Nickname for Empress Elisabeth of Austria / SUN 6-16-24 / Onetime Britney Spears partner, in the tabloids / ___ & Mariam (musical duo) / Notable bankruptee of 2001 / Honolulu palace name / Lin Ching-___, icon of Chinese-language cinema / Location identifier for a digital photo / Horror director Ari / Extra point as the result of a foul, in basketball lingo / Classic British sitcom character inspired by Jacques Tati / Formicary resident / Item repeatedly stepped on by Sideshow Bob on "The Simpsons"

Constructor: Chandi Deitmer and Wyna Liu

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "Connections" — two-word phrases that basically describe the four all-caps words in the clues. I guess this is in reference to the NYT game "Connections," which, like the rest of the NYT's little games, I do not play (except for Wordle, but I played that before it was NYT property). How are the four words in the clues related? Today, each set of four can precede the same word in familiar phrases. So, for example ... APP, CONVENIENCE, GENERAL, and THRIFT can all precede "STORE," which is why the answer for that clue is STORE FRONTS (i.e. those clue words can all act as "fronts" (i.e. "opening words") for "STORE":

Theme answers:

• STORE FRONTS (22A: APP, CONVENIENCE, GENERAL, THRIFT?)
• SEASON OPENERS (32A: HOLIDAY, MONSOON, TAX, TOURIST?)
• TEAM LEADERS (40A: A-, DREAM, SWAT, TAG?)
• MOVIE PREMIERES (61A: B-, DATE, LIFETIME, SILENT?)
• ROCKET LAUNCHES (70A: BOOSTER, BOTTLE, HOUSTON, MODEL?)
• FRESH STARTS (85A: CERTIFIED, FUNKY, MINTY, POPPIN'?)
• NEW BEGINNINGS (95A: BRAND, LIKE, NOTHING, WHAT'S?)
• SHOWER HEADS (109A: BRIDAL, COLD, GATORADE, METEOR?)

Word of the Day: Lin Ching-HSIA (87D: Lin Ching-___, icon of Chinese-language cinema) —

[Chungking Express (1994)]

Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (Chinese: 林青霞; pinyin: Lín Qīngxiá; born 3 November 1954) is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. [...] She appeared in 55 films in the period between 1972 and 1979, and all her roles were romantic heroines in love stories. She then left for the U.S. in 1979 for a year and a half, to study and relax. // Known for being a "screen goddess" by Chinese film lovers, Lin's early collaborations with Hong Kong New Wave directors Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark and Jackie Chan in Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), The Other Side of Gentleman (1984), Police Story (1985) and Peking Opera Blues (1986) brought her success. In 1990, she won the Best Actress trophy at the 27th Golden Horse Awards for her depiction of a Chinese female writer who fell in love with a Japanese collaborator in Red Dust (1990). [...] At the height of her popularity, Lin was one of the most sought-after actresses in the Chinese film industry. She starred in more than 100 movies. Lin was credited for boosting Taiwan's film production in the 1970s before earning even greater popularity in Hong Kong in the 1990s, becoming a trans-island legend of her time. // She retired from acting in 1994. Her last acting role was in Ashes of Time (1994).

• • •

Once again, the NYTXW is acting as a kind of advertisement for its own properties. First (and very recently) it included "THE DAILY," and then "OP-DOCS," as crossword answers, and now they're just using the crossword to plug their other games. It's a little tiresome, tbh, this constant self-promotion, although Wyna (today's co-constructor) is in charge of "Connections," so she's entitled, I guess. But I'm gonna pretend that the puzzle doesn't have the boring title "Connections" and has nothing to do with that game, and just take it as a regular old puzzle-theme, and on those terms, it's fine. I enjoyed it just fine. Better than average for a Sunday, for sure. Sunday is (by far) my lowest-rated day of the week, so "Better than average" may not seem like high praise, but I think it's also better than average for any day of the week—any themed day, anyway, except maybe Thursday. This one doesn't have the pleasing trickiness of the average Thursday. But it's conceptually solid, and even if the theme answers themselves aren't particularly exciting, the non-theme fill is actually pretty good, with lots of sparkling longer non-theme fill (HARD PASS, "SERVES ME RIGHT," PANCAKE MAKEUP, SHACKS UP, "I FIGURED...") and a grid that's solidly built overall. As for the theme, it's basically an amped-up version of the "Words That Can Precede" theme variety. Like, each of these themers could be the revealer in its own puzzle, tying together a set of answers featuring all the words in the clue: say, for example, BRAND NAME, "LIKE I CARE," NOTHING SPECIAL, "WHAT'S UP DOC?" ... and then NEW BEGINNINGS as the revealer ([Fresh starts ... or the starts of today's longer answers?]), something like that. Not saying it would be good, just saying that that's a theme type we've seen. But today's puzzle gives us that "First words" thing eight times over. In the process, it occasionally strains the meaning of some of those "starter" words (LAUNCHES? I dunno, man. PREMIERES feels a little wobbly too). But overall, everything works pretty well, everything's symmetrical. People who like "Connections" can get a little thrill of recognition. As I say, it's fine.

While the puzzle overall was relatively easy, there were some patches that seemed at least slightly treacherous, all of them involving (surprise) names. The worst of these areas feels like the result of theme density; that is, theme answers are very close together in this puzzle, with lots of Downs running through two and even three themers, and because those themers are fixed (the first answers in the grid, the answers you build the rest of the puzzle around), they put a lot of pressure on the grid, narrowing (sometimes dramatically) the fill possibilities for the Down crosses. This can cause cascading problems in fill quality. Today, the main problem was in the connective tissue running from the middle of SEASON OPENER down to the back end of ROCKET LAUNCHES—let's call it the ORRIS-IOLANI Highway. I say this as someone who knew both ORRIS (34D: Root used in perfumery) and IOLANI (51D: Honolulu palace name), which will Not (I'm fairly certain) be the case for many solvers. Even knowing IOLANI, I botched the spelling initially. I don't think this patch would have seemed as potentially ruinous if it hadn't been for SISI and its (to me) remarkably obscure clue (50A: Nickname for Empress Elisabeth of Austria). There's an Empress of Austria? And she's famous enough to have a "nickname"? I really should've made her the Word of the Day, because this is all news to me. If you wanted to find the blindest of my blind spots, you'd definitely go to late 19th-century Bavarian history, because I'm reading her wikipedia page and absolutely nothing is ringing a bell. She was married to Emperor Franz Joseph until her assassination in 1898 (!): "While travelling in Geneva in 1898, Elisabeth was fatally stabbed in the heart by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Her tenure of 44 years was the longest of any Austrian empress." Anyway, her "nickname" was random letters to me, and I'm baffled by the choice to clue SISI this way, when it's the only thing connecting ORRIS to IOLANI. I once had an accomplished constructor/editor tell me that cluing "SI, SI" as an emphatic Spanish affirmative was problematic because it was kind of a caricature of how Spanish speakers speak. At least I think that was the reason. But I would've loved an easy [Emphatic Spanish affirmative] right there. Seems entirely plausible that solvers might wipe out on either one, if not both, of the "I"s in SISI (as clued).

[Your "S"-count may vary]

And the ugliness spills into adjacent fill, from the awkwardly possessive PLATO'S in the middle of the grid to the HOO-boy dated-as-hell K-FED (79A: Onetime Britney Spears partner, in the tabloids). I don't think history has been kind to the memory of K-FED, aka Kevin ... someone? See, I can't even remember. Federline! Hey, he's from Fresno, just like me! He now seems to be in a long-term marriage, possibly living in Hawaii, and working primarily as a DJ since ~2010. Good for him. He has not appeared in a NYTXW ... wait, ever!? Never ever!? I'm laughing so hard right now. This is so pure—the NYTXW catching a pop culture phenomenon very (very very) (very) (extremely) late. Wow. Wow. OK. Britney and K-FED divorced in '07, so ... yeah, sure, now feels like the right time to drop him in a grid, why not? Wow. OK. Happy NYTXW debut to you, K-FED. 

[A young Ike Barinholtz as K-FED! And a young Jordan Peele as the DJ!]

Still more names: MARTI! Totally blanked on it. That's my bad (73D: Leader in the Cuban War of Independence). I know Cuban history only slightly better than I know Austrian history. Thank god I knew RAMA, because otherwise I would've had no way of knowing how the fictional AVA of "Abbott Elementary" spells her name (EVA v. AVA). Then there's HSIA—no way, no hope. Doesn't help that she's known in the west primarily as "Brigitte Lin" (see Word of the Day, above). Turns out I have seen her before (in a couple of Jackie Chan films as well as Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express); I wouldn't call her "obscure" by a long shot, but I would say that maybe that particular name part is? I have no problem learning about Lin Ching-HSIA, but as far as cinematic icons in crossword puzzles go: still no Agnès VARDA? Still no Yasujiro OZU? I am addicted to "Criterion Closet" videos, where actors and filmmakers go into the closet at the Criterion Collection and fill their tote bag with whatever Criterion DVDs and Blu-rays they want from the shelves; the videos are only a few minutes long, and they're remarkably entertaining, if what you're entertained by is people geeking out about great movies. Anyway, VARDA and OZU are two of the most name-checked names in Criterion Closet videos. Because they are icons. Also, they have short names with unusual letter combinations, so I Can Not believe that with all the minor names I've had to wrestle with over the years, I have never (in the NYTXW) come across OZU or VARDA. This is a crime against cinema.

