Online news aggregator founded in 2004 / WED 10-25-23 / Doctor who lent his name to a therapeutic system / Ballpark fill served with raspberries? / Leader prominent in the 1956 Suez Crisis / Poetic form featuring lexical repetition rather than rhyme / Dwarfs' representative in the Fellowship of the Ring / First name in "wabbit" hunting / Flowering plant that lent its name to a lane on "Desperate Housewives"

Constructor: Aimee Lucido

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: DRUM ROLL (55A: Display of skill on might request from 17-Across and 8- and 28-Down ... depicted literally four times in this puzzle) — the letters D, R, U, and M appear in four-square pattern four times, and the letters "roll" (i.e. rotate) one place in each subsequent iteration, if you follow the "DRUM" configurations clock- or counterclockwise starting ... really anywhere. There are also three famous drummers in this grid (!)

Theme answers:

• MEG WHITE (17A: Half of a 1990s-2000s rock duo with six Grammys) [The "duo" in question is The White Stripes]
• JOHN BONHAM (8D: Member of Led Zeppelin)
• RINGO STARR (28D: One of the Fab Four)

Word of the Day: Franz Anton MESMER (61A: Doctor who lent his name to a therapeutic system) —

Franz Anton Mesmer (/ˈmɛzmər/; German: [ˈmɛsmɐ]; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called "animal magnetism", sometimes later referred to as mesmerism. Mesmer's theory attracted a wide following between about 1780 and 1850, and continued to have some influence until the end of the 19th century. In 1843, the Scottish doctor James Braid proposed the term "hypnotism" for a technique derived from animal magnetism; today the word "mesmerism" generally functions as a synonym of "hypnosis". Mesmer also supported the arts, specifically music; he was on friendly terms with Haydn and Mozart. (wikipedia) /// Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, is a theory invented by German doctor Franz Mesmerin the 18th century. It posits the existence of an invisible natural force (Lebensmagnetismus) possessed by all living things, including humans, animals, and vegetables. He claimed that the force could have physical effects, including healing. // The vitalist theory attracted numerous followers in Europe and the United States and was popular into the 19th century. Practitioners were often known as magnetizers rather than mesmerists. It had an important influence in medicine for about 75 years from its beginnings in 1779, and continued to have some influence for another 50 years. Hundreds of books were written on the subject between 1766 and 1925, but it is no longer practiced today except as a form of alternative medicine in some places. (wikipedia)

• • •

OK, wow, so ... I was wellllll into my write-up before I realized that the theme wasn't just the rolling "DRUM," that there were actual drummers in the dang grid. This is to say, I Literally Didn't Read the Revealer Clue (completely), Even Though I Typed It Into The Theme Explanation Above, WTF!? I was all "Oh, huh, the 'DRUM' thing's cute, but this is basically a Wednesday themeless blah blah blah." Here's what I had written before the very, very belated "Aha / OMG!" kicked in. As you can see, I'd written A Lot: 

***

I don't know that I've seen a less consequential theme. I don't mean that it's bad. It's perfectly fine, clever even, but this rotating set of four letters affects the overall solving process virtually not at all, and since there are no proper theme answers (except the revealer), what you've got here is essentially a Wednesday themeless ... which is fine by me! I mean, I see the theme, hello there, theme, you're looking well today, but the theme here is merely decorative. Ornamental. A little frosting for your mostly themeless cake. It's the grid that holds almost all the interest, and (because it's not laden with pesky "theme answers"), it's actually a really vibrant and entertaining grid. A little on the name-y side, for sure, which is why I have its difficulty set a little high today—a lot of y'all are simply not going to know MEG WHITE, or maybe even JOHN BONHAM, and I had trouble myself coming up with things like DIGG and MESMER (I guess I completely forgot, or never knew, that Mesmerism was considered a full-blown "therapeutic system"). I will confess that I actually did require help from the theme to get me through one of the corners. I saw all those LOTR movies (ponderous, humorless, can't imagine rewatching any of them), but the names never really stuck with me, and I don't think I ever read the books as a kid, so I ended up calling the Dwarf (GIMLI) with the classic early-aughts cinematic flop, "GIGLI." I probably would've figured out my mistake from the cross (HAMMER), but noticing that my "DRUM" was a "DRUG" actually got me out of the jam sooner.

So, theme shmeme, let's look at the grid ... it looks good! Little heavy on the names—and again, as with one of last week's puzzles, it's musical names that dominate—but the names are all legit famous and the crosses are fair. There were no dull or unpolished parts of the grid, even if things do get a little (BY) GUMmed up in the "DRUM" areas (I'm looking at you, UNDOER). The thing about this theme is that while you don't really notice it (much), it still puts a lot of pressure on the grid. Very hard to construct cleanly around a spinning "DRUM," and I thought this puzzle met that challenge pretty well. There was no one part of the grid that stood out, but it really felt like it was shimmering all over. The JEERING RUTABAGA crossing MEG WHITE and COME TRUE is all very nice. RINGO STARR and JOHN BONHAM feel like stan...

***

That last sentence was supposed to read: "RINGO STARR and JOHN BONHAM feel like stand-ins for proper theme answers." Cue infinite LOLs. The theme answers are staring me in the face and I'm just walking past them like "Hey guys, weird that you're all music people, right? Anyway, where's the theme?" Wow. OK, so ... my appreciation of this puzzle just went through the roof. That's a *lot* of theme material. There's theme *everywhere*. And yet it feels like a snazzy themeless-ish grid!? All that theme and a JEERING RUTABAGA too!? Feels like magic.

WISTERIA SICK DAY! The constructor has truly GUSSY'd up this grid, BY GUM! Just cramming themeless-worthy entries into the non-thematic nooks and crannies of this grid. It's so nice. And now that the Musical Names (we've established) are actually part of the theme, the grid looks much more varied in its overall concerns. ONEIDA JARGON STAKEOUT WHITTLE NEW CAR, these are all really good answers, especially in a puzzle with this much thematic density. The more demanding the theme, the harder it is to keep up the vibrancy of your fill, but this grid makes it look easy. I did fumble around a little more than usual for a Wednesday today, starting with COME TO BE at 14A: Materialize (COME TRUE). I then couldn't quite figure out what the clue on JEERING was doing (7D: Ballpark fill served with raspberries?) so I imagined there was some kind of extended fruit pun going on and I wrote in JEERIES (slang for 'jeering' that is also a pun on 'cherries'!?!?). 

Absolutely forgot DIGG existed (31A: Online news aggregator founded in 2004) and then partially remembered and wrote in DUGG. But then SESTINA was right up my English Professor alley (36A: Poetic form featuring lexical repetition rather than rhyme), and the musical names were all in my wheelhouse, so though the "DRUM" areas were a little thorny, the overall difficulty on this one was probably only a little north of normal. All in all, a truly enjoyable experience. If you can ever engineer one of these extremely delayed theme revelations, I highly recommend it, it's a rush. Drummers drummers everywhere. [whispers] "I see drummers." "The drummers are coming from inside the house!" Was NASSER a drummer? (32A: Leader prominent in the 1956 Suez Crisis). Anything seems possible right now. Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Once-faddish robotic toy / TUE 10-24-23 / Specification on a park pass / State capital north of Sacramento, CA / Reason for sneezin' / Muscle car that really drives em wild in a 1960s hit / Mythological forest maiden

Constructor: Daniel Grinberg

Relative difficulty: Challenging (***for a Tuesday***)

THEME: Monster "breakup lines" — familiar phrases clued as if they were breakup lines uttered by classic monsters:

Theme answers:

• "YOU'RE NOT MY TYPE" (20A: Breakup line from a vampire?)
• "TIME FOR A CHANGE" (24A: Breakup line from a werewolf?)
• "THE SPARK IS GONE" (44A: Breakup line from Frankenstein's monster?)
• "LET'S WRAP THIS UP" (50A: Breakup line from a mummy?)

Word of the Day: SALEMOR (5D: State capital north of Sacramento, CA) —

Salem (/ˈseɪləm/ SAY-ləm) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.

