Blogger's preface / SUN 1-31-10 / Lancelot portrayer 1967 / Eye-twisting display / 1960s-'80s Red Sox nickname / Lightsaber-wielding hillbilly of TV

Constructor: Andrea Carla Michaels and Tony Orbach

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: "Keep an Eye on It!" — "I" is added to end of words in familiar phrases, creating wacky phrases, which are then clued "?"-style

Word of the Day: ONDIT (66D: Bit of gossip) —

[F.]
They say, or it is said. -- n. A flying report; rumor; as, it is a mere on dit. (answers.com)

[If you Google [ondit] (as one word) the first hit you get is "Dictionary of Difficult Words" — never had a word return *that* site before...]

• • •

Cute and entertaining, especially as "add-a-letter" puzzles go. The theme was easy to uncover, but somehow moving through the grid proved slower than I expected. There were a few bumpy patches, either because cluing was ambiguous or because of odd words, but overall: pretty typical, pretty smooth — with far more "Z"s (and Scrabbly letters in general) than one normally sees, even on a Sunday. I tried to add an extra "Z" at BRASI (17D: Luca ___, "The Godfather" character), which was the source of my first patch of trouble — the NE. Never heard of the Palace of Nations, so couldn't get GENEVA without a few crosses. AMORAL seemed a rather (very) general word to describe a literary character (15D: Like the stranger in Camus's "The Stranger"), so that took some prodding. [Chatty Cathy] sounds endearing — GAS BAG does not; thus, trouble there as well. But not much.

Never heard of a TRINI (13D: Certain Caribbean for short). TRINI Lopez, yes, but a TRINI, like ... a BRIT, a SCOT, a YANK, a ... TRINI??? Sounds oddly racist — like a disparaging term for a Caribbean transsexual. I'd also never Ever heard of ON DIT, and wouldn't have believed it was real if I hadn't known enough French to know that "ON DIT" means "They say ..." Yikes. ARNEL is one of the dreaded fabrics I can't keep straight (55D: Synthetic fiber). Yuck. No idea what the family name was in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" — what a weird clue for NOLAN. Anyway, all these snags were overcomable, and there were a few chuckles along the way. Nice that the very best theme answer is the one that's dead center: OPEN WIDE (I would have said UP) AND SAY AHI! Don't mind if I do.


Theme answers:

• 23A: Sorcerer behind Amin's rise to power? (The Wizard of Idi) — the NYT would never, ever allow HITLER's name to be used so wackily. I have no problem with either IDI AMIN or HITLER being in the puzzle, but the fact that you can joke around about the black guy who slaughtered his people but not (I'm guessing) about the German slaughterer ... doesn't seem right. Could you have a wacky baseball puzzle that had the theme answer DESIGNATED HITLER? I doubt it. . . This is not in any way an invitation to compare atrocities, which is always a (very) bad idea.
• 33A: Dodging midtown traffic? (taxi evasion)
• 41A: 1964 Cassius Clay announcement? ("You can call me Ali")

• 66A: "Yummy! Here comes your tuna sashimi!"? ("Open wide and say ahi!")
• 76A: Lightsaber-wielding hillbilly of TV? (Jedi Clampett)
• 91A: Invitation to cocktails with pianist Ramsey? (Martini and Lewis) — never heard of this pianist person
• 100A: Rotisserie on a Hawaiian porch (Lanai Turner) — clever
• 118A: Cranky question of the Himalayan trail? ("Are we there, Yeti?") — OK, I like that too. At least half of these answers are funny, which is a very high percentage for this (or any) theme.

Bullets:

• 20A: Overdress, maybe (smother) — wow, that's ... odd. So you are overdressing your kid in the winter? OK.
• 35A: ___ 101, world's tallest building, 2004-07 (Taipei) — did not know that. Tallest building is now in Dubai, as you all know.
• 40A: "___ Means I Love You" (1968 Delfonics hit) — great song. Here's a recent performance:

• 53A: Something under a tired eye, maybe (pouch) — I'm more familiar with BAG. POUCH seems like an effect of aging.
• 73A: It's just below les yeuz (nez) — big help in the otherwise sticky ARNEL / AYS (!?!?) section (55A: Calls of port?)
• 75A: Boston-to-Washington speedster (Acela) — the train, the train!
• 98A: Hoff who wrote and illustrated "Danny and the Dinosaur" (Syd) — also "Sammy the Seal"
• 2D: Blogger's preface (IMHO) — well I never use this, but I got it easily anyway.
• 4D: Part of Lawrence Welk's intro (a-two!) — I had "AND A..." Other missteps include SALLE for SALON (34D: Art exhibition hall), SAAB for AUDI (36D: Autobahn auto), AIWA for ACER (48D: Taiwanese computer maker), and LILTS for LISPS (100D: Features of Castilian speech).
• 6D: Tract for a tribe, briefly (rez) — like this. Seen it in Sherman Alexie books, and elsewhere, but never in the puzzle.
• 24D: 7'4" N.B.A. star Smits (Rik) — I'd forgotten a. he was that tall, and b. he spelled his name that way. I thought only caroonist DIK Browne had that ridiculous "C"-less spelling.
• 41D: 1960s-'80s Red Sox nickname (Yaz) — source of yet another "Z" — YOWZA! (56D: "Holy cow!")
• 58D: Eye-twisting display (op art) — very common, and easy for me now, but I remember very clearly learning this term from crosswords. Never encountered it in the real world.
• 72D: Lancelot portrayer, 1967 (Nero) — Franco NERO (uh, who?). Enjoy:

• 89D: High-scoring baseball game (slugfest) — favorite non-theme answer of the day, by far.
• 107D: Seat, slangily (ush) — possibly my least favorite ... It's a verb. Unless it's "TUSH" as uttered by someone incapable of saying "T"s.