[I've watched Kerry Condon talk about Dogfight more times than I can count]

[Ozu's Late Spring, first thing into his hands]

Lastly, name-wise, AMADOU (101A: ___ & Mariam (musical duo). I am going to look these two up now, because absolutely zero bells are being rung. The clue doesn't even tell you what *kind* of music, or give you a song or album or ... anything! OK, they are from Mali, and were nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2008. I'll bet they're great. But maybe not what you'd call Crossword Famous, I don't think. Still, I don't mind meeting them, since AMADOU is crossed entirely fairly, unlike SISI, which ... yeah, still baffled by that one. 

[They are a married couple who met very young at Mali's' Institute for the Young Blind. 40-year career! 8 albums! Sometimes I *do* like learning things]

Bullets:

• 27A: Snack sometimes served with birria (TACO) — I wrote in TAPA here at first. TACOs can be TAPAs, right? 
• 12D: Ancient performance space (ODEON) — at first I thought maybe the AGORA, but no, it's that other five-letter ancient space of crossword fame.
• 103A: Lives as lovers (SHACKS UP) — I love how '70s this answer is. The euphemism, the implicit judgment! Even the word "lovers," LOL, so throwback. I will take this opportunity to point out that there are three "UP"s in this grid, all pretty close together (SHACKS UP, SENDS UP, PANCAKE MAKEUP). I will also admit that I don't really care. On a Sunday, three appearances of a two-letter word seems fine. As long as the "UP"s don't cross, I'm fine with it.

["Packing up, shacking up's all you wanna do"]

• 45D: Arab honorific (SHEIKH) — stared at SHEIK- and thought "... another H? Why ... why does that look wrong?" Looks like someone conflated SHEIK and SIKH. But SHEIKH is correct. I think it's just that American popular culture has tended to spell it without the final "H":

Hey, west coasters! The Westwords Crossword Tournament takes place next weekend (Sunday, Jun. 23), in Berkeley, CA. West coast tournaments are rare, so this is a great opportunity to mingle with your fellow nerds and meet some of the best constructors and editors working today. Importantly, you can also participate online, from anywhere in the world (that has an internet connection). Here's the blurb from tourney co-organizer John Lieb:

Registration is open for the Westwords Crossword Tournament, which will be held on Sunday, June 23. This event will be both In-Person (in Berkeley, CA) and Online. Online solvers can compete individually or in pairs. To register, to see the constructor roster, and for more details, go to www.westwordsbestwords.com.

They announced the constructor line-up *in crossword form*; I'll let you solve it and discover the names for yourself. Adorable! If I weren't already traveling so much this summer, I'd be going to this tournament. Maybe next year. But you should go. Or do the online version of the tournament. Support this wholesome social endeavor and these creative people!

See you next time. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Experience of feeling unfamiliar with something that's actually quite familiar to you / SAT 4-1-23 / Pikachu's cry in Pokemon / Wilcox daughter in Howard's End / Cochon de suckling pig / Scientific name for the American Bison / Brew whose red-and-white logo was inspired by billiard balls / Japanese export beginning in 1982 / Noted employer in Clermont Ky / Symbol of forgetfulness in Ishiguro's The Buried Giant / Puppeteer Baird who performed for The Sound of Music

Constructor: Wyna Liu and Joel Fagliano

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: ABC (22A: Airer of "Batman" on 1960s TV) — all answers are made out A, B, C, and all the other letters of the alphabet ... except Q and Z for some reason

Word of the Day: ARM BANDS (37D: They go from 540 to 1700, informally) —

An armband is a piece of material worn around the arm. They may be worn for pure ornamentation, or to mark the wearer as belonging to group, or as insignia having a certain rank, status, office or role, or being in a particular state or condition. Sprung armbands, known as sleeve garters, have been used by men to keep overlong sleeves from dropping over the hands and thereby interfering with their use. Armbands may also refer to inflatable armbands used to assist flotation for swimmers or for use with sphygmomanometers, in which case they are generally referred to as cuffs. (wikipedia)

• • •

I woke up this morning thinking "Hurray, it's April 1, best day of the year! Who doesn't like being fooled? Not me, that's for sure." And then I open this puzzle and ... what a gift. Truly the best puzzle of the year, without question.

