Backbone of Indian classical music / SUN 7-18-21 / Pharmaceutical picker-upper / Family name in Steinbeck's East of Eden / Bayt destination for Muslim pilgrim / Challenger astronaut Judith / Certain music royalties collector for short / Filmmaker with distinctive style / Less than subtle basketball foul / Letters on an F-22 raptor / Big exporter of saffron

Constructor: Jesse Goldberg

Relative difficulty: Medium? (guessing jokey quotes isn't the easiest, but on the whole, things seemed normal, difficulty-wise)

THEME:"Dig In" — parts of quotes by JULIA CHILD (119A: Chef quoted in this puzzle's starred clues) ... I guess BON APPETIT is supposed to be part of the theme as well (23A: "Enjoy the food!"):

Theme answers:

• "... ANYTHING IS GOOD" (31A: "With enough butter, ___")
• "... REALLY JUST A MEETING" (38A: "A party without cake is ___")
• "... WHO'S GOING TO KNOW" (65A: "If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. ___?")
• "... EVEN PUT IT IN THE FOOD" (92A: "I enjoy cooking with wine. Sometimes I ___")
• "... THE STEAK TO COOK" (101A: "The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for ___")

Word of the Day: Bayt ALLAH (103D: Bayt___ (destination for a Muslim pilgrim)) —

The Kaaba (Arabic: ٱلْكَعْبَة‎, romanized: al-Kaʿbah, lit. 'The Cube', Arabic pronunciation: [kaʕ.bah]), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah (Arabic: ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة‎, romanized: al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah, lit. 'Honored Ka'bah'), is a building at the center of Islam's most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam. It is considered by Muslims to be the Bayt Allah (Arabic: بَيْت ٱللَّٰه‎, lit. 'House of God') and is the qibla (Arabic: قِبْلَة‎, direction of prayer) for Muslims around the world when performing salah. (wikipedia) (my emph.)

I don't know what to say. This was the least enjoyable Sunday puzzle I've solved in a good long time, and considering I'm not a huge fan of Sundays *generally*, that is really saying something. I just don't get it. It's pointless. What is the point? It's jokes ... sort of? ... about food ... by a famous chef who ... what? Is there an anniversary? What is going on? It's not even full jokes—just parts of punch lines, arranged symmetrically ... why? It's so corny. It's dumb quotes you'd see on gifts at gift stores, things that go on mugs or maybe aprons, I don't know. God bless JULIA CHILD, for sure, but this is not a theme. EVENPUT IT IN THE FOOD ... is somehow a theme answer that just stands alone in this grid. ANYTHING IS GOOD. I feel like Alan Funt or the crossword equivalent is going to jump out at any moment and say "smile, you're on Candid Crossword!" only ... it still won't be funny because why? THE STEAK TO COOK ... seriously, that phrase is just sitting in this grid like it's somebody. What is even happening? And the fill is very much below average, so there's just nowhere to go for solace today. An ARID wasteland, this one. I'd've quit very early on if I'd been an ordinary non-blogging solver. I'm very close to speechless here.


Sorry, I just don't have anything nice to say about this puzzle. The theme is a giant nothing, and then the fill ... it's poor. The grid is designed so that most of what we get is 3, 4, 5-letter stuff, and it really really wears on you after a while. ECRU ANAT LEPEW HUHS all propped against each other. ADARN and ALOAD and ATPAR and CELLI and LACTI- (not TO-?). UNHIT FAIRE FTLEE ... OCTAD x/w EATNO. It's so so rough. It would be bearable if the theme were dazzling, maybe. But I think the only time I experienced even a flicker of joy today was when I saw how "ATLANTA" was clued (28A: Emmy-winning FX series created by Donald Glover). I miss that show. It's been three years since Season 2! Apparently Seasons 3 and 4 are both supposed to come out by the end of this year. Something to look forward to.