A Death in the Family Writer James Crossword

Astronomical effect / TUES 11-29-21 / Start proper noun in denim / Home of many of the world'southward alpacas / Wilde or Wilder

Hullo, everyone, it's Clare for the last Tuesday of November! The big news in my life is that I got to run across BTS in concert this weekend, and they were absolutely astounding! Oh, yeah, and I passed the bar. I guess that was cool, too!

Now, on to the puzzle!

Constructor: Billy Ouska

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME:  Punny phrases that relate to how you play the named games

Theme answers:

• CAPTURE THE FLAG (20A: Sign exterior a Stratego tournament?)
• Sit FOR A SPELL (25A: Sign outside a Scrabble tournament?)
• DON'T SAY A Discussion (48A: Sign outside a Taboo tournament?)
• CONNECT THE DOTS (56A: Sign outside a dominoes tournament?)

Discussion of the Day: OLGA(5A: Extra Kurylenko) —

Olga Konstantinovna Kurylenko is a Ukrainian-French actress and model. She was discovered as a model at the age of 13. She moved to Paris to pursue a modelling career at the historic period of 16 and started her acting career in 2005. She plant success as an actress for her part as Nika Boronina in the motion picture adaptation of the video game Hitman (2007), and so mainstream prominence with the part of Bond daughter Camille Montes in the 22nd James Bail picture, Quantum of Solace (2008). (Wiki)

• • •

Then this puzzle was… fine? I didn't relish it a ton, which I could attribute to solving the puzzle while my sister drove us dorsum from LA from seeing BTS, and we were stuck in traffic, so the mood wasn't all that dandy. Merely, in full general, the theme cruel a bit flat for me. The plays on words just weren't that clever, and three of the four answers were literal descriptions of the goal of the game (i.eastward., in Stratego your goal is to CAPTURE THE FLAG ). Only Sit down FOR A SPEL L, the clarification for Scrabble, was figurative.

Nothing seems that bad when I await back on the puzzle, though it did experience like sort of a slog to go through, mostly because I didn't quite get the theme. The solve as well started off ominously when I put in LSAT instead of MCAT for 1A: Test for some coll. seniors. Piddling did I know that LSAT would instead exist in the puzzle at 30D with the same clue. I don't usually listen — and sometimes like — when clues echo, just going astray at 1A threw me bit.

YACHTS (49D: Sails in way, in a way) as a verb seems egregious to me. I'd exist willing to dice on this proverbial hill, even if the dumb dictionary tells me that the discussion actually can be used as a verb. I also didn't enjoy having YES  (38A) be smack dab in the middle of the puzzle. It feels bland, and the clue — "You rang?" — is ane of the types I dislike, where the answer could be a whole multitude of things. Some other example could be 66A: "Same with me" equally Every bit AM I . And, lastly, the answer for 55D: These, in Madrid annoyed me because, realistically, it could be either "estos" or ESTAS .

A fair amount of the puzzle is crosswordese, but looking dorsum in that location weren't many three-letter answers in there (I count five, and they're fairly spread out). I practice like that. There are likewise some peculiarly nice bits in there, like some of the long downs you don't usually see in crosswords, such as: TITANIUM , Seismic sea wave , MOSH PIT and TAILSPIN

Misc.:

• For 1A, when I put in LSAT instead of MCAT and then realized my error, I laughed because I thought that I just had police force on the brain and was trying to forcefulness it into the puzzle. Then LSAT appeared at 30D!
• Some of my favorite clues/answers were 27D: The cease of the Greek world? as OMEGA  and, similarly, 3D: The beginning of the Hebrew world? as ALEPH , along with43D: Notoriously fast starter every bit HARE . They confused me at first, only when I got them I chuckled. I also liked the misdirection with 45D: Where you lot might bump into a metal fan every bit MOSH PIT .
• Solving the puzzle, I remembered that the bespeak of dominoes really is to lay the dominoes out and connect the dots. As a kid, I thought the whole signal was to just line them upwards vertically and in a long, long line and see if you tin can get them to all tip over.
• Not sure how to connect this in except for maybe saying the seven BTS members really SHINE[d] (35A) at their concert, and my sister and I had the absolute all-time fourth dimension! Here's a depression-quality pic I took upwards close the offset night of the concert and another pic from Twitter to show you that the group really does shine!

And that's about information technology! Hope anybody has a happy Dec and happy holidays!

Signed, Clare Carroll, really sort of a lawyer now

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Big proper noun in smoothies / MON 11-29-21 / Diamond author of popular science books / Prez dispenser?

Constructor: Enrique Henestroza Anguiano

Relative difficulty: Medium (i.e. normal Monday)

THEME: RUNNING START (54A: Early advantage ... or what 20-, 28- and 45-Across each have?) — [bare OF blank] phrases where the beginning "blank" (the "start" of the reply) is a give-and-take that can exist a synonym for "run":

Theme answers:

• STREAK OF LUCK (20A: Hoped-for feel at a casino)
• DASH OF PEPPER (45A: Designer Giorgio)
• BOLT OF Cloth (45A: Mode designer's purchase)

Word of the Day:  JAMBA Juice(31D: Big name in smoothies) —

Jamba Juice , doing business as Jamba , is an American company that produces blended fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and similar products. The company is co-owned —withMoe'south Southwest Grill,Schlotzsky's,Carvel,Cinnabon,McAlister'due south Deli, andAuntie Anne's brands—byFocus Brands, an affiliate of individual equity firmRoark Capital Group,  based inSandy Springs, Georgia, operating over 6,000 stores. Jamba was founded in 1990, with the first store located inSan Luis Obispo, California.  The company has more 850 locations operating in 36 U.S. states, equally well equallyNihon, thePhilippines,Taiwan,South Korea,Thailand, andRepublic of indonesia. (wikipedia)

• • •

Then let's first with the obvious problem, which is—"RUN OF LUCK" and "LUCKY STREAK" are both phrases, whereas STREAK OF LUCK is something you cobble together to make a theme work. Defensible? Yes. On the money? Hardly. Hard clank. Other than that, the theme is clever. I don't know why all the themers have to follow the ___ OF ___ pattern—information technology's totally unrelated to the revealer. Peradventure at that place was some idea of consistency or higher level of difficulty or something? Hard to approve when the outcome is that yous clank that kickoff themer then hard. But I think the concept is good for a Monday. Concept, good; execution, so-then. Make full, completely unremarkable. Zilch you would telephone call specially good, goose egg you would call peculiarly bad. I don't get why JARED / JAMBA was highly-seasoned, but it does get you a "J," which is virtually the nigh heady non-theme happening in this grid, and so maybe information technology was worth it. I thought JAMBA was a proper noun *part*, but obviously they're just JAMBA at present? Or "doing business as JAMBA," at any rate, whatever that means. I'm merely telling you what the first paragraph of the wikipedia entry (above) says. That wikipedia entry is also notable for its second sentence, which screams "late-capitalist dystopia" harder than most opening wikipedia paragraphs do. The prominence of "private equity firm Roark Capital Group" in your juice company description really shouts "live with flavour!" Mmm, conglomericious!

My hatred of E-Carte knows no bounds, simply that's really my problem (37A: Digital birthday greeting). An Eastward-CARD is a existent matter, however ersatz and lamentable. The only ho-hum parts of the puzzle for me were " OH, GOSH " (it'due south not hard, exactly, it just felt like it could be a million quaint euphemistic things and I needed several crosses to figure out which ane) (6D: "Goodness gracious!"), and ILL-KEPT (perfectly proficient phrase, just ... again, quaintish, needed crosses) (10D: Poorly hidden, every bit a hole-and-corner). I as well wrote in TAHOE before CANOE (62A: Lakeside rental), but that was without really reading the inkling, so that's simply a stupid self-inflicted wound is what that is. Everything else is a shrug. A BENIGN shrug. Ooh, except the clue [Prez dispenser?] for ATM. That, I like.* Run into ME tomorrow!

Signed, King Parker, King of CrossWorld

*pun on "Pez dispenser"; and since ATMs dispense money, and nearly U.S. bills feature pictures of U.Due south. prezidents, voilà! ATM = Prez dispenser!

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Horror manager Aster / SUN 11-28-21 / Model featured on many romance novel covers / Banh mi toppings / Name for zinc sulfide that is one letter of the alphabet short of a kitchen appliance / Hebrew alphabetic character between kaf and mem

Constructor: Jeff Kremer

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: Garage Auction Pitches — sales pitch phrases clued equally if they referred literally and specifically to items yous might buy at a garage sale:

Theme answers:

• "CAN'T Plough THAT Downwardly!" (23A: "Tv, volume knob broken, only $10!") (you can't plow information technology down because the knob is cleaved)
• "DROP EVERYTHING!" (43A: "Baseball game mitt, has a small hole, only $i!") (yous will driblet everything you try to catch with this holey paw)
• "NO STRINGS Fastened!" (68A: "Guitar, never used, $xv!") (this one makes no sense—a never used guitar would still have strings ... but whatever, just ringlet with it)
• "Limited EDITION!" (91A: "Textbook, a few pages torn out, $2!") (y'all can't read the whole edition considering of the missing pages, so it'due south a limited edition)
• "ROCK-Lesser PRICES!" (114A: "Two fish tanks, accessories included, $5!") (the stone bottom comes with the tank, every bit does the abyssal diver and the grotto with the treasure breast, probably)
• DOOR-BUSTER Bargain (16D: "Prop ax used in 'The Shining,' a valuable collectors' item, $200") (a deal on a literal door-buster) (that ax sold for £170,000 at auction two years ago, btw)
• "Buy At present, PAY Later"  (51D: "Wallet, in expert condition, plenty of bill of fare slots, $5!") (er ... uh ... run across below)

Word of the Day: ARI Aster(37D: Horror director Aster) —

Ari Aster  (born July 15, 1986)  is an American film managing director and screenwriter known for Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar  (2019). (wikipedia)

• • •

Wow, this theme has no idea what it'southward doing. All over the map. But spraying bullets. Showtime, well, these are advertised as "pitches" but only some of them are. " DOORBUSTER DEAL " is non a "pitch," it's a concept. You lot might employ information technology in advertising, but information technology's non a thing a salesperson would say, and it's particularly not something you'd say at a "garage sale," where for starters there is no "door" to speak of except maybe a garage door merely ... anyway, it's simply wrong. Contextually incorrect. Speaking of things y'all wouldn't say at a garage sale (ever, and I hateful ever): " BUY NOW, PAY Later !" You've solved plenty puzzles to know that the but phrase associated with garage sale wares is AS IS. The idea that you could pay on the installment programme, what? Further, the inkling on " BUY Now, PAY Later !" is so awkward that I honestly didn't sympathize how it was supposed to "piece of work." I asked Twitter and immediately got ii *different* answers, so people are going to be misconstruing (or variously construing) that one all over the world, all solar day long, clearly. I think the thought is that the wallet has card slots where *credit* cards go, and that by buying this *magical* wallet, you lot can ... employ your credit cards to ... purchase things ... on credit? Why the *number* of card slots would affect this, I don't know. "Buy this wallet and use your credit cards like you unremarkably would!" is a hell of a pitch. What else? Oh, " DROP EVERYTHING !" has absolutely no relation to garage or any other kind of sales. It's just hanging out here like "hey, a phrase political party absurd," and the other phrases know he wasn't really invited but they really don't desire to ask him to leave because and so information technology would be a whole Affair so *here he is*, only lounging around the garage sale, no one knows why. " Tin'T TURN THAT DOWN !" has nowhere well-nigh the iconic, stand-lone phrase status that you lot need for a theme similar this. " NO STRINGS Fastened !"—that's solid! A phrase we all recognize. Hear it all the fourth dimension. " CAN'T Turn THAT DOWN !" cannot say the aforementioned. They have to be solid, existent, plausible sales pitch phrases before you lot wackify them. Otherwise information technology'south all only nonsense. Anarchy. A MESS .

Practice you know how awful Age TEN is? Practice you? How most BLENDE ? (122A: Name for zinc sulfide that is one letter short of a kitchen appliance). LOL, BLENDE !? It'due south funny merely typing it. Also, who can forget the timeless saying, " NO NEWS is expert"? (96D: Information technology's good, in a maxim). Mwah. Nailed information technology. Moving on: LAMED !? (73D: Hebrew alphabetic character between kaf and mem) And then I have to know the whooooollllle damned Hebrew alphabet now? KAF? MEM? Never seen those, for example, but LAMED is fine? I become that you are trying to steer away from the yucky verb at that place, simply how about but steer away from that specific 5-letter of the alphabet combination altogether? Yeeeeee-ikes and Yeesh. RESANG , again, hard LOL. Practise you really, truly imagine that anyone, even his family, wants to remember the "acting F.B.I. director afterwards James Comey was fired"?? Or any "acting F.B.I. director"? or whatsoever "acting" anything? or James Comey at all under any circumstances!?!? In that location are times when a puzzle is just not *my* idea of a good time, and then (today, for instance) there are the times where I truly don't empathise *whose* idea of a good time this can possibly exist. Age TEN !!? So it'southward just Age Whatever NUMBER now? Those low digits I was maybe kinda sorta willing to let y'all have, just double digits!? No. Permission denied. Now I'thousand laughing over again because I re- ESPY 'd BLENDE . And Lloyd BENTSEN !? Nosotros're just going full-on bygone bizarro politics now, I judge. "Dukakis and Comey, people volition love remembering those guys!?" (Me: " GOD, NO ").

No idea PATÉS were things that went on banh mi. I've had banh mi several times, but that topping option must've just missed me. Also no thought who ARI Aster is, only I call up that'due south it in the Proper name Mystery Department today. Oh, " NARCOS ," that took some doing (99D: Netflix law-breaking drama starring Pedro Pascal). That whole corner was a little rough for me, since IT'Southward A PLANE had an awkward and ineffectual "?" inkling on it (105A: Super wrong identification?), and I wanted RAZE (or RASE?) for 123A: Demolish (ROUT). Throw in my not watching or knowing the star of " NARCOS ," and you lot've got a bit of a hairy situation, merely YEASTY got me out of it OK. Terrible vague inkling on IMPORTS (92D: Some beers), doubly terrible considering information technology's doing that thing where it thinks it'south existence clever past copying the inkling for another answer, for which it is really appropriate (72D: Some beers = ALES ). Had ASAMI before ASDOI considering yep KEA LOA, ATON ALOT, even some letters in place, who the hell knows?

I am very happy to announce that the American Values Club Crossword (AVCX), already the all-time indie subscription puzzle in being, is now expanding to something close to a DAILY (!), with vi or and then puzzle offerings a week: themed and themeless crosswords, diverseness puzzles, cryptics, mini- and midi-puzzles, and a trivia game. This is a big movement, a huge flex, involving four (!) new editorial teams. The talent pool is deep and broad, and includes some of my very favorite puzzle-makers, including Francis Heaney, Aimee Lucido, Brooke Husic, Christopher Adams, and more. The puzzles are gonna rule, the different editorial perspectives are gonna let for all kinds of innovation and experimentation, and puzzle-makers volition be paid *fairly*, far more than in keeping with the coin they generate than at any other outlet I know of. Here'south the most relevant paragraph from the Kickstarter page:

AVCX has corralled 4 new, independently governed editing teams to deliver iv new weekly features: one boosted regular crossword (with an emphasis on themeless puzzles), one ambiguous crossword, one or two midis (between 9x9 and 11x11), and a trivia game each weekend. These features volition all exist solvable on our new website interface (as well as via emailed files).

Seriously, this is the most ambitious motility yet from an indie outlet, and I'chiliad excited to see where information technology goes. Get on board! And while you're at information technology, why not requite the puzzle-lover in your life not named "you" a subscription too? Get hither to get all the details, and then subscribe subscribe subscribe. Have care,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.South.

