Traditional Mexican stew / THU 6-6-24 / Art style associated with Henri Rousseau / Beanpole material, often / "The most important architect of our age," according to Vanity Fair / Word that looks like an alternative to "tisn't"? / (2024)

THEME: "I'VE CHANGED" (53A: "The old me is gone" ... or what happened between the first and second parts of 19-, 28-, 37- and 48-Across?)— wacky two-word phrases where the first word ends in -IVE and in the second word the "IVE" ... "changes" ... to "ES" ... (why "ES?" I do not know):

Theme answers:

• MASSIVE MASSES (19A: Services at a megachurch?)
• CURSIVE CURSES (28A: List in a fancy witchcraft guide?)
• PASSIVE PASSES (37A: What a tentative quarterback throws?)
• MISSIVE MISSES (48A: Long letters sent to the wrong person?)

Word of the Day:EMIL Nolde(30D: Expressionist painter Nolde) —

Emil Nolde(bornHans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter andprintmaker. He was one of the firstExpressionists, a member ofDie Brücke, and was one of the firstoil paintingandwatercolorpainters of the early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.

Nolde's intense preoccupation with the subject of flowers reflected his interest in the art ofVincent van Gogh.

Even though his art was included in theEntartete Kunstexhibitionof 1937, Nolde was a racist, anti-semite and a staunch supporter of Nazi Germany.

• • •

[Missives. Massive.]

This is one of the weakest Thursday themes I've (!) ever seen, which makes me think I must be missing something ... but I can't figure out what it is. I get that "IVE" changes from the first to the second part of the theme answers, but why does it change to "-ES"? That's what I don't get. Surely the transformation must be meaningful, I reasoned. So I sought for reason and continue to seek for reason, and find none. If the "IVE" had changed into something ... well, something, anything, anything that would lend coherence to the theme, then maybe enduring a bunch of tepidly wacky singsongy themers would've seemed worth it, but without that coherence, what I've got in front of me is a half-baked mess. Totally unworthy of a Thursday, or any day. So I look forward to hearing what I'm missing, because if there's even slightly more complexity to this theme than what I can see at the moment, that would elevate the apparent quality of this theme considerably. The weakness of the theme answers isn't helping matters. It's hard to get excited about any of these answers—they are very easy to get, but there's nothing to them. They're preposterous, but not in a particularly funny way. Megachurches aren't typically Catholic, but the term "MASS" is, so that was ... weird. Also, passes can't be passive. You have to actively ... throw the ball, however weakly or ineffectually. I do like the word MISSIVE, so that last themer is probably my favorite, just on surface-level word interest alone, but on the whole, this is all very beige (with apologies to beige, which I'm sure is a very fine color in the right context).

The fill has more lows than highs (lots of ATESTS EXO ITPRO ESO-type filler), but there were at least a few answers that livened things up a bit. I like the puzzle's immersion in the art world. Nice to see Henri Rousseau here (last I saw him was in NYC somewhere, maybe MoMA? Yes, MoMA). I've (!) always liked the paintings of EMIL Nolde, so finding out (just now) that he was a Nazi sympathizer who tried to ingratiate himself to Hitler was pretty grim business. Of course (of course!) being a Nazi sycophant didn't pay off, and more of his work was included in the "Degenerate Art" exhibition of 1937 than that of any other artist. Unsurprisingly, he carefully hid his onetime support for Hitler from the art world in the postwar era, fashioning himself as a victim of Nazi persecution (not untrue, just ... not the whole story). Given his association with Nazism, I probably wouldn't cross his name with SHTETL in the future. Just a suggestion. (42A: Historical setting sought in "Everything Is Illuminated")

In addition to the art, you've got the architecture of Frank GEHRY, whose buildings are works of art themselves, and are frequently homes to some of the world's great artworks—see the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, for instance:

[43A: "The most important architect of our age," according to Vanity Fair]

From the world of food and drink, we have tasty POSOLE(15D: Traditional Mexican stew) and my beloved AMARO, a crucial ingredient in many co*cktails, including the Black Manhattan (33A: Liqueur whose name translates as "bitter" in Italian). I generally prefer AMARO Montenegro, but I must have half a dozen AMARI (5!) in my liquor cabinet right now, including this one, which I bought on crossword appeal alone (ETNA!), though it turns out to be pretty damned good:

[AMARO dell'ETNA]

Both DEFIB(1A: Apparatus used in CPR training, informally) and GETGO(58A: Very beginning) add a little spice to the short stuff today. On the other hand we've got the intolerable SESH unfortunately elevated to marquee status by its inclusion in the somehow-even-more-intolerable GOSSIP SESH. You've also got the improbable comparative SERENER(41D: Like a Zen garden vis-à-vis a zoo) and the always-ugly-no-matter-how-you-clue-it SNOT (6A: Word that looks like an alternative to "tisn't"?). I like that the puzzle used the proper PROPHESIED(25D: Foretold) and not the awful PROPHESIZED (or the true abomination, PROPHECIZED). Not sure how I feel about PURPLE RICE (16A: Colorful grain). I want to like PURPLE RICE. I've had purple potatoes, not sure I've had ... no, I have had PURPLE RICE. I'm sure. Didn't leave much of an impression. I think I'm officially neutral on this one. ALAS, I'm not neutral on most of the fill, which skews a little crosswordesey and overcommon.