Stockpile / MON 11-1-2021 / Southern Siberian city / "Toe" of the Arabian Peninsula / Some angels ... or some newspapers

Theme answers:

• PHONE CHARGERS (20A: Things modern travelers pack)
• GUMMY BEARS (32A: Forms of some kids' multivitamins) 
• HASH BROWNS (41A: Breakfast side at a diner)
• TREASURY BILLS (52A: Government-backed investments)

Word of the Day: SCARP (10A: Steep embankment) —

1. the steep artificial slope below a fort's parapet
2. (geology) a cliff at the edge of a plateau or ridge caused by erosion or faulting; the steeper side of an escarpment

(Wiktionary)  

It's an August Monday once again! I'm extra tired this time because we're in the height of midterms at school and pre-Christmas stuff is starting at work. Like, we're reaching Squidward levels this time. 


But I'll be fine. You know what else was fine? The puzzle! Okay, yeah, the theme was kind of boring (sports teams...snzzzzzz) and okay, yeah, left middle had some unnecessarily hard crosses, but other than that the puz was great. Beautiful fill like UMIAK, OMSK, HERALDS and SCARB, decently fun clues ("caws" for concern for a farmer, haha!), limited crosswordese and minimal OREOs. ACE crossing ALL AS was perfect. Was trying to somehow make something Flintstones-related fit into 32A and was a little disappointed about GUMMY BEARS, to be quite honest. 

Yeah, like I said, I'm afraid the theme bored me. Anyone can list off a buncha sports teams, you know? And of all sports, football is the one where you definitely already know all the teams. America's other, colder pastime. I don't know. I just didn't really care for this one. 

Bullets:

• ESSES (51D: Twisty curves) — This one just seemed so fake to me, but I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and yeah, something shaped like an S can be called an "ess." Language is a beautiful thing. 
• NERDS (27D: Jocks' counterparts, stereotypically) — Do you remember that era where everyone was dressing like a nerd for Halloween? Granted, it's a pretty easy costume, you just need a button-down, glasses and suspenders. Which, come to think of it, isn't too different from how I dress now, minus the suspenders. 
• UMIAK (33D: Inuit boat) — I had "kayak" here, and kind of assumed they were the same thing, but they're not! For one thing, oars rather than paddles are used when women drive them. They can also have a sail attached, or even an outboard motor! Pretty cool. I should ask my dad if he knows anything about umiaks, he used to be big into boat building.  
  
  
• GOTHS (6D: High schoolers who dress in black, maybe) — Also the title of my third favorite Mountain Goats album. Give the first track a listen! It's your Monday earworm. I saw them live a few weeks ago (first concert since COVID!) and the lead singer jumped around the stage like a frog the whole time, it was awesome. 
  
  

Signed, August Thompson, tired graduate student. 

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