Showy purple flower / SAT 11-15-25 / Condition of Freud’s “Rat Man,” in brief / Brand associated with push-ups / Form of literature coined by Sartre / Unable to move while holding a sleeping baby, in slang / High point of 1950s car design? / Westminster Abbey has one named after King Henry VII / L.G.B.T.Q. vacation destination on Cape Cod, for short
Constructor: Kyle Dolan
Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: none
Word of the Day: Chick COREA (37A: Chick of jazz) —
Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions “Spain“, “500 Miles High“, “La Fiesta”, “Armando’s Rhumba”, and “Windows” are considered jazz standards.
As a member of the Miles Davis band in the late 1960s, Corea participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.
Corea continued to collaborate frequently while exploring different musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He won 28 Grammy Awards and was nominated for the award 77 times. (wikipedia)
• • •
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| [mom, me, a long long time ago] |
Between NAPTRAPPED and the PUDGY fingers, this puzzle felt like it was written by someone with a little baby at home (1A: Unable to move while holding a sleeping baby, in slang / 48D: Like a baby’s fingers, perhaps). Or someone who lives near a baby or has friends who have a baby. Undoubtedly a CUTIE. It was nice to begin and end with babies being babies, though I have never in my nearly 56 years on this earth (11 days to go!) heard the term NAPTRAPPED. I have, however, experienced it, though these days it predominantly involves cats … which are kinds of “babies.” We certainly call them “baby” enough. Well, the little one, Ida the white cat, she’s “baby” more than Alfie the tabby, who is more of a “big boy.” I often ask them, when I see them after not seeing them for a while, “Who’s this baby?” The answer, of course, is them. They’re the baby. It’s kind of like when you ask your dog, “Who’s a good dog?” Your dog, the dog you’re talking to, that’s who’s a good dog. Anyway, if a cat falls asleep on you, you are not allowed to move, this is law. Many an activity (like dinner) has been significantly delayed because one or the other of us is like [points to lap or chest where cat is] “can’t move.” CATTRAPPED. As for NAPTRAPPED, if it’s in the puzzle, I guess someone somewhere is using the term. Because it’s adorable, and because it describes a real phenomenon that should have a name, I’m happy to allow it.
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| [CATTRAPPED] |
This puzzle was just as easy for me as yesterday’s puzzle, but today is Saturday, which should be much harder, so I feel cheated once again of the struggle I crave on this day. The names that came at me were all very familiar. Not a one of them new to me. We don’t have The Mount Rushmore of Crossword Names, but we have A Mount Rushmore: SHEL Silverstein, ERNO Laszlo, Chick COREA, and JET LI. I’ve seen the real Mount Rushmore, and it’s impressive, but if those presidents were replaced tomorrow by SHEL ERNO COREA and JET LI, I’d be planning my trip to South Dakota right now.
I even managed to remember OTIS Day and the Knights, though I had help from the “O” there. The only thing I had (some) trouble remembering was PHLOX—stared at that “HL” like “uh … that’s impossible,” but then it wasn’t—and RIYALS (they put the “Y” in there, do they? Well I’ll be sure to remember th- nope, already forgotten). That RIYALS / PANELIST / FISH FRY / LLC was probably the stickiest part of the grid for me. I had the -ST at the end of 41A: Game show figure and wanted some kind of HOST. Wanted the [Close of business?] to be ESS (I’ve been solving too many cryptics, i.e. just the right amount of cryptics). FISH FRY was easier, because I understood the FISH part re: Lent, but I didn’t know the FRY was particularly “Lenten” (39D: Lenten event). We have this roving business around here, Doug’s FISH FRY, which is basically a truck out of which fried fish is served, usually in some parking lot, always as part of some fund-raising event. It’s the only thing I think of when I hear FISH FRY, and it’s not particularly (or at all) “Lenten,” so … yeah, hesitated at the FRY part, but it fit, and felt right, so … there we go. I like it as an answer.
Other things I liked: the whole SE corner. FLAT-FOOTED / ROLLICKING / “YES, INDEEDY!” goes through a lot of looks and moods for a little corner. And I really like that the crosses keeping the corner together really hold up. I cannot quibble with a one of them. In every corner, in fact, I’m impressed that the short stuff holding the long stuff in place almost never got gunky. I think I let out two “ooh, nice”s. Once early on, as I was just getting my footing:
And then shortly thereafter, when I realized DO DIRTY was going to be an answer (10D: Betray). A wonderful, colorful colloquial expression. With apologies to Sartre, I had no idea the ANTI-NOVEL was a thing—can’t say I’ve read many of those (13D: Form of literature coined by Sartre). But otherwise, everything from SHONDALAND to WONDERBRA was pretty dang familiar to me. Once again, I wish it had all been harder, but that’s the editor’s fault. The grid is very nice.
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| [3D: L.G.B.T.Q. vacation destination on Cape Cod, for short] |
- 20A: It’s used for hair therapy (HOT OIL) — having no hair myself, hair therapy is not something I think of
oftenever. This answer was hard to parse because I had -OTOI- and assumed it was one word. I was like “that’s not how you spell LOTION.” No, no it’s not. - 25A: Swear off, with “of” (REPENT) — I don’t like these as equivalents. Swearing off is much more informal and non-moralistic than REPENT (of). Do you REPENT of sweets, or alcohol? Repenting is for sins and it strongly implies regret. If I swore off cocktails tomorrow, first, please know that it is against my will, that either a doctor or someone with a gun is making me, and second, I would have no regrets. Every cocktail I drank—perfect.
- 30A: Win dough? (PRIZE MONEY) —I was trying to understand the “?” here. I get the literal part—”dough” you get from a “win” is PRIZE MONEY, but what was I supposed to be hearing / seeing with that clue? Answer: it sounds like “window.” So, you know, if someone was reading the clues to you, you might’ve been fooled (?).
- 40D: High point of 1950s car design? (TAIL FIN) — not a part of most FISH FRYs.
- 50A: Westminster Abbey has one named after King Henry VII (CHAPEL) — Henry VII was the first monarch in the Tudor dynasty. After the defeat of Richard III, it goes him, the wife killer, then it gets choppy—Edward VI for a few years, then Lady Jane Grey for nine days, then Bloody Mary (and Philip, technically), who tried to return the country to Catholicism (sometimes violently, hence her nickname), and after a few years of that we finally get Elizabeth (who reigned for a relative eternity—almost 45 years). Good luck remembering all the bits there between HVIII and EI.
- 30D: Places to keep play things (PROP ROOMS) — this makes me think of my daughter, who has spent a lot of time in PROP ROOMS, and who will be home from her Theater MFA program in less than two weeks! My birthday and Thanksgiving and the Girl’s Return, woo hoo! That’s a hell of a week. Let’s end where we began—with PUDGY fingers!:
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| [Penelope, Ella, me, ca. 2001] |
That’s enough for today. See you next time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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