Famed shoe designer / MON 4-21-25 / Cute title for a partner’s activity checklist / Place “rocked” in a Conflict track / Sled pullers within the Arctic / Garfield’s frenemy within the comics / Solely nonrigid weapon in clue

Constructor: Thomas van Geel

Relative problem: Difficult (**for a Monday**) (**esp. in the event you’re fixing Downs-only**)

THEME: “GESUNDHEIT!” (56A: Well mannered response to the ends of 17-, 25-, 34- and 48-Throughout) — the ends of the themers characterize a sneeze: “Ah, ah, ah … Choo!”:

Theme solutions:

• BAR MITZVAH (17A: Coming-of-age ceremony)
• THE CASBAH (25A: Place “rocked” in a Conflict track)
• CHEETAH (34A: Animal that may go 0-60 in three seconds)
• JIMMY CHOO (48A: Famed shoe designer)

Phrase of the Day: DOJA CAT (36D: “Paint the City Crimson” rapper) —

Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), recognized professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and report producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she started making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teen. Her track “So Excessive” caught the eye of Kemosabe and RCA Data, with whom she signed a recording contract previous to the discharge of her debut prolonged play, Purrr! in 2014.

After a hiatus from releasing music and the uneventful rollout of her debut studio album, Amala (2018), Doja Cat earned viral success as an web meme along with her 2018 single “Mooo!“, a novelty track during which she makes humorous claims about being a cow. Capitalizing on her rising reputation, she launched her second studio album, Scorching Pink, within the following yr. The album later reached the highest ten of the US Billboard 200 and spawned the one “Say So“; its remix that includes Nicki Minaj topped the Billboard Scorching 100. Her third studio album, Planet Her (2021), spent 4 weeks at quantity two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the highest ten singles “Kiss Me Extra” (that includes SZA), “Have to Know“, and “Lady“. Her fourth studio album, Scarlet (2023), adopted a hip-hop-oriented sound and peaked inside the prime 5 of the Billboard 200, whereas its lead single “Paint the City Crimson” grew to become her most profitable track thus far, because it marked her first solo number-one on the Scorching 100 amongst eight different international locations.

Described by The Wall Avenue Journal as “a talented technical rapper with a robust melodic sense and a daring visible presence”, Doja Cat is thought for creating movies and performances which obtain virality on social media platforms resembling TikTok. Properly-versed in Web tradition, she can also be famed for her absurdist on-line persona and stage presence. She has obtained quite a few accolades all through her profession, together with one Grammy Award from sixteen nominations, 5 Billboard Music Awards, 5 American Music Awards, and 5 MTV Video Music Awards. She is among the largest business artists of the 2020s in accordance with Billboard, and was included on the 100 most influential individuals on the planet by Time in 2023. (wikipedia)

• • •

Didn’t like this grid in any respect. Ridiculously large corners (esp. for an early-week grid) with a horribly uneven middle. Centering CHEETAH within the grid seems to have had cascading penalties, leading to … this. So we get these absurd banks of 7s in each nook, however no good / spicy / fascinating lengthy Downs, of the sort that have a tendency to brighten up themed puzzles. So no lengthy Downs, however loads of brief uninteresting stuff (ALEE AGAR SIS MAHI ODIE TNT AMIN (why!?) ELENA ADAS UNA SMEE and so forth.). These banks of 7s are OK—they are not ugly or something, they’re simply awkward. They make the puzzle really feel lopsided and unusual. And for these of us who clear up Downs-only, the added problem was virtually an excessive amount of. I could not imagine I truly bought the NW nook with out a lot bother. The NE nook, nevertheless, yeeeeeeeesh. I had ___ BET and no concept what was speculated to go there. EVEN? SAFE? The clue was not a lot assist (10D: Not fairly a positive factor). Its unfavourable phrasing (“not fairly”) didn’t have me on the lookout for a phrase as rosy as “GOOD.” After which APPEASE? That appears cheap, sure, however, when you don’t have any letters however the “A” close to the tip (—-A–), and the clue is 11D: Mollify, let me inform you, PLACATE looks like a reasonably good possibility. 

As for the theme of the puzzle, it left me slightly chilly, principally as a result of “VAH BAH TAH CHOO” is not a factor. I used to be already sounding out the endings to strive to determine the theme earlier than I ever bought to the underside, and once I hit CHOO and realized I needed to ignore the “V” “B” and “T” (respectively) in these remaining syllables, it simply did not really feel proper. You say the “CH-” in “CHOO” however not the “V” “B” or “T”? I see why, however I nonetheless felt let down that the precise sound gimmick on this puzzle was so banal. I am gonna begin sneezing “Vah … bah … tah … CHOO!” Appears extra enjoyable. I’ve at all times mentioned sneezing needs to be extra enjoyable, and now I will do one thing about it.