Cult classic co-starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell / MON 2-2-26 / Film about which Harold Ramis said “He goes from being a prisoner of that time and place to being master of that time and place” / Inspiration for a 2017 Tony-nominated musical / 1993 film that featured “I Got You Babe” / Animated film featuring the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” / Actress Claire of “The Crown” / Horse with a reddish coat / African grazer / “How ___ the little busy bee …”

Constructor: John Ewbank and Colin Thomas

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (solved Downs-only)

[25D: ___ Knight (“Star Wars” fighter)]

THEME: GROUNDHOG DAY — a holiday puzzle for today, February 2. Four theme answers, all of them GROUNDHOG DAY (the movie in which Bill Murray relives the same day, the titular day, every day, ad (almost) infinitum):

Theme answers:

• GROUNDHOG DAY (20A: Cult classic co-starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell))
• GROUNDHOG DAY (33A: Inspiration for a 2017 Tony-nominated musical)
• GROUNDHOG DAY (41A: 1993 film that featured “I Got You Babe”)
• GROUNDHOG DAY (56A: Film about which Harold Ramis said “He goes from being a prisoner of that time and place to being master of that time and place”)

Word of the Day: ENCANTO (9D: Animated film featuring the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”) —

Encanto is a 2021 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Jared Bush, and Byron Howard and written by Charise Castro Smith and Bush, with original songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a score composed by Germaine Franco. The film stars the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo [es], Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, and Wilmer Valderrama. Encanto follows a multigenerational Colombian family, the Madrigals, led by a matriarch whose children and grandchildren—except for Mirabel Madrigal—receive magical gifts from a miracle, which they use to help the people in their rural community, called the Encanto. When Mirabel learns that the family is losing their magic, she sets out to find out why and save the family and house. […] The film was nominated for three awards at the 94th Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature, and received numerous other accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature and the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film. // The film’s associated merchandise has seen significant success, and its soundtrack became a breakout sensation, reaching number one on the US Billboard 200 and UK Compilation Albums charts; “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and “Surface Pressure” were its two most successful songs, with the former topping both the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart for multiple consecutive weeks. A theme park attraction based on the film is set to open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2027. (wikipedia)

• • •

Happy GROUNDHOG DAY, I guess (which means happy birthday to my father (85)). Kinda glad I solved this Downs-only, because the cluing scheme on the themers today is not great, and watching that second GROUNDHOG DAY come into view as I was solving Downs-only definitely added to the “wait, this can’t be happening!?” vibe. But back to the themer cluing: we get four different “facts” about the movie, but none of them having anything to do with the core premise of the movie, which is also the core premise of this puzzle, which is that Groundhog Day literally repeats, over and over and over. The clue that should’ve been the “revealer” is just some quote from the director. Random quote. Again, nothing directly to do with the concept of repetition. I feel bad for whoever has never seen Groundhog Day, because this puzzle really really Really assumes you have, which is weird for a movie that the puzzle itself is calling a “cult classic.” It’s either universally known (which is what you’d expect a movie that’s the basis of a Monday puzzle to be) or it’s a “cult classic,” it can’t be both. This puzzle assumes it’s universally known. Not only doesn’t it mention, ever, the main premise, it also doesn’t even tell you that Harold Ramis is the director. How hard is it to add “director” to that clue? It’s not like you’re going for concision; that clue is massive—the longest one in the puzzle. In short, I think the premise is pretty cute (I had a big “aha” while solving Downs-only and I realized what was going on), but the random trivia in the themer clues is unimaginative. Why not really commit to the bit and have all the theme clues be the same. I know it’s hard to write a clue about how Bill Murray relives the same day over and over without using the word “day” (a no-no, since “DAY” is in the answer), but there’s gotta be a way: [1993 movie about a weatherman doomed to relive the same 24-hour period over and over and over again], something like that. The cluing scheme should’ve been more clever, and it definitely should’ve mentioned the repeating-day thing. Somewhere. (I say all this as someone who adores the movie and has seen it probably a dozen times).

