"Lovely" Lady in a Beatles Hit / TUES 6-4-24 / N.B.A. Star Curry / Fuzzy Fruit / Major muddle

Theme answers:

• CAMERA LENS (17A: Equipment for zooming) 
• WET PAINT (31A: Subject of a "Caution" sign on a park bench) 
• ELECTRIC FENCE (38A: Shocking thing found on a farm) 
• LIMBO BAR (44A: Challenge for an under-achiever?) 
• CRIME SCENE (60A: Where to look for fingerprints)

Word of the Day: ANN LEE (32D: Founder of the American Shakers)—

Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the Shakers (a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded c. 1747 in England and then organized in the United States in the 1780s. They were initially known as "Shaking Quakers" because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services), later changed to United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing following her death. She was born during a time of the Evangelical revival in England, and became a figure that greatly influenced religion at this time, especially in the Americas. (Wiki)

Well that was cute, straightforward, and fun! Maybe I’m just in a good mood tonight, or maybe it’s just because I thought the puzzle was on the easy side, but I quite liked it. The theme was well orchestrated, and the theme answers were all things not commonly seen in a crossword puzzle. I particularly liked CRIME SCENE (60A) as a theme answer and then the clue for LIMBO BAR (44A). I thought CAMERA LENS (17A) worked the least, given that you can touch the CAMERA LENS— just not the glass on the LENS. (The lyric is really “You can’t touch this” in a song called “U Can’t Touch This,” but I won’t notice if you won’t.) 

The construction of the puzzle worked, with all of the theme answers spread out, ending with the revealer at the very bottom. I liked having ICED on top of LATTES (21A, 24A: Some summer coffee orders), and having 55A: Dressy attire (SUIT) and then 56A: Accessory for dressy attire (TIE) was nice. The one that didn’t work for me was having PUMA (1A: Florida panther, e.g.) and then BIG CAT (45D: 1-Across, for one) connected to one another via clues — when there’s nothing spatially tying these two together. It felt like the constructor just found himself with two cats in the puzzle he needed to make a connection for. 

I did have a slight oops with 1A and 45D because as soon as I saw a Florida panther reference (shoutout to the Florida Panthers for making the Stanley Cup finals!), I assumed the answer for 45D was “mascot.” So I put that in and then when I got to that section, I tried to make it fit before realizing I was very wrong. 

I loved the clue and answer for PLACE MAT (5D: Something a kids' menu might double as). SNAFU (37A: Major muddle) is an objectively amazing word. We got to learn a bit in the puzzle with TYPE AB (25D: Like about 4% of human blood). [Some more learning: Type AB+ is considered the universal recipient, and O- is the universal donor.] We also got ELSE (22A: Conditional word in coding) in the puzzle, which is an interesting bit of code knowledge. AMNESIACS (11D: The main characters in "The Bourne Identity" and "Memento," notably) is an impressive word to work into the puzzle. The clue for INSECT (9D: Cricket, e.g.) got me thinking about the sport at first. And reviewing the puzzle after the solve, I was pleasantly surprised to see FORTIETH in there. I got stuck there at first with 40D: Like zirconium on the periodic table and just worked my way around. The answer is even more clever given that the clue is 40 Down. I also really liked the clue for YAM (30A: Vegetable whose name means "to eat" in some West African languages). And AERIE (33D: Nest for a raptor) was interesting to see in the puzzle, even though I think of it as the clothing brand company, not as a prey’s nest. 

There was a lot of the typical crosswordese and the typical, pretty boring clues for each of them — See: SUB, ASP, MAC, EELS, AURA, A TON, YES, ABE, KIN, AXE… But it didn’t bother me too much. I did have a bit of an issue with YES (48A: "Of course!") because that clue seems to indicate more of a “yup” or "yep" to me. I hate 28D: Hungry as UNFED. That just seems weird. I get hungry all the time, but that doesn’t mean I’m somehow neglected and unfed. And this is a nit, but with 49A: Get 21 in blackjack, say, even if you get 21 in Blackjack, you don’t necessarily WIN because if there’s a tie with the dealer, there’s a push and nobody wins. But I digress. 

Overall, though, it was a good Tuesday puzzle and makes me want to get up and dance (and also try to bring back Hammer Pants?).

  

Misc.:

• Speaking of celebrating, I assume you’ll all be celebrating Jin 12th with me. BTS’ oldest member, Jin, returns from his 18-month stint in the South Korean military — just in time for the BTS anniversary celebration on June 13th! One member back from the military, six to go. 
• STEPH (51D: N.B.A. star Curry) is in the puzzle! The Warriors may be in struggle city and may not have made the playoffs this year, but my love for STEPH is unwavering. 
• I distinctly remember reading “A FLY Went By” (41D: (classic children's book) when I was younger. Probably read this at the same time I was reading all of the other children’s books I could get my hands on so that I could win a gift certificate to Pizza Hut. My kindergarten teacher, the great Mrs. Conn, would give us the certificate at the end of the month if we had read a book a day, so I’d rush home on the first day of each month with the new form and read however many books there were days in that month, get my parents to sign the form and claim my certificate on the second day of the month. Yes, I was that kid. Yes, we never once used one of the certificates. 
• Seeing SUIT (55A) in the puzzle made me immediately think of the show “Suits,” a legal drama that first aired on USA network in 2011 and then got a huge resurgence last year when the show was added to Netflix. I thought it would be fun to rewatch, but I barely made it a few episodes in before I decided it was too hard to turn my lawyer brain off. Same thing happened after about a season of trying to rewatch “The Good Wife.” 
• Having AKC (58D: Dog show org.), the American Kennel Club in the puzzle made me think of the recent Westminster Kennel Club “Best in Show” winner, Sage, who’s a miniature poodle. Just look at her. 

Signed, Clare Carroll, U Can’t Touch This (love I have for Liverpool)

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