See you tomorrow!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Scenic stroll from the Spanish / SUN 1-8-23 / 2007 Lil Wayne song that opens Young Money! You dig? / Hindu goddess in the Ramayana / Serpentine constellation / Fragrant noodle soup made with beef / Human rights activist Xiaobo the first Chinese citizen to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 / Influential leader of the Seminole people

Constructor: Wyna Liu

Relative difficulty: Medium (theme was easy to uncover, but fill was often thorny)

THEME: "Do You Hear That?" — My puzzle came with notes: "Note: Each italicized clue contains a blank, which should be filled with a letter of the alphabet. When completed, the letters in order will spell out a two-word phrase." Every theme clue is a phonetic rebus puzzle, where one single-letter element is missing; the letters end up spelling out "SOUNDS GOOD" (presumably an answer to the puzzle's title question) (?):

Theme answers:

• PRINCESS DI (26A: "Presses CTRL+P + ___ + Easter egg coloring") (Prints + "S" + Dye)
• AU COURANT (28A: "___ + Scroungy mutt + Parent's sister, in some regions") ("O" + Cur + Aunt)
• EUPHORIC (44A: "___ + Golfer's cry + 'Ugh!'") ("U" + "Fore!" + "Ick!")
• ROSE GARDEN (46A: "Column crossers + Sentry + ___" (Rows + Guard + "N")
• CANDY CANE (66A: "French festival, familiarly + ___ + Actor Michael") (Cannes + "D" + Caine)
• ALL-ACCESS (70A: "Punching tool + Chopping tool + ___") (Awl + Axe + "S")
• NON-APOLOGY (90A: "Tandoor bread + Harlem music venue + ___") (Naan + Apollo + "G")
• AUTOFILL (93A: "Word of obligation + ___ + Punxsutawney name") (Ought + "O" + Phil)
• TAE KWON DO (107A: "Rug rat + Magic stick + ___") ("O") (Tyke + Wand + "O")
• GOLDILOCKS (110A: "Soccer score + ___ + Scottish inlets") (Goal + "D" + Lochs)

Word of the Day: OSCEOLA (57D: Influential leader of the Seminole people) —

Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQueen. He was reared by his mother in the Creek (Muscogee) tradition. When he was a child, they migrated to Florida with other Red Stick refugees, led by a relative, Peter McQueen, after their group's defeat in 1814 in the Creek Wars. There they became part of what was known as the Seminole people.

In 1836, Osceola led a small group of warriors in the Seminole resistance during the Second Seminole War, when the United States tried to remove the tribe from their lands in Florida to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. He became an adviser to Micanopy, the principal chief of the Seminole from 1825 to 1849. Osceola led the Seminole resistance to removal until he was captured on October 21, 1837, by deception, under a flag of truce, when he went to a site near Fort Peyton for peace talks. The United States first imprisoned him at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, then transported him to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. He died there a few months later of causes reported as an internal infection or malaria. Because of his renown, Osceola attracted visitors in prison, including renowned artist George Catlin, who painted perhaps the most well-known portrait of the Seminole leader.

• • •

***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS IN SYNDICATION*** (if it's mid-January 2023, that's you!) How is the new year treating you? Well, I hope. Me, uh, not great so far (COVID, you know), but I'm 95% better, and was never terribly sick to begin with, so I have every reason to believe things will turn around for me shortly, thank God (and vaccines). Anyway, it's early January, which means it's time once again for my annual week-long pitch for financial contributions to the blog. Every year I ask readers to consider what the blog is worth to them on an annual basis and give accordingly. I'm not sure what to say about this past year. This will sound weird, or melodramatic—or maybe it won't—but every time I try to write about 2022, all I can think is "well, my cat died." She (Olive) died this past October, very young, of a stupid congenital heart problem that we just couldn't fix (thank you all for your kind words of condolence, by the way). I'm looking at the photo I used for last year's fundraising pitch, and it's a picture of me sitting at my desk (this desk, the one I'm typing at right now, the one I write at every day) with Olive sitting on my shoulder, staring at me, and making me laugh. It's a joyous picture. Here, I'm just gonna post it again:

I love the photo both because you can tell how goofy she is, and how goofy she made me. Her loss hurt for the obvious reasons, but also because she was so much a part of my daily routine, my daily rhythms and rituals. She was everyday. Quotidian. Just ... on me, near me, being a weirdo, especially in the (very) early mornings when I was writing this blog. She took me out of myself. She also made me aware of how much the quotidian matters, how daily rituals break up and organize the day, mark time, ground you. They're easy to trivialize, these rituals, precisely because they *aren't* special. Feed the cats again, make the coffee again, solve the crossword again, etc. But losing Olive made me reevaluate the daily, the quotidian, the apparently trivial. In a fundamental way, those small daily things *are* life. No one day is so important, or so different from the others, but cumulatively, they add up, and through the days upon days you develop a practice—a practice of love, care, and attention given to the things that matter. If you're reading this, then crossword puzzles are undoubtedly an important ritual for you, just as writing about crosswords for you all is an important ritual for me. It gives me so much. I hope that even at my most critical, my genuine love for crosswords—for the way my brain lights up on crosswords—comes through. I also hope that the blog brings you entertainment, insight, laughter ... even (especially) if you disagree with me much (most? all?) of the time. 

[man, I really wear the hell 
out of this red fleece...]

The blog began years ago as an experiment in treating the ephemeral—the here-today, gone-tomorrow—like it really mattered. I wanted to stop and look at this 15x15 (or 21x21 thing) and take it seriously, listen to it, see what it was trying to do, think about what I liked or didn't like about it. In short, I gave the puzzle my time and attention. And I continue to do that, every day (Every! Day!). And it is work. A lot of work. Asking for money once a year (and only once a year) is an acknowledgment of that fact. There is nothing to subscribe to here ... no Substack or Kickstarter or Patreon ... and there are no ads, ever. I prefer to keep financial matters simple and direct. I have no "hustle" in me beyond putting my ass in this chair every morning and writing.

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 three 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

The third, increasingly popular option is Venmo; if that's your preferred way of moving money around, my handle is @MichaelDavidSharp (the last four digits of my phone are 4878, in case Venmo asks you, which I guess it does sometimes, when it's not trying to push crypto on you, what the hell?!)

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. My daughter (Ella Egan) has designed a cat-related thank-you postcard for 2023, just as she has for the past two years, but this year, there's a bonus. Because this year ... the postcard is also a crossword puzzle! Yes, I made a little 9x9 blog-themed crossword puzzle for you all. It's light and goofy and I hope you enjoy it. It looks like this (clues blurred for your protection):

I had fun making this puzzle (thanks to Rachel Fabi and Neville Fogarty for proofing it for me!). For non-snail-mailers who want to solve the puzzle, don't worry: I'll make the puzzle available for everyone some time next month. 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...

• • •

This puzzle landed with a PHO! That is, PHO was my last word, so that is where the puzzle ... landed. I ate PHO this past week when I was feeling my COVID-worst, and I'm not going to say it cured me, because it definitely did not, but it made me feel much better. I mostly just drank the broth, with a little of the accompanying hot sauce added, and if it wasn't magic, it sure felt like it. Speaking of magic—this puzzle feels a bit like a magic trick, the way multi-layered puzzles often can. It was an interesting puzzle to solve (as I did) immediately after watching "Glass Onion" (2022), which opens with an elaborate, multi-layered puzzle—perhaps not surprising for a puzzle that has an onion as its central (titular!) metaphor. Layers! The layers in this puzzle were fun to work through, though "work" feels like a bit of misnomer, in that I just smashed through them as soon as the concept became clear (the way one of the characters in "Glass Onion" just smashes her intricate puzzle box to get what's inside rather than work through all the ... layers). Since I read the "Puzzle Notes" that came with the puzzle, I could tell after one or two themers what was going on, and so I took the ball and I ran with it, running through alllll of the remaining theme answers without even having to look at the crosses—except AUTOFILL! I knew that the "O" went in the clue's blank, but I just could not think of a word that ended "O'Fill," which I kept hearing Irishly. So I had to really work that area to make AUTOFILL show up. But as you can see, I absolutely flattened all the others:

[CANDY DANE is a typo, obvs]

You'll recall (maybe) that last week's Sunday puzzle was a lot like this, in that once I had the puzzly key to figuring out the remaining themers, I stopped solving systematically and just went at all the themers directly, bam bam bam. It gives you a bit of a rush to solve this way, to run the table the second you have the power, but it does leave you in a kind of anticlimactic position thereafter, with the theme all wrung out and just a lot of empty space to fill in. Thankfully, the grid itself is interesting and lively, beyond the theme. The clues were prickly at times, too, so I never felt too bored or too complacent. Things got a little dicey in the OSCEOLA section (partially because of my "CANDY DANE" typo, partially because I honestly don't really know who OSCEOLA is) and again in the ASIANA / PASEO region (I know both terms ... but only kinda sorta). Did not know the "Ghostbusters" car was called the ECTOMOBILE. And forgot that Lil Wayne's song was called "A MILLI"—I always hear it as "I'M ILLI"... like ... ILLI being some version of "ill" ... sigh. Luckily HASP was unimpeachable and then my dumb brain realized that "A MILLI" is (probably) short for "a million." Fun with words (15 years late)! 

The "answer" phrase today—"SOUNDS GOOD"—is not what I would call spot-on, in that I don't really know how "GOOD" fits in. The way I'm interpreting it is that the puzzle is playing with the common phrase "SOUNDS GOOD" by asking me to mentally repunctuate it; the puzzle title asks me "Do You Hear That?" and I, the solver, mentally reply: "SOUNDS? GOOD!" As in "Oh, we're dealing with sounds? ... cool." Anyway, it's all good (!) enough for me. There really wasn't much that bothered me about this one. Didn't like IOU crossing AE ... IOU (14D: Ambidextrous features?) (note: "Ambidextrous" is a supervocalic, i.e. it contains one of each vowel (no "Y"s)) (note: "supervocalic" is itself a supervocalic). The puzzle probably should've kept "stick" out of the TAE KWON DO clue (107A) since STICK sticks out in the grid like a sore stick (in DIPSTICK) (59A: Insult that's also a measurement device). My favorite mistake was when I first read 61A: "The landlords of New York," e.g. (ASTORS) and tried to play ACTORS ... at the same time I was thinking "well I know there are a lot of them there, but that doesn't feel right..." Best answers of the day for me were the delightfully self-contradicting "YEAH, NO" (96D: "Nice try, but I don't think so"), the onomatopoeic "TAP TAP" (62D: [Is this thing on?]), and the unexpected but perfect negative phrase NO GENTLEMAN (68D: Hardly Mr. Nice Guy). Highest struggle-to-word-length ratio came with "WELP," the clue for which (108D: "Eh, what can you do?!") I completely misread in my head. I read it as confrontational, as if the speaker were speaking to an actual "you" and didn't think "you" were gonna be able to do squat, i.e. "Eh, what can you do, you incompetent boob!?" I was probably meant to hear something more like, "Ah, well, whaddyagonna do?" which is far more the vibe of "WELP?" But the clue is accurate enough, if not crystal clear. 

Explainers:

• 71D: Path covered with diamonds (CARPOOL LANE) — The CARPOOL LANE is often signaled by a diamond, or even called the Diamond Lane
• 105A: Couple of llamas? (ELLS) — There are a couple of "L"s in "llama." There are also two "A"s in "llama," so I'm not sure it's the best clue, but I guess the "L"s are more truly a couple, in that they are next to each other, and anyway, the clue doesn't say there aren't other couples
• 41A: Número de "Años de Soledad" in a Gabriel García Márquez novel (CIEN) — CIEN = "100," which is the number of Years of Solitude in the Marquez title
• 37D: Literary award shaped like a rocket (HUGO) — The HUGO is the Science-Fiction / Fantasy award, hence the shape

See you next week!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Dissolute man, from the French / TUE 12-6-22 / Bellicose humanoid of Middle Earth / "Girl in Progress" star with a line of cosmetics / Portrayer of the nurse Marta Cabrera in "Knives Out"

Constructor: Ross Trudeau and Wyna Liu

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Crossword Lady Ladder — it's basically a word ladder, where one letter changes at each "rung", only here the "word" that's changing is a three-letter woman's first name. Because of their vowel-consonant-vowel structure and short length, the first names that make up the ladder tend to appear in crosswords a lot:

Theme answers:

• INA GARTEN (18A: The Food Network's "Barefoot Contessa")
• IDA B. WELLS (22A: Civil rights leader who co-founded the N.A.A.C.P.)
• ADA LOVELACE (29A: Mathematician regarded as the first computer programmer)
• ANA DE ARMAS (35A: Portrayer of the nurse Marta Cabrera in "Knives Out")
• AVA DUVERNAY (47A: Director of the miniseries "When They See Us")
• EVA MENDES (54A: "Girl in Progress" star with a line of cosmetics)
• EVE ENSLER (59A: "The Vagina Monologues" playwright)

Word of the Day: IDA B. WELLS (22A) —

Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wells dedicated her lifetime to combating prejudice and violence, the fight for African-American equality, especially that of women, and became arguably the most famous Black woman in the United States of her time. [...] In the 1890s, Wells documented lynching in the United States in articles and through her pamphlets called Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases, and The Red Record, investigating frequent claims of whites that lynchings were reserved for Black criminals only. Wells exposed lynching as a barbaric practice of whites in the South used to intimidate and oppress African Americans who created economic and political competition—and a subsequent threat of loss of power—for whites. A white mob destroyed her newspaper office and presses as her investigative reporting was carried nationally in Black-owned newspapers. Subjected to continued threats, Wells left Memphis for Chicago. She married Ferdinand L. Barnett in 1895 and had a family while continuing her work writing, speaking, and organizing for civil rights and the women's movement for the rest of her life. (wikipedia)

• • •

Sam Spade consoles Iva Archer on her
exclusion from this puzzle

On the one hand, there's a weird whimsy to this theme that I kinda like. I mean, it's fun to say their first names in quick succession, and there's a kind of insidery winky thing going on where the puzzle is showing you All The Same Names It Always Shows You, Every Day, but this time the names are in a carefully curated and crafted arrangement. It's a crosswordese parade, or maybe a crosswordese flash mob—same old faces, only suddenly there's a dance routine and everyone is moving in precise order. Plus, they've got fancy dress on (i.e. they appear in full-name, not just the usual three-letter first-name, versions). On the other hand ... well, the puzzle is showing you All The Same Names It Always Shows You. So, I guess your feelings about the puzzle are going to depend on whether you see the theme as a dazzling new dish or reheated leftovers. I thought it was cute, though it wore a bit toward the end. I didn't catch the word ladder angel until the end, when I was trying to make sense of the themer logic, i.e. why these names, why this order, what about UMA Thurman and UTA Hagen, etc. The one thing that didn't work for me was EVE ENSLER, which is a real clunker, especially as the final themer, considering she's the only one out of terminal-A rhythm. I guess you could see her name as putting an emphatic final exclamation point on the name series ("INA IDA ADA ANA AVA EVA EVE!"). And that seems a reasonable reading. But when I was actually solving, my brain made that record needle scratch sound. I wanted them all to be tra-la two-syllable names ending in "A." But instead we get one syllable (the only such answer). And an "E" ending (the only such answer). Again, it's all a matter of taste. That finale is either rhythmically perfect or jarringly out of sync ... or else you didn't even notice. Anyway, there's a basic thoughtfulness and cleverness and creativity here that I mostly enjoyed. It's also at least ... plausible? ... that the puzzle isn't just a word ladder, but one with specific thematic content. I mean, it goes from INA GARTEN ... to EVE ... so ... if it helps to read that progression biblically, why not go ahead and do that?

The fill made me wince maybe a little more than it should. Some of it was because of improbable plurals (AMNIOS but *especially* EASTERS ...), but most of it was from a slight excess of crosswordese (ECOLI and ENEWS and EELIEST *and* EERIE **and** EPEES, etc.), as well as abbrevs. I have just never liked or heard people actually use (specifically CRIT and VID). In a theme this dense (seven long names!), it's probably hard to keep your fill whistle-clean throughout. There are a number of longer Downs, but none of them ELEVATEs the fill quality much. They're mostly solid, though there's a mild dreariness to the sheer number of preposition-ending phrases (SNARL AT, STEAM UP, KNEEL ON), and a definite dreariness to RATLIKE and BEATDOWNS (the latter of which is both the most original bit of non-theme fill and the most violent and depressing). The theme is the thing today, and as I say, it mostly delivered for me. Oh, I almost forgot "WELL, DUH!" Was that a high point for me? Well ... yes. 

No real difficulty today if you solve crosswords regularly (grid is 16 wide, so if it played a little slow, maybe that's why). Name themes are often real dicey for segments of the solving population, depending on what field / era the names are drawn from, but as I say these names should all be super-familiar to the daily gridder. The fill didn't seem tough at all, and the cluing was pretty transparent. The toughest part for me was trying to navigate the vowels in DUVERNAY. I first put it in as DUV-RN-Y. Thank god for fair crosses. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

First man in Maori mythology / SUN 7-19-20 / Ancestor of modern lemon lime / Club setting for scenes in GoodFellas Raging Bull / Worried exclamation from Astro on Jetsons / Palate cleansers between courses / Beat poem allegedly inspired by peyote vision / Pyle's portrayer

Constructor: Wyna Liu

Relative difficulty: Medium (Medium-Challenging if, like me, you've a had a drink) (10:50)

THEME: "DOUBLES PLAY" — familiar phrases where double letters have replaced parts of words—the letters are meant to be uttered as letters. Thus:

Theme answers:

• TRAPPARTISTS ("-peze") (22A: *Performers who set the bar high?)
• CC THE DAY ("seize") (24A: *Go-getter's maxim)
• DIZZCONTROL ("-sease") (39A: *Public health agency's mission)
• STRIPTT ("tease") (48A: *Feature of a Chippendales show)
• AMUUMENTPARKS ("-use") (67A: *Places for coasters)
• CLOCKYY ("-wise") (84A: *How to screw in a light bulb)
• OLDDSTATION ("-dies") (91A: *What keeps up standards in the radio business?)
• GGLOUISE ("jeez") (110A: *"Holy moly!")
• SURPRIIPARTY ("-ise") (114A: *Occasion for hiding in the dark)

Word of the Day: ELAINE Welteroth (103A: Author/magazine editor Welteroth) —

Elaine Marie Welteroth (born December 10, 1986) is an American journalist, editor^[2]and New York Times best-selling author. In April 2016, Welteroth was named editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, making her the second person of African-American heritage in Condé Nast's 107-year history to hold such a title. Her promotion to editor at age 29 makes her the second youngest editor in Condé Nast history, behind current Teen Vogue EIC Lindsay Peoples Wagner who was 28 when she started in the role in Condé Nast. When she became beauty director of Teen Vogue in 2012, Welteroth was the first person of African-American heritage to serve in the role. She is credited for the notable increase of Teen Vogue coverage of politics and social justice, encouraging readers to become civically engaged, specifically during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Under Welteroth's leadership of Teen Vogue's shifting format, the magazine developed its first YouTube channel, featuring content on diverse subjects from campus style to cultural appropriation. The final print edition of Teen Vogue was December 2017.

