Name on a AAdvantage credit card / THU 7-18-24 / An "e-" one was first developed in 2003, for short / Oldest major TV network in the U.S. / "___ is long, life is short" (Greek aphorism)

THEME: WORMHOLES — Three astronomically themed answers in the top row continue from one circled square to another to form a longer answer because... I honestly don't know.

Word of the Day: PARAMUS (50A: New Jersey borough known for its shopping malls) —

Paramus (/pəˈræməs/ pə-RAM-əs^[20]) is a borough in the central portion of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A suburban bedroom community of New York City, Paramus is located 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) northwest of Midtown Manhattan and approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Upper Manhattan. The Wall Street Journal characterized Paramus as "quintessentially suburban".^[21] The borough is also a major commercial hub for North Jersey (home to Garden State Plaza and various corporate headquarters).

Hi Crossworld, it's Eli again! I usually look froward to Thursday puzzles. I like a good gimmick theme and seeing what constructors can throw my way that I'm not expecting. Today was... not for me. Like, I see that the starts of the theme phrases are space-related, but why these phrases? Is there any reasoning behind which circled square goes to the next? Why are the "receiving" wormholes isolated squares? Why, if you remove that wormhole square, do two of the answers make readable (if incomplete) phrases but the third one doesn't? I sincerely hope I'm missing something here because this feels both flimsy and frankly, boring. 

Theme answers:

• STAR***T YOUR ENGINES (1A: Indy 500 directive / 23D: ---)
• COMET***O JESUS MOMENT (5A: Epiphany that precedes a major change / 21D: ---)
• NOVA***CANCY (10A: Neon sign outside a motel / 55D: ---)
• WORMHOLE (39D: Portal represented by each pair of circled letters in this puzzle) 

You also have ASTRONAUT (33A: One on a mission) hanging out around the middle there, but it's more theme-adjacent than actually a part of anything. Also, sitting there above UVA (40A: Charlottesville sch.) instead of EVA (which is a space-related acronym - Extravehicluar Activity) without too much reworking feels like a missed opportunity. When the theme is this thin, why not pad it out some? Oh, I see SAGAN (71A: Carl who wrote "Cosmos") hanging out down in that bottom corner. More theme-adjacency. 

I'm honestly struggling to think of much to say about this one. It's theme-light, but the fill doesn't take advantage of the extra space. OR IS IT (11A: Question that casts doubt) looks interesting in the grid, visually, but I think you could find a flashier clue there. I like Anita ODAY (38D) and I enjoy an ALPACA (3D: Domesticated relative of the vicuña), but neither is terribly exciting. Hey, a Muppet! (ERNIE (68A: Muppet with a distinctive snickering laugh)). I'll never complain about the presence of a Muppet. Here's a video of a Bert and Ernie outtake. Watching Muppeteers improvise with each other is one of my favorite things.

Bullets:

• ARLEN (66A: Harold who composed "Over the Rainbow") — Nothing against the composer or the song, but Arlen always means one thing to me:

• MAUL (7D: Badly rough up) and ANI (62A: Small change in party parity?) — Both of these could have been clued as Star Wars (Darth Maul and Anakin Skywalker, respectively). I don't think Star Wars uses wormholes extensively, but I still see them there.
• UVA (40A: Charlottesville sch.) and OVA (35D: Products of oogenesis) — I wonder what it would be like if you introduced them? Do I get to use this clip in 2 blogs in one month? You bet I do!

Signed, Eli Selzer, False Dauphin of CrossWorld

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