Constructor: John Ewbank
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: XXX (38A: Symbol for the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 58-Across)— just what it says: "XXX" can represent the first word of all the themers:
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
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There's "current" and then there's "desperate to seem current," and I think this puzzle falls more into the latter category. I winced rather than rejoiced at its two "hey look at me being current!" answers—at HATERADE for being not "modern parlance" at all (that's a '90s term—see also "ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS") (12D: Virulent negativity, in modern parlance), and at STAY WOKE for invoking "woke" discourse in a flip and uncontextualized kind of way ("catchphrase?") (37D: Social justice catchphrase). "Woke" is a word that came out of Black political activism and then got appropriated by white people (surprise) in all kinds of ironic and / or openly hostile ways to the point where now all I hear when I hear the word is a kind of mockery, a cheapening and debasing of everything "social justice" is supposed to stand for; I especially feel this way when the word is being wielded by white people. Context matters (here's a good overview of the history of "woke" from merriam-webster.com). In short: clue it as "Black" or don't use it, thank you. Other bad vibes: the NRA (again, your FDR clue doesn't fool me) and especially DR. OZ, an answer that, when I finally got it, elicited a "oh F*** you!" so loud I feared I might wake my wife. That asshole is not only a dangerous purveyor of snake oil and medical disinformation of all kinds, he's now running for Congress. As a Republican (duh). I do like the timbre of the word BOOZEHOUND, but again, the puzzle's long-standing habit of mocking alcoholics makes me sad. Not making me sad today: ADULT TEETH and PEEPHOLE and "THE RAVEN" and, oddly, COEXIST (don't get me wrong, I find bumper-sticker (and lawn-sign) sloganeering ... well, let's just say, it's not my aesthetic, but this was the one answer where I got a genuine "Aha!" today, the phrase "Popular bumper sticker" meaning nothing to me ... until it did).
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Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
- ADULT TEETH (18A: They stay and bite)
- "THIRTY ROCK" (27A: Emmy-winning comedy series of 2007, 2008 and 2009)
- KISSES BUTT (46A: Gians favor using abject flattery, informally)
- BOOZEHOUND (58A: Souse)
: a common sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) of the southern and eastern U.S. that resembles the bluegill but has the back part of the operculum bright orange red and that feeds especially on snails— called also shellcracker (merriam-webster.com)
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I should probably mention the theme. It's a Thursday, so the theme is supposed to be The Thing. Not Stan Lee's The Thing or John Carpenter's The Thing (though that would be cool), but, you know, like, the centerpiece, the raison d'etre, etc. But this theme wasn't anywhere near Thursday-worthy. Felt Tuesday, maybe Wednesday, but there's absolutely nothing tricky or difficult about it. First two themers were just ... answers. Straightforward. I wondered how they were related, but I didn't wonder much. Then I hit XXX, which I got in no time ... and that was that. The next two themers, like the first two, had straightforward clues. Game over. I would've enjoyed this more as a Tuesday or a Wednesday theme. Not the puzzle's fault that it got slotted on a Thursday. It's just that when you come to a Thursday, you expect a curveball—the wildest thing the puzzle has to offer for the week. But no curves here. 80mph fastball right over the plate.
You used up your one "OH" on "OH, YEAH," no you may not have another to make "OH, WOW." Petition denied. KISSES ASS is the phrase, KISSES BUTT feels euphemistic / 10-year-oldish, though I can't dispute the realness of the phrase. "THIRTY ROCK" doesn't quite work for me since the number in the title is always written out numerically ("30 Rock"). Never heard of RED EAR, but that's the only answer that caused any difficulty today. GAY ICON is nice, but I've seen it a few times now (first appearance in the NYTXW was back in 2008!), so it doesn't have the wow factor it once did. To be clear, it's still a good term; put it in your crosswords all you want! But it's a wordlist word now (i.e. it's in every constructor's wordlist—the giant database that fuels most constructing software), so don't overestimate its originality. And give the NYTXW some credit for actually normalizing GAY ICONs and lots of other LGBTQ-related terms in recent years.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld