Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Soleil Saint-Cyr

Constructor: Soleil Saint-Cyr

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: HIVE MIND — Theme answers end in...bee-related words? Types of bee?

Theme answers:

ESSENTIAL WORKER (19A: One on the front lines during a crisis)
HOMECOMING QUEEN (35A: Crown wearer at fall football game)
US MILITARY DRONE (52A: Unmanned Dept. of Defense aircraft)
HIVE (57A: With 58-Across, collective consciousness ... or a hint to the ends of 19-, 35- and 52-Across)
MIND (58A: See 57-Across)

Word of the Day: EMIR (60A: Qatari leader) —

An emir (/əˈmɪər, eɪˈmɪər, ˈeɪmɪər/; Arabic: أمير‎ ʾamīr [ʔaˈmiːr]), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, can refer to a king or an aristocratic or noble and military title of high office used in a variety of places in the Arab countries, West Africa, Afghanistan and in the Indian subcontinent. The term has been widely used to denote a "commander", "general", or "leader" i.e. Amir al-Mu'min. The feminine form is emira (أميرة ʾamīrah). When translated as "prince", the word "emirate" is analogous to a sovereign principality. In contemporary usage, the term may indicate a Muslim head of state of an Emirate or a leader of an Islamic organization.
(Wikipedia)

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Before we get started, it's Black History Month, and this week is all Black constructors! Soleil Saint-Cyr is also a high school student, so 1) BE NICE TO HER ON TWITTER and 2) that's the coolest thing ever, I wish I was getting published in the NYT in high school! I hope she knows how awesome she is!

It's a very snowy August Monday! I'm writing this with my pajamas inside out and an ice cube flushed down the toilet hoping that I get to stay home from work tomorrow. Just kidding--I love my job. Who wouldn't want to work somewhere surrounded by books? Sigh.

On to the puzzle! I'm gonna say it: US MILITARY DRONE is crosswordese, you'd normally call it an "unmanned drone," and also please don't get me started on the way the U.S. military actually uses the things. Are Yale students really called YALIES? Oof. I like the nod to OREO without actually putting OREO in the puzzle; I think my opinions on the amount of STUF the cookies should have in them have been well-stated over the years. Overall, pretty solid Monday despite the one gripe.

The theme was simple and, well, sweet. (Like honey? Anyone?) BEAR HUG is good in a bee-themed puzzle too. I did a presentation on bees in sixth grade where I had to present in character as a bee and my best friend told me I was weird for getting so into it and for saving pictures of bees as "selfies" on my computer, but you know what, Kyra, I still think bees are cool, so take that.

Bullets:

NSYNC (20D: "Bye Bye Bye" boy band) — The boy band craze just about missed me. I did have a favorite Jonas brother (Joe, of course, he had the best smile) but 'NSync was a little before my time. The craze is kind of back, though, with K-Pop. I don't have a favorite member of BTS but I'm actually really impressed by the vocal and dance talent some of these groups have! Don't get me started on Loona's choreography...
OSHA (34A: Factory-inspecting org.) — I'm just linking this video because it's really fun to watch a guy do a lot of work about something that really doesn't matter at all in the real world.
AHAB (29D: "Moby-Dick" captain) — My favorite Moby Dick quote: "Wherefore, for all these things, we account the whale immortal in his species, however perishable in his individuality. He swam the seas before the continents broke water; he once swam over the site of the Tuileries, and Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin. In Noah's flood he despised Noah's Ark; and if ever the world is to be again flooded, like the Netherlands, to kill off its rats, then the eternal whale will still survive, and rearing upon the topmost crest of the equatorial flood, spout his frothed defiance to the skies." ....Well, sperm whales are now considered "vulnerable [to endangerment/extinction]" by the IUCN, but in Melville's defense he was writing in 1851, so.
IMMA (31D: "___ Be" by the Black-Eyed Peas) — Throwback time!