We're gonna outsource the DRAGON-hiding work to a nontheme answer, good luck everyone!" Loved it. I got ESFEET at 128A: Deliberately procrastinate and was like "whaaaaaaaaat is that?" And only then did I see the "CROUCHING TIGER" clue. That is what all "wacky" puzzles should be: absolutely off-the-charts wacky. Avant-garde. Dadaesque. Just loopy. So, on the whole, as Sunday themes go, this one was on the stronger side, with more hits than misses.

I was slightly bothered by A RIVER RUNS (through) IT because it felt like "RUNS" shouldn't actually be in the grid. The "running through" part was represented visually, so you didn't need "RUNS." Would've been enough to have A RIVER running through "IT." A RIVER runs through IT. Boom, perfect. But I guess the idea is that A RIVER RUNS (as a phrase) goes "through" IT, which, OK, yeah, I guess that's defensible. I don't especially understand why the RIVER part is highlighted in the grid. It's the whole first part of the title that "runs through" IT, and anyway, we can all see the RIVER, there it is, in the answer, don't need it highlighted. But highlighting it doesn't hurt anyone, so ... if that's what you wanna do, why not? Not necessary, but it adds a little visual interest to the grid, so ... whatever. Knock yourself out. I think the little SHOP and the hidden DRAGON are by far the most inspired parts of this theme. The rest is ... fine.

I'm glad Sofia Coppola appeared today (as the director of "Lost in Translation") (67A) since it allows me a chance to elaborate (briefly) on why I think the term NEPO BABY (which appeared in the grid yesterday) is so *&$^ing stupid. I mean, yes, Sofia Coppola is the daughter of a very famous director, but so what? Are her movies not good? She's arguably one of the best living American directors. Did her father's fame and fortune give her advantages in establishing a filmmaking career? Undoubtedly. But rich and famous people have been breeding forever and hardly any of their kids actually become famous. Some of them try and fail miserably. NEPO BABY just sounds like some sneering, whiny, celebrity-obsessed sour grapes garbage, a term you can use to insult someone you don't like (more often than not, a girl/woman), or a *kind* of person you imagine is an embodiment of injustice, but who is really just ... a person—one who, like you, didn't choose their parents. Also ... children going into the same profession as their parents? How is this surprising, or even noteworthy? Doctors beget doctors, lawyers lawyers, teachers teachers, and (god help us) politicians politicians, every day everywhere all over the place. Bach had a lot of composer kids. These things happen (well, Bach-level stuff is pretty rare, but you see what I mean). So you go ahead and be mad about NEPO BABYs, you whiny babies— I'm gonna keep thinking Sofia Coppola and Liza Minnelli and Maya Hawke and Zoe Kazan and Willow Smith and Ben Stiller et al are just fine. Pretty great, even. (Further reading: "The Nepo Baby Discourse Is Rotting Our Brains")

There were some potentially tough words in today's puzzle. ATTICA! (25A: Land united by Theseus). As a prison name chanted in "Dog Day Afternoon," familiar. As the name of the peninsula that encompasses the entire Athens region, gotta think it's a lot less familiar. And crossing AMALIE!? (13D: Tampa's ___ Arena). Yeah, that seems like a possible speed bump, for sure.. GEOTAGS, also a potential stumper (60D: Digital location markers). It's just metadata added to pictures and videos establishing geographical location, and as digital-era terms go, it's a reasonably common term. But still seems like something that could trip up some solvers. MASAI Ujiri will definitely trip up some solvers, particularly the non-sportsy ones (85D: Longtime N.B.A. executive ___ Ujiri). I could picture the guy (an architect of the Toronto Raptors 2019 championship and the current team president) but absolutely could not remember his name. Will be very obscure to many solvers. I think that's it for answers that might cause widespread havoc. I'm not sure how I feel about SIPTEA (29D: Enjoy a cuppa). Let's see ... DRINKCOFFEE ... yeah, no, that's bad. EATASANDWICH ... also bad. I think SIPTEA is probably bad as well. SPILL THE TEA, great. But SIPTEA is just a random verb phrase. Weak tea. Also not a fan of plural SONNYS, not least because my brain insists it should be SUNNIES (80D: Bono and Liston). I know it shouldn't, but good luck arguing w/ my brain, it's very stubborn. The LIVE part of LIVEDJ took me a while (68D: Entertainment at many a wedding). Never occurred to me that the DJ might be anything else. Seems like dead DJs would be hard to come by. I mean, what would it cost to get Wolfman Jack or Alan Freed to do your wedding? A lot, probably. 

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. having MAIN ACT (48A: What an opener precedes) and ACT (55D: Do something) in the same grid is very bad. If you use ACT in another phrase (like ACT OUT or ACT NATURALLY), that's not great, but it's not nearly as bad as just duping the word and leaving it hanging out there all by itself. Lazy, inattentive editing there. Absolutely no reason ACT should be in the grid. Takes no effort to rewrite the grid and make ACT go away.

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