Troopers, on a CB radio / WED 5-28-25 / New Jersey metropolis with a bridge to Staten Island / Sholem ___, creator of “Kids of Abraham” / Query whereas pointing / Like many a Swiftie / Thinker identified for paradoxes / Pixar character who has bother saying “anemone” / Uncommon blood sort, briefly

Bayonne ( bay-(Y)OHN) is a metropolis in Hudson County within the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the Gateway Area on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. On the 2020 United States census, it was the state’s Fifteenth-most-populous municipality, surpassing Passaic, with a inhabitants of 71,686, a rise of 8,662 (+13.7%) from the 2010 census rely of 63,024, which in flip mirrored a rise of 1,182 (+1.9%) from the 61,842 counted within the 2000 census. The Census Bureau‘s Inhabitants Estimates Program calculated a inhabitants of 74,532 for 2024, making it the 517th-most populous municipality within the nation.

Bayonne was fashioned as a township in 1861, from parts of Bergen Township, and reincorporated as a metropolis by an act of the New Jersey Legislature in 1869. On the time it was fashioned, Bayonne included the communities of Bergen Level, Constable Hook, Centreville, Pamrapo and Saltersville.

Whereas considerably diminished, conventional manufacturing, distribution, and maritime actions stay a driving pressure of the financial system of the town. A portion of the Port of New York and New Jersey is situated there, as is the Cape Liberty Cruise Port.

• • •

I believe I favored this puzzle higher after I thought it was depicting the bridge from BAYONNE to Staten Island, however even then I wasn’t having that good a time. That NW nook is an actual off-putter (putter-offer?). A lot Scrabble-f***ing (not one not two not three however 4 high-value Scrabble tiles). All so we are able to endure three correct nouns *and* the ugliness of ANEG, all crammed into one tiny little part, earlier than we have actually gotten anyplace. Then there’s BAYONNE, which is a few actual provincial “you gotta dwell within the larger NYC space” crud. We’re developing on the seventieth anniversary (!) of the final time BAYONNE appeared within the puzzle … for a cause! It isn’t a puzzle-worthy place. By any stretch. Until that stretch is a stretch of bridge that you’re depicting within the puzzle (for this reason I used to be keen to present BAYONNE a go for a bit bit). However then no, the “bridge” ended up “spanning” the space between BAYONNE and … ARMY VET? Is that a spot on Staten Island? That does not sound like a spot on Staten Island. So bizarre to search out out that the theme had nothing to do with BAYONNE or bridges in any respect. The circled letters are, as an alternative, an oddly high-arcing solar shifting the incorrect manner throughout the sky? The theme is … a tune from FIDDLER? Plus two tacked-on / musically unrelated expressions? One among which is in kiddiespeak (NIGHTY-NIGHT)? This felt showy but additionally messy. Plus it was laden with crosswordese (SRA SST ABA ANEG DAK RONI VENI EDY … plural IRENES!?). There is a Fred & Ginger crossreferenced pair, for some cause (ASTAIRE / ROGERS, “High Hat” costars). I imply, I like them, however so bizarre to have such an elaborate crossreference and have or not it’s fully unrelated to the theme. That is what I imply by “messy.” It wasn’t boring, nevertheless it additionally wasn’t actually pleasurable for me, both.

No actual tough spots right now. I wanted most each cross to get BAYONNE, and a few extra crosses to get the ARMY a part of ARMY VET (nothing within the clue that’s Military-specific). I had TOKE earlier than VAPE (6D: Puff on an e-cig). I wrote in “NO LIE” however then remembered the phrase “NO CAP” exists, so pulled the “LIE” half and waited for crosses (“LIE” was appropriate, as ). I assumed the [Eur. alliance] was the G-TEN. Is not there additionally a G-TWELVE? And a G-SEVEN? And a G-TWENTY?! Is that this the identical group and it simply retains altering numbers? (Reply: No—all totally different teams … actually laborious to recollect what any of them imply when the naming system is so unimaginative). 

Lightning spherical:

• 19A: “Sharp Dressed Man” band (ZZTOP) — talking of “within the air,” the NYTXW is single-handedly conserving ZZTOP within the air. They’re the go-to band in clues for TRIO (very not too long ago, the truth is), and now right here they’re, a solution in their very own proper—for the twentieth time (although the primary time in nearly seven years).

• 38A: Like many a Swiftie (TEENAGE) — as a result of MIDDLE-AGED would not match (Swift is 35 and an enormous chunk of her fandom is 40+ so … [Like many a Swiftie] may’ve been something, truthfully. It isn’t that she does not have teen followers, clearly, simply that this clue appears like a caricature of fandom. Her precise fandom is mmaassiivvee. 
• 9D: Query whereas pointing (“HERE?”) — cluing this as a query is semi-perverse. I imply, anyone phrase could be a query in order for you it to be. “HIM?” “ME?” “BUTTER?”
• 32D: Hosp. diagnostic (EEG) — appears to be a factor right now, leaving off any specificity within the clue. Nothing Military-specific in ARMY VET clue, and nothing brain-specific on this EEG clue (which suggests you needed to go away that center letter clean and look ahead to the cross … otherwise you did not go away it clean and bought fortunate … otherwise you did not go away it clean and made the EKG mistake. Otherwise you simply went nuts and recklessly wrote in MRI. A kind of issues occurred, for certain.

See you subsequent time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]