Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Will Eisenberg

Constructor: Shannon Rapp and Will Eisenberg

Relative difficulty: Easy (solved Downs-only)

THEME: Opening Day (which is actually Mar. 28, but ... close enough!) — baseball theme: second words of two-word phrases are all words for players on a baseball diamond:

Theme answers:

DREAM CATCHER (20A: Woven creation of the Ojibwe people)
PANCAKE BATTER (29A: Thick liquid poured on a hot griddle)
NATHAN FIELDER (47A: Emma Stone's co-star on Showtime's "The Curse")
WATER PITCHER (56A: Pour thing?) [this puzzle is oddly horny for Emma Stone ... and pouring]

Word of the Day: NATHAN FIELDER (47A) —

Nathan Joseph Fielder (born May 12, 1983) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer. He is known for his awkward persona and involvement in works that blur reality and fiction. His accolades include an Independent Spirit Award and a WGA Award, as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award. In 2023, he was featured on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Fielder was interested in comedy from a young age, and as a teenager was involved in his school's improv group, which also featured fellow comedian Seth Rogen. He majored in Business at the University of Victoria, which would later influence his work. After attending a comedy course at Humber College, Fielder started his career as a correspondent for CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes for the segment series Nathan on Your Side from 2008 to 2009. Fielder would later write and appear on the American sketch show Important Things with Demetri Martin (2011).
In 2013, he co-created and directed the Comedy Central parody reality show Nathan for You, in which Fielder stars as a slightly more awkward version of himself, who offers advice to struggling businesses. The show ended in 2017 and was followed by the HBO docu-comedy The Rehearsal (2022–present). Fielder also executive produced the HBO docu-series How To with John Wilson (2020–2023). In 2023, he and Benny Safdie created his first scripted show, Showtime's The Curse, in which he stars, alongside Safdie and Emma Stone. (wikipedia)

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Among the easiest Downs-only solves I've ever done, although I will admit that I accidentally saw 1A: Rum-soaked cake (BABA) before I managed to toggle to Downs, so I probably got B AND B (ampersandwich!) faster than I would've otherwise. Still, I would've gotten BAKED POTATO even without that initial "B" from BABA, so I think it's safe to say that this will play on the easy side for Downs-only solvers. For regular solvers, I don't know. That NATHAN FIELDER cross would've stumped me. I had no idea he had a Showtime show with Emma Stone. I know him from The Rehearsal, which is ... I don't even know how to describe it. It seems like a documentary/reality series where he helps people prepare for some big event coming up in their lives, something they're worried about or dreading. That's the "rehearsal," and in those first couple episodes [actually, just the first episode!], the "rehearsal" is elaborate—building exact replicas of the locations where events are to take place and hiring actors to play patrons, that sort of thing. It's awkward and hilarious and surreal. But then the show takes a hard left turn when [starting in episode 2] Nathan himself gets pulled into one of the guest's stories [as the non-romantic partner of a woman ostensibly "rehearsing" to be a parent], and then the rest of the first-season episodes are all about that plotline. No new guests, just this bizarre trip into half-fake pseudo-reality TV land. I don't remember details well, but I remember my wife and I were constantly looking at each other like "What Is Happening?" Completely original and unpredictable in a way that TV almost never is. I guess I'll have to check out The Curse, but if it's conventional scripted fare, even good conventional scripted fare, I'm afraid I'm going to be disappointed. The Rehearsal set the Weird Bar too high, and now that's all I want from him. Anyway, between that clue and the [Pour thing?] clue, I can see how actually having to deal with the Acrosses might've slowed you down. In the Downs, though—no resistance to be found at all.

The theme is very basic, of a type that would've been very at home in the 20th century, even the pre-Shortz era, but the actual theme answers themselves, and the overall cluing, felt reasonably fresh. "IT'S A DRY HEAT" really gives you something extra to admire today (26D: Clichéd dismissal of Arizona's summer climate). That's one of the few Downs I wrestled with for more than a second or two, mainly because the "cliché" I was thinking of was "IT'S NOT THE HEAT / IT'S THE HUMIDITY," and I kept trying to make either half of that expression work. Ah well. "IT'S A DRY HEAT" works too, and it actually fits the clue (fancy that) (26D: Clichéd dismissal of Arizona's summer climate). The hardest answer for me to get was the last one: PROXY (55D: Designated representative). I had the "R" but the other letters were all bland and not easily inferrable. YA- could've been YAP YAK YAM etc. DUET- looked like it could only be DUETS. SPAN- looked like SPANS, or maybe SPANO (there's an actor Vincent SPANO, isn't there?) (A: Yes). And STA- could've been many other things besides STAY. So I had to push letters around and think on it, but I got there eventually. Even with that late struggle, this played very easy.

The only part that made me go "boo!" ("boo! this is bad!" as opposed to "boo! scared ya!") was the clue on EVENS (34D: 2, 4, 6, 8, how do these numbers relate?). The "how" is what is bad. Clues are supposed to agree with answers grammatically, and EVENS is not a "how." I was looking for an adverbial phrase, maybe a prepositional phrase (How? Uh ... BY TWO?), but no, instead we get a mere synonym for 2, 4, 6, and 8: EVENS, i.e. even numbers. Sucks when the puzzle sacrifices clarity for cuteness. I love the idea (make it sound like a cheer!), but it doesn't work on the most basic wording level, so it doesn't work.

Looking forward to actual Opening Day (Thursday!). Baseball is currently mired in a massive betting scandal involving its reigning AL MVP and highest-paid player, Shohei Ohtani, but ... as with most of the unpalatable aspects of pro sports that I enjoy, I'm just gonna pretend none of it matters. Play ball! And, as always, Go Tigers!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. surprised that this is (apparently) Will Eisenberg's NYTXW debut. He's been constructing for what seems like years, but apparently only for other outlets (AVCX, New Yorker, etc.). Until now.

P.P.S. today's constructors (frequent collaborators) also co-constructed a fun puzzle in These Puzzles Fund Abortion 4. Am I still plugging that collection? Apparently I am. It just crossed the $40K mark! Go get the puzzles for yourself if you haven't already.

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