Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 turned the primary American lady and the third lady to fly in house, after cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. She was the youngest American astronaut to have flown in house, having carried out so on the age of 32. […] After finishing her coaching in 1979, she served because the ground-based capsule communicator (CapCom) for the second and third Space Shuttle flights, and helped develop the Space Shuttle’s robotic arm. In June 1983, she flew in house on the Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission. The mission deployed two communications satellites and the primary Shuttle pallet satellite tv for pc (SPAS-1). Ride operated the robotic arm to deploy and retrieve SPAS-1. Her second house flight was the STS-41-G mission in 1984, additionally on board Challenger. She spent a complete of greater than 343 hours in house. She left NASA in 1987. […] Having been married to astronaut Steven Hawley throughout her spaceflight years and in a personal, long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association participant Tam O’Shaughnessy, she is the primary astronaut recognized to have been LGBT. She died of pancreatic most cancers on July 23, 2012. (wikipedia)

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***HELLO, READERS AND FELLOW SOLVERS*** How is the brand new 12 months treating you? Well, I hope. Me, uh, not nice thus far (COVID, you already know), however I’m 95% higher, and was by no means terribly sick to start with, so I’ve each purpose to imagine issues will flip round for me shortly, thank God (and vaccines). Anyway, it is early January, which implies it is time as soon as once more for my annual week-long pitch for monetary contributions to the weblog. Every 12 months I ask readers to contemplate what the weblog is price to them on an annual foundation and provides accordingly. I’m unsure what to say about this previous 12 months. This will sound bizarre, or melodramatic—or possibly it will not—however each time I attempt to write about 2022, all I can suppose is “effectively, my cat died.” She (Olive) died this previous October, very younger, of a silly congenital coronary heart drawback that we simply could not repair (thanks all in your type phrases of condolence, by the way in which). I’m wanting on the picture I used for final 12 months’s fundraising pitch, and it is a image of me sitting at my desk (this desk, the one I’m typing at proper now, the one I write at every single day) with Olive sitting on my shoulder, observing me, and making me chuckle. It’s a joyous image. Here, I’m simply gonna put up it once more:

I really like the picture each as a result of you possibly can inform how goofy she is, and the way goofy she made me. Her loss damage for the apparent causes, but in addition as a result of she was a lot part of my each day routine, my each day rhythms and rituals. She was on a regular basis. Quotidian. Just … on me, close to me, being a weirdo, particularly within the (very) early mornings once I was penning this weblog. She took me out of myself. She additionally made me conscious of how a lot the quotidian issues, how each day rituals break up and set up the day, mark time, floor you. They’re simple to trivialize, these rituals, exactly as a result of they *aren’t* particular. Feed the cats once more, make the espresso once more, remedy the crossword once more, and so forth. But shedding Olive made me reevaluate the each day, the quotidian, the apparently trivial. In a basic approach, these small each day issues *are* life. No at some point is so vital, or so totally different from the others, however cumulatively, they add up, and thru the times upon days you develop a apply—a apply of affection, care, and a focus given to the issues that matter. If you are studying this, then crossword puzzles are undoubtedly an vital ritual for you, simply as writing about crosswords for you all is a crucial ritual for me. It provides me a lot. I hope that even at my most important, my real love for crosswords—for the way in which my mind lights up on crosswords—comes via. I additionally hope that the weblog brings you leisure, perception, laughter … even (particularly) when you disagree with me a lot (most? all?) of the time. 

[man, I really wear the hell  out of this red fleece…]

The weblog started years in the past as an experiment in treating the ephemeral—the here-today, gone-tomorrow—prefer it actually mattered. I wished to cease and take a look at this 15×15 (or 21×21 factor) and take it critically, take heed to it, see what it was making an attempt to do, take into consideration what I favored or did not like about it. In brief, I gave the puzzle my time and a focus. And I proceed to try this, every single day (Every! Day!). And it’s work. Numerous work. Asking for cash yearly (and solely yearly) is an acknowledgment of that truth. There is nothing to subscribe to right here … no Substack or Kickstarter or Patreon … and there are not any advertisements, ever. I favor to maintain monetary issues easy and direct. I’ve no “hustle” in me past placing my ass on this chair each morning and writing.

