Variation of rummy that was 1950s fad / MON 1-3-11 / Miss America band / Old cop show starring Telly Savalas / Take someone's wheels from at gunpoint

Constructor: Ian Livengood

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (foraMondayforaMondayforaMonday)

THEME: ACK Attack — theme answers are seven two-word phrases (or two-syllable compound words) that end in -ACK


Word of the Day: CANASTA (4D: Variation of rummy that was a 1950s fad) —

Canasta (Spanish for "basket"; pronounced /kəˈnæstə/ in English) is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for 2, 3, 5 or 6 players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of 7 cards of the same rank and "go out" by playing all cards in their hand. It is the only partnership member of the family of Rummy games to achieve the status of a classic. // The game of Canasta was devised by attorney Segundo Santos and architect Alberto Serrato in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1939. In the 1940s the game quickly spread in a myriad of variations to Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina, where its rules were further refined before being introduced to the United States in 1948, where it was then referred to as the Argentine Rummy game by Ottilie H. Reilly in 1949 and Michael Scully of Coronet Magazine in 1953. The game quickly became a card-craze boom in the 1950s providing a sales avalanche of card sets, card trays and books about the subject. (wikipedia)

• • •

Hello and welcome to the 2011 edition of Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle — Now With a Fresh, Lemony Scent! I am freshly returned from four days (of what should have been seven days—thanks, snow) in Orlando with my family (dad, stepmom, their four children, their five grandchildren). I am happy to say that in the three full days I spent there, I did nothing, nothing, and the Disney Hollywood Studios theme park (the highlight of which was the Aerosmith Rock&Rollercoaster, which I rode first thing in the morning, and the lowlight of which was ... most of the rest of it, except for the company of my family, of course, which is —mostly— priceless). We had a decidedly horror-free flying experience (including the fastest home-to-gate and gate-to-home times I've ever clocked), and are glad to be back and rested and ready to show 2011 who's boss (maybe this is the year I explain my love for "Who's the Boss?"—the comfort foodiest, guilty pleasuriest thing I indulge in, TV-wise) (my best friend and I once created a series of pitches for "Who's the Boss" remakes–remains either the funniest thing either of us has ever done, or a stupid thing that we mistakenly believe is hilarious—maybe 2011 is the year *you'll* be the judge of that—maybe not). One thing I know—2011 will not be the year I stop overindulging in parentheses.

Ian Livengood ... so here you are. I was wondering what happened to you when you Failed To Submit Your Picks for the final week of our NFL pool. I could only surmise that after taunting me around week five for how poorly I was doing, you were too despondent this past week when you realized that you were hopelessly behind me (12 weeks in a row picking 50-50 or better, thank you very much) and could do no better than ... well, who cares, you were behind me. But it's possible you were CARJACKed. I hope not, but who knows? At any rate, I see you are alive and well and constructing, so that's something.

PS I didn't win the pool (stupid SethG and his stupid impossible 15-1 week a while back put an end to that dream), but I did come in second, and the Lions did end the season on a four-game winning streak by beating stupid over-exposed (!) Brett Favre, so I'm mostly fairly pleased anyway. It's not like money was at stake (was it? Seth?).

Today's is a *very* loose theme that gains tightness (and NYT-worthiness) through several factors:

1. Density — 7 theme answers of 8+ letters on a Monday is a Lot
2. Relative liveliness — "THAT'S WACK" alone puts the puzzle well into Fresh and Lively territory
3. The two-syllable thing — Every theme answer = two syllables, giving another dimension of unity to the theme, as well as adding a fabulous jackhammer rhythm (if you read the theme answers aloud in quick succession)

Furthermore, the non-theme fill, while not scintillating, is absolutely solid (except ALB ... which is more than offset by "LET'S TALK," so my point stands). With occasionally tricky cluing ([Miss America band]!), this one took me slightly longer than the average Monday. But again, as I've said before, "Medium-Challenging" for me on a Monday is just a big handful of seconds over 3 minutes.

Theme answers:

• 17A: "Don't get too close!" ("STAND BACK!") — here is where I got held up and ended up with a mistake I had to fix. I started out with STAY-something. STAY-blank. And then when I got the BACK end through crosses, I forgot to go back and fix STAY, so ended up with the nonsensical STAYDBACK, which gave me CAYASTA (!?!?!) instead of CANASTA (4D: Variation of rummy that was a 1950s fad). One simple letter fix and perhaps this puzzle would have been a normal Medium Monday after all. We'll never know.

• 21A: "Wow, totally crazy!" ('THAT'S WACK!")
  
• 26A: Stars of "The Breakfast Club" and "St. Elmo's Fire," collectively (BRAT PACK)
  
• 40A: Take someone's wheels from at gunpoint (CARJACK)
  
• 49A: Hiker's bag (KNAPSACK)
  
• 54A: Place for parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (SPICE RACK)
  
• 64A: Bulletin board fastener (THUMB TACK)
  

Better clue today for SENILE (47A: Definitely past one's mental peak), though perhaps still unwelcome to all those people solving because they believe it will do something to help them avoid dementia. Good luck hiding from me, says SENILE. I'm sure the word has a perfectly neutral, clinical meaning, but it always strikes me as slightly ... derisive. Plus, it rhymes with PENILE, which is just unfortunate. I put Edmonton in ONTario, today, lord knows why. Perhaps because ONT. is sooo much more common than ALB. as a Prov. abbrev. ARMOR, however, I got easily, even though (as any student of Arthurian literature will tell you), the real source of [Galahad's protection] is God. Galahad is like a dang superhero, only more untouchable. I'm not sure the bad guys ever even put a dent in his armor. He is the Chosen One. The only one to achieve the Holy Grail in Malory. He is perfect in every way. Hence, he is dull as a post and sanctimonious as all get out. No fun at parties, either.

Never did understand what "the tropic of Sir Galahad" was all about... explanations wanted. Fictional explanations preferred.



Happy 2011,

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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