Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Beach debris also known as rockweed

Constructor: David J. Kahn

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Love Story" — quote puzzle: [An elderly woman was having dinner with her husband and was ...] SIPPING ON A GLASS OF WINE. [She said "After all these years..."] "I'M STILL CRAZY ABOUT YOU." [Then she remarked "..."] "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU." [Her husband asked "...?"] "DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT?" [Then he asked "...?"] "OR IS THAT THE WINE TALKING?" [The woman replied "..."] "IT'S ME TALKING TO THE WINE."

Word of the Day: SEA OAK (70D: Beach debris also known as rockweed) —

n. The seaweed Fucus vcsiculosus: same as bladder-wrack. (wordnik)

• • •

Ha ha ha, she hates her stupid old husband. Ah ... marriage. Am I right?

This was corny, but well constructed, as these kinds of quotey jokey puzzles go. Invented conversation themes have a tendency to take longer-than-usual to solve, as ... well, you have to sort of feel your way through them. But this one came together very quickly. I mostly ignored the "story" at

first and just worked crosses. Once I got halfway across the grid, the "story" filled itself in pretty readily. These people talk in fairly predictable phrases. And the rest of the grid presentef very little in the way of difficulty. Never heard of SEA OAK and, though I probably did have some inkling of the "CSI" guy's name (16D: Gil ___, original lead role on "CSI" = GRISSOM), I certainly didn't remember it straight off. ELAINE Paige (you're probably not surprised to hear) is not on my radar (97D: Musical star Paige who played the original Evita). And I forgot there was any kind of "android" in "ALIEN" (116A: Sci-fi film with an android named Ash). Nothing else to hold me back. Had a sub-10 min. time, which is dang good for me on a Sunday.

Bullets:

7A: Sublime, in hip-hop slang (ILL) — all hip-hop clues for all forms of the word ILL will, from here on out, make me laugh.
18A: Dragon slayer of myth (APOLLO) — I ... did not know that. That's weird. Oh, they call "Python" a "dragon," I guess.
21A: Big Apple baseball name (A-ROD) — Not ALOU!? 'Cause I had ALOU.
62A: Barack Obama's mama (ANN) — somehow I don't like the rhyming here.
64A: Card game similar to écarté (WHIST) — there's another one called OMBRE, right? Gotta keep up to date on my olde tyme card games.
87A: One whose star is dimmed (HAS-BEEN) — I like that clue (and answer) a lot.
11D: Skagway locale (ALASKA) — did not know this, but had the "SK," so no problem.
4D: Bernese ___ (ALPS) — so my initial guess of MOUNTAIN DOG was not soooo far off.
17D: Winner of 2009's Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Precious" (MO'NIQUE) — For a second I thought I as gonna have to remember how to spell ... SIDOUBE? Ack, no, SIDIBE. Then I remembered she didn't win. MO'NIQUE, I can spell.
73D: Comic British character who rarely speaks (MR. BEAN) —in which MR. BEAN gives a gynecological exam to a gigantic Christmas turkey: