Drink That You Could Really Use - The New York Times

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Joe Deeney hydrates us.

SATURDAY PUZZLE — This is the second grid in two days with number symbols; Joe Deeney adds some star power and a number of watery elements. There’s also some interesting geometry today: an extra column, necessitated by that spelled-out 16-letter span. It's the centerpiece, but with 11 other lengthy debuts and fantastic cluing, it certainly doesn’t have to carry the rest of this excellent solve.

Tricky Clues

My sentimental favorites today are small, but there’s a lot to love. I refer to PAT (on the back — such a cute image), TULIP (makes me think of spring) and TOONS. There are a few real standout name challenges, as clued: SEMELE is one, as is LIZA (that one made me feel old, and made me wonder if we’d have mostly internet celebrities by the end of this decade). The UMA reference, in the context of this puzzle, brought to mind this scene:

1A: I got off on the wrong foot immediately by filling in “belly lox” here, also appetizing, but the wrong fish. Sable is smoked BLACK COD, sweeter than salted salmon.

25A: I don’t know about you, but as a city dweller I can barely make out the belt on this constellation, although I do know where to find it. I’ve never noticed ORIONS sword, which is sheathed on the belt and contains the Great Orion Nebula, where stars coalesce from cosmic dust. (Stars being ASTERISKS, by the way — characters in the title of the clued show.)

36A: As long as you’re not thinking of human relations (Marie and Pierre Curie?), this is a very well-known physics relationship. It still looks wild in a puzzle — E EQUALS MC SQUARED — and if you were wondering, the actual equation has been in a Times grid before (an Elizabeth Gorski anniversary appreciation Sunday; phew!).

42A: With science and the sky in mind, this clue could throw you off, spinning in space. The “orbit” is anatomical; an artificial object placed in it could be a GLASS EYE.

59A: OK, this is a surprise. The whole southwest corner was my slowest spot, and even knowing that this was a pun, I got a good head smack from GO BALD, i.e., have nothing to part (with).

15D: Both of the long entries today are debuts, but they're common phrases. It took a lot of crosses for me to come up with THIRST QUENCHER here, given its quirky clue; it makes an interesting cross with MOO JUICE.

32D: I didn’t know whether to interpret those extra O’s in “Do-o-ope” as a hint or just a mood; I guess that the type that would say it that way might also say this one, HELLA COOL, which is new to the grid (and, referring to HELLA, a fairly recent addition to dictionaries. Skater/surfer talk, I think).

Constructor Notes

Happy New Year, everyone! If ever there was a time to celebrate putting a year behind us, it is certainly now.

I expect 36-Across might receive a bit of a divided reaction. I know some folks don’t love having symbols written out — to me, the strange letter combinations and multiples Q’s made it a great entry to try to make a puzzle around. I’m especially glad to see my clues for 42-Across and 12-Down survived.

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