Apt identify for a sensei / WED 11-15-23 / Not a fan of postmillennials / Transient brouhaha

Constructor: Gary Larson

Relative issue: Straightforward

THEME: Add a ZEE (63D: Acceptable letter to finish this puzzle on) — “Z”s are added to the ends of strange phrases, creating wacky phrases, that are clued wackily (i.e. “?”-style):

Theme solutions:

• STAYING PUTZ (16A: Obnoxious houseguest?)
• ANTI-GEN Z (21A: Not a fan of postmillennials?)
• BOW SPRITZ (35A: Little bit of water splashed on a ship’s entrance?)
• SANTA FEZ (53A: Cap worn at a Shriners Christmas occasion?)
• MOCKING JAY-Z (60A: Making enjoyable of Beyoncé’s beau?)

Phrase of the Day: ATLAS Mountains (51A: North Africa’s ___ Mountains) —

The Atlas Mountains are a mountain vary within the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the identify “Atlantic” is derived from the mountain vary. It stretches round 2,500 km (1,600 mi) by Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The vary’s highest peak is Toubkal, which is in central Morocco, with an elevation of 4,167 metres (13,671 ft). The Atlas mountains are primarily inhabited by Berber populations.

The phrases for ‘mountain’ are Adrar and adras in some Berber languages, and these phrases are believed to be cognates of the toponym Atlas. The mountains are dwelling to a lot of animals and vegetation that are principally discovered inside Africa however a few of which could be present in Europe. Many of those species are endangered and some are already extinct. The climate is mostly cool however has sunny summers, and the typical temperature there may be 25 °C. (wikipedia)

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Excessive throwback puzzle! From the theme to the fill, this one is straight outta the twentieth century, a stable consultant of the very tried and really true add-a-letter theme. Add letter, stir, voila! Wackiness! In reality, do not even stir, simply stick it there on the tip, that is it, immediate theme! This fundamental recipe was as soon as the inspiration of numerous puzzles. After which, just like the buffalo, such puzzles have been hunted to close extinction. However simply as you possibly can nonetheless sometimes see buffalo, if you happen to’re driving throughout the nation and look onerous sufficient, so that you (apparently) can nonetheless see the add-a-letter theme, lumbering throughout the occasional grid. Solely certainly one of these near-extinctions is actually tragic. Nonetheless, completed proper, you possibly can, in reality, wring some fairly high-grade wackiness out of the straightforward add-a-letter thematic idea. Oldies *can* be goodies. This one, nevertheless, felt extra oldie than goodie to me, not simply due to the theme, however due to dated (or, if you happen to’re feeling extra beneficiant, “retro”) fill—brief stuff like ARP and Disco STU and OTOE and SOG, but additionally longer stuff like EDASNER, STEELIE, and RAINHAT. Keep in mind taking part in together with your STEELIE in your RAINHAT? As a result of your GRANNY allow you to play marbles throughout thunderstorms? Good instances. Few issues say “yesteryear” greater than “forms of marbles,” and I do not know when’s the final time I noticed a human carrying a RAINHAT, however STEELIE and RAINHAT *are* phrases and so they *do* match within the grid, so that you simply gotta roll with it, I assume. 

The one query in the present day is “Was It Wacky Sufficient For You?” For me, probably not, although STAYING PUTZ and SANTA FEZ do rise to the event, I believe. However having to say the “Z” out loud (as you do with two of those themers) kinda defeatz the aim of wacky Z-addition, I believe. And generally, the wackiness simply does not have enough zing. You’ll anticipate water to be “splashed on a ship’s entrance,” so regardless of the wacky sprit-to-spritz change, the wackiness of BOWSPRITZ does not actually register. It is all only a bit too tepid. And that “revealer,” yeesh. SHISH. Oof. The definition of “anticlimax.” That is it? Simply … ZEE? I imply, I see you will have it on the “finish” there, so it is “applicable,” as you say, in its approach, and but it nonetheless hits with a loud thud.

Theme clue wording felt bizarre at instances. “Postmillennials” feels dated / off. In case you google “postmillennial” you will study all in regards to the … effectively, first, you will see one thing a few rightwing Canadian web site that spreads disinformation about every kind of issues, however *then* you will see reference to the precise Christian end-times perception, “postmillennialism.” 

I assume earlier than pollsters sorted out what the hell to name the technology after “millennials,” they known as them “post-millennials,” however that did not final. And is Jay-Z Beyoncé’s “beau”? He is her husband. “Beau” implies one thing non-marital to me—premarital, in reality. A suitor. However I understand how onerous it’s to put off the alliteration—”Beyoncé’s beau” should’ve been tempting, nevertheless technically inapt. 

Hardest elements for me have been the model names, ZICAM and T/GEL. I forgot the previous existed, after which the latter I at all times get confused with the kitchenware T-FAL or the *different* Neutrogena shampoo T/SAL. Additionally, I had the -EL and briefly thought “… PREL?” (Nope, two “L”s, for positive). I additionally forgot the ATLAS Mountains existed, which made moving into the SW nook barely harder than it’d’ve been. Struggled to get RED as a result of the clue made no sense to me at first (1A: Half of an orange?), which was the purpose, I suppose. RED is half of orange (the opposite half being yellow), however it’s not half of “an” orange … therefore the query mark, query mark? My favourite mistake got here at 6D: Deal with that goes up and down? (OTIS). The clue meant “up and down” as in elevators (OTIS is the elevator man), however I believed “up and down” meant “studying the identical, up and down,” i.e. palindromic, so I confidently wrote in OTTO. My least favourite mistake was writing in SKID for 27D: Misplaced traction (SLID) and questioning why it appeared each proper and unsuitable concurrently (proper concept, unsuitable verb tense).