Tweets of the Week — puzzle chatter from the Twitterverse

• @brucery Not very good 27:38 on NYT Sunday Crossword. Great theme, but synthetic fibers, graceful women, and pigtails threw me off.
• @Mabes415 My favorite part of a crossword puzzle is when you realize you know something you didnt think you knew.
• @kristinnoeline In other news, the Friday NYTimes crossword puzzle can go f[*&^] itself.
• @scifri ha - today's NYT crossword puzzle, 6 Down, 3 letters: "Science Friday carrier." wait...I know this.....
• @JonathanAmes i actually completed the wednesday times crossword today. i know this is the most banal thing to mention, but for me it's something.
• @verymarykate Doing a crossword puzzle. 3-letter word for Summer in Nice? Hmm, prolly a typo... They must've meant "summer IS nice" because "Duh" fits.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Cross of mysteries / SAT 1-30-10 / Giocondo Angelico / Alternative to Beauvais / Late entertainer who was known for his laugh

Constructor: Mark Diehl

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: None

Word of the Day: Kurt GÖDEL (43A: Co-winner of the first Albert Einstein Award, 1951) —

Kurt Gödel (April 28, 1906, Brno, Moravia – January 14, 1978, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) was an Austrian-American logician, mathematician and philosopher. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the 20th century, a time when many, such as Bertrand Russell, A. N. Whitehead and David Hilbert, were pioneering the use of logic and set theory to understand the foundations of mathematics. (wikipedia)

• • •

My time was slightly higher than my Saturday norm of late, even though this one didn't feel especially brutal. Tough, for sure, but very doable, as Saturdays go. I had this rated "Medium," but then decided to let the stopwatch do the rating and bumped it up a notch. Strangely, my last three Saturdays have all been within 1 minute 18 seconds of each other, with this one he highest by a good minute (at 13:15). I was slowed down today primarily by second-guessing myself. Wanted STRAP ON A FEEDBAG very early (8D: Get ready for chow), but a. in my head the phrase has a THE, not an A, and b. I thought 23A: Indian barter item (pelt) was probably BEAD, and since (at that point) the "T" in STRAP was not a given (what the $#%& is an ONION SET!?), I wouldn't commit. Played it safe and just hacked my way into the middle of the puzzle — which proved pretty tractable. Long Acrosses can be brutal when they're stacked, but if you can manage to get a few crosses, they can also open the puzzle right up. Despite wanting SERIAL ASSAULT for 33A: Shock-and-awe strategy (aerial assault) and not knowing the phrase DIAMOND FIELDS, those long Acrosses went down pretty easily. I've heard of DIAMOND mines and killing FIELDS, but not DIAMOND FIELDS (34A: Sources of Zimbabwean exports).


Bad start at 1D: Small stand (copse), where I had ETAGE — I think I was thinking ETAGERE ... but no matter. Despite being wrong, ETAGE managed to get me EARL (22A: Robin Hood, the ___ of Huntington) and I was off. As I exclaimed, above, ONION SET (had to check to see that it was indeed two words) was a mystery to me. The "S" in that word took many seconds of dumb staring — had to run the alphabet to get the damned "game" "I SPY" (6D: Game with a spotter). Same was true of ANITA (2D: One of the Pointer Sisters), though I *knew* it. It's the first thing I wanted to put in, but at the same time I was thinking "I have no idea." Weird. Big mystery word of the day was LASSEN (24D: California peak), a mountain I've never Ever heard of (this despite having grown up in and gone to college in California). I'd also never heard of this GÖDEL guy, though he's undoubtedly famous. Math famous, anyway. Had DODDIER for a bit at 34D: Relatively hard to pin down (dodgier), for reasons I don't quite understand. Had TRAGIC before IRONIC at 49A: Like Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard," didn't know if RETSYN was with an "I" or a "Y" (54A: Certs ingredient), and took a while to see SLIMY (38D: Vile) because I figured the "balmy" in 38A: Hardly balmy referred to the weather (the only way I've heard "balmy" used outside crosswords). So I had DANK instead of SANE, effectively hiding SLIMY from view.

[52A: Head-scratcher (enigma)]

Finished up in the SE, where once again (as with STRAP ON A FEEDBAG, and WARM ONE'S HEART — 30A: Make a person feel good) I considered a right answer (ED MCMAHON) right away but was put off entering it because of crosses that looked dodgy. Dodgiest of them all down here, for me, was 42D: First sign, which I was certain was ARIES. This made me balk at ED MCMAHON (45A: Late entertainer who was known for his laugh) *and* PASO (39A: Part of una salsa), which I had entered right away. Entered A HERO right away because I knew it (40D: Thackeray's "Vanity Fair: A Novel Without ___"), and MOCS right away on a strong hunch (48D: Comfy wear). Hesitated at 46D: M.'s counterpart (Mlle) because I figured the "counterpart" would be MME, which didn't fit. Last letter down there was the "P" in BLOOPERS / PAPAL, which I initially made an "M," figuring 51A: Overthrows, e.g. were some kind of undergarment (?). But PAMAL States just seemed ridiculous, so I yanked the "M" and then "P" became obvious.