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Small gunkhole of East asia / SAT 11-27-21 / Gardening practice that minimizes the need for water / Low fellow member of a marine ecosystem / Those tending to the fallen warriors called einherjar in myth / Anjou culling

Constructor: Trenton Charlson

Relative difficulty: Easy (easiest Saturday in recent memory)

THEME: XYZ — no theme, really, but those longer answers in the centre start with 10, Y, and Z, respectively, and I'm guessing that's somebody's thought of whimsy

Word of the Day: SAMPAN(25A: Pocket-sized boat of East asia) —

A sampan  is a relatively flat-bottomedChinese andMalay woodenboat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may beused equally a permanent habitation on inland waters. Sampans are by and large used for transportation in coastal areas or rivers and are often used astraditional line-fishing boats. It is unusual for a sampan to sail far from land, as they practice not have the means to survive rough atmospheric condition. (wikipedia)

• • •

I'm high on leftovers and chocolate cake and the Great British Bake-Off finale then unlike most nights I'm broad awake at 10pm, ready to do the crossword (and write about information technology) correct when information technology comes out. Either I am much, much faster at night than in the early morning or this puzzle was very, very easy. Or both, I suppose. All I know is it played like a Tuesday or Wednesday for me. I was solving at a leisurely, untimed step and was still done in under 5. If I'd been *trying*, yikes, I might've gone sub-4, which on Sat is record territory for me. The grid is so broad-open up, with and so many ways to come at all the answers, that you can't actually get stuck. Well, I'm certain you lot tin, but if you're reasonably experienced, you cannot. Peradventure information technology's just a matter of getting that first toehold. Everything seemed to flow directly and unstoppably off of Scoff (1A: Human action the carper, possibly). Had problem confirming it was correct at first (that FDR quote did not experience very FDR to me) (5D: Who famously offered this speaking communication: "Be sincere, exist brief, be seated," in cursory, unlike this clue, which is not cursory at all, OK I added this last flake), but then I got CINEMAX and SAUNAS and zing, off we went. Got YELLOW PAGES off the YE- no problem (34A: The book of numbers), and XERISCAPING was in the puzzle not too too long ago, and then I got it hands off the "Ten" (30A: Gardening practice that minimizes the need for water), though every bit you can see from my initial screenshot, I withal haven't worked out the spelling:

I used to spell it ZEROSCAPING, and then I'm moving in the right management, at least. After this, crosses but started falling like crazy, and I never experienced any serious hold-ups. The weirdest thing near the grid was probably the fact that the hardest answer for me to get was a fifteen. Commonly you cut a few crosses through a fifteen and you can see what's up, but I had UNDERCOV- and A-ENT before I saw what was going on with 16A: Operative (UNDERCOVER Amanuensis). That'southward almost equally disguised a inkling for that answer as I can imagine. I was thinking adjective all the style. Very happy that my first guess at 15D: Rather inclined was right ( STEEP ). I had no letters in place and simply leapt in in that location. Luckily, that judge landed, and it gave me the traction I needed to destroy that corner. PUP would've been very hard to see without that terminal "P" (29A: Spot early on?). Stalk too panned out every bit an early stab in the nighttime (46A: Something out standing in its field), giving me TUTEE, ASIS , and almost importantly BANGKOK . Never heard of a ZOOPLANKTON , but information technology was highly inferrable. Thought maybe the abbr. at 26D: 5-Downwardly, eastward.g., in cursory (PREZ) might be PRES. but SOOPLANKTON ... was not convincing. I don't actually get the XYZ stack. That is, I don't know why yous call up that'south practiced / of import / interesting. Your primary business organisation should be fill quality. Equally 12-stacks go, I guess this one'southward OK, simply it's not great. I only don't call back yous should be edifice your entire grid around something as superficial and ticky-tack as an XYZ succession. Is it meant to repeat the ABC in ABCTV ? I don't know. I but don't want to encourage themeless constructors to compromise their work like this. Make the best grid possible! That'due south all that matters!

No idea where I pulled several answers from. PIANOLAS ... sounded like a thing I'd seen before? ARI Lennox ... aforementioned. And SAMPAN , once again, my brain wanted it, and I just went with information technology. Pure instinct, zero certainty. Only instinct was dead-on today. The Test office of SOIL Exam took some crossing, but otherwise the bottom half of this puzzle went up in smoke. Downwards in flames? Out in a BLAZE of glory? Any, it was washed fast. I probably liked " THE COAST IS CLEAR " over the VALKYRIES best of all. Overall, I had a reasonably good time, though (every bit usual) not every bit good a fourth dimension as I had on Friday.

Explanations :

• Lists of FEES are called "fee schedules." I don't know why, they simply are (4D: Schedule listings)
• "Head" is slang for "toilet," and in britslang, that's LOO (or LAV, I never know which, but guessed correct today) (49A: Head of Hogwarts?)
• "Spot" is a mutual domestic dog's name (or so convention would have u.s.a. believe—I've never met a Spot; see also Fido, Rover). "Early on" in Spot's life, he was a PUP ,  presumably (29A: Spot early on?).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Fat tuna in Japanese cuisine / Friday 11-26-21 / Yaga folklore villain / Bucky in comic strip Get Fuzzy / Goggle box graphic symbol who said I am and so smart I am then smart S-M-R-T / Old worker with pads

Constructor: Kate Hawkins

Relative difficulty: Like shooting fish in a barrel-Medium

THEME: none

Discussion of the Day: TORO(36D: Fatty tuna in Japanese cuisine) —

In Japan, a bluish fin tuna is graded by the quality of the cuts of meat which tin can be obtained from it, particularly the prized toro , the fatty belly of the tuna. Tuna for sushi is carefully handled, to ensure that the flesh is not hobbling or damaged. When the tuna arrives at the fish market, cadre samples of the flesh are taken with a special tool and then that the color, texture, and flavor of the meat tin can exist assessed before the tuna is priced. While sushi uses many different types of tuna including yellow fin and large center, true toro is only taken from blue fin tuna. // Toro comes from the underbelly of the tuna, and is itself divided into grades which are distinguished based on the marbling of the meat, much like in grading beef. The almost valuable toro, otoro , is from the underside of the fish shut to the head. Chutoro , a lesser grade, comes from the abdomen in the heart and dorsum of the fish, and is less marbled than otoro. (delightedcooking.com)

