Ancient dweller beyond Hadrian's Wall / FRI 4-26-19 / Mild cheese with orange rind / Scrubber sold in yellow box / Classic bit of study material / Kukoc 6' 11" NBA star of 1993-2006 / #1 Taylor Swif song about defying one's critics / Beverage brand with wave in its logo / Harmonia's opposite in Greek myth

Constructor: Kyle Dolan

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (very easy except for that damned cheese, wtf?)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: PORT SALUT (33D: Mild cheese with an orange rind) —

Port Salut is a semi-soft pasteurised cow's milk cheese from Pays de la Loire, France, with a distinctive orange rind and a mild flavour. The cheese is produced in wheels approximately 23 cm (9 inches) in diameter, weighing approximately 2 kg (4.4 lb).

Though Port Salut has a mild flavour, it sometimes has a strong smell because it is a mature cheese. The smell increases the longer the cheese is kept — this however does not affect its flavour. It can be refrigerated and is best eaten within two weeks of opening.

The cheese was developed by Trappist monks during the 19th century at Port-du-Salut Abbey in Entrammes. (wikipedia)

There was enough good here for me to enjoy myself, but there were some clunkers in here. The NE just doesn't work. It's a "weiner (wiener?) dog," not a SAUSAGE DOG. And it's actually just a dachshund. Is SAUSAGE DOG some regionalism?  And PICKS A DOOR is just awful. EATS-A-SANDWICH bad. Absurd verb phrase that has no place in any puzzle. Clean up your word list. Speaking of word lists: PORT SALUT? Wow, I thought I had a decent cheese knowledge but yikes. Had PORT and then .... nothing. Wanted SMITH. That answer was the difference between me having a time in the 4s and me having a time in the 5s. It completely stopped my flow, making me unable to go down into that SE section from the center. Had to come down via JOHN DONNE instead, which ... about that ... I teach Donne regularly and yet I have never taught and have barely heard of "The Triple Fool" (the poem quoted in this clue) (34D: Who wrote "I am two fools, I know, / For loving, and for saying so / In whining poetry"). That is some obscure stuff, and the weird (anomalous) short lines and sing-songiness makes it look like a much more modern poet. I honestly took one look at the clue and wanted OGDEN NASH (which fit), but luckily HANGRY was already in there and made Nash impossible. Bad Donne clues make me mad. So much great writing, and you yank out this obscurity? Bah. MAIA, also obscure (16A: Mother of Hermes). And AT *THE* LEAST just felt off. Human say "at least." No THE. Make your puzzle sound like humans made it.


All the other long answers are solid, and I especially like the clue on CLINTON ERA (55A: Bushes are found on both sides of it). Old trick—hide the proper noun by putting it at the beginning of the clue (where *all* words are capitalized). But a good trick. "IT BURNS!" is a nice cry, if there can be said to be such a thing. I nailed PICT (38A: Ancient dweller beyond Hadrian's Wall) because I studied medieval Scotland in GRAD SCHOOL (39A: Where you might be given the third degree), but it's possible that answer will have given some solvers trouble (38A: Ancient dweller beyond Hadrian's Wall). I'm inferring this from the fact that my friend Brian Cimmet is furious about it right now. But he knew the cheese, so we're even—1 in the knowledgeable column, 1 in the ignorant column, for both of us. UEYS, always terrible fill, delete it from your word list (I know you won't, but you should) (also UIES, which is somehow worse). Lastly, re: WINCH / WEND:

If you go with a "P" there, you get sooooooo many more opportunities to clue *both* words in interesting ways. The "W" locks you in to very specific, not terribly common terms. Editor should've changed it. A million ways to come at PINCH. WINCH, not so much.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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