Kimono tightener / TUE 8-1-23 / Bollywood Star Aishwarya ___ / Record label that declined to sign the Beatles in 1962

Constructor: Kathryn Ladner

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (pretty average time for me)

THEME: UP A TREE — Circled letters spell out the names of 9 trees, rising up in the grid.

Word of the Day: ZARA (Multinational clothing retailer based in Spain) —

ZARA (Spanish: [ˈθaɾa]) is a Spanish multi-national retail clothing chain. It specialises in fast fashion, and sells clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products and perfumes. (Side note: It's never a great sign when headings on your company's Wikipedia page include "Exploitation and Child Labour" and "Allegations of Anti-Semitisim").

• • •

Hey folks, it's Eli back filling in for Rex again! When I agreed to write the blog for August 1, I neglected to realize that it would involve solving and writing on July 31, which is my wife's birthday (Happy Birthday, Melissa!). So, here I am, husband of the year, blogging the puzzle for all of you. Forgive me if I keep it a little brief.

To begin with, there's a lot of theme here. Like, A LOT. I don't always even pay attention to circled letters in an early week puzzle, and there were So. Many. Of. Them. That's not necessarily a negative thing, but this much theme density is always going to strain the fill. Rather than list all of the clues impacted, I'm just going to list out the trees (see above re: wife's birthday).

Theme answers:

• MAGNOLIA
• ELM
• BIRCH
• ASPEN
• CEDAR
• PINE
• MAPLE
• FIR
• SYCAMORE

Wow. I have a couple of theme nits to pick. First, it's a little weird that the column starting 11D has two trees in it (FIR and MAPLE) and all of the others only have one, but the trees aren't symmetrically laid out (more of a forest than a tree farm - does that work?), so it's not a huge deal. My other thought is having ENT (24D: Tolkein tree creature) is a cute nod to the theme, but using the word "tree" in the clue when the answer splits the revealer UP A TREE (34A: Cornered ... or a hint to this puzzle's circled squares) isn't ideal. I'm not a huge stickler when it comes to this kind of duplication, but I know it really bothers some people.

Number 1: The larch

Really, though, the theme is fine. Impressive construction for sure. But the fill does suffer a bit. There's a lot of short crosswordese that isn't doing the puzzle any favors: OBI, ETAL, AERO, TOR, ACAI, ENE, ELAND, ANI, etc. Also not a huge fan of EVILER (51D: More dastardly) or partials like NO I (57A: "There's ___ in team") or VENI (9D "___, vidi, vici"). Such is the way of the Tuesday.

There's some fun stuff, too, though. Haven't thought about the BAHA MEN in a while (15A: "Who Let the Dogs Out" group):

Not exactly something I need or want to reminded of, but it made for a fun answer. Let's balance it out with some Beatles, who get a double dip today in DECCA (26A: Record label that declined to sign the Beatles in 1962) and RINGO (43D: Bandmate of John, Paul and George). 

Who Let the Hey Bulldog Out? If you open those two videos in separate tabs and play them at the same time, you'll open a wormhole to another dimension.

All in all, a perfectly acceptable Tuesday in my book. 

Bullets:

• IN A-FLAT (18A: Like Chopin's "Aeolian Harp" étude) — I don't think I saw this while solving and thought the clue might be something like, "Where you might live in London."
• INFO (20A: Deets and dope) —This clue just tickled me a bit. Somehow both fresh feeling and old-fashioned.
• ALLEN (21A: William G. ___, patentee of a kind of wrench)

Ikea owes William a debt that can never be paid.

• MORALES (66A: Miles ____, teen who becomes Spider-Man in "Into the Spider-Verse)— Two great movies (so far) and some really entertaining comics. One of my favorites.