• • •

A walk in the park, which is exactly what I needed. Puzzle felt like information technology was made just for me—my real concluding name is even a inkling!—and since it'south my birthday, I will take it, thanks. The structure on this one is very elegant, with long-answer latticework comprising the majority of the grid. There are a smattering of 6s and 5s, but by and large the answers in this puzzle are long, gorgeous things, nine letters or longer, or else they are largely (appropriately) nondescript 3s and 4s holding the gorgeous answers in place. FRESH MEAT hooks into the NW corner, STRIKE PAY hooks into the SE corner, and then " DON'T BE A STRANGER " (the real showstopper) drives down through both those answers, connecting the ten-stack at the tiptop to the ten-stack at the lesser. It'southward hitting just how much of this grid is made out of long answers, since the puzzle does not feel similar it's drowning in white infinite. It's an piece of cake-flowing, open filigree. Lots of ways to come at answers. Not surprisingly, the hardest part of the puzzle for me was the part that was hardest to become at, most isolated, least accessible—that is, the far corner of the SW. 1 fiddling mistake in there and you got problem. My fiddling mistake: SPEEDING UP instead of ROUNDING Upwardly (61A: Going from 99 to 100). I was understandably pretty confident about my (incorrect) respond, since it both fit the clue and worked perfectly in the crosses ... at start. But I was pretty certain at that place was no such matter as the EHL (62D: Senators' org. = NHL ), so I knew SPEEDING was probably incorrect, but ROUNDING was not something I got til very late. I normally "round" decimals if I "round" annihilation. Still, it's a good play tricks clue. I also went with ROTE before AUTO down there (56D: What you might unthinkingly be on), though in the cold light of 24-hour interval "on ROTE" is not a thing. Further, I had ON THE SCENE instead of ON THE Odor (65A: In hot pursuit), even though that felt wrong, since once yous're ON THE SCENE you aren't really "pursuing" whatever more, are you? If the PTS clue had been clearer to me, possibly I would've been quicker with ON THE SCENT . Merely no matter. It'south expert to have a little workout on a Friday, and the balance of the puzzle hadn't put up much of a fight. And then there was some struggle at the terminate, but overall, this was easy, and every bit I say, delightful.

This one started with PATH , then ARIA (confirmed past SALOME (10D: Strauss work with the "Dance of the Seven Veils")), and and then the NW was done in a wink. First real hangup I had was TORO —still haven't stored the fish meaning in my brain properly. The TORO part of my brain is currently occupied by a snowfall blower and a Castilian bull and that's about it. Just just when TORO was threatening to slow my progress through the grid, I connected BRIM to SALOME and all of a sudden, a revelation, a ray of light, pierced through the grid from above:

That lovely simple colloquial phrase opened upwardly everything. NE corner went down about instantly. The east was a little tougher only because I misspelled SEMPEL (thusly) (29A: Aimee ___ McPherson, evangelist behind America's showtime megachurch => SEMPLE ). Needed the crosses in the SE to get the Owner office of LEGAL Owner (32D: Entitled sort). Later that came the final part, the SW corner, the mild horrors of which I've already covered. I had BANCO earlier BANCA down there (51D: Where to get coin in Milano), which contributed to the mess. But as messes go, the SW wasn't much of ane. I cleaned it up pretty chop-chop, without losing too many skilful puzzle vibes in the frustration.

Explainers :

• "English" is "hitting the brawl to promote sidespin" in pool (67A: Experts in English?)
• A "trey" is a three-betoken shot in basketball (63D: Three for a trey: Abbr.)
• Anne ARCHER is an actress. The wife in "Fatal Attraction," if that helps. (64A: Archer of annotation)

Off to the gym, followed by much loafing and leftover-eating and not-shopping and cake-snarfing. Promise your mean solar day looks similarly beatific. Enjoy.

Signed, Rex Parker, Male monarch of CrossWorld

[Follow Male monarch Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Old Spanish coins / THU 11-25-21 / Nabokov title character / Rapper who had an infamous rivalry with Tupac / Han Solo claims to accept made the Kessel Run in less than 12 of these / Pygmalion author's monogram / Backsplash installer

Constructor: Chase Dittrich

Relative difficulty: Piece of cake

THEME: Truthful / FALSE (71A & 38D: One of two options in five squares in this puzzle) — five rebus squares sit inside ten answers, each of which is clued twice: once to work with "T" in the foursquare and once to work with "F" in the square:

Acrosses:

• TREE SPIRIT / Complimentary SPIRIT (18A: Wood nymph / Independent person)
• TAKE GOLD / Fake GOLD (24A: Win at the Olympics / Cheap jewelry cloth)
• TEED OFF / FEED OFF (40A: Drove a golf ball / Gain strength from)
• TIRE SALE / FIRE Sale (54A: Goodyear blowout / "Everything must go" upshot)
• TEAR GLANDS / FEAR GLANDS (60A: Waterworks parts / Amygdalae)

Downs:

• ALT / "ALF" (5D: PC key / Sitcom ET)
• TRAIL / FRAIL (24D: Lag behind / Weak)
• TOLD / FOLD (40D: Snitched / Throw in the cards)
• INTER / INFER (51D: Lay to rest / Deduce)
• TANGS / FANGS (54D: Zesty flavors / Part of a Dracula costume)

Word of the Mean solar day: LESLIE Nielsen(48D: Nielsen of "The Naked Gun") —

Leslie William NielsenOC (11 Feb 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 tv set programs, portraying more than 220 characters.

Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. Later on loftier school, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943 and served until the finish of Globe War II. Upon his discharge, Nielsen worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to study theatre at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He fabricated his acting debut in 1950, appearing in 46 alive television set programs a twelvemonth. Nielsen made his motion-picture show debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several dramas and western and romance films produced between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Although his notable performances in the filmsForbidden Planet andThe Poseidon Adventure gave him standing every bit a serious actor, Nielsen afterwards gained enduring recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s, after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy picAirplane!. In his comedy roles, Nielsen specialized in portraying characters oblivious to and complicit in their cool surround. Nielsen's performance inAeroplane! marked his turning bespeak, which made him "the Olivierof spoofs" co-ordinate to motion picture critic Roger Ebert, and leading to further success in the genre withThe Naked Gun pic serial, based on the earlier short-lived telly seriesPolice Team!, in which Nielsen also starred. Nielsen received a variety of awards and was inducted into the Canada'due south Walk of Fame and Hollywood Walk of Fame. (wikipedia)

• • •

Bad timing on my part, equally I got my Moderna booster yesterday, and and then now, on Thanksgiving, my favorite vacation, I feel like death warmed over. Death NUKEd in the microwave for similar twenty seconds. Tepid decease. I've definitely felt worse, everything is very depression-grade, but yeah, achy sorta, fevery sorta, and worst of all: appetite gone. Arm hurts similar hell. Slept awfully and just tin't go comfortable. Blecch. *But* if it's anything like the last shots, I'll exist feeling fine by tomorrow, my birthday, the holiest of days on the Me agenda. For now, I have this puzzle, which I poked through, trying to just take it easy and *really* trying to be generous-minded, since it's not the puzzle's error I experience unsightly. And what I tin say about the puzzle is: it's piece of cake. It'due south simple. Maybe it's supposed to be a kind of rudimentary rebus—lots of folks are dwelling house, or otherwise off work, they got fourth dimension to kill, so the crossword is gonna go a lot of attention today, a lot of it from people who don't do the crossword every single day like you weirdos. This is a gateway rebus. Nothing to figure out, nothing to INFER . The clues spell everything out, and in case the clues don't clue yous in, you lot've got the revealers, which, for me, were spectacularly anticlimactic and only gave me ii more gimmes to write instantly into the filigree. But maybe they actually functioned every bit *revealers* to people who are new to rebus puzzles and then are baffled by the idea of two messages / i square. OK. On that level, I tin can accept this puzzle. But on every other level, it'southward non really up to snuff. Concept too bones, answers too easy, and without any existent zing or zazz or fun to make the short trip through the grid seem at least a petty worthwhile. And the fill, yeesh, this is not the stuff you want to exist throwing downwards if your goal is to go newcomers or part-timers more interested in solving. The fill IS OLDE (51A: Wagner heroine). OLDE , I say (and the puzzle says) (26D: Renaissance Faire describing word). Pray for usa, ORA pro nobis, tell EDY and EDNA to hibernate the REALES and close the ORIEL because GBS (God Blessed Sakes!) the fill up in this grid is dangerously OLDE . Actually hope no i gets Naticked by the ORA / ORIEL crossing, because that would be the most painfully crosswordese way to become down, truly.

The double cluing really was the matter that took this into remedial-ville. I got TRAIL, idea "why is in that location's a split up clue that doesn't work?" and then got Accept Gilt and could see plainly what the 2d clue was referring to ( Simulated Golden ), and there, right there, inside three seconds, I had the entire premise worked out. "T and F work? Is this really merely a T/F rebus?" And information technology was. I tripped over a lot of footling things, which is non the way you desire to feel difficulty in a puzzle. Requite me the cleverly worded clue with the big Aha finish, not the deflating experience of "ugh is it LOLL or LOAF ?" or "ugh is it DANG or DRAT ?" (I guessed wrong both times). Had PAID earlier TIED (8D: All square) and "GLAD TO" before " GLADLY ," which I still very much like better (27A: "I'd exist delighted!"). I had trouble with BIGGIE , oddly, since I knew very well the person being asked for, but I had BIG POPPA in my caput, as well as Notorious B.I.1000., and it'southward also possible that the sound of " BIGGIE " was in there but my brain imagined his proper name was rendered BIG + middle initial + E. + SMALLS. I thought at first that the clue for BIGGIE should accept "familiarly" in information technology, since the "Tupac" of the clue did not seem parallel to BIGGIE , but I gauge BIGGIE is defensibly parallel in that both are technically offset names (even if TUPAC Shakur was a legal proper noun and BIGGIE Smalls was only a stage name— BIGGIE's legal name was Christopher Wallace).

If I could just go along things focused on BIGGIE and Ida LUPINO , then I could stay in my happy identify, but alas there's the rest of the grid that must be accounted for. Oh well, if cypher else, children volition be delighted by this grid, equally it gives them an excuse to run around the house disrupting the Thanksgiving commemoration with cries of " HAS A TIT !" HAS A TIT ! Whaaaat, I can say information technology! Information technology'south in the puzzle! Look. HAS! A! TIT! [Runs off for more than shouting]" You gotta enjoy yourself somehow.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I am indeed grateful for you.

Signed, Male monarch Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.Due south. the inkling on REDS is just incorrect (33D: Traffic lights you can't get through). Or it's misleading. I plough right on red all the time, every bit exercise millions of other drivers. I guess if you're existence super-strict nearly the significant of "through," then maybe there'south validity to this clue, just ... as well, you can definitely go through a blinking cherry-red (later on you end). I just don't retrieve the clue writer thought this 1 ... through. Besides, anyone *can* get through REDS . It's non legal, but can you exercise information technology? Well, don't, but yes, y'all can.

