1960 #1 Brenda Lee hit / TUE 6-11-13 / Six-sided randomizer / Czech Republic river / Pong purveyor / Got it in radio lingo / Watch with old slogan Modern Masters of Time / World capital whose name means victorious

Constructor: Peter Muller

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging (again, as with yesterday's puzzle, just a touch tougher than your average for this day of the week)

THEME: MIXED BAGS (62A: Assortments ... or what you'll find in 17-, 25-, 30-, 44- and 50-Across) — one of each of the permutations (or "mixes") of the letters BAG (excluding BAG itself) can be found broken across the grid's two-word (or, in the case of CRABGRASS, compound-word) theme answers

Word of the Day: ERGOT (29A: Plant fungus) —

Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps.^[1] The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea. This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure (called ergotsclerotium).^[2][3] Claviceps includes about 50 known species, mostly in the tropical regions. Economically significant species include C. purpurea (parasitic on grasses and cereals), C. fusiformis (on pearl millet, buffel grass), C. paspali (on dallis grass), and C. africana^[4] (on sorghum). C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale, wheat and barley. It affects oatsonly rarely. (wikipedia)

• • •

A tight, if unexciting theme, not noticeable at all until until post-solve reflection. This is a straight-over-the-plate, solid puzzle, with bonus points for including every possible permutation of BAG in the theme answers. My first trouble spot today was the NE, where I misspelled LAPIS (with a "U" instead of an "I"), couldn't see LET ME GO (9D: Prisoner's plaint) or IN SIN (12D: Living ___), and thought N.Y.C.'s Columbus ___ was going to be something was less obvious (SQR?). I was just lucky to remember ERGOT (29A: Plant fungus), a word that blew up one of my puzzles in the early blogging days, and thus a word I have never forgotten. My other trouble spot was BIG BANDS. The trouble was partly that I was looking for a much more specific answer—some group, with a name, like Bill Halley's COMETS or Buddy Holly's CRICKETS—and partly because I'd written in ZEE instead of ZED at 35D: Final section of the OED, which mean I had BIG -ANES. Nearly went with MAAED (45D: Bleated) and BIG MANES, then caught sight of the ZEE problem (which I had mentally flagged earlier as a possible mistake), and fixed it, and thus finished. Didn't immediately know "I'M SORRY" (before my time, though I know the tune) (28D: 1960 #1 Brenda Lee hit) and thought ZENO (59D: Paradoxical Greek) might be spelled with an "X" for some reason (like the phobia?), but everything else was reasonably smooth. Time was in the 3:40s somewhere—a bit high for a Tuesday, but only a bit.


Heaven 17 - Let Me Go
Theme answers:

• 17A: Reason for rehab (DRUG ABUSE)
• 25A: Trail (LAG BEHIND)
• 30A: Darts and snooker (PUB GAMES)
• 44A: Sinatra backers, sometimes (BIG BANDS)
• 50A: Groundskeeper's bane (CRABGRASS)

My main complaint on this one is the cluing, which is quite dull. Very straightforward, not a lot to it. Notable exceptions include the clues on CAIRO (60A: World capital whose name means "victorious"), and, to a lesser extent, SEIKO (52D: Watch with the old slogan "Modern Masters of Time").

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld