Apple co-founder Steve, familiarly / SAT 6-24-23 / Stronger than grease sloganeer / Steamed Chinese snack also called char siu bao / 2006 play with question Why didn't you burn the tapes / Biggest city on Puerto Rico's southern coast / Words accompanying a snap, perhaps / Video game console sold with a Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) / It has a hook and, sometimes, two claws / Words accompanying a snap perhaps

Constructor: Spencer Leach and Quiara Vasquez

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: WOZ (1A: Apple co-founder Steve, familiarly) —

Stephen Gary Wozniak (/ˈwɒzniæk/; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American technology entrepreneur, electronics engineer, computer scientist, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Computer with his late business partner Steve Jobs, which later became the world's largest technology company by revenue and the largest company in the world by market capitalization. Through his work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he is widely recognized as one of the most prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution. (wikipedia)

• • •

The most memorable thing about this puzzle was that I, like a rube, fell for the "Apple co-founder" prank. That is, I figured the Steve was the very very very famous Steve and not the merely famous Steve. So I'm out there early trying to think of what 3-letter name anyone ever called Steve Jobs. J-BO? S-JO? No clue. Consequently, the entire NW was a bust at first pass—in fact, it was a bust until the very end (as you can see by the cursor in the printed grid, above, that's where I finished—with one of the crown princes of Crosswordese: OLIO). The next most memorable thing about this puzzle, for me, was that—and I cannot stress enough how off-brand this is—the first answer I put in the grid was a Kardashian (KHLOÉ). It pains me that the names of the Kardashians are so transcendent in our culture that even I, a person who has negative interest in the doings of that family, can run through the names like "KRIS, no, too short ... KIM, no, too short ... KOURTNEY, no ... KYLIE? They wouldn't use KYLIE, would they? Anyway, she's KYLIE Jenner, right? Oh, KHLOÉ, that's gotta be it, yes good choice." And sure enough. KHLOÉ. I went from floundering around in the NW to KHLOÉ BEAR URGE NES in quick succession, no hesitation, bam bam bam bam. I figured at least one of those guesses would be wrong and I'd have to work it out with the long Acrosses, but nope, they were all right on the money. This let me wrangle the NE without too much sweat, and once I got the first few letters after QUIT, the roller coaster car finally dropppppppped:

[6D: Words accompanying a snap, perhaps]

While I never got up to Friday-level whoosh-whoosh speeds, that central Down ended up breaking open every section of the grid. I went spilling down into the SW through a temporary hold-up at CHU / SHEIKH (wasn't sure about the former, never considered the terminal-H spelling on the latter), and then gently swooshed over to the SE via "I'M ON A DIET" and then up via "FROST/NIXON" and over via "EVERYBODY GO HOME!" and then up to the finish line via ZEN GARDENS. I left out a lot of details there, but that was the basic path—a wandering, circuitous journey, from the NW back to the NW, with mostly enjoyable sights along the way. 

The most jarring thing today, especially in a puzzle that is proudly flying PRIDE FLAGS, was encountering not one but two (!) words that can be slurs against gay and/or "effeminate" men. Now, they weren't clued that way, of course, but PUSSY and PONCE hit weird today. This is obviously unintentional and not really that important. Those answers just really stood out to me, probably because of the PRIDE FLAGS. I think you were probably supposed to snicker at (the other slang meaning of) PUSSY, which hasn't been in the grid in 21 years (!?) (a long dry spell). But PONCE is a perfectly innocent place name, pronounced very differently from the (British) slur PONCE, which is apparently dated now anyway. Language is flexible and funny and sometimes, depending on context, words can evoke things their users never intended. But you knew that. Anyway, PRIDE FLAGS and PUSSY somehow primed me to see / remember the slur meaning of PONCE, a name I've seen in the grid many times before and never blinked at. I was far more put off today by diet culture ("I'M ON A DIET") and the kinds of people who might say "Thanks, OBAMA" than I was by the wildly multivalent meanings of PUSSY or PONCE.