Bullets:

• 19A: Group whose 1972 debut album "Can't Buy a Thrill" went platinum (Steely Dan) ... Green Day ... Green something
• 26A: Toyota pickup named for a U.S. city (Tacoma) — eeeeeasy, and good thing — I needed every cross in LASSEN.
• 29A: Giocondo and Angelico (fras) — an answer in a puzzle I did earlier in the day. Put it in with no crosses. Wasn't certain, but it felt good.
• 35A: Alternative to Beauvais (Orly) — thought it might be some kind of wine, until I got to -RLY.
• 27D: Cross of mysteries (Amanda) — never read her, but she's a very familiar name — the pen name, actually, of feminist literary scholar Carolyn Heilbrun.
• 28D: Pub pull (cold one) — was looking for a specific type of beer (stout, pilsener, etc.)
• 30D: Blame-diffusing words (we all do it) — uh ... blame for what, I wonder.
• 47D: Judging point at a dog show (coat) — "point?" A COAT is a "point?" It's a *trait* that the judge considers ... maybe "POINT" is a technical term. Time for a clip from "Best in Show":

[Apologies for the idiotic, 10-second intro, unrelated to the movie]

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

It merged with Tanganyika 1964 / FRI 1-29-10 / Old Indian infantryman / Ubermensch originator / Noted Volstead Act enforcer

Constructor: Doug Peterson

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: None

Word of the Day: John VENN (28D: A diagram bears his name) —

John Venn FRS (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923), was a British logician and philosopher. He is famous for introducing the Venn diagram, which is used in many fields, including set theory, probability, logic, statistics, and computer science. // John Venn was brought up strictly. It was expected that he would follow the family tradition into the Christian ministry. After Highgate School, he entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in 1853.[1] He was graduated in 1857 and shortly afterward was elected a fellow of the college. He was ordained as a deacon at Ely in 1858 and became a priest in 1859. In 1862 he returned to Cambridge as a lecturer in moral sciences. // Venn also had a rare skill in building machines. He used his skill to build a machine for bowling cricket balls, which was so good that when the Austrailian Cricket team visited Cambridge in 1909, Venn's machine clean bowled one of it top stars 4 times. // Venn's main area of interest was logic and he published three texts on the subject. He wrote The Logic of Chance which introduced the frequency interpretation or frequency theory of probability in 1866, Symbolic Logic which introduced the Venn diagrams in 1881, and The Principles of Empirical Logic in 1889.

[Jessica Hagy @ thisisindexed.com]

• • •

This was a struggle, but one that seemed just right for a Friday. Might skew toward the "Challenging" side (esp. if some of the times posted at the NYT site are correct — some v. good solvers got wiped *out*), but I came in under 10 ... maybe that's "Medium-Challenging" for a Friday. Anyway, there were likely thorny patches for everyone, but (if you're like me ... which you probably aren't, but still...) you enjoyed the challenge, mostly. Doug Peterson is one of the few people who knows how to write those damned "?" clues in a way that walks that fine line between clever and annoying. I find them frustrating, but worth my time. [Metric system output?] (POEMS) and [25D: Electronic gag reflex?] (LOL) are particularly nice. My main hold-up in the puzzle, though, was brought on not by the puzzle's inherent toughness, but my stupid Failure of a memory. We have had SEPOY at least once in recent months, possibly more (16A: Old Indian infantryman), but the only word that would come up to the surface was SEPAL — and let me tell you, when the answer is SEPOY and your brain wants SEPAL, that SEPAL sticks really, really hard. Kept getting more letters, but with no more help "S... E? Oh man ... P!? ... come on!" Wasn't til I got the "O" that the "Y" became "obvious."

Got a nice jump on the puzzle by putting IDA LUPINO into the grid first thing (15A: "The Hitch-Hiker" director, 1953). First thing! "Wait ... is this right? ... IDA LUPINO ... if fits .... NPR confirms the "P," woo hoo!" (6D: "Science Friday" airer). Had ZILCH for ZIPPO at first (1D: Diddly), and thought the clues on both IDIOM (2D: Hit the ceiling, say) and NANAS (3D: Spoilers, often) were pretty tough, but with IDA's help, the NW wasn't too bad. First real hang-up was on the descent into the middle and west — had no idea what the cocktail could be, even with the KA- starter at 23D: Vodka cocktail (Kamikaze). I've been drinking whiskey cocktails exclusively lately, and somehow I don't associate Vodka with Japan. Needed the "M" to get KAMIKAZE, but that wouldn't come because 29A: Star followers had to end in an "S," right? Like a good plural? But no — an "M"!? Pretty rare to see a plural clue yield an "M"-ending answer, but there it is: FANDOM.


Studying / teaching older literature helped a bit today, as KAY (41A: Sir ___, foster brother of King Arthur) and SAMSON (42A: Hero described as "Eyeless in Gaza"). Huxley wrote the novel "Eyeless in Gaza," but the hero referred to here is SAMSON, and the descriptive phrase comes from Milton's "Samson Agonistes":

O wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold
Twice by an Angel, who at last in sight
Of both my Parents all in flames ascended [ 25 ]
From off the Altar, where an Off'ring burn'd,
As in a fiery column charioting
His Godlike presence, and from some great act
Or benefit reveal'd to Abraham's race?
Why was my breeding order'd and prescrib'd [ 30 ]
As of a person separate to God,
Design'd for great exploits; if I must dye
Betray'd, Captiv'd, and both my Eyes put out,
Made of my Enemies the scorn and gaze;
To grind in Brazen Fetters under task [ 35 ]
With this Heav'n-gifted strength? O glorious strength
Put to the labour of a Beast, debas't
Lower then bondslave! Promise was that I
Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver;
Ask for this great Deliverer now, and find him [ 40 ]
Eyeless in Gaza at the Mill with slaves,
Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke (23-42)

ELIOT NESS is the SE what IDA LUPINO was to the NW — a fat gimme that opened up the whole quadrant (62A: Noted Volstead Act enforcer). I did have some trouble down there, actually, as BUTYL was unknown to me (48D: Tear-resistant synthetic rubber), as was the location / importance of "Campania" in 46D: Campania's capital, in Campania (Napoli). But I worked it out. From there, I tore up the east coast, ending in the NE with the aforementioned last stand at SEPOY.


