Actor Nielsen of "Airplane!" / MON 11-2-2020 / Coins in India / Marijuana cigarette, in old slang / Version that's just for show

Constructor: Luke Vaughn

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Sketchy — Theme answers are related to drawing. 

Theme answers:

• GOLDENDOODLE (20A: Popular dog crossbreed)
• LEAVE NO TRACE (27A: Have an invisible footprint)
• FIVE CARD DRAW (46A: One version of poker)
• COMEDY SKETCH (55A: "SNL" offering)

Word of the Day: Taro (63A: Root used in making poi) —

Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, a root vegetable most commonly known as taro (/ˈtɑːroʊ, ˈtæroʊ/), or kalo (see §Names and etymology for an extensive list). It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, and South Asian cultures (similar to yams), and taro is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.

(Wikipedia) 

• • •

It's August Monday once again! In November this time. (Am I going to make that joke every month? Probably.) Honestly I wasn't blown away by this one, as you can probably see by the fact that I wasn't really able to find a good word of the day. It was definitely a solid introduction-to-crosswords kind of Monday, no Naticks or tough crosses, but on the other hand the clues and fill were just kinda...blah. It's kind of cool that the constructor had dogs on the brain though. We had SPEAK, STAY, GOLDENDOODLE...and goldendoodles are so cute! I thought for sure it would be LABRADOODLE but that didn't quite fit.   

The theme was cool, a typical Monday theme. I like that it evokes the sketchy early stages of art specifically. I took two art classes in college, but I still can't draw very well. Here's my final project for my figure drawing class! 

 

Bullets:

• RAP (60D: Genre for Megan Thee Stallion) — Change that R to a W and you could still have a Megan Thee Stallion related clue, but I don't think Will Shortz would be okay with printing it. WAP is a great song though. 
• IAMB (18A: Poetic foot with a short and a long syllable) — Do we have any sonnet writers or other kinds of poets in CrossWorld? I used to write a ton of sonnets in iambic pentameter. I've moved on to free verse, but I did some pretty good sonnetteering back in the day. Not to toot my own iamb or anything. 
• ESSAY (36A: Part of a test that may produce a hand cramp) — I don't want to jinx anything but so far my essay assignments for library school have all been really cool! Our most recent one was to research different libraries/archival institutions and look into how they're handling the pandemic. I also wrote a paper where I got to interview an archivist friend of mine and ask her about her career. Who knew learning about libraries could be so interesting? ....I knew, that's why I went into this field. :P 
• WAYNE (64A: "Party on, ___!" "Party on, Garth.") — A little WW scene to start your Monday. 

Signed, August Thompson, tired graduate student. 

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Balm with oxymoronic name / FRI 9-20-19 / Chandler four-term US senator who helped faound Republican Party / Like a novel with roguish adventuring hero / Cloud name prefix / Fashion portmanteau exemplified by wearing yoga pants all day / First name in 1990s rap / Journalist whose mother father sister husband all won Nobel prizes

Constructor: Luke Vaughn

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (on paper, untimed)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: ÈVE CURIE (4D: Journalist whose mother, fagther, sister and husband all won Nobel Prizes) —

Ève Denise Curie Labouisse (French pronunciation: ​[ɛv dəniz kyʁi labwis]; December 6, 1904 – October 22, 2007) was a French and American writer, journalist and pianist. Ève Curie was the younger daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. Her sister was Irène Joliot-Curieand her brother-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Ève was the only member of her family who did not choose a career as a scientist and did not win a Nobel Prize, although her husband Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. did collect the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 on behalf of UNICEF. She worked as a journalist and authored her mother's biography Madame Curie and a book of war reportage, Journey Among Warriors.^[1][2] From the 1960s she committed herself to work for UNICEF, providing help to children and mothers in developing countries. (wikipedia)

• • •

The SE corner here is fantastic, and I did it last, so this was one of those seemingly rare times when the puzzle ends on a highpoint (and not with me jammed up at the worst / knottiest part of the grid). The rest of the grid was fine, but nothing to write home about. TWITTERATI is still not a thing and by now it's a dated non-thing, not the "fresh" thing you think it is, so please stop. I really haven't missed seeing ENESCU, a crosswordese trickster whose name can also be spelled ENESCO for some reason! (9D: "Romanian Rhapsodies" composer) This ÈVE CURIE person is hilariously uncrossworthy. The way that I know is because of how you have clued her, i.e. in relation to the human beings in her family that people might actually know (not, tellingly, in relation to anything specific that she did or wrote). Nice to see more women in the grid in marquee positions (i.e. in long answers), but who? But as I say, that SE corner rocks, and the fill in general is at least a solid average, so overall positive marks for the constructor.


The editor, on the other hand ... OOF. It's possible that *all* these clues were the constructor's, but it's the editor who has to take the reins and bring the cluing under control, so he's ultimately responsible for the cluing, and yeeeesh. It's bad today. If you're gonna open with two (2) "?" Across clues, they should be, uh, good. Stick the landing! These are Terrible and Merely Bad, respectively. SPEED DATES are "Plays?" Even with pun leeway on High, that is rough. I guess people are making "plays" for ... prospective dates? But then the "matches" would be after the "play" (presumably). The whole thing requires a compass and protractor if you wanna make any clear sense out of it. Bad. I get that a STUB has been "ripped off" of the original complete ticket ... OK, maybe that one's more tolerable (and just tough). Other horrible clues: 25A: Comment like "And now here's Pam with sports. Pam?" ("OVER TO YOU"). No, "Over to You" is, itself, a comment. If somehow throwing it to another presenter is called an OVER-TO-YOU (like it's a category of comment) then that is some inside-newsroom stuff. Hated this. Merely disliked 34A: "That may not have been entirely accurate ..." ("I LIED"), which are patently not the same thing. They are in the same large category, but at opposite ends. The "may not" is key here. ASSAULTS are not [Batteries]. That's why the phrase "assault & battery" exists. Because ... they are different. "Oh, well, you see, 'assaults' is here being used in the more general..." [harsh loud buzz sound] sorry, no. You can try to lawyer that one if you want, but it's bad.


Lastly, there were entirely too many names, esp. with clues of the fill-in-the-blank variety, followed by a lengthy-ish description of the thing they did that allegedly makes them puzzleworthy, but it always sounds like just so much special pleading. ZACHARIAH ... he did this thing. LYDIA ... you know, from that other thing? This novelist! That former Mexican president ('s middle name!)! Half a rap name! Now I knew some of these and not others, but but the barrage of blank so-and-so clues for like an assault (as opposed to a battery). But let me end by saying, once again, that SE corner is fantastic. PICARESQUE to ATHLEISURE to CHEAP SEATS is the crossword Tinker to Evers to Chance. Mwah!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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Zoroastrianism's sacred text / SUN 12-30-18 / Mesopotamian mother goddess / Stealth bomber familiarly / 2003 Economoics Nobelist Robert / Hybrid tourney style

Constructor: Luke Vaughn

Relative difficulty: Medium (felt easier, but there are some patches ...)

THEME: "No Duh!" — so ... phrases with "the" have "no *the*" in them, creating ... honestly, calling these "wacky" seems generous, but OK ... wacky phrases, which are wackily clued:

Theme answers:

• BEHIND SCENES (36A: Reason for an R rating?) (does mere naked rear end really earn an R?)
• BEYOND PALE (6D: Really, really needing some sun?)
• WELL-OFF MARK (45A: Cuban or Zuckerberg?)
• SEAL DEAL (16D: Buy one circus animal, get one circus animal free?)
• OUT OF BLUE (69A: Needing certain ink for a color printer?)
• POP QUESTION (90A: Impetus behind a paternity test?)
• SPARE ROD (85D: Something up for grabs on a fishing boat?)
• SKIRT ISSUE (77D: Installment of a women's clothing catalog?)
• AGAINST GRAIN (97A: On a paleo diet, say?)

Word of the Day: LARISSA (115A: Capital of Thessaly) —

Larissa (Greek: Λάρισα [ˈlarisa]) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region, the fourth-most populous in Greece according to the population results of municipal units of 2011 census and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transport hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the cities of Thessaloniki and Athens. Larissa, within its municipality, has 162,591 inhabitants, while the regional unit of Larissa reached a population of 284,325 (in 2011).^[1] The urban area of the city, although mostly contained within the Larissa municipality, also includes the communities of Giannouli, Platykampos, Nikaia, Terpsithea and several other suburban settlements, bringing the wider urban area population of the city to about 174,012 inhabitants and extends over an area of 572.3 km² (221.0 sq mi).

Legend has it that Achilles was born here. Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", died here. Today, Larissa is an important commercial, agricultural and industrial centre of Greece. (wikipedia)

• • •

What hell? You just take out a central THE? And ... it's not even central every time, just penultimate, and ... then you want me to believe that "duh" rhymes with "THE," and then ... since the whole concept is so manifestly thin and yields very little in the way of real humor or entertainment, you want to ... really cram the grid with themers. Crossing Acrosses and Downs, whoosh and whee and what not? IESTerday ... love was such an iesy game to play ... now I (definitely) need a place to hide awaie. Good news is: if your big thing is Incredibly Obscure World Capitals (Including Regional Capitals, Dear Lord), then this is your puzzle. Or at least part of it is your puzzle. Namely the BISSAU part and the LARISSA part. BISSAU, LOL. I was like "What?" and then I was like "[West African capital]? Why not just say the country name??!" And Then ... I looked up the country. Any guess? Oh shut up, you don't know it unless you actively train for trivia contests / game shows and have memorized all world capitals. Anyway, BISSAU is the capital of [drum roll] Guinea-BISSAU, a country I am just now learning exists. I mean, cool, it's real, why not know it, I guess, but then you wanna go and throw LARISSA at me? What on god's green?! That was my last word in the grid, and it contains the very rarely seen Double Natick*.


I am not kidding when I say that I guessed at not one but two letters in LARISSA. I have no idea what a RUE is, in plant terms. I feel like it's in some "Hamlet" quote, but ... yikes. But the real Naticky cross here is with AVESTA. What Is AVESTA? I've been solving going on 30 years and .... ???????!?!?!?!?!?! And it crosses LARISSA? Everyone, from the constructor, to the editors (plural) to the proofreaders to the janitor should've flagged that crossing *immediately* as Bad. Unthinkably bad. And then taking RUE into plant (?!) territory, to boot? (116D: Medicinal plant) Bizarre. And for many solvers, absolutely harrowing. I guessed both crosses correctly, based solely on experience, but, again, yikes. See you later, puzzle. I've had enoughFOVEA nonsense! (is that how you pronounce that? I've Never Seen That Word Either ... 🎶IESTerday🎶 ...).

[SEAL DEAL]

I suppose LARI-SA / AVE-TA is a guessable cross. I mean, I guessed it. But you have to understand that no solver wants to have a cross where they're not sure how or if either answer makes sense. This is why Obscure Proper Nouns Should Not Cross, especially when neither is a recognizable / common name. Like, you could clue BRIAN via some barely-known rock climber or something, but if I get BRIAN, at least I can go "Oh, BRIAN, that is a name I have seen that humans sometimes have, cool." With AVESTA ... you cannot do that.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. A.M.A. in the ASK clue (113D: Part of A.M.A.) is Ask Me Anything, a Reddit phenomenon (originally) where people can ask celebrities or other people prominent in their fields ... well, anything.

*Natick = blind crossing, usually of two not-well-known proper nouns (see sidebar for more details)

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Half of hip-hop's Black Star / THU 7-3-14 / Female rapper with 2002 hit Gangsta Lovin / One named singer with 2003 hit Rock Wit U Awww Baby / Aptly named Olympics star / Dwarf planet beyond Pluto / Detective of '60s-'70s TV

Constructor: Luke Vaughn 

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: MOUNT ST. HELENS (39A: It left part of itself in 11 states in 1980) — ASH from this volcano can be found all over the grid (in 11 different squares)

Word of the Day: ASHTON Eaton (60D: Olympic decathlon gold medalist ___ Eaton) —

Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is an American decathlete and Olympic champion, who holds the world record in both the decathlon and heptathlon events, and is only the second decathlete (afterRoman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point barrier, with 9,039 points.

He competes for the Oregon Track Club Elite team based in Eugene, Oregon. In college, Eaton competed for the University of Oregon, where he was a five-time NCAA champion, and won The Bowerman award in 2010. In 2011, Eaton won the first international medal of his career, a silver, in the decathlon at the 2011 World Championships. The following year, Eaton broke his own world record in the heptathlon at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, and then went on to break the world record in the decathlon at the Olympic Trials. After setting the world record, Eaton easily won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (wikipedia)

• • •

The more I look at this one, the more I like it, at least in terms of the theme conception. Didn't catch the "11 states" / 11 theme squares connection until I started preparing this write-up—that's a very nice touch, considering the central revealer seemed strong enough on its own to hold this thing together. There is some very nice fill in here, particularly where the hidden ASHes are concerned. The rebus square is always better when it is well and truly hidden (in this case, I mean 'inaudible'), so I liked ON A SHORT LEASH and TEXAS HOLD 'EM the best of the rebus-related answers. My main problem with this one was that once I discovered the gimmick (ASH squares), there wasn't anything left to do but find them. In practice, I found this somewhat tedious. On the one hand, I was grateful for the rebus, as it *definitely* helped me solve: SE corner went down in a flASH because SODASHOP (49D: Place to get a malted) was a gimme once I knew what I was looking for. But uncovering SLASH after CLASH after GNASH, well, it ground me down a little after a while. So this puzzle falls under the category of "Puzzles That I Recognize Are Very Well Made But That I Enjoyed Only A Little For Reasons That Are Probably Highly Personal And Idiosyncratic." There is one problem though—see if you can spot it:

That NW corner was a killer, first because it was where I started, and I could get only the weakest of footholds before falling down again and again, and second because even after I got the ASH theme, I couldn't figure out 1A: Sheepish (ASHAMED). All I wanted was ABASHED, which fit the clue, and fit in the grid, but did not otherwise work. Forgot ASHCROFT ever existed and spent some time trying to remember the other Bush appointee who was so terrible … still can't remember his name … Gonzales? *Yes*, Alberto Gonzales! If this had been an ALE rebus, I'd've been in business. But no. It was a really good day if you're a big fan of the early 2000s, what with ASHCROFT and EVE (4D: Female rapper with the 2002 hit "Gangsta Lovin'") and ASHANTI (53D: One-named singer with the 2003 hit "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)") in the house. That is probably not the kind of company ASHCROFT is used to keeping, but whoomp, there it is. MOS DEF (28A: Half of hip-hop's Black Star) adds to the puzzle's strong Hip-Hop flavor/a.


One other main problem: wanted FELT instead of WEPT (43A: Had pity (for)). Seems small, and it is, but the consequences of that mistake seemed huge. Kept me from coming down easily into that SE corner of the grid. The inclusion of ASHEN in this puzzle is a tad disappointing, as it's the only ASH that actually relates directly to ASH. Would've been more elegant to run the table with non-ASH-realted ASHes. But again, this is good work. Much better than SO-SO (57A: All right). The ASH onslaught was a bit relentless, but that was, in its way, fitting. In parting, let me make the random observation that MOUNT ST HELENS can be parsed as MOUNTS THE LENS, and now that is all I can see when I look at the grid.

I leave you with a flick called (almost) OON FLIC:

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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