Jazz great who took his name from Egyptian mythology / FRI 3-27-20 / Playwright of midwest / Deck hall octet / Supersmall futuristic medical device / Device found between gutters / Four-wheeled transports that developed out of surf culture

Constructor: Kyle Dolan

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (clock gave a Medium time, but I was not trying to speed at all)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: RAOUL Wallenberg (28A: Humanitarian Wallenberg) —

Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945) was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat, and humanitarian. He is remembered for saving tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust from German Nazis and Hungarian Fascists during the later stages of World War II. While serving as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest between July and December 1944, Wallenberg issued protective passports and sheltered Jews in buildings designated as Swedish territory.

On 17 January 1945, during the Siege of Budapest by the Red Army, Wallenberg was detained by SMERSH on suspicion of espionage and subsequently disappeared. He was later reported to have died on 17 July 1947 while imprisoned by the KGB secret police in the Lubyanka, the KGB headquarters and affiliated prison in Moscow. The motives behind Wallenberg's arrest and imprisonment by the Soviet government, along with questions surrounding the circumstances of his death and his ties to US intelligence, remain mysterious and are the subject of continued speculation. (wikipedia)

There's nothing wrong with this, but I found it dull. Like, if you want to paint the room ecru, that is a perfectly acceptable choice, probably, but it's probably not gonna wow me. There are a couple answers here that let you know it's the 21st century (NANOBOT, POP-UP STORE), but mostly this is full of ordinary stuff. Right over the plate. SHEET GLASS. Yes, that is a thing. The longer answers are where themeless puzzles should really shine, and ... yeah, today, I wouldn't say shine. There's more of a matte finish on this one. Again, there is nothing objectively wrong with it (though CANEMALLA and SEUL are lowish points, and I feel like there's been some INGE creep of late that I would like to beat back). It just felt like something one fills out dutifully before getting on with one's life. Something to check off your list of daily activities. No oohs or aahs or "nice one!"s. Just stuff like ACTION ITEM, which ... if you could see my stare right now, I assure you it is glassy.


Are mermaids technically "NUDES"? (36A: Statues of mermaids, typically). This now seems an important ontological question (note: I only half-know what "ontological" means). Mermaids aren't ... human. Not below the waist, anyway. So does the mere fact of a bare breast make a statue a "nude"? It's OK if the answer's "yes," but it doesn't seem like that answer is a given. Also, "typically"? What is the "typical" mermaid statue? Is there data on this? All's I know is there are plenty of mermaids who seem to have access to some kind of bikini shop, or who know how to craft bras out of shells. Maybe there's something about the medium of statuary that makes the artist more prone to leave mermaid breasts uncovered; as I say, I don't know. I don't have the data. But this clue seems to know. It seems to know a lot. About mermaids. About statues. About what the definition of "nude" is. I'm asking for a footnote, is all. Let us in on your vast mermaid statue research!
Five things:

• 13A: Seller of Halloween costumes, perhaps (POP-UP STORE)— I wrote in PARTY STORE. I think of POP-UP STOREs as ... well, the ones I've been to have been food-related. And smaller than the ginormous seasonal stores I see around town. I also had trouble with this answer because of having SNITS for SNIPS (1A: Saucy ones) and then TIP for PUP (4D: Little pointer). 
• 6D: When "S.N.L." ends on the East Coast (AT ONE) — I will never understand cluing an perfectly good English word in way that turns it into a dumb phrase. ATONE> AT space ONE every single day of the week. 
• 24D: Transportation option in Philadelphia and Seattle (TROLLEY BUS) — I have ridden a trolley. I have ridden a bus. I have never ridden a TROLLEY BUS. Not sure I even know what one is. Runs like a trolley, shaped like a bus? (ah, they're the buses that "draw power from dual overhead wires" per wikipedia. Gotcha). Anyway, I needed a few crosses to get this one.
• 32D: Aqua ___ (PURA)— oof, left this off the "bad" list. What is this, even? [looks it up] "pure water"!? Well I know it means that. But surely it has some specialty meaning. If you mean "pure water" just say "pure water." Who is saying this in Latin??? Here is the least helpful dictionary note in history (thanks, Collins!):

• 49A: Device found between gutters (BALL RETURN) — had the BALL and then no idea. Wrote in ROLLER, which ... you know, is the right idea, as the BALL RETURN does, in fact, "roll" the ball back to you. Sigh. Oh, since I'm down in the SE corner, I'm noticing that I had one other misstep in this puzzle: EGOS for EROS (46D: Freudian concept). 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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