2017 Tony-winning play about 1990s diplomacy / SAT 10-7-17 / Director costar of bigamist 1953 / Dystopian backdrop / Second-oldest national park in North America / Weapon swung by gaucho / Literally singing place / 1970 hit with spelled out title

Constructor: Byron Walden

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: OSTERIA (39A: Basic Italian bistro) —

noun

noun: osteria; plural noun: osterias

1. an Italian restaurant, typically a simple or inexpensive one. (google)

Ouch. That one roughed me up. It's a glorious grid in many ways—scads (GOBS?) of long answers, thick stacks handled with deftness and precision. But despite a plethora of short answers (crossing the longer ones, in every corner), there just weren't many real toeholds, and getting traction was tough all over. Further, I just didn't know ... any of this stuff. Well, OK, I knew a bunch, but I haven't Not known this much in ages. OSTERIA (nope) crossing ON THE UP (nope). That was fun (i.e. harrowing). Only way I got that initial vowel was by inference. Jesus had a grandma? OK, sure. Her name was just ... ANNE? How did I miss this? I assume a SWAYBAR (?) is part of a car, but if I had to name a hundred car parts, that wouldn't be one of them (38D: Stabilizer in suspensions). "BEE SEASON"!? Did anyone see that. The title drifted into my mind ... somehow. No reason it should have. I can't tell you a damn thing about it, just that the title implanted itself in my mind at some point. Me while solving this puzzle: "Queen had a hit in 1989???" After getting nearly all the crosses, I figured out the first bit, and yeah, I can kind of hear the chorus, or the title anyway, but that's it. NAN Britton has probably been in front of my face before, since I was definitely into Harding scandals at one point, but I forgot her. Throw in the fact that even the stuff I did know was clued in tough to brutal fashion, and yeah, this was the hardest I've worked in a while.


ADORATION instead of ADULATION, argh (57A: Offering to an idol). Also, bigger argh, "YMCA" instead of "LOLA" (4D: 1970 hit with a spelled-out title). I know Very Well the year "YMCA" came out, and I know very well it's not 1970 ... hence the "argh." That stupid little mistake was probably the most lethal, in retrospect. And I dropped HAIG in like a boss! (1D: "Caveat: Realism, Reagan and Foreign Policy") But then pulled him because I couldn't make the corner work! HELLSCAPE, AXIOMATIC, and IDA LUPINO are all things / words / people I love, so it's pretty humiliating to have struggled so much. GOBS of trouble with GOBS, as it's one of those stupid bleeping -O-S words meaning "many." I tried both of the other (more common) words before finally getting the correct one. NATE the Great and OGRESS were two of the very few answers I got immediately (37A: Princess Fiona, for one). I had no idea PSYCHODRAMA was a "therapy" (?!) (46A: Form of therapy in which patients act out events from their past). I just thought it was a phenomenon describing, like, a hellish roomate's whole annoying deal. Anyway, I admire this puzzle, even thought it beat me up. One thing I don't admire, however, is PC LANGUAGE (24A: Unslurred speech?). What a bullshit term that is. That's not even a real thing. That's some right-wing crap. What the hell is it? Not saying "******"!? Seriously, just "not using slurs" is PC LANGUAGE? That's messed up. Here's what I tweeted shortly after I wrote that stupid answer in:

I stand by this.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]