Power user of a popular review site, colloquially / TUE 4-20-21 / ADA compliant entrance feature / Awesome in surf-speak / Oblong tomatoes

Constructor: Adam Wagner

Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Tuesday)

THEME: DOG (63D: Animal you might describe by the ends of 21-, 28-, 48- and 54-Across)— a DOG might be one of the words at the ends of the themers:

Theme answers:

• BEER GROWLER (21A: Brewery jug)
• SUBWOOFER (28A: Largest speaker in a sound system, usually)
• BOB BARKER (48A: Longtime host of "The Price Is Right")
• ELITE YELPER (54A: Power user of a popular review site, colloquially)

Word of the Day: BEER GROWLER (21A) —

A growler (/ˈɡraʊlər/) is a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bottle (or jug) used to transport draft beer. They are commonly sold at breweries and brewpubs as a means to sell take-out craft beer. Rarely, beers are bottled in growlers for retail sale. The significant growth of craft breweries and the growing popularity of home brewing has also led to an emerging market for the sale of collectible growlers. Some U.S. grocery stores, convenience stores, bars and restaurants have growler filling stations. (wikipedia)

I wanna say 'woof' ... but the puzzle wasn't nearly bad enough to warrant that. In fact, I was very much on this puzzle's side for most of the solving journey. Started out rough ("ruff!"), as crosswordese really leaps out at you in that NW corner (which is where I started), but then the puzzle seemed to right itself with JUICE BAR and especially BEER GROWLER. After I got the WOOFER / GROWLER pair, I knew what was going on and was happy to go along for the ride. I do love dogs. More dog puzzles, please. I will follow! And yet it's probably my love of dogs (as well as my love of good puzzles?) that made the last third, and especially the very end, of this puzzle so disappointing. Let's start with ELITE YELPER, which ... what is that? I know that a YELPER is someone who uses Yelp! but as someone who absolutely does not use Yelp! (or read random online user comments about anything at any time), I was unaware of the caste hierarchy within the Yelping community. Had no idea one could rise to such prestigious heights, above the riff-raff, past the velvet rope and into the VIP room to join the anointed: The Yelping Elite. What an honor, I'm sure. But LOL if you think I'm tuned into your weird app-based social hierarchies. That answer: grimace! It would've been tolerable had YELPER made annnnnny sense as a final themer, but in fact it's the one that doesn't fit the pattern, the worst of the lot by far. Yelping is not particularly evocative of dogs. If it was, it probably wouldn't be the name of the (human) restaurant app, probably. Dogs yip and yap for sure, but they only yelp if you are hurting them, Why Are You Hurting Them!? Allow me to introduce you to the work of legendary cartoonist Gary PANTER. OK, maybe he's not household name-ish enough for a Tuesday themer, but ... Dogs definitely pant. Panting is a noise dogs make with their faces, so why not? Anyway, "Yelp" is not doggish, and ELITE YELPER, though it's definitely current and original, is just sad. Lastly, DOG. What a limp, anticlimactic revealer. That's it? Just DOG. Yeah, I knew it was DOG-themed back at WOOFER. So: love the theme concept, and those first three answers are just fine, but the last one, and then the revealer ... dogs deserve better.