Constructor: Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar
Relative difficulty: Medium (around 8 min.)
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THEME: none
Word of the Day: EVIE Sands (49A: Singer/songwriter) —
Before I get to what I liked about this puzzle (a lot), I gotta start with the one big Don't Like, and that is the answer MODEL MINORITY and *especially* its clue, 21A: Demographic myth often used with respect to Asian Americans. Let's be crystal clear here: the idea of a MODEL MINORITY is racist. Racist. That word is crucial here. "Demographic myth" sounds like some generic concept of how humans behave, but the idea of a MODEL MINORITY isn't just racist against Asian Americans, it's used as a super duper racist cudgel against Black and Hispanic Americans in particular. I have a hard time imagining what kind of "demographic myths" the crossword might accept about, I don't know, Jews, or Black people. The fact that MODEL MINORITYsounds nice should not exonerate it or allow it to pass as something other than the outright racist concept that it is. "Demographic myth," man, I almost literally choked on that little euphemism. Call racism racism, please and thank you.
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OK, the rest of the puzzle! It was very entertaining—definitely out of my, uh, demographic at times ("CAT DOG" missed me, and MEGYN whoever on whatever "Rules of Engagement" is, also not on my radar), but only lightly so. I have no problem with proper nouns beyond my ken and out of me demo if the puzzle is well balanced overall, and the crosses on said proper nouns are fair. The REPORTS part of UFO REPORTS felt a little weak to me, somehow, but I cannot argue with PAYTOILET, SOFTPEDAL, BEERRUNS and especially POTDISPENSARY. I live in the state of New York where pot is not currently legal, so visiting my sister in Colorado last year was a *trip*. Dispensaries everywhere. It wasn't so much alarming as it was kinda sad. Just total saturation. Even when we were way out in nowhere SW Colorado, just as we were heading to the New Mexico border, near some lonely off-ramp next to some generic gas station ... bam! Dispensary! I guess you gotta load up on your pot and edibles and what not before heading back into joyless New Mexico, I don't know. Anyway, good answer, I say. I also weirdly like GOOUT. Solid and fresh, which is not something I normally have occasion to say about a five-letter entry.
Bullets:
Relative difficulty: Medium (around 8 min.)
Word of the Day: EVIE Sands (49A: Singer/songwriter) —
Evie Sands (born July 18, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter and musician.Sands' music career spans more than 50 years. She began her career as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start, she eventually found chart success in 1969, before retiring from performing in 1979 to concentrate on writing and production. She experienced a fashionable, UK-led surge in cult popularity beginning in the 1990s and returned to live performance in mid-1998. Sands continues to write and perform. [...]
In 1969 Sands finally scored with the A&M single "Any Way That You Want Me", a Chip Taylor composition previously recorded by both the American Breed and the Troggs in 1966. A No. 1 hit in Birmingham, Alabama, Sands'"Any Way That You Want Me" also reached the top ten or better in Columbus, Ohio; Houston, Texas; San Diego, California; and a number of other cities. The record reached No. 53 on the Hot 100and tied with Don Ho's "Tiny Bubbles" for most weeks (17) on that chart in the 1960s with a sub-50 peak. (wikipedia)
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Bullets:
- 15D: Film ___ (NOIR)— my baby! my precious! the genre of my soul. I was like "this *better* be NOIR" and it was, hurrah. Really helped me out up there in the NE.
- 22D: It has four bases (DNA)— Had "RNA" ha ha I am dumb at science. The best part about that error was ending up with MOREL MINORITY ... and thinking "... do they mean MORAL? But ... no, that's definitely an "E" so ... what are the "demographic myths" about Asian Americans and mushrooms? I am *so* confused..."
- 51D: Zoom call option (MUTE)— I very much relate to this clue and answer. Very much.
- 46D: Throw out (EVICT) — Had E---T. Wrote in EJECT. Nope. Thought maybe EGEST. Nope.
- 10D: Big name in luxury handbags (FENDI)— wrote in PRADA and immediately thought "but what if it's FENDI!?" Please clap for my knowledge of luxury handbags.
P.S. a little birdie (actually just my friend Rachel) told me that *both* of today's constructors will have puzzles (individually) in next weekend's Lollapuzzoola crossword tournament, which is entirely online, and which you should very much participate in. This is a tournament that puts a premium on fun, so if you're at all tournament-curious, this is literally the easiest way to dip your toe in that world. You don't even have to leave your home! You can even enter the "Next Day" division, which allows you to solve all the puzzles without any time pressure whatsoever. More info here.
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