Bullets:

• 24A: It's grounded on the Sabbath (El Al) — always on the lookout for interesting clues for old answers.
• 47A: It merged with Tanganyika in 1964 (Zanzibar) — had a "Z" or two before I ever saw the clue, so it was easy. This merger formed TANZANIA (a portmanteau!), which was the country on which I did my final report in 7th grade Geography. Thanks, Mrs. Stevens!
• 56A: It has 95 printable characters (ASCII) — The American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
• 59A: Tubular snacks (Ho-Hos) — got it, but then got thrown by the resulting cross: USOC!? (54D: Org. with a SportsMan of the Year award) What the hell is that? Oh ... the U.S. Olympic Committee. Yeah, that makes sense.
• 60A: What might come as a relief at night? (Tylenol PM) — great answer.
• 4D: Like a strawberry roan's coat (flecked) — "uh ... PINK?" Needless to say, I needed crosses here.
• 7D: Motor ship driver (diesel) — Is there something called a "motor ship" or a "ship driver"? I'm not sure I quite understand the clue. Clearly a DIESEL engine is involved in the propulsion of some kind of ship, but the phrasing doesn't mean much to me here.

• 14D: Four for for, for one (typo) — great clue, but I don't believe it. That is, I don't believe you would intend "FOR" and write "FOUR." Vice versa, sure.
• 31D: "Übermensch" originator (Nietzsche) — embarrassed I needed any crosses to get this, as in retrospect it seems obvious. Since it's Friday, I'm sure I just figured it was "some obscure foreign stuff I don't know" and set to working crosses.
• 37D: Chicken tikka go-with (nan) — "go-with" is a ridiculous little word. Oh, and I definitely prefer the two-A NAAN. Much tastier.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. Happy birthday, Caleb Madison, who turns the big 17 (!?) today.

1894 opera set in Egypt / THU 1-28-10 / Scalding castle weapon / Star Wars droid informally / A gun slangily

Constructor: Raymond C. Young

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging

THEME: PINK THINGS (54A: What 17-Across and 10- and 24-Down all conceal) — theme answers have words that represent PINK THINGS embedded in them...

Word of the Day: Lonette MCKEE (46D: Lonette of "The Cotton Club" and "Malcolm X") —

Lonette McKee (born July 22, 1954) is an American film and television actress, music composer/producer/songwriter, screenwriter and director. [...] McKee won critical acclaim for her Broadway debut performance in the musical The First. She became the first African American to play the coveted role of 'Julie' in the Houston Grand Opera's production of Show Boat on Broadway, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Her tragic portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holliday in the one-woman show, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill won critical acclaim, standing ovations and a Drama Desk Award nomination. She reprised the role of 'Julie' on Broadway in the most recent revival of the musical Show Boat directed by Hal Prince. [...] McKee had a recurring role on the NBC drama Third Watch. McKee was featured in People magazine's Fifty Most Beautiful 1995 issue. // McKee teaches a master acting workshop at Centenary College of New Jersey, where she serves as an adjunct professor in the Theater Arts department.

• • •

Went to sleep early last night, woke up at 5am and solved this puzzle first thing. Not the most ... efficient way to solve a puzzle. I was not in power-solving mode, so I'm actually not quite sure how difficult/un-difficult this one was. Felt on the easy side much of the time, but then there were hang-ups — most notably in the NE and SW — and I actually stared at the final blank square — the "K" in PINK! — for many seconds before the "K" fell in. PINY THINGS? No. One glance around the grid helped me (eventually) see the PINK. Came in slightly slower than normal ... I guess we an go "Medium-Challenging," but more "Medium" than "Challenging" for me. I don't know that I liked this theme, but I have to at least give it credit for being interesting. PINK THINGS is descriptive, but not exactly a common phrase. There is a song called "Pink Thing" on XTC's "Oranges and Lemons" album (1989), but ... it's about a PINK THING that appears *nowhere* in this grid (I'm pretty sure). My main problem today is that FLAMINGO and CARNATION can hardly be said to be "concealed" in their respective answers. There are only two other letters to "conceal" them in each case. It's like a fat guy trying to hide behind a lamp post — not working. Mildly annoying that the CARNATION in INCARNATION doesn't span two words the way the other "concealed" words do. But whatever. The grid, at least, is compelling, with all sorts of stuff I've never or rarely seen (including a TWADDLING THREEPIO!) (31D: Talking silly + 36D: "Star Wars" droid, informally).


Theme answers:

• 17A: Scalding castle weapon (FLAMING Oil) — concealing a pink FLAMINGO
• 10D: Resigned response to tragedy ("Que sERA SERa") — concealing a pink ERASER
• 24D: A pharaoh vis-à-vis Horus, in Egyptian myth (inCARNATION) — concealing a pink CARNATION

Found the NE the hardest section to get into and out of. Wanted RABID at first for 13D: Animal-like, but then ESSO changed that to -OID. Couldn't make sense of 10A: Pump, in a way — thought it might have something to do with gas or shoes. Eventually had to figure out QUE SERA SERA from the back end, and that "Q" gave me all the info I needed to handle the NE, including the previously eely QUIZ and ZOOID (nice intersection). Echo of this struggle in the SW, where T-SHAPED (43A: Like a crucifix) was not immediately clear to me, so I had to work that corner from the inside out, and I had OMEN where SIGN was supposed to go (59A: Foreshadowing). The clue that was supposed to be trickiest (I assume) ended up being the one that helped me the most down there. "Letteral" clues (self-referential clues that actually want a "letter" in the clue for their answers) are often hard to see, but HARD G (45D: Head of government?) was obvious to me in this case. This gave me SIGN and then ... done down there. Finished in the SE where only that final "K" in MCKEE gave me real resistance.

Bullets:

• 14A: Hatch at a hearing (Orrin) — good old trick: use names that are also perfectly ordinary words as a way of throwing the solver. Spent part of last night thinking about how to use N.B.A. star Rudy Gay's name this way.
• 16A: "Come ___ these yellow sands, / And then take hands": Ariel in "The Tempest" ("unto") — long way to go for [Golden Rule verb], but why not?
• 20A: Former Saturn (Ion) — Well, if it's "former," you know it's not the planet... that Saturn is still Saturn, as far as I know.
• 28A: Four-bagger (tater) — ooh, using slang to clue something even slangier. People probably put HOMER in here at first, if they put in anything.
• 49A: A gun, slangily (heat) — I don't know why "A" is in this clue. I thought it important, so considered A GAT... I guess that, in the phrase PACKING HEAT, "HEAT" stands in for "a gun." OK.
• 11D: Emasculate, say (unsex) — I had DESEX. Seemed reasonable. Part of the trouble up there in the NE.
• 43D: 1894 opera set in Egypt (Thais) — by Jules Massenet. Luckily the name THAIS rang a bell, but this one didn't come easily. Wanted AI(I)DA.
• 55D: Suffix with mescal (-ine) — that seems a bold way to clue (the otherwise cruddy) -INE. It's a psychedelic agent found naturally in peyote. I associate it with Hunter S. Thompson.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Actor David of Rhoda / WED 1-27-10 / Daily since 1851 briefly / Quiz show scandal figure Charles Van * / Unthinking servant

Constructor: Alan Arbesfeld

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: State Anagrams — phrases that involve a state name + an anagram of that state name

Word of the Day: David GROH (6A: Actor David of "Rhoda") —

David Lawrence Groh (May 21, 1939 – February 12, 2008) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Joe Gerard in the 1970s Mary Tyler Moore spinoff series Rhoda, opposite Valerie Harper. [...] From 1983-1985, Groh played D.L. Brock in the ABC soap opera General Hospital, leaving that daytime serial to appear in Off Broadway play Be Happy for Me (1986). The New York Times drama critic Frank Rich found Groh "completely convincing as the brash gold-chain-and-bikini-clad Lothario".[4] Other New York City theater credits include Road Show (1987), and The Twilight of the Golds (1993). // On television, Groh appeared in guest roles on such series as Melrose Place, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Law & Order, Baywatch, Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, JAG and L.A. Law. His movies included Victory at Entebbe (1976), Get Shorty (1995), and many independent films. (wikipedia, which warns you that David GROH is not to be confused with David GROHL, former drummer for Nirvana and current Foo Fighters frontman]

• • •

Not much to say here. States. Anagrams. Awkward in the middle and dull on the ends. Wanted to dial *something* for Florida ... if not "M" then maybe "F"; something. And KNOW RYE is pretty pathetic as state anagrams go. "NY" and NEW YORK are both in this puzzle, but you knew that (NY TIMES -> 39D: Daily since 1851 briefly). Aside from the new-to-me GROH, the one remarkable feature of this puzzle is how often I had vowel trouble and/or wanted a different answer because the clue was a cheap trap. Let's see. There's GAEA (24D: Earth goddess), which I think can be spelled GAIA; -IBLE (19A: Suffix with convert), which couldn't have been -ABLE though my brain sure considered it; DRINK (29D: Have trouble passing the bar?), which I had as DRUNK at first, despite its not working, part-of-speech-wise; BE STILL (5D: "Hush!"), which really wanted to be BE QUIET; GIFT (24A: "It's a ___"), which really really wanted to be GIRL; and then DOREN (26D: Quiz show scandal figure Charles Van ___) and ARAM (38D: Composer Khachaturian), which I knew ... -ish. Guessed at their spellings and was right. Used Mamie as a guide to Charles's name, and just crossed my fingers on ARAM.

Theme answers:

• 17A: What helps pay the governor's salary in Austin? (Texas taxes)
• 26A: Try to telephone some snowbirds? (dial for Florida)
• 42A: Be familiar with a city near White Plains? (know Rye, New York)
• 54A: Some film work Down East? (Maine anime)

No NAVE AD for Nevada? MICHIGAN, I'M ACHING!? MOST INANE MINNESOTA?? DELAWARE EEL AWARD? Of course those are all ridiculous ... but better ridiculous than tepid.

