Astaire with steps / SAT 7-27-18 / Virginia senator Jim / "My Two" 80s sitcom / Cheryl "Curb Your Enthusiasm" / "Punk Rock, Teenagers, and" / Giants GM Al / Korean statesman Syngman

Constructor: Natan Last, Andy Kravis, and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class

Relative difficulty: 8:03 (Saturday average: 18:26; Saturday best 6:03)



THEME: Themeless

Word of the Day: PHISHER (18D: "Nigerian prince," often) —

Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and money), often for malicious reasons, by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.The word is a neologism created as a homophone of fishing due to the similarity of using a bait in an attempt to catch a victim. According to the 2013 Microsoft Computing Safety Index, released in February 2014, the annual worldwide impact of phishing could be as high as US$5 billion. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging,and it often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website, the look and feel of which are identical to the legitimate site, the only difference being the URL of the website in concern. Communications purporting to be from social web sites, auction sites, banks, online payment processors or IT administrators are often used to lure victims. Phishing emails may contain links to websites that distribute malware. (Wikipedia)

I always like the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class puzzles; even if the grid and execution aren't perfect, the effort, enthusiasm, and [17A: Camaraderie]: TEAM SPIRIT are evident. I wish there were more opportunities for people to learn crossword construction in groups and have some outlet for publication -- it's a fairly solitary pursuit, except for the occasional collaboration. Certainly the crossword blogs and social media have opened things up a bit. (Hey, if you like crossword blogs -- and you do, if you're here -- check out Life in the E-League, a new daily blog.) 

The center-triple stagger-stack felt reasonably fresh; as someone whose day job is in academia I can attest that the [37A: Modern college major]: GENDER STUDIES is likely a few decades old at most institutions, so it certainly qualifies as "modern." Some interesting choices for proper names: [1A: Astaire with steps]: ADELE is a nice punny clue for Fred's older sister (instead of, say, the British blue-eyed soul singer). We've also got WEBB the ex-senator, Cheryl HINES of "cringe comedy,"ROSEN of baseball, arty ERTE, activist DIX, and international politician RHEE (instead of American educational reformer RHEE). I mean [48D: "Gimme a break!"]: YEESH, props to the team for that many propers.

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[10A: "My Two ___" (1980s sitcom)]: DADS -- a modern family

Do we really need Bullets, since a themeless write-up is pretty much all Bullets? Ok, fine:

• [36A: Some detox diets]: JUICE CLEANSES— Your liver and kidneys do a fine job of cleansing the "toxins" in your body. The whole cleanse thing is pure woo-woo goop and quackery.
• [12D: Distributor of Penguin classics]: DC COMICS— Namely, classic comics featuring supervillain The Penguin, adversary of Batman. The Penguin was not bitten by a radioactive penguin; however, if you are not apprised of the origin story of a particular comic book superhero/villain, "bitten by a radioactive [animal]" is always a reasonable guess.
• [36D: Show that once had an April Fools' Day episode hosted by Pat Sajak]: JEOPARDY— The CrossWorld/Jeopardy crossover is legion: many, many top competitors at the ACPT and other tournaments have appeared (and become champions) on Jeopardy.
• [32D: One who sucks the joy out of the room]: FUN SPONGE— New one to me. I was all, DEBBIE DOWNER? I'm going to start using this all the time.

A plug: The American Values Club Crossword is offering free trial subscriptions. Just send an email to editor [at] avxwords.com (replace the [at] with the @ sign, as you know, we do that on the interwebz to prevent PHISHERS) with FREE PUZZLES in the subject line to get your samples. (Note: AV Club is not a PHISHER.) The AV Club also offers subsidized subscriptions for anyone who can't afford the yearly fee. If that's you, just let the editor know at that same email address, no explanation needed.

Another plug: Tomorrow (Sunday, July 29) is Boswords, the Boston Crossword Tournament, held at the Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, MA (only a few miles from Natick!). If you're in the region, there's still room for competitors (register online at the link or in person at the venue), or you can order the puzzles to solve at home. We have an awesome team of Boston and Boston-adjacent constructors: Brendan Emmett Quigley, Joon Pahk, Lena Webb, Finn Vigeland, John Lieb, Andrew Kingsley, David Quarfoot, and Laura Braunstein (that's me).

See you tomorrow, then Rex will be back to cover Monday's puzzle.

Signed, Laura, Sorceress of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]