Monday, July 31, 2023, David Litman and Andrea Carla Michaels

Dearest Readers, it seems like it has been an age since I last sat in the reviewer's seat. It's been a busy summer, despite having given my job the OLDE heave-ho. Anyhoo, that's not why you called me here. If you are here at all, you came to read a little bit about today's NYTX offering, so here goes. 

Today's 1A is STAR, clued as, a "Reference point for nighttime navigation" but it is also a way to evaluate things. This puzzle rates more than one star, both review-wise and because it also contains the names of three famous people: a tennis star, a tabloid star, and a legal star. What else do these three have in common? Each owes her or his fame to a different kind of court, summarized by the apt revealer SEEYOUINCOURT. Well played!

My sovlesperience started off very smoothly; it was read a clue, enter the answer. That is, until I hit "Actor Epps" at 17A. Unfortunately, I also didn't know the answer to the cross at 17A "Actor Malek of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'" - putting me in danger of what you might call a double fault. Not to make a federal case out of it, but names crossing names can be murder for a solver! Let that be as it may, I moved on, completing all but that one square of the puzzle in a speedy-for-me five something. For a few moments, I feared I was royally screwed. In the end, I used my best judgement (and a few extra cycles) and settled on the letter M making OMAR meet RAMI and was rewarded with congrats from the app. 

The C/AP that made my ALIST today was "For-prophet institution?" (SEMINARY) - ha! Fill-wise, I enjoyed CHIMESIN - it sounds so pleasant, doesn't it? - and the always-hilarious CLOWNCAR ("Comically packed circus vehicle").

In short, I think it's a crowning achievement that the constructors served us a puzzle perfectly suited to a Monday.

~Frannie.