Prized footwear introduced in 1984 / SAT 3-14-20 / Roughly 251,655 miles for Earth's moon / 1990 Robin Williams title role / Informal name for reptile that can seemingly run on water / Participant in 1990s civil war

Constructor: Peter Wentz

Relative difficulty: Medium (untimed clipboard solve)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: NERVE BLOCK (3D: Chronic pain remedy) —

Nerve block or regional nerve blockade is any deliberate interruption of signals traveling along a nerve, often for the purpose of pain relief. Local anesthetic nerve block (sometimes referred to as simply "nerve block") is a short-term block, usually lasting hours or days, involving the injection of an anesthetic, a corticosteroid, and other agents onto or near a nerve. Neurolytic block, the deliberate temporary degeneration of nerve fibers through the application of chemicals, heat, or freezing, produces a block that may persist for weeks, months, or indefinitely. Neurectomy, the cutting through or removal of a nerve or a section of a nerve, usually produces a permanent block. Because neurectomy of a sensory nerve is often followed, months later, by the emergence of new, more intense pain, sensory nerve neurectomy is rarely performed. (wikipedia)

Can't remember the last time I didn't like a Peter Wentz puzzle, but this one just wasn't for me. The showier answers were things I knew nothing or cared nothing about, or, in the case of "CADILLAC MAN," only barely remembered (honestly, the only thing I "remember" is that a movie with the title existed, apparently thirty years ago). I'd get an answer like NERVE BLOCK and think, "I guess that's a thing."MR. NOBODY ... "I guess that's a thing."GRAVITY FED"I mean ... it sounds like something I know." Etc. JESUS LIZARD? I think there's a band by that name, but I may be confusing JESUS LIZARD with (... looks up that band that sang "Right Here, Right Now" in 1991 ...), ah, right, Jesus Jones. Nope, the JESUS LIZARD is indeed a band (also active in 1991! Weird) (back to the puzzle...) A CPA is a "Reconciler"? OK, I guess that's a tax term, then? Fun. [Present] means POSE now? POSEs a problem, presents a problem ... OK, yes, very ... defensible. POD is ... oh, it's P.O.'D, as in "pissed off"? Huh. JV... SOCCER, is it? There's nothing in that clue that points to "JV" (17A: Activity for kids out for kicks?)—"kids" play varsity, too. And can we just "JV" any sport now? SPENDY? Why have I never heard anyone say SPENDY? Do I not have rich enough friends? Also, I could do without the disgusting white supremacist sympathizer Lou DOBBS in my grid (48D: "Independents Day" author Lou). Having both Bushes in the grid was more than enough right-wingery for one puzzle, thanks (44A: YALIE). Answer after answer, clue after clue just left me cold today. I am willing to believe this is just a case of "wrong wavelength," but it's so disappointing because Wentz is, for me, one of the few absolutely reliable bylines. I guess you can't groove on all your favorites all the time.


Not sure I'd put DOES in a grid that already has JANE DOES in it. I know that JANE DOES is a noun phrase, not a complete sentence ("Jane does what?!"), but still, that's a repeated stand-alone four-letter string. Also, that clue on DOES, yuck (20A: ___ justice). ["Ah, all right"] sounds like someone conceding something, not someone realizing something. In my mind, the person is saying "Ah, all right, go ahead." So I wanted OH SURE or OH FINE, not OH I SEE, an answer that, once I got it, made me say, "Oh ... I see." I really liked AIR JORDANS as an answer, but I don't think I "really liked" much else. It's a very sturdy grid and there's very little outright junk. Just not for me.


Stay safe.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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