Panegyric poet / WED 3-8-23 / Fabulous fabulist / Marine fish that is additionally the identify of a coiffure / Saskatchewan’s second-largest metropolis, after Saskatoon / Former Wyoming consultant Liz / Reverse a thumbs-up for, on Fb

Constructor: Miranda Kany

Relative problem: Straightforward

THEME: “Guacamole” — theme solutions are components for guacamole, clued as recipe directions. The phrase “Guacamole” is spelled out by shaded (right here, circled) squares that you’re purported to learn clockwise ranging from the highest:

Theme solutions:

• ONION (3D: “One small crimson minced, for crunch and tang”)
• GARLIC (4D: “Three cloves minced, for depth and aroma”)
• SALT (11D: “One teaspoon, pink or black, for emphasis”)
• CILANTRO (22A: “1/2 cup coarsely chopped, for shiny (or soapy) taste”)
• AVOCADO (40A: “About two cups cubed, after peeling and pitting”)
• JALAPEÑO (55A: “One seeded and minced, for warmth”)
• CUMIN (53D: “1/2 teaspoon, for a bit further taste … actually, strive it!”)
• TOMATO (49D: “One vine-ripe chopped, for texture and coloration”)
• LIME (57D: “One small juiced, for citrus notes, and to protect coloration”)

Phrase of the Day: TINO Martinez (13D: Baseball’s Martinez) —

Constantino “Tino” Martinez (born December 7, 1967) is an American former professional baseball participant. He performed in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1990 by 2005. He additionally served as a hitting coach for the Miami Marlins in 2013. He is called “Tino”, a shortened model of his first identify, however was additionally nicknamed “The Bam-tino” after his house run in sport 1 of the 1998 World Series. Previously a third baseman, Martinez was the primary spherical draft choose for the Seattle Mariners in 1988 out of the University of Tampa, the place he starred throughout his time on campus. Throughout his 16-year MLB profession, he scored 1,009 runs, drove in 1,271 runs, and hit 339 home runs. He had 100 or extra RBI in six totally different seasons and was twice named to the All-Star team. (wikipedia)

• • •

The true [Baseball’s Martinez]

Nicely I really like guacamole, however this puzzle … I do not know. I do not assume I get it. That’s, it is only a checklist of components. That’s all that it’s. It appears to attempt to make up for this with some shaded (circled) squares that spell the “revealer” (“Guacamole”), however these squares are … what are they doing? Are they purported to type the define of an AVOCADO? I can nearly think about that, if I squint and in addition am very beneficiant. But when random squares that you simply learn “clockwise” are nonetheless random squares. It isn’t going to be arduous to seek out any of those letters in any given grid, and in a really uneven, excessive word-count grid like this, you possibly can in all probability make a really imprecise “clockwise” scheme come out fairly simply. It is doable that the big quantity of theme content material (*9* components!), made filling the grid extra of a problem than filling a similarly-shaped grid would’ve been below much less demanding circumstances, however nonetheless, the “clockwise” revealer is type of a dud, and it is a dud that is making an attempt to make up for an insubstantial theme. This puzzle is simply lacking some important *crossword* ingredient. It would not appear playful or gamelike. It is a checklist. And the addition of CUMIN … belief me, I don’t wish to get into the Guacamole Tradition Wars (“Peas! How dare you!”), and I’ve little question that CUMIN is, because the clue suggests, fairly good in guacamole, however its presence right here is so painfully, clearly about making the ingredient checklist come out symmetrical that it had me going “actually? come on.” It’s the notable outlier, so far as commonplace guacamole recipes go, and it is aware of it (the clue would not be making an attempt so arduous to persuade you it was legitimate if it was in actual fact legitimate) (“… actually, strive it!”). Total, it is arduous to be enthusiastic about this one, besides insofar as I’m at all times in some small approach enthusiastic about guacamole. However I am going to strive the CUMIN. I promise.