I didn't know the short actor names (IMAN, YOBA), but what's new? Tellingly, those were my only real sticking points (along with WOZ and CHU). Names, man. It's always names. While I enjoyed the marquee answers in this one, my favorite answers were actually less conspicuous. I liked "YOU ARE HERE," especially the clue (16A: Line on a map?), and I really liked the exclamation "WHAT A DAY!" which feels even more on-the-money, wording-wise, than "QUIT YOUR DAYDREAMING" or "EVERYBODY GO HOME." The one "?" clue that really held me up was 23A: Something that needs a spell checker? (BEE) (as in a "spelling BEE"). I was off in the realm of wizarding until I got to -EE and decided to run the alphabet (where "B" comes early, thankfully). The other question-mark clue that baffled me for a bit was 30D: Splits in midair? (JETÉ). I know the (ballet) term, I just never really considered what it looked like before now (like someone doing ... well, let's not start the whole "do a split" / "do the splits" war again) (see the discourse around the May 17, 2023 puzzle). The "?" clue on PRIDE FLAGS is elaborate! (18A: Ones waving at people who might be on their way out?). And I'm realizing now that I somehow never even saw it when I was solving (!?). Probably not ideal to have "waving" in the clue when you've got WAVY in the grid, but the clue is so charmingly ambitious that I guess I don't care (I seem to be *noticing* a lot of things I don't actually *mind* today).  Proud of myself for remembering my sushi terminology today (45D: Fatty tuna, on a sushi menu) (Fatty tuna, strong like (Spanish for) bull!) (TORO). Anything else need explaining? BASES are "at least a 7" on the pH scale (38A: They're at least a 7). The "two claws" on a COAT HANGER are ... I honestly have no idea (55A: It has a hook and, sometimes, two claws). Google is oddly unhelpful. Somebody tell me. Are the "claws" just ... dual hooks? No idea. Sorry. I'll be back later to tell you what this is all about. Until then, or until tomorrow, or until whenever ... Bye. 

[UPDATE: it seems the “claws” are clips that hold (in one commenter’s words) “fancy pants”—the “hook” part of the clue really had me thinking wall hook / coat rack hook]

[UPDATE UPDATE: apparently it’s going to be this kind of day …:]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Genre for Gabriel García Márquez and Haruki Murakami / FRI 6-23-23 / Game played on yaks in Mongolia and Pakistan / Target of a biometric scanner / by that kiss I vow an endless bliss Keats / Quick impression as of a person / Frankincense and myrrh but not gold

Constructor: Kunal Nabar

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: None 

Word of the Day: ASMARA (39D: Capital of Eritrea) —

Asmara (/æsˈmɑːrə/ əs-MAHR-ə), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The city is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean Highlands and the Great Rift Valley in neighbouring Ethiopia. In 2017, the city was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved modernist architecture. The site of Asmera was first settled in 800 BC with a population ranging from 100 to 1,000. The city was then founded in the 12th century AD after four separate villages unified to live together peacefully after long periods of conflict. Under Italian rule the city of Asmara was made capital of Eritrea in the last years of the 19th century. [...] In 1952, the United Nations resolved to federate the former colony under Ethiopian rule. During the Federation, Asmara was no longer the capital city. The capital was now Addis Ababa, over 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) to the south. The national language of the city was therefore replaced from the Tigrinya language to the Ethiopian Amharic language. In 1961, Emperor Haile Selassie I ended the "federal" arrangement and declared the territory to be the 14th province of the Ethiopian Empire. Ethiopia's biggest ally was the United States. The city was home to the US Army's Kagnew Station installation from 1943 until 1977. The Eritrean War of Independence began in 1961 and ended in 1991, resulting in the independence of Eritrea. Asmara was left relatively undamaged throughout the war, as were the majority of highland regions. After independence, Asmara again became the capital of Eritrea. (wikipedia)

• • •

I had some idea that this puzzle was going to be easy because yesterday I had seen this astonishingly condescending tweet from @NYTGames:

A tip for newer solvers: Skip tomorrow’s crossword and play Friday’s this week. Our editors say it’s a good one — and not as challenging as your typical Friday solve. 🧐

— New York Times Games (@NYTGames) June 21, 2023

I would never have seen the tweet, but friends of mine were rightly mocking it, which is basically what Twitter is now (i.e. stuff you'd rather not see but your friends keep pointing at it going "Can you believe this ****!?"). Anyway, telling your subscribers not to try, LOL, that is one hell of a marketing strategy. I guess the "Ted Lasso" backlash really has begun. "Do Not Believe ... that you can do the Thursday puzzle!" And Thursday's puzzle was actually the *perfect* opportunity to ease newer solvers into the whole concept of the rebus puzzle, since as you know, the puzzle was pretty damn easy, as rebuses go. Surely there is a way to help newer solvers tackle tougher puzzles besides telling them simply to pass and wait for the next easy puzzle to come down the pike. And surely there's a way to sell today's (quite nice!) puzzle to solvers without saying "Hey, you'll like it, we dumbed it down for you!" I hear that there's some scheme afoot in the NYT Games newsletter to offer themeless puzzles up with clues that have been completely rewritten by in-house staff (gutting the original constructor's cluing voice completely, without their consent). Editors change clues all the time, of course, but that's ... editing. Not wholesale rewriting. Maybe I have misunderstood, and the plan is less heavy-handed and constructor-unfriendly. But I'm not liking this marketing trend that says "new solvers are impatient dummies who need to be coddled so that we get more engagement on the app." And today's puzzle deserves much better framing than "not as challenging as your typical Friday solve." What's remarkable about it isn't that it's easy, but that it's good, and fun. No reason you can't hype its quality and relative accessibility while also leaving the poor Thursday puzzle completely out of the conversation.

This puzzle is built in such a way that the whoosh-whoosh comes early and dramatically ... and then the puzzle settles down to a more regular Friday pace. This is because all of your very long answers originate in the NW corner, which (if you're me, a reasonably normal human solver) is where you start. I don't start with the long stuff. I got right to the short stuff in order to hack at the long stuff, so that when I finally look at the long stuff, I have some reasonable hope of getting it. I tried 1A: Like some knowledge and commitments, but that makes this clue basically a "word that can go with"-type clue, and as I told you yesterday, my brain cannot handle those. Today was no different. But the Downs were much friendlier. POLO RNA IOTAS bam bam bam. Wanted OPEN-something and ROCK-something for the next two Downs, but wouldn't commit. Saw that 12A: Playbills? seemed to open with MONO- but couldn't do anything with that. Eventually committed to OPEN MIC and ROCK ON and then decided to check the "M" in 1A's (apparent) MONO- by looking at the Down cross. And that ... that was the moment the roller coaster car crested ... and dropped!

That's a 14-letter answer I could've gotten with no letters in place. You say "Gabriel Gar-" and I'm already shouting "MAGICAL REALISM" back at you (12D: Genre for Gabriel García Márquez and Haruki Murakami). What a beautiful answer to have as your initial grid-buster, the answer that goes shooting across the grid, opening up ... A Whole New World (I know, Aladdin is not technically MAGICAL REALISM, just go with it). MAGICAL REALISM / MONOPOLY MONEY followed by PEOPLE PLEASER / PALATE CLEANSER was like getting the big fireworks finale at the beginning of the fireworks show. So many beautiful explosions! And then that's it for the long stuff. The grid has mirror symmetry on the diagonal, which means we don't have to work our way to the other side of the grid to get our symmetrical long answers—both pairs of long answers instead come flying out of that one point in the NW. As for the rest of the grid—to its credit, it's not a letdown. I mean, nothing's gonna beat that initial burst of highly alliterative goodness, but the middle and SE corners are still pretty dynamic, and loaded with solid and interesting answers. The colorful KOI PONDS and the UNCTUOUS TIME LOOP. There's even a weird little [Apt cry...] pair stacked one atop the other in the dead center of the grid. One big joy up front and then a host of little joys thereafter. This ticks all my Friday boxes. And I think it's a debut (?!). So next time, NYT Games, try hyping the quality (and the constructor!) and not just the easiness. Also, show more respect for tough puzzles—and for the newer solvers who aspire to solve them.

Other things:

• 29A: Quick impression, as of a person (READ) — all the difficulty for me today came in small packages. This answer, for instance. I was thinking of something "doing" impressions, not "getting" them. 
• 25D: Like many gift packages and old messages (TAPED) — this one too, oof, just couldn't get it. "Gift packages" had me thinking something like "gift baskets," and "old messages"—that could've been a million things. I considered TYPED (!?). 
• 47A: Drones, e.g. (MALES) — again, tough by reasons of vagueness (today's drones are bees)
• 44D: Oil and film, for two (MEDIA) — I like this clue a lot. Again, toughness through vagueness.
• 13D: Spanish American cowboy (LLANERO) — I knew LLANO (South American grasslands) but not the dudes who ride them! Was able to infer the -ERO ending relatively easily by analogy with ... I dunno, "ranchero" "caballero" etc.
• 23D: City formerly known as Christiania (OSLO) — in a bizarre coincidence, just last night I read aloud to my wife a short blurb about Nobel Prize-winning author Knut Hamsun (who was Norwegian), and in that blurb was this exact bit of trivia. Kind of a depressing read (Hamsun wrote about despair, and also ended up a Nazi sympathizer), but at least I got a crossword answer out of it!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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