East ____ (UN member since 2002) / MON 4-6-20 / Place of banishment for Napoleon / French place of education / 2005 sci-fi movie starring Charlize Theron

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels and Brian Thomas

Relative difficulty: Easy



THEME: Speak of the Devil — Theme answers are alternate names for the devil.

Theme answers:

• MR SCRATCH (17A: Another name for [see shaded squares])
• LUCIFER (26A: Another name for [see shaded squares])
• SPEAK OF THE DEVIL (38A: "We were just talking about you!")
• OLD NICK (49A: Another name for [see shaded squares])
• BEELZEBUB (63A: Another name for [see shaded squares])

Word of the Day: KOLN (56A: City about 280 miles NW of München) —

Cologne (English: /kəˈloʊn/ kə-LOHN; German: Köln [kœln] (listen); Kölsch: Kölle [ˈkœlə] (listen)) is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city in Germany. With slightly over a million inhabitants (1.08 million) within its city boundaries, Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the Rhineland. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas.

(Wikipedia)

It's Annabel Monday! So...how is everyone holding up? I'm doing okay. I'm holed up with family, mostly playing Animal Crossing when I'm not working from home.

I found myself not having a lot to say about this puzzle. I dunno what it was, but the fill just didn't blow me away. Very solid Monday, good for introducing inexperienced solvers, that's mostly it. I liked that they included not one but two "Star Trek"-themed clues and not much crosswordese. LOL @ the clue for LOL--people don't really say "u r 2 funny" anymore, except on Twitter when they're getting close to their character limit. Also, HABANEROs are by far the best hot pepper. My stepdad makes homemade hot sauce with habanero (and a carrot base--delish!) but he always warns me when I try to eat it because "watch out, it's super hot!" I'm like, dude, I've got this.

I liked the theme! MR. SCRATCH was a new one for me (got it with crosses), and now a lot of things about the "Doc Scratch" character from Homestuck make more sense. BEELZEBUB is my favorite, personally. Are there any "Lucifer" fans in CrossWorld? That show loves playing with different names for the Devil.

Bullets:

• ALEXA (68: "___, what is the meaning of life?" [modern query]) — She says "The answer is 42, but the question is more complicated." Nerd. 
• HE-MAN (35A: Macho guy) — I'm sorry, but every reference to He-Man (or She-Ra for that matter) just reminds me of this classic. 
• VROOM (19A: Souped-up engine sound) — Did anyone else have SKRRT for this? Or have I just been listening to too much rap music? 

Signed, Annabel Thompson

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