Shared delusion from French / SAT 8-17-19 / Maternity option involving pool

Constructor: Michael Hawkins

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (somewhere in the 7s, and that's with the timer going for at least 30 seconds before I even started, and with me reading some of the clues aloud to my wife, and also I've had four drinks ... so it must be easyish)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: FOLIE À DEUX (58A: Shared delusion, from the French) —

Folie à deux, shared psychosis, or shared delusional disorder is a psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief and sometimes hallucinations are transmitted from one individual to another. The same syndrome shared by more than two people may be called folie à trois, folie à quatre, folie en famille ("family madness"), or even folie à plusieurs ("madness of several"). (wikipedia)

Hi from NYC, where I am holed up in a hotel on the Upper West Side trying to crank out a blog post before I pass out from exhaustion. Been a long day—drive over the Beacon, then train down, then walk from Grand Central to hotel to Harlem (so a Lot of walking) and then a big meal and lots of wine and then a subway down to Chelsea for a margarita with other friends, and then another bar one block over where literally dozens of crossword people were already hanging out, and another beer, and so much loud talking (over the music) that now voice is messed up, and then a subway back to the hotel. And here I sit. Oh, right, I'm here in NYC for Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament tomorrow—probably should've led with the context. Four drinks is three drinks more than I normally have so things might be a little shaky tonight. This puzzle felt good, though maybe that's just because I was expecting to do terrible and instead I crushed it. Neither my wife nor I likes SCREENAGER *at all*—first I'm hearing it, boo (17A: Modern young person vis-à-vis video games and smartphones). It sounds like SCREAMAGER, and also it describes ... like, nothing. Look around. Everyone's a SCREENAGER. Stop.


I will take any opportunity I can to mention the fact that I was the first person to put AMY POEHLER in a crossword. This is one such opportunity. I feel like this puzzle either got real easy or real hard depending on where you come down on the FOLIE À DEUX question. Me, I got it off the "F"—leapt right to mind. The whole SE corner actually felt like a Monday or Tuesday to me. The NW (where I started) was probably the toughest to get. All the other long answers fell really quickly. Not too much crosswordese today. Just ANYA, a handy name to know. Oh, and MERL, which, I'm sure, is, in fact, a "Blackbird" but which should, by law, always have to be clued via the late great crossword constructor/editor MERL Reagle (whom you know if you saw "Wordplay," or the "Simpsons" episode about crosswords, both of which he was in). I need to sleep so I can solve puzzles tomorrow. Byyye.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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