Experimental musician whose name sounds like a cry / WED 12-4-24 / Problem for a homeowner or government worker / Connecticut Governor Lamont / You might pick one to get gold

Word of the Day: SKEG (44D - Fin beneath a surfboard) —

A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line.^[1] The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard.^[A][B] In more recent years, the name has been used for a fin on a surfboard which improves directional stability and to a movable fin on a kayak which adjusts the boat's centre of lateral resistance (it moves the center of resistance relative to the center of effort).

Theme answers:

• PRICE ESTIMATE (20A: ") - Quote
• STRETCH OF TIME (26A: .) - Period
• MAKE A RUN FOR IT (45A: -) - Dash
• ROCK GUITARIST (56A: /) - Slash

Hey everybody, it's Eli filling in for Rex. I guess technically I'm filling in for Malaika. If you were excited for a Malaika Wednesday (and who could blame you?), then take comfort in knowing that she'll be here tomorrow and Friday. 

I really enjoyed today's theme! As I'm just starting to learn how to construct puzzles, I've been playing around with a few similar concepts to this one. I think this is executed very well. The theme answers do a nice job of not being related directly to the punctuation marks used to represent them (ie - "period" could have been clued as "'End of discussion'" or something, but they went with a second definition). I feel like "Quote" comes a little close, etymologically speaking, but it didn't bother me. 

Unfortunately, the fill didn't live up to the theme for me. It's not that it's bad, it's just... there. I just solved this a few minutes ago, and I'm already struggling to remember anything outside of the themers. I liked the trivia aspect of the clue on PAAR (62A: Jack who hosted "The Morning Show" and "The Tonight Show"). And when I hit 33A (One-named singer featured on the 2013 hit "Play Hard"), my sparse knowledge of hip hop made me wonder, "Could it be NEYO? Or maybe AKON?" Turns out, the answer was "yes," since there was an identical clue at 66A. That was fun.

(I can't help but feel like David GUETTA might have added some excitement to the grid)

But nothing else did much for me. I wonder if that contributed to my perceived difficulty on this puzzle. Give me a batch of FCC, RSVP, ERS, ALEE, TNUT, SRS, TREE, and ISLA (non Bonita or Nubar category) and I guess I just tune out a bit.

                      
Quick Hits:

• 35D: "___ California" (Grammy-winning Red Hot Chili Peppers hit) (DANI) — As an Angeleno, I feel like I'm supposed to love RHCP. I like the hits just fine, but have never been able to really get into these guys:

• 60D: Online recap letters (TLDR)— I feel like I may be rehashing something Rex has already talked about here (or maybe on BlueSky), but miss me with TL,DR. Just read the damn thing. Nothing worth reading is too long. Nothing not worth reading is short enough.
• 11D: What self-driving cars and spell check are meant to compensate for (HUMAN ERROR) — At the risk of sound like a grumpy old man, self-driving cars and AI are still human creations and therefore inherently error-prone. I love technology, but leaning into laziness and stupidity will doom us all.

Eli posted a Simpsons reference. Drink!

• 53A: ___ dog, food specialty topped with meat sauce (CONEY) — How wide-spread is this term, nationally? I know it's mostly a Detroit thing, but we called chili dogs coneys when I was growing up in Iowa (though my Dad's family came from Michigan, so that may have played into it). Is it midwestern, generally? Am I the weird one here? Rats, now I want a hot dog.

Signed, Eli Selzer, False Dauphin of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]