P.P.Due south. why do yous go with the biblical clues on both AMOS *and* ENOS . This is part of what gives the puzzle such a stuffy feeling. Come up on, mix it up! It's non neat fill, but you can at least motility the cluing around to give u.s.a. some sense of variety. (This is the editor's actual literal task)

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Nonsubmerging WW II menace / Midweek 11-24-21 / 1990s Indian prime government minister / Blacksmith's waste / Original Veronica Mars airer / Self-deprecate and so pause to go a reaction squeezed / Id checkers / Boeuf culling / Vice president between Hubert and Gerald

Constructor: Brandon Koppy

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: PICO DE GALLO (59A: Topping made with this puzzle'due south chopped and squeezed ingredients) — ONION, PEPPER, and Tomato appear "chopped" inside the get-go three themers, and LIME appears "Squeezed" (i.e. rebused) inside a square in the fourth themer:

Theme answers:

• OKNIPOTENCE (17A: Absolute power [chopped])
• PRIVATE PROPERTY (23A: Phrase on many No Trespassing signs [chopped])
• TRASH COMPACTOR (37A: Waste minimizers [chopped])
• FISH FOR COMP[LIME]NTS (49A: Self-deprecate, then intermission to get a reaction [squeezed])

Give-and-take of the Day:  ELIOT Rosewater(25D: Rosewater of Kurt Vonnegut'south "God Bless Y'all, Mr. Rosewater") —

Eliot Rosewater  is arecurring character in the novels of American authorKurt Vonnegut.  He appears throughout diverse novels as an alcoholic, and a philanthropist who claims to be avolunteer fireman. He runs the Rosewater Foundation, an organisation created to keep the family'south money in the family. He is among the few fans of the novels ofKilgore Trout (some other of Vonnegut'south creations). // God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or, Pearls Before Swine, the first of Vonnegut's novels to feature the graphic symbol of Eliot Rosewater, is also the i in which he is the almost prominent. // The 1965 novel follows much of his life as the liberal son of a rich, conservative Senator from Rosewater Canton, Indiana who founded the Rosewater Foundation. Eliot Rosewater is convinced that he should spend the family riches to help the poor and uses the Foundation to this end, an idea looked downwardly upon past his male parent. Norman Mushari, an opportunistic former associate of the Rosewater family lawyer, attempts to have Eliot declared insane so that the family wealth can be inherited by his new client, a afar relative to the e. This and other crises lead to a year-long mental blackout, after which Rosewater'due south favorite writer, Kilgore Trout, tries to explain to the Senator that Eliot's actions were sane and compassionate. // The New York Times  chosen it "[Vonnegut] at his wildest best" and Conrad Aiken said that it's "a brilliantly funny satire on almost everything". (wikipedia)

• • •

Conceptually this is OK. It'due south got i real high point—that rebus foursquare that sneaks up on y'all in the fourth themer. "Sneaks" may not be the right word, though, since the rebusness of that foursquare is telegraphed pretty clearly (the foursquare is marked with a circle *and* the clue tells you to "squeeze"). FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS is too just a lovely stand up-lone answer, the all-time ane in the puzzle, so any charm or specialness the puzzle has really rides on this respond alone. It's nice. And it's admittedly necessary, because then much of the rest of the solve was not so overnice at all. Even the cute LIME square is immediately and tragically undermined past appearing (in the cross) inside the highly unpalatable South(LIME)BAL L. Worse, since I solved that rebus square before I'd made my way all the way to the revealer and knew what was going on, I had a couple of other guesses for [Existent dirtbag], both of which fit the S_BALL pattern, and one of which ... well, LEAZE was plain non going to work, but for a few seconds at that place I was genuinely curious to encounter what the hell the puzzle was going to do with a CUM rebus. I now run into that CUZZ (like LEAZE) would also fit but not really work in that location. And then anyway, there was C, U, M in my salsa, briefly, so ... yep, that's not ideal. But much much Much worse was the truly abysmal make full in this puzzle, which started early and Merely Kept Going. The theme is dumbo-ish, but non plenty to alibi the wince parade that starts with AINTI and and then tromps across the length of the grid.  I kept stopping to take new screenshots of the wince moments, only there were also many. I took ane at PORC and so *immediately* ran into another photo op at DERM .

I don't know what attribute of the filigree forced then many atrocious fill choices. The theme, as I say, wasn't besides dense. Maybe insisting that the puzzle accept such a low word count (74 instead of 76 or 78) was the problem. It'due south overnice to accept *ii* long Downs in the NE and SW, but if the cost is some kind of cascading fill disaster that spreads across the grid, then information technology's non worth it. All I know is that if the SCUM/ SLIMEBALL fiasco didn't sour me on the puzzle at the cease, the EBOAT (!?!?!!) surely did. I had "E" and I idea "well it tin't be EBOAT , so ... wait ... look a min- ... oh, no." The EBOAT (again, !?!?!!?) may be "nonsubmerging," just information technology definitely sank this puzzle to the lesser of the deep blue bounding main. The revealer at that point came near as an afterthought: a prissy thought while it lasted merely SLIMEBALL EBOAT Game Over, Man.

Five things:

• 15A: Bad tape to gear up (NEW Low) — I could've used this to describe the fill quality today, but it wouldn't take been entirely true, and anyway, I actually like NEW Low as an answer.

