Sphere of expertise / TUES 7-4-23 / Letters before Q, sometimes / Movie rating scale with "Fresh" and "Rotten" labels / Play bookie / Kylo ___ ("Star Wars" antagonist)

Theme answers:

• TOMATOMETER (18A: Movie rating scale with "Fresh" and "Rotten" labels) 
• GLASS ONION (26A: 2022 murder mystery movie with cameos by Serena Williams and Yo-Yo Ma) 
• PICKLEBALL (46A: Sport craze of the 2020s) 
• GREEN CHEESE (58A: Moon's makeup, fancifully)

Word of the Day: BETEL (33A: Nut that's a stimulant)

The betel, Piper betle, is a species of flowering plant in the pepper family Piperaceae, native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious vine, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their leaves which are most commonly used as flavoring in chewing areca nut (betel nut chewing). (Wiki)

This was a nice and timely puzzle for the Fourth of July. It probably could’ve been slightly more on topic for celebrating Independence Day, but a lot of people will indeed be grilling burgers (or non-meat alternatives) with a lot of toppings. I wish the theme related a bit more to the burger itself (i.e., the actual meat and bun) rather than solely the toppings (R.I.P., lettuce), but I suppose that might’ve been too much to ask for. I did love, though, how the theme answers were stacked just like the toppings on a BURGER are. 

I originally put “Swiss cheese” rather than GREEN CHEESE, so that took some working around. I would’ve personally liked no TOMATO as a topping on my burger ’cause I despise tomatoes, but oh, well. The puzzle also had a couple of bonus answers. Although IPA (1A: Hoppy brew, for short) wasn’t part of the theme, it was in the puzzle; I imagine a few beers will be consumed today. Also, BRAT (62A: Little stinker) reminds me of bratwurst, a few of which might similarly be consumed today. 

As a whole, the puzzle felt quite clean. I especially liked the longer, interesting downs and a fair number of the clues — PROCTOR (5D: Exam overseer), especially right next to SAT TESTS (4D: Some college entrance exams, redundantly), MOHAWKS (24D: Hairstyle associated with punk culture), ALIASES (43D: Assumed names), PREMIERE (40D: Debut performance), and TAKE BETS (38D: Play bookie). While ANTIMATTER (3D: Stuff that's the opposite of stuff) was definitely my favorite clue/answer of the whole puzzle, I also loved the clue for LEGO (55D: Maker of bricks that weigh less than an ounce) and the one for LGBT (51D: Letters before Q, sometimes), especially right after Pride Month. 

There were a few duds for me, like SEA WAR (42A: Naval conflict), I’M IN (50A: "Deal me a hand"), and EDT (67A: Summer setting in N.Y.C.). But even when there was some crosswordese in the puzzle, the clues were at least more interesting than usual. I also don’t have room to complain at all about a puzzle that has Oscar ISAAC (29D: Oscar ___, portrayer of Duke Atreides in "Dune") in it. He or Pedro Pascal should be in the center of every puzzle.

Misc.:

• The whole theme of burgers goes along with my sister’s and my new project of trying to find the absolute best fries in DC. We have a list to try and have been going around and taking pictures and notes and rating the different fries. The ones we had tonight were very good, though the portion was rather small. Other DC suggestions are welcome. 
• For LAURA (27D: Hillenbrand who wrote "Seabiscuit: An American Legend") Hillenbrand, the constructor could’ve clued her book “Unbroken,” which is fantastic. My family and I even got to meet the incredible subject of the book, Louis Zamperini. 
• TOMATOMETER reminds me of the fact that the biggest day of cinema in history is coming up on July 21, when both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” open. My sister and I will be doing a double feature and dressing up and making a day of it. My dad will come, too, though I don’t think he’s dressing up. (Dad?) We’re thinking Oppenheimer first, which will be rather intense and a little bleak, but then we’ll get to go for drinks and watch “Barbie” after and leave in a fun, upbeat mood. (The movie outing reminds me of COCO (16A: 2017 Pixar film with two Oscars), a fantastic movie that currently has 97 percent on the TOMATOMETER.) 
• PERP(54D: Alleged offender, to a cop) makes me think of the show “Psych,” which I’ve been rewatching and absolutely loving. I’ve seen each episode probably 10 times, and I still enjoy each and every episode, despite knowing who the bad guy will be. 
• I’m writing this just a little later than usual because of a pitcher of margaritas and a trivia contest at a restaurant. The thing that propelled the five of us to second place (we’ll win next time!!) was our knowledge of Taylor Swift and, embarrassingly, Nickelback — oops?

Anywho, that’s it! Hope you enjoy some burgers and fireworks today (and maybe a beer and brat or two). See you later this month! 

Signed, Clare Carroll, The tomatometer’s No. 1 tomato hater

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