On January 11, 2018, Welteroth resigned from Teen Vogue and moved to California and signed with CAA. In June 2019 her memoir, More Than Enough: Claiming space for who you are (no matter what they say), was published by Viking. (wikipedia)

• • •

Got TRAPPARTISTS and didn't stop to think about it much. My main thought was "OK, the "eze" part went somewhere ... didn't turn the corner or go anywhere visible, so ... I dunno ... 'P' seems to be standing in for 'eze' ... just keep going, I'm sure it'll become clear. Then I got DIZZ- and had no idea what I could be looking at there. Then finally got into a mess in the NE corner and just *knew* it was "seize the day," and I had the one "C" so ... boom, two "C"s, "Cs The Day," nailed it. Then DI(Zs) CONTROL became obvious and none of the themers were very hard from then on out (though I wanted to write in SURPRISE PARTT at first; gotta read the clues carefully!). And I don't know, I kinda liked this theme. Actually, I think it was just fine. It's a simple and cute gimmick, nothing flashy, but there are different double letters every time, and discovering those letters was kinda fun. I think my bar for Sundays is just Don't Face Plant / Don't Exhaust Me, and this puzzle managed to clear that bar / those bars. The fill struck me as at or above average, so for the first time in a while, I mostly enjoyed a Sunday puzzle.


Today may be the only time I've ever thought "hey, why aren't these two answers cross-referenced?" I'm talking about OSSIE Davis (8D: National Medal of Arts winner Davis) and Ruby DEE (46A: Actress and civil rights activist Ruby ___) both being in the puzzle, so close they're almost touching, but with no indication in either clue that they were married. For *57* years! Iconic couple! I'm not mad that their clues weren't linked, but if ever there was a time to link clues in a way that didn't seem annoying or forced, this was it! The NE was important because that's where I first grokked the theme, but it was also a tumultuous and tough corner. I've heard of pressing the panic *button*, but PANICBAR, less so (11A: Something pressed in an emergency). ARCSEC ... yeesh, trig abbrs. are always guesswork for me, and that one I haven't seen in forever. In fact, this is the first time it's ever appeared in a NYTXW. Ever. Ever ever. Speaking of repeated-word phrases: LIKE LIKE! It's very apt, and I one-like like it, but man it was hard for me to get. The whole interconnected set from LIKELIKE through ELAINE (never heard of her) down CITRON (barely heard of it) into INO (thought it was -ITO), really took some effort. Ooh, and ROS is down there too, ick. ROS and NERTS are probably the only moments where I winced—very crosswordesey. But I didn't recoil in horror anywhere else, so that's pretty good, esp. for a Sunday-sized puzzle.


My Kiwi wife and I both botched the Maori mythology clue. We both (it turns out, I just learned) wrote in MAUI, who is really important in Maori mythology ... just not the "first man," I guess. Neither of us had any idea that a TIKI was anything other than a totem or figure. I made things especially difficult on myself by abandoning that part of the puzzle to solve other parts, and then, on coming back, not relooking at the clues and completely misremembering which was the Maori answer. So ... when I came back, my brain had the Maori mythology clue in mind, but kept trying to make it work for 53-Down! I had HO-RU and that terminal "U" seemed plausibly Maori, and then when I got HOWRU I thought "that can't be right, there'd never be a 'W' there in Maori, and who the hell is supposed to know that anyway. HOWRU!? Who the hell was HOWRU!?" And then a few seconds later I learned about TIKI and realized that HOWRU was HOW space R space U (the answer to the textspeak clue). HOWRU is now one of my personal gods. Not a big fan of that answer as "textspeak" but I now believe in the divine, destructive power of the god HOWRU, hallowed be Its name.


Hey, you should know that JASA (Jewish Association for Services for the Aged) is having an online crossword fundraising event, Wednesday, July 29, from 7-8:30pm EDT. You may know JASA from their crossword classes, which regularly construct puzzles that appear in the NYTXW. You've solved them, I'm sure of it! They've had puzzles published nineteen times! Anyway, this virtual event will be an "up-close look at crosswords with the puzzlemasters themselves, featuring the Times's Will Shortz." For more information and to purchase tickets, please go here. And have a happy Sunday, everyone.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...