[NEW LOW]

• 27A: Including an unlisted number? (ET AL) — aye, this is a good "?" clue. I feel the need to praise them when I see them, as they and then often become wrong.
• 8D: Contrary of radial (ULNAR) — aside from being less-than-lovely fill, I don't quite get "opposite." Is it considering the ulna is "contrary" the radius ... in your arm. "Aslope" seems more authentic. There are 2 basic in your forearm. One is the radius. So the ulna is the "opposite" one? When I search [ulna radius reverse] google tells me the ulna is "opposite" ... to the thumb. This clue wasn't hard. I just don't know about "opposite."
• 11D: Id checkers (SUPEREGOS) — this ane absolutely fooled me. Definitely read that as [ID (as in identification) checkers]. Plus it was hardish to parse with but those middle messages in identify. I of the few areas of the puzzle that added some difficulty to the solve.
• 29A: Comic cry of dismay ("ACK!") — Information technology'southward from "Cathy" and just "Cathy," just say "Cathy." I get that you're kinda sorta trying to repeat 56A: Drawing cry of dismay but no one else in "comics" says " ACK !" really so only be honest. (I have this weird feeling I have yelled about precisely this issue before. ACK !)

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow King Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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Curving billiards shot / TUE 11-23-21 / Agronomical giant founded in Hawaii in 1851 / Rapper fronting the heavy metallic band Body Count

Constructor: Eric Bornsteing

Relative difficulty: Easy (maybe Easy-Medium if your sports knowledge isn't that neat)

THEME: PERSONAL FINANCE (20A: Sort of investment suggested by the ends of 3-, 11- and 29-Down) — the ends of those answers = BONDS, SILVER, and Cash ... I guess those are ... "sorts of investment"? ... it's all a bit nebulous to me; oh wait, I call back perchance I just got it—those "sorts of investment" are all the terminal names of *people*? So they're ... PERSONAL? That'southward my best guess, anyway:

Theme answers:

• BARRYBONDS (3D: M.L.B. tape-holder for nearly career domicile runs)
• ADAMSilverish (29D: North.B.A. commissioner starting in 2014)
• JOHNNYCash (11D: Singer profiled in the biopic "Walk the Line")

Discussion of the Twenty-four hour period: ADAM Argent(29D) —

Adam Silver (born April 25, 1962) is an American lawyer and sports executive who is the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball game Association (NBA). He joined the NBA in 1992 and has held various positions within the league, becoming principal operating officeholder and deputy commissioner under his predecessor and mentor David Stern in 2006. When Stern retired in 2014, Silver was named the new commissioner.

Equally commissioner, the league has continued to grow economically and globally, particularly in China. Silverish made headlines in 2014 for forcing Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after Sterling made racist remarks, later banning him for life from the game. (wikipedia)

• • •

Can't call back of a theme blazon that's less For Me. PERSONAL FINANCE is a term I recognize, just information technology's very general in my mind. I don't know the term " PERSONAL FINANCE investment," but the clue says PERSONAL FINANCE an investment *type*, and then I presume that'south a legit phrase. I also don't come across how BONDS, Silvery, and CASH make a sufficiently tight group at all. Greenbacks? I acknowledge to being totally out of my depth when it comes to fiscal instruments and things people invest in (beyond your ordinary everyday IRAs, stocks & bonds, mutual funds, etc.). People invest in ... Cash? I believe y'all, but I just ... *take* ... cash. Hidden in a lunch box, in case we take to run. Is this ... "investing"? Cosplay? Who knows. Anyway, I think of Cash as uninvested, really, but maybe yous are investing in the "Greenbacks" of other countries? Sigh. You can see how much I care. Await, the revealer is completely unsnappy and the theme set is arbitrary. Besides, I will be stunned if the "personal" aspect of the theme doesn't elude a good chunk of solvers. I feel like I simply dopily stumbled into information technology when I had to write all the theme answers out. People'due south names are used as theme answers All The Time, so it'southward Baroque that yous look the "personal" nameness of today'southward three answers to resonate clearly at all. Truly weird. And of grade the "persons" involved are all dudes. Information technology's the financial world, I expect patriarchy. At to the lowest degree the puzzle'south not nearly B!tcoin.

The one good thing most the puzzle is the grid shape, which is bizarre in a good way. Those three long Downs all in a row seemed pretty harrowing for a Tuesday, and 1 of them is a name, and a themer, that a bunch of solvers aren't going to know ... and nevertheless the curt crosses were all very easy, and and so I can't see people getting hung up there too long, if at all. Final IN LINE was a fiddling difficult to parse, but again, crosses make things articulate (that'southward their chore!). If this puzzle does nothing else, it gives me the opportunity to recommend that you come across the picture show " TRANSIT " immediately, if not sooner (d. Christian Petzold, 2018) (5D: Kind of visa for just passing through an airport). Watched information technology with my Monday night Movie Lodge terminal calendar month, and it's one of the most beautiful, haunting, mysterious movies I've seen in a long fourth dimension. A really thoughtful meditation on refugees, the problem of belonging, and the concept of Home. Now that I've done that ... not much more to say almost this grid. The make full is weak in the short stuff, but not then weak that it fabricated me wince. Those tiny, cutting-off, isolated corners in the SW and SE are aesthetically displeasing, merely they're only 4x4 and filling them is simply a perfunctory practice, so over again, the impairment washed is minimal. I do object to the spelling of CZAR here (51A: Nicholas I or Ii). We all accept a TACIT (!) understanding that the Russian ruler is spelled TSAR, whereas a governmental policy director is spelled Czar ("Drug CZAR "). Otherwise, it's just arbitrary nonsense, spell it this way, spell information technology that style, cats are marrying dogs and pigs are flying etc. Boundaries are skilful for usa. Please respect the TSAR / CZAR stardom. Thank you.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

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hubbardwhinged1940.blogspot.com

Source: https://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2021/11/

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