Relative of a cor anglais / WED 2-17-21 / Turnblad role for Divine in Hairspray / 2013 title role for Scarlett Johansson / Never-ending offerings at Olive Garden

Constructor: David Harris and Evan Kalish

Relative difficulty: Easy (unless you've never heard of one or the other of the actresses up top, in which case probably much harder)

THEME: MONKEY [in the] MIDDLE (43A: With the circled letters and 46-Across, playground keep-away game) — circled squares containing "I N T H E" form a lob arc from one side of the grid (MONKEY) to the other (MIDDLE). Those circled squares represent the arc of a ball (presumably) that's being kept away from the titular "monkey in the middle," who is represented by the letters "APE" in DIAPERS (APES can be found in (sorta) the middle of four other themers). APES is also the revealer (65A: Animals found in 16-, 20-, 35-, 51- and 58-Across):

Theme answers:

• RHEA PERLMAN (16A: Portrayer of Carla Tortelli on "Cheers")
• AMANDA PEET (20A: "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" co-star)
• DIAPERS (35A: Huggies, e.g.)
• BANANA PEEL (51A: Cause of a comedic slip)
• ON A PEDESTAL (58A: Where idols might be placed)

Word of the Day: AMANDA PEET (20A) —

Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. After studying at Columbia University, Peet began her acting career with small parts on television, and made her film debut in Animal Room (1995). Her featured role in the comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000) brought her wider recognition, and she has since appeared in a variety of films, including Something's Gotta Give (2003), Identity (2003), Syriana (2005), The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), 2012 (2009), and The Way, Way Back (2013). On television, Peet has starred in Jack & Jill (1999–2001), Togetherness(2015–2016), Brockmire (2016–2020), and the second season of Dirty John in 2020. (wikipedia)

• • •

Had to look up the game after I was done because I couldn't remember what it was. Didn't play it as a kid, as I recall, though "keep-away" is familiar enough. MONKEY in the MIDDLE sounds like a more formally organized version of "keep-away" which seems like a more spontaneous (and possibly cruel) "game" where the "monkey" is an unwilling participant. Couldn't figure out why DIAPERS were "in the middle" (is the monkey a baby??) but then saw APE there in the exact MIDDLE. Seeing the APE in DIAPERS (!) was a real aha moment. It was only afterward that I noticed both the APES "hiding" in the theme answers and (well after that) the revealer. Never saw the revealer. The puzzle was so easy, I just filled it in from crosses, not even noticing it. Feels very redundant and anti-climactic. I mean, yes, I did not see the other APES at first, it's true, but I did *find* them when I went looking, and that was at least mildly entertaining. And then the extra APES ... I mean, I get it, you feel like you *should* have more theme material in the puzzle, but none of those APES have a ball going over their heads and, most crucially, none of those APES are actually "in the (exact) middle" of their answers. They're in there, but off to one side or the other. So in order to fulfill some assumed obligation to cram the grid with theme material, we get imperfectly executed theme (no ball overhead, no "middle" placement). The APE in DIAPERS, great. All the rest of it, all the stuff not involving the nice visual gag "in the middle," is excessive window dressing. Too much. Mars the elegance of the concept.

As for difficulty, there wasn't much. RHEA PERLMAN is pretty famous from all those years on "Cheers" (and all those Emmys (4)). AMANDA PEET, while well known, at least to me, is a far less familiar name (or at least I think she will be, to most NYTXW solvers), and so it's possible she caused some difficulty. Unknown proper nouns often do. But no other spot in the grid should've caused much trouble. I had a few minor hesitations, that's all. Not sure what is going on with the clue for AMANDA PEET—I have never heard of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and it's not even mentioned in the first paragraph of her wikipedia bio. For me, her iconic role is as the owner of the minor-league Morristown Frackers in "Brockmire":

Five things:

• 14A: Greeting in an inbox (E-CARD) — had the "E-" and then ... so many places to go from there. I choice "-VITE" ... [incorrect buzzer!]
• 43D: Order from Tony Soprano, e.g. (MOB HIT) — kinda tired of the puzzle's obsession with mob violence. ICE as "murder," HITMAN, HITLIST, etc. I get it, it's a significant part of the tv / movie landscape blah blah blah, but I'm finding murder and violence in my grid more and more unpleasant these days. Same way I've lost patience for flippant, wacky clues about alcoholics (another NYTXW obsession). "The Sopranos" is a great show. "The Godfather" is a great movie. It's just that romanticizing the mob (and particularly mob violence) is, in general, one of my less favorite aspects of popular culture.
• 3D: Had drinks before going out, informally (PRE-GAMED) — I had PREG- and thought, "wow, that is a dark clue for PREGNANT, what the—!?"
• 45D: Sharp rejection ("NO NO NO!") — Is it "sharp," though? It's repeated, that's for sure. Had the first "No!" and then went looking for a four-letter word like "DEAL" or "DICE" or something. But it's just a bunch of "NO"s.
• 12D: "Never-ending" offerings at Olive Garden (PASTAS) — pretty sure it's "Never-Ending Pasta Bowls," hang on ... (checking) ... yep. There's even a "Never-Ending Pasta Pass" (for Olive Garden superfans, I guess). But nowhere is there PASTAS with an "S." If you're going to use advertising language, get the wording right. 

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. did enjoy the BEER clue, gotta say (49D: The missing letters in _UDW_IS__)

P.P.S. so sorry I posted this late (9:40am). I was done at 6am but for some reason walked away from my desk and never came back to hit "Post." This is probably the latest posting date for the blog in ~14 years. My apologies for failing you.

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]