Theme solutions: SHONDA rhymes – the primary phrase of every theme reply rhymes with SHONDA.

New York Times, 09 11 2022, By Michael Lieberman

• 20a[Los Angeles venue named for the star of “12 Angry Men”] – FONDA THEATRE
• 30a [Disney+ series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe] – WANDAVISION
• 45a [First car from a Japanese manufacturer to be made in the U.S. (1982)] – HONDA ACCORD
• 54a [Creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” … or, when said aloud, a hint to the starts of 20-, 30 and 45-Across] – SHONDA RHIMES

Oftentimes after I remedy the Monday puzzle I leap right down to the revealer with a view to “get” the theme extra rapidly. I didn’t try this immediately, however I nonetheless discovered what was happening rapidly and used it to my benefit for the HONDA ACCORD clue, which I by no means would have recognized. (I’ll say that I’ve seen this theme earlier than in Margaret Seikel’s March 7, 2021 Atlantic puzzle, however I gained’t maintain that towards Michael – I don’t even know if theme write-ups exist for the Atlantic since we don’t do them right here, and I solely bear in mind as a result of I appreciated the theme a lot then).

I’m curious how the issue of this one goes to play – SHONDA RHIMES is well-known, however in case you don’t know her the revealer will fall flat. I personally wanted a lot of the crosses to get FONDA THEATRE, particularly given the “theatre” spelling. I do like that the popular culture theme references span all kinds of topics/eras, and given how few phrases rhyme with “Shonda”, there aren’t too many selections with which to create a symmetric set.

Given how the size of the theme solutions forces them to be squished tightly collectively, I typically appreciated the fill immediately! Some bullet level notes:

• The lengthy items of fill had been undoubtedly highlights, CINCO DE MAYO because the true standout.
• I really like when callback and referential clues are proper subsequent to one another, so 35d [Something brought home unintentionally from the beach] for SAND and 39d [Something brought home intentionally from the beach] for SEASHELL (whose down clues come sequentially) had been nice enjoyable for me.
• I do know ARCO is traditional crosswordese however I nonetheless by no means bear in mind the final vowel. If people don’t know FONDA, this can be a potential hassle spot.
• Clue: 59d [Animal aptly found in “banana peel”]. Me: “… what does an eel have to do with bananas?” DUH, it was truly APE.