The Wall Street Journal - USA (2020-12-01)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, December 1, 2020 |A

KEEPING BUSY|ByGaryCee

Across

1 Org. that

launched the

Perseverance

rover in July

2020

5 Phishing offers

and the like

10 Morose

14 Genesis

garden

15 Poisonous

16 First-rate

17 “Could you

repeat that?”

18 Hockey venue

19 Inverness

native

20 “Star Wars”

superpower

23 Gold, in Mexico

24 Praiseful poem

25 Nickname

for music’s

“Material Girl”

28 Kicked off

30 Highest

accolades

34 Take in

36 “Honolulu Baby”

instrument, for

short

37 Clever humor

38 Accelerated

segments on

quiz shows

44 Lennon’s love

45 Former agcy.

that regulated

railroads

46 Dating site

abbr.

47 Property

owner’s

document

51 Minuscule

amounts

55 Seat at the bar

56 Stimpy’s cartoon

pal

58 Diamond score

59 Time-filling

activity, and what

the ends of 20-,

30-, 38- and

47-Across are

64 Assist in illegality

66 Use the door

67 Larger-than-life

68 Available

69 Witch trials town

70 Self-referential,

in modern lingo

71 “Meet the Press”

host Chuck

72 Abrasive powder

73 “Hey! Over here!”

TheWSJDailyCrossword|Edited by Mike Shenk

1234 56789 10111213

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 32 33

34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43

44 45 46

47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54

55 56 57 58

59 60 61 62 63

64 65 66 67

68 69 70

71 72 73

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

s

Solve this puzzle online and discuss it atWSJ.com/Puzzles.

CAR SA LMA AM I SH

ABE TRYON DANTE

BOBBYFLAY OTHER

BROOM ENDS ARM

ATOMI C SANDFLEA

GETBEAT YOUREON

EDS SUB LASSO

DRAGONFLY

ABB I E A I L LOC

CLOSEIN PARKAVE

CASHFLOW NEATEN

ONS ETAL MYERS

SK I ES YUPP I EFLU

TEETH EGGOS EAR

STRAY THAWS EYE

Down

1 Unhappy

employee’s

quest

2 Stick

3 Old salt

4 Not for

5 Respectably

serious

6 Instrument

with three

valves

7 Gave walking

papers to

8 Mojito

ingredient

9 Blemish with

a back story

10 Stranded

motorist’s need

11 Stay-at-home

order

12 Number before

dos

13 Big Apple

opera house,

familiarly

21 “Impression,

Sunrise”

painter

22 Texting “if you

ask me...”

26 Manhattan

street map,

e.g.

27 Proposed costs:

Abbr.

29 Fire proof?

31 Pound part

32 USPS delivery

33 Embroidery on

towels

35 “Idylls of the

King” lady

38 A bunch

39 Still having a

chance to win

40 Decay

41 Rink surface

42 In the red

43 Sci-fi

spacecraft

48 Made like a

pirate

49 Shady tree

50 Computer

peripheral need

52 Recurrent

themes

53 Tax return

inspections

54 Antarctic

vehicle

57 Foe

60 Different

61 Blues or Jazz,

e.g.

62 In fine fettle

63 Stopgap

employee

64 Back on boats

65 “My man!”

Weather

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi LoW Hi LoW City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Today Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

