MONDAY, Jun. 15 2009 — Currier's partner in lithography / Le Dejeuner des Canotiers painter / Willow for wicker / Commercial prefix with Lodge

Constructor: John Dunn

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: PR MEN (38A: Promoters ... or a description of 17-, 23-, 46- and 57-Across) — theme answers are men whose initials are "P.R."

Word of the Day: OSIER (65A: Willow for wicker) — n.

1. 1. Any of several willows having long rodlike twigs used in basketry, especially the Eurasian Salix viminalis and S. purpurea.
   2. A twig of one of these trees.
2. Any of various similar or related trees.

[Middle English, from Old English oser and Old French osier, both from Medieval Latin osera, osiera.]

I've got nothin' this morning. You know, I once had this idea for a puzzle — repurpose the crosswordy word CBERS (those who use a CB radio) as a theme, then have the theme answers be all people whose initials were "C.B." Charles Bronson, Carrie Bradshaw, whatever. But then I thought, "Nah, that's not clever at all." And then I did today's puzzle. The end. Here's a question — why does every single site I look at for RENOIR have his name as PIERRE-AUGUSTE? That's how his name exists in my head as well. Seems bad form at a minimum, and flat wrong at a maximum, to put him in the puzzle as simply PIERRE RENOIR. In fact, PIERRE RENOIR is a different guy entirely — PIERRE RENOIR was RENOIR's son, a stage actor, and the older brother of filmmaker Jean RENOIR. So many PR MEN in the world, you'd think you could find a sub here for PIERRE-Auguste.

Theme answers:

• 17A: "Portnoy's Complaint" author (Philip Roth)
• 23A: Founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (Pat Robertson)
• 46A: "Le Dejeuner des Canotiers" painter (Pierre Renoir)
• 57A: He didn't really cry "The British are coming!" (virtually anybody, but here, Paul Revere)

I had one little slip-up on my way to the finish. Did the Downs in the NW without proper attention to the crosses. Clues like 3D: With 41-Down, seemingly will make me do that. Just wing it. So I had AS IF instead of AS IT. Then I spelled 4D: Be a wizard or an elf, say, in Dungeons & Dragons thusly: ROLL PLAY. You ROLL dice in D&D. That is my paltry defense. Then I looked up in the NW a bit later and saw that I had SIFL for 20A: Word after Web or camp (site). Otherwise, an ERROR-free (32D: Misplay, e.g.), EASY (37A: "Duck soup!") Monday.

Bullets:

• 14A: "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" writer (Aesop) — had the AES- and without looking at the clue (!) wrote in AESIR. This is why I don't use pen.
• 52A: Currier's partner in lithography (Ives) — Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt IVES, in case you ever wondered. There's also a Burl IVES and a composer, Charles IVES.

• 62A: Three wishes granter (genie) — I'm just going to entertain myself this morning...

• 22D: They're worn under blouses (bras) — crossing a hosiery clue (22A: Hosiery hue). Nice.
• 29D: "Mum's the word!" ("It's a secret!") — this is probably just fine, but for some reason isn't striking me as a common exclamatory phrase. "It's a deal!" Yes. This one ... OK, maybe.
• 28D: Mulching matter (peat) — alliteration!
• 44D: Stock analysts study them (trends) — I had the "T" and threw down TRENDS as a first guess. Lucky.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

My L.A. Times puzzle write-up is here.