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Desert whose soil has been compared to that of Mars / SUN 3-6-22 / Pink pad...
Constructor: Matthew Stock and Will NedigerRelative difficulty: Medium (though I finished with an error—Natick City! Population: me)THEME: "Parlor Trick" — the grid is supposed to look like a PACHINKO...
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Pretend shot, in basketball lingo / MON 3-7-22 / Traditional English pub...
Constructor: Sam AckerRelative difficulty: Kinda Challenging, in parts, ***for a Monday***THEME: REVENGE IS A DISH / BEST SERVED COLD (3D: With 11-Down, proverb about delayed retribution, with a hint...
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1966 Swedish Literature Nobelist who wrote about the struggles of the Jewish...
Constructor: Mary Lou GuizzoRelative difficulty: Challenging (***for a Tuesday***) (names names names)THEME: Women Nobelists — a list of women who have won Nobel Prizes ... if there's anything trickier...
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Dog breed whose coat resembles dreadlocks / WED 3-9-22 / Sponsored boys at...
Constructor: Peter GordonRelative difficulty: Medium-ChallengingTHEME: I honestly don't know ... — I think it's apostrophesTheme answers:"LET'S HAVE IT" (16A: "You and I should eat that")STUDENT I'D...
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Willow used in basket-weaving / THU 3-10-22 / Brit's bottom / Grinder vendor...
Constructor: John WestwigRelative difficulty: Challenging (despite the fairly basic theme gimmick)THEME: SWITCH JOBS (56A: Change careers, or a hint to this puzzle's theme)— "___ A ___" phrases, where...
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Acronym on a pay stub / FRI 3-11-22 / Characters at checkout / Name of a...
Constructor: Robyn WeintraubRelative difficulty: EasyTHEME: none Word of the Day: LUNA (49D:1960s-'70s Soviet space program) — The Luna programme (from the Russian word Луна "Luna" meaning "Moon"),...
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Something picked up by a silent butler / SAT 3-12-22 / 1924 tale of...
Constructor: Natan LastRelative difficulty: Easy (except for that one word)THEME: none Word of the Day: PARI PASSU (7D: On equal footing, in Latin) — Pari passu is a Latin phrase that literally means...
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Video game character in a hit 2020 film / SUN 3-13-22 / Self-title rock album...
Constructor: Christina Iverson and Katie HaleRelative difficulty: Medium-ChallengingTHEME:"Body Language"— idioms containing body parts are represented literally (spatially) in the grid:Theme...
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Bygone TV host with a famous neighborhood / MON 3-14-22 / Neighbor on Full...
Constructor: Stephen HiltnerRelative difficulty: Medium (easy, but a couple of those themer names ... yikes)THEME: TV neighbors — "neighbors" on '90s TV shows, and then ... FRED ROGERS, of "Mr. Rogers'...
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Reason to get gussied up / TUES 3-15-22 / Vanquish, as a dragon / Game with...
Hello, everyone, it’s Clare (surprise!) filling in for Rex for today. I hope that everyone is having a good March, with the start of spring in less than a week! It randomly snowed in D.C. over the...
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"The Duck Variations" playwright / WED 3-16-2022 / Swiss author of "Elements...
Hey besties! Welcome back to Midweek with Malaika / Malaika MWednesday / Miercoles con Malaika. Rex is on vacation, so I'll be with y'all for the next few days. If you want to get into The Malaika...
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Pigeons on a platter / THURS 3-17-2022 / QB stat: Abbr. / Cry to end a pin
Hey besties, thanks for joining me for a second Malaika MWednesday! (If we can change the clocks twice a year, why not change the days of the week.) If you'd like to enter The Malaika Headspace, today...
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Filipino national hero ___ Rizal / FRI 3-18-2022 / De segunda ___...
Good morning, and thanks for joining me on the final Malaika MWednesday of the month! Before jumping in to the puzzle, I wanted to call out that the two constructors (+ Rachel Fabi, friend-of-the-blog)...
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Something often seen with trunks / SAT 3-19-2022 / It means "father of" in...
Constructor: Ryan McCartyRelative difficulty: medium, maybe medium-hard? idkTHEME: noneWord of the Day: SAM (___ Taylor-Johnson, director of "Fifty Shades of Grey") — Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson OBE...
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Word from the French for "high wood" / SUN 3-20-2022 / It lands on the White...
Constructor: Brad WiegmannRelative difficulty: medium (eight minutes here)THEME: Exs and Nos — a series of bad puns involving dating various people (also, why are all these clues needlessly gendered?...
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Rigorous email management system / MON 3-21-22 / Spearlike weapons of...
Constructor: John Ewbank and Jeff ChenRelative difficulty: MediumTHEME: BACK-UP SINGER (52A: One helping in a band ... or what can be found in each set of circled letters?) — five-letter one-named...
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Oxymoronic stage name for the D.J. Norman Cook / TUE 3-22-22 / New York city...
Constructor: Adam WagnerRelative difficulty: Medium (a few proper nouns might've EDGED this UP to Medium-Challenging for some)THEME: MAGNET (69A: Object represented visually twice in this puzzle) —...
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Metonym for the US Congress / WED 3-23-22 / Place to play dodgeball,...
Constructor: Barbara LinRelative difficulty: Easy-MediumTHEME: flips and flops of various kinds — all clues are [FLIP] (2), [FLOP] (2), or [FLIP-FLOP] (2); I don't know why, they just are:Theme...
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Sports star turned model Gabrielle / THU 3-24-22 / Strip of computer...
Constructor: Jess ShulmanRelative difficulty: Easy (for a rebus, very easy)THEME: RAISE THE [BAR] (58A: Heighten expectations, say ... or a hint to entering four answers in this puzzle) — for four...
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Pandora releases / FRI 3-25-22 / Adage first attributed to Virgil's "Eclogue...
Constructor: Evans ClinchyRelative difficulty: Easy THEME: none Word of the Day: Pandora (1D: Pandora releases (SINS)) — In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: Πανδώρα, derived from πᾶν, pān, i.e. "all"...
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