SATURDAY PUZZLE — This is Billy Bratton’s 3rd Saturday grid successful a row. It’s packed with lively debuts, 1 of this constructor’s signatures, arsenic good arsenic immoderate confounding misdirections. My lick had a feast-or-famine consciousness to it: I knew a fistful of entries reflexively, but I needed each past 1 of those letters to beryllium capable to deduce a larger fistful of presumption and trivia that my intelligence inventory lacked completely. Some of the capable that slowed maine down was slangy, enthusiastic and youthful; figuring it retired was invigorating and, frankly, gave maine a flimsy boost of optimism for 2023.

Tricky Clues

18A. Uh-oh. This is simply a crossword debut and surely seems similar a modern factoid, but it turns retired that the quality successful question was created successful 2003. The “Mario quality with a mushroom caput and pinkish braids” is TOADETTE.

35A. The “David Bowie persona successful 1970s glam rock” is ZIGGY STARDUST, an iconic character whose sanction I thought appeared often successful the puzzle, astatine slightest successful part. I was amazed that ZIGGY has been successful the New York Times Crossword lone erstwhile and that STARDUST has ne'er been clued successful this context.

38A. This tiny introduction took a infinitesimal to descend successful for this solver, who fortunately doesn’t walk overmuch clip sitting successful traffic, looking astatine cars from behind. (Waiting for a subway bid to unpause itself betwixt stops? That I’m acquainted with.) A “Rear-view diagnostic connected a Jeep?” is simply a spare TIRE, which sits astatine the acceptable connected the car’s tailgate.

55A. The clever wording of this hint solves to different debut, 1 that I was amazed had not appeared successful a puzzle before. “Understand without listening” sounds a spot spiritual to me, but it points to the learned accomplishment that allows 1 to READ LIPS.

61A. On the different hand, this debut operation is slang (which I liked, erstwhile I pieced it unneurotic and mulled it implicit a clip oregon two). “Da bomb” solves to SO DOPE.

2D. Witch trials? Flash mobs? The “Sort of spectacles not overmuch seen nowadays” are connected your face, not successful beforehand of it, successful the signifier of PINCE-NEZ. These specs were au courant a period oregon truthful agone for aesthetic reasons — they were more fashionable than glasses with stems, seemingly — but they fell retired of favour due to the fact that of their precarious nature.

3D. Two websites are successful play here, 1 successful the hint — “Forum that provides worldly for galore BuzzFeed articles” — and 1 successful the entry. (I deliberation these days I look astatine buzzfeed.com mostly erstwhile it comes up successful a crossword clue, but it does marque for a blameworthy pleasure.) The solution, ASK REDDIT, is simply a debut. I raised an eyebrow to it earlier learning of this fashionable subreddit.

37D. I got stuck connected 2 misdirects astatine the bottommost of this grid for a bully while. Here I mistook powerfulness for memory: A “Large portion of computing speed” is simply a TERAFLOP alternatively than a terabyte.

42D. And present I thought of drinking a bully latte, alternatively than doing the dishes (understandably). “Get frothy” isn’t “foam up”; it’s SOAP UP.

50D. This is an unexpected but accepted definition: “Stir up” solves to BREED. I thought the lone usage of this saltation was “breed resentment,” but seemingly there’s a determination idiom — “breeding a scab connected your nose” — that means stirring up trouble!

Constructor Notes

Happy New Year!

Want to Submit Crosswords to The New York Times?

The New York Times Crossword has an unfastened submission system, and you tin taxable your puzzles online.

For tips connected however to get started, work our series, “How to Make a Crossword Puzzle.”

Need a power-up?

Subscribers tin take a peek astatine the reply key.

Trying to get backmost to the puzzle page? Right here.

What did you think?