Bullets:

• 1A: Intimate inn, familiarly (B and B) — my sincere thanks to whoever coined the term "ampersandwich" for this type of fill. It's a very handy word.
• 20A: Mother's urging at the dinner table (eat) — not "shut up" or "stop picking your nose" or "leave your brother alone."
• 33A: Broadway play about Capote (Tru) — I'm directing a senior thesis about Capote. Specfically, the student is making a graphic novel about Perry Smith, one of the killers in "In Cold Blood." Looks fantastic so far. Maybe she'll let me post images eventually. I owe her a lot, as she has been my undergrad T.A. all year — she brought me coffee before every class in the fall and yesterday, on the first day of "Spring" term, actually brought me sushi. I mean, I called her and ordered her to, but it was still thoughtful...
• 34A: Major in astronomy? (Ursa) — love it, but it *can't* be new.
• 40A: Whimsical roll-call response ("absent!") — love it.
• 58A: Vogue competitor (Elle) — a no-brainer unless you think of "Vogue" as a late-80s Madonna-inspired dance style. Not sure what the "competitor" of that would have been. Line dance? Fox trot?
• 59A: Unthinking servant (robot) — hmmmm ... depends on how you define "think." As modern robot stories go, I highly recommend "Pluto," a contemporary revision of "Astro Boy" by Naoki Urasawa.

• 25D: Retro hairstyle (afro) — a. I still see these. All the time. b. I had the "O" and wrote in UPDO (?)
• 44D: Online reads (E-zines) — I see that there are people online using this term, but I've never heard it uttered by a human being. It is a step up from EMAG, but not much of one.
• 52D: Team Gil Hodges both played for and managed (Mets) — which is "stem" spelled backwards. Surely there is a mediocre puzzle theme in there somewhere.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

P.S. thanks to a certain beloved commenter for sending me a link to an astonishing blog parody. It's moderately entertaining as a write-up, but what's most astonishing about it is the Comments section. The comments are so spot on that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Enjoy.

P.P.S. my wife had swooning, hilarious nostalgia over this video yesterday. Apparently some cultural group in N.Z. made the following into a big mid-80s hit. Enjoy:

[Eventually, there's breakdancing]

Object of Teddy Roosevelt's busting / TUE 1-26-10 / What bronzers simulate / Jill's portrayer Charlie's Angels

Constructor: Paula Gamache

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "KEEP" (57D: Hang on to ... or a word that can precede either half of the answer to each starred clue)

Word of the Day: SALINAS Valley (10D: California's __ Valley, known as "America's salad bowl") —

The Salinas Valley is the Central Coast region of California, USA that lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Range and the Santa Lucia Range. It encompasses parts of Monterey County. [...] Agriculture dominates the economy of the valley. In particular, a large majority of the salad greens consumed in the U.S. are grown within this region. Strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, and spinach are the dominant crops in the valley. Other crops include broccoli, cauliflower, wine grapes, celery, and spinach. Due to the intensity of local agriculture the area has earned itself the nickname, "America's Salad Bowl." [...] The Salinas Valley was the home of the Native American people today known as the Ohlone (Rumsen and Chalon), Salinan, and Esselen. The City of Salinas was founded after Mexico seceded from Spain in 1822 and began granting rancho lands. Named for a nearby salt marsh, Salinas became the seat of Monterey County in 1872 and incorporated in 1874. The Salinas Valley is the setting for several John Steinbeck stories, including East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath. // Promoters call the Salinas Valley "The Salad Bowl of the World" for the production of lettuce, broccoli, peppers and numerous other crops. The climate is also ideal for the floral industry and grape vineyards planted by world-famous vintners. (wikipedia)

• • •

This was a palate cleanser. Fine, but bland. PACE OFF felt slightly wonky to me, but I can't really explain why. Maybe the fact that I can't imagine saying it, and that it sounds a lot like "FACE OFF," is throwing me ... off. Anyway, there are few points of interest today. Theme answers are mostly forgettable, apparently unrelated phrases whose thematic unity you discover once you get to the bottom right. As revelations go, it's not much of one. Stuff I enjoyed most in the grid = NEATNIK (56A: Slob's opposite) (a kooky word I got off the initial "N") and SALINAS, but only because I grew up in California, my parents live near there, and I can't remember seeing that name in puzzles before (though surely I have — those letters are just too common). This might have been my fastest Tuesday ever. Certainly my fastest of the new year (by a full minute). Told myself that (since I'm solving around 5 a.m.) I should just take it easy, don't try to rush. Just solve. It's too early to rush. And yet I was done in the low 3's. Hesitated once at DICE (41A: Backgammon pair) — had the "DI-" and thought "??" and put an "S" at the end and moved on — and again at "LARS" (63A: "___ and the Real Girl" (2007 film)), which I've never ever ever heard of. That hiccup was the only real resistance the puzzle offered, and it wasn't much. Clues were very straightforward. The end.

Theme answers:

• 17A: *Mark the transition from an old year to the new, maybe (count down)
• 11D: *Period of contemplation (quiet time)
• 37A: *Measure with strides (pace off)
• 33D: *Reverse a position (back track)
• 60A: *New neighbors event (open house)

Bullets:

• 1A: This plus that (both) — OK, I hesitated here too. "... THOSE?"
• 19A: Restaurant owner in an Arlo Guthrie song (Alice) — saw "Alice's Restaurant" recently. Odd and depressing and kind of aimless. Hard to believe same guy directed "Bonnie and Clyde."

