TUESDAY, Sep. 26 - Randall J. Hartman

Solving Time: 6:41

THEME: Boston accent

Playing on the way "-ard" and "-od" are indistinguishable in the mouths of some New Englanders. (see 17A, below)

10A: Smoky European peak (Etna)

Another word for the Pantheon. Is this thing still an active volcano? Does it really smoke? I'm dubious. OK, it turns out I'm also ignorant, as this damned thing apparently erupts a lot, and did so as recently as 2002.


17A The art of masonry, in Boston? (hod science)

Get it? "Hard science" is a reasonably common phrase, here perverted by stupid crab fisherman and moose-lovers.

40A: La Scala highlight (aria)

Pantheon inductee and crossword constructor's crutch. When in doubt: aria! Notice how Pantheon words tend to be those (reasonably uncommon) words that contain more vowels than consonants, especially ones with consecutive vowels ("aria," "epee," "Pei," and "Rae" have all occurred in just the past two days).

53A: Director Craven (Wes)
61A: Calculus calculation (limit)

Shout out to my best friend Andrew, who loves (almost) all things Nightmare on Elm Street and who is, as I understand it, a mathematician.

Andrew Nestler's SMC Homepage

simpsonsmath.com

63D: Assistant with a hunch? (Igor)

A nice clue to arrive at a very common answer (one for the Pantheon). "Igor" can be clued by way of reference either to Frankenstein or to the composer Stravinsky. I'm a big fan of both. In fact, I'm going to see the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform Stravinsky's Petrouchka at The Anderson Center in Binghamton later this year. Kulture!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld