Raised to the third puzzle / TUES 12-28-21 / Capital of Latvia / Zoom or TikTok / Vulcan's telepathic link / Where Michelle Obama was born

Hi, everyone, it’s Clare back for the last Tuesday of December. (How is it already the end of December?!) Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. I’ve always hated this weird in-between phase after Christmas and before the New Year that makes me feel like all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch sports and eat leftovers and just veg out. The stormy and dreary weather in California at the moment is also not giving me any inclination to get off the couch. Luckily, we have crosswords! 

And now on to the puzzle!

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: HOMEMADE MEALS (56A: Spreads using 20-, 28- and 48-Across?) — Each of the theme answers is an item of food whose name begins with a type of home

Theme answers:

• LOG CABIN SYRUP (20A: Food topping used at Abe Lincoln’s birthday) 
• COTTAGE CHEESE (28A: Dairy product used at the Seven Dwarfs' dwelling?) 
• RANCH DRESSING (48A: Turkey stuffing used at the Ewings' Southfork?)

Word of the Day: HABANERA (6D: Dance named after Cuba's capital) —

Habanera (also called Contradanza, contradanza criolla, danza, or danza criolla) is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th century, derived from the English country dance and adopted at the court of France. Contradanza was brought to America and there took on folkloric forms that still exist in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Ecuador. In Cuba during the 19th century, it became an important genre, the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern and the first Cuban dance to gain international popularity, the progenitor of danzón, mambo and cha-cha-cha, with a characteristic "habanera rhythm" and sung lyrics. (Wiki)

• • •

After solving the puzzle, I was left with a general feeling of: Meh. The construction was pretty tight, but I found the theme to be just sort of there. I was so focused on solving that I didn’t realize the beginnings were types of homes until I got to the revealer, and all the realization did was elicit a groan from me. 

Looking back at the theme answers, one of these things is not like the others… LOG CABIN SYRUP is the name of a brand — it’s not a type of food. COTTAGE CHEESE and RANCH DRESSING are both types of food and not brands. I also didn’t think the revealer tied the theme together all that well — the foods are just so random (and two of them are really toppings), and it all felt pretty bland to me. Even my post-Christmas leftovers feel more exciting than ranch dressing, syrup, and cottage cheese. 

The best part of this puzzle was the six 8-letter downs scattered around the puzzle (STILETTO, HABANERA, CLUSTERS, MIND-MELD, CERAMIST, and TAILSPIN). They were nicely spread across the puzzle and served as almost support beams — like three columns with two rows of beams. I liked that construction a lot. 

I did have trouble getting HABANERA (6D), as I’d never heard of this type of dance, and I messed myself up by putting a “v” in there instead of a “b” (because I tried to make it “Havana”) and by mistakenly putting “OSU” for 33A: Tulsa sch. instead of ORU. So I had some issues puzzling that one out. I also haven’t heard the word CERAMIST (38D: Pottery maker) used before, but that one at least wasn’t tough to figure out. Lastly, I’ve gotta say that the clue irked me for TAILSPIN — 40D: Bad situation for an airplane — because a TAILSPIN isn’t just a “bad” situation for an airplane; it’s a catastrophic situation from which there’s likely no coming back! The clue had me thinking in the realm of a delayed takeoff, not a plane crashing. Anywho, that was just a little nit. 

There were a handful of three-letter words and some four-letter words that were crosswordese, but, for the most part, I thought this puzzle was fresh and tight. The clue and answer combos felt fairly interesting, and it felt like I haven’t seen a lot of these words used often in a puzzle. 

The structure with the themers and long downs did create some oddity going across the puzzle. There were two rows of four three-letter words (starting at 23-Across: ALE, PAN, SOT, EMS and also starting at 51-Across: CHE, DAY, APP, LAS). I don’t have much to note about that other than it looks a tad strange and was weird to solve.

Misc:

• Growing up in Northern California, I went on a field trip in elementary school during which we tried to PAN (25A) for gold — sadly, it was fruitless, and I didn’t become some multimillionaire from it. But it was still fun. 
• KALE (47A) is slang for money?? I did not know! I think I’ve heard of “cabbage” as a vegetable that’s slang for money but never KALE. 
• I know I ragged on the use of LOG CABIN SYRUP because it’s a brand name, but I do really love this syrup! For whatever weird reason, I’ve always preferred it to the real maple syrup. 
• Seeing HYDRAS (49D: Mythical Greek monsters) in the puzzle makes me think of the bad guys in the Captain America movies because of their slogan of “Hail Hydra.” Saying that is really just an excuse to note that I saw “Spiderman: No Way Home” last weekend! Masked and vaxxed and boosted, I saw my first movie in a theater in years, and the movie was absolutely incredible. 
• I get why a STILETTO (3D) is named after a dagger — those things are sharp and pointy (and hard to walk in).

