Tuesday, July 27, 2021, Jennifer Lee and Victor Galson

Today's theme made me chuckle when I looked at it after completing the puzzle. The revealer is FACIALRECOGNITION, or "Technology used by smartphones nowadays ... or a hint to the ends of 16-, 24-, 44-, and 57-Across." Those ends are IZE, EERS, NOES, and LYPSE -  making a real funny face. Taken at face value, the long answers that included the facial feature endings were all solid. I especially liked APOCALYPSE - good times. :) I think I spotted some ancillary theme material with IPHOTO and FILETYPES ("PDF, JPEG and others").

While the grid included a host of familiar faces such as ALOE, OBOE, LEI, ANTS, and so on, there were some other entries that stuck out in the crowd like DAWG, BELIE (also in yesterday's Spelling Bee!), DELVE, CORNET, and delicious GROG.

Some clues caught my eye as well including "Lowdown" for INFO and SHY for "Not having quite enough money." I also liked "Embellish, as a résumé" (PAD). I entered the 'ivOrY' for "Wood for piano keys, once" instead of the correct EBONY - and, although incorrect, you can't argue that together they make beautiful music. :)

All in all, I thought the puzzle cut a fine figure.

~Frannie.