Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle

Hi again from Rex's BFFs Jenny and Liz, coming to you from the hometown of the greatest Olympian of all time, the one and only Michael Phelps!  That's right, in just one short week we dropped that other guy like he was hot (which, let's face it, he totally is), and jumped right back on the Phelps bandwagon!  

Constructor: Lynn Lempel

Relative difficulty: If they awarded Olympic medals for being easy, this puzzle would get the gold!

THEME: London Olympics — the end of the six starred clues are all different events in the summer Olympics.  We love this theme, because we love the Olympics and can spend hour after hour watching just about any Olympic sport (except for Rex's favorite, ping pong.  "Sport?"  Really?).

Some of our favs besides the obvious (gymnastics, swimming, tennis, track and field), are equestrian (because even old people - we're looking at you Rex Parker - can make the equestrian team) and trampoline (go Dong Dong!)

Word of the Day: VACATION  

A vacation or holiday is a specific trip or journey, usually for the purpose of recreation or tourism. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances, or for specific festivals or celebrations. Vacations are often spent with friends or family.

Not in the puzzle (duh), but, once again, Rex has filled his AVEO (28A, former Chevy subcompact) with ESSO (59A, petrol brand), and is away on vacation!  Who can blame him?  How else does one GET OVER (16D, recover from) a three week vacation to New Zealand?!  Rex, this is becoming an enviable TREND (57D, general way things are going).

Theme answers:

• 16A.  [Big gamble] - crap SHOOT  
• 24A.  [Election Day receptacle] - ballot BOX 
• 37A.  [Result of a financial panic] - bank RUN
• 40A. [Tight braid] - corn ROW
• 51A. [Series of changes from birth to death] - life CYCLE
• 63A. [Precipitous drop in cost] - price DIVE

Bullets:

• 19A. [Good-looker]  HOTTIE  — (see last week's blog re: Ryan Lochte)

• 66A. [Verdi's opera slave girl] AIDA — only our favorite Broadway musical of all time!  As for Opera...not a fan!  (except of course the opera scenes in Moonstruck and Pretty Woman.  So dreamy...)

• 1D. [Like he-men] MACHO -  (see 9D below)

• 9D. [Baseball's record-setting Ripken] CAL — Another hometown boy!  (also see 19A above).  We turn 'em out good in Baltimore!

(Speaking of Cal Ripken, you may have heard that his mother was abducted from her home last week, and thankfully was found unharmed, but again, too soon Shortz!)  (calm down everyone, we're just kidding about it being too soon!)

Ok, all this blogging is cutting into our Olympics viewing time, so we're out of here!

Signed, Jenny and Liz, Rex's BFFs 

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