Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Hairstyle that's ...

Constructor: Brad Wilber and Doug Peterson

Relative difficulty: Easy (well, 3/4 easy for me, and then a bit of a freefall in the NE that was largely stupidity-driven, so I'm just gonna call it Easy overall)

THEME: none 

Word of the Day: TARN (42A: Alpine lake) —

: a small steep-banked mountain lake or pool (merriam-webster.com)• • • Really enjoyed this one, despite its faint patina of crosswordese (INES SST RAE LETT SETTO DAH OLEG OLES etc). The long answers really hold up—nothing particularly current or flashy, but solid winners nonetheless. Seriously, all the groupings of longer answers are truly fine. And it's worth noting, or confessing, that even though excessive crosswordese bugs me, it's often what gives me my toeholds in tough puzzles, so maybe I should be a little nicer to it. You know, here and there. Not too nice. It's just that the overfamiliar stuff, if doled out in moderation, can be a big help. I mean, I got started by going SOPS SST LETT, not the prettiest combo, but then that opened up SILK BOXERS "ONE FINE DAY" and PET CARRIER, so I mostly forgot about the first few words I put in the grid. Do people really pay a lot of money for SILK BOXERS? Huh. Live and learn. It was definitely a quick solve that went predominantly counterclockwise, starting in the NW and ending up in the NE, and it was in the NE that the wheels came totally off my speedsolvingmobile. If I could eliminate Morse code units from all future puzzles, boy would I? DITs and DAHs ... Gah! Anyway, [T as in telegraph?] just didn't register for me—if it had, I likely would've seen THE CITADEL much sooner (12D: South Carolina college). I had CARPS for CRABS, which was probably the most fatal mistake I made in that quadrant (34A: Kvetches). I really think my answer fits the clue better, and I had the "C" and the "S," so I was reluctant to doubt it. Wanted SNOOTY at 30A: Nose-in-the-air, but then when it didn't work well with CARPS, I doubted SNOOTY, not CARPS, ugh. Thought maybe SNOBBY (?). Again ugh. The biggest ugh, though, was actually having the "IC-" at 21A: Something hanging near Christmas lights and ... coming up with nothing. In retrospect, that seems impossible. I think at that point I was doubting so much, I started to doubt that "C" (from CROCK). But I even tried ICE-something at one point. It's true that the clue is kinda stretching the meaning of "near," but still, ICICLE should've been close to instant with that "IC-" in place, and I just blanked. Embarrassing.  Here are some other things that happened:Other Things:

24A: Pirates' terms of address (HEARTIES) — I put this in but never felt totally confident of it until I finally sorted out the SNOOTY CRABS part. Piratespeak always seems so contrived to me, and I'm never sure if I have it right. 

20A: Sticky pad? (NEST) — Had the "N" and "S" and honestly thought NASA at first (like ... a launch pad?); but this is pretty good, as "?" clues go: nests are made of "sticks," a "pad" is slang for a home ...

40A: Larva of a dragonfly, named after Greek myth (NAIAD) — it's the "named after Greek myth" part of this clue that bugged me; it's not named after "Greek myth," it's named after a *particular figure* from Greek myth that you should've specified in some way.

28D: Spring or fall, e.g. (ACTION VERB) — proud to figure this one out very quickly, less proud that I thought the phrase was ACTIVE VERB.

37D: Post master? (ADMIN) — Had AD MAN for a bit and didn't really get it, but AD MAN is crosswordese and they're always doing wacky "?" clues for ad-related stuff so I wasn't gonna question it ... until it didn't work. I guess here the ADMIN is the person who oversees "posts" (to online forums).

27D: What robots might be used to reduce (HUMAN ERROR) — if scifi has taught me anything, this is a pipe dream. The only thing robots are going to "reduce" is the human population. Stay on your toes, people.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. a message from one of today's constructors, Brad Wilber, about the Boswords 2020 Fall Themeless League:

John Lieb and Andrew Kingsley, the creators of the Boswords summer tournament, now present The Boswords 2020 Fall Themeless League.  The League will play out every Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern in October and November. Solvers may compete as individuals or as a pair.  Contestants can also choose a preferred difficulty level. The entire collection of the themeless crosswords will be edited by Brad Wilber.  To register, to view the constructor line-up, and to get more information, go to www.boswords.org.Registration closes on Sunday, Oct. 4, so act now. [Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]