• 51A: Neighbor of Macedonia and Montenegro (Serbia) — part of the world where my geography is most hazy, but I had S...IA before ever seeing the clue, so no problem.
• 3D: Object of Teddy Roosevelt's "busting" (trust) — also, bronco, but that's another story...
• 4D: Millennium Falcon pilot in "Star Wars" (Han Solo) — his crossword cred is very high. His name, front and back, is very grid-friendly, and he can be used as a clue for LEIA (as he was ... Sunday, I think). Here's part 3 of the 7-part "Phantom Menace" review:

• 8D: What bronzers simulate (tans) — another hesitation I forgot about. "Bronzers" = ... people who bronze things? People who win bronze medals? Forgot "bronzer" was a skin application.
• 22D: Name widely avoided in Germany (Adolf) — as opposed to the rest of the world, where it remains tremendously popular.
• 26D: "Death Be Not Proud" poet (Donne) — New semester starts for me today. My17th-century literature class will eventually be reading this and a mountain of other DONNE poems. Because he is great.
• 39D: Jill's portrayer on "Charlie's Angels" (Farrah) — her (famous) poster hung on my step-brother's wall when I was growing up. That is how I picture her whenever I see her name. Not a bad way to be remembered, I guess.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Like an unfortunate torero / MON 1-25-10 / Classical opera redone by Elton John / Onesie wearer / In poorest of tastes as a novel

Constructor: Holden Baker

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: Some convoluted golf stuff, with circled letters providing visual representations of golf scores, two of which are represented by their familiar terms (BOGEY / EAGLE) in the grid, in unclued but (apparently) arrowed (?) answers. This is what I'm told the grid looks like in print.

Word of the Day: ABATTOIR (5D: Slaughterhouse) —

n.

1. A slaughterhouse.
2. Something likened to a slaughterhouse: "The hand of God and mankind's self-inflicted blows seem equally heavy ... giving a strong cumulative impression of the world as an abattoir" (Manchester Guardian Weekly).

[French, from abattre, to strike down, from Old French. See abate.]

• • •

Yet another "F#@% You" to online solvers, as for the third time in five days, we get a grid designed for print and but not replicated accurately in any form the NYT cares to distribute online. I wish I could share the hate mail I'm already getting about this novelty grid trend — good solvers and constructors writing me and asking me "WTF!?!?!" Why not provide a .pdf of the puzzle? This would allow those of us who don't get the paper to print out a version that looks *identical* to the puzzle in the paper. I've nothing against the odd wacky grid, but give me the opportunity to solve it as it was designed. I'm a paying subscriber. [addendum: the NYT site (finally) some time today added a .pdf file of the entire puzzle — it's here]

The bigger issue today is that the puzzle is a design failure. I mean ... a huge failure. Why are there circles depicting "ONE under PAR" and "TWO over PAR," but *NO* "BIRDIE" or "DOUBLE BOGEY" in my grid? Why are there arrows pointing to terms represented by one set of circled words (BOGEY and EAGLE) but no arrows (because no terms) involved with the other set of circled words? It's baffling. I did this puzzle in a ridiculous 2:52 (using the arrow-less, online grid), so it was super easy. Absurdly easy — the least the puzzle could do is be interesting, or at least consistent. I'd settle for explicable. No idea how something like this gets the green light. I really like the tetrad of ABATTOIR, BALLPARK, CODIFIED and PARABOLA, and it's hard not to love TRASHIEST (37A: In the poorest of taste, as a novel), but the rest is terrible. SSTS and SSE and ESSES and AGOB (!?) crossing ATALE and then EFOR and oh my god I have to stop because I'm making myself sad.

Theme answers:

• 41A: Exactly what's expected (par for the course)
• 15A: [See grid] [except you online solvers, screw you guys] (bogey)
• 69A: [See grid] (eagle)

I mean, come on, the circled ONEs and TWOs aren't even embedded in answers that disguise or modify their numericality at all. TWOS and TWO-D? ONER and ONES!? Dreadful. The core idea here is sound (though apparently done before ... more than once), but it needs a complete redesign to work. This is slapdash. Subpar (no pun intended). Yikes.

Bullets:

• 49A: Classical opera redone by Elton John ("Aida") — but you knew that. I'm just trying to find something to write about.

• 72A: Creation that's almost human ('droid) — here's part two of that 70-minute critique of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" that I mentioned yesterday:

• 4D: Like an unfortunate torero (gored) — yeah, that's pretty unfortunate. I like the understated quality of this clue.
• 6D: Onesie wearer (tot) — is there an official age range for "TOT?" I think of infants as wearing onesies. Not sure how old one can be and still be a "TOT."
• 29D: Gadget for someone on K.P. duty (parer) — peeling, or paring, I guess, potatoes, stereotypically. Though the kid on the right appears to be working on apples.
• 35D: Mountain road features (esses) — wanted RUTS or, in Costa Rica, HOWLER MONKEYS.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Once again ...

Once again ...

... we have a novelty grid. This one is for Monday, Jan. 25, 2010. Here's what the grid is s'posed to look like:

http://www.xwordinfo.com/special/Jan2510.gif

Enjoy?

rp

Gershwin musical of 1928 / SUN 1-24-10 / Han's hon / Valve in some fireplaces / Astronomer who lost part of his nose in duel / Heroin slangily

Constructors: David Kwong and Kevan Choset

Relative difficulty: Easy

THIS GRID IS VERIFIED 100% CORRECT — please read my note to "Print Solvers" just beneath the grid — it explains the reason for the discrepancy between the on-line and print versions of today's puzzle...