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"Ich bin ___ Berliner" / TUES 5-29-22 / Thorny savanna tree / Title role in the Best Picture of 1962 / "The ___ of Pooh" (Benjamin Hoff book)

Hello, everyone! It’s Clare, back for the last Tuesday of May as we head into summer. I’ll be sitting in front of my TV (or computer or phone) over the next couple weeks watching the French Open, which should be great even if the-always-dominant-on-clay Rafa isn’t playing. I’ve also been going on more bike rides (now that I’ve gotten my bike fixed up and won’t get flats every other day) and enjoying the weather and the nice park and bike trails near where I live. It’s also been perfect weather for drinking wine on the patio and reading a book, so I’m hoping we can stave off the extreme heat and humidity for a little longer. Anywho, on to the puzzle…

Constructor: Kathryn Ladner

Relative difficulty: Pretty easy

THEME: EIGHT BIRDS (4D: With 50-Down, things centered in Across answers in this puzzle) — eight across answers in the puzzle have a type of bird centered in the answer

Theme answers:

• PROBING (15A: Like some nosy questions) 
• BEAGLES (16A: Dogs like Snoopy) 
• FRATERNITY (23A: Brotherhood) 
• MALARKEY (30A: Baloney) 
• LAWRENCE (41A: Title role in the Best Picture of 1962) 
• BALLOONIST (46A: Aeronaut propelled by hot air) 
• REGRETS (57A: Feels remorse over) 
• SCOWLED (61A: Made an angry face)

Word of the Day: IMANI (22A: ___ Perry, award-winning author of "South to America") —

Imani Perry (born September 5, 1972) is an American interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, literature, and African-American culture. She is currently the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a columnist for The Atlantic] Perry won the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction for South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation. Perry is the author of six books and has published numerous articles on law, cultural studies, and African-American studies, including a book about Lorraine Hansberry. She also wrote the notes and introduction to the Barnes and Nobles Classics edition of the Narrative of Sojourner Truth. (Wiki)

• • •

I thought the puzzle was pretty cute and clean overall. The theme didn’t help with the solve at all and wasn’t something I saw until I stared at the puzzle for a little while after I finished. But, the construction of the puzzle and working those eight birds in there was impressive, and overall I enjoyed it. I especially like the theme if you think about the looking for the birds in the puzzle after you’ve finished the puzzle as a sort of bird watching, which is ultimately the theme. 

I had a fairly easy time with this puzzle (even without the help of the theme), partially because the fill was mostly quite smooth. The acrosses were fun words that you don’t often see in puzzles. I particularly liked MALARKEY, LIMEADE, BALLOONIST, and FRATERNITY, which are words that a constructor typically wouldn’t use or really be able to fit in the puzzle. There also weren’t too many typical crossword-y words, and I just generally didn’t have those moments where I groan at a puzzle because I was annoyed. 

I think the puzzle was let down slightly by the construction, which needed to be that way for the birds but which resulted in a lot of similar three-letter answers. Having ABA (10D), AMA (27A), ALA (56D), and also ALE (51A) in the puzzle is rather repetitive and clunky. Same with EWE (55D) and ENE (58D). Also, having RUED (24D: Felt remorse over) and REGRETS (57A: Feels remorse over feels off) didn’t do it for me; I’m generally not a fan of repeat clues unless they’re right next to each other, and these aren’t even close. I’m not sure about the spelling of CAGY (19D: Hard to pin down), even if Google tells me it can be spelled that way; I much prefer “cagey.” I also for whatever reason hated the clue/answer for 19A: Nickname that might drop -vin or -eb) with CAL. That’s a long way to go for a three-letter answer. My sister went to Cal (aka UC Berkeley), and I would’ve loved to see it clued relating to Berkeley! 

In general, I’ve got a positive impression of this puzzle and enjoyed the solve, though I don’t think I’ll be engaging in any more bird watching any time soon.

Misc.:

• With the clue for 62A: Stupefied, my mind immediately went to Harry Potter and what happens after someone waves their wand and yells “stupefy,” and then the person on the receiving end becomes temporarily paralyzed. Anyway… IN A DAZE is much more apt for the real world. 
• Yay for MENS REA (64A: Legal term meaning "guilty mind") in the puzzle! I sometimes actually fear seeing legal terms in a puzzle because it’ll feel embarrassing if I don’t get them easily. But thankfully this one popped to mind immediately. And there was another lawyer-y term in there: ABA (10A: Lawyers' grp.). I couldn’t miss that one, as they’re always sending me emails. Hmm… that reminds me that I need to go renew my bar membership. 
• So I was one of the people who liked Comic SANS (38D: Comic ___ (oft-mocked typeface) before I realized it was the font that everyone loved to trash. Now there’s also the font Papyrus that people make fun of. (I’m mostly thinking of this SNL skit with Ryan Gosling about the choice to use Papyrus as the font for “Avatar,” which never fails to make me laugh.) 
• Maybe it’s the fact that I’m writing this as it’s getting kind of late, but I’ve had some fun looking at the puzzle and reading the answers across, from left to right, as if they’re phrases, Like: a BEAGLES … EMBARGO or how you may have SCOWLED … IN A DAZE or you might ACHIEVE … PROBING as you analyze the puzzle. I can imagine President Biden serving MALARKEY … DILLS at a White House function. 

Yes, I’ll wrap this up now. 

Have a great June and stay cool!

Signed, Clare Carroll, drinking wine in a sort of BALLOONIST BASK without any LIMEADE REGRETS  

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Swiss Alp next to Lake Lucerne / THU 12-17-20 / Nadu Indian state / Sight on Disney World's Expedition Everest ride / Copland ballet with a hoedown / Longtime star of F.C. Barcelona

Constructor: Kathryn Ladner

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH (36A: Work suggested by this puzzle's circled squares) — the opening notes of the symphony are in the circled squares (G, G, G, E FLAT); there are a smattering of other theme-related things in random positions around the grid:

Theme answers:

• C MINOR (2D: Key to this puzzle's theme)
• LUDWIG (49D: First name of this puzzle's dedicatee, born December 1770)
• FATE (!?) (29D: What the opening motif of 36-Across is said to represent)
• OBOE (7D: Instrument featured in 36-Across)
• DEAF (56D: What 49-Down became in later life)

Word of the Day: RIGI (64A: Swiss Alp next to Lake Lucerne) —

The Rigi (or Mount Rigi; also known as Queen of the Mountains) is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The range is in the Schwyzer Alps, and is split between the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, although the main summit, named Rigi Kulm, at 1,798 meters above sea level, lies within the canton of Schwyz.

The Rigi Kulm and other areas, such as the resort of Rigi Kaltbad, are served by Europe's oldest mountain railways, the Rigi Railways. The whole area offers many activities such as skiing or sledging in the winter, and hiking in the summer. (wikipedia)

• • •

This puzzle shouldn't have been published on two grounds. First, it's really rough. There's not really a theme here. One grid-spanner, a smattering of circled squares, and then some absolutely random short fill clued as if it were related, only it's *barely* related. I feel like you could find this much Beethoven "theme" material in any random grid if you really tried. The FATE thing in particular seemed like a huge stretch. And the theme stuff isn't even organized. There's no symmetry (except for DEAF and OBOE (again, !?!?!?! you can find OBOE in like 37% of all grids, how is that "theme"?!). It's just not a polished puzzle, and it's definitely not a Thursday-level puzzle (except for RIGI, which I've never heard of, the puzzle played like a Tuesday or easy Wednesday). 

The second reason this never should've made it to print is that we've already had a Beethoven's birthday tribute puzzle this year. Just three short months ago. Not only that, it featured This Exact Musical Gimmick. The. Exact. One. This one. The opening notes of BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH. Only in *that* puzzle, there was an actual theme, with long theme answers and the nicknames of various symphonies "hidden" in (non-consecutive) circled squares inside those answers. And the opening four notes of the 5th symphony were a little bonus, represented in four squares in the NW, and then followed by the *next* four notes in the SE. The tricksy thing was that you had to rebus EFLAT into a single square. Tough! I didn't adore that puzzle, but now, in retrospect, after having solved this one, it looks like a work of genius. I'll link to that puzzle (by David J. Kahn, 9/10/20) now, but also I'll just show you the finished grid, here you go:

See the "EFLAT" square up there in the NW, making D(EFLAT)ED in the Down. Cute, right? And then the subsequent FFFD in the SE. And it's offered up as just a little something extra. And yet there's more theme material in those eight squares than in the entire raison d'etre of today's puzzle (the circled G G G EFLAT). And while today's puzzle offers only a ragged patchwork of barely-related theme stuff beyond those opening notes, September's puzzle had, in addition to the opening notes, An Entire Theme. It is grossly incompetent to run today's puzzle after having so recently run the September puzzle. It's unfair to today's constructor, and it's insulting to regular solvers. All I want for Christmas from now and forever is better and more careful editorial leadership at the NYTXW. Now to go dig my sidewalk out from under snow mountains big enough to hide a small YETI. Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. Given everything I said today, I kinda gotta admire BOOMERANGS (18A: Items that are hard to throw away). I mean, I thought I threw this theme away in September, but ...

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