Salem had a population of 175,535 at the 2020 census, making it the 3rd most populous city in the state after Portland and Eugene. Salem is the principal city of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that covers Marion and Polk counties and had a combined population of 433,353 at the 2020 census. This area is, in turn, part of the Portland–Vancouver–Salem Combined Statistical Area. (wikipedia)

• • •

No, this wasn't a *hard* puzzle, but I haven't fumbled around on a Tuesday like this in ages. Two wrong answers (DUST, MOLD) on 1-Across alone (1A: Reason for sneezin'). In that same tiny section: I have no idea what's on network TV so ["Undercover Boss" network"]? Pfft, who knows? I haven't seen someone write LMAO in forever, so I was looking for some kind of LOL variation (or maybe "LULZ," is that still a thing?). And as for DAY USE, dear lord, no hope (4D: Specification on a park pass). I had DAYU- and still no idea. Even moving over to the next section, the clue on PLAN just made me shake my head in puzzlement (6D: "___ ahead"). I guess people say that. Why is it in "quotation marks"? I mean, it's a ... saying ... maybe? But it's also just a phrase, so the quotation marks threw me. And then there's the not-hard but completely ridiculous SALEMOR (what's next, ALBANYNY? HONOLULUHI?). All this before I even got my first themer. On a Tuesday. Weird. And then the themers were the kind where you had to imagine some punny ... thing, so aside from the vampire one (which is a well-known joke), they were harder (than usual for a Tuesday) to come up with. Combine that with absurd cluing on "STAY CLASSY!" (17A: "Keep it polite!") and "RIGHT ON!" (42D: "That's correct!") and this definitely felt more Wednesday than Tuesday. As for the theme itself—I mean, you like this kind of thing or you don't. I thought the vampire one worked, the mummy one was OK, and the others felt like reaches: I felt that missing "IT'S" on "TIME FOR A CHANGE," for sure (you can see that the other "breakup lines" are all complete sentences), and I guess the connection between "sparks" and Frankenstein's monster just isn't that strong for me. I mean, I can see it, in the monster-creation part, OK, but "sparks" didn't feel paradigmatic, the way the other creature traits (drinking blood, shapeshifting, being wrapped in bandages) did. But honestly, overall, I kinda like the theme. It's corny, yes, but it's trying to do something fun, and holiday-related, and I appreciate the effort. They must have a hell of a Halloween puzzle lined up for next week, because otherwise it's weird to run this precisely one week early. 

"STAY CLASSY!" is something I've only ever heard said ironically to someone who is being decidedly unclassy. Boorish behavior gets a "STAY CLASSY!" No one ever said it as a genuine admonition (17A: "Keep it polite!"). Ever never ever. And ["That's correct!"] for "RIGHT ON"? For "RIGHT!," maybe, but "RIGHT ON!" is its own thing. It means something more like "Amen!" "You tell em!" "I can dig it!" "Damn straight!"—indicating agreement, not the fact that someone got a trivia question "correct." Maybe "That's correct!" is the "RIGHT ON!" of people who say "GOSH, NO!" But it feels like such a tin-eared clue here. 

I see we've got OATY and OAKY today. Huh. Great. And ROO, too, for roughly the 75th time in the past week. Hurrah. Here's what I actually liked today: "STAY CLASSY" (if only they had clued it right!); BEER SNOB (37D: One whose taste buds may not crave Buds); and TCHOTCHKES (there's something about the spelling of that word that just feels loopy, in the best way) (59A: Trinkets). I see that there was a little parenthetical Batman humor in there, that's cute (9A: Hoodlike garment for a monk (or Batman) = COWL; 35D: Draped garment for an operagoer (or Batman) = CAPE). How long until people look at FURBY and go "... what?" (36A: Once-faddish robotic toy). Seems like maybe that time has already arrived. I remember Rosie O'Donnell talking about these back when Rosie O'Donnell had a daytime talk show, so ... a long time ago now (late '90s). The FURBY is like the Hula Hoop now, except nowhere near as iconic. But it's in constructor wordlists, so expect to see it into the 22nd century. Bizarrely, the only appearances of FURBY in the NYTXW come from *the last four years*, which is hyperbolically on-brand for the NYTXW, where pop culture is concerned. "Is it no longer a thing? ... Perrrrrfect. Run it!" As the IP and nostalgia trend continues, following the success of this summer's BARBIE, I look forward to the inevitable FURBY movie, as well as its inevitable sequels, FURBY: MYSTIC NYMPH, FURBY: Rise of the MYRRH, and FURBY Goes to SALEMOR! See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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