REServed? Ooh, RESidential? That's it, isn't it? Oof. I'm also kind of making the face at RES., which I don't think I fully understand. But the long Acrosses weren't working so I had to pull it and quickly realized it would be LEPER. I had LONER there at first and was very happy with that answer. And especially off-putting when crossed with the tonally different yet even more off-putting LEPER, which is not a word I would put in any puzzle if I could help it. The concept, the cutesy, moist words, just. I'll try to be tactful and say "off-putting" ( 34A: Horizontal group hug session). But two other answers did the opposite of amuse me. MAISEL in the symmetrical position (to " MR. Oh, yeah, that was the puzzle that had MRS. SANDMAN" because it appeared in the NYTXW not too long ago and someone, I forget who, one of my readers, I think, told me that they failed to parse the answer correctly and ended up wondering who MRS. I'm also a fan of " SAY NO MORE." (a perfect little colloquial phrase, first seen last year in a puzzle by, surprise, Nam Jin Yoon, my fav themeless constructor.
I really think the clue should have an "!" as well as an "?" since it is a very enthusiastic, rousing question, one that I think of as being shouted or otherwise exclaimed with a loud voice. I don't hate these answers, by any means, but my reaction wasn't "wow, cool." It was more, "yeah, sure, OK." Ideally, you're slangy stuff hits harder than "yeah, sure, OK." I think " CAN I GET AN 'AMEN'!?" is rock solid, the strongest thing in the grid, and therefore perfectly placed in the marquee central position ( 32A: "Who's with me?"). I mean, they're real expressions, but they just seem a little arbitrary. Like, " LATER, MAN" and " REAL ORIGINAL!" both felt. The stuff that was supposed to be sassy and flashy just missed me, for the most part.
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