Features of deerstalker hats / TUE 5-7-24 / Victor Hugo character who works at Notre Dame / Micronesian nation made up of hundreds of islands / Deep-fried Mexican snack / Door-to-door salesman in a classic Arthur Miller play / Nobelist who conditioned dogs to salivate / Lee Republican political strategist of the 1980s

Constructor: Justin Werfel

Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Tuesday)

THEME: RINGS A BELL (57A: Sounds familiar ... or performs an action associated with 16-, 23-, 35- and 47-Across?) — people (real and fictional) who ring bells:

Theme answers:

• WILLY LOMAN (16A: Door-to-door salesman in a classic Arthur Miller play)
• SANTA CLAUS (23A: Whom a Salvation Army volunteer might dress as)
• QUASIMODO (35A: Victor Hugo character who works at Notre Dame)
• IVAN PAVLOV (47A: Nobelist who conditioned dogs to salivate)

Word of the Day: LUSAKA (17D: Capital of Zambia) —

Lusaka (/luːˈsɑːkə/; loo-SAH-kə) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about 1,279 metres (4,196 ft). As of 2019, the city's population was about 3.3 million, while the urban population is estimated at 2.5 million in 2018. Lusaka is the centre of both commerce and government in Zambia and connects to the country's four main highways heading north, south, east, and west. English is the official language of the city administration, while Bemba, Tonga, Lenje, Soli, Lozi, and Nyanja are the commonly spoken street languages. // The earliest evidence of settlement in the area dates to the 6th century AD, with the first known settlement in the 11th century. It was then home to the Lenje and Soli peoples from the 17th or 18th century. The founding of the modern city occurred in 1905 when it lay in the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia, which was controlled by the British South African Company (BSAC). The BSAC built a railway linking their mines in the Copperbelt to Cape Town and Lusaka was designated as a water stop on that line, named after a local Lenje chief called Lusaaka. (wikipedia)

Quick write-up today, as I have to give a final exam at the ridiculous (for them) hour of 8am. I wake up before 4am every day, so no problem here, but our class meeting time is normally 11:40am, so 8am (a time assigned randomly, as far as I know) feels cruel. Like an added layer of difficulty. Anyway, though I'm awake, I am in a bit of a morning time crunch. So, quickly: I spent most of the solve grimacing and wincing at the fill, both genuinely ugly stuff like ALTI- and (and!?) API- and ISA and AGERS, and stuff that's just particularly unappealing to me, like race-baiting creep Lee ATWATER (why are you still putting him in puzzles? I mean besides the fact his name is full of common letters?) to MENSA (the one ultracommon xword answer I'd love to never see again, IQ-based orgs. be gone!) to the THE in THE ALAMO (arbitrary THE inclusion, not my fav) to EARLAPS (man that word wants an "F"), to WAVED HI (again, the past tense makes it awk), to HAUL UP ("UP!?" I had "IN" because that's what you do to a perp, or so TV has taught me). I also half-failed the geography quiz (big ???? on LUSAKA)—that's not the puzzle's fault, and it's good that I can now place Zambia on a map, but doubling down on the geography quiz element with PALAU (even though I knew it, after getting the "U") felt like overkill (44A: Micronesian nation made up of hundreds of islands). The theme revealer, once I got there, did salvage things somewhat. More of an "Oh, OK" than a true AHA, but I actually think the theme is just fine. But the road to theme comprehension was a rocky and largely unpleasant one.