Sir Walter Raleigh's goal / WED 3-2-22 / Cookie with a green creme center / Big name in gumdrops / Energy-healing discipline

Constructor: Dylan Schiff

Relative difficulty: Medium (seemed slowish, but it's oversized (16x15), so maybe that was it)

THEME: Three-in-two — clues ask for three geographical entities, and they give you numeration, but rather than getting the three entities in a row, you get them overlapping, i.e. the second entity in the list is made up of the latter part of the first entity + the opening part of the third element. The upshot is: the second entity on the list looks like it's missing, but it isn't. So:

Theme answers:

• CAIROMEXICOCITY (21A: Three world capitals (5, 4, 10)
• OHIOWASHINGTON (38A: Three U.S. states (4, 4, 10)
• PANAMALITHUANIA (59A: Three countries (6, 4, 9)

Word of the Day: REIKI (17A: Energy-healing discipline) —

Reiki (霊気, /ˈreɪki/) is a Japanese form of energy healing, which is a subset of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing. Reiki is a pseudoscience, and is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles. [...] Clinical research does not show reiki to be effective as a treatment for any medical condition, including cancer, diabetic neuropathy, anxiety or depression; therefore it should not replace conventional medical treatment. There is no proof of the effectiveness of reiki therapy compared to placebo. Studies reporting positive effects have had methodological flaws. (wikipedia) (emph. mine)

• • •

I can't say I didn't have an 'aha' moment with this one, but I also can't say it was very satisfying. "Oh ... a trick. Well, you tricked me there for a bit. And now it will be easier to do the last theme answer." That was me at my most elated today. It's really, really hard to get excited about a theme with clues that are just [Three of this thing]. Like ... [List some stuff] ... Lists are not exciting, even when they do weird tricks like this. They're still just lists, and have all the excitement of ... lists. I don't quite understand why all the lists are geographical today. It does give the theme a kind of unity, but a wholly arbitrary one. Mammals, insects, birds would've done as well, or is at least theoretically possible, and still there would be no hook, no revealer or phrase or anything that makes the allegedly unifying concept make sense. Wait, is EL DORADO supposed to be the revealer? (5D: Sir Walter Raleigh's goal). It *is* a legendary "Lost City," right? And you kind of "lose" ... a city ... in that first themer (and EL DORADO crosses the "lost" city, i.e. ROME). But then EL DORADO also crosses the "lost" state of IOWA ... and it's nowhere near MALI, which isn't a "city" either. Is EL DORADO a "revealer," and if so, What in the world is the NYTXW doing with its "revealers" this week? First (Monday) there was that ridiculous repeating letter string that was supposed to be "revealed" (or so people have told me) by the "Two HEADS are better than one" clue ... only there was no indication that that was a revealer. And again today, a revealer with no indication. Or not. Maybe I am seeing things, drawing a connection where there is none. The point is, if you have a point, indicate that the point is in fact the point. EL DORADO is not exactly in a revealer position in the grid, and it doesn't have a revealer clue. Maybe it's just a winky "bonus" answer. Sigh, the theme is not strong enough for "winky" bonus answers. Give me a powerful revealer or give me ... well, something short of death, but you get the idea. This puzzle feels like it's in draft form—like the execution just hasn't been worked out properly yet. And yet here it is, published. I don't get it. [Extreme Don Henley voice] "EL DORADO ... why don't you come to your senses ....?"

The NW was hard, and TROPE was ultra-hard (1A: The girl next door, for one). "Why is the girl next door TRIPE? That seems mean." The rest of the grid isn't so tough. I weirdly had more trouble with "NO DUH" (41D: "Obvs!") than almost anything else (outside of that NW corner). In five letters, I wanted "TOTES!". Then with the "N" in place, I wanted "NOTED!" Once I solved it correctly, I noticed that "NATCH!" might also have worked. Live by the slang, die by the slang. I confused my "Reeses" and spelled Jean (RHYS) like Jacob at first (RIIS). The grid has a couple of highlights—MON CHERI, "OKAY THEN!"—but most of the rest of it is just OK, a little on the sloggy side. I find RENTACOP depressing for a host of reasons and wish it would go away (29A: Hired security guard). It's sneering and derisive. If you don't like cops, don't put them in your puzzles. Easy. RENTACOP is far from original at this point, anyway, so maybe leave it behind. Not thrilled by repetitions today, namely two forms of the verb "to eat" (EAT UP and ATE IT) and two ITs (HAVE AT IT and, again, ATE IT). Never that thrilled to see noted ethnic caricature TONTO (68A: Role once played on TV by Jay Silverheels) (and speaking of grid repetitions: you've already got "TV" in one of your answers (TVMOM), so you could lose it here). I want to call AGOG a kealoa** (I had the "A" and wrote in AVID), but AVID is not a very good answer for that clue—doesn't really convey the "anticipation" part, so it's probably not a true kealoa. False kealoalarm. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

**kealoa = short, common answer that you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, ["Git!"] "SHOO"/"SCAT," etc.

