57A. [Was way too keyed up, in modern slang] solves to another debut, HAD NO CHILL. If you realize, after some exciting event, that your tongue was flapping behind you like a windsock and your fast-moving legs formed a comical blur, then you might have just HAD NO CHILL. You also might have had the ZOOMIES.
7D. I recognized the notation from this clue — [!, in mathematics] — but forgot what it meant. It’s called a FACTORIAL, and it is a formula for the product of all positive integers less than or equal to a given positive integer. So 4! would be 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 24. This has also never been in the Times Crossword.
14D/32D. These two entries go together nicely, even though they aren’t clued as a pair. 14D, [“I’m responsible for what happened”], solves to THAT’S ON ME, meaning “my bad,” basically. I tend to think “I’m paying” when I hear something’s “on me,” so when I solved 32D, [Stakes of some bar bets] — LOSER PAYS — it kind of echoed THAT’S ON ME.
30D. [Tries to talk smoothly, in slang] solves to something that sounds messy, SPITS GAME. “Spit” has an interesting etymology — it has meant to “roast meat on a pointed rod” since circa 1200 and “fluid from the mouth” since at least the 1300s — but here it’s probably drawing from rap, where it means to be silver-tongued.
Constructor Notes
I hope you enjoyed the puzzle! With SHAKSHUKA and AGED CHEESE joining BLACK AND WHITES, BEIGNETS, COFFEE CAKE and LARGE PIZZA, I have now debuted pretty much all of my favorite foods. Stay tuned for my favorite drinks.
To any constructors or aspiring ones, feel free to reach out anytime if you’d like to collaborate.
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