Theme solutions:

• SQUARE EN ROUTE (from “sq. root”) (24A: Why the celebration’s about to get much less hip?)
• HOW EN SUITE IT IS (from “How candy it’s!”) (35A: Realtor’s exclamation a couple of major toilet?)
• MARINE ENCORE (from “Marine Corps”) (49A: How Shamu acknowledged the gang’s appreciation?)
• “EN GARDE, IANS OF THE GALAXY!” (from “Guardians of the Galaxy”) (70A: “Prepare for a sword struggle, McKellen, Fleming and all different namesakes on the market!”?)
• MAKE-UP ENTREE (from … I assume, “make-up tray” (?)) (90A: Dish cooked to easy issues over after a struggle?)
• CHOPPING EN BLOC (from “chopping block”) (106A: What college students in a karate class are sometimes doing?)
• THE ROYAL ENNUI (from “the Royal We”) (118A: Challenge for a court docket jester?)

Word of the Day: “The MEAGRE Company” (Frans Hals portrait) (30A) —

The Meagre Company, or The Company of Captain Reinier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw, refers back to the solely militia group portrait, or schutterstuk, painted by Frans Halsoutdoors of Haarlem, and at present is within the assortment of the Amsterdam Museum, on mortgage to the Rijksmuseum, the place it’s thought of one among its principal points of interest of the Honor Gallery. Hals was sad about commuting to Amsterdam to work on the portray and, not like his earlier group portraits, was unable to ship it on time. The sitters contracted Pieter Codde to complete the work.

Hals was initially commissioned in 1633, after the favorable reception of his earlier militia group portrait, The Officers of the St Adrian Militia Company in 1633, wherein all ensigns are holding flags and all officers are holding their weapons. The sergeants have been proven, holding halberds to distinguish them from officers with spontoons. Hals appears to have initially supposed an Amsterdam model of the identical portray, starting on the left with a smiling flag bearer sporting a flamboyant cut-sleeve jacket with lace and holding a flag within the coloration of his sash. Though it’s not possible to inform on which facet of the canvas Hals started portray, the sunshine falls onto the figures from the left within the “customary” Hals custom and that is additionally the place crucial figures are located throughout the portray. Since every sitter paid for his personal portrait, it’s presumed that Hals started with crucial sitters as a way to “promote” canvas room to different paying officers. Whether or not Hals did the truth is begin on the left or drew a sketch of the complete group without delay, the flag bearer on the left on this portray has been painted in a remarkably flamboyant manner from the tip of his hat to the toe of his boots. This was probably to show to the choice makers in Amsterdam that Hals was able to portray a schutterstuk within the “Amsterdam model”, which included the complete determine. In Haarlem, the civic guards have been historically portrayed within the kniestuk model of being “reduce off on the knee” in three-quarter size portraits. (wikipedia)

• • •

Liked the way in which this one began, with the BLURRIER TAQUERIA of the NW nook, however with the revelation of the primary themer, SQUARE EN ROUTE, I may really feel my spirits deflate a bit. “We’re simply including ‘EN’!? That’s what ‘Length-ening’ means!? O… boy.” There was one thing that appeared so, nicely, MEAGRE in regards to the idea (extra on MEAGRE later). And then got here MARINE ENCORE, following the identical add-an-EN sample, which felt much more flaccid, and I reconciled myself to merely enduring yet one more Sunday. But I’ll admit that “HOW EN SUITE IT IS!” … nicely, it did not win me over, precisely, however it undoubtedly introduced me round a bit. That is the form of all-out loopiness I actually need, the truth is *want*, to see in themes which can be this primary (e.g. add-a-letter (or two), drop-a-letter (or two), and so on.). You wanna do some dumb puns, nicely OK, however please, nothing … MEAGRE. Go for it. Better to be actually really gorily horrible, fully loony, then merely mildly chuckleworthy. “HOW EN SUITE IT IS!” has a fearless madness that I like. I additionally actually do like that we’re dealing not simply with an “EN” addition, however with an entire phrase change as nicely (within the phrase that follows the “EN”), regardless that the title of the puzzle does not seize that facet of the theme At All (it is a actually unhealthy title, tbh). I even retrospectively went again and gave a bit credit score to the clue on SQUARE EN ROUTE (24A: Why the celebration’s about to get much less hip?). It creates a ridiculous scenario. Now, not all of the themers (or their clues) do that, however there have been sufficient that did. Enough, that’s, to make me like this puzzle considerably greater than I like your common straightforwardly themed Sunday puzzle, and far more than I favored it at first blush. THE ROYAL ENNUI could be very intelligent, and, nicely, I discover it very troublesome to be mad at a solution like “EN GARDE, IANS OF THE GALAXY!” That is a Marvel film I’d really see.

There is a few “oof” fill right here and there, although. Let’s begin with MEAGRE, which clearly I’m not but over. I’m kinda completely happy to study in regards to the Hals portray, which has a cool historical past, and which Van Gogh apparently rhapsodized over in a letter to his brother, Theo. But as fill, MEAGRE is super-ugly, and at present it is also ridiculously onerous. I wanted each cross and was nonetheless sure one thing was incorrect. Apparently that is how Brits spell “meager” (!?), however in its (only a few) recentish previous appearances, solvers have been all the time alerted of each its which means and its Britishness—we get Neither right here: nothing to inform us that meagerness is at problem, and nothing to inform us in regards to the British spelling. Worse, we get a *Dutch* painter, so the hell is aware of what letters are going to point out up, actually.

Round-up!:

• 13A: A boatload (LOTS) — I had TONS due to course I did, the Curse of the Kealoa* is upon me!
• 108D: Joy of TV (BEHAR) — I’ve it on good authority that she solves crossword puzzles. That authority is a 2016 US Weekly interview the place she says “I do the New York Times Crossword day-after-day.”
• 97D: “On Juneteenth” writer ___ Gordon-Reed (ANNETTE) — she’s a professor of regulation and American historical past at Harvard. I assumed “On Juneteenth” was a poem. I used to be incorrect. It’s a well-regarded brief guide explaining the importance of the annual commemoration of the top of slavery within the U.S.
• 111A: Flatbread made with atta (ROTI) — had the “O” and wrote in DOSA, which is “a skinny pancake in South Indian delicacies constructed from a fermented batter of floor black gram (lentil) and rice“ (wikipedia). No atta in sight 🙁
• 17A: “Keep Ya Head Up” rapper, informally (PAC) — as in Tupac Shakur, or 2Pac.
• 92D: Unlike p (RATIONAL) —I received this simply regardless of having no concept what “p” stands for. I figured it was one thing one thing math one thing quantity one thing, and I used to be proper. Looks like lowercase “p” can imply a lot of issues, relying on context, however nearest I can determine right here, it is someway “pi” (!!?). You could not simply write the extra “i”?? [UPDATE: the clue *actually* reads [Unlike π] however my software program could not deal with the character and so rendered it “p”]

All hail the return of Standard Time, the Best Time, God’s Own Time. Please benefit from the hour you have been denied by Demon DST. See you … quickly, I hope.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

*kealoa = brief, widespread reply which you can’t simply fill in rapidly as a result of two or extra solutions are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the basic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See additionally, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, [“Git!”] “SHOO”/”SCAT,” and so on.

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