If the theme answers were very easy (once I got the second one, I filled the remaining two in immediately), the rest of the puzzle was a little more challenging, esp. from a Downs-only perspective. On my first pass at the Downs up top, I could not get: EVERSO (2D: Really, really), SCOUR (4D: Scrub), LEADSTO (5D: Results in), ENCANTO (9D: Animated film featuring the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”), or BOOYA (10D: Triumphant cry). I’m just lucky I’d at least heard of ENCANTO. Eventually, once I’d inferred a few of the crosses, I was able to see it, but I haven’t voluntarily watched a big-budget animated movie in … forever. Once my daughter aged out of animated kids’ fare, I checked out. The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” was apparently a no. 1 hit but today is the first I’m hearing of its existence. Worse for me was … whatever this stupid bee song is supposed to be. Is it a poem? “How DOTH (!?!?) the little busy bee…”??? DOTH was probably the hardest thing in the grid for me. Did not expect a little children’s rhyme (is that what it is?) to go all ye olde Englishe on me. And ugh, TUSHY, first of all, spelling (?!!), and second of all, cutesy childish anatomical euphemisms, not my favorite (30D: Rear end, informally). Spent more time than I ever wanted to spend (i.e. more than zero seconds) trying to think of slang for “butt.” Considered BOOTY, but then decided “just wait for crosses.” Once the themers all went in, the solve got a lot easier, since I had at least one letter in place for every remaining Down. In fact, nothing in the bottom half of the grid gave me any trouble at all—huge contrast to the top half. 

The fill was average. Any time a puzzle has no long (8+) answers besides the themers, the fill is likely to be meh at best. ITT and ATT are bad on their own and quite bad when they team up as successive answers, but there’s really not much to make you wince today. You can take back ON A JAG, a prepositional phrase that’s pretty meaningless without context (what kind of jag?), but I don’t have strong feelings about most of the rest of it. Just wasn’t that interesting. My favorite thing about the grid (besides the “aha” I got when the theme dropped) was the juxtaposition of DONALD and STENCH (52– and 54-Across). It feels weird saying that the “DONALD STENCH” was my “favorite” part of the grid. You’d have to be a real sicko to actively enjoy DONALD STENCH. But I do appreciate the puzzle’s subtle acknowledgment of moral rot in the White House. I’m sure the puzzlemakers would disavow the political commentary, but … that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

Bullets:

• 17A: Clownfish in a 2003 Pixar film (NEMO) — you already had your animated film moment with ENCANTO. One is enough. Choose another NEMO.
• 43D: Bird that scientists are trying to bring back from extinction (DODO) — please stop. First of all, stop trying to bring back species that you (human beings) killed off. It’s grotesque and it won’t go well. Maybe focus on protecting remaining species!? Second, this clue is lazy, as it essentially repeats a recent clue for MOA ([Down Under bird that scientists are working to “de-extinct”] (Fri., Dec. 26, 2025)). Third, I was staring at a DODO just yesterday! At Yale’s Peabody Museum, they have a DODO skeleton on display, as well as a full-color model of what a live DODO would’ve looked like. I believe my exact comment was, “Pixar-ass bird.” 

• 59D: Spun records, for short (DJED) — I got this easily enough, but my brain almost short-circuited as it tried to reject “spun” as the simple past tense of “spin.” In short, my brain wanted a different form between SPIN (present tense) and SPUN (past participle)—like … there’s drink drank drunk, so … I wanted spin [something] spun. “Spinned?” “Span?” I dunno. Minor glitch. All better now.

Thanks to Rafa and Eli for covering for me while I went off to visit my daughter at Yale and see two of the shows she’s been working on (Is God Is (Fri.) and Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha (Sat.)). Whoa, there’s a film adaptation of Is God Is coming out in May, starring (among others) Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox, and Crossworld’s own Janelle MONAE (eleven NYTXW appearances since 2019). Definitely gonna look for that. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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