City Hi LoW Hi LoW

Anchorage 35 32 sn 36 23 sn

Atlanta 45 28 s 53 30 s

Austin 62 44 s 64 37 pc

Baltimore 48 34 c 49 32 s

Boise 40 22 s 38 19 s

Boston 60 39 c 46 36 pc

Burlington 59 36 sh 40 32 sn

Charlotte 46 26 pc 52 26 s

Chicago 38 26 s 44 26 s

Cleveland 30 30 sn 39 25 pc

Dallas 61 44 s 54 33 r

Denver 3919pc 3014pc

Detroit 35 28 sn 42 26 pc

Honolulu 85 70 s 85 71 pc

Houston 63 53 s 64 43 r

Indianapolis 36 22 sf 43 25 s

Kansas City 49 27 s 43 29 c

Las Vegas 63 40 s 59 39 s

Little Rock 55 31 s 51 35 pc

Los Angeles 76 50 s 75 49 s

Miami 67 51 pc 73 65 s

Milwaukee 40 28 pc 45 27 s

Minneapolis 38 20 s 37 24 pc

Nashville 45 26 pc 52 34 s

New Orleans 56 42 s 66 58 s

New York City 56 38 c 44 38 pc

Oklahoma City 57 32 s 42 28 r

Omaha 46 23 s 41 23 pc

Orlando 56 37 s 63 49 pc

Philadelphia 49 36 pc 46 33 pc

Phoenix 71 45 s 69 45 s

Pittsburgh 33 27 sn 36 23 pc

Portland, Maine 55 36 c 43 32 pc

Portland, Ore. 48 39 s 48 33 s

Sacramento 62 34 s 63 35 s

St. Louis 45 24 s 49 32 pc

Salt Lake City 41 23 pc 39 21 s

San Francisco 61 44 s 61 45 pc

Santa Fe 46 21 s 38 16 pc

Seattle 46 36 s 50 34 s

Sioux Falls 43 24 pc 37 23 s

Wash., D.C. 48 35 c 48 32 s

Amsterdam 49 40 sh 44 40 pc

Athens 57 48 sh 59 48 pc

Baghdad 67 51 pc 65 50 pc

Bangkok 88 75 pc 88 75 c

Beijing 39 23 pc 38 17 pc

Berlin 37 28 c 34 25 s

Brussels 48 37 sh 43 38 pc

Buenos Aires 78 69 s 81 67 pc

Dubai 84 68 pc 85 69 pc

Dublin 48 43 pc 46 36 pc

Edinburgh 43 41 pc 46 35 pc

Frankfurt 38 34 sn 38 33 pc

Geneva 40 31 r 39 29 pc

Havana 74 63 pc 77 65 s

Hong Kong 75 63 pc 75 60 s

Istanbul 48 42 r 51 45 c

Jakarta 90 76 t 91 76 t

Jerusalem 59 43 s 57 42 s

Johannesburg 77 55 pc 79 53 t

London 45 35 pc 45 37 pc

Madrid 58 38 pc 51 27 pc

Manila 85 76 c 85 75 sh

Melbourne 80 48 sh 66 49 pc

Mexico City 73 46 pc 72 47 pc

Milan 43 33 r 38 32 r

Moscow 32 19 sn 26 19 c

Mumbai 94 78 pc 92 76 pc

Paris 48 41 pc 46 40 pc

Rio de Janeiro 82 74 t 83 75 t

Riyadh 68 60 r 72 62 pc

Rome 59 51 pc 56 44 r

San Juan 85 73 s 84 74 pc

Seoul 42 29 pc 43 27 pc

Shanghai 56 48 pc 56 45 pc

Singapore 87 78 t 88 77 t

Sydney 9276pc 7861pc

Taipei City 72 64 r 71 62 sh

Tokyo 5847pc 5149r

Toronto 3432sn 3831s

Vancouver 45 33 pc 43 35 pc

Warsaw 34 23 s 31 26 s

Zurich 36 31 sn 36 28 pc

Today Tomorrow

U.S. Forecasts

International

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;

t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice

Today Tomorrow

Warm

Cold

Stationary

Showers

Rain

T-storms

Snow

Flurries

Ice

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20s

30s

40s

50s

60s

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80s

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Nashville

Memphis

Detroit

Kansas

City

El Paso Dallas

Billings

Portland

Miami

San Francisco

Sacramento

Orlando

Atlanta

New Orleans

Houston

San Diego Phoenix

Los Angeles

Las

Vegas

Seattle

Boise

Denver

Mpls./St. Paul

St. Louis

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Boston

Charleston

Milwaukee Hartford

Wichita

Indianapolis

Cleveland

Buffalo

Austin

Helena Bismarck

Albuquerque

Omaha

Oklahoma City

San Antonio

Des Moines

Sioux Falls

JacksonBirmingham

Cheyenne Philadelphia

Reno

Santa Fe

Colorado

Springs

Pierre

Richmond

Raleigh

Tucson

Albany

Topeka

Columbia

Augusta

Ft. Worth

Eugene

Springfield

Mobile

Toronto

OttawaMontreal

Winnipeg

Vancouver Calgary

Edmonton

70s

80s

40s

20s30s

10s

0s

80s

70s

70s

60s

60s

60s

60s

50s

50s

50s

50s

60s

40s

40s

30s

30s

30s

30s

30s

20s

20s

20s 20s

40s

M

iley Cyrus’s greatest

strength as an artist

is that she’s not

afraid to fail—but

sometimes that fear-

lessness looks like

self-sabotage. Throughout her ca-

reer she’s hit her marks as a pop

figure, making catchy radio-ready

songs and putting out provocative

videos, but she instinctively pushes

against expectations, with mixed

results.

Her 2013 album, “Bangerz,” cre-

ated in collaboration with hip-hop

producer Mike Will and with guests

including rappers Future and Big

Sean, debuted at No. 1 on the Bill-

board album chart and had two top

10 singles, one of which, “Wrecking

Ball,” hit No. 1. The obvious move

would have been to repeat the for-

mula and build upon that record’s

success, but Ms. Cyrus returned in

2015 with “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead

Petz,” created with members of the

psychedelic rock band the Flaming

Lips. It was personal, idiosyncratic

and ultimately awful, with seri-

ously underwritten and self-ab-

sorbed songs. When she came back

in 2017 with the album “Younger

Now,” Ms. Cyrus seemed as if she

were trying to step out as a more

mature artist, but much of it was

just generic pop, and it had no real

impact on music at large.

