First capital of Alaska /THU 1-21-21 / Classic figure killed off in a 2019 Super Bowl ad campaign / Devices rendered obsolescent by smartphones, in brief / Where to find the Egyptian Temple of Dendur

Constructor: Daniel Mauer

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: TURN SIGNAL (56A: Automotive safety feature represented (and to be followed) eight times in this puzzle) —

Theme answers:

• MODERATE / BOREDOM (both answers take a "right" turn at the "R")
• "I'M ALIVE" / EVIL ONE (both answers take a "left" turn at the "L")
• CAST LOTS / STOLES (both answers take a "left" turn at the "L")
• DEGRADE / CHARGED (both answers take a "right" turn at the "R")

Word of the Day: BORATE (one of the eight answers in this puzzle that have no clue ... this one looks like it's 5D) —

 : a salt or ester of a boric acid (merriam-webster.com)

Answers that turn at some point ... I have seen that a bunch of times before. Turning on the L or the R? Not sure. Don't know. The TURN SIGNAL angle is interesting, conceptually. But there's something missing here, some element to make it really pop. Two Ls, two Rs ... no real rhyme or reason to the execution. The answers veer left two times, then they veer R two times. The theme basically does what it says it does, but it feels really workmanlike and underwhelming. The thing that really isn't sitting well with me is the unclued stuff—that is, the answers that occur if you just read straight instead of turning. Actually, unclued entries are bound to happen with turning answers, so it's not just the uncluedness of eight answers; it's specifically the *uncrossed*ness of four of the answers. So BORATE isn't clued, but it's got the BOR from BOREDOM (which is clued) and the RATE from MODERATE, so every part of BORATE is clued in some way, even if the word itself isn't clued. But now let's look at MODERNISTS (the apparent 17A). You've got the MODER part, from MODERATE, but the -NISTS ... what is cluing the -NISTS. Nothing, that's what. In crosswords, every square has to be crossed in some way; that is, you have to have two ways (at least) of getting any given square. And with four letter strings in this puzzle (the NISTS in MODERNISTS, the EYE in EVIL EYE, the I in STOLI, and the EES in DEGREES), there simply are no crosses. I guess the idea is that ... whatever letters go there ... have to make ... *some* kind of (unclued) word. This is the deeply unfortunate byproduct of having both your crossing answers turn the same direction. If you get one turning left and the other turning right, then all paths out from the L or R are covered by clues. But when both theme crosses turn the same direction, one of those paths out from the L or R is left totally unaccounted for, cluewise. It makes my eye twitch.