Constructor: David Litman and Andrea Carla Michaels
Relative difficulty: Easy
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THEME: SEE YOU IN COURT
Word of the Day: CLOWN CAR (5D: Comically packed circus vehicle) —
Theme answers:
It was a bit to soon for me to see RAMI Malek, because I just got home from watching Oppenheimer which (don't cancel me) I didn't really care for. Why do movies have to be 3 hours long these days? Less is more! (Barbie is great though -- go watch that!)
Bullets:
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: SEE YOU IN COURT
Word of the Day: CLOWN CAR (5D: Comically packed circus vehicle) —
A clown car is a prop in a common circus clown routine, which involves a large number of clowns emerging from a small car. The first performance of this routine was in the Cole Bros. Circus during the 1950s.[1] The effect is usually produced by removing all of a car's internal components like door panels, headliners, engines, seats, and any interior barrier to the trunk, and then filling the enlarged space with as many clowns as possible.[2] Greg DeSanto of the International Clown Hall of Fame estimates that somewhere between 14 and 21 clowns and their props could fit into a car prepared in this manner.[2]
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Theme answers:
- VENUS WILLIAMS (19A: Tennis great with a sister who's also a tennis great)
- KING CHARLES III (24A: British royal crowned in May 2023)
- SONIA SOTOMAYOR (45A: First Latina justice, successor to David Souter)
- SEE YOU IN COURT (51A: Words before legal action … or what one might exclaim to 19-, 24- and 45-Across?)
As such, I feel very strongly that Mondays need to be ultra smooth! Every Monday puzzle could be someone's first puzzle ever, and if they see things like ARETE or SSTS or ASTA or OSES, etc., etc., they might think puzzles aren't for them. But puzzles are for everyone! So the Monday puzzle has a huge responsibility to be fun and accessible and smooth.
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| Look! It's lava! |
Thankfully I enjoyed this one. Three kinds of court: sport, royal, legal. Each represented by a very well-known person ... and a very in-the-language revealer. I wish there had been a way to clue the revealer in a way that didn't refer to one of the court meanings, so that all three felt like they had equal footing. Minor nit ... you can't have it all, and the theme works well enough for me.
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| A Frida Kahlo self-portrait |
Generally not a fan of The Monarchy™, but at least it was fun to see KING CHARLES III for the first time in a crossword. Could have gone without YEOMEN, though. I think you only get one (1) English royal term per puzzle! O'TOOLE also had old and fusty vibes, but overall the fill was nice and smooth as a Monday should be.
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| Potatoes are delicious |
Nothing much else to say about this one. A cute Monday offering!
Bullets:
- SAUL (32A: AMC's "Better Call ___") — I have never watched this show nor have I watched Breaking Bad. I think I'd really enjoy them but the activation energy for me to start a show with that many seasons is so high.
- TSOS (56A: General ___ chicken) — I have also never had General Tso's Chicken. (Is it good? Should I try it?)
- IONS (10D: Atoms with charges) — If I may be pedantic for a moment, molecules can be ions too! I guess you can say that molecules are atoms so the clue is fine, but I might prefer [Atoms with charges, e.g.]