South American landmark whose name means old peak / THU 5-16-19 / One-named singer with "ö" in her name / Not kosher in Jewish law / Superhero with lightning bolt symbol /

Constructor: Jeff Chen

Relative difficulty: Medium (5:36)

THEME: RAMP UP (45D: Increase rapidly ... or a hint to connecting four pairs of answers in this puzzle) —in four themers, the letters "UP" are represented in the grid by a "RAMP" of three black squares. So answer starts on one plane and finishes two rows higher, three columns over:

Theme answers:

• MACHUPICCHU (26A: South American landmark whose name means "old peak")
• "KUNGFUPANDA" (29A: 2008 animated film set in ancient China)
• "IFYOUPLEASE" (47A: Start of a polite request)
• D'ANJOUPEARS (51A: Fruit named for a region of France)

Word of the Day: D'ANJOU PEARS (51A) —

The D'Anjou pear, sometimes referred to as the Beurré d'Anjou or simply Anjou, is a short-necked cultivar of European pear. The variety was originally named 'Nec Plus Meuris' in Europe and the name 'Anjou' or 'd'Anjou' was erroneously applied to the variety when introduced to America and England. It is thought to have originated in the mid-19th century, in Belgium or France. (wikipedia)

Yikes, that D-apostrophe at the front of the anjou pears answer was dire. Didn't really register that that answer was a themer at first, and when I finished with DANJO all I could think of was how my fruit knowledge had failed me. That was probably the toughest part of the puzzle for me, aside from the typical Thursday challenge of figuring out just what the hell the gimmick is. I got MACH and knew that the rest of the answer had gone ... somewhere, but I had no idea where. This pattern continued. The rest of the answer reappeared nowhere in direct proximity to where it got lopped off, so eventually, when I hit the "-" clues, I just looked back at / tried to remember the answers with their latter halves missing, and filled in those squares that way. My brain does not like the fact that "UP" is two letters and the "RAMP" is three squares long. That non-correspondence is real nails/chalkboard stuff for me. Buuuuut I can appreciate how the RAMP is just an entity that is going UP, and that if you don't have an obsessive brain that needs letters and boxes to agree in number, that is enough. I do like the Chutes & Ladders quality of the grid, with answers just whack-a-mole'ing / wormholing up in completely unexpected places.


I had:

• RATS for NUTS (5D: "Dagnabbit!")
• CON for FOR (11D: One side of a debate)
• KRONER for KRONOR because Swedish monetary plurals lord have mercy (43D: Money in Malmö)
• LOAFS for LOLLS (42A: Wears pajamas all day, e.g.) — this clue is dumb and judgey. I've definitely word pajamas all day while actually working so take that, you smarmy button-down Madison Avenue go-getter of a clue

• I misspelled POLLACK, of course (POLLOCK!?)
• I feel bad for all the people who are encountering TREF for the first time today (53D: Not kosher, in Jewish law). Crashing and burning on this answer is a rite of passage for many. Welcome to the club. 

Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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