Handsome hombres / SAT 11-21-15 / Luxuries not necessities per Cher / Dramatist Thomas who was contemporary of Shakespeare / Glamis Shakespearean epithet / First US college to divest from apartheid South Africa / People visited by Captain Cook 1769 / Biblical character who lived 912 years

Constructor:Natan Last

Relative difficulty:Easy


THEME:general awesomeness 

Word of the Day:THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G.(5D: "Mo Money Mo Problems" rapper) —

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names The Notorious B.I.G, Biggie, or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper. Wallace is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers ever and one of the most influential rappers of all time. // Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. When he released his debut album Ready to Die in 1994, he became a central figure in the East Coast hip hop scene and increased New York's visibility in the genre at a time when West Coast hip hop was dominant in the mainstream. The following year, Wallace led his childhood friends to chart success through his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A. While recording his second album, Wallace was heavily involved in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. On March 9, 1997, Wallace was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His double-disc set Life After Death, released 16 days later, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts and was certified Diamond in 2000, one of the few hip hop albums to receive this certification.Wallace was noted for his "loose, easy flow", dark semi-autobiographical lyrics and storytelling abilities. Two more albums have been released since his death. He has certified sales of 17 million units in the United States. (wikipedia)

The only thing wrong with this puzzle is that it's over. I haven't had this much fun solving a Saturday in ... I want to say ages, but K. Cameron Collins' gem was just last week, so ... I haven't had this much fun in a week. Before *that*, who knows how long. I wish (as I wished last week) that the puzzle had been harder; I was 2+ minutes faster than yesterday, and that's including taking the time to stop and get screenshots mid-solve. As I was solving, I couldn't believe how much great stuff he was managing to cram in here. I stopped at THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. to take a screenshot, little knowing that the rest of that stack (pillar?) of 15s was going to fill out so beautifully. I was still oohing at Biggie when bam, HATERS GONNA HATE! That is a sick one-two punch. And then AMERICAN APPAREL, which is also young-skewing, and also timely, in that they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just last month.

Often, with stacks (columns!?!) OF 15s, that's where All the action is, or most of it, anyway. Here, pfft, it's just the flashiest part of a great overall show. BOLLYWOOD! THAT'S NICE! CLUB OWNER! SHAKE ON IT! ROSIE'S BAR! And I DON'T BITE, which was the site of one of my few miscues, as I figured it was I WON'T BITE. I feel like the latter is more common. Is it? Nah, looks like DON'T googles twice as well (though both are perfectly in-the-language). Anyway... when you're not digging the ART SCENE, dig the solid answers that flesh out the grid: PACKERSand ETERNALLY and HAMPSHIRE (nice clue, 14A: First US college to divest from apartheid South Africa) and SIDEKICKS. This grid makes HOP ON POP and YO-YO MA look a little on the dull side (hard to do!). Even the stuff that made me initially squint and go "What?" ended up having me going "... yep, that works." Couldn't remember my Spanish 101, possibly because I never took it, but once the GUAPOS finally showed up, I recognized them and they seemed just fine. Welcome, GUAPOS. Then there was 55A: Like some hockey passes, and I had UP--- and thought "What made-up crap is this...?" Then ICE fell into place and then I imagined a hockey play-by-play commentator's voice and...yep, UPICE is totally a thing. The equivalent of "upfield" in (U.S.) football. I mean, damn, this thing even managed to make EWE look good with the a fancy mythological clue (25A: Animal that Poseidon turned Theophane into, in myth).

[Please watch, for intro as well as performance]
OK, ESNE is never good, but the puzzle totally knows that and is winking at you like "come on, you know you're gonna forgive this" (9D: A slave to crosswords?). And I did. And do.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. MEN! (58A: "Luxuries," not "necessities," per Cher)

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