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Singer Anita of the swing era / TUE 3-1-22 / Hang on a sec in texts / 2010-13 HBO series set shortly after Hurricane Katrina / Eye layer containing the Iris / Actor Platt of Dear Evan Hansen

Constructor: Lisa Senzel and Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Easy (wink)

THEME: The BIG EASY (56A: Nickname for New Orleans, celebrated by the answers to the starred clues and suggested by the shaded squares) — a basic New Orleans trivia test (in celebration of MARDI GRAS) with a "big" "E" and a "big" "Z" at the end (the "big" letters are actually just 2x2 sections filled with the same letter four times—"E" in once case, "Z" in the other—but use your imagination...)

Theme answers:

• BAYOU (5A: *Gulf Coast waterway)
• GUMBO (1D: *Cajun stew)
• "TREMÉ" (13D: *2010-13 HBO series set shortly after Hurricane Katrina)
• BOURBON STREET 28A: *Main drag of the French Quarter)
• MARDI GRAS (34A: *Celebration with king cakes)
• ÉTOUFFÉE (37D: *Cajun shellfish-over-rice dish)
• LIVE JAZZ (40D: *Music heard at Preservation Hall)

Word of the Day: ALAIN Locke (64A: Harlem Renaissance writer Locke) —

Alain Leroy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect —the acknowledged "Dean"— of the Harlem Renaissance. He is frequently included in listings of influential African Americans. On March 19, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: "We're going to let our children know that the only philosophers that lived were not Plato and Aristotle, but W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke came through the universe." [...] Locke was the guest editor of the March 1925 issue of the periodical Survey Graphic, for a special edition titled "Harlem, Mecca of the New Negro": about Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance, which helped educate white readers about its flourishing culture. In December of that year, he expanded the issue into The New Negro, a collection of writings by him and other African Americans, which would become one of his best-known works. A landmark in black literature (later acclaimed as the "first national book" of African America), it was an instant success. Locke contributed five essays: the "Foreword", "The New Negro", "Negro Youth Speaks", "The Negro Spirituals", and "The Legacy of Ancestral Arts". This book established his reputation as "a leading African-American literary critic and aesthete."

Locke's philosophy of the New Negro was grounded in the concept of race-building; that race is not merely an issue of hereditary but is more an issue of society and culture. He raised overall awareness of potential black equality; he said that no longer would blacks allow themselves to adjust or comply with unreasonable white requests. This idea was based on self-confidence and political awareness. Although in the past the laws regarding equality had been ignored without consequence by white America, Locke's philosophical idea of The New Negro allowed for fair treatment. Because this was an idea and not a law, people held its power. If they wanted this idea to flourish, they were the ones who would need to "enforce" it through their actions and overall points of view. (wikipedia)

• • •

There's not much to this, as a puzzle. It's an assortment of symmetrical arranged words related, with varying degrees of specificity, to MARDI GRAS (which is today, I'm guessing ... my brain is still on Pandemic Time, i.e. No Time, and the war in Ukraine isn't really helping my time/space awareness). Easy puzzle, easy trivia test, EZ. The one thing that elevates it slightly is that "EZ" gimmick at the bottom of the grid. The gimmick doesn't really work, visually. I thought maybe the newspaper version has just one "big" cell for the "E" and the "Z," but it looks like there are just four regular cells shaded gray. You have to draw your own "big" letters at the end. The app probably changes those cells to big cells at the end, along with some confetti visual effects and music and other bells & whistles nonsense. Just hypothesizing. Anyway, there are four "E"s and four "Z"s and the "big" is in your heart, if you even have one, you monster (this is me talking to me now). Still, I like the "Z" corner a lot. Normally when someone tries to cram a lot of Scrabbly letters into a small corner, the results are very much not worth it and I cry 'foul." But today, that little section is the most entertaining part of the puzzle by far. "BZZT!" is oddly charming, and then throw in LIZZO (an accomplished flutist) playing some LIVE JAZZ at Preservation Hall, and you've got a very FIZZy corner. They also managed to fit not one but two political liberation movements in there (civil rights, women's LIB). Yes, I'm quite taken with this corner. I also think BOURBON STREET over MARDI GRAS looks great as a big bold stack right at the heart of the grid. The rest of it doesn't get much above a connect-the-dots level of interest. But maybe the visual gimmick is enough. It's breezy, it's easy, the mood is nice and festive ... it's hard to be mad at a MARDI GRAS puzzle, is what I'm saying.

The fill skews crosswordesey due at least in part to the way the grid is built, i.e. with a ton of 3- / 4- / 5-letter answers. UVEA YURT and ALOU O'DAY and so on. The once-ubiquitous NEVE even makes a reappearance. Lots and lots of repeaters, but you can just fill them in and move on, and they don't really detract much from the main event, i.e. the theme (or, as I'm calling it today, the THEMÉ). 

Today I learned that the Gr. word for "cloud" is nephos (46A: What nephology is the study of => CLOUDS). I also learned that "nephology" isn't used much any more as a meteorological term. I was then reminded (by my own curiosity and googling) that "nephrology" is the study of the kidneys, and "phrenology" is a pseudoscience involving the measuring of cranial bumps—it's also a fantastic album by The Roots.

Maybe next year we'll get a king cake-themed puzzle and we'll have to find a BABY somewhere in the grid. I am deadly serious. And hungry. Please, constructors, get on this. [nevermind, it seems my wish has already come true]:

See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. BRB = "be right back" (29D: "Hang on a sec," in texts)

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