And that's it! Happy almost 2022, everyone.

Signed, Clare Carroll, currently part of my couch

 
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Trucker who relays bear traps / MON 1-4-21 / Pain in the lower back / Ocular inflammations

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (2:46)

THEME: WONDER WOMAN (61A: Co-founder of the Justice League) — theme answers are very basic trivia re: WONDER WOMAN:

Theme answers:

• DIANA PRINCE (17A: Identity of 61-Across)
• DC COMICS (30A: Originator of 61-Across)
• LYNDA CARTER (36A: Television portrayer of 61-Across)
• GAL GADOT (44A: Film portrayer of 61-Across)

Word of the Day: ROUTE MEN (39D: Some delivery people) —

: a person who is responsible for making sales or deliveries on an assigned route (merriam-webster.com)

• • •

***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS!**. The calendar has turned on another year (thank God), and while that might mean a lot of things to a lot of people, for me it means it's time for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask regular readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. Last year at this time, I wrote about what a melancholy year 2019 was; my oldest dog had died and the world was kind of a wreck. And then 2020 happened, and I learned what a real wreck looks like. In February, my other dog died (R.I.P. Gabby). And then, well, COVID. And let's be honest, even with a new president, 2021 is going to be, uh, challenging as well. But I hope that the regular ritual of solving crosswords brought some solace and stability to your lives this past year, and I hope that my blog added to your enjoyment of the solving experience in some way. This year my blog will celebrate its 15th anniversary! I feel so proud! And old! A lot of labor goes into producing this blog every day (Every. Day.) and the hours are, let's say, less than ideal (I'm either solving and writing at night, after 10pm, or in the morning, before 6am). Most days, I really do love the writing, but it is work, and once a year (right now!) I acknowledge that fact. As I've said before, I have no interest in "monetizing" the blog beyond a simple, direct contribution request once a year. No ads, no gimmicks. Just here for you, every day, rain or shine, whether you like it or, perhaps, on occasion, not :) It's just me and my laptop and some free blogging software and, you know, a lot of rage, but hopefully some insight and levity along the way. I do genuinely love this gig, and whether you're an everyday reader or a Sunday-only reader or a flat-out hatereader, I appreciate you more than you'll ever know.

How much should you give? Whatever you think the blog is worth to you on a yearly basis. Whatever that amount is is fantastic. Some people refuse to pay for what they can get for free. Others just don't have money to spare. All are welcome to read the blog—the site will always be open and free. But if you are able to express your appreciation monetarily, here are two options. First, a Paypal button (which you can also find in the blog sidebar):

Second, a mailing address (checks should be made out to "Rex Parker"):

Rex Parker c/o Michael Sharp
54 Matthews St
Binghamton, NY 13905

And heck, why don't I throw my Venmo handle in here too, just in case that's your preferred way of moving money around; it's @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which they did that one time someone contributed that way—but it worked!)

All Paypal contributions will be gratefully acknowledged by email. All snail mail contributions will be gratefully acknowledged with hand-written postcards. I. Love. Snail Mail. I love seeing your gorgeous handwriting and then sending you my awful handwriting. It's all so wonderful. And my thank-you postcards this year are really special. They are portraits of my new cat Alfie (a bright spot of 2020), designed by artist Ella Egan, a.k.a. my daughter. And they look like this:

He's eating kale in that middle one, in case you're wondering. Anyway, these cards are personally meaningful to me, and also, I believe, objectively lovely. I can't wait to share them with the snail-mailers. Please note: I don't keep a "mailing list" and don't share my contributor info with anyone. And if you give by snail mail and (for some reason) don't want a thank-you card, just indicate "NO CARD."  Again, as ever, I'm so grateful for your readership and support. Now on to today's puzzle...

* * *

I regret to inform you that I did not like this at all. I'm not just talking about the fact that it's a screamingly vanilla trivia puzzle with zero to offer in the way of cleverness or ... any real interest. I'm also talking about the fact that is the closest thing I've seen to what looks like the puzzle being used for product placement / paid advertising ... well, ever. I can't remember ever seeing anything this blatantly commercial-seeming. As you probably know, "Wonder Woman 1984" just opened. Christmas Day. I assume they ran this puzzle with the idea that it would be "timely," given the recent opening of the movie, but when commercial enterprises are concerned, "timely" reads a lot like "promotional." GAL GADOT stars as DIANA PRINCE in a DC COMICS production of the latest WONDER WOMAN film! Thank goodness LYNDA CARTER is here to at least provide the teensiest bit of evidence that this is a general-interest "WW" puzzle that just *happened* to come out near the release of the movie. The "bonus" DC COMICS answers—AQUA (49A: Lead-in to "man" in superhero-dom) and AMY (28D: Adams who played Lois Lane in "Man of Steel")—only make matters worse. With the NYTXW running sponsored crosswords on its site sometimes, and with them selling prime advertising real estate directly above the crossword in the actual paper newspaper, *and* with the crossword being the most profitable part of the NYT, with a huge subscriber base, I am more prone to being suspicious / cynical / conspiracy theory-minded about these things. I don't yet think that the NYTXW is in league with OREO or Famous AMOS or Big Cookie in general, but give it a bit. I'll get there. Anyway, if this had been in any way thoughtful or clever, I could maybe have forgiven the blatant commercial angle. But it wasn't, so I can't.

What are ROUTE MEN? I looked it up, so ... it's a rhetorical question, but seriously, I've never ever heard that term, and do not believe anyone says it (anymore?). I assume ROUTE MEN get LUMBAGO, a term I *do* sometimes hear, but only ironically, or in old movies. Maybe they also get GOUT too, I dunno (that's a depressing little malady crossing, that one). Possibly some ROUTE MEN are CBERs? (more hip fill for y'all). Sigh. I liked SEA LEVEL, esp. as clued, so that's ... something (3D: Rising concern?). But sadly all the joy of SEA LEVEL was immediately negated by its truly repulsive neighbor, the swole crosswordese ALIENEE (an answer I often think of as the paragon of long crosswordese; if anyone ever asks you "Can crosswordese be longer than five letters?" please point them in the direction of ALIENEE). I finished the puzzle quickly, and that always feels good, but sadly my job also involves *reflecting* on the puzzle, and today, that did not feel so good. Hope you are feeling better than I am. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Kid-lit character who travels via envelope /TUE 10-23-18 / Western ravines

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Tuesday) (4:07)

THEME: ATHLETIC CUP (60A: Protective sportswear ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 24-, 36- and 51-Across) — ends of themers are all words that can proceed "Cup," each cup being a sports championship of some kind:

Theme answers:

• FLAT STANLEY (17A: Kid-lit characgter who travels via envelope)
• GEENA DAVIS (24A: Thelma's portrayer in "Thelma & Louise")
• WINONA RYDER (36A: Co-star of "Stranger Things")
• SMALL WORLD (51A: "I can't believe we both know him")

Word of the Day: FLAT STANLEY (17A) —

Flat Stanley is an American children's book series written by Jeff Brown (January 1, 1926 – December 3, 2003). // Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures is an American children's book series written by different authors such as Sara Pennypacker, Josh Greenhut, and David Ross. The summary is about Stanley traveling the world in some places. // The [original] book recounts the adventures of Stanley Lambchop after surviving being crushed while sleeping by a falling bulletin board. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, being rolled up to go out to the park and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. One special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends in California by being mailed in an envelope. Stanley even helps catch some art museumthieves by posing as a painting on the wall. Eventually, Stanley wearies of flatness and Arthur restores his proper shape with a bicycle pump. (wikipedia)

• • •

"Beetlejuice" coulda gotten you GEENA DAVIS *and* WINONA RYDER.


Wow, nowhere near my wheelhouse, despite having a couple of '80s movie stars in it. I do not mind the theme at all, despite its groin-oriented revealer, but the fill and clues, oof. So many issues, both with my ignorance and the puzzle's own awkwardness / ugliness. So I don't really know FLAT STANLEY. At all. Maybe I've seen it referred to somewhere, but ??? So I had FLAT STEPHEN. Which fit perfectly with RTE for 6D: GPS display. ETA!? OK, but ugh. Ugh for a Tuesday. [Band at a royal wedding] is a TIARA!? Oh, *that* kind of band. Not musical. Not a sash or a ring. I can't really connect "band" and TIARA. At all. And I own a TIARA that I got once as a Worst Handwriting award in a crossword tournament. Not seeing how it's a "band." And then RAYED!?!?! Jeez (thelma &) louise! What a dumb word and dumber clue. If I'd had all day to come up with words to describe Lady Liberty's crown, I'd never hit RAYED. And what is with the simplistic and stupid clue on ENEMIES (21A: Communists and capitalists, e.g.). There is No Necessary Reason those two groups should be ENEMIES. That's a war term. We (nominally "capitalist" USA) are often friendly with countries that have very different economic and political systems from our own. Take the SAUDIS, for instance (seriously, please take them, far far away—super bad timing on that clue, man):

And we normalized relations with Vietnam decades ago, and they're still technically a communist country, right? ENEMIES is some jingoistic bullshit.


More trouble in the SW, where I couldn't get RED despite having one and then two letters (59A: What might bring you to a screeching halt). Letting RED stand on its own, with no mention of "light," is not inaccurate (we certainly use it as a substantive adjective all the time), but also Not Tuesday. See also COULEES, yikes. WE TRY is ridiculously contrived—not hard, as it was my first guess, but absurd, which caused me not to trust it. Then there was [Tops] for ACMES, when [Tops] can mean roughly a million things and ACMES is a plural you'd only ever see in crosswords. Very rough.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Brickowski protagonist of Lego Movie / WED 8-15-18 / Muscles used in Russian twist for short / When sung five times ABBA hit

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (5:05)

THEME: anagrams — answers are essentially cryptic crossword clues where one word is taken to mean "mix the other word up"

Theme answers:

• MAD SCRAMBLE (17A: DAM) — so "DAM" is just "MAD" SCRAMBLEd up
• STIR FRIED (24A: FIRED) — "FRIED" has been STIRred
• BIPOLAR DISORDER (36A: PARBOIL) — etc.
• MIXMASTER (50A: STREAM)
• DAILY JUMBLE (62A: LYDIA)

Word of the Day: WEAL (2D: Prosperity) —

(1)noun

a red, swollen mark left on flesh by a blow or pressure.

MEDICINE

an area of the skin that is temporarily raised, typically reddened, and usually accompanied by itching.

(2)noun

formal

noun: weal

that which is best for someone or something.

"I am holding this trial behind closed doors in the public weal"

• • •

This feels hackneyed. I mean, it's just a cryptic cluing technique. A common one. You look for that word that can signal anagram (e.g. "wild" "crazy" "strange" etc.) and that helps you figure out the answer (cryptic clues have a literal component as well as a wordplay component, as you probably know). I'm guessing the whole concept sprang from BIPOLAR DISORDER, a nice, grid-spanning answer. A couple of these answers (MAD SCRAMBLE, STIR FRIED) are notable for the fact that either of the words in each answer could technically be an anagram trigger word, i.e. "MAD" can mean mixed-up, and so can "FRIED" (though the latter may be a little more tenuous). I didn't like that three of these themers were noun phrases and two were verb phrases. Concept wasn't terribly hard to pick up, despite the lack of a revealer, but each one was its own little struggle. Well, MIXMASTER was a giant struggle. Could not quickly anagram STREAM into anything that made sense, and even as I got crosses, nothing looked right. Do people even know what a MIXMASTER is. I know it only as a DJ title. Is it something else? Oh, looks like it's a trademark for a food processor. I did Not know that. I know the DAILY JUMBLE as just the Jumble, so that was weird.


Mostly I found the fill, and especially the clues, just a terrible grind. Starting with TWELVE. [Midday] is awful. There's a TWELVE midnight too. Ugh. I wrote in ATNOON at first. Imagine cluing TWELVE that way. So many ways to go and you go [Midday]. WEAL is a horrible word no one uses. LESSEE just screams "here are a bunch of common letters!" 15A: Not occurring naturally is MADE??? Lots of things occur in nature that are MADE. Animals and plants "make" a lot of stuff. Nests, webs, oxygen! Booooo to that clue. Had no idea VECTOR meant "course" (5D: Airplane course)—I think of it as a direction. But I guess that's what "course" is, too? Oof. Slog slog slog. FOTO? RRR? Paint device—had GUN, no idea about AIR. ROY is "Mr." Rogers? OK. Lots of a T Rex's skeleton seems big to me, I dunno. JAW? Sure, whatever. There was no joy here. No fun. No cleverness or playfulness. I don't mind the core theme concept, actually, though the answer set could probably be stronger. But I did mind the solve as a whole. Just unpleasant. Not made with solver enjoyment in mind. Vague or off clues everywhere. And ugh, the EMMET clue (7D: ___ Brickowski, protagonist of "The Lego Movie"). I saw that movie and still ... pick real people, or much, much more famous fictional characters for your name clues, please.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Louis who developed a rabies vaccine / MON 6-25-18 / Apparel also known as clamdiggers / Speed readers? / Fly ball catchers / Mountain goat

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: ADD TO CART (63A: Message clicked by an online buyer ... or a hint for 17-, 24-, 39-, and 51-Across) — The first word of each themer can precede "CART".