I had enjoyable making this puzzle (because of Rachel Fabi and Neville Fogarty for proofing it for me!). For non-snail-mailers who need to remedy the puzzle, don’t be concerned: I’ll make the puzzle out there for everybody a while subsequent month. Please word: I do not hold a “mailing checklist” and do not share my contributor information with anybody. And when you give by snail mail and (for some purpose) do not need a thank-you card, simply point out “NO CARD.”  Again, as ever, I’m so grateful in your readership and help. Now on to at the moment’s puzzle…

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[36D: Internet company whose logo is a cat wearing earphones]

Well, you hate to finish on a BLAT (nearly like ending on the proverbial [sad trombone] sound, wah-WAH), however that [Unpleasant sound from a tuba] is particularly unBEFITting at the moment, as that is one of the best puzzle I’ve seen all week. Big Friday Energy. Just whooshing and SKOSHing and SKORTing far and wide. Lots of bells and whistles and WHAPS (no matter these are). Lots of LIFE, is my level. Could’ve used extra struggle, extra enamel, extra HEART, extra TIGER (56A: Go-getter) (hey, it is “getter” once more, can not seem to shake that “phrase” this week). But I am unable to fault the puzzle’s relative easiness—I’m simply telling myself that that is the Real Friday puzzle that acquired bumped for that thematic WHATCHMACALLIT we acquired yesterday. Which jogs my memory: WHATCHAMACALLIT—spelled completely on the primary attempt! Can’t determine the distinction between BREACH and BREECH (see yesterday), however can spell huge made-up near-nonsense phrases accurately, no sweat. Weird, however true. I actually favored the form of this grid, and the sudden approach it unfolded. It simply has a lot … let’s name it “circulate.” It mainly has all the symmetries (mirror symmetry alongside the axes and diagonals, plus rotational symmetry—not simply 180-degree, however 90-degree as effectively). It’s primarily a cloverleaf, with 4 nook loops, so you possibly can go spinning across the black squares in all totally different instructions after which go taking pictures off down the street, and also you by no means end up caught in some dank nook with nobody to come back to your rescue. Never any “ugh, I’m caught, what subsequent,” as a result of there’s all the time one other strategy to come at issues. I botched 1A: Terms of deal with proper out of the gate. Misread it as a singular and wrote in MADAM, and the “confirmed” MADAM with ALT … however that error by no means bogged me down. I simply moved over to the adjoining prime part and began in with THUDS at 6A: Hit sounds, which was additionally improper, however then my beloved PHO got here to my rescue, so I attempted WHAPS for the [Hit sounds] and zooooom off I went. Pretty quickly, the primary sparkly lengthy reply went streaking throughout the grid:

PHO! There for you in illness, in well being, and in grid. Truly a miracle employee. As for HOSTILE TAKEOVER, I principally get bored by business-y economic-y IPO-type phrases, nevertheless it’s arduous to not just like the ’80s-movie vitality of HOSTILE TAKEOVER. Why do I affiliate HOSTILE TAKEOVER with the ’80s? Probably as a result of that is once I realized the time period, and likewise all “Wall Street” / “Working Girl”-type film enterprise shenanigans appear of a chunk to me. At any charge, I like HOSTILE TAKEOVER as a crossword reply, so much. I additionally favored the way in which my remedy unfolded after that. It was simply so … visually odd. And symmetrical!

Once I drove these lengthy spikes down via the HEART of the grid, I knew the remainder of the remedy was going to be a cinch. Like driving a stake via the HEART of Dracula, solely … nicer, much less violent. From the above place, I acquired WALKIE-TALKIES after which pulled all of the Down crosses via the middle line, and thus via the reply that ended up being NO TRESPASSING—that was the one reply that did give me a quick (and welcome) battle, as I had hassle parsing it (in addition to greedy the that means of its “?” clue). I had PASSI– on the tip and at first wished something-PASSION (sincerely thought “enforced boundaries” was going to have one thing to do with bondage). Then acquired PASSING and figured PASSING was a phrase unto itself. Then the NOTRE half at first ended up wanting just like the French phrase NOTRE as in NOTRE Dame … till lastly NO TRESPASSING sorted itself out. This is my form of “issue”—stumbling via befuddlement to come back out with readability on the opposite facet. Struggle … then readability! And “aha” readability, not “ugh” readability. Good stuff.

There was, in fact, stuff I simply did not know. ROXY, for one (16D: Women’s surfwear model). Actually … that may be it. Weird. I’ve had Monday puzzles that threw extra unknowns at me.  Still, I assumed the cluing made issues sufficiently thorny—for a Friday, if not likely for a Saturday. The SALLY Ride clue was good (if not terribly arduous) (27A: Ride in house). I additionally favored the clue on DRUG (48D: Generic, e.g.). Now that is a correct Saturday clue—a noun posing as an adjective, and simply the one phrase + e.g. Tough. But neighboring Téa LEONI was not powerful and neighboring ERE was not powerful, and with that a lot simple stuff mendacity round, the powerful stuff by no means had an opportunity to actually maintain me up (or drag me down). “THE BACHELORETTE” is a scourge, however that could be a nice clue. This is the magic of crosswords—making me excited to come across issues I’ve little interest in or actively dislike. HOSTILE TAKEOVER! “THE BACHELORETTE“! Not what I’d have referred to as the makings of a Rex-pleasing puzzle, and but Here We Are. Hope this one gave you an excellent exercise or at the least a bracing “good morning” slap within the face. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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