See what the (empty) grid looks like in the print edition HERE

***[Print solvers: You have a different far SW corner — one that duplicates a word from elsewhere in the grid. That duplication was caught too late for the print edition, but was fixed for the online edition]***

THEME: "Abridged Edition" — fold the puzzle when you're done (a la the pictures at the end of MAD MAGAZINE — 83A: Publication founded in 1952 featuring artwork that does the same thing as this puzzle) to get other things that are folded, namely:

• LAWN CHAIR
• ORIGAMI
• BED SHEETS
• POKER HAND
• LAUNDRY (presumably excluding BED SHEETS)
• NEWSPAPER

Folding instructions are included as answers in the puzzle — 7D: With 14-Down, what to do on the dotted lines to reveal six hidden things that have something in common with this puzzle:

"FOLD PAGE SO A AND B ARE LINED / UP IN THE TOP AND BOTTOM ROWS"

Those instructions were not transparent to me. It's just not clear what "lined up" means. The A and the B have to be made adjacent to one another (i.e. lined up *next* to each other) in the top row *and* in the bottom row. If you were lucky enough to solve the puzzle in print, then you had handy little dotted lines to indicate where the folds would have to go for the theme answer to reveal themselves. Without those ... whatever, I've read "MAD" before, so I knew how to fold it. I'm just averse to a. instructions as answers (about the least sizzling fill one can imagine) and b. convoluted instructions as answers. This is an immensely clever puzzle that was just OK to solve. Six things that are revealed through folding reveal themselves only after you are already done. So nothing really... comes together during the solve. Just fill out the oversized grid and then do the parlor trick. Luckily it's a nice enough grid. Pretty open. Some interesting answers. Nothing to write home about. I had a very stupid error – went with ÉTAGE at 59D: Tour de France stage (étape) and didn't even blink at the resulting AGT cross. I might've blinked if I'd Read The Damned Clue — 79A: Quick on the uptake (apt). Bah!

Word of the Day: James FLORIO (21A: Former New Jersey governor James) —

James Joseph "Jim" Florio (born August 29, 1937) is a Democratic politician who served as the 49th Governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994, the first Italian American to hold the position. He also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for 15 years between 1975 and 1990. (wikipedia)

• • •

I think novelty grids are cute, but as one of tens of thousands of people who *pay* to subscribe to the puzzle on-line, I'm getting a little tired of puzzles in formats that the applet and solving software can't accommodate. Second one this week. I'm told something else is coming on Monday. Make the software more sophisticated, give me a prorated refund, or cut it out.

I don't have much to say about this. It was super duper easy. One noteworthy thing — the SE corner was just weird. Not bad. Just odd. Look at the clues. 131D: Astronomer who lost part of his nose in a duel (Brahe). 132D: Animal with four toes on its front feet and three toes on its back feet (tapir). Long clues with odd details. I got both easily, but for some reason found these successive Downs something akin to a mini freak show. Creepy — as opposed to ugly, which is what EBERT'S crossing NERO'S at the damned "S" is.

Bullets:

• 1A: Letter-shaped woodworking tool (C-clamp) — flat-out gimme. A not uncommon answer. Not much out there in six letters that starts "CC-"
• 11A: Inuit word for "house" (iglu) — once made a puzzle (forthcoming in a book) with this word in it. It filled me with shame. It was the one hideous flaw I just couldn't fix.
• 32A: Only person to win Emmys for acting, writing and directing (Alda) — actually surprised there aren't more names on this list. I assume he got these all for "M*A*S*H" ... yes, although he also won an Emmy (acting) for "The West Wing"
• 72A: Heroin, slangily (scag) — read this as "heroine" and thought "well *that's* not a nice name..."
• 118A: Hanukkah serving (latke) — which raises the question:

• 122A: 1950 Asimov classic (I, Robot) — and, with "MIB" (5D: 1997 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones blockbuster, for short), another piece of the Will Smith corpus.
• 4D: Some early New Yorker cartoons (Arnos) — more names with "S" on the end! I second-guessed this, figuring I'd confused the cartoonist with the river that flooded in the '60s. But not, his name is indeed ARNO. Peter ARNO.
• 18D: Football Hall-of-Fame coach Greasy (Neale) — like EDA LE SHAN (86D: Eda who wrote "When Your Child Drives You Crazy"), a name I learned from crosswords.
• 19D: Writers Bagnold and Blyton (Enids) — name + S times .. what are we up to now, four?
• 48D: Valve in some fireplaces (gas tap) — perhaps the hardest part of the puzzle for me. Not hard, actually, just ... not a word I've heard before, and thus not an answer I trusted very strongly.
• 50D: Han's hon (Leia) — Brendan Quigley turned me on to this 70 minute (!?) film critiquing "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" — there are oddly disturbing components to it, but overall it's pretty genius, and often LOL funny.

[Part 1 of 7 ... see the whole thing here]

• 117D: Gershwin musical of 1928 ("Rosalie") — should have brought this up when I was discussing the odd SE corner. Never (or barely) heard of this. Needed nearly every cross, and just educatedly guessed the "S" (figured it wasn't "ROTALIE").
• 124D: Skipjack and yellowfin (tunas) — for the ENIDS. They love TUNAS.

And now your Tweets of the Week, puzzle chatter from the Twitterverse:

• @annaface The last 30 seconds of "Community" were AWESOME. Crossword puzzle ftw!

• @grievance Finished my first ever Saturday NYT crossword. No Googling, no cheating! Would it be wrong to start drinking to celebrate?
• @plannerben Is waiting for the Saturday crossword the way a puma awaits a sick antelope.
• @heardatsbux "What's the active ingredient in marijuana? PCP?" -old man working on a crossword puzzle.
• @le_ponch Doing the crossword. A clue is Haberdasher's rackful. Thanks to ICarly I know what haberdasher's carry. Haha
• @EricTheActor Want interview in the NYTimes for using my FAKE name in the crossword puzzle. Using the word Midget is racist and someone should be fired!
• @bukkhead Can I tell you something? It's really hard to do a crossword puzzle while listening to Frank Zappa's "In France." Just sayin.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]