Theme answers:

• TEA GARDEN (17A: Locale for a traditional Japanese ceremony)
• SHOPPING LIST (24A: Slip of paper to take to the grocery)
• GOLF TOURNAMENTS (39A: The Masters and others)
• APPLE STRUDEL (51A: Classic Austrian pastry)

Word of the Day: FINESSE (48A: Risky bridge play) —

In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents. (Wikipedia)

 • •

Hi folks, it's day two of Guest Blogger Week here while Rex is away. And, like last Monday, it's another first-words-type puzzle. I suppose these sorts of Mondays are a symptom of having increasing difficulty over the week: the truly creative themes that twist your brain a little get kicked down to Wednesday or Thursday, while the old-school theme patterns that are easy due to familiarity get slated earlier. The best we can hope for with these is a well-executed version with some good fill.

I'm not sure that's what we got, though. The themers are perfectly fine, and there's some credit to be given for having four plus the revealer instead of just three. But in looking over the puzzle, it's not just the theme that's dated. Any of these clues and answers could have appeared in a puzzle twenty years ago and would have fit right in, save for the fact that Finding NEMO wasn't released until 2003. I don't need a hyper-modern puzzle to enjoy it, but when the cultural references bend in the opposite direction, with POGO and RHETT Butler and bridge terms (FINESSE), I think it's fair to complain.

Some long non-themers here in CAPRI PANTS, SOLAR PANELS, SEAPLANE, and FIELDERS, which are all solid, if not terribly exciting. We've got some rough fill in ONO, EBON, GTOS, ETH, and TRA. The irony is that the crosswordese helped the solving process for me, but in particular, the UNAGI / GTOS cross might Natick a casual Monday solver who hasn't seen either before.



I don't want to sound too cranky about this puzzle (although I guess with Rex gone, someone needs to fill that quota) - it's a perfectly adequate Monday. It just doesn't seem to rise above perfectly adequate.

Signed, Brian Amos, Serf of CrossWorld

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Angle between leafstalk stem / WED 1-24-18 / Christian singer Tornquist / Futuristic Volkswagen / Immune response trigger / BBC sci-fi series informally

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: at, an end... — phrases have 'AT' added to the end for some reason, creating nonsense phrases

Theme answers:

• MAMMOTH CAVEAT (20A: Big "but"?)
• ESTATE CARAT (27A: Small diamond handed down to an heir?)
• HONEY COMBAT (44A: Fight between two lovers?)
• FORWARD PASSAT (55A: Futuristic Volkswagen?)

Word of the Day: AXIL (17A: Angle between a leafstalk and a stem) —

noun

BOTANY

1. the upper angle between a leaf stalk or branch and the stem or trunk from which it is growing. (google)

• • •

Oof. Back-to-back grim offerings. I'm startled that this theme concept passed muster. I honestly don't get it. You just shove "AT" on the end of things? There's not even an attempt at a clever revealer or anything. Completely baffling. I have a hard time imagining the LA Times running this thing, let alone the "best puzzle in the world" or whatever the NY Times calls itself. And the theme answers ... ??? I don't think I even know what an "estate car" is, so ESTATE CARAT was super-meaningless to me, and thus super-hard to get. Didn't help that I had that first letter as a "D" since 21D: Good ___ days did nothing to get me to OLE. [Note: ["good old days"] = 14.6 million hits; ["good ole days"] = 387K] And the crosswordese, dear lord. The only thing worse than RATA on its own is actually cross-referencing the full term, PRO / RATA (59D: With 9-Down, according to share), especially when you put the first part way down at the bottom of the grid and the second part at the top. I haven't seen AXIL in years, for good reason. The "informally" in that DR. WHO clue is killing me (8A: BBC sci-fi series, informally). You don't mean "informally," which implies speech, because "DR. WHO" and the correct "DOCTOR WHO" *sound the same.* You mean "in informal writing, like a text, say." Clues should be precise ... but let's move on. [Christian singer...] You can stop right there, I guarantee you I have no idea. UPENN would be a fine answer because people actually call it that. UTENN, less fine. And then there's the super-choppy grid, which means only tiny passageways between sections. Irksome.


And then of course I wanted the more common terms (what a sucker!) like STAND FIRM instead of STAND FAST (33D: Not budge) and PIANO BENCH instead of PIANO STOOL (59A: Seat for a ragtime player) ... there was literally nothing pleasant about solving this. The best answer is SCREEN TIME, and somehow the puzzle managed to mangle the clue so badly that I could barely understand it (18A: Subject of a parent's restriction for a child). [Something a parent might place limits on], that might work. Something about "subject" and the redundant "for a child" just made that clue ugly.


Wrong answers:

• 6D: What an oatmeal bath alleviates (ITCH) — ACHE, then RASH
• 3D: Prettify (PRIMP) — PREEN
• 1D: "Likewise" ("AS AM I") — "AS DO I"
• 66A: Fella (LAD) — I didn't mess this up. I just think it's wrong. "Fella" is a grown person, LAD ... isn't.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Givee / SUN 4-24-16 / Botnaical cover / Biscuits with no sharp edges / Cave deposits / Selfies around 2012-13

Constructor: Kathy Wienberg

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "'Tee' Time" — 'TEE' sound is added to the end of the first word in familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style

Theme answers:

• CASUALTY FRIDAY (22A: Nickname for an accident-prone L.A.P.D. sergeant?)
• PATTY DOWN (27A: Cry from an errant burger flipper?)
• PANTY HANDLER (44A: Victoria's Secret job?)
• BATTY MOBILE (66A: Gulf Coast port that's gone bonkers?)
• REALTY NUMBER (89A: Three houses flipped this week, e.g.?)
• BUSTY FARE (104A: Hooters menu?)
• SAFETY CRACKERS (114A: Biscuits with no sharp edges?)
• PETTY ROCKS (44D: Sign seen at a Heartbreakers concert?)
• JETTY LINER (40D: Protective covering for a pier?)

Word of the Day: OMAR al-Bashir (86D: Longtime Sudanese president ___ al-Bashir) —

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (Arabic: عمر حسن أحمد البشير‎; born 1 January 1944) is the President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south. Since then, he has been elected three times as President in elections that have been under scrutiny for corruption. In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting president to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. (wikipedia)

• • •

This has been the easiest Fri-Sat-Sun stretch that I can remember. Of course, I can't actually *remember* any other Fri-Sat-Sun stretches, but I doubt I've ever had a combined time on two themelesses and a Sunday-sized puzzle come in under 21 minutes, as I have this week. 8:47 on today's puzzle, which probably a Sunday NYT record for me. I've done Sunday-sized puzzles in under 8 before, but those were Newsdays, I think. The theme here was so basic, and the overall cluing so straightforward, that once I got past 1A: Contents of some tubs, which probably threw me more than anything else in the puzzle (I wanted OLEO), I barely stopped entering letters until the end. I don't think this theme is really worthy of the NYT—not in the 21st century. It's just too vanilla, too hackneyed. It's executed well enough, but there's nothing very entertaining going on. I got a dark chuckle out of CASUALTY FRIDAY, but the rest of it was just ho-hum. Fill was also kind of, let's say, retro, with TSAR ALDA ALAR ARIL and ECRU getting the band back together, but it was all quite tolerable. Just old-fashioned and dull, despite the boobs (104A) and panties (44A).


Here are some memorable moments—there were little bits of trickery that might've caused a lot more trouble if the surrounding fill / clues had also been at all difficult. Thought the "band" in 8A: Military band (SASH) was musical. Thought 40A: Bridge (JOIN) was SPAN. I can never remember what AMPAS stands for, so ARTS was tough (71D: Part of AMPAS) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences).  I had no idea what I was looking at at 103D: "Givee." I thought it was either some weird, possibly racist version of "gimme." Who in the world actually says "givee" to mean "one who has been given something," i.e. TAKER, even ironically? Yipes. I had trouble with but ultimately very much enjoyed the clue on TOKE (107D: It's a drag). Also had trouble with PILE, which I had as PILL, 'cause that's what some sweaters do ... and it gives the fabric a kind of NAPpy texture. It made sense in my mind. But none of these problems were really problems. No trouble. No TRAUMA. Cakewalk.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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