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@MmmmHmm I’m a female, and I definitely don’t think ROIDS is “deeply male slang.” As a lifelong baseball fan, I got that one instantly.
I did not read through all the comments to see if others have pointed this out, so apologies if I’m being repetitive. But I can’t help but notice that, under “Tricky Clues,” the article spells out PLAYDOUGH, but the spelling in the puzzle (and the name of the brand) is PLAYDOH. It’s also odd that the article uses HORA (singular), while the answer was actually HORAS (plural). Sorry to nitpick!
@ad absurdum Well, the clue does specify that the “shipping” refers to the characters played by the Lanes
@Barry Ancona I agree that the NE corner was somewhat challenging; but for me, it was challenging in a fun, “make you think” way. I’m assuming the pun that OP is referring to is STREET ROD [drag performer?], which is crossed with the three proper nouns PATTI, ETHIOPIANS, and ENDER. But in my opinion, none of these proper nouns are particularly difficult to figure out by using the crossings, even if one doesn’t know the “trivia.”
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