Iraklion is its capital / SAT 7-13-24 / Indie rock's Tame ___ / Org. whose members work to get tips? / Prince Harry's real first name

Word of the Day: NOLITA (20A: N.Y.C. neighborhood in which the first pizzeria in the United States was opened (1905)) —

Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",^[1][2][3] is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Nolita is situated in Lower Manhattan, bounded on the north by Houston Street, on the east by the Bowery, on the south roughly by Broome Street, and on the west by Lafayette Street.^[4] It lies east of SoHo, south of NoHo, west of the Lower East Side, and north of Little Italy and Chinatown.

Hello, it's Eli filling in again! And I'm blogging about a puzzle from another Eli. Fun! I just got back from a 70mm screening of North By Northwest at the American Cinematheque and got a reminder on my phone that today's puzzle was mine, so here we are.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this puzzle. That triple stack in the middle sparkles. It's always good to see MAHERSHALA ALI (27A: First Muslim actor to win an Academy Award), and the fact I dropped it in instantly goes a long way toward my not struggling on this puzzle. SEVEN TEN SPLIT (35A: Alley oops?) is probably the weakest of the three, and it was still a solid answer with a fun attempt at a misdirect clue. But I loved, Loved, LOVED LIKE HELL I WILL (33A: "Fat chance!"). I've been reading Raymond Chandler's Marlowe novels (on Rex's recommendation, actually) and this took me straight back into that world. It was the first thing I wanted to write in based on the clue, and when it both fit and the crosses made sense, I got huge smile. In fact, I'm toasting it with a scotch and soda as I type.

Unfortunately, I worry that those stacks strained the rest of the grid. I had a hard time getting going in the northwest corner. TOTOisn't the worst way to start a puzzle, but the clue felt a million years old (1A: In ___ (completely). COE (21A: Olympian Sebastian), OATEN (6D: Like some cereal), and PLUS (7D: Good thing) weren't helping. When ANTZ (24A: Debut feature for Dreamworks Animation) is the newest thing in your corner, it's going to feel dusty. WPA MURALS (14A: Some Depression-era public art) is nice, but not exactly pulling the puzzle into this century. COPA could have been clued as the Copa America soccer tournament that ends tomorrow, but they went with the Barry Manilow song. But I do love that song, so it gets a pass.

The rest of the puzzle improves a bit, but it's not without issues. Do people outside of New York know NOLITA? I knew it, but I don't know why, and I don't know how many people do. Also, according to the Wikipedia article that name was coined in 1996, so giving it credit for opening the first pizzeria in 1905 is a bit of a stretch. Kudos for bringing us pizza, though.

I feel like being LITERATEis kind of the bare minimum for being (34D) "Learned, perhaps." ECLAT (16A: Fanfare) is a word that always rubs me the wrong way. I don't think I've ever heard anyone use it in the real world, and it always stands out as less than ideal. And look, Latin! OMNIA probably doesn't bother me most days, but it was just another blast from the past today.

But I don't want to dwell on the negative. There was a lot I liked in here, in addition to the central answers. HAIR METAL (51A: Twisted Sister's genre) is fun. And I loved the clue on SPANX (41D: Company with a "Bra-llelujah!" line). Hooray for sexy portmanteau! The kind of thing you might see in house of ILL REPUTE. 

Quick Hits:

• 43D: Sam of "Jurassic Park" (NEILL) — Jurassic Park is legendary in my house, and Sam is a huge reason why. His delivery of "It's a bird cage" in Jurassic Park 3 has become an odd favorite amongst our friend group. Also, if you haven't seen Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, it's amazing and he's fantastic in it.

• 48D: Home of the Peabody Museum of Natural History (YALE)— Do you think the constructor used this because he's an Eli? I know I would.
• 20D: Desire for a picnic (NO RAIN)— I imagine this is not a desire for Blind Melon, since they start to complain about it.

Signed, Eli Selzer, False Dauphin of CrossWorld

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