Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Armpit

Constructor: Xan Vongsathorn

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Duck, Duck ... Goose!" — Five rebus squares get DUCKs before the final answer gets GOOSEd.

Word of the Day: AXILLA (16A: Armpit) —

The axilla (or armpit, underarm, or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the joint where the arm connects to the shoulder. It also provides the under-arm sweat gland. (wikipedia)

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Long-time-lurker, first-time-blogger Tyler Clark filling in this Thursday for Mr. Parker. I'm no speed demon–no Mario ANDRETTI (17A: Racing legend who voices a character in "Cars"); today's puzzle took me 17 minutes, but I suppose if I have any place of note in the crossword community, it's that for the last couple of years I have organized a crossword tournament in Youngstown, Ohio, which has the likely distinction as the only puzzle event in the country with a cookie table.

Not too tough, thankfully. I'm glad I'm not blogging last week's Thursday w/uu puzzle, OY VEY (35D: "Oh brother!"). I landed the first theme answer as I filled in the northeast, starting with SLALOM (18A: Take turns skiing?) and then knocking out most of the downs, starting with a guess at NAS (9D: "Illmatic" and "Stillmatic" rapper) before arriving at 14A: Kind of session. I only had one or two letters, but my gut just told me this was a DUCK rebus. Whether that meant we were dealing with fowl, cuisine, or paint ball maneuvers, I had yet to discover. For some reason, though, until I ENDED (49A: Open-____), I could not figure out the X, as in OXLIKE (10D: Strong, say) and AXILLA–hence our word of the day.

Once I saw the DUCKs were part of both across and down answers, the rebus squares came pretty quickly. And I laughed out loud when I got to the clincher. Let's take a look...

Theme answers:

1A: SITTING [DUCK] (Vulnerable one)
8D: [DUCK]PIN (Something short found in an alley)
14D: LAME [DUCK] (Kind of session)
26A: PEKING [DUCK] (Dish often served with hoisin sauce)
22A: [DUCK] WALKS (Makes like Chuck Berry)
Did NOT know this one; just got some crosses and guessed.
22D: [DUCK] SOUP (A cinch)
36D: DEAD [DUCK] (Toast, with "a")
I first read "Toast" as a verb, but JOLLY GOOD FELLOW seemed a bit long, and I had to get 53-across first to read the clue correctly.
53A: DAISY [DUCK] (Disney character with long eyelashes)
Even though–or perhaps because–I was born in Orlando, I keep wanting to read this answer as Daisy Duke.
50A: [DUCK] BILLED (Platypus-like, in a way)
Fortunately, I watch a lot of Phineas and Ferb on The Disney Channel with the kids.
50D: [DUCK] POND (Centerpiece of many a park)
56D: MON[GOOSE] (Animal in a Kipling story)
Is this in The Jungle Book, or something else? It's sad that I only know the Disney animated film. You're probably sensing a theme in my cultural awareness at this point...
68A: [GOOSE]BERRIES (Relatives of currants)
I had CHERRIES here, before I realized this was the final theme answer.

OBLATES (43D: Monastery residents who have not taken monastic vows) was another stumper for me. The only monastery-related word I knew that fit was ABBOTTS, so I went with that until I could no longer justify it, then filled in OBLATES on crosses alone.

Bullets:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor visits Yankee Stadium

54A: "Catch Me If You Can" airline (PANAM) — Delightful, if atypically jazzy, score by John Williams in this film.
28A: First name on the Supreme Court (SONIA) — I've gotten accustomed to ELENA being the go-to Supreme Court first name with ALITO the popular last name.
37A: Something you might pick in Hawaii (UKE) — Somehow I read "Pick up" and argued with myself between LEI and TAN before WONKA (23D: Candy man played by Depp) set me straight.
45A: Doodlebug, e.g. (LARVA) — Given my failure with AXILLA, you may have guessed that life sciences are not my strong suit. I missed the fact that a doodlebug might be a real animal and was picturing someone drawing on a notepad and talking on the phone. This is your bonus WOTD.
The antlion larva is often called "doodlebug" in North America because of the odd winding, spiralling trails it leaves in the sand while looking for a good location to build its trap, as these trails look like someone has doodled in the sand. (wikipedia)
20A: Word with house or song (SPARROW) – Again, life sciences fail. While I might associate the bird sparrow with a singing bird, I'm not sure I had ever heard of the house sparrow or song sparrow.