Classic novel set in rural Nebraska / SUN 6-2-24 / Did a great job on, in modern slang / Strong poker holding, informally / "Great" child detective / Sleeve style with slanted seams / Titular character in a Menotti opera / fritas Cuban french fries

Constructor: Luke K. Schreiber

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: "Typecasting" — familiar phrases are clued via names of famous people that are "typed" in some funny / punny way:

Theme answers:

• QUOTATION MARKS (22A: "RUFFALO" and "TWAIN"?)
• CUT-OFF JEANS (33A: HARLO and SMAR?)
• JUMPING JACKS (46A: LORD and KEMP?)
• STARBUCKS (63A: *O'NEIL* and *ROGERS*?)
• LONGJOHNS (66A: CEEEEENA and LENNNNNON?)
• SPLICED GENES (85A: WILDERODDENBERRY?)
• DASHED HOPES (100A: S-O-L-O and L-A-N-G-E?)
• TWO-DOLLAR BILLS (112A: RU$$ELL and BLA$$?)

["Starring Jack LORD"]

Word of the Day: PAPAS fritas (72A: ___ fritas (Cuban French fries)) —

Papas Fritas (typically stylized as pApAs fritAs) were an American indie rock band that formed in 1992 and released three studio albums before breaking up in 2000. The band's name is Spanish for "fried potatoes" (specifically "French fries" in American English) but is also a pun on the phrase "Pop has freed us," which they used as both the name of their music publishing company and their 2003 career retrospective. (In 2006 a German band also named Papas Fritas released a single called "Stehpisser," which is erroneously listed as part of the American band's discography in several online music stores.) (wikipedia) // In Spain, fried potatoes are called patatas fritas or papas fritas. Another common form, involving larger irregular cuts, is patatas bravas. The potatoes are cut into big chunks, partially boiled and then fried. They are usually seasoned with a spicy tomato sauce. Fries are a common side dish in Latin American cuisine or part of larger preparations such as the salchipapas in Peru or chorrillana in Chile. (wikipedia)

• • •

[Prized possession]

If you're going to call it "Typecasting," then all the clues should involve actors. You're "casting," after all. I'm fine with the fact that the puns all involve the ways that the names are "typed" (out)—the "type" part works—but the "casting" part, come on, they should all be actors, especially since you've gone ahead and made many of them actors already. NICCCCCCHOLSON, not LENNNNNON. I guess finding two double-S (i.e. double-$) Bills who were both actors would've been a very tall order (impossible, actually). Still, it was annoying to have roughly half the names be actors (which seemed to fit the title) and then have the other names just be generally famous but non-acting people. Other than that, I guess the theme was fine. Cute, even. I know that the overall solving experience was grim, though. Too much crummy fill, too much weak cluing, not enough exciting or interesting answers. I was groaning and eye-rolling a lot today, with Peak Groan coming with TV TAPE, what on god's green earth is that supposed to be?! TV TAPE???! TV TAPE. I'm just going to keep saying it, hoping that through iteration, it will magically turn into something, something real, something someone has actually said before. Just gruesome. Embarrassing. How do you talk yourself into TV TAPE!? (21A: VCR medium). You gotta exercise discretion. You cannot let your wordlist push you around. There's so much of this going around—constructors who think that just because it's in their database, it's good. No experienced constructor is ever going to try to palm TV TAPE off on you. Criminal. Editorial malpractice. But since it's been used before, it's been used since—four times this century now. Precedent is not enough of a reason to include something. Certainly not something this unpleasant. (Every prior TVTAPE clue was [VCR insert]—I can't tell if this clue is better worse or same—probably same, in that I don't care, I just want the answer to go away)

I've heard of a HACKSAW, but not a BACKSAW (70A: Cutting tool with a reinforced spine), ugh. DCPOWER, another ugh (89D: What's generated by solar panels). Come on. Use real phrases, I'm begging you. I would accept DEAD HEAT as an answer (happily), but IN A DEAD HEAT is something like ON A SANDWICH, i.e. a phrase you might say, but that does not have enough standalone energy to stand alone. Never going to accept that MUCKER is a thing. One can muck stalls, but you would never (ever) call someone a MUCKER. Are READ-A-THONs real? Sounds made up. The tin-eared, no-respect-for-actual-usage quality of some of these answers is killing me. Such an annoying distraction. Why is MICA "glam rock?" (48D: Glam rock?). Is it ... shiny? Wikipedia says it's used in cosmetics and food (?) to add "shimmer" or "frost," OK. Did not know that. Also did not know ATE, which seems like absurd slang to me. Do people not have to ask you to repeat yourself? Why would you use ATE to mean "did a great job on" when ATE IT already means "did a terrible job on." I've seen James Harden and others (basketball players, that is) do this thing where they mime eating after they do something great—is that the context for this ATE? That clue was Trying way, way too hard to be ... what, youthful? I dunno. Rough. Oh, damn, just realized Harden's not eating—he's cooking! MY BAD. 

Never heard of CECIL the Looney Tunes turtle, which is weird, since I grew up on Looney Tunes cartoons. Maybe I have seen him but he's just so minor, so D-list as "LT" characters go, that I can't remember him. Come on, Joel—you could've clued him as [Pomona College sagehen mascot]. Real missed opportunity. Your alma mater is very disappointed. 

AU LAIT before BLACK (1A: One way to order coffee), OH I SEE before AH I SEE (110A: "Got it now"), TREYS before TRIPS (31D: Strong poker holding, informally), TAM before TAJ (57D: Cap worn by dervishes). Absolute prayer on the PAPAS / SALADIN crossing. Luckily I knew SALADIN enough (from being a medievalist) (55D: First sultan of both Syria and Egypt) to be able to best-guess the spelling, because PAPAS I was never gonna get (confidently) from that clue (72A: ___ fritas (Cuban French fries)). BEERAMID sounds like a quirky, original answer (36A: Drinker's structure made from stacked cans), but once it's been used (and it has, several times in the past few years now), its novelty wears off. Novelty terms like that are good once and then you really gotta leave them alone for ... well, a long time. See you in 2034, maybe, BEERAMID. Don't normally care about two-letter preposition dupes, but there sure are a lot of "IN"s today (WEAR IN, IN IT, I'M IN). Also "IT"s (Give IT A go, IT IS SO, IN IT (again)). Really didn't care for much about this puzzle outside the basic theme concept, which I think is solid, playful, entertaining. I just wish the fill had been stronger and the cluing much more ... much less ... well, different, anyhow. Apter. On the money-er. 

Peter Gordon's "A-to-Z Crosswords 2024 (Petite Pangram Puzzles)" is gearing up for a new season. 

Every day (including weekends) for 13 weeks you’ll get a 9×11 easy-to-medium crossword whose answer contains all 26 letters. They will be written by Peter Gordon and Frank Longo. The puzzles will be delivered to your email inbox in two forms: Across Lite, which can be solved on your computer, smartphone, or tablet; and pdf, which can be printed and solved on paper. All this for less than 17¢ a puzzle.

These are great fun, a welcome addition to my daily solving regimen (delivered right to my Inbox). At 9x11, it's not as much of a time commitment as a full 15x15 puzzle, but it's much more engaging than a typical Mini puzzle. I always learn a lot of words and names from Peter's puzzles, and since these puzzles always contain every letter of the alphabet, the fill is never dull. The Kickstarter ends today (Sunday, 6/2) at 10pm EDT, so sign up now. Right now. Totally worth it.

That's all. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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