Ill-fated mission of 1967 / THU 9-19-13 / Pince librarian at Hogwarts / Nut Gone Flake celebrated 1968 Small Faces album / Posthumous inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame 1979 / Entice with music / Modified as software for different platform

Constructor: Michael Blake

Relative difficulty: Medium

THEME: C AND Y COATED (58A: Like M&M's ... or four words to describe 17-, 24-, 35- and 50-Across) — familiar phrases have C affixed to beginning AND Y affixed to the end, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style

Word of the Day: "OGDENS' Nut Gone Flake" (4D: "___ Nut Gone Flake," celebrated 1968 Small Faces album) —

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is a successful concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968 the LP became a number one hit in the UK Album Charts on 29 June where it remained for a total of six weeks. [...] Side One is a mix of early heavy rock with "Song of a Baker"; psychedelic cockney knees-up songs "Lazy Sunday" and "Rene", the opening instrumental title track (which resembles their second single "I've Got Mine", which was a flop in 1965), and the soul influenced ballad "Afterglow", as it is called on the LP, but is titled "Afterglow of Your Love" on the subsequent single and some compilations. // Side Two is based on an original fairy tale about a boy called Happiness Stan, narrated in his unique ‘Unwinese’ gobbledegook by Stanley Unwin, who picked up modern slang from the band and incorporated it into the surreal narrative. (wikipedia)

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An interesting idea, technically well executed, not terribly enjoyable.  The wacky answers just aren't funny. They don't land. They're dull. They do exactly what the theme answer says they will. They are spot-on from a technical standpoint. But CHOSE DOWNY? Snore. COLD MASTERY? Just ... odd. CLOCK PICKY? Awkward. CART FAIRY, I like. That one works. But the rest are just workmanlike. The revealer is nice, and I want to like the results of the whole thing, but I don't. Not much. Don't hate it, by any means. But in terms of enjoyability, it was somewhat wide of the mark for me.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Ability to survive freezing temperatures? (COLD MASTERY)
• 24A: Selected a certain fabric softener? (CHOSE DOWNY)
• 35A: Sprite who helps you find a shopping vehicle? (CART FAIRY)
• 50A: Super-choosy about time pieces? (CLOCK PICKY)

Somewhat slower than normal time, largely because I failed so terribly in my initial stab at the NW. I had nothing. ESS. I had ESS. Ugh. If I'd been a bit more systematic, I'd've gotten ULAN and possibly ELLE, but I ran all the Downs first—nothing. Two long Acrosses—nothing. I knew PORSCHE (27A: 911 maker), so rode that into the center, where I promptly put CFO where CPA was supposed to go and so had to do quite a bit of hacking about to sort out PEACH and the central theme answer. Floated rather easily from there down to the SE, where AIR BILL was totally unknown to me (64A: FedEx form), but the rest of the corner was pretty pliable. I can't imagine TWEEDLE connoting something enticing, but I'll take the clue at its word (44D: Entice with music). So I got the revealer and understood immediately the whole C/Y bit, but didn't really register that they were "coating" real phrases. Anyway, SW was the easiest section by far. Downs went down 1, 2, 3. Returned to the top where the NE proved a slight problem because I couldn't find the right test to put into 34A: Tests that consist of five subjects, for short (GEDS). Plural, eh? OK. Also, I had "GIT!" for "OUT!" (22A: "Shoo!"). NW was where I finished, with that pesky Roman numeral on the APOLLO mission being my last letter (2D: Ill-fated mission of 1967); [Family pet name] = SIS = strangely baffling.


My main take-away from today was that I really have to commit IRMA to memory (55A: ___ Pince, librarian at Hogwarts). Not that many viable crossword IRMAs. Good to know them.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld