Historical novelist Seton / MON 4-19-21 / Pacific Island group that was once a setting for "Survivor" / Southwestern tribe with a snake dance

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels

Relative difficulty: Easy (2:39)

THEME: CLASSIC GAME SHOW (52A: 20-, 32- or 40-Across)— not much to explain here. Themers are "classic game shows," I guess...:

Theme answers:

• "THE PRICE IS RIGHT" (20A: "I'm willing to pay that amount")
• "TO TELL THE TRUTH" (32A: "If I can be honest here...")
• "YOU BET YOUR LIFE" (40A: "Absolutely! 100% positive!")

Word of the Day: ANYA Seton (63A: Historical novelist Seton) —

Anya Seton (January 23, 1904 – November 8, 1990), born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels". // Seton published her first novel, My Theodosia, in 1941. // Seton's historical novels were noted for how extensively she researched the historical facts, and some of them were best-sellers: Dragonwyck (1944) and Foxfire(1950) were both made into Hollywood films. Three of her books are classics in their genre and continue in their popularity to the present: Katherine, the story of Katherine Swynford, the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt, and their children, who were the direct ancestors of the Tudors, Stuarts, and the modern British royal family; Green Darkness, the story of a modern couple plagued by their past life incarnations; and The Winthrop Woman about the notorious Elizabeth Fones, niece and daughter-in-law of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Most of her novels have been recently republished, several with forewords by Philippa Gregory. In 2003, Katherine was chosen as the 95th best British novel of all time in a nationwide poll conducted by the BBC. (wikipedia)

The revealer is a dud. It's literally descriptive, but it's not exactly a tight phrase, and its literal descriptiveness is kind of the problem—the whole concept is just lifeless. You can tell that neither the constructor nor the editor nor anyone really cares about this puzzle because of the revealer clue. Look at it: nothing. They're giving you nothing. Not even an attempt at ... words, really? Just [20-, 32- or 40-Across]. It's like, "Shrug, we got no ideas, just go figure it out." The fill on this puzzle also suggests that no one cared. Not the slightest attempt has been made to bring this (stale) grid into the 2020s. Nothing ... and I think I mean *literally* nothing ... about the fill or, stunningly, the clues, has anything to do with the past three decades except for the 12-year-old clue on HE'S (a scintillating answer!) (23A: "___ Just Not That Into You" (2009 rom-com)). Oh, I guess there's a "Survivor" reference there too (PALAU was the 2005 season). But come on. I mean, you couldn't even be bothered to update your ANYA clue to ANYA Taylor-Joy, star of big-deal recent stuff like the movie Emma (2020) and the TV series The Queen's Gambit (2020)!? But ANYASeton!? The ANYA of yoooooooore!? You're cool with her?! What is even happening? Your theme is already pretty bygone, couldn't you do something, anything, about the fill? It's bewildering. Not even the tiniest concession to this century. Which brings us to the final, ironic failure of this puzzle—one of its game shows is still on the air. To Tell the Truth and You Bet Your Life are well and truly classic, as in olden, as in both foundational and long-dead. But The Price Is Right? That's still with us, somehow. It has been around a long time, so it's "classic" in that sense. But it's also current. Unlike every other element of this puzzle.