“Heart of Glass” that trades Debbie

Harry’s ethereal purr for Ms.

Cyrus’s sneer, and a take on “Zom-

bie” so rocked-up that it sounds

like Nirvana.

At its worst, “Plastic Hearts”

seems like a genre exercise, where

nailing the sounds and styles of the

past is more important than ex-

pressing anything in particular, but

there are moments of genuine

emotion. “Never Be Me,” about a

broken relationship and self-doubt

(“If you’re looking for stable, that’ll

never be me / But I hope that I’m

able to be all that you need”), is a

moving showcase of Ms. Cyrus’s

mix of strength and vulnerability,

and “Golden G String,” despite

some cringe-inducing lines, is an

affecting reckoning with the

singer’s tabloid past (“I was tryin’

to own my power / Still I’m tryin’

to work it out / And at least it

gives the paper somethin’ they can

write about”). Ms. Cyrus’s sincerity

and affection for these styles is

never in doubt. But the best tracks

on “Plastic Hearts” owe a lot to our

collective memories of earlier

songs, which makes it conceptually

interesting but ultimately unim-

pressive as a full-length statement.

Mr. Richardson is the Journal’s

rock and pop music critic. Follow

him on Twitter @MarkRichardson.

ERIK VOAKE/GETTY IMAGES

The star’s new album mines

the sounds of the ’80s and

tracks by artists like Billy

Idol to craft a contemporary

pop course in music history

MUSIC REVIEW| MARK RICHARDSON

Miley Cyrus:

Back to the

Future

This year, Ms. Cyrus made waves

with online videos of cover songs

recorded at streaming festivals—

Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” at the

iHeartRadio Music Festival and the

Cranberries’ “Zombie” at the Save

Our Stages Festival, for example—

and these appearances heralded

another change in direction,

this time toward early-1980s

sounds at the intersection of

glam rock and nervy new

wave. “Plastic Hearts” (RCA),

out now, extends these refer-

ential experiments to album

length.

In the abstract, this is fer-

tile aesthetic territory for Ms.

Cyrus. Her voice is low and

raspy, an instrument of force

that’s not particularly nimble,

and it ably cuts through a wall

of distorted guitar chords. She

showcases that sound from the

opening track, “WTF Do I

Know,” a song that focuses on

making your way and not car-

ing what the masses think and

features an explosive chorus and a

heavily processed guitar solo that

instantly brings to mind the sound

of early MTV. Andrew Watt, who

came up playing alternative rock

and has worked with artists includ-

ing Ozzy Osbourne, Post Malone

and dance producer Marshmello,

serves as co-writer and producer

on much of the album and plays

many instruments here. He gives

the record its distinctive sheen,

which looks to the ’80s for influ-

ences while displaying the mecha-

nized precision of contemporary

pop.

“Plastic Hearts” is proudly refer-

ential—if Ms. Cyrus finds inspira-

tion in a particular tune from the

past, she’s apt to incorporate it

wholesale and make it the center-

piece of a new song. The advance

single “Midnight Sky,” which comes

halfway through this record and is

easily one of its best tracks, was

inspired by Stevie Nicks’s 1981

number “Edge of Seventeen.” Ms.

Cyrus takes its clipped “ooh” excla-

mation and sticks it into her own

song, but later in the album she

goes even further: A remix called

“Edge of Midnight” mashes up

the two songs and splices in

Ms. Nicks’s vocals from the

original. The sixth track,

“Night Crawling,” has both the

voice of Billy Idol and a

“C’Mon, c’mon!” refrain that

brings to mind his 1981 record-

ing “Mony Mony.” And then

“Bad Karma,” which features

Joan Jett, begins with a glam-

rock throb that closely mirrors

the drums on the rocker’s 1980

version of “Do You Wanna

Touch Me (Oh Yeah).”

Ms. Cyrus’s source materials

for these last two tracks were

themselves covers: Mr. Idol

tackled the 1968 original from

Tommy James and the Shon-

dells, while Ms. Jett’s song was

first recorded by Gary Glitter.

When the guests, covers and inter-

polations pile up they sometimes

bury Ms. Cyrus, obscuring her own

perspective. And the album closes

with those two covers that intro-

duced the world to Ms. Cyrus’s new

direction—a crunchy version of

Miley Cyrus in February, top; her new

album, ‘Plastic Hearts,’ is out now

ARTS IN REVIEW