Old-fashioned dagger / TUE 10-3-17 / Famed German hypnotist / Manager at train depot / Tureen dipper

Constructor: Chuck Deodene

Relative difficulty: Challenging (not sure why, exactly ... but 4:00 is slooow for me, for Tuesday)

THEME: CENTER / ISLAND (36A: With 38-Across, feature of an upscale kitchen ... or of 17-, 23-, 47- and 58-Across) — there are names of (actual) islands embedded in the center of each theme answer:

Theme answers:

• BALTIMOREAN (17A: One might stare at the Sun)
• BUSHEL BASKET (23A: It holds four pecks)
• STATION AGENT (47A: Manager at a train depot)
• FORMAL TALKS (58A: Discussions that might lead to a treaty)  

Word of the Day: Carson DALY (26A: NBC host Carson) —

Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, producer and television personality. Prior to 2002, Daly was a VJ on MTV's Total Request Live, and a DJ for the Southern California-based radio station 106.7 KROQ-FM. In 2002, Daly joined NBC, where he began hosting and producing the late night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly, and occasionally hosting special event programming for NBC, such as the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show, and executive producing New Year's Eve with Carson Daly from Times Square beginning in 2003.
Daly has since been involved in more prominent roles at NBC, such as becoming host for its reality music competition The Voice in 2011, and joining NBC's morning show Today as a social media correspondent in 2013. (wikipedia)

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So the islands are in fact dead center, which is a nice touch. I don't expect most people to notice this, but I appreciate attention to detail and careful craftsmanship. That first themer doesn't have the island broken across two words, which is of course the IDEAL (and the fate of all the other center islands), but the consistent centering makes me care about this little detail less. Also, that clue is pretty good (17A: One might stare at the Sun). I didn't find the puzzle particularly entertaining, largely because the themers were all either dull or unfamiliar to me (or both). Is it BALTIMOREAN like Delorean and Korean or like foreign. BALTIMOREEEEEAN? Or Baltimoran? You see, I've literally never heard anyone say it. See also BUSHEL BASKET (?). I know the phrase STATION AGENT only from the title of a movie I never saw, and FORMAL TALKS is about as interesting as beige paint. But, despite the fact that the theme type here is very old/common, it's done in a neat way, and the grid is satisfactory, so this certainly beats your average Tuesday puzzle.


There is one answer that I am having trouble stomaching, though, and that's 13D: Writing in digital format (E-TEXT). I can't begin to say how terrible this is, how tin-eared, how technologically illiterate-sounding this is. "I'll send you an E-TEXT!" Just try saying this to ... well, anyone with an E-TEXT-receiving device in the 21st century. I can't tell if it's another word for "text message," or a word for any writing (text) written electronically, or what? Is this E-TEXT? These words that you are reading right now? If so, how weird that I've been writing in E-TEXT, for the general public, for 11 years, and I have never even heard the term that apparently describes the thing that I am writing.* Also, how weird that I watch "Psycho" every year on Halloween—I've probably seen it more than any movie save "Dazed & Confused"—and I couldn't remember Norman's mother's name (NORMA). I had MOMMA at one point, ugh. Also, wtf, Norman's mother's name is NORMA? Norman, NORMA. That's ... not normal. I also struggled to get IN HELL x/w YAH and also x/w LA ROSA (which I had as DEROSA ... I only ever see that guy's name in crosswords).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

*E-TEXT appears to be a word for electronic textbooks ... for scholastic use ... nothing about the clue suggests this ... ??

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