Ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns / SAT 1-30-16 / Hungarian hunting dog / Great magician floating lightbulb / Shorts popular in 1920s '30s / River of myth where one drinks to forget / Prize at top of maypole / Sackers in sack of Rome 410 AD / Clothing company whose mail-order catalog debuted in 1905

Constructor:Samuel A. Donaldson and Brad Wilber

Relative difficulty:Medium

THEME: none 

Word of the Day:RIGVEDA(38D: Ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns) —

The Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेदṛgveda, from ṛc"praise, shine" and veda"knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrithymns. It is one of the four canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas. The text is a collection of 1,028 hymns and 10,600 verses, organized into ten books (Mandalas). [...] Rigveda is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language.Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500–1200 BC, though a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BC has also been given. // Some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu rites of passage celebrations such as weddings and religious prayers, making it probably the world's oldest religious text in continued use. (wikipedia)

A little too precious for me. Definitely way out of my wheelhouse. Technical terms (BRACKEN?) and magicians I've never heard of (BLACKSTONE) and not just the Vedas, which I have heard of, but RIGVEDA, dishes I'd never eat (VEAL MARSALA), maypole activities (?!) (WREATH), a Puffin relative that looks diminutive but somehow isn't (?) (AUKLET), a stock term I don't know (DAWN RAID), something called CREPEY ... so much of it was arcane to me. This was surprising, as I got the NW instantly—every first answer I thought of was right (well, I went with PAPA before MAMA BEAR, but I went in to the Downs very prepared to change that one).

So I thought it would be easy, if not terribly exciting. But then it got a lot harder, and somewhat more exciting, but not much. I didn't have any experience of "ooh, cool answer." All of the longest answers seem dull. Except VISIGOTHS—that's flashy. I don't know ... it's well made, just not to my taste. With the exception of SIPPY CUP and ME TIME (28D: What isn't working?), this feels more Maleskan than Shortzian in its general sensibility.

Do people know VIZSLA!? I used to pore over dog breed books, back when I had dog-ownership fantasies, 10+ years ago, before I got my first dog, Dutchess, a husky/shepherd mix we got from a shelter in northern PA, and well before I got my second dog, Gabby, a purebred chocolate lab I got because my friend was like "we're getting a chocolate lab puppy and there are unclaimed female puppies in the litter—you want one?" I mean, really. "Do you want a chocolate lab puppy?" What was I supposed to say??? Where was I? Oh, right VIZSLA? The  *only* reason I knew it (and I had to struggle mightily to bring it to the surface) was because I had gone through those dog breed books cover to cover, and I'd taken those online tests What Dog Is Right For You, and the VIZSLA frequently came up near the top. "How exotic-sounding?" And I haven't seen the name since. Until today. Sounds like a car, not a dog. "Come Experience ... the 2017 Ford VIZSLA!" (because "VIZSLA: It's Everywhere You Want To Be" is too spot-on)



I spelled MASSAD thusly and didn't check the cross and so ended with a PORTA / MASSAD error. I don't like  that cross, but I should've been able to infer that "O" from the clue, 43D: ___-Novo (capital on the Gulf of Guinea). Otherwise, it was fast, then slow, then done, with very few pleasure points. Clean, well-crafted, not for me.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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