Swabbie's liquor allotment once / TUE 5-5-20 / Purveyor of drug paraphernalia / Galena sphalerite / Buckwheat porridge

Constructor: Lee Taylor

Relative difficulty: Medium (3:52)

THEME: Riddles— riddles ... I guess all the riddles make the answer seem like a paradox of some kind, but ... I dunno, just looks like riddles to me:

Theme answers:

• FOOTSTEPS (17A: Riddle-de-dee: What is it that the more you take, the more you leave behind?)
• YOUR BREATH (11D: Riddle-de-dee: What's light as a feather but can't be held for long?)
• CHALKBOARD (30D: Riddle-de-dee: What's clean when black and dirty when white?)
• TELEPHONE (62A: Riddle-de-dee: What asks no questions but must be answered) (this isn't even true—you never *have* to answer your phone)

Word of the Day: KASHA (28D: Buckwheat porridge) —

In the English language, kasha is a term for the pseudocereal buckwheat. In Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Belarus, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine, kasha is a dish made of any kind of grains boiled in water or milk, i.e. a porridge.

The largest gross consumption per capita is in Russia, with 15 kg (33 lb) per year followed by Ukraine, with 12 kg (26 lb) per year. The share of buckwheat in the total consumption of cereals in Russia is 20%.

This English-language usage probably originated with Jewish immigrants, as did the form קאַשי‎ kashi(technically plural, literally translated as "porridges"). (wikipedia)

Not much time for this one tonight, both because I need to get to bed early (early-morning Zoom meeting) and because I have nothing much to say about this theme, which is as corny and dull a theme as I can remember seeing. It's old-fashioned. Who actually enjoys riddles? Children in the '50s? And "Riddle-de-dee"!?!?! What is that even a reference to? The second I read that first theme clue, I was out. Just, out. The same way I would be if anyone in any context said "Riddle-de-dee" to me in real life. "Riddle-de-d—" [sound of my footsteps, sound of door opening, sound of door slamming behind me]. It's like an eight-year-old's fun-time activity book decided to play dress-up. I'm sure there's a website somewhere w/ a bajillion of these kinds of riddles, all with answers about as exciting as, uh, TELEPHONE. Or YOUR BREATH (LOL, "YOUR," that one is at least amusingly bad, in that it stands on its own about as sturdily as YOUR HAT, i.e. not at all sturdily. I don't understand why this theme would provide anyone any amusement at all (unless, again, you are eight), and I superduper don't understand how it's an adequate basis for a crossword theme. "Riddle-de-dee" tries to bring it all together, but all it does (besides grate) is highlight the fact that there is no there there. Yeah, the riddles all offer apparent paradoxes. Riddles are like that.


The fill offers not a lot to allay the irksomeness of the theme. SHUT-EYE (43D: Sleep, informally) and HEAD SHOP (46A: Purveyor of drug paraphernalia) and KICKBALL (28A: Activity on a school playground) are nice entries, GAMESTER (?) and AITCH and PETERI are not. Everything else just sort of sits there. Your usual cast of 3-, 4-, and 5-letter characters. I was a little slow today because, well, ugh, riddles. They don't even have the virtue of being easily gettable! So I had to hack at crosses before I got most of them. And I forgot KASHA. Had the "K" but my brains just kept going "KAFIR!," which I think is a type of fermented milk product??? Whoops, nope, that's KEFIR. OK, moving on ... nope, not really moving on. Nothing left to say. That area in the west between (and including) KASHA and GAMESTER was definitely a trouble spot for me, but aside from the themers, nothing else gave me much pause.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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