SATURDAY PUZZLE — This is an elegant, bustling grid from Hoang-Kim Vu, his third Saturday construction and 11th overall for The New York Times. A lot of the middle-length terms are exceptionally odd, new or unusual, and the marquee entries at 20- and 51-Across are debuts with terrific clues. Of course, the moment I laid eyes on the second across clue, I got “Kokomo” stuck in my head and had to solve the rest of the puzzle with half of my brain droning “da-da-da, da-da-da, daaaaa da-da-da-da-da.” Fortunately, the half that knows other stuff was available.
Tricky Clues
10A. Does everyone know that the ditty in question — [Locale named in the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo”] — was written for a Tom Cruise movie about bartending in Jamaica? The song was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe; the movie was nominated for several Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as Razzies. Anyway, the refrain in “Kokomo” includes numerous places, and the very first one mentioned, ARUBA, is the answer here.
20A. Here’s some morbid trivia to knock the beachy bop out of one ear — maybe: The [Worsening situation from which there is no escape] here is a DEATH SPIRAL. This term is used metaphorically in figure skating and health insurance, but it also refers to a real phenomenon in which animals, especially ants, march along a self-reinforcing, endless path that ultimately results in their own destruction.
39A. [Raises, as a sensitive subject] solves to BROACHED, an old word that evolved in a particularly interesting way. “Brocca,” which is Latin for pointed, became “broche” in Old French, meaning a roasting spit, which then became “broach,” for a sharp instrument; this took a century or so. It was 200 years later that the word took on the meaning of the clue, probably because of the use of “broach” to describe the tapping of a large beer cask, a momentous endeavor.
51A. A [Temporary water provider] could be at the site of a foot race or a natural disaster, but in this case it is a helper in your home, working as a PLANT SITTER. In the category of scientific discoveries that make me feel slightly dreadful, houseplants apparently miss you when you go away.
5D. [It’s black and white (or sometimes red)] is a play on “the newspaper riddle,” which goes: “What’s black and white and red all over?” This is a joke recorded in folklore from the early 20th century that relies on “red” and “read” being homophones, and newsprint being black and white. Hopefully solvers recognized this, but if they didn’t, the clue is still pretty cute; black and white and red are all the colors of various PANDAs.
21D. I don’t remember ever seeing this term for a [Handheld object used to release excess energy]: STIM TOY. I thought of fidget spinners, but there’s a wide assortment of gizmos that provide a similar sensory experience.
37D. I got the answer to this clue, [Celebrity gossip site], completely from crossing entries, and I then searched “eon line” on the internet in befuddlement. E ONLINE popped right up.
45D/50D. I made two early guesses in these spots while solving, but both clues were misdirects. I figured that 45D, [All ______ (phrase in some nondenominational church names)], would be All “saints,” but it was FAITHS, which is more inclusive. At 50D, [Mill fill] is GRIST; I went with “grain,” which a synonym.
Constructor Notes
I don’t know if this is my best or favorite puzzle, but it’s definitely the only one that I’ve gotten a tattoo of, so I hope folks enjoy it!
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